i had an unscheduled day out yesterday, thanks to our last minute decision to cancel our planned festival because of the weather forecast. i know loads of people with young kids left this particular festival early last year because the weather was so dreadful and i didn’t fancy being part of the action replay. the promised rain did materialise and on balance we’re happier to be warm, dry and relaxed at home than we are disappointed to be missing out on festie fun.

my added bonus was that i got to swap one kind of festival for another and headed off to birmingham for the festival of quilts. i’ve not been before and i have to say it was pretty overwhelming. there’s only so much embellishment one woman (well, this woman) can take in one day! there was a lot there in the way of both quilts and shopping that was not to my taste. there’s so much exciting work going on online – in both modern and traditional styles – that i tend to forget the things that put me off the idea of quilting before i somehow fell into doing it. those things – notably fabric and colour choices – were visible in abundance at the festival, although considering the average age of the audience i shouldn’t be surprised that i found a lot of it rather old fashioned.

but that’s not to disparage the time, skill and effort that went into all the work on show, i can still appreciate those things even though i don’t necessarily share the aesthetic. in particular there was some beautiful hand quilting that was astonishingly accomplished and patient. and thanks to the size of the show there was still plenty to inspire even this picky bugger although i think that seeing so many quilts en masse dilutes the power of the individual pieces somewhat, which is a shame.

i did take pictures but i’m wary of publishing them here, not least because i didn’t spring for a show guide so i can’t properly credit many of the competition entrants, so i’m limited to namechecking some of the better known quiltmakers who merited a place in the whitewall galleries, although i think i was actually most impressed by some of the entries in the children’s classes, particularly the under-9s, which showed real originality along with surprisingly skilful use of tools and materials.

a few recurring themes emerged in what caught my eye; texture, printing and limited colour palettes being the main ones. it was the printing that really appealed to me in chrisine restall’s persephone quilt (you can see work from the same series under “gallery 3″ on her website), and i noticed a lot of text scattered around the festival. i find it can be quite jarring to be addressed so directly, so explicitly, through the work (as opposed to a title, caption or description posted alongside) since i’m in a different, nonverbal, mode when looking at quilts or pictures. but that arresting quality can be used to good advantage if used sparingly i think.

i found susan brandeis‘ use of layering computer-printed fabrics to produce an almost hologramatic sense of depth totally mesmerising. her imagery is that of encyclopaedias, landscapes, aerial and satellite photographs, which had me hook, line and sinker. i just glanced at her work as i was passing by, but it drew me back to look closer, then to take in the whole from a distance, then back up close, i literally couldn’t get away!

if anyone knows of jacqueline heinz’s website please let me know, i can find odds and ends of her work googling, but no homepage. her work reflects her background as an aspiring feltmaker (no surprise that it appealed to me really), the use of raw fibre along with her restrained palette and wonderful sense of movement provided a welcome oasis of calm in a visually frenetic show. i also found lesley alexander’s strongly textural work – inspired by that perennial student favourite peeling paint – incredibly refreshing, plus she loves pintucks as much as i do! (actually, i’ve never sewn a pintuck in my life, but i have the feet, the needles and everything, i really must get round to playing with them). it was great to have a chat with her about going to art school as a mature student, it’s strengthened my resolve yet again, just in case i was beginning to waver.

as for shopping, i was reasonably restrained, i should just be thankful i’m on more of a spinning/weaving kick right now. i bought some of the japanese yarn dyed fabrics i noticed on a few of the stalls – neutral, textural, interesting weaves, and something i would never have bought online, i can’t imagine how they would translate on screen. also a book on hungarian indigo dyeing from the hungarian patchwork guild. i just love blue and white fabrics, i’m irresistably drawn to them, but this was a tradition i was utterly ignorant of and the fabrics themselves (which were also for sale and i think i deserve a medal for resisting) are just beautiful. ooooh look! you can buy the fabrics online

i couldn’t bear to post something this long without pics so i’ve included some shots from another day out. my always-temperamental sx-70 gave up the ghost a little while ago. my always-wonderful fella got me a new one for my birthday.

this has been a long time in the making, it seems like it’s been hanging half-done in my little room for weeks and weeks, although there really wasn’t too much to it. the fabrics are globaltex furnishing fabrics, a little heavy for a quilt but they should be perfect for the matching cushions that are past the planning stage but not yet actually in the making stage… they’re a lot more traditional than my usual taste, alarmingly kidstonesque in fact, but i reckon that’s acceptable – indeed mandatory – for camping/picnic purposes.

i wanted to do something simple, and inspired by recently reading making welsh quilts, i went for a traditional “strippy” top. i was undecided on the quilting until i’d done my practice sandwich to judge tension etc. and realised i wanted to do something curvy that crossed over itself. this pattern is traditionally used on borders, called a welsh trail in the book, although can’t find any other reference to it as that (anyone recognise it by another name?). i ran it horizontally, the chequerboards where the points cross staggered so the curves fit neatly against one another. it’s not too easy to see as the batt is poly and i prewashed the fabrics as i didn’t want it to look too quilty this time. where you can see it’s mostly because my pencil markings haven’t quite washed out (my usual disappearing marker disappeared before i could get it as far as the sewing machine).

the backing is PUL, i got the fabric from a cloth nappy maker, it’s used for making wraps. i looked long and hard at waterproof fabrics and PUL seemed the most fabricy, less rustly than ripstop nylon, more lightweight than cordura. i briefly considered shower curtains etc, but having sewn with them before i thought i’d go for something designed to be sewn AND repeatedly washed. we’ll see how well it stands up to use – i could have gone for a thicker waterproof coating that might make it more stone-proof, but that would have had to come from the states. on reflection i don’t think pale blue is the ideal choice either, but we won’t be looking at that side much obviously, to maintain the waterproofing, i didn’t sew the quilting through the PUL, just the top and batting. since the PLU is stretch (which i didn’t twig until it arrived) there’s a little bagging as it’s only joined at the edges and the blanket is ~120cm by 150cm, but nothing terrible. putting it together was a dream thanks to my new discovery: 505 basting spray. it lasted beautifully through all the hefting about during quilting, and only lost its grip in the odd place on the smooth-surfaced PUL. while it’s not cheap i reckon it beats pins into a cocked hat when it comes to ease of use. kim at spoonflower recently pointed out a study that shows basting sprays are damaging to quilt fabrics in the long term, but whilst the conclusion drawn by the researchers is to avoid all basting sprays, in fact their finding was that 505 was the one brand that didn’t show any difference to the control samples. certainly for this project i had no qualms, and i will use the 505 again, but i may be more circumspect if my quiltmaking ever improves beyond the lets-see-if-we-can-make-it-hold-together-past-the-first-wash stage and moves closer to the realms of heirloom quilting i considered various strap arrangements i could attach to the blanket, but in the end decided to keep it simple with a separate long strap, looped at either end, that slips over and allows it to be carried over a shoulder. the polkadots that proved so elusive on the binding show much better on the strap (i cut along the grain not the pattern, not thinking they would be that far misaligned), although i actually think the now-you-see-them-now-you-don’t effect is rather charming.

this is going for its first outing next week when we go on our traditional music festival summer holiday, i’ll report back on its fitness for duty and whether it floats in mud

a gift for friends who are emigrating. it occured to me right at the last minute (the day they left ) that i could make a little something as a welcome to your new home gift. there’s something i find so comforting about just looking at a quilt, so i thought a mini quilt for the boys’ (5 & 2) new room might be a good plan. when i realised i could use welsh wool for the appliques i was sold on the idea.

everything came together so quickly thanks to G rediscovering her equilibrium and napping for 2 hrs+ which gave time for the idea to emerge and crystalise, for me to get the fabrics selected and appliques cut before she woke. unfortunately it’s unlikely there’ll be much more of that around here now the holidays have started and there are infinitely more exciting things going on than sleeping in the mornings.

the wool is blanket scraps from melin tregwynt – this stuff is so soft, so beautiful, it will definitely be making appearances in more quilts around here.

the stars and heart-shaped rocket blast were cut from an alexander henry(?) fabric i’d stashed “just because” a little while ago. i got a few colourful funky kid prints at the same time. it won’t be any revelation to those who’ve been sewing/quilting a while but may be to any wouldbe quilters reading, just how important it is to stash when you can see a fabric you love and you can afford it, it doesn’t matter that you don’t have a project in mind. i feel incredibly indulgent when i do it, but it makes the creative process so much easier to have a wide selection of fabrics, all of which speak to you in some way, it makes combining them a real joy and unexpected combinations arise unbidden. everything i used was from stash. the chambray i bought in a fit of excitement after seeing shannah’s wonderful red cross quilt, the embroidery cottons were part of my haul from a swap night i organised with local crafty friends – i managed to get rid of more than i acquired, which left me feeling very virtuous (lol, yeah, if i could feel the virtue through the hangover…)

appliqueing the stars was a little trickier than i envisaged. i ended up sewing over a sheet of paper for stabilisation (worked a treat – you just tear the sheet off afterwards) while litfting the presser foot and pivoting every couple of stitches to get round the tight curves. as it was the machine wasn’t totally happy and skipped a lot of stitches. since i was using brand new needles and swapped to a heavier one, the remaining potential culprit for the skipping was the upper tension being too tight (i only just looked it up now), since i’d dialled that up before deciding on the paper stabiliser. luckily i wasn’t over-fussed on a perfect finish for this one. i had a good tip from the button shop lady on this one – to use a double thread in the top bobbin, but regular weight thread, rather than using a heavier thread. where it wasn’t skipping the finish was excellent.

i have to say all that pivoting – along with the skipped stitches, which i thought at the time was just the machine being temperamental – had my mind wandering to this little beauty that i have my beady eye on. i realised just how much use a knee lift would be if i was going to be doing a lot of this kind of thing. while i can’t find much info online about the silver viscount model it appears to be the exact same machine as the babylock quest which is getting rave reviews over in the states. i’d been tentatively scouting the market for larger throat machines for a while but couldn’t bring myself to seriously contemplate either a) a straight stitch only machine or b) the thick end of a grand. but for a smidgen over £500 this one looks like a steal.

the quilting was my favourite part of the whole thing, although my fingers aren’t thanking me for it. i used a perle(?) cotton which took a little persuading through the layers, but it was worth it for that heavy, hand-stitched look. the inspiration for this came from the habitat quilt i mentioned in the last post, which is just multicoloured lines of heavy thread quilting onto soft-as-butter neutral fabric. i really should have hooped it in some way to stabilise the layers (it’s all enveloped together) since it was so small i thought i could get away without but its puffing up rather unevenly. i busked the quilting lines, just scratching the next stretch onto the fabric with the needle.

i’m pretty pleased with this, it’s taken less than a week start to finish, with G in “not sleeping in the evenings” mode too. i love quick projects. and it’s been a good warm up for my next new project in the pipeline (heh, ignoring the wip that’s been cluttering up the sewing room for the last fortnight) with all that hand quilting…

i wanted to make a baby quilt that wasn’t babyish – cute but not twee. i don’t think i did too bad a job.

i learned more about fabric design working with my spoonflower fabrics (i.e. it’s much easier – and more economical – to work with non-directional prints than directional ones).

i learned how to starch properly, following the method here instead of the one on the side of the pack, and found how much easier it makes piecing and applique and making binding (i.e. i didn’t use it on the binding and it was a pig to sew).

i learned that attempting to machine applique a few mm from the edge of the piece doesn’t really cut the mustard (although you can’t really tell from any distance).

i learned the tightest curve i can manage with a quilting-length stitch and a walking foot (the answer being “not as tight as these damned circles!”).

i learned (after much swearing) that a blunt needle causes skipped stitches, as does one which is too light for the fabric/layers you’re trying to sew through.

i learned that lots of stopping and starting in quilting is Bad, and that a locking stitch would be a mighty fine thing to have on a quilting machine. having said that, i’m happy enough with the quilting design to overlook the little runs of locking stitches.

i learned that when your poncey adjustable glass-shaded lamp has a note in the box warning you have to hold it when you adjust it in case it falls and the shade breaks you should take this as a sign that it’s crappily designed and will loosen and smash all over your quilt if you so much as look at it and return it immediately to the shop.

i learned that a hoover a good shake out the window and a wash gets broken glass out of quilts

i remembered that chopping the edges off a quilt to make it square, whilst Naughty, does indeed make it nicely square and it almost looks well made from a distance

i shamelessly stole malka at a stitch in dye’s idea of a curtain wire on the wall, since we had one we weren’t using, and i struggle to take pictures of big stuff on the table. it gives me somewhere to hang projects in progress as well as just making the room look pretty

i subconsciously took rather more inspiration than i realised from this little quilt the lovely josie at mr monkeysuit (she of owl quilt fame) made for hillary lang at wee wonderfuls. i checked back on it as i knew it had been somewhere in the back of my mind with the circles and was rather alarmed at quite how similar my duckies ended up . on the other hand, the inspiration i took for the quilting from this exquisite quilt of alex’s was entirely conscious. i don’t believe i’ve seen the full quilt – i’ve wandered through moonstitches a few times looking in case i missed it but i don’t think i did. i really really want to see it, alex is my quilting heroine.

the top was a little awkward at times, but mostly trouble-free. i set out to use as much of my 3 spoonflower FQs as possible on the top, i worked the design out by cutting up to-scale pieces of coloured paper. the big circle used the bulk of the fabrics and i just played with placing the small circles until it looked right. i would pay slightly more attention to the orientation and arrangement of the little circles if i did it over again.

all the circles are appliqued: starched, pressed around a template and bodgingly stitched a few mm from the edge w/straight stitch – i wouldn’t do this again, i’d rather hand stitch, for that little extra time the finish is miles better. after i’d pieced the large circle i wasn’t happy with the bulk at the centre and i’d read recently someone say they’d had the same and chopped out the middle, so i appliqued another circle over the top then trimmed the underneath away. similarly, i “appliqued” the large circle onto the white ground and then cut out underneath – i did have a trial run at piecing curves and decided that with my sewing skillz this was by far the better way!

the overall size was determined by the backing, which is my one yard print. the finished quilt is 40″x31″ and would have been larger had i not lopped off part of the top i thought i wouldn’t need somewhat prematurely.

i knew what i wanted to do with the basics of the quilting – i have a thing about pintucks, and what i think of as japanese parallel lines of quilting – and i knew i wanted it to be curved and irregular, to keep it from being too stiff. and i wanted to bed the smaller circles firmly in that pool of ripples, without disturbing it too much. but i kind of stalled at that point. i hadn’t realised quite how much the large circle would scream “beach ball” once i’d added the smaller circle in the centre, but i certainly didn’t want to emphasise that by stitching in (or roughly-in-the-vicinity-of ) the ditches. but when i saw this picture i thought this simple pattern would fit in the segments, echoing the double lines around the small circles. i liked that it would be rather looser to offest the potential for death by quilting elsewhere the finished daisy effect isn’t quite in keeping with the mood i was aiming for, but i don’t think it’s a terrible choice. i picked a binding from my stash, it had to be polka dots really, and happily i had plenty of suitable yellows stashed. the simple joy of bias tape making aside i wouldn’t bother with a single-pass binding again. even using the walking foot i had problems with puckering and – despite my aversion to unpicking – i had to redo it several times until i got anything even vaguely satisfactory. i much prefer the finish on a turned binding, i think i might even revisit the improvised technique i used on the balloon quilt, since it made a nice neat finish without any obviously wandering stitching.

i’ve tried it for size and it’s a perfect fit for the cot, but for the moment it’s staying on the wire so i can take it in properly.

i was browsing flickr earlier and came across something very exciting, syko’s new window quilt. now this struck me in a number of ways:

• her style is instantly recognisable. i aspire to eventually developing a distinctive style of my own, but i think to do that i have to stop dabbling around and narrow my work a little so i can actually develop along a theme. i think i’m going to find that difficult as novelty has always been my driving force, knuckling down i don’t do so well…
• did she invent the idea of a window quilt? it wouldn’t surprise me in the least, she’s a talented woman. i’ve never heard of such a thing before, but it makes complete sense to add the play of light through fabric into the equation. layers and light and things obscured…
• i’ve been wondering for a long time how it might be possible to develop some overlap between my pictures and my stitching. various ideas have been floating around my head and they’re slowly beginning to crystalise. and with that i must go and play with drawing pins and cling film in the garden before it starts to rain…

/cryptic

just dropping a couple of links here for reference for future/current projects:

linda has a wonderfully detailed hand piecing tutorial, with all kinds of useful tips. whilst i’m not working on anything near as intricate as a dear jane, it’s nice to know the proper way of doing things in case i ever get to the stage when it matters if things line up!

lisa has a very clear and helpful tutorial on piping on the u-handbag blog. i dug out my notes from the couture handbag class i took years ago as that had a piping method, but it turns out the pdfs are password protected and i can’t find my registration info anywhere i’m sure the method was different, but tbh i remember finding the piping a pita then, so hopefully this way will be easier.

a long overdue heartfelt thankyou post.

never having won anything in my life i was impossibly delighted when my name was pulled from josie’s hat in her anniversary draw at mr monkeysuit. to have someone so talented make a baby quilt just for me (well, i suppose technically it was for baby G ) was a dream come true.

but that delight was nothing compared to how i felt when the quilt arrived, just a few days before G (note impeccable timing in contrast to my own belated effort). i posted briefly then but wanted to share more of the details of this wonderful quilt: the fabric choices, the pieced sashing, the softness of the backing, the wonderful spiralling square quilting.

i was really blown away by the quilt and honoured to have won it. we use it every day and G loves it too. more pics.

oh!

i received a parcel that took my breath away today.

the minute i saw these i thought “quilting patterns”. perhaps not exactly, but inspiration, certainly. not that i’m getting ahead of myself or anything

tinsmiths

at embroidery overlaps barbara explains that the contemporary quilt group of the quilters’ guild has set its members a challenge for 2007: an A4 quilt a month. as a novice i’m loving the opportunity offered by tiny quilts to try new techniques without any great investment of time or money. it helps me to sustain my interest through to the end as well, always an issue for me in any project.

in the interests of research i’ve been trying to track down as many of these little quilts (mini contemporary or art quilts as opposed to doll quilts) as i can. it turns out that finding quilters who share my aesthetic is harder than i might have expected. as shannon pointed out there’s a hell of a lot of embellishing going on out there. although that certainly doesn’t put me off, i tend to lose interest in things even quicker if i’m surrounded by people doing exactly what i want to do only much better

one of the few that strikes a chord is margaret cooter. i especially like her two “kilim’ quilts that draw inspiration from woven textiles. i think that’s a direction i’d like to move towards, exploring the relationship between quiltmaking and other fabric construction methods.

the art and mini quilts flickr pool is the most varied source of different styles i’ve found to date, i feel i’ve just begun to scratch the surface there.

even smaller this time, just A4 sized, perfect for an apprentice piece. the background sky/tree fabrics are pieced, everything else is appliqued. since this didn’t have to withstand being washed i thought i’d have a go at fusible applique, but i didn’t want to machine it (everything is hand stitched) or have raw edges, so i had a go at stitching the pieces onto lightweight fusible interfacing, cutting a slit in the interfacing, turning, then fusing. in the main this worked well, although there are a few spots where the interfacing is peeking out around the edges, especially on the smaller/fiddlier pieces. i do think it was definitely worth saving the hassle of slip stitching everything down. i think perhaps i should have cut out behind the appliques to reduce bulk and show-through, especially behind the house, but i wasn’t convinced that the fusible would hold if it was only a thin line around the edge. the quilting is more successful in some spots than others. i’m pleased with the swirly puffiness of the sky – which comes from following the outlines of the paisley pattern – and the wavy ground. on the other hand, i don’t think the concentric circles on the tree actually do it any favours and i think the house is still unresolved. although what i should have done further with it i’m not sure, and with all those layers to work through i’m not sure it woud have taken a pleasing texture anyway.

the little details on the house – the blind, number and button handle – were sadly not at all my invention (although i did have the brainwave of taking the number from a selvedge rather than attempting to embroider it) all credit to syko’s fantastic houses. believe me i had to strongly restrain myself from duplicating wholesale all of her clever little touches.

all in all i’m torn about this, there’s something that really isn’t working for me and i can’t quite put my finger on it. i’m happiest with the tree side of things, and the little dress. but it’s all been good practice – i’m getting quite good at bindings now, i even managed a mitred corner on this one – as neat on the back as it is on the front thanks to this explanation of what to do with the back, cos the suggestion that it will somehow mitre itself on the back which appears to be pretty widespread is a long way from the truth in my experience. and my quilting stitches are getting smaller, if not much more regular. here’s a question for any hand quilters reading – when people say it’s more important that your stitches are even than small, should i be aiming for stitches that are the same size as each other, or should they also be the same size as the spaces between them?

venturing tentatively into the online world of art quilts (why do i find the very idea so off-putting? i think my deeply ingrained art-scepticism instinctively baulks at it – to my mind the whole point of a quilt is that it keeps somebody warm) i’ve found a whole heap more links to drop for later reference:

ragged cloth cafe
art quilt reviews
squidoo: art quilts

quilting is apparently part of the fabric (heh) of society in the us, but here it feels like a rather unlikely thing to do. casting around to find some kind of british tradition i could link into i found quiltart. i’m especially taken by the work of elizabeth brimelow and ann fahy, both speak to the latent archaeologist in me. and for sheer fabric joy i don’t think mary fogg can be beaten.

with immaculate timing the purl bee (i swear i’m not on commission ) today recommended this book on welsh quilts.

early quilt history, wholecloth quilts, inc. welsh, at quiltersmuse.

vintage welsh quilts can be seen (and purchased) here. tangentially, she also has a stock of welsh nursing shawls, which i feel somehow duty-bound to at least have a try with, although the traditional carry is one-handed, rather than hands free. and on the same tangent i must remember to post a pic of my new mei tai – it’s one of the loveliest textiles that’s come into my possession in a loooong time.

sadly not much info online at the v&a, although they do have a reading list and (don’t hold your breath) an upcoming exhibition of british quilts in 2010.

the quilters’ guild

quiltstory has an up to date list of uk exhibitions and events, as well as various articles with a uk slant.

fabric dyeing 101 – definitive dyeing resource (which will follow in due course, i have no doubt ) i’ve also really enjoyed reading her hard-won insights into running an art-based home business (ongoing series).

i think i’m officially hooked on quilting. i haven’t enjoyed making anything as much as this for a long time. it’s a belated (natch) mother’s day present, all hand stitched. the tree fabric might look vaguely familiar – it features in my banner. the design has four different trees but this one is my standout favourite. it’s quite a crowded pattern and you can see the odd leaf and trunk from its companions peeping in around the edges. i cut out and appliqued the trunk while keeping the fabric in a single piece. in some ways i’m not totally happy with the “chopped off” appearance of the tree around the leaves and especially at the top, but it was necessary to keep it visually isolated and in other ways i’m pleased with the way it gives a rather more abstract, textural feel to the whole thing, rather than “oh look a lollipop tree”. the chopped-offness adds to its overall slightly drunken air. the “grass” was supposed to be at an angle – and had to be to cover up other trees – but the “flowers” should be straight. that’s just not enough care at the piecing stage to get them lined up right. i wasn’t totally sure about including this fabric as it’s a different style print to the others and the whole “flowers” thing is a bit literal. but i really like the way the colours play – i think the white background balances the piece – and i like how it echoes the circular motif of the tree. i have so much still to learn about using fabrics together in patchwork, but it’s really fun learning. but leaving aside my reservations about the finished article – and there are plenty, not least the quilting stitches – i found the process utterly engaging. it was really much quicker than i expected, i enjoyed the control i had hand piecing, and i absolutely loved the hand quilting, especially in the softer sections (the tree fabric is furnishing weight so didn’t respond as obligingly to the quilting). having struggled to knot the ends of threads for years the quilter’s knot was a real revelation – it’s quite unnerving how much it still delights me every single time. i managed to get up a fair stitch rhythm and while i improved significantly from the outset my stitches were still wonky and uneven, ocassionally failing to catch at all on the back, and hovering around the 6-stitches-to-the-inch mark at their very best. but nothing worth learning comes immediately and i enjoyed it so much i can see me taking every opportunity to practice, especially on manageable sized projects like this.

oh and yes, i’ve learned pretty much everything i know so far from the purl bee, their tutorials are beautifully clear (as well as clearly beautiful). and to give more credit where it’s due the whole idea was inspired in no small part by liesl and alex .

i can’t explain quite how much i love this quilt, except to say that i found it really hard to edit down the pictures to post them on flickr – i wanted them all. i think one reason i’m so overwhelmed might be that i’ve never actually had a quilt before. i don’t think i’d even seen one in real life until a couple of weekends ago when we went to stay with friends who’d put their very special all-hand-stitched quilt on the guest bed for us (which inspired me to get finally moving with this one). so i’ve never properly experienced the rumpled visual and tactile joy that is a quilt before.

this came together gratifyingly quickly, always a plus for my limited attention span. the top is pieced from mostly charity shop fabrics – cotton curtains (which remind me strongly of the ones that hung in my grandparents kitchen when i was small) and a poly-cotton duvet cover which had the hexagons on one side and the magnificent balloon pattern on the other. the binding is a superbuzzy fabric that i think may have sold out there now, but is also at reprodepot iirc. after a long time sewing clothing i have to say i’m delighted that the entire quilt was made without the use of a single pin (apart from the aforementioned thousands of basting pins) – oh the joy of straight seams and neat rotary cut edges that can just be held together.

after the pleasure of piecing the actual quilting was nearly my downfall. the walking foot did a sterling job, but i made the mistake of trying to rely on the quilting guide that came with it to keep my quilting lines parallel. this might have worked for straight lines (although the fact that it sits on the wrong side of the foot, and that i had to tape it to stop it sliding to random lengths, suggests perhaps not) but it hadn’t occurred to me that it would create concentric, rather than parallel, curves. not until i started. and those curves were getting tighter and tighter and harder and harder to sew. i realised at this point that i really should have lengthened my stitches for the quilting, especially if there was going to be ripping out to do. so i didn’t bother ripping, just started again with the top marked.

marking the top after basting (d’oh!) wasn’t so bad really – i made a cardboard template and traced along it a couple of rows at a time, having removed the pins from that section. after years of dressmakers chalk and assorted other equally-not-very-good fabric marking methods, disappearing marker pen was a revelation too, although i guess the fact that you mustn’t iron it pretty much rules it out for dressmaking. after reading a few horror stories about the ink reacting with detergents i made sure i soaked the whole thing in cold water to remove the marker before i washed.

i chose the wavy line quilting pattern because i wanted something with a bit of movement to break up the static formal lines of the top. it hadn’t occurred to me how much harder this would be with the walking foot than straight lines, but it didn’t turn out too bad, especially since the rumpled patches i was getting in places on the top (nothing on the backing at all, hats off to that walking foot) have disappeared into the general delicious rumpling once the quilt was washed (i used hobbs heirloom 80cotton/20poly batting and i just love the difference the shrinkage makes).

i think the quilting pattern works particularly well on the back, it just seems to carry the balloons along. i’ve since seen some really inspiring machine-quilted patterns using straight lines that are still really free and loose and make this look quite stiff (rats, can’t find all the links, but here’s one i love), so that’s a whole new world to explore too

i was nearly stumped on the binding. i bought a bias tape maker, in the hope of managing a single-pass binding, but failed utterly to get it to work properly. it seemed to me that it didn’t fold over tight enough so it wasn’t feeding under the iron evenly, the “tape” was totally uneven and unusable. maybe i just need more practice. anyway, i ended up cutting 1 1/2″ strips, pressed one edge to just over a 1/4″ then sewed the un-pressed edge at a scant 1/4″ onto the front of the quilt. then i folded over and machine stitched at 3/8″ from the back (with brown thread in the top and white in the bobbin). i know it’s usual to make the second pass narrower than the first, so the stitches catch the binding, but i know how uneven my sewing is, and there was a good chance that i’d end up wandering off the edge of the binding completely on the back – and you’ve worked out by now that i’m rather averse to ripping unless it’s structural so i’d prolly leave it like that and just cringe every time i saw it. i couldn’t work out a neat way of mitring the corners so i just stitched separate strips to each side and hand finished the corners. in the end i really like how it’s turned out, with the neat turned edge on the front, and the row of bobbin stitches framing the rest of the quilting.

i’m itching so badly to get going on the next one

for some reason i don’t quite recall i tend not to post my works in progress. but i’ve been so enjoying my quilting the last few days i wanted to share a few sneak peeks.

this first one is a playmat for our next arrival. i’m slowly working up the critical scale – first a toy quilt, now a baby quilt, next one for M, eventually working up to one for us. i ran out of pins basting it last night, about 2/3 done. having just read lisa call’s basting tutorial i’m thinking perhaps i overdid it a bit, as she pins around 6″ apart, whereas i’d read other advice that you shouldn’t be able to put a fist down without hitting a pin. if i can make it to the button shop today i’ll get more pins, but if not i have the centre section fully pinned and can remove those and pin the edges once the middle’s quilted. my walking foot arrived this morning so i don’t think i’ll be able to resist having a go tonight.

and here are the first of M’s stars. the tutorial utterly and totally rocks. i realised once i’d had a go how it neatly sidesteps all the problems of stretching on the bias you’re likely to encounter sewing triangles. i’m gathering a sizeable bag of offcut triangles that i may use on the backing or binding, or a spin-off doll quilt. the cutting is pleasantly straightforward and the sewing goes by in no time, i was planning to have a quick try at a sample square when i came to a halt on the playmat and managed all 4 yesterday, which included prewashing the fabrics. i really love em, but please reassure me, there is no such thing as too colourful when you’re 4, right?

i’m pretty much decided on a sawtooth star pattern for M’s quilt, not least thanks to this fab tutorial at the purl bee. also inspired by this fantastic mandala quilt.

via wee wonderfuls but josie’s work. i went searching for ideas on quilting patterns for my current wip and found this recent post. i have a strangely overwhelming craving for yellow at the moment, it’s grabbing me like nothing else, and i just adore this orange too. will have a good root around at mr monkeysuit later on.

eta: blimey is this really my first post this month? slap wrists, bad blogger

eta: heh, there must be something in the air, manda over at treefall’s got it too it was her yellow apron set in this post that jumped off the page at me the other day and convinced me i need more yellow in my life.

in the planning stages. i have fabric stashed for a double quilt for me, which is staying well and truly stashed until i’ve worked up to it. i’ve got fabric on the way for a single for madam, but again i want to get some practice in first. so i’m planning a series of mini quilts to get a grip on the piecing, which i think i’ll try hand quilting – so that i can play with different quilting styles without having to master machine quilting at the same time. i enjoy handwork, i’m quite painstaking and reasonably patient, and i’m hoping that hand quilting will give me the control i need. i’m not over fussed on teeny stitches so i’m hoping that reduces the stress potential.

i’ve got 2 plans, one in blues on white, taking inspiration from islamic art. links:
geometry in islamic design
islamic floral patterns and geometry
origami star (part of an astonishing set of original origami designs via flickr)

the second i’m thinking of shades of deep red, geometric but loose, inspired by gunta stolzl’s weavings. i love keiko goke’s use of light and shade in her log cabin work, it has that bauhaus feel and i particularly like how she breaks up the shadow with the bright striped sashing in this quilt, similar to stolzl’s flashes of black and white.

forums: martha pullen phorum
quilters review
sewforum
equilter (also home to a library which includes this discussion on puckering).

flickr: quilts and quilting

misc quilting links: handy info on various things to consider from quiltville including thread colour choice and pieced backings (plus lots else to browse).
batting faq
standard quilt measurements
looooads of info at victoriana quilt designs
press your seams open
starching
hand piecing
cutting – grain lines
piecing sharp points
hand piecing tips
perfect hand quilting stitch

i made a quilt

i can’t believe how quick the whole process was. okay so it’s only a doll size sampler (actually it’s for bender – but he doesn’t mind that it’s rather girly), 15″x21″ish, but it went from conception to completion in the space of a single day.

i decided to get my machine out and give it a good going over to see if i could fix the not-going-in-reverse problem, which magically disappeared even before i cleaned out the wodges of felt that had accumulated around the feed dogs. so i thought why not have a go at a tiny practice quilt. the fabrics are dispensible cottons from stash (i.e. it wouldn’t ever be my choice of colour scheme) stitched with (shhh!) polyester thread. all the cutting was a joy, finally putting my rotary cutter to good use. we (madam was my able design and production assistant for the bits that were child-proof at least) decided on a really basic design, but i wanted to try just a little bit of more complicated piecing, hence the star.

the patchwork went mostly to plan, i was particularly impressed with how well my machine coped with chain sewing the pieces, it fed pretty much flawlessly, even on the triangles, which i didn’t expect at all. maybe it just responded well to a little tlc, i’m not sure i’ve ever oiled it before. i didn’t expect to get any further than finishing the top today, but when it was done with time to spare i dug out some machine-felted wool that fit perfectly. it’s rather stiffer and denser than the wadding in manda’s quilt and it doesn’t indent with quilting in the same way, but worked perfectly for a practice and i’m sure i’ve heard of blankets being used as wadding. the only problem is that it’s dark, and slightly visible through the orange fabric.

i expected the quilting to cause some problems, for lack of a walking foot, and although i’ve no idea how much a walking foot would improve things i was pleasantly surprised at how unhorrific it eventually turned out. despite copious basting i did get a significant amount of slippage – not enough to cause puckering on the top, i worked from the centre and lifted the presser foot at intervals to relieve the bunching – but enough to make the top overshoot so far that it pushed past the edge of the backing, even though i’d cut it larger than the top. this left me around half an inch short of fabric on the backing side, so i widened the binding on the back to cover it.

it was the stitching in the ditch that i found unexpectedly fiendish. although it improved as i went it took utmost concentration and i still wasn’t at all happy with it. having looked very closely at manda’s work i realised that the puffing up of proper quilt wadding and using a properly matching thread actually does a great deal to disguise less than perfect stitching (and i had taken hers to be flawless until then), so didn’t feel quite so bad.

hand stitching the binding to the back didn’t take as long as i’d feared – the whole thing was gratifyingly speedy, i’d expected even a small quilt to be a week or so’s work. i can see that i could easily get a taste for it, although i’m starting to wonder what on earth we’d do with all the quilts i already want to make. we only have 2 beds in the house!

oh must plug the book i unexpectedly found at the local bookshop: linda seward’s patchwork, quilting and applique, that held my hand through the whole process.