Linaloo

Square eyes

 

Thank you for your healthy snack ideas...seems that frozen grapes and smoothies are universal favourites!

So here's Tommy's quilt so far. Not perfectly pieced but I'm sure he won't object.  I don't have a never ending fabric stash, but I do reuse everything I can and that's why the only new fabric for this quilt will be the backing (and even then it will likely be a thrifted sheet if I can get my hands on something suitable).  One of the reasons it's been hard to piece is the mix of different weights, from denim to flimsy gingham and left over curtain fabric to old pillowcases, but I'm happy with the overall effect.

I love how reusing fabric breathes life into a new project.  For the record this quilt is made from:

• 2 Laura Ashley remnants picked up over 6 years ago in the UK
• 2 of my husband's old shirts
• a dress that my husband bought me shortly after we met for my 25th birthday (um a UK size 8, no way I was ever getting back into that!)
• 2 pillowcases,
• some denim scraps from tote making
• canvas from a curtain sample book bought at a neighbourhood garage sale last year
• left overs from the roman blinds I made for Tommy's room when we moved in 2 years ago
• and gingham remaining from Ruby's Dorothy dress.

Not quite heirloom quality, but lots of love and good memories are going into this quilt and that's what will make it special. 

Summer sewing - made by mama

 

My girlhood memories of summers in the seventies often feature homemade clothing. My mum was a good sewist who made my sister and I dresses, partly out of economic necessity but also because of the enjoyment and satisfaction gleaned from making something for a loved one from scratch. Perhaps this is why I have felt compelled to make a simple summer dress or skirt of some description every year for Ruby. (Tommy however is sadly neglected in the made by mama department for which I have yet to make amends).

As each summer passes I am acutely aware that this may be the last year she accepts my offerings, before casting them aside with embarrassment. I remember when I made my mum knit a sweater for me aged 13 and snubbing the final result, it must have broken her heart. But I accept that making our own choices about clothing is an inevitable part of growing up.

 

I'm usually ruthless when it comes to decluttering but I will treasure these little outfits, despite their amateur construction (several of them have required more than one mending session!).  This year's effort is a shirred sundress made using Erin’s tutorial. From a thrifted pillowcase (I think this kind of goes without saying) which could be best described as "Pacman meets apple circa 1982" I'm thinking.

Another FFO

  Finally finished object that is.

I'm not sure what happened here - Typepad ate half my post - see original post below!

I started making this as a Christmas gift for Ruby’s kindergarten teacher, and here it is completed all most six months later, in time for the end of the school year in just a few weeks.  Back to my old favourite red and linen combination.  I’m suddenly uncertain about whether to give it to her or not (not because I don’t like it, I’d happily keep it) but am thinking that maybe Ruby should have made her something instead of me.

 

I’m sure most teachers simply appreciate being appreciated.  If I were a teacher, I think a simple note of thanks from a student or parent would mean more than anything,  so I wonder do they really like receiving more “stuff” to clutter up their lives?

Oh well, I guess it would always make a nice classroom decoration!

Finally. Finished.

Finally finished this week after almost a year in the making.  Here it is, my first full size (about 90 x 90 inches) quilt. 

 

Things I love about it:

The binding. I didn't have enough of one single fabric left to make all of it, so I just used a mix of what I had left and love the final look.

The batting.  This is the first time I've paid a bit more for decent quality and it made all the difference to the overall feel.

The fabric. It has great sentimental value as a few of the prints are from my daughter's summer dresses when she was a toddler.

Things I have learned:

Quilting something this large requires an insane amount of thread. Nearly 1000 yards. 

It is entirely possible to quilt something this size on a small and basic machine. With a bit of patience and hardly any swearing, my cheap machine managed just fine, although it is probably time for an upgrade.  (Really, it cost me less than $100 CAD when I moved to Canada almost 3 years ago.)  My only special piece of equipment was a walking foot.

If you think about mitering corners too hard they will look awful.  I've never had a problem mitering before, but I just couldn't get them right on this thing.

There's also the matter of puckers etc, but I'm OK with that, I think that's part of what makes it unique. It's all part of the learning curve and I'm not a perfectionist (although my hubby might argue otherwise!) so I like that it has a handmade feel.

Apologies for the poor pictures - I find it so hard to get good pictures of something so big!

This week

Went by in flash.
I took a sushi making course one evening. Finished up a little sewing.

Watched countless reruns of this. My children are hooked.

Finished another good book. Photographed lots of flowers. From all different angles.

Received some lovely goodies in the post from Jo.

But most of all it seemed like there weren't enough hours in the day.

Done!

Of course the yellow quilt won hands down! Quilting this little baby took less than an hour! I was hoping to take some sunnier pictures but we've had two days of rain. These photos were taken in between rain showers.

And my favourite part? Sewing the binding by hand. I love that the final touch is done by hand, it makes it so personal. I find it both satisfying and theraputic watching it take shape at last. Quilt no. 3 you are my favourite yet. Let's hope the big red one is at least as good as you.

Double trouble

What do you do when you're running out of steam on a project despite being keen to finish it? Start another one of course! Why is it that there's so much more pleasure in starting a project then finishing one off? It defies logic really, especially when the end result is so desperately desired. I really really love this quilt, I'm happy with how it's coming together (give or take the odd pucker) and I'm itching to get to the binding but it's slow going. I had no idea how physically demanding it would be to quilt a queen sized cover - I can only manage about an hour at a time before my wrists begin to ache, enough to stop me going any further for another day.

This zig zag quilt is for a baby due to arrive in early May. A perfect, lightweight and pain free antidote to the arduous task of grappling with yards of fabric with my puny wrists.

Which one will be finished first I wonder?

Fru-cool

I'm still thrifting most of my fabric these days. I could claim that I'm part of the new "frugal is cool" movement but quite frankly I've always been a tightwad. I was the only one of my friends at university who never had an overdraft, I'd walk everywhere to avoid tapping into my beer money and used my student loan to fund a year backpacking in South East Asia once I graduated.

That's not to say I'm cheap, in fact the opposite. I'd rather have fewer, high quality, orginal items than lots of inexpensive and mass produced "stuff". Anyhow, I digress. On our recent trip to Toronto I actually bought some brand new fabric in a fabric store (the expensive variety in a quilt shop). 6 fat quarters to be exact. The first new fabric purchase in almost a year can you believe? I'm not sure if this is genuine self control on my part or the fact that there are no decent fabric shops nearby to tempt me. I have ordered fabric online from the US in the past but quite frankly I don't like being fleeced (pardon the pun) for the shipping charges and taxes.

I put my new purchase to good use straight away, mixing it up with some of my stash (sheets) to make these simple spring placemats for the kitchen table...although I can't decide if I trust my children to use them yet or not. Perhaps I should have made them in ketchup red. Or there's always this alternative...

More fru-cool sewing ideas in the works over the next week.

Ready for quilting

Pieced top, ready for quilting. 

He couldn't resist jumping on the bed while I took pictures.  At least he matches!

I went to buy batting this weekend and the lady at the quilt store persuaded me to wait until it was on special for half price - which happens every 3 months apparently. It took all of my willpower to walk away and wait....

Craft + Apathy = Crapathy

For every success...(cozy, yummy socks finished at the weekend). ...there's a big fat failure. (challenge set by giveaway winner back in December)

I could see how this could be really nice if you tried. I just wasn't that into it and it shows. An important craft lesson learned from my Mum: sometimes, you've just got to let it go, throw it in the recycling and forget it ever happened.

Finished.

Move on.

That's better.

For those of you who asked about the socks, I used this pattern (because it's free!) and couldn't have possibly done it without my new BFF, Dorret Conway.