A last minute project

The past week has been a busy one. No time for stitching or knitting. I did have one deadline though, hence these photos. I had a page to complete for the Pinfold Book Challenge ready for tomorrow morning. Here are the pages I completed just a few minutes ago. As I write this, it is 9pm. Last minute as always.

The theme for this book is "Come fly with me." The weather here has been cloudy, damp and cold all day today, so my thoughts ran to warmer weather and the sight of swallows flying overhead.

These pages have my own felt, dyecatchers from my collection, a thermofax print of flying birds, block prints of ducks on a scrap of my own dyed fabric. The swallow is a commercial felt stitched into place. Handstitching using simple running stitch and buttonhole stitch around the swallow. Rather strange of me to choose handwork rather than machine stitching this time, especially since I was so short of time.

What was keeping me so busy this last week? Gardening and helping my husband with demolishing and then constructing a garden shed. The gardening is a rather urgent project since we have a builder coming in a week or two to construct a fence. I have been digging up shrubs and bulbs which we need to protect.

Getting back into the flow

The elements for my Scania Shawl arrived on Saturday. The yarn is Cloudborn Fibers Highland Superwash Sock Twist. I wasn't sure what to expect from the yarn since I had never seen it anywhere before ordering this kit. It is rather nice, 80% Superwash "Fine Highland wool" and 20% Polyamide from Peru (via Craftsy in the USA). It has travelled rather a long way.........

The colours are: Black, Charcoal Heather, Grey Heather, Oatmeal Heather and Ecru. The pattern asks for two colours to be knitted together for each section making a marled appearance. Yes, I haven't knitted much. I started late on Saturday night after a very lengthy time trying to work out what the pattern meant. It is written more like a recipe than a traditional knitting pattern. It certainly challenged my "little grey cells". Yes, I do rather enjoy watching Poirot / Miss Marple or Agatha Christie stories on the TV. So relaxing since I know the stories relatively well and they do not interrupt the thinking behind working out a technical section of pattern.

I've rather given up on the cardigan for now, but can pick this up at any stage to carry on. The back and left front are complete and the ribbing for the right front is well under way.

The NWCQ quilt is coming together. The background has now been quilted and the bits and pieces for the applique are being auditioned ready for the next stage.

At Pinfold this week, I picked up these two silk shawls from the sales table. Not sure what I shall do with these.The one below the floral patterned shawl is actually to printed shawls side by side. They have never been cut apart and hemmed. I need to think about whether to use this for nuno felt or to make these up as gifts. The one on top I shall keep for myself and wear. It is rather a pretty shawl and I can always use it for nuno at some future date. For now it will be washed and then put aside to be worn.

I took my husband out for lunch during the week and we explored Blakemere. After looking round the antiques, we visited Peepultree where I picked up these lovely blocks to add to my collection.

Making sure that I don't miss a deadline

Printed pinny

I printed this pinny a couple of weeks ago. A sample before starting work on my orange dress. The pinny was printed using three different thermofax screens from my collection. The flower and leaf designs are my own whilst the lovely bee image is a stock item from Thermofax Screens. I used calico (muslin) from my bolt of fabric. So useful to have a large amount of fabric to hand when needing to trial ideas. I won't be using the reverse side of this pinny since I have left it plain. However, now I come to think about it, that might be rather useful.......

Pinafore pattern

As you can see, the pattern is one of those really useful and practical ones. My only concern being that there is no pocket. Ah well, something to add to the next one?

My orange dress in the process of being printed. 

When printing the apron after I had made it - a deliberate act since my orange dress had already been sewn together - I quickly discovered that thermofax screens cannot cope with curves. So, for the dress I decided to use some of my collection of wooden print blocks. Drawing some chalk lines to help in keeping the prints an equal distance apart, I printed a quarter of the circle skirt at a time. It seemed to work well. My next project will be to print a length of fabric ready to make up into a dress or a skirt.

The dress has been worn and washed and has survived well. I did add a lining to the dress skirt section since I felt it needed a little more body. I bought some horsehair braid to attach to the hemline, but have not felt it needed that extra stiffening. I must get a photo of the dress once I have ironed it and it is ready to wear again.

Recent fabric purchases

I have been rather naughty lately and bought some fabric. Yes, I had planned to use up some of my fabric stash. Unfortunately, much of that stash isn't in the colours I really need for the clothing I plan to add to my wardrobe. The middle two fabrics here are denim. The upper one was bought from The Denim Company when I went to the Festival of Quilts last week. I just couldn't resist it. Such a pretty floral print.. The top fabric is a light lawn from the Fent Shop and I plan to make a blouse from this one. The green fabric at the bottom was a find in Abakhan and is a textured green jersey from which I plan to make a pair of culottes for the winter months. The plans for the two denim fabrics involve my making up a pinafore dress based on the design of a pair of dungarees seen at the International Model Aircraft Show at Weston Park in June. I managed to sketch the design on a page of my notebook. It will be quite a challenge to develop a pattern from a pencil drawing.......... One thing which troubles me, though is would this infringe copyright? I am not intending to make a pair of dungarees as seen at the show, but a pinafore dress with a similar top to the dungarees I saw.

There has been knitting. I have now completed this jumper and put it away for the cooler months. As you can see, it fits me perfectly. Since I am used to having rather boxy and loose fitting knitwear, this makes rather a nice change and will take quite a lot of getting used to. The design will not be available until the middle of next month since this was a test knit for the designer. I've now started another tes knit for the same designer. This time it is a hat for a toddler. A much quicker item.

I found these two books and the three metre length of muslin (cheesecloth) they are lying on last week on the sales table when I went to Pinfold. The fabric has now been washed and is waiting for different dyeing and printing projects. I quite fancy the idea of a long-sleeved cheesecloth shirt. A very seventies idea.

This last piece was finished a number of years ago and I had never done anything with it. The background is free machine embroidered onto calico with an embroidered paisley element held in place above it. The embroidered piece is stiffened with wire stitched into the outline. The whole was a challenge laid down some years ago by Sharon Boggon to use some of her paisley line drawings. It is quite a shock to realise that I had completed this piece back in January 2007! You can see the sequence of paisley designs I had worked at the time here. The others have not been mounted or framed either.

Those deadlines? Well, the jumper needed to be finished by September 17th. I am a month ahead of myself there. The hat needs to be completed by the end of the month, so I am on target with that. Just so long as I don't get sidetracked. 

I do have one deadline which I must not miss. I haven't yet started work on that. I need to complete my piece for the MEG Colour Challenge by September 25th. I have a diptych in mind for that one. However, I have a pair of culottes on my sewing table which must get finished first. Unfortunately, I made the really stupid mistake of cutting these out without a seam allowance. This has made sewing them a bit of an ongoing puzzle. What doesn't help is that I made exactly the same mistake the last time I used this pattern. Those culottes worked out quite well in the end and were worn a lot during last winter. I'm just hoping that I can make these work out too.

Speaking of deadlines, I really must get myself back and organised into posting here on the blog more regularly. I have got out of the habit and need to retrain myself back into posting weekly. This is one item on my to-do list which often gets overlooked. Apologies to anyone reading this.

Getting back to the sewing

Discharge printed fabric

Same piece overprinted

After finishing the last post I continued with more block printing. Great fun.
The discharged piece didn't come out very well. I have now disposed of the paste I was using since I think it really must have been too old. I shall try again one day. I overprinted the piece.

My worktable has now been cleared ready for sewing once more. I made the mistake of putting all the projects I intend working on over the top..... Needless to say the worktop is cluttered as you can see in the first photo.

Worktable

From the left - a bag I need to sew together. It is the Stowe Bag from Grainline Studio. A project bag, this is a trial run for a gift. This will be made out of denim and sits on top of a collection of bits and pieces which need quilting.

The next pile along is a collection of my printed fabrics. I intend making small book covers out of these. There is a wide variety of fabrics in the mix here.

To the right of the printed fabric is a woolen skirt which is just waiting for some elastic to go around the waist. It is far too warm to wear this now, so it will be put away for the cold weather at the end of the year.

The next pile along is a bag pattern which came free with a magazine recently. I intend using this pattern with some of the fabric which I need to quilt first. Does this all begin to make some kind of sense?

The next pile along is the MEG colour challenge which still hasn't been started. I am still toying with one or two ideas, but haven't decided which to go for.

Above the bag pattern is a small pile of jersey fabric which is the first project I intend to complete. These are the two tops I mentioned last time. I just need to get my overlocker threaded with a more appropriate colour. It is currently holding red thread. Definitely not the right colour.

The last pile is this collection - The fabric is for the blouse. There are buttons to match. I really fancy making the waistcoat and trousers too. I haven't yet found the right fabric for the trousers. I've also got ideas on giving the waistcoat some sleeves and turning it into a jacket.

Oh yes, then there are the knitting projects. I won't bore you with those. There are currently just three.

Did I tell you I really would like to get some feltmaking done? I think that will just have to wait until some of these projects have been cleared off my table. Unless there is some more nice weather and I can start working outside.................... 

Perhaps that isn't such a good idea. I might not get any of these projects finished.

Enough prevaricating. I'd better get on with rethreading the overlocker. 

Printing and knitting

My own blocks

My own blocks

Wooden print blocks

Wooden block prints

 Here are some of the pieces I have been printing over the past couple of days. I have also been experimenting with discharge printing, but photos will have to wait until after I have ironed and washed the pieces since I have no idea whether it will have worked. I did try the discharge paste with a piece of black fabric a few days ago, but nothing happened. Apparently this does happen with some fabrics even when they are cotton. I think it depends on the dye originally used. It probably doesn't help that I have had this paste for some little while...... For this second experiment I have used a piece of my own procian dyed fabric as well as a piece of painted fabric.

I really enjoy messing around with my collection of print blocks. I plan to have a further session this week using my gelliplate and screens. I'd like to have a go at using a resist. A friend showed some work she had done at a workshop using a resist. It has prompted me to have a go myself. I'd like to get some more printing done before I tidy up my workroom ready to get some sewing done.

Printboards ready for more printing.

My printboards are getting to look more interesting with all the work I have done over the past couple of days.

Experimental piece

 As you can see, my experimental piece of knitting is coming along nicely. I think this will probably end up being a cushion cover. Just four more of the small squares to knit and then knit onto the bigger section. I still have to decide what to do about a border.

Test knitting - Bronze Oxide

The shawl is coming along quite well. I am looking forward to seeing what the whole thing will look like. I did finish the little knitted skirt. It looks rather sweet. I added some little wooden flower buttons from my button collection. Yes, I have a large collection of buttons along with the fabric stash and the thread..........

Giving a talk, being part of an exhibition and finishing things

Giving a talk - table full of items to show

A few days after my last post here, I was at Pinfold giving a talk. Since around half of the group had heard me talk about my quilts already, I decided to bring along a wide range of the other bits and pieces I mess around with. You can see a selection of quilts hiding in the quilted bags sitting on the floor. The table holds books and embroideries I have made over the years, a few three dimensional items too - my fish and a couple of teddies. I think it went well. The variety and quantity seemed to surprise people.

Making print blocks

Since the talk, I have been steadily working towards getting items completed for the Pinfold exhibition which took place on Saturday. You can see a few photos of the exhibition here. I have been a member of this group for some months now, but this is the first time I have been able to exhibit with them. The first piece of work being my journal quilts. I had the final four to complete.

The first thing I needed to do was to make some print blocks.

Completed print blocks

Then, after preparing four pieces with a blue gelliplate print, I got the printing done. Different shades of green. The added squares needed to be orange.

Overprinting a gelliplate print

After leaving these pieces to dry, it was time to get on with the free machine embroidery. I really enjoy doing this, using my bright lamps to augment the light from the machine itself.

Free machine work

You can just see the orange squares which have been bondawebbed in place towards the back of this photo.

Completed journal quilts on show

I managed to get the final four JQs finished in time for the exhibition. Here they are, hanging in place. They are in date order with the top line being January, February, March and April. The middle layer are May, June, July and August. The bottom layer has September, October, November and December. These are held together with safety pins, so I really need to sort out whether to permanently link these together.

Display of Whispers challenge books.

This lovely table shows the collection of Pinfold Chinese Whisper Challenge books. My book is right at the very back with my journal detailing the challenge being the orange book beside it.

African quilt peeking around the corner - beautiful challenge quilts by Pinfold members

Pinfold is a group of very talented textile artists. I feel myself very lucky to be part of their group and am learning a lot by taking part in their challenges and being able to chat to the members about the techniques they like to use.

Giving a talk, being part of an exhibition and finishing things

Giving a talk - table full of items to show

A few days after my last post here, I was at Pinfold giving a talk. Since around half of the group had heard me talk about my quilts already, I decided to bring along a wide range of the other bits and pieces I mess around with. You can see a selection of quilts hiding in the quilted bags sitting on the floor. The table holds books and embroideries I have made over the years, a few three dimensional items too - my fish and a couple of teddies. I think it went well. The variety and quantity seemed to surprise people.

Making print blocks

Since the talk, I have been steadily working towards getting items completed for the Pinfold exhibition which took place on Saturday. You can see a few photos of the exhibition here. I have been a member of this group for some months now, but this is the first time I have been able to exhibit with them. The first piece of work being my journal quilts. I had the final four to complete.

The first thing I needed to do was to make some print blocks.

Completed print blocks

Then, after preparing four pieces with a blue gelliplate print, I got the printing done. Different shades of green. The added squares needed to be orange.

Overprinting a gelliplate print

After leaving these pieces to dry, it was time to get on with the free machine embroidery. I really enjoy doing this, using my bright lamps to augment the light from the machine itself.

Free machine work

You can just see the orange squares which have been bondawebbed in place towards the back of this photo.

Completed journal quilts on show

I managed to get the final four JQs finished in time for the exhibition. Here they are, hanging in place. They are in date order with the top line being January, February, March and April. The middle layer are May, June, July and August. The bottom layer has September, October, November and December. These are held together with safety pins, so I really need to sort out whether to permanently link these together.

Display of Whispers challenge books.

This lovely table shows the collection of Pinfold Chinese Whisper Challenge books. My book is right at the very back with my journal detailing the challenge being the orange book beside it.

African quilt peeking around the corner - beautiful challenge quilts by Pinfold members

Pinfold is a group of very talented textile artists. I feel myself very lucky to be part of their group and am learning a lot by taking part in their challenges and being able to chat to the members about the techniques they like to use.

Printing, quilting and completing bits and pieces.

block, stencil, thermofax and gelliplate prints

I had a lot of fun with the MEG group on Friday when I organised a print workshop for them. We played with my gelliplate, stencils, home made blocks and wooden blocks, my thermofax screens too. I took in all three of my print boards and a couple of easels to make an extra table. 

The photo above shows the collection of prints I managed to achieve during the day. It will be interesting to see the collection of prints made by the rest of the group. It was a really friendly session with not a lot of chat, since everyone was concentrating on whatever they were working on. Thanks everyone.

House 1 - now finished.

Butterfly block now complete.

As you can see, I have been finishing things off over the past few days. The first of the house blocks is now quilted and bound. I think I just need to add a bugle bead for the door handle.

The butterfly block doesn't quite feel finished. I think it needs some more stitching, but will have to wait until I decide exactly what is required. A few butterflies would be nice.

knitted waistcoat under way.

I also got started with the knitted waistcoat. I do love the way the pattern grows under my fingers. Yes, that is a small pocket. I shall be adding the edging at a later stage. It seems to have been missed out of the pattern, but is shown quite clearly in the photograph. It shouldn't be a problem to recreate.