A busy week

This collection of photos shows my collection of quilts, books and journal quilts before I gave my talk on Saturday.

Quilt and smaller journal quilts.

Fabric books, newspaper article about the Moulton Crows showing their costumes this summer.

My bags of quilts waiting their turn to be shown and handed round. There are four rather full bags here.

This is the small collection of samples ready for the workshop during the afternoon. I was far to busy to take photos, unfortunately. Everyone was quiet and busily working away weaving fabric pieces I had prepared for them. They were such a lovely group to work with.

I did manage to get some knitting done too. The buttonside jumper, first shown here now has one completed sleeve with the second nearing completion. Hopefully I will manage to get that done this evening.

There was some sewing started, but since it is a gift for a friend I really cannot post that here just yet. I had hoped to get it finished during the week, but that proved impossible. I couldn't get started on the black and white challenge for NWCQ either. Perhaps next week?

Being busy - where does the time go?

Back of the Bronze Oxide shawl

Front of the shawl

 Well, it has been another busy week. I finished the first of my current test knits -the shawl. It is really heavy and should be very cosy for the winter.

I also managed to finish putting together the packs for my talk and workshop later in the year. It may be months early, but at least I won't be getting everything put together at the last minute...... unless there are going to be many more than fifty coming along. I did make sixty, so I'm hoping that will be more than enough. You can see my preparations for this workshop and the packs here.

Starting the colourwork

yarn colours for new test knit

This is going to be an interesting knit. Another jumper for my grand daughter. This one has a design of wolves around the neckline. Called "Wolf in sheeps clothing", it is the first time I have worked with more than one colour at a time using the fairisle technique. There are lots of markers in place helping me to keep track of the design repeats. Not enough completed to be able to show you the design yet, I'm just hoping that the colours I have chosen will do this beautiful design justice. It has been designed by the same person who designed Colibri, which you can see here.

Crazy patchwork challenge

At Pinfold last week we were looking at crazy patchwork. I have barely started decorating mine as you can see. I'm hoping to fit a lot more embroidery in before you see this again. Buttons and things too.

Overlocker ready for action

 My overlocker is out again ready to help me finish the tops I am rebuilding. You can see the fabric for the two tops here. The front and back are now stitched together at the shoulders, waiting for me to get on with adding the cap sleeves and sorting out the binding for around the neck. Hopefully it will be ready to wear very soon now. I really could do with some more summery tops before the summer vanishes again......

Front view

Back view

More sewing, knitting and planning

Offcuts from the workshop packs

I'm still working on getting as many packs as I can prepared ready for the workshop in November. Yes, I am rather ahead of myself, but it takes rather a time to get all the fabric packs set up. There is a lot of ironing on bondaweb, cutting fabrics and so on. The collection above is my growing pile of scraps. All the bits that are just that little bit too small. All useful since they have been bondawebbed. Hence the growing collection of made fabrics where I am collecting the scraps together to make useable and useful pieces which could make something.

Green-yellow fabrics

Yellow - blue fabrics

The resulting fabrics are a little too stiff to use for much. project bags and bookcovers have been made before. Perhaps some cushion covers.  All of the three made so far need to be stitched to reinforce the surface. I think I will probably add some fusible wadding to add some texture when stitched.

Green - blue fabrics

 I must admit I really enjoy the stitching bit, although it does take rather a time to complete. Speaking of stitching. I finally completed the sketchbook cover which I mentioned last time. I chose a piece of fabric which I had painted, bonded to fusible wadding and then stitched,

Completed sketchbook cover

Almost completed Colibri jumper

 The Colibri jumper is now almost finished. I just have a few ends to sew in. Next, I shall need to find a young friend to wear it. One of the things to be completed after finishing a test knit is to complete a questionnaire to give the designer some feedback about the design and any errors before the design is finally published. It has been a really interesting process.

Almost complete Lanesplitter

 I've also been getting on with this skirt. It has languished in my project bag for a few weeks. I have never made a knitted skirt before, so it has been quite interesting making this one. The design is a free one from Knitty which you can find here.

The fabric pieces below belong to a challenge which I need to get on with. I still haven't decided what to make yet.

Its been a while - trying something new

Workshop packs - showing the booklet

This last fortnight has seen me developing a workshop pack for the paper and fabric weaving samples I have been working on. It has taken far longer than I thought it would in terms of the time spent thinking about how to do this. Putting the packs together is also a little time consuming, but has been an interesting process. I'd not had to consider how much such a pack would cost before, so had to spend rather more time than I thought in working out what exactly was going to be added to the pack. It is important to cost everything carefully since it would be rather silly to give lots of materials, paper and fabric, away. It could cost rather a lot to replace everything, especially if the workshop does happen and I need to repeat it.

Materials enclosed in the pack are bondawebbed fabric; pieces of plain calico (muslin); paper; all cut to various sizes. There are a couple of pieces of fabric which have been bonded to another fabric making it double sided. There is also a booklet which I have designed and printed myself. Yes, more costs to consider. I just hope I have managed to include everything.

I now need to get my family involved in testing the packs and my instructions to see if they do make sense and if this is a doable workshop. The one thing that bothers me is that it might all be too complicated. Do let me know what you think. I do have alternative ideas for the workshop, but this is my favourite for the moment. I also need to discuss a pack and some samples with one of the group who have invited me to give a talk and workshop. I need to know whether this type of workshop will work for them.

Don't worry, I have been playing around with something more creative. I can't say I was too impressed with the results, but I can see myself trying this again with fabric dyes and fabric. They might just make for interesting backgrounds.

Samples of Orizomegami

The samples are various papers which have been folded and then Indian Ink has been applied to the edges using a paintbrush. I forget where I found this idea, but you can see some of the work made by experts here. Do look the word up for yourself, there are some very interesting photos to be found as well as instruction. Mine are extremely basic and nothing to be proud of. I'm glad I had a quick try though and will have another go. Personally speaking, I am far more interested in the effects which might be achievable with fabric than I am with paper.

Quilted cushion - 5" square challenge

Here are photos of the 5" square fabric challenge cushion which I told you about last time. I used all the 5"squares in making the blocks for the top and also the piping for the edge of the cushion cover.

Cushion showing piping

 The remainder of the fabrics used all came from stash. The buttons were also in my button collection. I'd bought them some time ago with no project in mind - always a big mistake I make time and again. I have some gorgeous buttons which I just can't part with, but have no plans for....... at the moment.

The buttons fastening the back of the cushion

I finished my last knitting project some time ago and was feeling withdrawal symptoms. I didn't have another project planned, so took up the offer of a Test Knitting project.

Yarn waiting to be used

 These lovely yarns are going to be used for my project. It is a jumper knitted from the top down with a gorgeous hummingbird pattern around the shoulders. The size is age two years. I just couldn't resist.

The first stage of this top down jumper

The colours used are a light greeny-blue shade with the panel in french navy onto cream. I'll probably have to wait to show you the design when it is finished. However, the deadline for the tests is quite soon, so hopefully once all the test knitters have finished, the design will be available for sale. 

Working on things

Paper sample

 I haven't got any sewing done this week, some embroidery, but mostly messing around with paper. The idea is to turn the paper weaving into fabric weaving.

Playing with paper

There has been some success with the fabric weaving, but it all needs more work.

Fabric samples

I do agree, it does all seem a little odd. I really ought to be getting on with my Cocoon coat. I realised the other day that the fabric I had was too thick to also be the lining, so had a hunt through my stash and found some nice thinner weight red wool mix fabric left over from a pair of trousers which were made several years ago. Hopefully there is enough for the lining and the pockets too.

Why the experiments with paper? Well, I will be giving another talk in November and was asked to give a workshop too. I've been thinking hard about what exactly I could do. I don't want to be boring. My current thoughts are based on this weaving idea. It still remains to be seen whether it will work out or not. I still have time to think about something else, haven't I?

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.

Spending some creative time with my sewing machine and other projects.

Where have the past few days gone? It has been really busy here - a new print board has been put together, four cushion covers, a simple top, some zipped bag/purses and a new print board have all been finished and I have nearly completed a new linen dress for myself. I haven't bought any new fabric, just a couple of zips. Everything has been constructed out of my rather large stash of fabrics, threads and general "stuff". I wish I could say that my cupboards and shelves are less full as a result, but I really cannot see a difference just yet.

the felt layers of the new print board

 I decided to make a third print board since I shall be giving a print workshop in August and my two current boards will not be sufficient. I can improvise some extra space, but the third board will just make everything so much easier for everyone.

All three boards together

It was so lucky that I had plenty of acrylic felt and enough of an old cotton sheet in my stash to be able to complete this project. The board had seen occasional use as a drawing board, but will be so much more useful to me as an additional printing surface.

I'd completely forgotten, until I sorted through my photos, that I'd also been to a dyeing session. This time I followed some advice I found on the Kemshall's website about preparing fabric for dyeing. The resulting colours have been so much better, I shall definitely do this again. The advice gave specific quantities for the washing soda used in preparing the fabric for procian dyeing. I now have a solution in a sealed pot ready in the garden shed for when we next have some good weather and I can prepare some more cotton. I hadn't realised that the solution could be kept and used again and again.

 These cushions were not started by me. They were handed in at the last Pinfold meeting and I volunteered to construct the cushion covers. They are now ready for the cushion tombola which will be part of the group's exhibition later this year. The covers have been hand embroidered and look so beautiful. Each cushion is just twelve inches square. I hope that the embroiderer will be pleased when she sees them again.

Speaking of tombolas. This collection of zipped purses have been made for The Quilters' Guild tombola at Festival of Quilts in August. So far I have made nine, but I have a couple more which have been cut out ready to sew together.

Yet another cushion for the Pinfold tombola. This one started life as a miniature quilt block challenge which has been stuck in my unfinished pile for a very long time. It is twenty inches across.

the dress waiting to be finished

 The dressmaking patterns were found in a recent edition of Ottobre magazine. The dress still has to have the armhole facings stitched into place and also the hems completed. I really need to iron it too. It has been fully lined.

a completed top

The top is going to be rather useful in the warmer weather. It was made from a piece of crepe de chine I had in my stash.

So apologies for not having posted here for a few days. I have been rather busy. I still haven't started those cotbed quilts.........

A rather busy few days

Last week was really enjoyable and extremely busy - attending a workshop (woven cushion cover); giving a talk; giving a workshop (mixed media - focussing on texture). Oh, and I returned the quilt stands I had borrowed for the talk too. They will be needed by a group giving an exhibition very soon.

The talk seemed to go down well. I'd taken a lot of my quilts along for the audience to see and handle. They were very complimentary, which was nice.

The workshop on Friday, using the samples I showed last time worked well. We played with Lutrador and Tyvek as well as the Texture Magic samples I have already shared. I brought my heat gun along for the Lutrador samples and one of my irons used for the texture magic samples. Brenda lent me one of her irons for the Tyvek (protected by baking parchment). While my soldering iron was used for making holes in acrylic felt and some sheer fabrics I had brought along. A good time seemed to be had by all. With a lot of interest in exactly how the different materials reacted when heated. I know I learnt a lot from watching everyone else, as well as trying out a couple of ideas myself. 

The workshop on the Wednesday at Pinfold was great fun and I got quite a lot of sewing done.

Reverse of woven cushion cover

The base layer is a water soluble fabric. I drew a grid of lines over this ready for the sewing of strips. Three sets of strips have been added to the base in the photo above.

Adding the last strips

 At the time of writing this, the strips have all been sewn in place and the edging added. I have already washed the water soluble fabric out of the cushion cover and it is now drying in my airing cupboard ready for finishing. I'm hoping to get the cushion made up later this week. Tomorrow?
There are other projects partially made, like the butterfly block intended to be added over the paper collage fabric I showed last week. I haven't had time to work on these just yet, but plan to get some serious sewing done in the next few days.

Butterick 5662

At the weekend I spotted a couple of vintage sewing patterns in a charity shop and bought them. I can see myself making most of these items, including the pair of shorts. Making the trousers first might be a better plan since some trousers were rather loose fitting in the early nineties when the second photo was printed. The first pattern doesn't have a date on it, but it could easily come from the late seventies, early eighties. That waistcoat pattern could become a useful base for the patchwork waistcoat I keep thinking about making. I was challenged some years back to sew myself a patchwork waistcoat but never found the time to start one. Perhaps now is the time?

Butterick 4928