Velveteen star

Finally; to the velveteen quilt that I made my mum for Christmas. This quilt is entirely inspired by Katy's wonderful quilt that has been on my mind since I first laid eyes on it.

Katy very kindly and patiently answered my various questions on this quilt; I've never sewn with velveteen before and was a little daunted. I sourced my velveteen from all over the interworld, this line is a little old now and harder to come by. Having completed my sister's quilt before the end of November I had a load of time to make this quilt, but ended up making it the week before Christmas after hanging on and on for the background fabric which never arrived. In the end I plumped for this shot cotton and I'm kinda pleased it turned out this way.

Once I started, I was away in a cloud of sewing and productivity and VELVETEEN SNOW. Everywhere and everything was covered in a not so fine layer of the stuff, coming off the raw edges in blizzards. Veleveteen is a bit of a monkey to sew with as it turns out. I chose it because this quilt had to be warm and luxurious, and it fits that bill perfectly. Perhaps then I can forgive it for the snow and the walking about even when pinned together and the stretchiness.

The star is so simple that it goes together really quickly, I think the border that Katy added to this quilt made a huge difference, so I did the same, it also used up a few scraps. Each square was half a fat quarter, I wanted this quilt to be big so that it could be totally wrapped around to create a cocoon - my mum's house gets really cold in the winter.

Still, I didn't really appreciate quite how big it was until the top was finished. Enormous.

Layering it all together was a bit of a headache, but I now pin the backing to the floor so it's taut and work from there, it seems to work. I used the dottie quilt backing in aqua and made an investment buy in this walking foot for my machine...

Wendy very kindly showed me how to fit it (because I was completely clueless).

Next my thoughts turned to quilting and I was frozen with terror. I had 3 days to finish the quilt and needed to keep it simple, stripes came to mind but the wonderful Katy showed me this sketch.

I opted for lines rather than swirls. The joy of quilting it like this was doing it in more manageable quarters, rather than trying to stitch across the whole length of the quilt. So I sewed and I sewed and I watched episodes of ER back to back and eventually it was done. The foot was wonderful leaving me with no problems - well worth the investment.

I used this Aurifil thread as I wanted the stitches to melt into the background. At this point I felt like I could take a deep sigh of relief with my tight deadline and enjoy a night of binding. The quilting took me a couple of afternoons.

I always add any wording to the binding when it's already half sewn on to mimimise the chance of sewing it on upside-down/backwards/on the wrong side. It works.

I love the fact it's quite hidden away on the binding and like a secret message to the recipient.

It was very lovely cozy under the weight of it all, hand-stitching the binding, secretly wanting the quilt for myself. Again, many re-runs of ER were enjoyed in the binding of this quilt.

And the happy mix of joy when finishing a quilt combined with the sadness of it being over, like finishing a really good book. It felt very important making this quilt and giving it as a gift, I'm happy to say that it has been used a lot in the past few freezing weeks to keep my mum, passing children, grandchildren and even the dogs warm. It even gives me a bit of a glow to think about it.

Chickopee Quilt

So I can finally show you some finished pictures of the Chickopee quilt. 

Anyone who has organised a wedding with know the hours and days and months of planning it requires. It was wonderful to be part of this very special day and give this quilt to it's newly married owners.

I've been thinking about a triangle quilt since earlier this year when Katy very kindly gave me some Thangles. Although it made the timescales a little tighter, I waited for Chickopee to arrive to make this quilt. The hot, strong colours seemed perfect and I could contrast one dark half of my triangles with a lighter half. It's such an easy way to make the squares - the accuracy of the shapes and stability of the paper made sewing them much easier.

Once I'd made them all, I lay them out on the floor and tried to place them as randomly as possible without having too many of the same colour grouped together but also trying to make a few interesting shapes by putting 2 together here and there. It was surprisingly difficult, but maybe that's just me being a perfectionist. I made sure I photographed the finished order and then piled them up into labelled rows, to make it a bit easier to store inbetween sewing.

I sewed them together in a chain to make the rows and then sewed the rows together to make the quilt, the second stage was really quick and the progress from strips to growing quilt, very satisfying.

I used the programmable text feature on my Janome to write a message on the binding, even after checking and double checking the words I did hold my breath before seeing it finished.

I used the dottie quilt backing in aqua for the back as it matched the Chickopee really well.

And despite checking the length of the binding several times after getting it too short on the last quilt I made, I somehow made the same mistake again, clever old me.

Still, I absolutely love binding the quilt, tidying up those rough edges into something perfect and neat. I save it for a night sat cosy under that new quilt on the sofa, carefully hiding my stitches and slowly making progress around the outside.

I'm really pleased with the final quilt, it was hard to wrap up and take to it's new home as I've grown rather fond of it. But there is something very special about giving a handmade gift to someone you cherish, especially on their wedding day.

And look, the bride (and her bridesmaids) had beautiful bouquets of felt flowers made by a very talented friend, aren't they stunning?

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?

The morning after the night before

Non-stop rain (well at least it feels like it) has kept me in the house a lot this week. Apart from first thing when I get ritually soaked taking the kids to school. I do have an umbrella, but despite my finely honed multi-tasking skills, it is pretty much impossible to carry one and be the kid's sherpa. Swimming bags, PE bags, water bottles, crepe paper covered shoe boxes containing seagulls made from stones. There is no space in my hands for an umbrella. So I have become a little obsessed by owning a rain cape that will cover me from head down to the tops of my wellies. Look, I have found one;

rain cape

Look how it covers almost everything that the wellies don't. Perfect. I won't look this glamorous though as in reality I am quite disgusting*.

Stuck in because of the rain I found a rare opportunity for some day time sewing. I am progressing slowly on the rogue hexagon quilt. I settled myself into the sofa with the cat, my other quilt to keep me warm, and dared to turn on the TV. I've never watched daytime TV since I started working at home full time. I'm a little wary it will escalate and before I know it, Jeremy Kyle will be on daily and I won't make it out of my PJ's. (Perhaps my rain cape would hide these on the school run so that I don't end up in the Daily Mail.)

To my joy, I stumbled across an old episode of ER, right from the opening titles. Back in the days where Green was alive, Carter was bumbling, Benton was grumpy and Clooney was the original McDreamy. I have a weakness for medical dramas, especially ER which I still haven't quite forgiven for ending as nothing is nearly as good. So I had a happy hour sewing hexagons and watching/listening to medical stuff I don't really understand. I still have a number of rogue hexagons appearing, I have no idea how or why, but I am keeping a close eye on them and sewing them into submission.

My love of medical dramas is ironic considering I am the most squeamish person ever. Fast forward an hour to find me lying on the doctors table, feet elevated by a kindly nurse as I nearly passed out having a minor blip removed from my head. I used my Frankenstein head to great effect when I got home, scaring the kids and wrangling another hour of sewing infront of the TV. So in all, I have made some good progress on the quilt.

I am aiming to make it as big as my daughter's gathering flowers quilt, it seems fair. I want to finish the top soon as I would like to get started on Hazel when she arrives. I am waiting for this extra wide Moda backing, I think the grey dots will be perfect. I still have most of the fabrics used for this quilt here. But this, this or this would make wonderful additions.

Fast forward to the next morning and my son continues to be fascinated by my Frankenstein head. However I have managed to brush my hair to hide it and he asks me why I have done this, making the suggestion 'Is it to make you look less disgusting*?' Thanks love.

Attack of the rogue hexagons

I've been thinking about making a hexagon quilt for quite some time. I have lots of lovely childhood memories of my mum making them. Last time we visited my parents, my daughter slept under one of those quilts. That might have been the last straw that made me start this quilt with no idea of who it was going to be for.

 It didn't take long for my son to claim this 'honeycomb' quilt for himself. I think perhaps I saw this coming and deliberately avoided any overtly girly prints. It was all going rather swimmingly and I was enjoying picking it up, adding a few hexagons, (after wrestling them off the cat).

When suddenly the rogue hexagons hit. I'm not sure where they came from and it took me a little while to realise, but a number appeared that were about 5mm bigger than the rest. I rather stupidly kept adding them in, presuming it was just a blip but after a while they were just too big to tweak into place. Perhaps because a lot of this quilt has been made in the evenings when the light isn't great and I am a bit tired I kept sewing for longer than I should. When I finally realised that I had added about 6 of these rogue hexagons and they were spoiling the party, I had some very frustrating unpicking to do.

So, naughty hexagons gone, and only good, uniform, well behaved ones left, progress has been better. 

I started off with about 5 colours, planning a nice random pattern. But I realised pretty quickly that you need rather a lot of different patterns to be random, and even then it's hard to avoid 2 dark colours together or too many dots in the same place. So I have ended up with 11 different fabrics in all and as I have cleverly chosen a few that are running low, I really hope I don't run out.

You can find the fabrics I have used here, they include some absolute favourites of mine, and I'll be revisiting a variation of this colour scheme for my triangle quilt.

And if proof were needed that I am becoming overly sentimental as I get older, I have set my daughter to work unpicking the hexagon templates and taking them out. I loved doing this as a child, it's so satisfying turning it from a crinkly, rigid paper quilt to a lovely soft fabric one. I think she enjoys it, but sometimes I think she may be humouring me, bless her.

PS I have just noticed that these colours match my blog colour scheme!

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?