A patchwork morning

On Friday I went with a friend to the Malvern Patchwork & Quilting show. Given our recent move and my fairly new interest in quilting (I still consider myself a newbie after 18mths!) this was my first ever visit to such a dedicated event: I even managed to negotiate a child-free morning with Mr f&f so that I could go. It was like my perfect day!

There were lots of stalls and I did buy a few things treat myself to a few little purchases, not with any particular plan in mind but you know, just because.....

....I even splashed out on a backing for my William Morris quilt, the mustard with white spots: I love the combination and at £4 a metre, it seemed rude not to!!!!!

After checking out all the stalls, we then spent quite a lot of time checking out all the quilts. I didn't get a programme, so forgive me as I am not able to credit the creators, but I would really like to share a couple of them with you (and if anyone happens across the post and can fill in the blanks for me, then please let me know so that I can add their details)

I really liked this star quilt. It had been started by a mum, using scraps left over from dressmaking and crafting, and then eventually finished by her daughter. Some of the stars were scrappy, others more co-ordinated, and the overall effect was just glorious. I think it would make a really nice on-the-move project.

This medallion-style quilt was really eye-catching and what was really clever about it was that on closer inspection the central panel & co-ordinating border panels were a patterned fabric which had been embellished with machine stitching, really changing the texture of the quilt.

My favourite from the show - and the one I keep coming back to in my mind - is this one

I think it was called the friendship quilt, as the maker had used scraps given to her by friends. They'd then been made into 1/4" hexies - yep, you read right! - to create this beauty! I cannot begin to imagine how long it took to put this whole things together, and how fiddly the hexies were! But what memories must be sewn in! And then to top it all off, it had been quilted by sewing a french knot into each white hexagon

I actually thought they were seed beads to start with! This quilt has truly blown me away, the colours, the scale, the detail. Everything about it just seems perfect to me. Although I'm not sure if I'd ever have the patience to make one for myself.

I really enjoyed seeing all the quilts, there were lots of different styles and I've even started deliberating if maybe one day I might enter a quilt into a show but I think I've got a way to go yet! I'm already looking forward to going again next year!

I hope you've all had a lovely weekend,

S x

Todays sky - overcast and miserable. Boo!

Unexpected holiday

Look at that. Nearly a whole month has gone by since my last post. Time seems to be going by in a blur and I fear that you're bored of reading from me 'the days just pass so quickly'. But they do! This last month has flashed past with chicken pox times two (clearly Boy 1 and Boy 2 had to have it separately which took about 4 wks), Mr f&f travelling away with work a lot, and a sudden spurt of gardening with the warm weather that arrived. Although the sun seems to have disappeared for now. I keep thinking things will get easier but in reality this probably won't happen until October when all the Littlies are settled in school/pre-school but I am going to be blogging more frequently than I have been and you can always check me out on Instagram if you feel so inclined!

I've still been fitting in some sewing and knitting here and there though. A couple of weeks ago I visited Wonderwool on what was a glorious day and a much needed break from spotty children! I bought some goodies for planned projects, as well as a couple of impulse purchases because they were just too pretty to leave behind!

...there's now just a couple more rows to go until I can cast off my Mara Shawl. I think it will make a great shawl for the changeable weather that we're having.

....starting work on my William Morris quilt. I'm using the free Stellar Stars pattern from Simply Solids and can't wait to get the quilt top finished, although working on such autumnal colours has felt somewhat at odds with some of the glorious weather that we've had recently!

...buying the Aeroplane Bag pattern and waiting on some fabric to arrive from the US. I'm so excited to make this and if all goes to plan it will be done in time for Retreat!

And finally - but by no means least - I've volunteered for and been lucky enough to be accepted on the Sibling Together quilting bee.

It's being organised by Lynne with the goal of making twelve quilts in a year. If you've not heard about Siblings Together it aims to reunite siblings that have been separated through the care system and there's a great post here with more info. If after reading that you'd like to be involved in a UK based bee then please do check out this Flickr group. It's a cause that I'm really honoured to be supporting as I have friends that have adopted siblings or have gone through the care system themselves and from speaking with them, it would have meant so much to them to be given such a gift. It's going to be great fun and I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't a little bit nervous, but mostly I'm just very excited. Especially when I found out yesterday that Lynne and Kerry have written a quilting encyclopedia book called 500 Blocks due to be released a couple of months before it's my turn to chose a block. I think I know where I'll be looking for inspiration!!!

I hope you've all had a great weekend,

'til next time,

S x

Todays sky ● overcast grey and miserable, with a few flashes of blue

This weekend

It's been an interesting few days. We had lots of exciting plans for the weekend that unfortunately had to be cancelled as a result of waking up last Thursday to discover Little Boy was covered in chicken pox! We're nearly over the worst of it now and thankfully he's been really good with it. Although we're now waiting for Littlest Boy to come out in spots too.....obviously, it would have been waaaaaayyyy to convenient for them both to have it at the same time. Much better to drag it out for a few weeks!

The weather was generally quite wet and miserable over the weekend which helped with the needing to stay in bit, and with some careful planning I was able to get quite a bit of sewing done.

Woven Star for Skill Builder BOM by fabricandflowersuk

First up was biting the bullet and making the woven star.  I have to confess that even after having chosen my fabrics I spent a couple of days just looking at it (I took a picture on my phone and every now and then would just pull it out for a quick peruse.....I know, I'm mad!): it was the coral background/big flower print that I was unsure about. So bold in colour and design in comparison to the others. It actually came with seven of the fabrics I'm using in a FQ bundle but just seems so different to the others. I decided to pair it with the architecture print and then two blender fabrics. And do you know what? It's really growing on me! I kind of like how it stands out and adds a bit of pizzazz. I'm not sure how many more blocks I'll be able to use it in as we're starting to get some quite fussy ones coming up (I've got to EPP around sixty hexagons for one of the blocks next month - eek!) but I'll fit it in where I can!

Woven Chevron for Skill Builder BOM by fabricandflowersuk

Next up was the Woven Chevron block: boy this took a lot of chopping and cutting and with all those quarter and half square triangles it was quite nerve racking sewing it all together....taking a deep breath before turning it over and hoping against hope that all of my points met. It's by no means perfect but I'm pretty pleased with how it came out.

And here's all the blocks together....it's going to be a huge quilt when it's finished!!! I'm waiting on some wadding to be delivered and then I'll be able to start quilting each of the blocks

Skill Builder BOMs so far by fabricandflowersuk

I also spent a lot of time chopping up lots of background fabric - more brown, not really sure how that happened! It's for another quilt I want to start working on using the William Morris charms that I got  last September. I thought I'd try chopping everything to size before starting the sewing just to see how effective I can be!!!!

So there we go - a weekend of sewing preparation and relaxing. I hope you all had a lovely weekend,

See you soon,

S x

Todays sky ● blue sky with some clouds. Lovely!

The last few days have been mostly about....

.....getting excited that spring might just be on it's way!!!!! I have started to see blossom on trees and at the weekend we planted an apple tree in our garden. It looked quite big when we got it but now I'm starting to think it could be a little while until we get any apples (not helped by the fact that the Littlies are now fascinated by it and seem to gravitate to it at every opportunity. I fear it may not last the year!)

....knitting away on my Mara shawl. I'm on the border now, which is over 400+ stitches a row. I'm not a fast knitter so I'm doing a little bit every now and then and it's slowly getting there...

....pulling fabric for the next Skill Builder BOMs. I have to confess, that I'm struggling with chosing fabrics for this months blocks and have started questioning the fabrics that I've chosen. Some of the patterns are quite big/bold and I'm starting to worry a little about they're going to work with some of the more fiddly blocks. Still, I'm taking my time to choose and hoping I make the right decisions!!!

....playing with some threads and fabric for an idea I'm toying with......hopefully more on this soon!

See you all soon,

S x

Todays sky ● mostly overcast but there was some glorious blue sky in the afternoon!

Groovy, baby!

Have you seen the new Colette Laurel top that came out a couple of weeks back? It's a simple shift, with different options for dress/top and sleeve lengths. Sarai's even been kind enough to put together a booklet with lots of different ideas in for other alterations that could be made.

I was debating the pattern, then after seeing Sarah had bought the pattern and also that they're running an awesome competition I decided to jump right in too (not that I'm a sheep or anything!). The perfect Easter Weekend project.

I'd bought this fabric back last year with the idea of making another Tova shirt. It's such a bold and busy pattern - which always puts me in mind of Austin Powers! - that I wasn't sure it it would really work as a shirt. The Laurel seemed the perfect alternative!

I cut out a size 2, and from my experience of making the Sorbetto, made a few alterations straight away:

I graded the shoulder seam from 2 on the outside edge to 0 on the neckline, as it seemed quite a steep slope. I also added extra length to the body and sleeve which I tend to do as a matter of course so that I can adjust as necessary.

On a whim, I decided to add the keyhole from the extra's book, I tried it on once I'd done the seams and the keyhole seemed a bit more of a well.....peep hole! I just felt like it drew all the attention to the centre of my cleavage (not that there's much there, but I don't necessarily want people to notice that, right?!). So I decided that cutting out a scoop neck would be a waaaaay better choice. Obviously!

Once I'd sorted out the neckline, I hand finished the binding around the collar and cuffs with a ready-made light-grey binding which echoes the grey in the fabric, and I'm hoping adds a bit of calm to the pattern. I've not previously hand-sewn my clothes and found it a relaxing way to finish the top and made it slightly more sociable as I could sit with Mr f&f and watch a movie, rather than work away at the machine!

For anyone that's thinking of making this, you definitely should - it's a lovely pattern to sew and the top comes together really quickly.

Would you like to see it?! Ta-dahhh!

Colette Laurel v4 by fabricandflowersuk

Colette Laurel v4 by fabricandflowersuk

I did french seams throughout and have to say I feel rather proud of just how neat it is on the inside!

Inside of Colette Laurel v4 by fabricandflowersuk

I'm really pleased with how the neckline came out in the end*. Although it's lower than I probably would have gone with naturally, it's not so low that it's indecent (I don't think!). I think it also works really well with the fabric as it gives a bit of space between the top and my face, if that makes any sense?! The fit is brilliant....probably the closest fit around the arms that I've ever had on any of the tops that I've made, and yet it still feels comfortable to wear! That's not to say that when I make it again, I may well grade the armstyce down to the next size just to give a bit of wiggle room. In retrospect I wonder if I should have added a scoop front and back hem, but maybe next time!

* having watched The Great British Sewing Bee on Tuesday I'm not sure how my top would be judged......has the scoop made my neckline unstable? Are my sleeves evenly set? Are the seams even or dragged? Or maybe that's my own paranoia?!

So, back to my original post, and all the details...

Pattern::: Colette Laurel V4, PDF
Fabric::: I think I probably used just a metre of this fabric
Size::: 0/2 for shoulders, armstyce and back darts, 2 for the bust darts and side seams, 4 for length
Mods::: graded the shoulder seam from 0 to 2 so that they weren't quite so 'sharp', added 3/4" to sleeve length, and a scoop neckline.

So there we go, my first Spring Top of 2013! Are you tempted to try the Laurel? If so, Sarah and I might be doing a mini-sew along soon as we both fancy making a dress - let us know if you'd like to join in. The more the merrier!

See you soon,

S x

Todays sky - grey, miserable and freezing. Managed some blue skies just before bedtime though!

April already?!

I had a moment on Monday where I was browsing on my computer and suddenly exclaimed to Mr f&f "It's the first of April?! Really?!" March seems to have passed by in a blur, and my blogging seems to have suffered for which I apologise.

So, where has March gone? Some was a blur of poorly children and sleepless nights and the rest was all about getting ready for Easter and the Easter holidays.

A friend had ordered a Slouchy Tote Bag (which seems to be becoming my trade-mark make!) using a black and white fabric of the New York City skyline. And did I mention the glitter?! I think it's just sooo cool!

Slouchy Tote bag by fabricandflowersuk

I've also managed to catch up with my February blocks for the Skill Builder BOM - the Em Dash caused me some problems: I ended up with very wonky seams when trying to do finish them off quickly one night as I'd obviously stretched the seams whilst sewing. After a bit of ripping and re-cutting I managed to do a better job. Its still not entirely perfect but I'm hopeful that the slightly mis-matched points won't show once quilted!

Skill Builder BOMs by fabricandflowersuk

I need to make a start on my March blocks now but have run out of starch - I'm quite amused by this as prior to starting the Skill Builder I never used starch and I think I'd owned that can for years!!!

A lot of my spare time though was spent on sorting out my craft space (aka the spare room!). The dresser unit is all painted and decopatched now and I'm just trying to sort out the last few remaining bits & bobs (please tell me that every sewer/knitter/crafter has lots of bits and bobs?!) and it will be done. I can't wait! Here are some sneak peaks from my IG feed......

Over the Easter Weekend I even managed a bit of selfish sewing using the new Colette Laurel pattern.....more on that tomorrow!

See you soon,

Sx

Today's sky • glorious blue with some clouds

The past week has been mostly about...

...wondering where the time is going. I mean, really?! I drop Little Girl off at school, come home and then all of a sudden it's time to collect her again!

...planting out some raspberry canes! I was lucky enough to be given these by a friend and spent one morning last week (and I seemed to pick one of the coldest days!), took a deep breath and made a trench in our new lawned garden. I'm hoping they'll do really well and that the birds won't eat all of them - I'm very excited about the idea of strolling down the garden to pick some fruit for my breakfast!

...spending the weekend catching up with friends.This involved quite a lot of travel time in the car which made for some perfect Mara knitting!

...meeting with friends at a pub in the centre of Avebury. The sky was ominous but we managed a short stroll and got back to the car literally minutes before the rain came down!

It is a really impressive site to visit, and difficult to give an idea of scale. Upclose, the stones themselves have fantastic texture, colours and shape

One of my favourite bits was rounding a corner and coming across this tree - the tangle of roots was just amazing!

...jumping on the Bloglovin bandwagon! Google reader is disappearing in July so to keep up with all my favourite reads I've signed up, and if you like you can follow me here. It really is easy - took mere minutes!

...I've also been working away on organising my sewing space. It's nearly there now, I'm very excited! It's involved painting and decopatch. Can't get much better than that!!!

See you all soon,

S x

Todays sky ● quite overcast but there have been snippets of blue