Patience and Persistence!

Tension!

I have finally come out the other end with Susan's massive 92 inch by 104 inch quilt. Lovely dramatic black, navy and tan with some gold and silver accent fabric.

After spending half a day just preparing it and carefully loading it on my frame, I took a deep breath and started quilting with the silver thread she wanted. I used Metallic by Superior Threads, the best there is - according to Barnyarns. Susan said she didn't mind If I did not quilt the borders as my machine wouldn't reach right up to the edge, so I set about quilting the main pieced area. It seemed to be going well - I set the stitch length to a slightly longer 8SPI to show up the thread better and it looked really nice. So I happily worked my way down with an all over curled ribbon and feather motif. 

Then the first reel of thread ran out and I put the second one on and it was all down hill from there!
It started skipping stitches, shredding and snapping. I can't understand how 2 identical reels of thread, probably from the same batch, can behave so differently. By the time I had limped my way to the end I thought I might not do the border - it was going to be difficult anyway, as I would need to take the quilt off and shift it to get to the side edges. But it seemed such a shame not to show the metallic against the plain black, so I tried it on the bottom border. It was a nightmare - every time I moved the machine vertically upwards it skipped in exactly the same place. I spent 3 hours stop start, unpicking, tweaking the tension and eventually finished the bottom border. I was about to call it a day, then decided to try it on the top border, which went surprisingly more easily and I finished it in a fraction of the time! So I was now committed to moving the quilt to do the side borders and I finished them yesterday. Overall I am very pleased with the end result and I hope Sue likes it too. 

On a less stressful note I made some sweet little accessories last week, thanks to Sarah-Jane and Michelle from Connecting Threads.

The first is this cute little thread catcher which we made (hand sewing) at our evening meeting. The inside has a slice of Pringles tube in it to make it rigid and it just twists closed. These are definitely the new 'in thing'! (I told the ladies that I would still be checking that they weren't throwing any useful scraps away!) 




Then we had a day workshop to make this 'Tooly' . I added a padded strip on the inside of the spine as a pincushion and sorted out all my pink pins to put in it!

I also found time to complete this year's challenge for Studio Quilters, which was to make an apron with an applique pocket. My effort last year was pretty poor and I was determined not to leave it too late this year, so when inspiration struck I got on and made it. I can't reveal it until August but I am very pleased with it.
Now Sandy has started us off on another bag project and I have actually cut into 'virgin' blues and creams straight from the bolt!! Watch this space.

Happy Quilting Everyone!

Janet

www.englishquilter.co.uk   

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Shabby Chic

More fun with my treasured scraps

When I go to a show like the one at Olympia last week, I come home filled with inspiration to make something. I knew I needed to make a sample mini wall hanging for a workshop I am leading for  Studio Quilters in the summer. So I pulled out my treasured scraps (pink obviously!), buttons and trinkets and just improvised. I started with the heart shape, which was a cut-out saved from an earlier project, and built it up from there. The mother of pearl buttons are real antiques and the little cameo pendant was  saved from an old bra!! It is a bit bigger than I planned, but I was pleased with it anyway. This is how it turned out.

Then I decided to make  a similar one in blue, to hang on the back to make it reversible. I put buttons on the front so that I could join them together with ribbon loops. But in the end I decided to make two separate ones. I didn't measure them at all, but somehow they came out the same size. Such fun!

All set to start on Susan's over-sized quilt.

Happy Quilting Everyone!

Janet

www.englishquilter.co.uk   

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Cute as a Button

Only 3 Buttons?

Had fun at Olympia - Spring Knitting and Stitching Show on Saturday, but didn't go mad. I escaped without any new patchwork fabric but did buy some linen to try out some hand stitching for a biscornu project I want to try. (Think I may have got too close a thread count though, as my embroidery skills aren't up to much). I also got a bendy daylight floor lamp for working downstairs, when I need to, where my lighting is so bad.

But I just could not resist these gorgeous handmade ceramic buttons by Kate Holliday. Just too pretty to use right away! I think I've even got matching china in my kitchen - they are so me!!  Good job she only had these three, or I might have got carried away.

Talking of treasures too pretty to use; I had a very self indulgent day to myself on Sunday, just playing with odds and ends that I have hoarded over the years, and made this shabby chic wall hanging. Some of the buttons are genuine antiques. 
Yes it is pink - I know! 
I'm thinking of doing another one in blue and putting it on the back, which is why I haven't put the binding on yet. It will give me something else to work on alongside Susan's over-sized quilt which is next up, now that I have got the metallic thread from Olympia.

Happy Quilting Everyone!

Janet

www.englishquilter.co.uk   

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