Tea, fabric and other things....: June 2010

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Ali's Quilt

Let me introduce you to Ali's (unfinished, mental block, lost motivation) quilt.

Ali is my son's girlfriend and she turned 21 last year. I had the bright idea to make her a quilt. Luckily we did buy her a gift and this quilt was to be an extra.

Ali likes all things Japanese and was lucky enough to visit Japan on a school trip. At the time around her birthday we were all enjoying these books by Kitty Pippin and I too was inspired.

I already had a lot of Japanese squares and some indigos and I fell into this project with a vengeance. The idea - waterlilies bordering the water, the indigos patched together to imitate the movement of the water emphasised by the sashiko stitching and the little stepping stones through the water. The border fabric is decorated with dragonflies and I wanted to use this motif in the quilting. I also thought of quilting some goldfish through the water but didn't find a simple design to use.

I dragged out my graph paper and began to measure and plan.

I joined the different indigo fabrics and carefully set in the stepping stones.

Ali liked the rabbits on the fabric so I positioned them as though they were leaping across the stones.

And then I started the sashiko that looked so impressive in the book. I don't know what happened but that sashiko killed my motivation. I put it aside late last year and haven't touched it since. Ali is overseas at the moment and I would love to show her my progress when she gets back.

So, deep breath, I need to get over the sashiko and restart this project.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Grump therapy

I must confess that I am grumpy!

It's tax time and I have a mountain of work to do. I dare not look at my machine or a needle and thread just in case I succumb to the temptation.

On the way to a client's house today I took a detour to one of my favourite shops, Pins and Needles in Warrandyte.

Now I'm not so grumpy any more:)

Friday, June 18, 2010

Farmer's Wife update

Recently I have just been piecing some more of the Farmer's Wife blocks. I am really enjoying this project on many levels. It is the perfect project for someone, like me, who wants to experiment and learn about colour and placement.

This is the Calico puzzle block and I chose pink and brown. I like this combination.

This block is called Buckwheat. The brown fabric (which I consider an ugly) has a hint of blue running through it which is why I paired it with the blue. I am getting into a little bit of trouble using fabrics with strong horizontal or vertical patterns. Some of these pieces are quite small and I have to be more aware of how the design works in the small pieces.

This is the Broken Sugar Bowl. As much as I like this colour combination the design on the red fabric doesn't work in the small blocks. These blocks will be set on point and the pattern on the red fabric makes is look like the seam is not straight. In truth it may not be but the design tricks the eye and makes it look worse.

Lastly is the Bowtie. Nice simple fabrics. lovely design with clean lines. No complaints here.

Enjoy your weekend.

Elyte

Friday, June 11, 2010

Mini finish

I don't know if you should be in love with your own work, but I plead guilty. That's a bit narcissistic don't you think? Guilty on all charges.

This is the finished mini sudoku quilt that I blogged about in April. Everyone else cut 6 1/2" squares but I chose 1 1/2" squares. I really like the result and it hangs proudly, on the quilt hanger I bought on our week end away, in the lounge room.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Tea and Jelly Roll

I was suffering with a nasty cold this week end and unfortunately I missed my monthly Bluegum Quilters' meeting. But on the up side, I finally finished my daughter's tea cosy.

It is made from fabrics that my sister brought me from the US earlier this year. I would not normally choose these colours but when I saw my daughter's new orange teapot I knew where these fabrics were headed. I used the orange spotty fabric for the lining

I borrowed a ruler to cut the pyramid shapes and proceeded to piece the tea cosy. I didn't really enjoy the process at first but once I got my rhythm and worked out how to iron the seams I was chugging along beautifully. I quilted 1/4" inch either side of the seams to emphasise the diamond shapes.

And as the week end progressed and I was feeling better, I decided to make the next block in the Jelly Roll Sampler.

Things are now getting a little bit tricky. I wanted to use the burgundy for the corners but it didn't give me enough contrast and neither did the green. The black was chosen in end but I was about 2cm short. What to do, what to do?

So I did this......

Now that we have passed the half way mark favourite fabrics are disappearing and more care will have to be taken when choosing fabrics for the new blocks.

And to finish, a few images from The Waverley Patchworkers quilt show that we attended last weekend. They always have a wonderful show and sensational lunch and afternoon tea.

Afternoon tea for weight watchers courtesy of Missy Moo Cottage Crafts. That brown felt looked sooooooo chocolatey.

These tiny hexagons were hand pieced by Linda Crouch as she travelled in France while her husband was at a conference. The hexagons were slightly larger than a 5c piece ( or maybe a dime). It was very small.