December

Okay, I figure I am more a 'once a month' poster, although this month I might make it two as I don't have any pictures.

I have been fairly busy craft wise the last month or so. I have completed all the blocks for the nursery rhyme quilt - just a few finishing touches required (like eyes, mouths on the characters, adn the nursery rhyme title on each block), so am hoping to finish that before christmas so I can try and quilt in the new year.

I also went on a one day Welsh Quilting course. I had no idea what to expect and it was fantastic. It is thought that it was the welsh that taught the Amish to quilt in america. its all handquilting (something I hadn't done before), and symmetrical patterns. the fabric isn't important and if doing patchwork, the quilting and the patchwork design, traditionally don't line up (patchwork wasn't part of welsh quilting other than to get enough fabric together). there are lots of borders etc. I am working on a cushion size design at the moment and I am fairly slow. In the class we had a go at designing a quilt, which was great and something I thought I wouldn't find interesting or be good at.

With handquilting, the technique we were taught used two thimbles - one on each hand (I have use the middle finger on teh bottom hand and the index finger on the top hand). One hand goes under the quilt, and one goes on top. I use a hoop to keep the fabric and the 'right' tension (like a cat has sat on it - was the description we were given!). then the needle is balance between the thimbles with the fabric in between. at first my stitches were too small and i was finding it impossible as I was trying to make them too small. but now I think I have the hang of it. I will post some pictures a bit later.

I also spent one sunday afternoon sorting out my fabrics into colours and putting them in boxes. it means I can now get into the sewing room. now I just have to go in there to sew!

To Wash or not to Wash

Okay - two months have passed, and in that time i have been sick with flu, been to dublin, been to london (to see my friend's new baby - so cute), and not achieved much on the craft front. BUT
today I went to a craft fair in Cardiff. I last went to it two years ago and it was good, so excitedly I trotted off to it today.

Well, this time, i was limiting myself to fabric only - avoiding the cross-stitch stands (as I have a few kits and patterns waiting to be done). And it could have a been a disaster, as there were only three stands!!!! But luckily for me, i wasn't really after something particular - just needed some fabrics to applique, and other 'staples'. And also luckily the prices were reasonable (for the UK). so I went a little crazy, and got quite a few fabrics.

so here are some piccies of some of the fabrics I purchased.

so my next question was - do I wash the fabrics or nto before using them .....yep - I washed them.

finally, the mother goose applique quilt is finally moving forward again after stalling. I have one block left to do, plus some little bits on each one (like the nursery rhyme title) and then will put together before I take another picture. I am thinking that for hte eyes, as they are buttons, to put them on after it is quilted. not sure though.

Applique and Nursery Rhymes part ii

okay, here are a couple more blocks from the same quilt.
have you noticed that none of them have eyes yet?! also each is supposed to have the nursery rhyme title embrodered across the top. I particularly like the fabric I used for the water in the 'owl and pussycat' picture.

have drawn, cutout, ironed onto fabric, cutout, ironed onto background fabric the middle block this week. hoping to get most of it stitched this week, then I have only 1 block left - oh and all the little 'finishes' on each block like the eyes!. The eyes are supposed to be buttons, but not sure if I will do this, as buttons aren't really baby friendly.

not a lot really to update on the craft front due to things at work. but thought I should still post anyway!

Emma - I responded to your question as a comment, in hindsight, I think I should have emailed you???

Applique and Nursery Rhymes

its been just over a week since my last blog - slipping already. thanks for the comments - i have to agree that the framing just adds so much to the cross-stitches.

for the next few weeks, I am going to post pictures of my current project - a baby quilt for my neice. it is in all in applique and its the biggest quilt i have done. following are two blocks - neither quite finished!! I have buttonholed stitched in matching thread (2 strands DMC) , fixing the applique in place with 'bondaweb' (uk name) or as I know it as 'fusible webbing'. I am not sure the scale of the blocks come through - this on is approx 24" by 14" plus border.
this quilt has tested my skills at matching colours. even though each block has come with a picture, I have tried to follow the colour scheme whilst using fabrics from my stash. and of course in the uk it is hard to get fabrics of a similar style, unless i go on-line. being on a bit of budget, I have tried to only buy fabric where I really really don't have another option already - bit of a challenge!

some pictures of past work

okay, i thought I would ease into this, so I am posting some pictures of a couple of cross-stitches that I have done and are currently framed and hung in my lounge room. Both were framed in Canberra, ACT, by couple who use only recycled wood.

The first one, took a couple of years (am a bit slow) and does have beading on it. I am still learning on how best to take the pictures so apologies for the reflection. I have another 2 or 3 samplers on the go. I started doing cross-stitch as an adult (having dabbled in cross-stitch and tapestry as a kid) when I started working after uni, mainly to try and teach myself patience. In some ways it has completely succeeded. In other ways, it just adds to my unfinished project list!




The second picure, I actually completed first. It was my first large scale cross-stitch and I am really pleased with it. The canvas was pre-printed with the border - the cross-stitch designed to fit inside an arch. i actually didn't quite get the counting right adn I think it is a stitch or two to the left! but I can't tell when I look at it and by the time I discovered it I was too far gone to unpick and restart!

Hello

Its been a long time since I had a blog of any description and even then I was pretty bad at updating it. However, I am game to try again. After being inspired by my friend Emma, whose blog I enjoy reading, and whose quilts I admire, I have decided to give it a go.

I enjoy patchwork, applique, and cross-stitch. my downfall is that I done seem to finish anything. I have some wonderful cross-stitches that I after a few years, I did manage to finish and get framed (pictures of these will be added at some point!), but when it comes to quilts and patchwork, well i now have a couple of 'tops', and in a few other projects i am at the last bit but I just don't seem to finish it.

I am currenly in the midst of organising my 'sewing' room. Its our tiny third bedroom, that up until a couple of weeks ago also served as my 'library' and had all our filing. Our larger second bedroom had a double bed (and not much else as that took up most of hte room), and we just don't seem to get that many visitors to warrant having a guest bedroom. So I dismantle the bed with the intention of turning that room in the sewing room. but once I moved the bookcases and filing etc into the second room, i decided to leave everything related to sewing in the tiny room. the bed is still dismantled on the landing (with the mattress in the second room), and nothing is that organised, but it is a start (which I seem to be very good at!). The whole intention was to make my sewing machine more inviting (ie didn't have to climb over things to get to it) so i could get to finishing things.

I have also enrolled in some quilting classes at my local fabric shop - a machine quilting and a welsh quilting one this year and a hand quilting one next year.

so, here is my first post, lets hope it is not my last!