A house in a day, quilting and other things

Completed cotbed quilt

It has been rather busy here since I last wrote anything to the blog. My apologies for that. I have been busily quilting the cotbed quilt and also completing the cushion to go with it. These are for a very special baby who came to visit last weekend. She went home with the quilt and also the cushion. Her mum and dad were, I am very pleased to say,delighted with them.

Completed quilt with the cushion

The quilt size is designed to fit a cotbed rather than a cot since that is what the baby will be using when she is a little older. At just four weeks old at the time of writing this, her mum is more likely to use the cushion for the moment.

View of the quilting on the reverse of the cotbed quilt

I never know whether I overdo the free machine embroidery. However, since I enjoy stitching it it is probably okay........ what do you think?

Completed cardigan

This cardigan also got finished during the weekend. I had left the crochet edging until the very last minute since I wasn't that confident about doing it. I had to grab the cardigan back, briefly, to get a photo of it whilst the baby was being changed. The mum really liked it. Can't say that the baby was too impressed. Free design by Martin Storey called "Elly".

Closeup showing the crochet edge

I've also started putting together some pages for a book I need to complete for an exhibition in October. I'd better get this done before I get involved in anything else.

The pieces started as a Chinese Whispers challenge. Such fun. The idea is that each person taking part finds a photograph. This photo is not to be shared with anyone taking part. This is my photo. It was taken during a visit to Hong Kong back in 1998. The dragon carving was one of a pair of temple lantern holders.

Original photograph

I next made a textile piece, A5 size (8.25" x 5.75") based on this photograph. This was then passed to the next person in the group, Anita.

Chinese dragon - my design

Anita then completed her own interpretation of my piece, returning my design back to me.

Japanese lettering and fireworks - Anita

Her piece then went on to Meryl, who made her own interpretation of Anita's piece. Part of the challenge was that we were not allowed to show anyone any of the pieces during the course of the challenge. We couldn't chat about it either, to anyone taking part.

Chinese acrobats - Meryl

Meryl's piece was then passed to Glenice, whilst Anita's interpretation of my piece was passed back to me.

More acrobats - Glenice

Glenice passed her completed piece to Minnie while Meryl's version was handed on to me.

Circus acts - Minnie

Minnie was the last person in our group. She completed her version and then handed both Glenice's version and her version back to me at the final exchange meeting. We then all showed our little collections to everyone, disclosing the original photos at the same time.

Although I have only written about my own theme, I should explain that everyone was collecting work for their own themes. 

Here are the pieces I made for each of the other members of the group. In all, we had three groups working at the same time. We should have fifteen books to show at the exhibition. 

"Music" - made for Minnie

Accidentally dyed fabric with silk scraps appliqued in place. Free machine embroidery and couching. The white threads show the outer edges of the A5 shape.

"Garden" - made for Glenice

 The background fabric was printed onto cotton sheet using my computer. It was a scan of a piece of paper which had been painted with acrylics. Free machine embroidery and quilting over silk scraps appliqued to the surface. The faint white stitches delineate the A5 edges.

"Fairground" - made for Meryl

 My own printed fabric with thermofax and stencils over a piece of cloth originally used to mop up spills of dye. Free machine embroidery of the figures.

"Celebration" - made for Anita

The background is a piece of silk which I had dyed. Silk and satin pieces appliqued over free machine embroidery. The strings are couched in place.

Lastly, the "Build a house in a day" challenge which Pinfold members took part in earlier this week. Needless to say the basic house was completed during the session, but the stitching took rather longer. I still haven't quite finished it.

 I still need to stitch the tree and tree trunk. The idea came from this bag which I found in the latest edition of "Love Sewing". Still not sure whether this will turn into a cushion or a wall hanging.

Quilting

Quilt design by Katy Jones in Love Sewing issue 28

This is the design I saw which set me off making the cot bed quilt I am currently working on. You will have seen the top in my last post, here. The layers have all now been pinned together. The backing is a piece of plain calico. I use those bent safety pins. I had to buy a third pack to add to my collection and still ran out! My fingers are still quite sore from sticking the pins into the quilt layers. I do feel that it is well worth the effort since the layers do not get a chance to move.

This photo shows the pinned layers along with a sample of the wallpaper from the baby's bedroom. There is also a wall painted in buttercup yellow, hence the colours chosen for this quilt. The parents seem very happy with it all so far, I'm relieved to say.

Sample square constructed to test out the quilting patterns.

I've also made a small sample to test out the quilting patterns since the stitching will be visible on both sides of the quilt. Beneath, you will see the completed sample fully quilted and the reverse of the same sample.

The sample will be turned into a cushion cover since this may well prove a useful addition to the bedroom chair.

I'm planning to get started with the quilt as soon as I finish writing this entry to my Blog. The parents are planning to come to visit at the beginning of next month, so I don't have much time.......

Still dreaming and stitching

Solar dyeing kits outside my workroom

I eventually got the solar dyeing kits under way. I wrote about my dyeing experiences on that day here. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens to the fabrics. I've used silk fabric, silk thread, cotton organdie, butter muslin and wool slub.

Solar kit labels

You can see the colours I should be able achieve on the packaging shown above. Do get in touch with Helen Melvin if you find yourselves in North Wales. She is an inspirational dyer.

A gift from Japan

My dear husband met up with a Japanese gentleman recently. They worked together on a project in Japan some years ago. He came home with some little gifts for me. I love the little fabric horned sheep. It has a scented sachet inside a slit in the back.

More gifts from Japan

If you look closely, the little scented sachets are tied with little sheep. So sweet.

Woven quilt top under way

There has been sewing. I have been steadily working on this quilt top. It will eventually be a quilt for a cotbed. A first quilt for a new baby. There are borders to add now that I know the size I need to work to.

Lily in the sunshine

It has been so warm lately that getting to work in my workroom has been left until the cooler hours. It leaves me time to daydream amongst the flowers in the garden. I just love the juxtaposition of the colours. How many of us would actually put pink and orange together and yet it works.

Garden flowers

I find myself deciding what projects I need to do and organise the sequence when I daydream these days. I just can't stop my brain working on ideas even when I am physically doing nothing. You've already seen a couple of the projects I fully intend to finish before too long. I showed these in my last post. More hours in each day would certainly be useful.

Planned quilts and Whispers

The fabrics shown here are for two planned quilts. These will be for a baby not yet born. The nursery theme is a delightful mix of blue sky with white clouds as the wallpaper and a bright yellow sun as the lamp in the centre of the ceiling. Such a cheerful room.

I have plans to make two quilts - one with the bright blue and yellow "daytime" theme with a sun.The second, slightly darker, having the moon and stars as a theme. 

Sadly, I can't yet share the piece I have been working on this week since it is part of a challenge. It will be handed over to the owner on Wednesday when there will be a big reveal showing all the work produced. There is a plan to have all the resulting pieces displayed at a group exhibition later in the year which is all rather exciting. Perhaps I should say nerve-wracking......

The challenge itself is called "Whispers". The idea is rather like the children's game of Chinese Whispers where one friend whispers a word or phrase and then this is repeated by each child taking part. The fun being whether the word spoken aloud at the end is the same as the first word whispered at the beginning of the sequence. This challenge is similar in that each person taking part has found a photograph to be their theme. The owner of the photo then produces a small piece (in our case, A5 - 21cm x 15cm, 8.5" x 6"). This piece is then passed to the next person. The second person is not permitted sight of the photo..... At the next meeting, the first person's piece is returned and the second person passes their interpretation on to the next person who makes a piece based on their interpretation of the piece they have been given. It is only at the final meeting that all the textile pieces are displayed alongside the original photographs. This will happen on Wednesday, and I must admit that I am rather excited to see what we have all produced.
After the meeting on Wednesday we are expected to go and make a book of the collection of little textile pieces we will each have collected. These books will then be displayed at the group's exhibition.