Sewing continues.

Completed pin cushion in use.

The past few days have seen my workroom busy with different sewing projects. The first to be completed was this pin cushion which I showed in my last post. This now houses my fine glass headed pins. So useful for my current project - the shirt which I shall show you later. 

Alternative layout 1

There have been a few developments with the quilt. I have been thinking again about the layout since I wasn't happy with the first one. So I played around with the pieces, shown below.

The collection of pieces

Until I tried turning the elements "on point". I think I prefer the second option, but will live with the idea for a few days before starting to cut up the black. I did toy with using the blue shown here as the background, but it all looked rather too bright. Definitely an assault on the eyes.

Alternative layout 2

So this is currently the preferred option. Will I change my mind yet again? Probably.

The completed pinafore dress

There was another completed project. I finished my pinafore dress, adding pockets into the side seams. Rather a comfy, warm dress. I shall try the design again as a long sleeved top using the 

dress shown to the right of the pattern. It should work well as a top. I rather fancy a warm brushed fabric.

The pinafore dress pattern.

I have already mentioned the project I am currently working on. This is the almost completed shirt I had cut out last week. The hem is pinned and ready to be sewn. Then the buttonholes. The fabric is a liberty-style cotton.

The red shirt

On Friday I went to visit some friends. We had been working on a Round Robin during the past few months and we finally got our own pieces back. This is mine. The background is a felted woollen woven fabric. The challenge now is to get our pieces completed for our next meeting in February.

Round Robin

I rather fancy turning this into a vase-like holder for some of my collection of large brushes. I haven't made anything like thatbefore, so it should prove rather interesting.

Is it possible to have too many projects on the go at once?

Freshly printed fabrics - own dyed cottons.

Spent a very pleasant couple of hours or so yesterday printing these fabrics. I started out just getting some ready to add to a quilt I am putting together. As usual, didn't know when to stop. These are mostly commercial thermofax prints. The floral design is a lovely wooden block which I bought from Art Van Go.

Quilt pieces placed before stitching starts

The photo above shows the quilt I am currently working on - most of the fabrics shown above are from Tracy Fox, The plain black, red and cream are from Ikea. The funny little "aliens" are my own dyed fabrics cut out and ready to be bondawebbed in place. The working title for this one is "African Crosses". The shapes come from a workshop I went to back in 2010 with Magie Relph. She had brought some gorgeous Tuareg and Ethiopean crosses for us to sketch. Such a delightful day spent in good company. I intend to use some of the engraved detail as inspiration for the quilting.

Did I say that there were a number of projects on the go at once? I have also cut out three dressmaking projects. The first will be this pinafore dress.

Vintage pattern from 1983

Pinafore dress waiting to be assembled

The other two projects use the same pattern - Hotpatterns HP 1052 Classix Nouveau Great White Shirt. I last made this design here. Sadly, the pattern now seems to be out of print.

Another Hotpatterns shirt - this time using some Liberty-type fabric.

Yet another Hotpatterns shirt - using up some chambray.

I use the three shirts I have already made such a lot. Such a very useful, classic, shape. You can see my first two attempts here and here.

A ribbon weaving sample waiting to be made up into a pin cushion.

This is one of those UFOs which should have been finished ages ago. I need an extra pincushion too! All I need to do is to stitch around where I have already marked and stuff it. So silly not to have finished it already.

My current knitting project - a waistcoat.

Lastly, I have made a start on the cabled waistcoat I mentioned last time. I'm not altogether sure I have enough yarn, so I'm hoping #I have enough. If not, I may have to redo the back without the cables. We shall see. I am enjoying knitting cables for a change.

Textile finds in charity shops.

Wooden buttons - so useful being in sets of ten.

I was extremely lucky to find some really interesting bits and pieces in charity shops today. A really pretty dress pattern, some nice buttons and a few wooden hearts.

More wooden buttons and hearts.

The dress pattern - a simple design just right for the summer.

Alongside that there was also a kit for a ribbon weave card. Now, I must admit that the design is rather dull although the ribbon pieces are quite pretty. I shall not be using the card frame for a ribbon weave, but will use it for something else at some stage. The ribbons will go into my stash of ribbons, as will the small piece of iron-on interfacing. Interestingly, one of the textile groups I go to will be having a ribbon weaving session next time. I have already done some ribbon weaving on my journal quilts a couple of years ago. I'm still not sure if I did it right, but had a lot of fun putting those pieces together. At that time I was using threads as well as ribbon and some lace.

The ribbon weave pack.

The last item I found was a package holding a variety of Vilene samples, leaflets, and a small booklet showing the different types and their corresponding numbers. I shall find this extremely useful when it comes to ordering new interfacing since I can now assess which type I shall need. There was also a large sheet of sew-in interfacing printed with a grid pattern. This will become useful when I do any patchwork blocks. I don't often do these, but there are times when I really feel the need to do something simple and straightforward.

The pack of Vilene bits and pieces.

Now to get back to some sewing once more. However, I have also started knitting again. This time a waistcoat in a rather interesting recycled cotton/acrylic mix. I can't usually knit with cotton, finding it too hard on my wrists and fingers. However, this yarn is soft and a pleasure to knit. It does tend to split, but not too badly to irritate.

A new project - knitting this time.

Whenever I really can't get myself started with a sewing project I always seem to start yet another knitting project. I really must stop prevaricating and make friends with my sewing machine again.

In case you are interested, this new project can also be found in the same book as my last knitted project.

A busy month

The first five of my Journal Quilts for this year. I intend to turn these into a book once they are completed. Its an exploration into colours and the colour wheel. Left to right they are: January (purple-red); February (deep red); March ( pale red); April ( orange-red); May (orange-yellow). Sorry about the addition of my knees, I just couldn't get far enough away to get a decent photo.

This is a closer view of the May Journal Quilt.

Now June - as you can see it is dark yellow. I have also completed July (light yellow) and August ( yellow-green). These last two will have to wait to be seen until I have been able to post them on the Contemporary Quilt Yahoo group.

This last photo is the small portable print board I have recently made for myself. It isn't white and pristine any more. I made it to take to a printing day at one of the Textile groups I go to - "Textiles without limits".

May was rather a busy month - with printing and painting fabric, stitching and sewing.

More photos next time.