Repairs and other possible disasters

Mum's quilt before work started

 The past week has seen me planning the repair of a quilt I made for mum a few years ago. Called "Square Dance", it had been much loved and regularly washed and it had seen daily wear since being handed over.

One of the damaged areas

There were a few areas of damage where the fabric was beginning to break down. I must admit that I really hadn't expected the quilt to have shown so much wear so quickly. Since mum was rather upset to see it in this state, I agreed to repair it and then return it. I intend to make another quilt for mum so that this one doesn't get the same amount of wear in the future.

After chatting it through with some friends at the Moulton Sewing Group, I went ahead and drafted a few designs to patch the damaged areas. You can see my original sketches in the photo above and this close up.

The quilt is currently being stitched and I plan to hand it back on Friday. There is still quite a lot of work to be done, with all the footprints needing to be bondawebbed in place and then stitched. The squares have all been attached and quilted in place to add strength to the damaged areas. There will be more photos once the work is all complete.

I have been getting on with some of the mending in my pile, as mentioned last time. It is not an interesting task but I will be glad to see a gap where that particular collection of objects currently sits.

My scrappy cardigan has now been stitched together and is nearing completion. The strips for the button and buttonhole bands have also been knitted and stitched into place. I am really unhappy with these. As you can see the bands are pulling almost as if they are too short. This is the nature of ribbing, unfortunately. Although this is exactly as the original design instructions stipulate in the pattern, I really don't think it works. I shall be unpicking these pieces and knitting them with the ribbing running 90 degrees from the current position. Why is the ribbing in the orange? Well, I don't have enough of either the cream or the white, or even the pale grey. I must admit that I don't think the orange colour works, so will use this opportunity to try a different colour. Ah well, back to the drawing board on this one. Hopefully I can get it finished before the cold weather comes creeping in.

A tidy workroom at long last - sewing too!

 I have spent a couple of days getting my workroom rearranged and tidy. It has been well worth the effort since I now feel comfortable enough to get on with the sewing projects which are waiting for me.

Tailor's dummy and bookshelves beside my cupboard

The first of these you can see on Aggie2, my tailor's dummy. It is yet another toile for the "Sew the perfect fit" course which I am doing with my friend Eilene. This has been quite a learning curve to date, but it is good to learn a new skill and it will help my dressmaking skills. I look forward to feeling confident that any clothes I make will fit properly.

My sewing desk, cluttered as always

Speaking of sewing projects. I have a third pair of these cargo pants cut out and ready to sew. The pale blue light denim should make for a comfortable pair. I just need a bit of time to settle down to getting these started.

I bought some more fabric on Friday to get a couple of projects under way. The floral jersey was bought from the Fent Shop in Macclesfield. The last two and a half metres from the roll. It was a little more than I really needed, but I couldn't leave that extra length. This is intended for another long sleeved polo neck jumper to add to my collection for the autumn/winter. There should be sufficient fabric to make a second top, though I am not entirely sure which design to use.

Floral jersey fabric

Quilting cottons

The half metre lengths of quilting cottons will be used to help me repair a quilt I made for my mother a few years back. This has been loved and washed over the years and is definitely in need of some tender loving care. I'll share some photos another time once I have decided exactly how I am going to tackle this repair. The fabrics were bought from The Quilting Box in Macclesfield.

Walking through a couple of local charity shops I found these scarves. They are now washed and resting with my feltmaking supplies to help me with some nuno felt experiments. I really feel the need to get some felt made before too long. The loose woven piece might be better suited to some of my hand stitched projects, but since it is quietly unravelling itself as I watch, it might be better to felt it into something.

Mending pile

While tidying up my room, I found my pile of mending/alteration projects. These have been ignored for far too long. I have challenged myself to get ten of these pieces finished this week. I have already finished five of the easiest - replacing buttons, minor repairs to seams. The items concerned have already been ironed and are hanging up in my wardrobe ready to wear once more. I need to tackle some of the more demanding items next.

My scrappy cardigan is nearing completion. All the knitting has been finished, I am just stitching the ribbing sections into place. These were knitted separately, which is quite an unusual method. The sewing together may take some time yet since there are also quite a number of ends to sew in too!

Last week my copy of the latest book from the Contemporary Quilt group arrived. It is a record of the quilts which were selected for the "In print" exhibition. I have a quilt in this collection so it was rather a thrill to see my work in print, literally. You can see the previous posts where I blogged about my quilt here and here.

I haven't been able to see the exhibition for myself just yet, but will be able to see the quilts for myself early in 2019 when they are shown at the Quilters Exhibition and Fabric Sale in Nantwich in January. They then travel to Quiltfest in February.

In case you are interested, the remaining venues showing this exhibition are:

October 2nd to 30th, 2018
The Curve Gallery, Carnegie Library, Bangor, Northern Ireland, BT20 4LH

Sunday 20th January 2019
Quilters Exhibition and Fabric Sale, Nantwich Civic Hall, Market Street, Nantwich, CW5 5DG

February 7th to 15th 2019
Quiltfest 2019, Llangollen, Wales

March 26th to April 25th 2019
The Old Chapel Textile Centre,
Newbury, RG19 6HW

Knitting and sewing, but no crochet.

Grey wool skirt

It has been rather busy here.  In the past week I have finished two fully lined skirts using two vintage patterns in my collection. Both date from the 1980s.

Tweed pencil skirt

I was in need of some warmer skirts for the cooler weather. I also completed a v-neck jumper which I am wearing as I write this. Nice and cosy.

Simple 4ply v-neck jumper - stocking stitch

Simple double knitting round neck jumper

I then promptly started another jumper. This one is double knitting and so will knit up rather quicker than the previous jumper.

It was a rather strange day on Friday since I was asked to help out in completing a quilt. It had all been pieced and had been layered, but not quilted. I took the layers apart and washed the top and bottom before adding a further strip of black fabric all round the back layer. This had been a little too small for me to successfully quilt the whole thing. As you can see, I have pinned everything back together and am basting the layers before starting to quilt. Since the centre is a rather large area of red patterned fabric, I am toying with the idea of quilting flowers all over it rather than a simple grid. It would be rather more interesting to work on.

The quilt I have been asked to complete.

Pinning this all together made my remember a UFO which has been sitting around for rather a long time. It started out as a mystery quilt challenge from The Quilters' Guild here in the UK. I really can't remember how many years ago that was, but it was some time back. I had pieced a back for it, but couldn't successfully find any way of quilting it. I've since removed the back, and will use that for a cushion cover, with the extra fabric used as binding for this quilt.

My UFO

I'm now backing it with a dragonfly patterned fleece fabric, so it should be a really cosy lap quilt once completed.

UFO being pinned to the fleece backing

I haven't though about how to quilt this, but will probably just follow the geometric pattern lines since it is really quite fussy.

Did I mention that Friday was a rather strange day? The much loved Peter Rabbit arrived, needing some serious TLC - ears and legs, and an arm needing to be sewn back and strengthened. I had offered to do this some time ago when asked by a neighbour. Since her grand daughter is currently staying and had helped deliver the rabbit to my door, he got mended very quickly and has now been returned.

A mended Peter Rabbit

Bears, sewing and mending

A quick post this time. Roberta has posted about my quilt for the Mille Colori, You can read about it here.
Although the original post is in Italian, you can have it translated for you.
It has been rather busy here with some stitching being completed on the last of my journal quilts for this year. I still have the October one to post yet, since I've been busy with some hand stitching and haven't got around to adding the back, label or the satin stitched edging. Hopefully I shall be able to get that finished later.
Oh, the mending? Yes, even my mending pile is getting a look in with a skirt that really just needs the fastening redoing and a pair of trousers which need taking in.
How is the sewing going at your end? Do let me know what you are getting up to.

Quilting.

Its been rather a busy and single-minded week this last week or so. Lots more quilting completed on Rosie's Quilt.

Here is a close-up of the blue sashing. Leaves moving out from the centre of each square, with a small flower stitched in the centre.

The reverse of each square looks something like this. The irritating thing is that I just cannot get the tension to let me have just the light coloured thread on this side. (YLI Machine Quilting thread Sand, 16V) I always get some of the darker thread leaching through from the other side. (YLI Machine Quilting Thread Paris Boutique, V74 for the flowers, and Danube Blues, V80 for the sashing.)

Coco just loved lying on top of this pile of completed squares. Yes, for all the world she looked like the Princess in The Princess and the Pea.

Then the worst happened...........I started quilting the blue sashing strips on the nineteenth block when I ran out of thread! Disaster! I won't be able to get back to Jaycotts for some more thread until later this week. It is just too far to go for a few sewing items. Yes, I could phone and get them to send me some, but I am trying really hard to be good. I have rather a lot of other things I should be getting on with.

The Traveling Pages for May still needs completing and I need to make a start on June.

There is a longstanding UFO I really need to look at and baste - there is something not quite right with the piecing which will drive me mad if I don't get it sorted out before finally quilting the thing.

These photos show the top of the quilt.

And this is the back. The design was the Mystery Quilt for the Quilters Guild some years back. As you can see my photos date from 2007! I really should get this one completed.

Then there is the mending............ as usual, this has become rather a large pile. Also the altering and completing of dressmaking projects - three skirts in there............

Then the two bags which need a rebuild.

This is a photo of one of the bags in healthier days - the corners are now getting rather large holes in them and the whole bag is being kept together by the lining. So they really do need some work. The handles are still good.

Yes, there is rather more than a weeks worth of work there, so I shall not phone Jaycotts.

That apart, my whole workroom is a muddle and needs sorting out before anything else gets started. I wish I could work and keep things tidy at the same time, but that is something I find impossible. I am such a messy worker.
A well, off to work - I think I shall get some handstitching done on my Traveling Page for May ready to post it later on.

Stitching, knitting and mending.

Sometimes I enjoy mending. Not often, but I enjoyed doing this.

It was one of those comfy, much worn but still reasonably neat long sleeved jumpers. Stupidly, I managed to get a hole in one sleeve last week. I could have darned it, but had nothing in exactly the right shade, so cut the sleeves off just above the elbow and scoured my ribbon box for lace and ribbon. I bought the lace on a whim some time ago. The ribbon was decoration on a box of chocolates................

So now I can wear a favourite jumper to work once more.

And yes, it was worn to work this morning and here is the proof. A photo taken not ten minutes ago. The subject is my newly finished bag. I posted about it last time.

The bag is huge, but is going to be oh so useful................... As you can see, I did alter the handles. Now I have a bag I can carry over one shoulder. I have a tendency to put down bags I am holding in one hand using a handle. To be honest, I have nearly lost them too! At least I won't walk away from it when it is on my shoulder...............

Speaking of bags, I also finished this one. This is the lining. It is a fun print of frogs.

It now sits awaiting an owner. It is one of my useful-for-presents containers.

I also got on with my tunic. It is a pattern called Cicely from Jaeger and can be found in their JB25 booklet - 15 designer garments by Martin Storey. I am using Jaeger Trinity from my stash.

This is the photo from the booklet.

Oh, I forgot, I did finish the socks and was wearing them yesterday to keep my toes cosy when I went out to clear the snow off my car.

These two photos are of my palette used when finishing my latest page for the Traveling Pages project. Photos of the finished page will be available as soon as it arrives with Maya.

Have you ever had one of those moments when a fabric shouts "take me home"? I had one of those last week. I went into a shop I had never visited before. Bubblitex. I had been past the farm gate many times, but never had the time to stop and browse. I managed it last Friday.

If you are ever in Cheshire, I implore you to go and look for yourselves. It is a glorious wealth of furnishing fabrics housed in an enormous renovated barn.

This gorgeous fabric will make a wonderful fully lined jacket. I can hardly wait for the warmer weather when I shall be able to wear it. I do have to make it first, but I do like to dream..............

Plans starting to come together.

I've had another busy week. This time managing to get some sewing in - well, the sewing took place yesterday and today. No housework took place. During the week I got on with some knitting.

Sorry, the green here looks rather washed out. This is the Sirdar pattern.

Next comes the Vogue design by Vladimir Teriokhin. This has been such fun to knit so far. It looks a little odd at the top at present because this is where the second v cable starts. Again the colour is not quite right, it has more of a green cast.

Then I was playing with my camera and took these one evening.

Today was such a gorgeous day, that I took these.

Spring is definitely on the way!

With my trusty helper watching from the mending pile (when he wasn't asleep), I sarted getting on with the new quilt.

Its still just a collection of blocks at present, but its getting there. I shall soon have to choose which of my fleece blankets I should choose for the backing.