Scrappy Triangles

Years ago, and I am talking pre online shopping, Doughty's used to send sample packs of fabric for mail order. When they arrived we used to choose what we wanted and send the sample back to them and the fabric would then arrive back in the post. What to do with the unwanted samples? I just put them in a box, closed the lid and forgot about them.

At one of my sewing groups it was decided to make some small quilts for wheelchair users of a local charity. We had to swap some fabrics and we could add to them accordingly. Being way behind as usual I thought it time to get a move on. I liked the fabrics I was given but they were very pale and I just couldn't think how to use them. Inspiration struck with the box of sample bits. One of the packs was a batch of cut triangles.

I paired them all together and chain stitched them into squares. They now measure 2.5".

My next thought was pinwheels. Having stitched a few together I decided that I didn't like them. So, some unpicking ensued, plus, I realised that they weren't very square so, they all got trimmed. This time they were paired again to another block to make flying geese.

They went together very quickly and were sewn into two strips. Using only what was in my stash I added the red and the grey. Now it needs to be sandwiched and quilted. It measures 36" square.Needs a good press.

A quilt isn't a quilt until it is quilted, right? But, it isn't properly finished until it has a label. Here is the label for Daisy's quilt. I appliquéd a flower over one of the quilted motifs and kept it within the quilting. All the information is in the centre.

In all the grey and gloom that has stricken us for so long this lovely bit of colour found its way in Kate's garden. I love Hellebores.

As I sit here writing this the fog has lifted and the sky is beautiful. Doing a happy dance.

Happy Stitching.

Love Shirley.

A BAFTA Winner

Saturday tea time the phone rang and it was Olly saying would I please give the spare house key to a friend who wanted to borrow his dinner suit. I asked why he needed it and he said that this friend Tom Litten had been invited to The BAFTA's in London. Anyway, key and suit were collected and key returned and I wished Tom fun at the awards. I sat and watched it on tv but didn't really pay attention until suddenly Tom's face popped on the screen. Nothing really registered as I was engrossed in some crochet.  Sarah called in from work yesterday to tell me about Tom.

Tom had auditioned for a part in a short film that was being made as part of the Olympics and was being shown on BBC and in Cinema's. Tom won a scholarship to the prestigious Millfield School for his swimming ability and he is Olympic standard. He got the part. His film won the Best Short Film Category and you can watch the producers accepting the award and honouring Tom for his role.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw3EGQfn-Kk

You can also watch the film but I could not get the link to work so if you wished to see it then the film is called Swimmer.

Last night Tom popped in to return the Dinner Jacket and show off his well deserved BAFTA award.

Sarah and Olly proudly boast that they were Tom's babysitters. ( Tom is on the right and is just 20 years old). Olly and Tom's families are great friends so, how exciting for them and what a great addition to the trophy cabinet. I think we can safely say that this young man is going places.

I know this isn't sewing related but sometimes things happen which need to be spoken about and it is hard not to include life as it is happening. It makes the quilter's life more real.

Happy Stitching.

Shirley.

Note:- BAFTA stands for The British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

Our New Sewing Venue

In the New Year we, the good ladies of Apple County Quilters changed our venue from the cold, dark and dreary hall that we had been using to the beautiful light and airy Orangery at Nynehead Court in Somerset. Nynehead Court is a private nursing home in a Grade II listed building and the Orangery is part of the set up and hired out to anyone who would like it at a reasonable cost. There is underfloor heating and it stays cosy, when the sun came out the windows high in the roof suddenly opened to let a breeze in.

Opposite the Orangery is a very pretty sandstone church that is part of Nynehead Village.

This is the walkway to the church. Those branches made some interesting shapes and in Summer I imagine it will look very different and provide welcome shade.

The grounds are simply amazing with beautiful manicured gardens and woodland walks. The sun was trying to break through the snow threatened clouds. Notice that there is a little bit of blue sky. It does so much to make you feel better.

Showing you the activity inside.

To my right  Sue was busy cutting up quite a collection of batik fabrics. The observant of you will notice that the rotary cutter is lefthanded.

Sarah is busy making a quilt from the new Jelly Roll book by Pam and Nicky Lintott.

Marie loves all things pretty and is making a Valentine's cushion, her work is always beautifully stitched. Bernina's seem to be the order of the day .

This is Janet Kittow who loves hand stitching and who refused to look up at me.  For the past two exhibitions Janet has won the Viewers Choice Rosette and they were well deserved. Here she is finishing off a past challenge quilt. Better late than never and far better than mine as mine still is not even sewn up.

You can see how nice and light it is in this room and how busy everyone is.

At the other end of the room are nice comfy chairs where we decamp when we eat our lunch and sit and chatter and discuss various proceedings. I adore and wish I had somewhere to put that magnificent painting. It is a giant but looks almost real it is so beautifully painted.

 

We are all so happy to be there in the delightful surroundings and know that it was a good move. Now we sew ther all day rather than the half day that we used to have. Dotty Dolly also use it for their workshops.


It has been a while coming but today I finally finished sewing on the binding for Daisy's quilt. It has taken me  far too long and as this is the smaller one of the two quilts  the bigger one most definitely will be machine quilted, simply. Attaching binding is for me one of those tasks that sometimes is a pain but this time it went on like a dream with no unpicking and with the corners all neatly filled. I used perle thread no.8 in a deep lavender for the daisies and a rose for the other quilting. I am not over keen on the big stitches as  the tightly woven fabrics were not easy to stitch through. However, it is now done and can be crossed of the list. I shall be able to hold my head up high when I next visit the Worn and Washed stand and say that I have at last used up one of her bundles. Yay!

Hope you enjoyed the visit to our new venue.

 

Happy Stitching.

 

Shirley.

Scrappy Challenge

After seeing Stina's beautiful scrappy Trip Around The World blocks resisting became futile. Deciding that the weather forecast looked too unpredictable I chose to stay home and not go to my sewing group today and sew here instead.

Yesterday I cut enough strips to make four blocks and so began the task of sewing them all together. It took some effort and some gnashing of teeth and a bit of unpicking, well, more than a bit of unpicking before block one was declared done. Maybe stopping for lunch would restore energy levels and concentration

No sign of the predicted snow but oh did it rain! It washed all the snow away and it was so dark and gloomy and cold.

Energy levels restored and back to some sewing. In the time that it took me to do one block before lunch I managed to make another three.  This project is addictive and if you think you might like to join in then I guarantee you won't want to stop. You can find the tutorial here. There is also lots of inspiration and lots of other free patterns to tempt you to use up those scraps.  I am thinking that 36 blocks will be enough. We shall see. I am also challenging myself to use only what I have and no repeats of fabric.

As I had cut strips there were bits left over and you know how I like leftovers. Hmmm, what to do with them! With the addition of a cream centre the scraps have become nine patch blocks of 6" and I managed 5 from what I had. I can keep adding to these as I make the other blocks. Apologies for the shadows and lack of editing.

Now I had a growing pile of much smaller pieces. I just sewed them together into a strip. Even the selvages got sewn in. I am sure that I shall find a use for some scrappy strips at some point.

This is what I was eventually left with - what I call scraps. You textile artists out there will find a use even for them but in this case they have gone into the doggy pillows. Believe me, those scraps are small.

 

Whilst I was on a roll and still in the sewing mood I thought I would have a rummage in the bag of scraps that Pat gave me and challenge myself to do something with what was in there. I also had another fabulous challenge from Lori to have a go at. I have changed it a little and this is what I have come up with so far. The only fabric that came out of my own stash was the pink spotty. The next set of instructions come on Thursday so there is plenty of time to join in or even for me to TRY and make another one. I am thinking that this one may be the start of a medallion. Don't yet know. This block so far measures 8.5".

 

I shall leave you with a snowy garden scene from the weekend. By this afternoon it had virtually all gone but at 4pm it suddenly started to snow and at 8.30pm it is still snowing. Mick went out today for a meeting and still is not home. Hopefully he will be stuck at a Travelodge and not on the motorway.

Happy Stitching

Shirley.

Doillies and Tray Cloths

On Wednesday at Kate's Pat arrived with a bag full of tray cloths and doillies. All were beautifully embroidered and in good condition. Pat said that she had once stayed with a friend who had made a quilt with such beauties and the thought had stuck with her and she thought that she would do something similar.


This one was my favourite and Rosemary and I were doing our usual trick of trying to sneak it into our bags in the hope that Pat wouldn't notice.

 

 

One of the tray cloths had an unusual edging. Ric rac and crochet combined.

 

 

 

The larger table cloth was pinned onto the design wall and then the very pretty crocheted napkin was pinned  to the centre.

 

 

 

Pretty spring flowers, tulips and daffodils.

 

 

 

This was the first layout and then there was much imput from everyone moving them about and repositioning. It is such a lovely idea for a quilt and even if you don't have any such treasures then they can be found at car boot sales and charity shops for reasonable prices and is a great way of recycling and giving them new purpose. Lots of white space for some quilting.

 



 

 

 

Going around blogland at the moment are photo's of the blog owner aged 21. I am not sure how or why this started but I think it may have been a Dutch blog. Maybe someone will tell me. I had to do a bit of searching and thought that I must surely have a photo of myself somewhere and this is the only one I could come up with. It was taken the day before my 21st birthday and I went to Kedleston Hall in Derbyshire for a Viennese Evening with Mick and some of our friends. We took a picnic and sat on rugs and it was cool for July. This was 1980. The concert consisted of the Vienna Boys Choir singing on the steps of the House and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra playing Viennese Waltzes finishing with the Thunder and Lightening Polka. As the last notes sounded and the cymbals crashed the firework display started. It was a fantastic evening and the memory has stayed with me. I apologise for the very grainy shot but please take note of that dark hair.

 

 

 

Still not much to show in the way of stitching but I have done a little bit this week and some knitting but not enough progress to be of interest.

 

 

Winter has arrived in the UK, we have snow and temperatures are on the chilly side. Wherever you are stay warm, spare a thought for our fellow Aussies who  are baking and suffering in their heatwave. Stay safe.

 

Happy stitching.

 

Shirley.

From Stina

Just before Christmas Stina sent me a Christmas present and like a very good girl I waited till Christmas morning to open it. We had several emails back and forth as Stina was convinced that I would not like the gift that she was making me and that I would need sunglasses as it was bright and crazy and that I could opt out if I thought it would not be to my taste. I neither need shades nor do I think it is crazy. I think it is beautiful.It has pretty crochet circles and little messages that are personal to us both and I LOVE IT. You can read more about it on Stina's blog.

 

 



Also enclosed in the parcel was this beautiful scissor keeper and how clever of Stina to make me one that fits and compliments my best gingher scissors perfectly.  They are little felt strawberries and strawberries are my favourite fruit. I also had some delicious chocolates but sadly I opened those and Mick and I scoffed them pretty prompt and didn't take a photo.

 

 

Lizzie in Australia sent me a lovely surprise package of two patterns by one of my favourite designers - Trish Harper. I haven't forgotten that those Dancing Dollies (also by Trish) are waiting to be finished and this year they definitely will be. I love house quilts and this one is qoing to whet the apetite and noughts and crosses will use up some of that stash for sure. Trish's patterns can be ordered via Lizzie on Broderie blog.

Another Christmas gift was from Kate. A beautiful scented hyacinth planted in a mug. How clever of Kate though to make sure mine was this fabulous pink colour. Wish you could smell the scent.

At the weekend we travelled up to Leek in Staffordshire for the Christening of baby Daisy. Here we are having a bit of a cuddle and a feed.

Lovely mum and dad, Laura and Chris with Daisy cutting her fabulous cake which had little daisies all over and was most pretty. There looks to be some weaponry about but all was safe.

 

 

All events should have an amusing tale and this one made us all laugh.  The vicar took Daisy in his arms to baptise her and he very gently sprinkled her head with water from the font and at this point she had been fast asleep, out shot the dummy and landed with a splash in the font. Quick as a flash the vicar fished it out, baptised the dummy as well as Daisy and put it back in her mouth. The dummy is now known as The Holy One. Hopefully the water was clean ?!!!

 

Maybe before long I shall have some sewing progress to show to you. I will leave you with this comment from Emma in my Tuesday sewing group and I wished that I had thought of this. I was explaining to Emma that my word for the year was Try and that I was going to try and get more sewing done. She said that it was a good word and could be applied to all sorts of things and that if I started something and got bored with it and abandoned it then all I had to say was  "well, I was only TRYING it". That kind of logic will get me into a lot of trouble I am sure but it did make me laugh. I need to sit with Emma more often for her logical thoughts and words of wisdom.

 

Happy Stitching.

 

Shirley.

 

New Year Promises





This new year of 2013, I have vowed to get my act together and have made a few promises to myself.  My word for this year is TRY, so, I shall TRY and do better, TRY to finish a few things and TRY to be a better blogger. No doubt I shall start a few things too but I shall TRY to finish them so that they don't languish in a dark place. I have lots of plans.

 

 

In my quest to TRY, I managed to upload my photo's onto said blog via the new toy that Santa brought me but at the minute I am not loving it very much. Like all new things I guess  you just have to keep Trying till it become's second nature.  Right this minute it is back to the old laptop.

 

 



 

Thank you to everyone for your comments on Olly's Christmas sweater. He loved it and wore it with pride. He is a brave chap and no Josie I didn't need to bake a cake with a file in it!!

 

 

One of the things that I have been doing is following on Pinterest. It seems to cause some angst in some circles and to pin or not to pin was the question I kept asking myself. I desisted for quite some time but gave in. If you follow me and see anything that I have pinned that you are not happy with then please tell me and I will remove it.

 

 

There are some great ideas on Pinterest and one of them was a link to a youtube tutorial for a crochet stitch called crocodile stitch.  So, I set myself the task of teaching myself how to do it. After  several attempts and that word Try, Try  and Try again, the third attempt I had cracked it. With an odd ball of wool leftover from something or other I have made a headband. It is a fantastic, textural stitch and with a variegated yarn gives some lovely effects. In making a headband and in the round the stitches had to be adapted a little but worked out just the same. I think the photo is upside down but you get the idea. If you search youtube for crocodile stitch then you will find several tutorials.

 



 

 

Quilting has started on the smallest of the baby quilts. I am using a perle thread and a large stitch and in a beautiful shade of lavender. I made a daisy template and have drawn them at random. For the backing I used a brushed cotton sheet that was given to me by Joan from Dotty Dolly. I washed it several times to soften it and it is perfect. The wadding is a very fine and soft cotton which I think is called Rose Dream and the whole thing is soft and cuddly. I am calling this one a practice one in readiness for the larger quilt.

 

 

You will notice a strange looking object on top of the quilt. It is a bag frame for a rather special project that I found a few weeks back. It took some tracking down and a nice lady in China sent them to me super quick. All I have to do is decipher the instructions that are in French and I shall be away.

 

 

 

On New Year's Day Mick and myself had a little drive to Sidmouth for some fresh air. The weather forecast was for yet more rain but turned out better than expected and it brought out  quite a few people enjoying the sea air. There were even a few brave souls surfing.

 

 

 

Here is wishing you all the very best for the coming year and to many happy stitching hours.

 

 

Love Shirley.