Quilting with rulers

A couple of years ago (at least) I treated myself to a Westerlee arc ruler and associated foot with the intention of using it on my quilts. 

Unfortunately the intention never became reality, I wasn't brave enough to try the ruler and was even considering getting rid of it. Then I saw some posts by Sue Moore (Sue's Stitch by Stitch) who is an accredited Westerlee tutor, so I bit the bullet and booked a course.

And I'm really glad I did. The ruler does take a bit of brain power to use but it's not impossible and I quickly learnt how to do some very pleasing quilting.

From this...

...which was useful for both learning the technique and setting my machine up.

Via this...

...to this...

All done using the one ruler and foot during a five hour course. I now need to continue practicing but there is no question of getting rid of the ruler, in fact I think I'll be buying more.

New sewing experience - curtains

I have watched my mum make several pairs of curtains over the years, but I never attempted to make them myself as I could always find what I needed (and was willing to pay for) in ready made curtains.

Being strictly truthful I have still not made a pair of curtains from scratch. But for our recently decorated dining room the only curtains we could find that we liked were as wide as we needed them long and vice versa ( in effect too long and too short but just right if rotated 90 degrees. They also had the wrong type of heading tape but this was a minor issue.  So I decided to take the plunge and modify the curtains to fit our window.

From this...

To this...

I would love to say it was a quick job, but there was a full day of head scratching to figure it out and then several days of hand sewing the sides. Sewing on pleated heading tape was easy - which was nice.

I'm pleased with the end result, a little extra pressing and some re-stock good may be needed but that's fine. I'm not entirely sure if modify curtains again (unless it was just swapping heading tape) but it hasn't put me off eventually making a set of curtains from scratch.

Little projects

After the epic knitting marathon which was the RBTL I have decided to focus on some smaller, quicker to finish knitting projects.

The first of these was another Aran square for my mum's blanket...

After which I started on a Xmas gift...

...can't really show much but the yarn is lovely to work with.

Each of these has taken no more than two weeks to finish (knitted mostly in the evenings watching TV) and I'm enjoying the much quicker gratification.

Of course I have the yarn for a number of larger projects stashed away once I feel in need of another epic knit.

And just to make sure I don't run out of big projects I've bought myself some yarn to make a Floozy cardigan by Libby Johnson.

I am intentionally delaying this one as I am in the process of losing weight and don't want the finished cardigan not to fit.  The fact that I have to hand wind all six skeins of yarn helps with the delay!

Success

After some serious unpicking and careful basting I've managed to finish the baby quilt which caused me problems.

This time it's just expectedly crinkly.

I tend to quilt my quilts with the same thread on top and bottom. This time my friend kindly lent me some orange thread which coordinated perfectly with the backing fabric. I really like how it looks and will definitely use different threads on top and bottom in future.

All in all I really like how this quilt has worked out and now it's ready to go to it's new owner.

West Country Quilting Show - it'd have been rude not to!

I know I've only just been to the Festival of Quilts, but what's a girl to do when there is a quilting show only a short walk from work?

Of course my friend and I paid it an afternoon visit. Though saying "of course" I have been working near it for the past three years and this is the first time either of us have been.

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect but I was pleasantly pleased. Lots of artists and groups, international and local, exhibiting. A small (compared to the FoQ) quilt competition and several stalls.

Memories of New Zealand - Jo Gallaway

Cape Town and Sardines by Gillian Travis

Chinese Decorated Fabrics with close up

I also photographed a small sample of the competition quilts...

...unfortunately due to not understanding the linkage between Google photos and my camera gallery I have deleted the names of the quilts and their makers. If anyone can provide me with the details I will update the pictures.

I read the description for the zig zag quilt, which included (I thought) the statement that one of the stripes were green. Whilst having a close look at the quilting (each line is quilted individually) I tried to work out which stripe was green. Admitting defeat, and wondering whether green-grey colour blindness was a thing I stepped back and saw my mistake (and a laughing friend)!

I enjoyed this show on many levels - lots of exhibitors, the opportunity to meet local craft groups, a few of the big stalls and lots of more local stalls that you wouldn't see at FoQ.

And the added bonus was that I got a good deal on a sewing machine I had decided to buy prior to the show...more about that when it arrives.

No rest for the knitted...

...or for those who have a huge queue of knitting projects to do.

RBTL is finished but I'm straight on to the next project.

This is another which has been a WIP for a good while. But it is quick to knit, even if it's taken me a little while to get used to the aran yarn.

The square is from this book. I'm not knitting every square in the book. The eventual Afghan is for my mum and she has chosen 10 designs she likes, we've split them between us and we're going to knit each one in three shades of blue.

They are knitted in Aran from New Lanark Wool. The colour is beautiful, the dark blue has threads of lots of other colours in it, almost jewel like.

My plan is to alternate each square with other small knitting projects, such as a single sock, to stop it becoming another epic knit.

Ely Cathedral

Whilst at Festival of Quilts I saw a couple of beautiful quilts which reminded me I'd forgotten to share the pictures from a recent (ish) visit to Ely Cathedral.

First the quilts:

Memorial, Ely Cathedral - Magenta Kang

Ely Cathedral - Magenta Kang

I've only just realised they were made by the same person. Interesting concept making two quilts on the same subject, guess you could do similar with different colourways of the same quilt design...my brain is whirring!

Anyway back to the photos. We visited Ely in May right at the start of the amazing hot and sunny spell we've recently enjoyed.  I didn't know what to expect but the cathedral was beautiful...

Definitely worth a visit if you're ever in the area.

RBTL - the finished article

Almost seven months after starting, and having fixed a small dropped stich hole, my RBTL is finished.

The picture doesn't show it too well but it is huge.

It's taken a fair few stitch markers...

And many rows were recorded...

But it's all been worth it as it is beautiful...

Now all I have to do is figure out how to wear it and find something else crafty to fill the gap left in my life (who am I kidding I have a list of things which need doing).

The Read Between the Lines pattern by Tammy Canavan-Soldaat can be found on Ravelry.

FNSI August...the results

As often happens I went slightly off plan this FNSI, but the lure of finishing the last four rows of my RBTL knitted shawl first of all was too great.

No photos of the finished article yet as I've still got ends to sew in, a hole to fix (!), and I would like to figure out how to wear it (although that may take a while).

Then I got on with unsewing the naughty corner baby quilt.

When I quilted it a few weeks ago this was the result...

Possibly a bit hard to see but puckers and pleats everywhere. I can live with the odd one but this is a mess and it's a gift so I've unpicked the quilting, will re-baste it more securely and then quilt again. I might be able to do some of this on Sunday when I'm supposed to be making curtains.

Now im off to see what everyone else has been up to.

Friday Night Sew In - August Sign Up

It's the third Friday of the month tomorrow which means...

... Friday Night Sew In...

...the virtual sewing group where participants from round the world spend their Friday night sewing or other crafting and then share what they've made with the group via their blogs.

If you want to join in all you have to do is sign up with Wendy of Sugarlane Designs HERE.

I haven't joined in in a long while, so if nothing else comes up I will be quilting the baby quilt and probably making some more blocks for the Sparkle Punch Quilt. 

The 1718 Coverlet

You may, or more probably may not, be aware that the Quilters' Guild in the UK have a patchwork coverlet from 1718 in their collection. Due to age and fragility it isn't displayed very often. I first became aware of it when it wasn't displayed in the American Museum in Bath ( cold weather = burst pipes = flooded display area), although I do think it was eventually displayed. As a side note it took me more than four years and a move away from Bath before I found out the American Museum had a quilt display (still haven't visited).

Anyway, where was I?

The coverlet was billed as one of the exhibits at the Festival of Quilts.

To protect it it was laid down and under perspex. Amazing that this was hand sewn in 1718 from scraps of silk.

The guild have done conservation and a lot of research into who made it and how. They've even had an attempt at reading the papers which are still in the quilt blocks. There's a piece of original linen on the back so these aren't easily accessible.

To give an idea of what it may have looked like originally the guild have made a copy...

Made in 2004 by members of the Quilters Guild

And as a bonus, if any were needed, they also had some patchwork seat covers from the 1700s on display.

We didn't have a show guide so we thought that was all for the 1718 Coverlet.

We were wrong.

The 1718 Coverlet 300 Years On - Susan Gilby

There was the 1718 Challenge category for quilts that either fully or partly reproduce the quilt, using the quilters own style while keeping the spirit of the original.

Interpreting 1718 - Helen Ginns

There was a surprising number on display, which is obviously not reflected in the number of photos I took! The amount of work that must have gone into each one is amazing.

Festival of Quilts 2018

It's that time of year again...to travel up to Birmingham, to be amazed how big the NEC is, to be awed by other people's quilting skills, to buy fabric that will sit waiting for years...yes this weekend was the Festival of Quilts.

Just a one day visit, but plenty of time to spend at the NEC due to an early train and stopping overnight in the city. No classes or lectures booked so a hope of being able to see everything (not achieved) and a shopping list to avoid impulse buys (emphatically not achieved, however, in my defence, some of the things I bought should have been on the list as I had been looking for them).

Anyway enough waffle on with a tiny selection of the quilts (in no particular order)...

My Favourite Things - Katy Whitby Last

Overall Winner

Lost in Translation II - Mary Palmer

La Flor y Nata del Patchwork - Retorno Al Paraìso

A panel from Ladies in Stitches - Mere Men

Toni's Love For The Doctor - Jennifer Strongman

A Medley So Strange - Pascal Michalski

What A Relief - Brenda McDonnell

Casino Vernier - Phillipa Tait

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - Roz Rossitter

Close up of A Labour of Love! - Jenny Otto and Frances Meredith

I See You - Elita Sharpe

DE AQUI...EL CIELO - Carmen Santamaria

And last but not least the obligatory shot of my shopping...

We had a really good time as always and looking forward to going again in a year or two.