Work In Progress

Busy working on my Half Square Triangle quilt for next Autumn's class. Supposed to be clearing some WIP's from my desk but inevitably creating more. Just stopped this project to cut some pieces for a Flying Geese quilt that has suddenly urgently needed to be started! When the creative urge hits I have to go with it (except now I have to go to school to hear Readers). So many HST quilts in my head....so little time!

Remember remember the 5th of November.....

...it was easy to remember the date of this months Wendover Sewing Bee. It's always such a fab event. Today, outside the rain was falling, it was particularly cold biting rain, but as we each shivered in, out of the rain, into the cosy St Anne's Hall, shrugged off our wet coats, pulled out blocks and quilts, and felting, and biscuits, brewed warming drinks and gathered around I took a rare moment to reflect again on just what a lovely way to spend a morning this was.

Such a riot of colour and texture, the buzz of chat and peals of laughter, teaspoons in hot drinks clinking, oohs and ahhs as work is shown to the group, encouragement and  friendship. The Quilting Bee - throughout time it's always been a special way to share a love of sewing and creating. I love, love love that we get to have our own part of that history here in my little village in the English countryside.

Half Term Heather Ross Honeycomb Hexagon EPP Sewing, Finished!

Yay - a finish at last! I've been using the autumn evenings to finish hand quilting my Heather Ross Honeycomb Hexagons EPP ( English paper piecing) quilt ( try saying that fast after your customary Sunday evening Downton Abbey companion glass of Baileys!)

It's been a joy to quilt. The Heather Ross fabric is buttery soft and I used a Sew Simple 100% bamboo wadding which is my new total favourite wadding. The combination of the two is soo dreamy - I wish you could all have a scrunch of this lovely quilt. This quilt is 1 of 3 samples for an EPP class next May. The other two in contrast are still very crunchy and full of paper! I'm at the awkward, sewing on the border part of the other two quilts which means wrestling with a huge crunchy papery 'thing' each evening - but I can see the end in sight. I'm hoping to have a couple more quilt tops to show you soon.

In the meantime, just to mix things up a bit I am starting on another machine pieced Half Square Triangles quilt. Lots of trimming of edges going on below, very therapeutic. I hope you all had a restful and productive half term too! See all my local sewing friends at the Wendover Bee tomorrow, dx

Fabulous Farmers Wife!

It was the second class of my Farmers Wife Quiltalong last week. It was the first chance for us all to 'ooh and ahh' at each others colour choices bought to life in blocks.

It was fantastic - we literally spent an hour looking at each persons interpretation of that months blocks as we worked our way around the room. It was fabulous. 

The Farmers Wife Sampler Quilt is such a favourite of mine.

I made my first version  above and am well on the way to a second version, making up new blocks for my class to use as guides each month as we tackle 7 more blocks. This is this months selection, some fun, some fiddly and some fiendish!

This class is big and busy and bursting with inspiration. 

What makes it even more incredible is that most of these women only made their first faltering 12 inch 9 patch a year ago or less, yet now they are turning out such exquisite little FMW blocks that I want to hug everyone with glee! 

This class is full to the brim and will run through until next summer, but I am already getting busy with bookings for FMW2, the dates of which I have just released on the 2014 Class Page, starting next September on Tuesdays mornings at St Anne's Hall, so if you think you'd like to make this quilt next year do drop me a note and I'll save you a space. I can definitely guarantee you won't spend a more fun 2 hours a month!

Playroom Gets a Lamp Makeover

Now that the clocks have changed and it's dark at teatime my most discerning clients commissioned me for a playroom light makeover, 'coz watching Scooby-doo in the gloom isn't co-zeee!'

I've had this lovely fabric stashed for years, it makes a fantastic lampshade don't you think? The bases were on the reduced trolley at Homebase - cheap and chic?! So of course, one lampshade wasn't enough - look! One for each child. A sophisticated French floral, a manly red check and alphabets and apples for my littlest who loves both, equally!

Keep warm in the storm tonight folks - hopefully an opportunity to hole up and get some sewing done. x

Sewing, sewing, sewing, knitting?

Gracious October seems to be rushing past at a rate of knots. It's been very mild here in the UK, not quite quilty weather yet, but the nights are drawing in, we're told a storm is brewing and I can feel the urge to hibernate beginning!

My last few weeks have been crammed full of sewing nevertheless. I have so much sewing going on at the moment that it's only natural that last week I should be seduced by Wool Week and bought myself the wool to knit a wonderful snood from a free pattern at John Lewis by Rowan.

I can't find the pattern posted online anywhere ( maybe Ravelry?) but its very similar to this one here  on the Rowan site.

You could pick up the pattern for free in John Lewis stores last week so I expect they'll still have them in the week-after-wool-week! I'm planning to knit my snood in this wool, which the nice lady in John Lewis had used for hers and it looks so toasty warm - I can't wait, although quite when I will get around to knitting it I don't know! A friend suggested if it turns cold I can just stuff the balls of wool down the front of my coat! he he. Even better is that Rowan wool is on offer on the Ocado shopping site which means it comes with your groceries and it hardly feels like you 'bought it' at all! Yay - free crafting!

Last weekend we had our termly Sewing Retreat at the lovely Buckland Hall. We all so look forward to this lovely indulgent day of sewing and good food and chat.  This weekend we powered through bunting, cross stitch, gigantic quilt-back making, glove knitting and Christmas crafting - it was a lovely day. I made a start on my Wintery Classic Patchwork Throw above. For anyone who couldn't make it this time - get the next date in your diary early - we will be back at Buckland on Saturday 8th February 2014.

Aside from knitting, at the moment I have too many projects on the go. I need to concentrate on getting some of them progressed and off of my workbench!

I never work on only one project, but there's a limit where it starts to stress me out and I think I'm there! I need some finishes, so watch the blog for some Ta Dah show and tells hopefully over the next few weeks!

Oops! Small re-stash!

It had to happen didn't it? Those shelves couldn't remain so empty for long..... I relapsed and had a very teeny weeny small re-stash. The hubbie was in America for work and so I couldn't resist a smash and grab at bargain US fabric prices.

I can never resist Denyse Schmidt and am already loving this new Florence line. I've mixed it in with some other bright prints and am planning to use some old Denyse Schmidt prints from the stash that obviously all survived the recent cull. I really love that Denyse's fabrics across many lines she has designed all work together - she really does have a signature style and colour palette and so it makes it an easy online buy as you just know that you'll love it. I'm not sure what i'm going to make with this little pile yet. It's been a while since I bought fabric without a project in mind. I'm enjoying the creative freedom a lovely pile of fabrics on the end of your sewing desk brings!

My other re-stash has a definite project lined up for it. It's a lovely Christmassy line from Moda, it's wintry without being too overtly Christmas. I'm not really one for the novelty Xmas elf style of Christmas fabric ( ok, only sometimes!) so this just called to me. I also almost never buy pre cuts as they usually frustrate me a bit as there's never quite enough fabric in them for me ( my cut of choice being the 1/2 metre as it's just enough, but not too much for any project) but I have been hankering after a lovely simple elegant square patchwork winter throw to get out to mark the winter season. Also my living room ceiling is about to be taken down and re fitted ( ughh, don't ask, plumbing disaster above) and so I'm thinking my new living room will get a pressie when it's had its surgery. It's a sewing kind of a day today, grey and drizzly. I'm going to go and sew x

De-Stash!

I've been seized by an overwhelming urge to simplify this week. Look at my lovely tidy shelves! I've had a MAJOR de-stash. Literally my whole dining room has been COVERED in fabric for three days. I have sorted through my stash with a merciless eye. Every colour family has been ruthlessly decreased. Lots of old favourites have gone (small sob) but I've decided its time to make way for new inspiration.

Now its all bundled up and ready to go to new homes. A big old basket of these lovely colour bombs will be available at the Sewing Bee next week or at my PlainStitch classes, priced between £10 and £15 for around 20 different fabrics.

I'm hoping that they make an easy affordable way to instantly build your stash when you are just starting out - or my personal favourite is always a scrappy rainbow quilt like this or this and a few of these bags mixed in with a plain or polkadot would be a ready made quilt, no?

I can't wait to see what they become in the hands of my fab students and Bee-ers!

** Linking up to Molly Flanders' Blog where you can see everyone's favourite quilts **

Glorious Autumn Colour

Fabri-doodle

I've been having a little play in my scraps bin, trying out a different technique. Ohh its fun! 

I must confess it was a bit daunting going wild with the tension dial on my usually beautifully behaved sewing machine, but heh, if that's as wild as it gets I don't think I'm in any danger of  going off the rails do you?

How small does a scrap have to be before you throw it away? Loving making teeny tiny freehand embroidery quilt squares.

Briar Rose Honeycomb Quilt In Progress

I'm obsessed!

Its official.

I can't stop sewing paper pieced hexagons.

Every spare moment I get I figure I can whip stitch up a quick hex.

On the edge of the cricket outfield, waiting outside baseball practise, with a cup of tea when watching my chickens, when I really should be getting tea....

As a result this quilt is coming together at speed. Which is just as well as I have about 10 other paper pieced projects, that I want to make a start on for my class next year, just swirling around in my head. And you know how dangerous that is? I'm heading for an MPO breakdown (Multiple Project Overload). You've been warned. There may be tears and serious sewing hand cramp! 

Briar Rose Honeycomb Quilt Plan

 I am feeling so super lucky. I am the proud owner of a preview fat quarter bundle of Heather Ross's much anticipated Briar Rose collection! AGGHHH! It's too exciting. You can tell how exciting it is as I couldn't even wait to take nice pics of the fabric outside - this shot is 5 seconds before I started chopping into it!

I've been ruminating on the perfect project for this lovely fabric ever since I saw the preview info. It's no surprise to anyone who follows this blog that I love Heather Ross almost as much as I love hexagons and english paper piecing. It's the perfect summer project as the pieces can be sewn anywhere. Given that I spend most of my summer sitting on the boundary at a cricket match or sitting watching my kids thunder past on horseback I figured this was for me! I make up the pieces in advance. I don't baste. I iron on freezer paper and then use basting glue to secure the backs. This makes a super durable template that will survive the rigours of my handbag for weeks on end. My plan is to run an English paper piecing class next summer so this is a great try out of my planned pattern.

I've been flexing my maths brain for this project, drafting a hexagon then subdividing it up into smaller bits to make fractured hexagons. I've no real plan of how far my fabric will go so this project will be an organic one. Given how many of these babies I cracked through in one thrilling cricket match last night I'm thinking i'll have this whizzed up in no time! Check back for pics of my work in progress!

Staple Dress Mania!

I have no idea why its taken me so long to get back to making my own clothes. When I was a student I made long silky flowery skirts to wear on a night out with little vests in a freezing northern town, when the shops were full of 1990's black bootleg trousers and the only skirts you could buy had elastic waists! The thing is, then I had quite low construction standards. As long as it didn't fall to bits on a night out it was fine. I made my own patterns. That sounds too grand. What i did was lay a favoured skirt down on top of the fabric and drew around it. Invariably I found the whole construction a bit hit and miss. I had a tiny pink singer featherweight sewing machine that used to bounce itself off the table if it had to go through anything thicker than three quid a meter polyester from the local market.

Fast forward 15+ years, hundreds of quilts, miles of bunting, several dozen kids pjama trousers, but never again have I felt the desire to make myself something. It was kind of creeping up on me after the Great British Sewing Bee and all those amazing Liberty and 1940's styled dresses. I loved the GBSBee but I kind of felt it missed an opportunity to show more of the construction and skills that the contestants were showing. I could see they were fab, but I was none the wiser about how to start sewing my own dresses.

I aquired a pile of old books on garment construction and started to read. I drew myself a pattern based on a favourite dress from Kew ( what happened to Kew? Loved their occasional Liberty tops). Then I saw a Staple Dress ( by April Rhodes) on a blog. It was THE SAME as my Kew dress, except it had an ACTUAL PATTERN. Now I get that this should not be a revelation to me, but doh!!! Sewing from a pattern is, like easy! Yipeee.

The flood gates have opened. I've made three dresses in a week ( 2 for me and a Tweenie Staple). Admittedly I couldn't resist a dabble with DIY pattern cutting. The final pattern I went with was kind of a hybrid of my Kew dress with the Staple. I didn't shir the waist, and I scaled the whole thing down for my 10 year old daughter. Its a great pattern, especially for summer, with really easy to follow instructions. I can't recommend this pattern enough as a first dabble into dress making.

I made my first version in Liberty. I couldnt resist a bit of quilters fabric play and added the facings in a kind of neon mustard solid I had. For this dress I made a matching fabric casing and made a tie belt ( as that was how the Kew one was made.

The next day I bought this gorgeous linen mix denim fabric and made a second dress. I scaled down a size on the top which I prefered. As this was a slightly thicker fabric I felt that the tie middle option wouldn't gather up properly so I again made a facing and added elastic inside it. I LOVE this dress. It will get worn all year round.

Then my daughter got in on the act. She had a Boden dress from last summer that is also this style ( although the Boden one also has a gathered neck.)It was getting a bit periliously short so we decided we could make a version of the Staple for her. We scaled down the pattern using her dress as a guide. I used Sweedish apttern paper and tacked the whole thing together to be sure on fit - its fab stuff. We just used quilting cotton for this one ( this is Lotta Jansdotters new line, the pink is so pretty).  I've just ordered myself this pattern the Amelia dress which I've also heard good things about in blogland. I also want to make this and this. But first I have 6 pairs of pjamas to sew! Enough indulgent mummy sewing for a bit!