Rogue hexagon quilt - complete

Finally, the rogue hexagon quilt is complete. Gone from being a rather scrappy mess found abandoned around the house for the last few months, to the finished article. I love how it all comes together at the end.

I love this quilt, it really has been a labour of love, hand-stitching those hexagons into submission took hours and hours. But it was nice to have an excuse to sew cozy-ed up on the sofa rather than hunched over my machine.

I used my favourite colours and fabrics on this quilt and it's lovely having them all in one place, like a snap shot of M is for make at that time as many are now sold out. I used grey honeycomb dots for the backing and linen blend in flax for the binding. I quilted a bit more than usual, zig-zagging down alternate rows, I can't deny I still find this process really tedious but I was pleased with the result.

Then came the binding, usually my favourite part, but me being me, I managed to incorporate a mistake or 2 here. Despite measuring (I thought) really carefully and adding in plenty of spare in my length of binding, the 2 ends met with a seam allowance of barely 5mm. It was so close, I also managed to time a couple of the seams on the binding with the corners making them bulky and hard to sew. Which was rather frustrating. But the transformation that binding makes to the quilt made is worthwhile. It is so very satisfying.

I almost forgot to mention the words I put on the side of the quilt. I had a few corking mistakes here too. I programmed the phrase in with my daughter which was great fun, she looked up the letters in the manual and I typed them into the machine. I did a test run and we watched mesmerised as the needle did it's work. It all went well so I started on the binding only to realise part way through the first few letters that I had started too close to the raw edge meaning the letters would be eaten up by the seam allowance, so I to start again. The second time went smoothly, but I had put the words on the wrong side so that the text was visible from the front rather than back of the quilt as I intended.

I decided just to go with it as honestly, I just wanted to finish the darn thing and I'd had enough. I used a very similar colour thread to the binding so the text is not that obvious unless you are looking for it, I hoped to minimise future embarrassment to my son. My mum cleverly spotted mistake 3: no date. How on earth did I forget that? Maybe I will try to hand embroider that in later so that I can terrify myself in years to come with how long ago it was that I made this quilt.

I finished hand sewing the last bit of binding whilst watching the Jubilee celebrations on TV. I presented it to my boy and he was overwhelmed with emotion to receive such handcrafted loveliness from his mum more interested in playing in the garden.

It was a busy bank holiday weekend of Jubilee shenanigans like rainy garden parties, but it a quieter moment when back at home, he did spontaneously say 'thank you for my lovely quilt'.  That boy can wrap me round his little finger. The first night he had it on his bed (it has returned to mid-winter weather after a brief, tantalising glimpse of summer) I had to go and release him from it as he had wrapped it round himself like a cocoon and was slowly cooking like a fine leg of lamb.

Look how it coordinates with his toys, he does have toys that are not grey, but I have locked them away so his room looks perfect and ready for a magazine shoot.

Where to next? I am part way through making one of these with this. But whilst it is so freezing, I'm feeling a little uninspired by summer dresses, so here is a hint of where I might go next. I'm thinking this and this.

PS as requested a photo of the back...

Finding the words

As my hexagon quilt is coming very close to being finished with just one row of hexagons to add, I have been thinking about quilting and binding it. The backing, binding and batting are pre-washed and ready to go. Finally I have a chance to dust of my beautiful new machine and stop sewing by hand which is great as that hand is rather sore from it all and it has almost had enough.

I've also been thinking about some words to put on the back of the quilt (which is for my son) and my machine (a Janome  TXL 607) does lettering. I thought it would be beyond me, but it was really easy and great fun to program in a series of letters.

I would want to have a practice run before going for the real thing, especially if putting in a long sentence 'to my darling boy, mummy wuvs you very much, kisses and smooches xxx'.

I'm not really going to write that, so far all I can think of putting is his name and the date, but I want a little more than that - something that he won't cringe at when he is older. 'Mummy wuvs you' is perhaps not the way to go.

So what to write - any thoughts?

Bribery and corruption

So my first proper project on my new sewing machine involved a little bribery. I promised our son some curtains for underneath his bed but have been too busy to make them if I am honest. However with a return to swimming lessons for him, these curtains became part of a long list of bribes to get him into the water, having refused point blank the last time I tried. It was a bit of a risk, curtains are not that exciting and I do find him rather hard to bribe.

Still, it was a bit of simple hemming and a chance to get stuck into figuring out this baby. See how she has a heavenly glow about her?

I normally shy away from user manuals, but I felt I owed it to myself to read this one, and it was surprisingly straight forward and simple. The machine is not that complicated, even though compared to my old one it looks like something from the future.

I had been telling myself for years that my basic machine was all I needed, thinking that a more complex one would be wasted on me. But it's the simple functions on the machine that have been a revelation; a button to cut the threads, a see-through bobbin cover so that I know when I am going to run out. Seam allowance guide lines that are metric and imperial and are even marked on the bobbin cover.

And it's so quiet, you can hold a conversation whilst sewing and not have to shout. I spend most of the day shouting at the kids, so this is a nice break for me. I also love that it has a sliding speed control which means that however hard you press the pedal, there is one maximum speed, but you can ease off to sew slowly. It's a bit like cruise control. My old machine used to go fast or even faster meaning that it could suddenly fly off at high speed if I pressed the pedal too hard. For example during a lapse of concentration while trying to shoo off a dog who was chewing on the power lead. I think the slow speed will be great when sewing with the kids - this used to be a bit of a white knuckle ride.

I love this Cityscape fabric by Echino, note how jarring it is that the pattern does not match at the join. That minor detail didn't even cross my mind. It is held on by tabs secured by velcro. This linen mix is the perfect weight and hangs really well. It has lead to a number of discussions about when I will take him to see Big Ben.

The best thing about these curtains is that they hide all manner of clutter behind them.

And even though when I picked him up from school before the lesson, he mouthed the words 'I don't like swimming' through the window at me. My beautiful boy did enter the water and swam with a smile on his face. He never fails to surprise me. And he loved the curtains, which I put up while he was at school in anticipation of that surprise. He didn't even comment on that badly matched join.

My machine comes with several different clever feet and all manner of different stitches and patterns. I need to try something a little more complex next, it really should be something to wear. Anyone else sewing for Spring?

The tale of the electrifying quilt

A tale of good and evil

The relevance of this title and the above chocolate beast will become apparent. 

So, hot on the heels of my first quilt, I went straight onto planning my next. This included speculating about colour schemes on Twitter. The lovely Florence politely inquired about the progress of my original quilt, you know, this one from LAST FEBRUARY. You see, that quilt has been in the back of my mid for some time. I lost some vital pieces for a while, giving me the perfect excuse to down tools. But when I found them and then realised the batting left over from the last quilt was the perfect size for this one, there was no excuse. (It is worth mentioning that I have a last couple of copies of this quilt pattern here).

I had thought I would make a few more blocks, but even at cot size, it was perfect for a single bed and it seemed a waste to make it bigger only to have to fold it up. I had a fair bit of trepidation about sewing all the blocks together, I think I managed to stretch the voile whilst sewing the curved pieces, it wasn't the ideal fabric to use, but I love it so, I just had too. The blocks were quite irregular, but after a bit of trimming I was surprised that they all fitted together OK.

good cat

Lying it on the floor ready to layer together made it a magnet for the animals, again. I appreciate my posts have been a bit puppy heavy lately. She still has novelty value and it's quite hard to do anything without her appearing an inch from my nose or feet. This strikes me as a s good time to explain why the quilt is electrifying.

bad puppy

I sew at our kitchen table, carefully packing everything away when I finish, it's a bit of a faff, but anything to avoid the kids knocking over a pot of pins of finding the dog eating my scissors. However whilst sewing the quilt, I looked down for the dog who is usually sleeping and inch from my toes, to see her chewing the power cable of my sewing machine. I won't share with you the bad words I said to that dog (my husband has since suggested I could write a whole blog post dedicated to my imaginative and often derisory names for the dog, but I think I know it would offend.) Thankfully she was fine, however the power cord is broken through and I'm not convinced it is safe. So I am left searching for an expensive replacement pedal for what was a cheap sewing machine when I bought it over 10 years ago. Maybe this is a good excuse to upgrade?

Anyway, rant over. Here is the finished quilt, my favourite bit is the shape made by the red and blue pieces, it really stands out making me realise that I must think harder about contrast in my next quilt.

this is the bit I like

My least favourite part is the quilting, even though I prefer minimal quilting, it's such a tedious part of the whole process. I only sewed around the circles of the flowers, that was enough. One part I really like though is hand stitching the binding, hiding away the rough edges and framing all that work. It's so very satisfying. I used a strip of this Anna Maria Horner fabric, as I wanted something quite, but not completely, plain. I love that if you look closely, you can see the cross-stitch pattern which varies along the length, perhaps I should have embroidered a bit of it. Next time.

This quilt was always intended for my daughter and as she recognises the fabric, I had it carefully folded when doing the hand-stitching so that she couldn't see it. When sat side by side on the sofa, she spotted the fabric and said 'I recognise that fabric, what are you making?" my vague white lie prompted that expression on her face I saw rather a lot of around Father Christmas time. One of not quite believing what her old mum was saying. I didn't manage to finish it before she went to bed, but was just sewing the last few stitches as she shouted down for a hot water bottle. I promised her something else that would keep her warm and unfurled it on her bed. The response was rather overwhelming (I don't really expect a 7 year old to find a quilt that exciting, even if it has taken a year to make and nearly killed off the dog in the process).

an army of pink toys, be afraid

Here it is on her bed, along with her impressive army of cuddly toys, this isn't even all of them - do all kids have this many? I think her little brother may be forming an equally well manned army of toys in the room next door. They all have hilarious, confusing and constantly changing names.

So, some valuable lessons learnt here. Don't take too long to finish a project, or you may never. Listen to the wise words of your friends, and puppies are evil destroyers of random expensive household objects fluffy.

The amazing technicoloured dream quilt

So finally the amazing technicoloured dream quilt is finished. I can hardly believe I have managed to finish a project of this size. This achievement has left me with an enormous sense of pride/relief/surprise.

Binding it took a few days, due to the size, there was a lot of slip-stitching to be done. But I really enjoyed this, picking it up where I could, slowly progressing along the sides. I think it's the first time since giving up my day job that I feel like I have been spending my time how I hoped I would be. Once my various jobs of the day were finished I managed to squeeze in a hour of sewing before picking the kids up.

Inevitably, the combination of me sat down with a quilt attracted some wildlife...

... which is turn attracted further wildlife...

I bound the quilt using some hugs and kisses, and hand quilted a few flowers.

hand quilted flowers

And finally we get to use it without dodging pins, and it is oh, so cozy. Every night I see the kids snuggle underneath it in that final wind-down at the end of the day. Despite whatever child-based shenanigans will have inevitably preceded that moment, it feels like all is good in the world.

I feel a little sorry for the kids that in my house, no moment seems to escape being captured on camera. But when just me and my girl were up on Friday night, I had to reach for my phone and capture this one incase I forgot it.

So, what to sew next? finishing this quilt has left me keen to get sewing on something else but equally lacking in motivation as to what. I would like it to involve this, but what to make?

Meg and the amazing technicoloured dream quilt

I've been making steady progress with the flannel quilt that I mentioned before Christmas, having changed the design into something that is actually make-able thanks to advice from you clever followers. I am determined to make it in time to use this winter. Thankfully, it is quick to put together and so when I find the time, progress is pretty good. The colours are turning out a little more lurid brighter together than I was anticipating, perhaps I should have scattered in some more neutral tones, but I couldn't get it to work.

At least this way, when I inevitably spill red wine on it. It won't show.

Meg is drawn to the quilt whenever I put it on the floor, but I know where those paws have been and they are not allowed on it until she has at least had a bath. Puppy progress continues along side quilt progress and I can report that she will not just be a puppy for Christmas (I completely understand that ad campaign now). Having taught her to sit and shake hands, I have made an investment in the pooch and she will stay. Also the kids would not speak to me if I packed her off.

Thank you for your lovely comments on my 2011 post,  I hope 2012 is treating you well, I have ordered lots of new fabric in the last few days and hope to share it with you soon, in the meantime, happy sewing.

Gently...

So with half term over and some spare time on my hands again, I am gently easing myself back into sewing.

Starting with what should be one of the simplest sewing projects, a recorder bag for my daughter. She loves the Sarah Jane Children at Play fabric, and chose the balloons print. I think it is my favourite too.

The recorder is a new torture device source of joy in our lives. The book of music that came with the recorder has 'songs' which are basically the same note blown at top volume till you get the trademark recorder-shriek. Even when sent to her room to practice, there is no escaping that sound.

these are advanced songs with more than one note

So I find myself saying 'blow it gently, it's not meant to make that noise' A LOT. Maybe I should have embroidered those words on the bag. Maybe she'll learn, although I wonder if it is ever possible for a recorder to sound that good.

I am mid-way through making a skirt from this Melody Miller fabric, this recorder case being my warm up, I will hopefully make some progress there this week too.

Sewing under pressure

I could also pull this face at 7 years old

It's a skill passed down through generations

At the beginning of the summer I made a dress for an article that I wrote for Cloth magazine. The idea behind it was that I would keep a diary of how I cram sewing into everyday life as I often find myself wondering how on earth people find time to create balldresses/hand knitted shoes/felted dog coats seemingly overnight.

eating breakfast and sewing, don't try this at home kids

I won't re-write it all here, if you want to read it you can buy Cloth or a magnifying glass and read it here. I think buying Cloth is a better use of your money. To give you a taster, it did include tantrums, magic tricks and nearly flashing the father of one of my daughter's friends. All in a day's work for me.

she is soooo busted

After I finished writing it, my and my girl had a lot of fun re-creating moments from my diary (see grumpy time-out photo and chucking stuff out of the bath above). It makes more sense if you read the diary.

But I did want to show you the dress I made and write a little about the book I got the pattern from as I was really pleased with how it turned out.

I used Couture Dress and Smock book, a book that I have to admit I have overlooked a little. I'm not sure why as it is full of things that I want to make. I chose the dress on the right (below) because it was a nice simple fitted shift shape.

Because it had a high neck which doesn't suit me, I used the neckline from the dress on the right which worked out nicely.

I made a rough version of the dress out of a duvet cover as the sizes in this book were a little different to previous Japanese books I have used. It turned out well, I think the only tweak I made was to take a bit out of the neckline as there was a slight gape and I dropped the arm holes a little.

I had all sorts of ideas fabric wise and was holding off for some Echino fabric I was expecting. (It's just as well I didn't wait too long as it still hasn't arrived.) In the end I chose some bright lightweight cotton from my stash, liking the way I could play with the stripes on the waist.

The dress has a big long zip up the back which I think was the one problem I had as otherwise it went together very well. My zipper foot seriously misbehaved and it doesn't look as neat as I would like. Once day, I might take it out and try again (who am I kidding?).

With both kids at school now and some spare time in the day, I want to get back into making some more clothes, and then actually wear them. A few things have caught my eye in this book.

this top makes me think of Florence

I like the neckline and details on this dress...

And I might start here with this top, it's hard to see in the photo but it has pretty pin tucks on the neck and sleeves. I would have to make it quite a lot longer as I have a very long back and it already looks short in the picture, but I think that would be pretty easy.

I finally got round to buying a big roll of paper from Morplan to trace out the patterns and a super sharp tracing wheel after talking to pattern cutting pro Kerrie.

All I need now is the perfect fabric, but I want to make a rough version first to check fit and maybe tweak a few details. It's exciting to be back sewing again!