Ponderings on a sewing journey…

Tags

beginner sewing, Crafts, embroidery, patchwork, Quilt, quilting, Sewing machine

At first I was afraid, I was petrified
Couldn’t get to grips with my Toyota, no matter how hard I tried
Couldn’t figure out the tension, couldn’t put the bobbin in
Every broken needle and snapped thread sent me scuttling for the gin..

But I survived, oh I survived
I mastered all the basics and then I thrived
Watched the videos on YouTube, figured out my quilting foot
Made some cushions and a quilt and I was absolutely hooked

So I started a new blog and wrote with all my heart
About the trials and tribulations of mastering my chosen art
I’d like to spend my days sewing but I have to work to pay
for all the fabric, tools and notions and the odd cake in a café

And I survived, oh I survived..

Happy New Year! Oh I know that it’s been months and months since my last blog post. I hope that you like my little attempt at humour. I’ve been thinking about my sewing ‘journey’ lately. If you’ve read the About Me section then you’ll know that I really was utterly hopeless at sewing when I was at School. I was actually banned from using the sewing machines and that was really it for the sewing until my late twenties when I must have expressed some sort of interest and my mother in law found me a second-hand sewing machine.

My initial attempts at sewing on my machine were quite fraught and I seem to remember that there was a great deal of swearing, a lot of snapped needles and a lot of snapping at the husband (then long-suffering boyfriend). Initially, I think that I just wanted to make a few cushions for our sofa and I don’t quite remember why I became interested in patchwork and quilting. My mum taught me to hand-sew hexagons when I was younger but her sewing was mainly for practical reasons and, from what I remember, she sewed by hand. I can’t remember her using a sewing machine at all…

I started this blog in 2013 and I really think that I have learned quite a lot in the past four years:

– I know how to put together a quilt-top and bind a quilt.
– I have learned a variety of English Paper Piecing techniques.
– I know how to make blocks using the Foundation Paper Piecing technique.
– I can put in a zip and use my zipper foot.
– I think that I can just about put piping in a cushion!
– I can use my darning foot and have even attempted free-motion embroidery.
– I have even attempted some applique!
– I am still working out triangles..
– I have rediscovered a love of embroidery

Over the years, I have purchased a variety of sewing books and some have been more helpful than others. So, just in case I have any new readers who have made a resolution to learn to sew this year, I thought that I would list those that I have found to be the most useful:

– Quilting, Patchwork and Applique (published by Dorling Kindersley) – This book is really comprehensive and has very clear instructions with really good visuals too. Its contributors include some well-known quilters.
– Sewing in no time
– Quilting in no time
Both of the above are by Emma Hardy. Again, they feature really good step-by-step instructions and there are a variety of useful projects to help develop skills.
– The Liberty book of Home Sewing – Probably better to buy this once you’ve mastered the basics. It’s just really pretty!!
– Quilting on the Go by Jessica Alexandrakis – A good introduction to the techniques of English paper piecing.
– Material Obsession – Authored by Kathy Doughty and Sarah Fielke. Really lovely quilt designs. I love Sarah Fielke’s use of colour.

Of course, whilst the books have definitely helped, I’ve probably learned the most from attending classes. Over the past few months, the lovely Christine of Strictly Fabrics has been teaching us a variety of new techniques particularly for EPP. I’ve not been terribly brilliant at completing projects but I am delighted to report that my first finish of 2018 is this hand-pieced clamshell cushion:

I bought this pack of fat quarters as I thought that the material was really bright and pretty. I particularly like the elephants! The colours are very vibrant and the above photos don’t do them justice. I must work out how to take better pictures using my phone! Perhaps that should feature in my new year’s resolutions…

I also used this fabric pack to make a tote-bag with a Dresden plate:

This was given as a Christmas present to a member of our family who is also a Girl Guide Leader so I hope that she can use this to carry some of her crafty bits and pieces!

So where will my sewing journey take me this year? Well, for a start, I hope to finish some of the projects that I began in 2017. This includes three quilt-tops that all need to be completed and then quilted. I think that the end of last year was somewhat consumed with work so I hope to try to make more time for stitchery this year. I have also signed up to a Facebook event that is being run by Betty’s Sewing Box called A year in Stitch which is a commitment to add at least one stitch per day to your work for a whole year. I have a couple of embroidery projects that I am working on so I hope that I might be able to achieve this. Embroidery can be fitted into a lunch-hour or done in front of the television on these dark winter nights when we have little motivation to do anything other than hibernate and huddle in front of the log-burner..

Well, I think that’s enough of my ramblings for one evening. Wishing you a very happy and quilty new year that is filled with fabric and lovely projects!

April x

Stash Sunday….

Tags

fabric, janome, patchwork, Sewing, Sewing machine

I have come to realise that I have a serious problem. I have an addiction. It is not one that there is a support group for. Indeed, any support group would only encourage my addiction. The time has come to admit it. My name is April and I’m a fabric addict.

I’m afraid to admit that I have been increasing my fabric stash this month. Firstly, I attended an open evening at my local fabric shop, The Fabric Place. There was wine, there were snacks and there was 20% off fabric. How could I resist? I intended to buy a small piece of fabric so that I could re-upholster the cushion of this chair:

I bought a metre of this:

However, I also saw this remnant:

Unfortunately, they also had a large basket stuffed with fat quarters. So I also bought these:

 I will be using some of this fabric to make pretty things to sell at a charity event in a couple of months.

Earlier this month, I spent a long weekend in Whitby with the husband and his family. It was lovely. We stayed in a beautiful house, ate quantities of delicious food, drank far too much wine and spent some time on the beach. As you can see, the sun was indeed shining over Yorkshire. It was glorious. My only slight disappointment was the discovery that cream teas ‘up north’ are served with whipped cream rather than clotted…

I may, ahem, also have found another fabric shop. Judith’s fabrics is a tiny, fabric-stuffed haven of delight for all fabric addicts. Ribbons and lace tumbled out of every nook and cranny, fat-quarters were stuffed into every available space and roll upon wonderful roll of lovely quilting cotton adorned the shelves that stretched up to the ceiling. It was barely 3 metres square but I could have stayed there all day. I limited myself to three lovely fat-quarters, which will eventually be part of a quilt for my bedroom:

 

I was just about to leave the shop when I came across this:

Thankfully, my sister-in-law took pity on me and purchased it as a slightly belated birthday present. I intend to use it to make an appliqué picture for the kitchen…

Well, all this fabric has to be stored somewhere! My little sewing space has been somewhat chaotic for the past month. Some serious sorting is needed. On Sunday, I attempted to impose a little order. A friend recently sent me a delicious present from Kiehl’s. If you’ve not purchased anything from Kiehl’s, I encourage you to do so. Or encourage your friends/husband/relatives to purchase them for you…. Anyway, I was delighted with my parcel, not least because the box is sturdy enough to be a very useful place to store my increasing stash of fat quarters:

 

It is good to be able to begin to group my fabrics by colour. As I’ve already said, I’m not brilliant at deciding how to put fabrics and different colours together. This makes it a little easier…

I am also delighted to introduce you to my beautiful new sewing machine. I was a little daunted when I removed it from the box but a few hours with the manual and we’re good friends. My favourite function so far is the automatic buttonhole. All crafty makes from now on will have copious amounts of buttons…

 

However, I think that my sewing machine could do with a name. Any ideas?

April x

Quilts, cake and a vintage bus

Tags

Afternoon tea, cake, Festival of quilts, Patchwork quilt, Sewing machine, vintage bus

At the age of just eighteen, I went on my very first independent excursion to London with my extremely good friend Sally. It was the summer between finishing our A-levels and the start of university and, after all the stress of our exams, we just couldn’t wait to let our hair down and to finally have a little taste of independence. We spent those three days eating a great deal of cake, drinking quite a lot of tea, visiting the sights and having long chats about everything from setting up our own cake emporium to where we would likely be in ten year’s time.

Well, quite a lot has happened in the 14 years since but Sally and I have remained good friends and we have said many times that we should plan another excursion (albeit this time with a bit more of a budget and our own credit cards) and a couple of weeks ago, we finally found time to make it happen. I asked Sally to join me on the Afternoon Tea Bus Tour (run by BB Bakery) that had been a gift from my former colleagues. She was very happy to accept and, on a rather warm Saturday afternoon, we presented ourselves at the designated departure point near the London Eye to await the bus:

As you can see, it was a rather delightful, old-fashioned Routemaster bus that we were informed was over sixty years old. When we boarded, we were greeted by a very friendly member of staff and shown to our table on the bottom deck where a selection of sandwiches and cakes awaited us!

The tables had obviously been specially made as they also included a space to place your cup or glass so that it wouldn’t spill when the bus was in motion. Given my penchant for spilling drinks, I was quite glad about this! The tour took in most of the main sights of London and I realised that there are many landmarks in London that I have actually never seen (sadly, it was a little difficult to take photos as the bus kept moving and the cars just kept getting in the way!). After we had eaten all of the sandwiches and little cakes (including quite possibly the best brownie that I have ever eaten) the staff brought round scones followed by cupcakes and macarons. By the time we disembarked we were pleasantly full of tasty cakes and were ready for our first cocktail of the evening (well perhaps after another cup of tea and a little lie-down…)

I do like London but it is all rather too hectic for me and I do think that people are not always quite as polite (for example when boarding a tube train) as they might be. I did contemplate living there after university but I think I’m happier with a slightly slower (and more considerate) pace of life now in the midlands, where people are mostly friendly and usually don’t shove you off a train. Indeed, there is no friendlier place to be in the midlands than the annual Festival of Quilts, which takes place during the second weekend of August at the Birmingham NEC. Last year I went somewhat apprehensively on my own but I needn’t have worried as I met some lovely people, gazed at some beautiful quilts and had lots of quilty chats, all of course accompanied by copious amounts of tea and cake.

This year, I introduced my mother in law to the delights of the Festival of Quilts. Similar to last year, I was absolutely stunned by the quality of the many quilts that were on display. I prefer the traditional patchwork quilts:

My mother-in-law was drawn to those that were a bit more contemporary:

Regular readers of my blog will know just how much I like Suffolk-puffs, so I  particularly liked this beautiful quilt:

Attending the Festival of Quilts also gave me a chance to peruse the latest sewing machines and I was very happy to find one that is a bit more advanced than my current model but hopefully not too complicated to use. My new Janome QXL605 will shortly be delivered and I really can’t wait to start sewing with it.  I am hoping that this will encourage me to complete a couple of projects as I haven’t managed to do a great deal of sewing since starting my new job in late June (oh how I wish sometimes that I could spend my days piecing together lovely bits of fabric instead of sitting in front of a computer screen…)

Anyway, I shall leave today’s post with a picture of this beautiful tea-cosy:

Till next time 🙂