Great Day for Getting Things Done

I've had the most wonderful day today. My darling husband, of course, has spoilt me with chocolates and cooking a gorgeous meal tonight, something I haven't had for ages, mousaka followed by home made waffles---- yummy!!!

Perhaps it sounds weird but the biggest treat was letting me have the kitchen to myself to sew all morning- once the ironing was done of course!

So with 3 hours of sewing time I decided I would finally make the cute little owl I found in the Buttons and Blooms book by Whimsicals  (the book was expensive but is absolutely stunning). I was so thrilled to actually finish it before lunch! There were a few moments when seams appeared to be impossible on my sewing machine because I could not get them over the sleeve arm of my machine, but somehow I managed in the end. So here is dear little Olivia Owl- isn't she fabulous!

I think some owl brothers and sisters will be needed soon...


This afternoon has been perfect too, watching a DVD of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers- one of my favourite films- with my youngest son. As some of you may know I never just sit and watch TV though, so I managed to finish off my Harvest Awe quilt whilst watching it.


It really is outrageously bold for one of my quilts- I am usually much more restrained and avoid such bold colour and pattern variation in a single quilt.


Unfortunately the lighting was awful this evening (overcast skies and taking photos indoors just doesn't really work well). The square that looks purple in the photo was dark purple brown with a beige middle but the rest are pretty colour accurate- so why is one square the wrong colour... and why only one square??? Oh well I'm sure it's the flash causing it but to be honest I don't really care today- I just wanted to show the finished quilt.


One thing I particularly like is the back of the quilt... I used all the leftover  jelly roll strips to make some stripes that make the back match the front (again the purple where it should be dark brown---arrrrrh!).


So two projects finished in one day and all those chocolates to look forward too...


Until next time 
Gillian

Good news...bad news

So to the good news...

I've finished the front of my Harvest Awe quilt...

and I've finished the back of my Harvest Awe quilt.

The bad news... 

I have some batting for the middle in my stash...only it is four inches too narrow!!!

So quilting it will have to wait a week until I can go to our nearest fabric shop which is 25 miles away.

Oh well, that's the way it goes sometimes.

Until next time

Gillian

Freedom of expression- quilting style!

Quilting is not really about simply sewing for me- it's about expressing myself through my design choices. Sewing is just the process of putting it all together. Making a quilt is about so much more...

There are choices every step of the way. First I choose a selection of fabric, then the pattern. Sometimes I do this the other way round looking for fabric that goes with a pattern I like.

Then I choose which particular fabrics I will use for particular parts of the design. Favourite fabrics get to be feature parts of the design but it all has to look and feel right to me.

I may also decide to change the size or shape of the quilt and adjust accordingly.

I usually try to make a reverse design to go with the quilt front, using any leftover material from the top. This is always my own design piercing together what is available.

I then put the top/wadding/back layers together. I don't like binding so I sew reverse sides facing and then pull through to turn right sides out before hand sewing the gap closed. I always do a straight stitch about 10mm from the edge all the way round to give a lovely firm and tidy but soft edge.

My final choice is how to quilt; sometimes I follow the seaming, sometimes I use fancy stitches, sometimes I make concentric squares and recently I've tried free machine quilting producing random patterns. This is the part I and other quilters might notice but seemingly other people are less likely to see.

So you see how every quilt I make is an expression of me. No one else will make the same choices as me, and each choice is about what I think will look best.

Until next time
Gillian

This is how the front, border and reverse all must blend and fit together to make the quilt just right!

Starburst

I've enjoyed finishing some quilts this holiday. The most difficult one I've ever made was one that I thought looked like an exploding star but my kids named Starburst. I improvised the piecing a bit to get it to work the way I liked. This is typical of me- I rarely follow a pattern completely. I more use it as a kind of guidance ands add my own twist to it. It really makes my quilts feel quite different sometimes. That's the best thing about quilting- there will never ever be another quilt exactly the same so everything you make is unique. Just like we as people are all unique...

So until next time
Gillian

Busy finishing the impossible

I've had a double bed size quilt top sitting in my sewing box for a year. I didn't think I could quilt it so I just left it there afraid I would ruin it. Then about a month ago I decided I better start finishing my work in progress. So Christmas decorations were finished, my green William Morris inspired fabric quilt was finished and my exploding star quilt was finished.

But still my double quilt sat there- I convinced myself I didn't have room to put it together with the wadding and backing.

Yesterday I had one of those moments, the one where you think "oh blow it, just do it, it's just wasted as it is and you may as well risk doing it!!!!". So I've put it together and edged it (I don't like the way binding looks so I see the edge right sides together leaving a gap then pull it through and hand stitch it closed).

I'm now doing machine quilting and about to do something else new- freestyle machine quilting. It's my quilt and I think it will look great.

I've noticed recently that many handmade items in shops and even in published books are no better than mine. It's not that I'm saying they are no good- its more that my are pretty good too and every little imperfection I am soooo aware of are just about invisible to everyone else.

So I'm taking risks and getting things done and making beautiful unique quilts which will last a lifetime and hopefully be passed on to my descendants one day. Oh it's good to do the impossible!!!!

Until next time
Gillian

Summer Laziness

Hi, It's been a while but I'm still around, busy enjoying our summer break. Five and a half weeks off work- the advantage of working in a school- I know that should have given me more time to blog but in my world it gives me more time to do so many other things I haven't had time for it!

So, what's been happening?

Two weeks visiting family- we do this every summer- it's hard not seeing them for months on end so we try and make the most of invading their houses and spending time with them all...

Then a week and a half of high stress waiting to find out if Tom had got the grades to get into University- he did!- and also to see a Skin specialist to find out if I had skin cancer- I don't- the specialist said it was a skin coloured viral wart in an unusual place probably because it was where my sunglasses rest on my nose!!!! Anyway that was a relief and she froze the thing off so it looks better too. Still my lot are all taking using suncream more seriously now so hopefully they will never get skin cancer...

As part of looking after myself more I also started doing more exercise. I like doing DVD's at home as it's so much more convenient and cheaper than going to a gym. My asthma is playing up so doing aerobics is too much, so I've started doing pilates. Although it's really hard I actually enjoy it, it's good to feel strong and actually feel your muscles... it makes me feel good.

For the last week I have been able to relax more, Kieran got his GCSE's today, he was so laid back we had to beg and nag him to even get his results- they were really good even though he didn't exactly over do the revision for them!

I'm also making a new quilt topper- I saw two gorgeous polka dot fabrics in a shop last week and just decided to make it with just these, so that pattern is a simple checkerboard design, its working out quite well- pictures to follow soon...

I've been doing a lot of crochet- amigurumi and hats so far- again pictures to follow. I also just decided to do a crochet along with Inner Hooker on Facebook- ( see also http://oxfordfam.blogspot.com/2011/08/crochet-along.html ). I love making granny blankets but think it will be even better to do it to meet targets- so often I start something and then after a little while it gets put away while I do something else...

.....that's just the way I am I suppose....

So until next time
Gillian

My Favourite Quilts

I started quilting 18 months ago. I had had a bad case of flu and was off work for a week and a half, and over the following week I had started doing a lot of crochet as I started to recover. Within a day or two I had a lot of pain down my left wrist and hand. Thinking it was 'crochet cramps' (holding the needle tightly can make your hand ache) I looked for something else to do. A new fabric shop had opened in Bodmin and so I visited, saw a pack of 5 inch squares of coordinating fabrics I really liked, bought them and started my first quilt. At that time I had not long since bought a sewing machine so it felt like a touch of destiny to find a new thing to use it for.

I learnt a lot making that first quilt, I kept visiting that shop where a lady would patiently show me what I had to do for each new step. I finished that quilt quickly, bought a couple of quilt design books and moved rapidly onto another quilt.

It wasn't long after that that I decided that I wanted to make my quilts double sided. I enjoyed piecing the fabric to make the patchwork fronts but realised I didn't particularly enjoy the actual quilting. My solution was to make two patchworks for each quilt. I also liked the idea of being able to change the look of a quilt by simply turning it over. It seemed such a good idea to me that I was shocked at the attitude I received when I asked around how I could do it. I was bluntly told that it wasn't done, proper quilting was done the way I was shown. To sum it up, there was supposedly only one right way to do quilting!

I didn't give up quilting, but I did start shopping for fabric elsewhere! I then met a lovely lady in Truro Fabrics who told me 'You do what you like. Rules are meant to be broken.' She gave me confidence to do as I pleased and I moved on to find my own way of doing things. And I've produced some pretty good double sided quilts since!!!

Here are a few of my favourites.

This one is mine. The colours and vibrancy just feel right...

My favourite quilt- its the colours that make it!

Reverse of my favourite

This one is a complete contrast, but I love it none the less. It is soothing and restful. Total elegance.

"Zen Garden" quilt - Gentle neutral blocks

Reverse of "Zen Garden"

This quilt is not reversible in the same way. The back is one patterned piece of fabric with just three alternate squares of contrasting fabric for interest.

"Strawberry Picnics" quilt

By the way, the 'crochet cramps' led to several months of physiotherapy and were latered identified as being linked to the flu virus lingering in one limb. How weird is that? My wrist had flu!

Until next time

Gillian