Learning to 'Cut it Up'

(To quote VFW)

Let's begin with this. This was not supposed to to be 'cut up'. As I was about to sew this melon unit together I discovered this! I struggled to work out how it could have happened until I started to cut out a replacement arc.....Note to self - be careful with template placement - double check before cutting and make sure hands are steady.

 

Out came my faithful little friend and the melon is in the queue to be resewn.....

Now to the 'cut it up' session........

After returning from the RedBerry Quilt Show (my group) and a lovely warm reunion and catch up with people I hadn't seen in quite a while I came home ready for action. So, after some quiet time and finding I had the house to myself for  couple of hours I put some music on, turned it up and picked up where I had left off 'making' fabric for a couple of small projects to test DWR templates.

The dotty pieces are for melons, the remainder for backgound pieces.....

Some possible arc choices overlaid - any suggestions welcome as these are not grabbing my attention yet........

 I also realised I needed a bit more fabric than my scrap bin could provide so it was zip, zip - easy to slice off a few strips without feeling guilty or stopping to think what I should be saving this fabric for as I would normally do......after all, what am I saving it for - it is all left over from other projects anyway.

Mind you, my still frugal nature only allowed me to cut off some strips, not randomly cut into a folded piece of  fabric as I have seen done in videos.......that did make my spine shiver......

As I was struggling to get to sleep that night I had another bit of pottering in my sewing room before bed - probably not a wise move at midnight or thereabouts.....

This is the scene that greeted me the next morning! The space had clearly been invaded by a whirling Dervish or a mad woman - or both.......

From the doorway - was there even a track to get in? There must be because I managed to get out the night before.......

Bits and pieces queued up waiting to be sewn - and possibly almost as many scraps as I started with? At least enough to make some more fabric if I need it......

I used to try and teach my kids that a space always looks tidier when drawers and cupboards are closed. I wonder why they didn't always pick up on that lesson? 

There are some scraps and trimmings too small to keep - but it might help if they actually went in the bin!

At this point I decided that I would make a double unit of the abstract DWR, so ironed the fabrics ready to cut out the next pieces in daylight........

It also seemed a good time to prepare some pages for notes for my DWR folder.......

.....and hunt for some fabric to make arcs......(you didn't want to sit down, did you?) I also decided my stash needs more red and a variety of solids!

So while it may look like extreme chaos, and it may be a day or two before I can do anything about it, I can actually see the underlying plans and they still make sense - in some ways it's as good as a list. I just need to work my way through it when circumstances allow. Otherwise, don't look and turn up the music......

Sue xxxx

Playing with Scraps

By yesterday afternoon my design wall was looking like this.....

It should of course be still looking more like this.........

.......as I work towards the summer quilt intended for our bed. The sewing is not difficult and I can tackle it bit by bit when energy allows but the laying out is what takes the longest - and it had been the same (ish) view for quite a while. I had made a resolution to finish the top before I started anything new. (But I know from experience that resolutions and me don't mix.)

Alas the next shiny new thing came along and all that changed (at least temporarily). That shiny new thing largely revolves around the work of New Yorker Victoria Findlay Wolfe and her books which I first mentioned in posts here '15 Minutes of Play'  and here 'Double Wedding Ring Quilts' . I also saw two programs on Nancy Zieman's show 'Sewing with Nancy' ( see under videos 2015) and by then my appetite was well and truly whetted....... There are direct links to these programs on Victoria's website  where you will also find a link to her blog Bumble Beans Inc. (You can subscribe to her newsletter and be advised by email when there is a new post). The  other site she established and moderates is based on her 15 Minutes of Play book and ideas. If you subscribe to The Quilt Show (with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims) you will find another program there based on 15 Minutes of Play - Program Number 1404. And of course you can follow her on Instagram (search for victoriafindlaywolfe) and twitter etc if you use them......(Is this beginning to sound like stalking? I hope not - but do yourself a favour and have a peek.......)

This is now what it looks like beside my sewing machine as I construct circles from the the cutouts I saved from a drunkards path block I used in a quilt I made for my sister a couple of years ago (back tray) and as I cobble together pink fabrics for another project I have decided on as a gift for some very important people currently in my life. (The colour is probably a clue.)

I'm using (my take on) Nancy Zieman's method for making circles to applique .......

......and I have to say for this purpose it seems to work well......

Another project using the concept of play is the first of several planned dog quilts / floor mats....they may not all be made but it's a way to use up hoarded scraps and try out sewing and design techniques where I can concentrate on the process. I don't know any dogs who will complainn about mistakes in the sewing. 

This is all part of one of her challenges to use what you have on hand - scraps, old clothing etc.......

Improv blocks (yes they are meant to be wonky) using offcuts of chintz curtain fabric given to me YEARS ago in a big bag of remnants) and flannel leftovers from finished quilts.

Working out borders on the design wall....

The finished quilt top.......

A couple of new treats also arrived in the mail to add spice to the mix.....

And this one bought on the strength of the chapter on Double Wedding Ring Quilts - yes, you guessed it VFW again.......

This traditional version by Shelly Pagliai of 'Prairie Moon Quilts' is just beautiful........

However, whilst I have a newly engaged daughter it is unlikey to appeal to her, though something like this one might......

Yes, you guessed it again - Victoria Findlay Wolfe........

Inspired by this quilt below of Victoria's - A Summer's Day - from her Double Wedding Ring Quilts book (and also explained in the videos) by this stage I had to try out a test block with whatever was on hand before I burst.

(And I do mean whatever....) A little wonky but I learned a lot in the process.

At the same time I was given a bag of fabric by my quilting friend who was clearing her stash of flannels and fabrics from the French General range, (bits of projects she knew she would never finish, including this large block and quite a few improv pieced blocks as well as some larger pieces of fabric).....that set the challenge in motion.

This large block will become the centre piece of a new medallion quilt

Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of it on its own but you'll get the idea.

Testing fabric for sashing strips........

Some of the blocks in the bag......(along with the charcoal piece)

Testing the piece on point. 

One of the large pieces - the birds will become the focal point of the new blocks.

The other large piece....

Pattern traced and cut out to try a single block using 'made' fabric and old jeans - another test piece......

My quilt design inspired by Victoria's...........

The first cut was the scariest.......

Keeping the pieces in order.......

Sashing strips sewn in.......

On point......

A test flower - I intend to applique one in each of the main corners - probably buds on the others....

Coming from this book which I've had for years but not yet used - I knew its moment to shine would eventually come.......

Looking something like this. The circles are made and ready to become flowers.

A bit of close 'stash interrogation' revealed fabrics from the same company squirreled away and others that might work with them if required.

Leading to this basket of stuff in preparation of starting in earnest when the template set I ordered arrives....

Some of the 'made' fabrics under construction for my gift quilt......

These will be cut to fit the shape I will applique to the quilt......

Centre piece for single large ring under constrution....

Along with several other baskets and tubs of WIPs (Works in Progress) the rocks on this landscape are ALMOST ready to be fused on and stitched.

Under my enforced grounding I have also been keeping myself amused (and educated) with online classes - mainly from Craftsy.com, including one by Aussie quilter Sarah Fielke - Big Techniques from Small Scraps - largely based on her most recent book below. (Which I have also had for some time and is now exactly what I need at this particular time.)

 

And, as Craftsy is having a sale I bought two new classes this morning. Would you believe it - one of them is about Double Wedding Ring Quilts?.......Of course you would.

Progress may not be swift but bits and pieces are happening- and it's actually less chaotic than it might sound.

Off to view Lesson 1,

Sue xxxx

A Couple of Treats

This post is so long overdue that both Christmas and New Year celebrations have come and gone so belated greetings on both counts. (In the middle of the renovations life had to make a necessary deviation  from the projected course which has required ongoing medical treatment and changed the order of things for a while longer.....)

So, even though I have been throughly spoilt with a wonderful new living space and kitchen, I felt a few more treats were in order to complete the renovation on the one hand and to bolster the soul a little on the other........

Since I wasn't able to shop in person I turned to online shopping - a potentially dangerous occupation when still in bed.

We have talked about pink bags before in an earlier post, so imagine how thrilled I was to discover that my order from my favourite kitchen supplier came in a pink box instead......it seemed entirely appropriate.

One overly large, pink box......

Fortunately the packaging material is fully biodegradeable and can be hosed away on the garden or in the compost.......

Inside, some new champagne glasses and tumblers to toast the future, some commercial quality cooking pans for the cakes I intend to bake and a silicone mat to drain said glasses and more to use as heat pads........

And to feed the mind, a couple of treats from my other favourite online shopping destination.........

A couple of sample pages......

A very interesting take on Art Quilt making - also involving the use of Haiku poetry and will hopefully lead to a piece  of work someday.......

And another idea to fill the gaps when a little new inspiration or a restful interlude is needed.......and the scraps around the house are threatening to overtake every nook and cranny.........

Making fabric from scraps.........

Another decision needing to be made - what to do when a faithful friend, after 39 years of hard labour, packs it it when mixing the dough for this walnut foccacia?

Back to the 'shops' to seek another bargain - and what a beauty. With a model runout the bonuses kept coming and seemed way too good to pass up - even though spending should have long ceased by this point.........

And just to round off this post so it doesn't drag out to the next New Year, meet Roxie, adopted a month ago and settling in nicely. More about her soon.

If there is still anyone out there reading this, thanks, hopefully not so long til next time,
Sue xxxx