Stash Avalanche

Flowers, and Lewis, and Irene

Hello!

Sorry, I wasn't planning to be away that long but life has been slightly mad in the last couple of weeks and whilst I do actually have some things to show you, I don't have any photos of them so...

Here's some more Lewis and Irene! It is rather additive stuff.

 I haven't got any further than putting it in some sort of order, but this selection of Flo's Wildflowers is destined to be a really simple quilt of squares, probably around 3" ones. Maybe on point... not sure yet. And it will all have to wait until the other two are done otherwise I'll have even more half finished quilts and even less self-discipline.

I also plan to buy some more of the one at the end on the right... and perhaps the 4th from the left.... and the 6th... to make some really simple sleeveless kaftan tops like the ones in this post   from... my goodness! 2012! I'm still wearing them, and the blue dress, but I have no idea what happened to the purple dye disaster. That probably went in the Oxfam bag when we moved back from Ireland.

I will try to find my tripod tomorrow and then I can show you what I've been up to, and not a quilt in sight!

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More Lewis and Irene!

Hello!

I must admit to not having done much since my last post, partly due to having the maddest two weeks ever and partly because I managed to half slice the end of my finger off on a piece of glass so was completely unable to knit or crochet. But...

I've been thoroughly Lewis and Irene-d, so much so that, whilst I try to work out how I want to finish that riverside strip quilt,  I've started another one...

Another strip quilt. Well, they're just so quick and satisfying.

This one is a mixture of Flo's Wildflowers, Salisbury Spring, and Enchanted Forest with a bit of pale grey (can't remember whose) thrown in to break up the busyness.

 

And if you peek closely enough, you'll see there's a general theme of rabbits.

We're pretty big on rabbits in this house, so I just couldn't pass by these fabrics without buying.

Somewhat uncharacteristically for me, I think I even have a plan for the sides - as with the riverside one, it's too long and narrow to leave as it is, so there will be some additions to sort out the proportions.

There is a third pile of L&I to work on so I think I can officially put this in the Frenzy! category. But that will have to wait a while. I think it would be too dangerous to start a third before I have at least one quilt top finished; too much temptation to get even more distracted than I am already.

And now, back to the cutting mat.

 

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Starting to refind my mojo

Gosh, I am ridiculously excited about the fact that this is the third post I've managed in 2 weeks. Given the fact that this is possibly a higher frequency of posting than the last, what... four years, I feel pretty good about it.

As I said previously, I've been thinking about this blog a lot but never managing to put fingers to keyboard, and yet, suddenly something - I have no idea what - has shifted in my little world and I am crafting again (rather than just ticking over) and blogging again.

I have a few yarny things to mention but I'll save them for another post because today I want to gush over fabric.

There's a fabric shop in town which is rather dangerously close to my office and I was nosing about in there the other week and discovered a new-to-me design house Lewis & Irene. I had gone into the shop looking for fabric to make a headboard cushion for Stashlet's bed, and came out with quite a bit more.

See, look? It's already sewn together! As far as me and quilting goes, that's an epic achievement. I still have fabrics I bought before Stashlet was born which have not yet made an  acquaintance with the sewing machine.

This is L&I's Down By The River, and I just could not pass it by. I wasn't sure that I was going to do with it so I just winged it, bought half a meter of everything they had and came home to mull it over.

I've been wanting to make a jelly roll strip quilt for ages but I felt with some of these patterns, 2¹/₂ inch strips would lose the image too much, so I ended up cutting the width to suit the pattern, which became a little like fussy cutting, choosing the best place to cut so that each element, particularly of the willow tree and pond pattern, had at least one strip to call it's own.

I think my favourites are the otters swirling around in the water weed, and the swans. I feel there may be a future top in some of that swan fabric. Possibly with a little water lily border.

Anyways... I cut my strips and spent a happy half hour on the floor with them, trying to get an order that had every design even distributed across the quilt, but have a random element to the organisation too. It was so nice to spend the afternoon sewing them together. I really felt that for once, I had spent my Saturday on something worthwhile.

I'm planning a border now. The finished centre strips piece is 43x80" so proportionally not very good. I'm toying with a few ideas for the long sides to widen it out and something zig-zaggy is the current plan.

 

This is what I doodled at work the other day. Something along these lines anyway. Possibly with a very thin pale/white border around the centre strips before the zig-zag goes on: I feel it needs a little breathing space with all that pattern going on (thinking about that Lila Tueller quilt from way back - lovely but visually very busy!). So I shall be mulling that over for the next few weeks.

In the mean time, I have some other L&I fabric for another quilt, a cardigan to finish knitting, a cardigan to start crocheting, and a few tops to think about. I think with all that lot, there is definitely a reappearance of my mojo taking place :-)

 

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... and some small progress on the quilt

Quilt number 2, which started life as the backing to the baby quilt, has mostly taken a very slow back seat in the last month or two, mainly because I've been crocheting, and also because the next bit was going to be a bit of a fiddle and I never had enough time to sit down and do it properly.

But finally, I've had time, done the fiddle, and am now ready to do the main body of the quilt.

Firstly I had to finish the side panel. I think the last time I posted about this quilt  I still had the second lot of steps to do, but that is now done.

The fiddly bit was Stashlet's name. Not that the stitching would be any different but marking out the letters - getting the kerning right and getting them straight - needed time and no distractions. But as of Tuesday, it's done and now I just need to decide on a pattern for the main body of the quilt.

The font is Cooper Black in 500 point bold, so this a for example is about 4" high. I'm not usually a fan of Cooper Black (I'm more of a bit of a sans serif person myself) but it does work nicely in quilts and crafty situations, I think.

If you follow me on Pinterest, you might have noticed the appearance of a new board on Sashiko. Sashiko is a form of decorative stitching from Japan. Wiki tells you a bit about it here but you'll find loads more by Googling if you're interested. Or click on some of the images on my Pinterest board.

I really like the simplicity of it, and I think it works really well with quilted items. I can see myself doing a lot more single fabric quilts with it (and in the same vein, I like these Alina bed covers from Ikea).

Anyway, I'm looking for a pattern to fill the rest of Stashlet's quilt. It needs to be relatively simple (because I mark the fabric with chalk which doesn't stay put for very long and therefore needs to be clearly visible and done in phases), and it needs to go with the existing patterns on the side panel. I do still like the idea of using the circle pattern but I think I'm going to have that as Plan B if I can't come up with anything else.

In other news, my alluded-to crochet project is finished, but I'm not happy with it so will probably pull it out. There's a mildly long story to it so I'll save it for it's own post (at the weekend if I can get my act together).

Belatedly sharing this with Randi's Show and Tell Tuesday. Thanks Randi!

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Some not entirely satisfactory sewing...

I've been flitting from project to project in the last few weeks, following the completion of the baby quilt.

Mostly I've been crocheting (and there'll be a post about that coming along shortly) but I've also done a spot of dress making and finally managed to do a bit more of Stashlet's quilt.

So. The dresses. I used New Look's 6095 which I bought a few years ago when I worked at my LFS. It's a nice quick and simple pattern, and I was particularly taken with the orange sleeveless sketch which I think was what sold it to me.

As is my wont, I made a muslin out of Ikea Bomull and dyed it Dylon Jeans Blue. I know, it's getting boring now, but I really do like that colour, and out of all the Dylon colours I've tried, it is so far the only one which is not a. horrible or b. requires sunglasses.

The result was this:

Well, firstly, apologies for the complete absence of an iron. The dress turned out too short and - for me - the neckline is too high, but I like the general shape of it and the little cap sleeves.

I did a spot of creative but rather badly executed top stitching on the hem and neck to make it a little less boring. I really like the idea but next time I have to plan (and mark!!!) the distance between the lines a lot better.

The outcome is that it's wearable with leggings but it might end up in the charity bag.

Hot on the heels of that, and somewhat of a panic sew (I had a job interview and wanted to wear a dress), came this one:

Same New Look pattern but I omitted the sleeves and changed the neckline. I have to say the Bomull muslin fared better. This one's only saving grace is that it is a reasonable length - I think I added on at least 6". The neckline is too deep and gapes a bit, and I should have pulled the shoulders in an inch or so, as it's too wide and difficult to hide bra straps under. And to top it, I'm not sure the fabric and the dress go together. Needless to say, I didn't wear it to the job interview.

I did a bit of top stitching on this one too, just one line this time, using the stretch straight stitch option which I think makes it look a bit like a handsewn sashiko style running stitch. And if you follow me on Pinterest, you'll have seen I've started a shashiko board; more on this in the next post...

All in all, I think this pattern needs something a bit more drapey than quilt-weight cotton, especially to get the sleeves to hang right, but I do like the general idea of it, so you'll probably see it again somewhen!

Sharing with Randi's Show and Tell Tuesday. Thanks Randi!

Quilt number 2

Meanwhile, back as Stashlet's quilt, here's how far I'd got before I put the quilting on hold in order to finish Baby L's quilt:

One panel of steps and one panel of circles done.

I really like the circles, and am tempted to do the whole main panel of quilting in them, but it will take an age and I have another idea I want to try out. But a whole quilt of quilted circles would be great.

So now I need to mark on, and quilt another panel of steps. I've bought myself a thimble that fits (my  others are all too small. Why?) so progress should be less painful than before.

Watch this space...

Sharing this with Randi's Show and Tell Tuesday. Happy Tuesday everyone!

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One finished baby quilt

It's done! Well, it was finished a week ago, but it took a while to get decent light and non-gale conditions for some photos.

Mr G did the honors and held it up (better than pegs!) but I forgot to take some photos of the back to had to pin it up on the washing line.

It took me 5 weeks fron start fo gifting (including too much two-steps-forward-one-step-back), but that was interspersed with some crochet (that needs a post) and a bit of work on Stashlet's quilt. Speaking of which, I put that on hold to get Baby L's version finished so can now continue with that, and some dress sewing. More on that over the weekend hopefully.

Finished quilt size was something like 57" by 68". Can't remember exactly.

Baby L was unimpressed (well, he's only a month old, so still trying to get to grips with life in general) but Mama L was pleased so I'm happy.

Linking up with Randi's Show and Tell Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everyone!

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Giveaway Day winner

Thank you everyone so much for all your lovely comments - it seems that we're nearly all collectors of something or other (especially yarns and fabrics!).

Just in case you've been down a mine or up in space for the past week, I was giving away a metre of this lovely fabric as part of Sew Mama Sew's May Giveaway WeekDay, and a big congratulations to Lia who came up trumps with random.org.

There's an email winging it's way to you, Lia, and thanks again every one else who commented. I do plan to reply to all of you - I know it's a crazy undertaking, but you all said such nice, interesting and funny things.

Giveaway Day!

I haven't made it to one of Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Days for quite a while now, so I hope you'll forgive me if I'm a day late to this one!

I bought this fabric a couple of years ago at a Knitting and Stitch Show, thinking I would make cushion covers, but I've just never got round to it so I think it needs a new home. Would you like to win it?

This is a metre of "First Class" by Prestigious Textiles. It's about 143cm wide, 100% home dec weight cotton. Each stamp is 7x8.5cm not including the white borders. As well as cushion covers, it would also make great bags, either a simple shopper, or a messenger bag or framed purse. Or (sudden brainwave) you could cover a couple of chair seats with it. But you have to win it first!

It's really simple. Leave me a comment telling me if you're a collector and if so, what you collect. I tried stamp collecting when I was a child but was never really gripped by it. Instead I collected Whimsies (do you remember those little china animals?), jugs, and Royal Mail stamp postcards (they produce postcard versions of all their special edition picture stamps, so I suppose I did end up collecting stamps in a roundabout way!).

The rules are pretty simple too: I am happy to ship internationally. Comments are officially open until Sunday 10th May at 5 pm PST which is apparently 1am on Monday 11th May Irish/UK summer time (that's 2am GMT) - that's a wee bit too early for me so I will close comments first thing Monday morning at 9am. I will delete any comment that appears to be spam. I'll choose a winner at random using random.org. I'll post the winner's name on this post on Tuesday, and the fabric will be on it's way to you by Friday.

I'd love to hear from you. Happy Giveaway Day!

Thank you everyone for commenting. Comments are now closed and a winner will be announced tomorrow.

Congratulations Lia! You're the winner. Click on over to here for the whole caboosh.

Then one became two...

Quilt making of a sort has continued to progress over the last week. I made a backing and went off to buy some cotton wadding... and then things kind of went mildly pear shaped and now there are two quilts!

Well, I wasn't happy with the wadding (too thin) so I ended up buying polar fleece instead with the intention of using just like normal wadding - sandwiching it between the quilt top and bottom. But - being a complete novice at this quilting malarky - I had made my backing exactly the same size as the quilt top and thereby created a complete fiddle when trying to sandwich the three layers together. You just can't get them all in line and all perfectly squared up. And I only discovered the idea of having a bigger backing after I trundled off to YouTube to look for some advice. Common sense really but there you go.

And while all this was going on, part of my head was thinking " why hide the (snuggly) fleece away behing another layer of cotton?", so after some mild grumpiness and head scratching, I decided to back the quilt top with fleece, and use the bottom for another quilt. But of course - well, to my mind at least - a rather white quilt top with some bright white fleece would just be too blinding, so more fleece would be required. Something dark blue-ish. And after trawling round all the shops in Dublin, and finding nothing at all, I went off to the internet.

Meanwhile, to add to the stress of all this, the baby arrived. Hooray! But... no quilt to give him, and I got rather over-stressed by this, and the indecision of which fleece to buy for the backing, and the fact that it would probably take at least a week to arrive (because yet again, there was nothing suitable to buy in Ireland - what is it with this country?!). Who'd have thought making a quilt would be so nerve-wracking?

But yesterday I had a brilliant brainwave: use brushed cotton instead, because I can go to the shops and buy a flannelette sheet and some wadding, and not pay for postage or wait a week for the thing to arrive. Double hooray! So that's the plan.

In amongst all the angst, I did actually progress both quilts a little, as you can see. I've done the text on the quilt top, and started to quilt the quilt bottom/top with the fleece. This latter quilt will be for Stashlet; I was sewing fabric together for the quilt top and he wanted to know what I was doing, and then said "can you make a quilt for me next?". So this one is for him, and the quilt I've been planning to make him for er... at least 2 years now, will come next. I have half the fabric for it already (a lovely alphabet panel by Laurie Wisbrun which you can see here), but I want to make a wonky log cabin version and clearly, judging by recent efforts, I need a bit more practice before I get it right.

Sharing this on Randi's Show and Tell Tuesdays - even though it's Wednesday today!

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