Document folder - tutorial

A while back I mentioned that I was going to make a folder for travel documents before I went on holiday. I did, and I finished it on the eve of departure, but I realized that I have never posted about it. I took a lot of pictures while I was working on it to help remember the whole process if I wanted to make more, and that means I have the makings of a tutorial here :-) So if you want to make one, I'll walk you through it all. Here goes:You need three pieces of Fast2Fuse (a kind of stiff interfacing which is fusible on both sides. There is something called Timtex which is similar, but not fusible, so you'll have to use some fusible like Wonder Under or Bondaweb with it to attach the fabric). 2 pieces: 5 x 10" (- front and back) and 1 piece 3/4 x 10" (the spine). Butt the pieces up to each other and stitch together using a wide zig zag stitch so you end up with a piece which is 10 3/4" x 10 ". This is to make the folder easier to fold when it is finished, rather than using a whole piece.
Iron a piece of fabric to each side of the Fast2Fuse, slightly larger than the F2F, and quilt the piece. Trim edges. For the pockets you need three pieces of fabric: 9 1/2 x 15", 7 x 11" and 5 1/2 x 7". You may adapt the sizes to your needs. Iron fusible interfacing to the back of all pieces. I cut mine 1/2" smaller in both directions to get less bulk at the seams.
Fold all three pieces in half right sides together and stitch along sides and bottom, leaving an opening, clip corners and turn pieces inside out. Press. You will now have three pieces with finished sizes 9 x 7 ", 6 1/2 x 5 " and 5 x 3 ". To make them more sturdy, stitch a narrow seem along the edge on both sides and top + a seam ca 1/4" from the edge (leave the bottom edge unstitched for now).
Place the three pockets on top of each other as shown in the picture below. The two smaller ones are aligned along the bottom (tuck the seam allowances inside) and then placed 1/2" from the bottom of the largest one, and centered. Stitch the two smaller ones to the large one with a seam along the bottom edge. The bottom of the largest pocket will be aligned to the bottom edge of the cover.
The pockets should be stitched together along the bottom line only.

Align the three pocket pieces along the bottom of the cover piece and pin (measure out from the middle, so they are centered). Make sure that you have the side of the cover you want to be on the inside facing up. If you have a fabric on the outside where the direction of the pattern is important, make sure that the pockets are aligned to the bottom edge of the cover - you don't want your cats or whatever to be upside down! Find the ridges that mark the two seams in the Fast2Fuse and mark these with pins along top and bottom edges. Draw a chalk line from top to bottom along both and stitch on these lines through all the layers. This forms the spine of the folder, and also becomes a pocket for your pen.
Your folder should now look something like this. I won't pretend to be an expert when it comes to stitching zippers, but here's what I did anyway. I used a binding strip on each side to cover the edges of the zipper. Cut three strips from full width of fabric 1 1/2" wide and join them to form one long strip. For perfectly rounded corners you might want to make this a bias strip, but I was in a rush and fudged it a little, so I used strips cut on the straight of the grain and managed to make passable corners anyway... I rounded them ever so little to make this easier.
Fold a length of binding in half right sides out and pin it along the outer edge on the outside of the folder. Fold in one end about 1/4 " and cut the strip to length, letting the other end overlap by 1/2". Tuck this end inside the beginning of the strip. Stitch all the way around with a seam allowance slightly less than 1/4" making sure to ease the fabric strip around the corners so it doesn't become too stretched or too puckered.
Open the zipper ( a 22" one) and pin it around the edge on top of the binding strip, starting in the middle at the bottom.
Pin the remaining binding strip on top of the zipper, wrong side facing up, tucking one end inside the other as before. Stitch all the way around the outside edge using a 1/4" seam allowance. Now for a bit of hand stitching: Fold the edge of the last strip over so it meets the edge of the folder, then over again, so it ends up covering the seam on the inside. Pin and hand stitch to the fabric on the inside, making as neat a finish as possible. The Fast2Fuse is a bit stiff and akward to handle, and a thimble might be helpful. The binding on the outside should also be folded down and stitched to the fabric on the outside, leaving a "lip" to cover the zipper almost to the "teeth".
Then it is time to put your tickets, passport, travel insurance card, business cards, pen and whatever in your folder, zip up and you are ready to go!

I hope this made sense, but if anything is unclear, please ask and I'll try to improve my explanation. I found this folder quite handy to carry my important documents in - it was big enough so I didn't have to fold things too much, and it was easy to find in my purse (always a challenge...), but not so big that it got in the way.

Folded flowers finished fast

As a master of creating workshop-UFOs I'm proud to say that I actually finished the bag the day after the workshop - that must be a new record! I think it turned out quite well, and the rick rack along the top edge was a good finishing touch. It just goes to show that everything comes in handy sooner or later: I bought it along with some in pink and turquoise a while back. The colour was described as "soft green" and I had something more pastel in mind and was very disappointed when it arrived. I decided that returning it was too much of a hassle, and it was so cheap that it wasn't really worth bothering about so I just put it aside.


When I was gathering the materials for the workshop it came to mind again, and I dug it out again, and lo and behold - it was a perfect match for the silk and leaves fabric. So maybe it was meant to be ;-) The fabric flowers weren't too difficult to make, and I think I'll remember if I ever want to make some more. Here's a close-up - the picture is actually taken with my cell phone.

That really says something about my ancient camera, doesn't it? I couldn't get a proper close-up with my camera, but with my phone: no problem! I must start doing some research into digital cameras with a view to getting a new one. Any suggestions?

It worked :-)

- I'm"itchin' to be stitchin' " again. The workshop today was great fun. It didn't take long to master the technique of folding the flowers, so we could concentrate on chatting and giggling, looking at all the new fabric and yarn and dreaming about new projects. Just the thing to get the creative juices flowing again. I din't finish the bag, but both sides and the handles are ready so I'll finish it up tomorrow. My back insists on a bit of rest today after a day in a chair that was too low and a table that was too high. I'll try to get a better picture of the flowers tomorrow when the light is better.

After tidying my craft table when I came home, I made delicious bacon, spring onion and cheese muffins to be eaten warm with a cup of tea. Just the ticket for the first Saturday of autumn :-)

And tomorrow the day will be spent in the company of my sewing machine...

Friday at last!

I thought the weekend would never arrive! Getting back to normal routines after the summer hols has proved more difficult than ever. I think I'm suffering from an overload of inspiration after Birmingham - lots of new ideas, books, magazines, fabric and thread that I could do something about, but somehow I can't get started.

Like so many other bloggers at the moment I have been clearing out cupboards and getting rid of stuff - it's the new ting, apparently ;-) I haven't started on my fabric stash yet, but I'm getting closer... Something has to be done I suppose, as I keep adding new fabric, and I'm sure there is a lot there that I'll never use. Not to mention all those magazines piling up - I really ought to sort through them and see if I'm able to say goodbye. It's just that I'm convinced that once I throw one away I'll get a desperate urge to look at a pattern or technique described in that particular issue next week... Meanwhile boring books, summer clothes I haven't worn this year, oldish foodstuffs, spice and such are on their way out as I'm working my way around the flat with less clutter as my ultimate goal.

To kick-start my quilting urge again I have signed up for a workshop tomorrow. Being with other quilters, discussing ideas and fabric and actually making something (although it's not quite my sort of thing...) tends to put me back in quilting mode after a slump, so I am counting on this as a prelude to a quilty weekend :-)
We are making folded fabric flowers in silk and using them in nine-patch blocks. The shop samples are a cushion and a cot quilt, very pretty, tone-on-tone, but as usual I'm doing my own thing. I've decided on a tote bag for my mother, and I have chosen some green silk and a cotton fabric with autumn leaves, combined with black. That way I'll get a finished poduct that's actually going to get used. A cushion with silk flowers is not quite my kind of thing, so that would just mean adding another UFO to my collection. Here's what I'll be working with, and that's also this Friday's WIP.

Just one more

-and then I'll stop going on about Birmingham for now ;-) I just wanted to share this piece by Majyk Scraps Textile Group which I found very fascinating. Like a child I kept going past and watching how the image changed, then back again quickly - two different pictures just after one another, then again s l o w l y and stopping at the point where I could see both at the same time and then gradually see a new picture emerge.

The casual observer must have thought I was totally deranged! But I had fun, so who cares. Ideas of doing something similair have been brewing, but I'll probably never do anything about it. It has been done, and not by me, and that's OK. Come to think of it, the idea is not very different from those advertising boards one used to see with lots of square or triangular tubes that slowly turn around to form new pictures. I find the mechanism of the things totally fascinating, but once I have studied the construction and decided how I would have done it, I'm satisfied. I don't have to go there. I think...
The piece is called "Sunset at Saint Valery Sur Somme", original photo and design by Sue Readhead. Various techniques were used, including felting, layering, cantha, machine embroidery, cable stitch and beading. The triangular tubes were machine fagotted together and mounted on a wooden frame.

More from Birmingham

I promised more pictures from The Quilt Festival. The first post consisted of random pictures. Here are some that I kept returning to.

I loved these skinny houses by Janine Jones. The title is "Memories..." In her description in the catalogue it says: "I was fascinated with the simple geometric shapes of the windows, doorways and stonework of Gwydir Castle, Llanrwst. Shapes which became simplified during the design process. Colour was very important. After examining the colours of the Welsh Stone I concentrated on the more vibrant colours I could find and like."


These strips are "Cauldron" by a group who call themselves Cortex Fabricata. They have used dyeing, linoprinting, rubbings, painting, hand and machine applique, quilting, couching and beading to create texture like bark on trees. My photos don't show the details very well, but there were so many interesting things going on on the surface of this piece that it had me itching to go home to play with my craft stuff, and that's what a good show should do, isn't it?



And here is "Allium" by Frances Caple. The blocks are inkjet prints of a colour manipulated image. I liked the repetitiveness (is that really a word...?) with the single reversed block to jar the symmetry a bit.
I was going to add some more, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. Blogger is not cooperating and I don't feel like trying again for the umpteenth time...

The entire spectrum?

Well, I did say I was getting back on track, didn't I? I jumped into the Project Spectrum thing with both feet first when Lolly launched the idea in January and started my red and pink project right away. Plans were afoot to continue right on with the yellow, but that was about a month late, I skipped blue altogether (unless you count the turquoise) and the green was also a tad late, but here I am in August right back on track with the neutrals. I bought these just before I went on holiday, to knit some of the lovely "Beach Bunnies" from Simply Knitting, so that's what I'm going to start working on now. Yes, I know, there's the Clapotis and some other things, but a girl needs to have a bit of variety, you know? I bought the yarn at my local quilt and yarn shop at a stitch-n-bitch evening and told everyone what I was going to make. We are having a new gathering next Thursday so I thought it would be fun to have actually made them, and as the colours fit right in with this month's Project Spectrum, what better time than the present? Anyway, that's the excuse I'm using, LOL!

Now I know that the intention of the PS was to have a bit of fun, and it is not as if I'm feeling guilty about not keeping up, or anything ;-). In fact it has made me focus more on colour and where you find it. The Project Spectrum pool is a great inspiration, although I never made it as a member there - I was new toFlickr, and didn't find out how to join before we were a month into the project and then I worried it was too late, duh! If the project continues I promise I'll join the group ;-)

-and back on track

Since I have been out and about a bit over the last couple of weeks I have lost track of my craft projects for a while. There has been no quilting or stitching of any kind since I finished the kite quilt. On a sudden impulse I stuffed some skeins of yarn into my suitcase before I left, and good thing that I did :-) It was nice to have something to do in the evenings while chatting to friends and I'm well into my second Clapotis by now. Now the challenge is to keep at it after returning home. I'm not the quickest of knitters - it's a case of too much time being spent admiring what I have knitted so far and not enough time actually working the needles... Still, I am getting there, and I must say I like this version a lot more than the first one I made (long before I even started this blog). I used the only kind of variegated yarn I could find in the local yarn shop at the time, and the result is a skimpy scarf, not the lucious wrap it should be. This one is made with the "original yarn" used in the pattern: Lorna Laces "Lion & Lamb" and I just love the colours and the feel of it, so I can't wait for it to be finished. I think this will go really well with my denim jacket, and also with my grey winter coat. I'm posting it as my WIP today as a further incentive to finishing it soon.

The only danger is getting sidetracked by a new quilting project. I have a few smaller ones in mind, one of which is something for the abstract challenge in the latest issue of Quilting Arts. I'll have a go at that tomorrow and see if the idea I have in mind works the way I think it will when translated to fabric.

I have decided that I am going to spend more time experimenting and having fun with quilting now that I have finished all those kiddie quilts and I must say I am proud of myself for being firm today: I had a phone call from a lady who had heard from a friend of a friend that I was a quilter, and she wanted me to make a quilted tablecloth for her daughter's dining table in Christmas fabrics. She would supply all the fabrics and she was very specific about what pattern she wanted, and as she explained what she had in mind I had a sinking feeling - "no, this is not what I want to do at this stage at all, I want to have fun!" Her closing argument was what convinced me that I did not want to help her out: "I will pay for it", she said! Well, of course she would!! Did she actually think I was going to do something like that for free?? I have taken on a few projects in the past, but I've come to realize that I hate it. When someone is dictating what I am to do and have preconcieved ideas about what it is going to look like there's just no fun in it for me - I like to play with fabric and thread and see where it takes me. If somebody wants to buy something I have made, and is willing to pay the going rate, fine, I'll consider it, but churning out some boring thing just because somebody promises money, forget it! I told her firmly, but politely that I didn't do that sort of thing. The strange thing was that she got all huffy about it - didn't I want her money?, etc... but I kept refusing as politely as I could, and eventually she gave up, but I had the feeling she was offended. However, that's her problem, not mine. I said no, and I'm glad I did!

Back from Birmingham

I'm just returning to earth after a visit to the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham. It was my second time, and it was great! There was so much to see that there was no way one could see it all in the time we had. The range of work is very big - everything from waving amateur quilts to professional works that knocked you off your feet. And that's what I find so fascinating about this festival, that beginners' works are accepted and hung right next to the experts' - it makes me think that I might actually venture to enter one of my quilts next time...

This tulip quilt was really fascinating. And Janet Bolton had her own exhibition with lots of different pieces. I knew they were small, but hadn't realized how small. Some of them were tiiiny! This one was the biggest of the lot. And it was lovely to meet Janet and chat with her as well.
In the Russian exhibition this great "night at the Opera" (I don't know if that was what it was called) was full of excuisite detail. You could read different stories from what was going on in each box - a wedding party, a mafia boss with his young mistress, a young woman with a vampire...

There were beautiful landscapes - this one used gauze to great effect for the foam of the waves.
Michael James had his own exhibition of recent works. He held a great lecture about his work, and found it really interesting to hear about his career and how he works. This one shows images based on photos of different works from the archives of a gallery (I forget which one), and the background yellow and purple bits are actuallly photos of the interior of the building.
Floral quilts were everywhere. This one has ribbon roses,
while this one is machine appliqued.
Swedish artist Ulva Ugerup had made a hot and cold quilt with teamugs that could be hung either way and was heavily embroidered.
A New York Beauty in great colours! I have been meaning to try my hand at this block, but have shied away from it so far, maybe this one will give the inspiration I need to get started.

It is really unfair to show just a few quilts, because there were so many that deserved to be mentioned, but I'll share some more over the next couple of days.

Kaffe Fassett had a great exhibition, showing quilts from his latest book "Kaleidoscope of Quilts". They are really stunning, but silly me, I didn't take any pictures, thinking "I have bought the book", so I don't have any to show you. But take my word for it, they were great. If you like his work, the book is really worth buying. The quilts have been photographed on different locations in Malta and the pictures are stunning. Kaffe's (look, on first name terms now...) lecture was really great as well - he is such a charming man and presents his work so well. After book signing in the shop (yess! I got a signed copy!) that sold his fabric he gave a tour of his exhibition and we got to chat about his choice of fabric and pattern - that was really the highlight of my visit to the Festival!

I also had a lovely chat with Dorothy Stapleton who is retiring from quilting - at least teaching and lecturing. Lovely lady with a great sense of humor!

I must admit I did a little bit of shopping as well... Not so much fabric - some of Kaffe's and a bit of batik, and some Fossil Fern. I got lots of other interesting bits and pieces though: hand dyed embroidery thread of different weights and colours in silk, cotton and linen, some silk and chiffon fabric for embroidery, shisha mirrors and silk cocoons and some issues of Quilting Arts and Cloth Paper Scissors - I think I might as well get subscriptions - I have been buying so many back issues lately...

That's enough gushing from me today. I'm trying to get back to normal here after being away on holiday for a couple of weeks. It's back to work again on Monday, so I'd better get some more mundane projects out of the way - washing, ironing and some boring paint jobs I have been putting off for too long. And then I might get back to my sewing machine again...

Finished!

And here it is! My kite quilt is finished. Or my nephews kite quilt, I should say. It's his birthday tomorrow, so I've been cutting it close - but I did it, and it feels great :-D This also concludes a series of quilts I've been planning and working on for some years now. A self imposed task and a labour of love, but still something I knew I had to keep at, once I'd given away the first one. I have five nephews and one niece and I wanted to give them all one special gift to remember me by - a bed sized quilt.

The first one I made for my eldest nephew for his fifteenth birthday, three years ago (wow - I actually made them all over a period of three years!) His brother, two years his junior got his quilt two months later. Their sister, who was eight at the time, got hers for Christmas that same year - and then I had a break... Last year my two nine-year old nephews got their quilts for their birthdays two months apart, and finally the youngest one gets his quilt tomorrow.

With the three first ones I used the nine-patch as a unifying element. They were all planned at the same time, and I thought it was fun to explore different ways of using such a simple block ending with three so different quilts. With my niece's quilt I had fun using all the pastel colours little girls love, and was rewarded with tears of joy when she received it - no need to ask, she loved it! With the two teens I was thanked with a gruffly mumbled: "cool" and awkward hugs. Not too open with their emotions at that age, are they? However I was moved to tears when sis told me a while later that they had actually started making their beds without being told, because they "couldn't let those cool quilts lie on the floor, now, could they?"

After working with traditional blocks and abstract themes, I had fun making "real kids' quilts" for the three youngest ones. First one where I used bright and cheerful prints of cats, bats and bugs. I had almost finished the top when his mother bought him a new, extra wide bed, so I had to improvise. The cat's paw prints along the border were what I ended up with.
The space ships and kites came from patterns in Quiltmaker years ago. I changed the dimensions, placement and number of blocks and the background, so my versions are far away from the originals, but doing your own thing is half the fun of making quilts though, isn't it?

As I said, this has been a labour of love and I have enjoyed making each and every one, but it still feels as if a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I have lots of ideas about quilts I want to make, but I have kept telling myself to finish these quilts first, and that has served to curb my enthusiasm a bit. But now there are no excuses, I can do whatever I like! (As if I couldn't before, duh!) So watch out - here I go...

On an entirely different subject. Thank you so much for all the nice mails I've recieved lately, and thanks to Diane E for information about where to find the pattern of the lovely Frost Fire and Leaves Shawl. Tempting. I might be lured back into the knitting realm by this... I have put the book on my wish list, anyway ;-)

Another bag?

Yesterday was my older sister's birthday. I'm sure it came as no surprise to her that she would get some kind of bag, as the two others both got Madison bags for their birthdays. I decided early on that the Madison was not her kind of thing - too girly-girly and not very practical. She has been admiring my Chelsea Tote ever since I made it, so I decided to make one for her. She also loves my leafy green quilt, so I decided to use a lot of greens, florals and fruits, and she was really happy with it. The great thing about this type of bag is that it has a strap with a zipper in it, so you can choose to wear it as a shoulder bag or as a backpack. Lots of pockets inside makes it a very practical bag.

I took the pictures with my black sofa as a background, as I so often do, because I think that makes the object stand out more, but I've come to realize that this may make the pictures in my blog a bit boring - no glimpses of my home, like you find in other blogs, and we do enjoy that sort of thing, don't we? I know I do, so I've decided to start taking pictures in different settings to make it more interesting. I will have more time to do that now as well, as I'm about to start my holidays this weekend. I'm counting days and hours now, I can tell you! I'm sooo fed up with holding the fort at work while everybody else is away, but now it's my turn! Mind you, I'm not complaining, as I have chosen this myself! I have planned my holidays around the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham. Five days there, a week visiting family and friends plus some precious days at home quilting and painting (cupboards, not pictures!) I can't wait! The best part right now seems to be not having to get up early in the morning. One should think that sort of thing got easier in summer, but not for this girl - I can hardly lift my head from the pillow when the alarm goes off. It might have something to do with not going to bed at a reasonable hour, I suppose - but who wants to go to bed when the evenings are warm and sitting on the balcony with my sewing is so pleasant, not me for sure!

Emily Dickinson sampler

Emily Dickinson sampler
Originally uploaded by crafty mathea.

It's Friday again, and I have not posted anything at all since last Friday. To busy stitching I suppose... Well, actually I think it's the heat getting to me - I haven't been up to doing much of anything except stitching.
I thought I'd show another WIP this time - one of the cross-stitch projects I'm currently working on. This one is from Stitcher's World and features a lovely Emily Dickinson poem. I had finished the beehive and the vases of flowers some time ago and then put it away for a while, as I couldn't quite face stitching all the letters. When I finally got around to it, it only took a few days. Typical! What was I waiting for?
I'm sorry the picture is a little blurry. That comes mainly from having a cheap ancient digital camera, and partly from the skill of the photographer... It does not have a zoom feature and doesn't take good close-ups. This is particularly obvious when I try to photograph cross-stitch - something about those little pixel-like stitches being converted to digital pixels seems to make the pictures extra blurry. Well, at least I know what to wish for for my birthday. Any suggestions about what type of camera to get? About the sampler: a floral border outside the one I've started and then some bees here and there, and it's done. It shouldn't take too long, if I don't put it away again, that is! At least now I have blogged about it, and that should keep me motivated to finish it. Feel free to ask about my progress ;-) !
As for the other WIP, my kite quilt, I have actually finished the top! I found a great Jan Mullen fabric for the backing and I'll just give it a quick wash and then I'm ready to layer and quilt. All the kites will get tails, but I haven't quite decided whether I'll just use a contrasting rayon thread and ordinary stitches, the triple stitch on my sewing machine or some cording to make the tails stand out more. I think the latter option would look great, but that might prove too much of a temptation for inquisitive little fingers - I'm not too sure ... ??

On the balcony

It just occured to me that I have forgotten to show pictures of this quilt which I finished just over a week ago. It started out as a summer project and was originaly meant to be a table cloth. However, I soon decided that it was a bit too busy and bright for my table, so I decided to back it with polar fleece and use it as a throw instead. And here it is, ready for an evening on the balcony watching the sun go down.

The pattern is inspired by Kaffe Fasset's Pennants-quilt from his first patchwork book, and is made using one of the Tri-rec rulers. I had never tried those before, but I was impressed with the speed and ease with which the whole thing went together without using templates. I used a store-bought fleece blanket with rounded corners, hence the rounded edges on the quilt. I was quite impressed with the way I managed to keep track of all the blocks and which way they were to go, what with having to transport the pieces back and forth between home and quilt shop, but after quilting I realized that I had got one of the blocks in the wrong way after all. Never mind, it's there to stay now and I suppose most people won't notice it! And I have stopped being coy about the things I make - "no, this is nothing, and look at the mistakes I've made..." was what I used to respond with if people complemented my work. Now I prefer to smile and thank them for noticing, and try not to blush for being so self-congratulatory. As adults we tend to put ourselves down a bit. I think I have something to learn from my youngest nephew: when someone tells him that he is clever he simply says "yes I know"! A bit too much coming from a forty-something, I suppose, but a slightly modified version accompanied by lowered lashes and a bashful smile might be all right...
Talking of my youngest nephew: here is a glimpse of my WIP, the kite quilt that he will get for his birthday. I have joined the kites and background pieces in strips now and here they all are ready to be joined together. The picture shows an example of my summer laziness, I have taken to using my embroidery frame (hiding an unfinished tapestry) to hang the strips from so I just have to swivel around on my chair by the sewing machine to grab the next trip when stitching them together.
And now, back to the balcony...

I think I'll hang on to that day job...

Isn't this lovely? It is not one of my creations, but a free pattern found here. There is one dress for each month of the year (this is the March dress) all in 50s style. A friend of mine sent me the link yesterday, and I've been thinking about them ever since. These dresses are from a time when my mother was a young girl. She's about to retire from work this autumn, and I was thinking that a quilt, wallhanging or something with these dresses might be a fittingly nostalgic present for her. Or maybe I'll just stitch them and keep them for myself... Or make one set for me and one for her! They are not too complicated, and shouldn't take too much time to stitch, hm... tempted!

But first things first, there is a kite quilt to finish. It is coming along nicely, but it is a good thing that I don't do this for a living: with all the frogging I have had to do on this project, I would never have made enough of an income to keep myself in the style I'm accustomed to :-D I have persevered though, and I can safely say that I have got the hang of this foundation piecing thing again, for now... I think it will be a while before I try it again, and by then I will probably have forgotten how to do it and will have to start all over again.

Never mind, I have finished all the blocks now and joined them to the background pieces, so I have five strips of blocks laid out ready to be stitched to the narrow strips that go in between. As long as I manage to get some quality time with my sewing machine tomorrow, I'll manage to get those finished as well and I can start assembling the quilt top. So far I'm confident that I will manage to complete the quilt before August 10th, to present it to the birthday boy.

Oh what joy!

I received my books from Amazon the other day. These three had all been on my wish list for a while, and when I realized they were all available on special offer, the finger on the mouse button only had to make a few rapid up and down motions and the trio was on it's way to my home...

They arrived a couple of days ago and I haven't really had time to study them at length yet, but with this lovely weather and my balcony garden being at the peak of its beauty right now, I'll be enjoying some precious leisure time there poring over these gems this weekend. The one I have been spent most time with so far is Kristin Nicholas' "Colorful Stitchery" - such an inspiration! I have done some embroidery over the years. Although my main focus - before I discovered quilting - was on cross-stitch, I have tried crewel work and after a embroidery class last winter I think I've finally got the hang of stem stitch and feather stitch as well. This book really inspires me to try it on some useful items for the home.

My mother and my grandmother both did various needle crafts, but the person who really inspired me to create was in fact my great grandmother, who died long before I was born. The country cottage where she lived all her married life is full of items she created. Beatifully crocheted curtains, appliqued wallhangings, embroidered tablecloths and chair covers - you name it, she did it all. Sadly my aunt and uncle who inherited the place have no appreciation of "old stuff", so it's not all on display anymore, but at least I have been allowed to "rescue" a lot of her things for safe keeping. Hm, that's subject of a whole blog post of it's own, I think. I really should photograph and catalogue all those tablecloths...

Back to the book. Although it is a fresh take on an old craft, it also reminds me of some of the work of the Bloomsbury set. I remember visiting an exhibition about Dora Carrington's work in the Barbican years back (probably around the release of the film about her life in 1995) and there were whole rooms designed to look like her home, where everything was painted and created especially for the places they were placed. Although the designs in this book are nothing like those, I get the same feeling of objects lovingly created to be displayed in rooms that are creatively put together. Such an inspiration!

The two quilt books, Denyse Scmidt Quilts and the Ringle/Kerr Modern Workshop one are also well known in Blogland, I think, and I will not be the first to draw inspiration from these. Once I have finished my self-appointed task of making quilts for all nieces and nephews I intend to spend more time creating just for the sake of creating and I believe these books will be among the ones that will help me further along this path. I can't wait to begin! But first I have some kite blocks to finish...

Another Friday, same WIP

It has been a hectic week, but I have made some progress on my kite-quilt. Here are some of the kites pinned up on the background sky fabric. I have actually finished all the kite parts of the blocks, and they will all go up on my design wall* tomorrow to decide which ones go where. Once I have decided, I can finish the blocks with sky-, sea- or sand-fabric respectively. I hope to have this done by the end of the weekend.

The Jan Mullen fabrics and some other brights from my stash seem to work quite well for the kites, so my soon to be six year-old nephew will get a bright and cheerful quilt to suit his bright and cheerful personality. He is such a sunny child, always with a glimpse of a dimple in his cheek and a twinkle in his eye as he talks a mile a minute and twists everyone around his little finger. I can't wait for him to see his quilt :-)

Talking of little boys, I was quite impressed by another little one yesterday. A group of us gathered at the local quilt shop for a stitch-and-chat. One of the girls couldn't get a sitter, and had brought along her son who's just turned five. He was put to work by his mum, making headbands for his cousins. His mother cut the fabric (chosen from his very own stash, which he brought in his own little bag) and some polar fleece for the backing. He stitched the pieces together on the sewing machine, his mother clipped the corners before he turned them inside out. His mother ironed them and he did the quilting, on the machine, before his mother added the velcro. He obviously enjoyed the whole process, working with his mother, choosing fabric and thread for each of the cousins and doing most of the work - it was obvious that this wasn't the first time he had used a sewing machine though. But it really goes to show how much a child can manage with a little help (and supervision) from an adult, if we dare to let them have a go. I bet he'll have wonderful memories of crafting with his mum, and who knows, maybe he will become a quilter when he grows up!

*"Design wall" is rather a grand name for it, come to think of it! I haven't got much free wall space available in my small flat, so my design wall consist of a flannel sheet with big metal eyelets in two corners. This is hooked on to the wall whenever I need to use it and is easy to take down again once I'm finished.

Is it better on paper?

I have started a new quilt. This is one I have been planning to make for quite a while. I have made bedquilts for my niece and for four of my five nephews, so it's about time that the youngest one gets his.
The original pattern is from an old copy of Quiltmaker, but I have changed it a bit, and found a fabric collection with sand, sea and sky that I think will work well as background for the colourful kites, some flying in the air and some waiting in the sand before they are launched - the impression I want to give is a fun day at the beach. The kites are supposed to be made with foundation piecing, and I made loads of copies of the paper foundations, got my fabrics out and got started. I have been wondering these past few days, though, if this paper piecing thing really is such a good idea...
I have done some earlier, but I can't remember having had so much trouble with it. The kites have angular pieces of different sizes, and it was quite a challenge remembering to place the fabric pieces in the opposite direction of where they were supposed to go when they were flipped over, and invariably I'd find that the piece of fabric I had used was just short of covering the whole area it was supposed to. It is no coincidence that my seam ripper is in the middle of the picture :-D
To make matters worse the bacground fabrics are directional, and I certainly don't want to have vertical clouds or waves, so there was a challenge... Luckily I remembered that I'd seen an article in an old issue of Quilter's Newsletter about paper piecing with directional fabrics and how to get it right, and I was able to find it and put it to good use. It took some time getting the hang of it, but I'm getting there...
What I find though, is that I have to cut the fabric in larger pieces than I would if I were piecing in the traditional way, and I end up with loads of offcuts that will really swell up my scrap bag. I think my puritan mind is having a slight reaction to all this waste, so I'm not too sure if this is the technique for me. Still, I am getting better at it, and that might serve me well in future projects - if I ever want to paper piece again, that is!

A nine-patch of plans

mosaic1
Originally uploaded by crafty mathea.

I tend to have several projects going at once, and sometimes it is a bit difficult to stay motivated, and remember what I intend to make before the deadline is there. There is also the risk of getting sidetracked and forget about current projects because something new and exciting pops up in my mind. That's the stuff UFOs are made of...

I won't even go there, just yet - I have several UFOs as well, but these are the projects I intend to put in some work on in the near future.

I have blogged about my bright pennant quilt, the Café de Paris quilt and the Home Sweet Home quilt recently, so I won't bore you with details yet again.

Then there is a new quilt about to get started: My youngest nephew is the only member of the family who hasn't got his own bedquilt yet, and his birthday is in August, so it is time to get started. The EQ sketch of kites in the top right corner is what I have in mind for him.

The Madison bag for my middle sister was a success, but there's no time to rest on my laurels. My older sister's birthday is coming up in less than a month, so there's another bag to make. She's not the very girly type, so the Madison bag will not do, but I caught her studying my turquoise Chelsea tote with great interest and I know she loves my green Kaffe Fasset quilt, so she'll get a green tote with foliage, fruit and flowers.

My Amy Butler quilt is still waiting for it's borders, but the good news is that the fabric has arrived, so that project is one step closer to fruition.

I have some quilted postcards lying around, some of which are half finished. They were made for a class and I had left them in different stages to show the whole process. There's really no excuse not to finish them...

A friend showed me a travel document folder she had bought and which I thought was a very good idea to bring along on one's travels - enough room too hold passport, tickets etc. As a "serious" quilter I wouldn't even dream of going out and buying one, though ;-) - I'm going to construct my own quilted version complete with zipper and all. I'd better finish that before my holidays in August.

Just to fill in the whole nine-patch of projects, I'm showing a glimpse of my stitchery quilt. I'm working on a series of garden themed embroideries that will be set with floral fabrics to make a garden quilt sometime in the distant future. For now it is just a nice set of little sewing projects that are quite handy to put in one's purse and do a bit of stitching on when I'm out and about - in waiting rooms, visiting with friends and so on.

Looking at all this I see that I have plenty to keep me occupied in the coming weeks - I'd better get started!

That was quick!

I was holding my breath here to see if I managed to upload a picture. Blogger hasn't been cooperating with me the last few days, but I gather from the help-forum that I was not alone. I had ever so much trouble in getting pictures uploaded to my previous post, but eventually I managed it by creating a new post, uploading the pictures and copying the text into that one before deleting the previous one - what a computer genius! Enough said about that - it's just so frustrating when things don't work the way they should!
It dawned on me yesterday morning that my sister was on way home from her holiday in Cannes, and as she had celebrated her birthday while she was there, she would probably invite the family to a party once she got home. I have known her birthday was coming up, of course, and I have known what I was going to give her ever since my youngest sister's birthday in April, so why hadn't I done anything about it?! Procrastination could have been my middle name...
There was nothing for it though, so I set to work once I got out of bed. Cut the fabrics before I had my breakfast, and then it was off to the sewing machine. Luckily I have made this particular handbag (Amy Butler's Madison bag) so many times, that I could do it without checking the pattern every minute, so it went together during the day, and I actually managed to get a few other things done as well... The flower was hand stitched in the company of a good movie in the evening, and stitched on to the bag with a cone shaped button from an old blouse in the middle. Perfect for a flower, not so perfect on the blouse - dancing partners kept complaining about getting stung ;-)
The previous ones I've made have been made from Amy Butler fabric in bright colours, but that wouldn't do for this sister. I found a linen look-alike in soft colours with matching Jinny Beyer fabrics: green for the lining and dusky pink for the flower. I'm quite pleased with it myself, and I hope sis will be as well, when she gets it this afternoon, for sure enough, she phoned yesterday as I was putting the finishing touches on the bag, to invite us to a garden party today...

It's all about WIPs here...

I have been a lazy blogger this week. I have some excuses, though...

We started a summer project at my favourite quilt shop last week, a summery table cloth. The lovely ladies at the shop had made kits with all the fabric we needed for the top - perhaps not the ones I would have chosen, but the most important thing for me was the social aspect - to me that's one of the most important things about this hobby: like minded people getting together, stitching a little, sharing ideas, knowhow, chocolate and laughter. We spent a whole evening cutting triangles with the TriRec ruler and our homework was to stitch them together to make blocks. "Piece of cake" I thought - "I'll do that in no time at all"... Weeeell, needless to say, things didn't quite turn out that way.

I decided to finish my Café-quilt top first as I'd have plenty of time to do those triangles... Somehow that took a lot more time than I had imagined, and I found myself stitching well into the night to be ready for the next step at the quilt shop on Monday. I did manage to finish all the blocks, although those plaids were a nightmare! Never before have I used fabric that created so much lint and left loose threads flying in and around my sewing area. I actually had to stop twice to clean my sewing machine!
On Monday amid fun and laughter with the girls I managed to stitch the blocks together. We had a great time, but there was still a lot of work to be done. By then I had decided that this was not going to be a tablecloth after all - it was much to bright and colourful, even for me - a lap quilt to use on my balcony during warm(ish) summer evenings would be a better idea, and I remembered that I had a green polar fleece blanket that I might use for backing. Great, I'd just have to add the borders, spray baste the top to the blanket and machine quilt it just enough to keep the two layers together - "I'll do that tomorrow" I mumbled to myself as I drifted off to sleep that evening.

It was not to be. On Tuesday I came home from work and realized that the maid (me) had been off duty for far too long and there were piles of dishes to clean, floors to mop and all (knowing that "dust bunnies are just a sign of people having had too much fun to clean" was no consolation, something had to be done!) And boy, was I glad I did, because the moment I'd finished, the doorbell rang, and there was a friend of mine who was passing by and had impulsively decided to pay me a visit. Several cups of tea and quilting magazines later I waved goodbye to my friend and went to bed. "I'll finish that quilt tomorrow" I thought as I drifted off to sleep.

The next day we had a minor crisis at work, so I was late getting home. I had just finished dinner when the phone rang - another friend who wanted to pay a visit. Another great evening with tea and sympathy and no quilting...
Thursday was the day for our monthly quilting bee, and here I am on Friday, piles of washing up again, and no progress on the quilt. Mind you, I'm not complaining! I feel truly blessed to have so many friends who want to spend time with me, and all those evenings chatting about our lifes and plans and inspiring each other are part of what life really is about, isn't it? But tomorrow I might get some work done on that quilt - or maybe not...