{quilt} while you're ahead

30-2015 { indigo dyeing }

Indigo fever.

There's something about that colour that I find mesmerising.

Magic.

It's deep.  Calm.  Thoughtful.

 

 

26-2015 { onion dyeing }

This is something I've been wanting to try for ages.

... but we don't eat a lot of onions so it took a while to collect all the dry skins.  I boiled them for an hour in a big pan and let it cool down overnight.

Then I wet and folded 'shibori-style' an old pillow case (it's either linen or cotton... it was part of mum's wedding trousseau but it has started to fray and couldn't be used anymore) and boiled that for an hour and let it cool overnight.

Not a fast process, but I enjoyed the slowness of it all.  There was no pressure, there were no expectations.

Just delight at the results.

And the overwhelming desire of doing it again... maybe with wool next time!

 

Onion soup, anybody?

17-2015

... so I said to him "choose a fabric for the binding"...

... and he choose the last piece of my favourite fabric...

Sigh.

7-2015

I've replaced the Japanese fabric on my door with a more seasonally appropriate one.

Last night for the first time this winter we've had a light dusting of snow...

(first snowdrops!)!)

The air is clean and smells amazing.

Love it.

 

On a completely different subject I went to the gym.

It hurt.

Now everything hurts.

I was easily the least fit there.  Easily.

 

Sigh.

(134)2014 - blockshoptextiles -

I bought myself a present.  From Block Shop.

I've been admiring and lusting over their scarves for quite some time and I wasn't disappointed.

There's an aura of authenticity about it.  In these days of machine made the imperfections of the handmade are reassuring somehow.

 

Problem is... I now would like another one.

 

(You can check this website of delights here).

 

(127)2014 - indigo pouches -

Indigo pouches WITH a zipper.  Oh yes, because I'm not scared of zippers anymore... bring it on zippers I'm not afraid of you... Except when I forget to unzip you before stitching around the bag... or when I sew you on the wrong side of the teeth... a part from that I've conquered you, I eat you for breakfast ... zippers!

Actually I had French stick with Nutella and a cup of vanilla Assam tea.  Very nice indeed.  (Not a whole French baguette... just a smallish piece.  Ish...)

If you've been reading this blog for a while you'll remember mum and I had a mad indigo dyeing sesh in Tuscany last summer.  At the end of the day I threw some scrunched up and roughly tied dark linen leftovers into it.  Of course they turned out as my favourite pieces, serendipity and all that...

On Saturday, I turned them into small pouches.

And I love them.

And I don't even need pouches.

Still.  Indigo and linen.  What's not to love.

Now I'd love to do some more... but it's cold and wet outside and raining hard and not the best day for an indigo vat.

Sigh.

 

Oh and I need to drive to Heathrow to pick up the prodigal son... better not forget that!

 

(125)2014 - Dress No 2 -

In the spirit of 'use it or lose it', I've been digging through my shelves for more things to do... and you know... it works.  If I was made of stronger stuff I'd make some sort of pledge of not buying anything till I use all the I have up... but I won't.  Because I'm weak.  Have you ever read that book by that journalist that for a year just bought the absolute necessities... which was basically food and toilette paper, probably petrol too... no books, no clothes, no cinema, no dinner out... I think she cancelled her TV licence as well... Just the basic.  I never got to read it and now I wonder what her conclusions were... A part from having saved tons of money... was she happier? what did she learn? Have you read it?  How did she rope her husband in it?  Mine wouldn't survive without Sky Sports or rugby matches to name but a few..

On a mildly related thing Penny is having a 'disconnected' week.  No tv, no internet, no nothing.  I'm curious to see how it's going.  She's made of sterner stuff than I am.

Moving swiftly on, have you ever heard of Sonia Philip?  And her patterns?  I had already made a tunic last spring/summer but this time I wanted to try the Dress No 2 because it has sleeves and you know... winter... cold... sleeves are good.

The pattern instructions come as a very well explained bookelt, and the pattern itself is extremely simple and easy to customize.

For once I thought I'd make a muslin... shocking!... using this very cheap fabric bought in Italy last summer and I'm glad I did.  I'm a UK size 10 (US 6 I think) and the small was actually quite big, so had to go down one size.

The whole thing came together very quickly (probably quicker because I omitted the pockets and used some ready made bias binding I've had for ages.).

The result?  A very wearable muslin... in fact I'm wearing it right now!

The photo isn't brilliant, you try wrestling No 1 from his computer game for more than 14 seconds.  It's impossible. So this is it I'm afraid.  Creases and monster hand included.

It's Halloween after all!

(122)2014 - Nani Iro table runner -

Use it or lose it.

I look around me in my little room (I pretentiously call it studio... But it's a little long room) and it's crammed full of stuff. Fabric, yarn, books and notions. Two sewing machines. Bits and bobs.

Too much stuff.

Too many unfulfilled plans and ideas... Too many things kept 'just in case' and 'one day I will'

So, use it or lose it.

 

Take this absolutely gorgeous piece of Nani Iro linen... I have a vague feeling that Mr M bought it during a trip to New York way back then, before Purl moved to their current location. It languished abandoned and bereft on my shelf all these years, squashed between a vintage sheet and a 'one day I'll make a Tova out of this' something or other.

 

Too small for a quilt, the pattern design to large for zippered pouches. I have a ton and a half of tote bags and although I toyed with the idea of a knitting needles roll, I like my needles in a big jar...

 

 

So it ended up a table runner, random checks quilting and a gorgeous Amy Butler 'love' on the back. All from the stash.

All in a day's work, whilst no 3 enjoyed his Fifa15 and Lilli the ferocious dog barked at squirrels. (Our neighbours love us, NOT).

Use it or lose it, peeps, use it or lose it.

Toodles.

 

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(120)2014 - Autumn Wind, a quilt -

A few weeks ago I was super lucky enough to be sent a gorgeous stack of Oakshott fat 1/8s by Lynne at Lily's quilt.  She was organising a blog tour to promote this fantastic new range called 'Autumn'.

(gorgeous eh?)

I knew EXACTLY what I wanted to do with them.

So I began.  Earnestly.

But it's never as easy as that, is it?  There's always a story behind everything... and trouble.  Most of the time there's trouble too....

(bad phone photo... sorry...)

I cut and sewed, cut and sewed... then I decided to trim all the blocks to the same size...

and then I re-arranged them on the wall.. and then I was so in love with the whole thing I sent a work in progress photo to Michael at Oakshott.

Cue: music from "The Shark"... daaaah dum! daaah dum! dum dum dum dum.... SCREEEAAAAMMM!

Ten minutes later I got an extremely diplomatic email from Lynne (they should send her in the Middle East to sort things out) asking me, very politely if I'd ever seen this quilt FROM THE OAKSHOTT WEBSITE!!! (the capitals and exclamation mark are mine...that's how I read it in my head).  

It was designed by none other than Helen Howes.  And it's available as a kit.

 

Sigh.

Who felt like a really REALLY silly girl then?

Me.

Who should have done her research?

 

Me

Who wanted to dig a really big hole and never ever come out?

ME. ME. ME.

Geesh, I might as well have written to Ferrari and said, I know, I have a very brilliant idea, why don't you build a very very fast car and paint it bright red?  Or to Mary Berry and suggesting a nice, traditional Victoria sponge.  Or emailed Simon Cowell proposing to him a TV programme to discover the next pop artist...

 

What a donut.

 

So anyway, I apologise, I grovelled.  I withdrewed from the blog tour.  (aaaah the shame).

But I carried on with my original idea of the quilt, because the fabric is glorious and perfectly Autumnal and I still loved it and I still want everybody to know that.

So here's my quilt.  Sans border but in its full glory hanging from my red brick wall.

So,  to recap:

- it pays to do your research. 

- it is possible for two people to come out with similar ideas

- Lynne and Michael are very very nice people

AND the blog tour will begin next Tuesday, be sure to check it out!

21st October, Sonia at www.fabricandflowersuk.blogspot. co.uk

22nd October, Rossie at http://r0ssie.blogspot.co.uk/

23rd October, 

24th October, Mary at www.fairlymerry.blogspot.com

28th October,  Allisson at allison-sews.blogspot.com

29th October, Nicholas at www.quiltsfromtheattic.wordpress. com

30th October, Kati at www.fromthebluechair.com,

31st October,  Wynn at www.zakkaArt.typepad.com

 

And now I'm going to bake some chocolate chip blondies... because it's waaaay to early for G&T.

Cheers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(99)2014 - sparkle quilt -

My baby is back.

(not the 'suitcase baby'... that sadly is MIA, keep your fingers crossed people)

My 'sparkle' baby... from the current issue of QUILTY magazine.

It started off as a way of using the silly amount of scraps accumulated in boxes... and who can resist a rainbow?