Tag Archives: patchwork

Sewing Projects

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Last month I wrote this post about a baby quilt I was making.  I finished it last week and gave to my colleague who was absolutely thrilled with it.

Here is the result of my endeavours.

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This crazy quilt was made entirely from scraps and thrifted fabric and bits and pieces of it were made over a number of years.

In complete contrast, my next sewing project was made in less than an hour this morning.  GMan recently bought a new Kindle e-reader but had not decided about a case/cover so I suggested that I could make one.

I did not take any photos during the construction process as I did not have a pattern and just made it up as I went along.  I was pleased with the result.

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It is made from a couple of scraps of poly cotton fabric – patterned on the outside with a plain red lining.  I cut up an old handtowel which had been in the pile of old towels and used this for some padding to provide some protection for the Kindle.  The bias binding and velcro tab were also scraps that were lurking in my stash of sewing bits and pieces.

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And this is how it looks with the flap sealed with the velcro.

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The rest of my day was spent far away from the sewing machine but more on that tomorrow.

 

Making Progress

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In amongst various other jobs I managed to do some sewing this weekend.  I had some patchwork blocks I had made ages ago with nothing particular in mind so I decided to put them together to create a small quilt.  It will be given to a work colleague who is pregnant with a baby girl.

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Here it is draped over the ironing board with the batting and backing attached.  I have begun stitching it together by machine stitching along the joins of some of the blocks.

I know that my techniques are nothing like quilters would use, but it is made entirely with scraps, offcuts and thrifted fabrics and a generous dose of love and care.

 

Sew My Stash Sunday – 1

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I do not usually read heaps of sewing/craft blogs because they often feature projects or items that I am simply do not interest me.

However, I stumbled across this idea here and seemed almost too good to be true.  Basically, I can sew or make whatever I like as long as at least 50% comes from my stash.  I had pretty well intended to do this but had not thought of articulating my ideals quite so eloquently.  I love sewing and am working towards decluttering more stuff so this challenge will definitely help.

003My personal plan is to post each and every Sunday about what I have done in the preceding week which fits the challenge.  This will help to keep me accountable and will also be an interesting future record of just what sewing  I achieved in 2015.

002To see what I did last week see my previous post.

Thanks to the lovely Leasa who decided to run with this germ of an idea and also StitchnSewCreates for linking to the original.  Please check out these blogs if you are interested in this project.

001Then when the pieces are too small for much else there is always the ongoing patchwork!

I know that my fabric stash is not huge compared to what some people have but it is getting to the stage of frustrating me because I have so many plans/ideas for a lot of the pieces and I simply haven’t got around to doing it.  2015 is the year.

Project Completed

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It is almost a week since my last post and in that time I feel as though I barely managed to keep my head above water, let alone write or publish any blog posts.  As well as running a home and holding down a full-time job I have been caring for my 2 granddaughters, aged 5 and almost 7.  By the time I cook meals, pack lunches, wash clothes, supervise homework etc I am pretty well exhausted.  Luckily, my stint is for 10 days so I can see the end in sight.

I had almost finished a patchwork project before things got busy and I have now finished hand-sewing the binding.

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This is a knee rug which I have made for my mother for her birthday.  Like the other work I have shown you, it is based on a disappearing 9 patch block.

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This photo shows the backing which is from a sheet that I bought some time ago from the local op shop.  In fact, all of the fabric is either salvaged from unpicked garments or offcuts from other sewing projects.  It is all cotton or poly/cotton but of varying weights.  In my opinion, this rug represents the true essence of patchwork – using up what you have.

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A close-up shows the wide border with mitred corners and then the binding to finish it off.

This is my first completed patchwork so I am definitely no expert.  If you were able to study the piece closely you would find that it is far from perfect.  There are some joins in which the corners do not match precisely, it is possibly not as flat or smooth as it should be and there are the occasional wrinkle and pucker.  However, I regard these as part of the love with which these was devised and assembled.

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Finally, I wanted to show you that you do not need to spend a heap of money on a plethora of gadgets.  I used my standard dressmaking scissors, tape measure and pins.  In addition, I used a set square and 1 metre metal ruler which I had on hand.  I also used a 1/4″ foot and a quilting foot for my sewing machine.  The 1/4″ foot was a handy addition but not essential, whereas I could not have completed this rug without the quilting foot.  I was lucky that both of these items had generously been given to me.

More Material

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Last weekend I spent a fair bit of time in the sewing room.  I am working on a project that I cannot show you for another week so more details then.

I have also been cleaning up and sorting out material – yet again.  Much of what I have is relatively small pieces so I have prepared some of them for future patchwork projects by cutting them into 5 inch squares.  The remaining pieces are bundled according to colour so that I know where to look if I need a specific colour.

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Today I was given a couple of bags of material.  It is mostly substantial sized pieces which will be suitable for making entire garments so I am off to have a closer look at them and dream of some future creations.

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Patchwork – 5 Months Later

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I have finally made it back to my patchwork that I first showed you here and here.  Well it is 5 months later and I have finally got back to doing some more.  I now have 31 blocks completed and here they are laid out on the floor in a totally random order.  None of the fabric was purchased specifically for the project.  It is all offcuts from dressmaking projects or small unused pieces from my stash of fabric.  That stash is a bit smaller now.  🙂

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By my calculations these 30 blocks should cover the entire bed but I am not too sure how much overhang I want at the sides and the end or how much I will lose when I add the wadding and quilt it.  I think I will sew all of these together and see what I think.  Then I can add another row or two of blocks if I feel it needs it.  I am also wondering whether to put a plain border of 6 – 8 cm all around the edge.

Please share your thoughts or experiences on patchwork/quilting in the comments.

I have also cut out another 80 squares for a smaller rug using the same technique but more about that another day.

Patchwork – Part 2

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It is a week since my last post and I have not even replied to your kind and thoughtful comments.  I think work got in the way last week.  I also went to a community meeting about solar power one evening and spent time with members of my family so blogging has taken a back seat.

Today I did some more of my patchwork.  I now have 22 of the 36 squares I need.  I have decided that I will just join the blocks directly rather than putting sashing between them as I am looking for a random allover pattern.  I spread the completed blocks out on the floor to get an idea of how it is going to look and I am very pleased with the result so far.

Patchwork
I also mended a pair of jeans for DD’s partner.  They were brand new but the stitching had come undone for about 3cm on one side seam.  I completely reinforced both side seams so hopefully they will be OK now.  There was a pair of The Duke’s socks with a hole in the toe so they are now fixed too.  Finally, I put my skills to the test and replaced the legs of this bear.

Bear
It was signed by DD’s friends when she finished school and we were moving interstate so it has some sentimental value for her.  However, I think my granddaughters had been ‘playing’ with him and the buttons that hold his legs in place had come adrift.  Luckily the thread was still through his torso so with a bit of ingenuity and a large curved needle I was able to reattach the legs.  I don’t think I will repair dolls and bears for a living!

It has been a long weekend here and I have enjoyed the break from work.

My First Attempt

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It is never too late to learn something new so today I have started some patchwork.  I am hoping to make a quilt.  It is not entirely true that I have never done patchwork before but it has been generally on a small scale and my own ‘design’.

Following some basic tips that I gleaned from Frugal Queen and this Youtube video, I set about making my first disappearing 9 patch square.

I did not buy any fabric because I believe that patchwork should be the ultimate in making do with what you have, not an excuse to rush out and buy all of the latest mix’n’match patchwork fabrics.  I am using leftovers and offcuts from many of my own sewing projects as well as some that my mother gave me recently.  Some of the pieces in the bundle are over 40 years old.

Here are some of the first squares I cut out.  I was starting to arrange them for the block.

Squares cut out

I chose to use mostly blue in my first project as that is the colour that I have most in the available fabric.  It is also the colour of our bedroom so the quilt will look perfect on our bed if it reaches completion.

The first nine squares sewn together.

First squares sewn

The disappearing 9 patch depends on then cutting the block into 4 squares, rearranging them and then sewing them together.  This is the result.

Disappearing 9 patch
So far today I have made 4 of these blocks and I am really happy with how they are turning out.

4 blocks made
I think I am hooked but there are other things I need to do today as well.  I will be back tomorrow with more adventures.  In the meantime, let me know if you quilt or sew.  Is it for fun or frugality?

 

Quilt Update

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I have done some more work on the quilt today.  The blocks are all sewn together, the batting and backing are attached and I have machine quilted between the blocks.

Patchwork quilt topHere is a view of the backing with the stitching.

2013-06-13 02This is the fabric I will use to make the binding.

2013-06-13 03I was undecided about the binding until I had the quilt assembled.  This was a piece which I had planned to use when making reuseable Christmas gift bags.  I will buy more if I actually need it for that purpose.

No more craft posts until I show you the finished product.  However, I am pleased to have set myself this challenge otherwise this would still be a pile of fabric on the sewing table.

A Bit Less Fabric

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Last night I made a start on the teddy bear quilt.  I have cut out 24 blocks of fabric.

It is all spread out on the kitchen bench as I had to work out the combination of colours.  Although there are 24 blocks, it is not 8 of each.  I actually have 9 patterned, 8 navy and 7 calico.  This evolved because of the amount of each fabric that I had.  It really is a matter of making do with what you have.

Quilt squares
I chose to make it very simply from large blocks of fabric because otherwise the look of the teddy bears would be lost if each piece just had a bit of a leg or an ear.

The first 8 blocks are sewn together.

Assembling the quilt

I plan to have the remaining blocks sewn together tonight.

Fabric Update:  This project has completely used the navy and teddy bear fabric so they are now gone from the stash.  I still have some pieces of calico left but it is actually a slightly different weight and colour to the piece that I used for the quilt.