Big Blocks and Little Blocks!

Posted on March 27, 2016 by craftycreeky

splendid_button_TM

The Splendid Sampler block released this week involved lots of embroidery. It was designed by Alissa Thomas from Penguin & Fish. It’s called Crocheted thoughts and was inspired by memories of her grandma’s crocheted doilies. As I’ve learnt to crochet this year, it seemed fairly apt for me too. It’s a really pretty block, I love the twirling thread around the border.The Splendid Sampler

The center design is embroidered with chain-stitch to look like crochet. The instructions suggested making the block first and then doing the embroidery. I decided to stitch my doily first so my patchwork wouldn’t distort in my embroidery ring. I chose one of the DMC variegated threads that I discovered a couple of weeks ago, it’s really pretty in purple and green. I finally sussed out the chacopy transfer paper and managed to get it to work. Continue reading →

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Archimedes

Posted on March 26, 2016 by craftycreeky

Archimedes Pin CushionMeet Archimedes, or Archie for short! I made him one evening this week from my scrap basket. Archimedes is designed by Susan from Super Mom No Cape, he’s a dinky little pin cushion.

Susan kindly made the pattern available for free for her subscribers, I immediately downloaded it, I just thought he was so cute! When the schedule for the handicraft section of the local show arrived and I noticed it included ‘soft toy’ I immediately thought of Archimedes.

Archimedes Pin Cushion

He was very simple to make, the instructions were nice and straight forward with lots of photos! I’ve not made yo-yo’s before, so that was new – there’s a big one for the feet and then two with turned under edges for the eyes. The little tail at the back helps him to stand upright, I’ve included the decorative pins for his eyes and on his tail, though clearly they will have to come out if I decide to enter him in the show. The fabric pattern has worked out really well on his back, it almost looks like wings!

I must confess I somehow in my imagination I did think he would be slightly bigger, despite his stature being clearly given. I was hoping he would pass as a soft toy for the show before being used as a pin cushion. I think he might be just a little too small!

I think he’s really sweet, he makes a cute little pincushion.

Archimedes Pin Cushion

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Moorland Walk Quilt

Posted on March 24, 2016 by craftycreeky

Jelly Roll Race QuiltI’ve been busy  sewing a gift over the last couple of weeks, as I’ve now given it, I can tell you about it. One of my closest friends is just at the beginning of a difficult 12 months, I decided to make her a quilt  just to say we’ll be with her all the way. We do a long distance walk (LDW) every year together, it started with the Six Dales walk from Otley to Middleham (38 miles and commonly known as ‘Our Big Adventure’), then we walked the Dales Way from Ilkley to Bowness (65 miles – getting longer!) We then discovered a LDW in two halves from Grassington to Barrow in Furniss (West coast) and Grassington to Robin Hoods Bay (East Coast), 100 miles each way, so we have now walked across England, over two years, but we did it!

hoffman-bali-pops-fabric-strip-bundle-seaholly-14I had about a weeks notice of the possible news, so I started looking for fabric. I spotted a Bali Pop from Hoffmanns Fabrics called Sea Holly on ebay, it was perfect, it’s colours I know she loves and more importantly, it’s the colours of the moors we walk across during our walks, purples and greens. Bali Pops are the Hoffman batik version of Moda Jelly Rolls, so they have 42 different batik fabrics cut into 2 1/2″ x 44″ lengths. I have to say I have never been disappointed with the Hoffman precuts, they have always been gorgeous.

Jelly Roll Race QuiltI decided to make a 1600 jelly roll race quilt, I’ve never made one before, I found instructions on the web and it really is as easy and quick as everyone says. The idea is to take one jelly roll, stitch the lengths end to end into one long length, 2 1/2″ by 1600″, cut 18″ off one end (very important!) and then put the two short ends together and stitch the long edge together….and it is VERY VERY long!!! It’s a 20m seam so it goes on forever!! Cut the fold at the end so you have a piece 4 1/2″ x 800″ and repeat…til you have a quilt! You can vary it for example by adding squares in between the lengthsJelly Roll Race Quilt

I got the phone call at about 8.30 one evening and decided to start sewing straight away, the top was pieced by 11.30pm, it’s that quick! I took the darkest and the lightest strips out and cut them into squares, I didn’t quite have enough so I chose a nice rich raspberry pink length and cut a few of that one as well until I had enough for one between every length. I stitched the lengths in the order they came out of the packet. 40m is a very long length when you’re pressing every seam!! The first long seam did seem to go on for ever, I don’t think I’ve stitched a 20m seam before!! I was pleased that the seams halved each time and in no time at all the top was finished. The jelly roll race quilts are totally random, I don’t think you can plan it even if you wanted to, for someone like me who struggles with random, it’s great, I can do random without trying!

B&M Fabrics

I went to B&M Fabrics in Leeds to find some batting and backing fabric,I fell for this pretty cotton, it’s perfect colourwise, with greens, purples, pinks in, it’s got the blossom trees and flowers on that we see on our walks and some of the wildlife, deer, rabbits, butterflies and owls. It’s slightly heavier than quilting cotton but it’s worked out fine.

Jelly Roll Race Quilt

I sandwiched the layers with 501 spray adhesive and decided to quilt with a variegated thread in a meandering stitch. It’s not perfect but I’m getting better! All that was left was the binding and a label, I think the whole quilt was made in less than a week, I gave it to her at the weekend and she loves it 🙂

When we go on our walks we like to take our time, lots of photo breaks, coffee break, banana break, sandwich break, sausage roll break. As the poet W H Davies said…

Long Distance Walking

WHAT is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?—

No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep and cows:

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night:Long Distance Walks

No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance:

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began?

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

We like to take our time and enjoy the walk, so I decided that the light squares represent the photo breaks, half of these are just a good excuse for a breather! The dark squares are our sustenance breaks, we do believe in small amounts regularly, one of these would be a custard tart break as somehow my friend manages to carry a custard tart in her rucksack for 12 miles or so without a crumb of damage!! The pink squares are the nature breaks!!

A walk in a quilt!

Jelly Roll Race Quilt

Linking up with ‘Can I get a Whoop Whoop‘ over on Confessions of a Fabric Addict, why not have a look what everyone else has been sewing?

 

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Hands 2 Help 2016

Posted on March 17, 2016 by craftycreeky

Hands 2 HelpI first came across Hands 2 Help last year. It’s organised by Sarah from Confessions of a Fabric Addict, it’s a charity quilt challenge and each year different charities are chosen to benefit. Quilters from all over make a quilt for charity, last year nearly 150 quilts were donated.

The three charities chosen are in America and Canada, those of us from the rest of the world who wish to participate can either choose a local charity, or Sarah has kindly volunteered to quilt any tops sent over, saving us a lot of postage. Last year I made one and sent it to Project Linus here in UK.

 

Hans2HelpThis year I’m tempted to send one to the Canadian charity, Yukon Women’s Transition Home, which is a refuge for women and children in Whitehorse. A couple of years ago my daughter, Helen, spent six weeks in Whitehorse with the Army Cadets.

Hands 2 Help

 

I’ve pledged to make at least one quilt, I’m definitely going to make a baby/child quilt, I’ve got a part jelly roll  left from when I made a baby quilt last year so I’m hoping there will be enough to do a Jelly Roll Race quilt, they are so quick to make. It’s a moda jelly roll in peach, mint, yellow and blue so hopefully it will make a pretty quilt. I’ve also got a layer cake I bought ages ago, I thought it would be shades of grey, but when it arrived it was more beige, no good for a black and white quilt, it has sat in a drawer ever since, so depending on how time goes, I might make a simple quilt from that too. I’m very tempted to take Sarah up on her offer to quilt the tops to save on postage.

Hands 2 Help

It’s sign up time now, so if you fancy making a quilt for charity, here’s a perfect opportunity to use up all those scraps and help someone in need. We’ve got until May 22nd to make them so they can all be posted off to arrive at the beginning of June. Plenty of time…

 

 

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The Splendid Sampler; Local Quilt Shop

Posted on March 16, 2016 by craftycreeky

9-Splendid-Sampler-Pat-Sloan-Block-multiJane Davidson of Quilt Jane is the designer of The Splendid Sampler‘s latest challenge, she’s one of the organizer’s too and her block is really sweet, not too taxing either, once I’d sorted colours out!

Sunday’s block is a picture of a quilt shop, so it’s a lovely design to personalize. I waited a couple of days before stitching mine to see how others worked their fabrics, getting a bit of inspiration for the embroidery along the way. I still don’t find it easy to work out which colours to use, so facebook is great for getting ideas!

Local Quilt Shop

Local Quilt Shop

I was tempted to use the fabric with birds on for the sky, but I decided they were too closely spaced, it could look like a scene from a certain horror movie!! I settled for the cream with a faint pattern that could look like clouds instead, much safer!

For the walls I fussy-cut some fabric, hoping it looks a bit like hanging baskets and flower beds. The doors are 1″ square, I embroidered the ‘Open’ sign to try to make it look a bit taller. However by chance, I found some cotton in my scrap box for the doors and window which had a checked pattern which looked a bit like window frames, on the doors it had the effect of visually narrowing them.

The Splendid Sampler

I embroidered the sign but still felt it needed a little something, I rummaged round in my button box and found these tiny blue buttons, I think they must have come in a mixed bag, I certainly don’t remember buying such tiny ones, to give you an idea of just how small they are, just remember that the centre square is 1″ across…mmm tiny!!

We’ve now stitched nine blocks, so we’re nearly a tenth of the way there, 91 to go!! Next block is released tomorrow…

The Splendid Sampler

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Anderson’s Farm BOM

Posted on March 13, 2016 by craftycreeky

Anderson's FarmOn Friday night I decided to set too and finish the embroidery for my Anderson’s Farm quilt. This is my third BOM in progress at the moment and probably the one which takes most time. It’s designed by Lynette Anderson, I’ve loved her work since I first saw Journey of a Quilter so when I saw this new Block of the Month, I jumped at the opportunity.

Anderson's Farm

Lynette’s designs tend to have a lot of applique and embroidery, they are more wall hangings than everyday quilts (in my home anyway!!) There were three parts to this months block, a pieced block, a small appliqued and embroidered heart (both of which I finished a couple of weeks ago) and then main block which is an embroidered applique of a barn.

I’m still very new to applique ( like at the beginning of the year I had never tried it!) so it’s been a pretty steep learning curve. I tried using chalk paper to transfer the design but couldn’t get it to work so in the end I used a window and a pencil! I’ll give the chalk paper another go next month…

DMC ThreadsI stitched the applique using the needleturn method and then started the embroidery. Lynette uses Valdani embroidery threads, they sound beautiful,they are subtly variegated but were a bit out of my budget and I also had a box full of DMC so I was very pleased when Coast and Country sent me conversion chart. I discovered that DMC now do a lovely range of variegated threads so I bought a selection in Samuel Taylors, aren’t they gorgeous!

Anderson's Farm I’m really pleased with how the embroidery has turned out, it’s just back-stitch, french knots and lazy-daisy’s, when I first started the main tree I thought it was going to take forever, what with all those leaves and blossom, but a few day-dreams later and it was done! I left the windows til almost the end as they were the bit I was worried about getting neat the most!

Anderson's Farm

The hand-painted button mushroom should really be stitched on at the end, Lynette advises stitching it after quilting, but I couldn’t quite trust myself not to have lost it by then, and I wanted to see it on anyway.

My first month is complete, it’s interesting to compare the different BOM’s seen as I’m doing three at the moment! I think Lynette’s is more designed for the experienced sewer, whilst the instructions are there, they aren’t in quite the same detail as say the Pat Sloan BOM’s, so I am having to concentrate more! The instructions are sufficient, my only criticism would be that it would be nice to have a bigger image of the finished block, just to help with embroidery, a 2″ square photo really doesn’t help me much!

I finished the first block just in time as block two arrived yesterday from Coast and Country…it’s got a gorgeous cockerel as the main block!

I’m linking up with Kathy’s Quilts for Slow-Stitching Sunday and Super Mom No Cape for Vintage Embroidery Monday, why not have a look what everyone else is stitching?

Anderson's Farm

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Friends around the Square

Posted on March 12, 2016 by craftycreeky

8-Splendid-Sampler-Julie-Karasek-Block-multiFriends around the Square is the eighth block for The Splendid Sampler, a twice-weekly quilt along brilliantly organised by Pat Sloan and Jane Davidson. This time it was designed by Julie Karasek of Patched Works and it’s a lovely block, nice and straightforward, where you can concentrate on getting it as neat as possible!

Friends around the Square. The Splendid Sampler

I’ve learnt loads already on this quilt along, like spray starch is now my best friend!!  Each week the designers give us tips to help us make the blocks. Joan Ford is writing tips every week and I found a link on her site about furling, this was new to me! Furling is pressing your seams to one side so they twirl in the middle, it gives a neat, flat centre to four patch blocks. Well I followed her instructions and it worked, I’m so impressed I’m even going to show you the back of my block…isn’t that neat!

Friends around the Square. The Splendid Sampler

My seams and points are definitely improving as the weeks go by, I’m pleased with this  block, the only thing I would possibly change if I was going to do it again would be fabric choice, I think I would have used a couple of very light fabrics instead of the green ones, or at least one. However when they are all put together it balances out nicely and once the sashings are in place, it will look different again.

The Splendid Sampler

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March Challenge

Posted on March 9, 2016 by craftycreeky

cooltext156747814765691Each month I am setting myself a challenge, something to sew within the month, sometimes it’s a UFO (I’ve a few of those) or something I’ve been procrastinating about for ages, or just something I’ve never sewn before which I know will push me. My monthly challenges are basically me giving myself a kick and saying Come on, get on with it, you can do this!!!

This months challenge is definitely new sewing ground for me and I’ve probably been procrastinating about them for a while, trying to pluck up the courage…Ginger Jeans!

Ginger-Skinny-Jeans-Pattern-Closet-Case-Files-detail-front_grandeI’ve been seeing them on blogs for a while now and thought oooh, I quite fancy having a go at those. I bought the pattern (and the e-book) a few months back, I ordered two lengths of denim a couple of months back, I’ve even got the zips, buttons and top-stitching thread…and it’s all just sitting there!

Well this month I’m going to do it, I’m going to make myself a pair of jeans!

Posted in Dressmaking, My Monthly Challenge | 11 Comments

Snug as a Bug and a Focal Point

Posted on March 8, 2016 by craftycreeky

Focal Point. The Splendid SamplerWell I’m managing to keep up with the twice weekly blocks for The Splendid Sampler quilt, it does help seeing everyone else’s blocks on facebook, enthusiasm is definitely infectious!

Block 6 was released last Thursday, so I managed to make it over the weekend, it’s called Focal Point and was designed by Natalie Bonner. I’m fairly pleased with this one, though my points aren’t as perfect as I would like, I wish I’d remembered the tip to leave the rectangle untrimmed when making flying geese, I must remember that one next time! I’m trying to keep to nice soft colours, which isn’t my usual palette, I do keep wondering about adding a bit more contrast, especially with a block like this one. Continue reading →

Posted in Quilting, Serendipity, Sewing, Splendid Sampler Quilt | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

A Rippling Ripple

Posted on March 7, 2016 by craftycreeky

DSC_0001Yay! I’ve finally finished my first ripple blanket. This was always a test blanket, a blanket to learn on rather than a thing of great beauty and I’ve certainly learnt lots making it! I started over Christmas so it’s taken me just over two months.

The first ripple blanket I saw was the Coast Ripple by Attic 24, it was love at first sight! The coast ripple was the reason I learnt to crochet! I decided I wanted to make one in heather moorland colours, I bought a lovely bag of wool at Yarndale but then chickened out! I decided to use some spare wool to learn the pattern first. I have no idea what this wool was bought for, as I’m not a knitting person, it’s an aran wool, I had fewer balls of jade, hence the ripples are at either end, I used half of the jade, used up lots of blue and then crocheted some more stripes. Continue reading →

Posted in Crochet, Serendipity | Tagged , , | 4 Comments