A New Seamstress in the Making

The Commonwealth Games are in full swing, and causing quite a stir in this part of the country.  The opening ceremony was quite spectacular as I sat watching it on television on Wednesday night, although I did wonder to myself if the rest of the world would understand all the nuances of the Scottish dialect in the lyrics sung by Karen Dunbar and John Barrowman as the visited Edinburgh Castle, St Andrews, the Forth Bridge, flanked by dancing Tunnocks Teacakes and Irn Brew. Techie captured the Red Arrows as they flew over our house on the way to the fly past at Parkhead on the east side of Glasgow. All very spectacular.  

As you know I'm not a sports fan but I did watch some of the triathlon and the swimming.  I hope all the foreign visitors realise that they are experiencing something quite unusual while visiting Scotland...... The weather!  This is so unusual for us to have such a long fine spell of warm sunny days with temperatures in the high 20s,  although I do believe there were some sprinkles fell earlier today.

Niece E and I had a lovely day yesterday.  It was the hand over of her Gran's sewing machine.  This young lady is quite and artist and I can see her becoming a seamstress and crafter soon too.  Her request was to make a small bag to carry her sketch book and pencils. After deciding on a pattern earlier in the week she had the pick of my stash for her mini messenger bag.  I found it very interesting watching her choose.  Her first choice was a bright striking white on white fabric, one of my favourites, however pointing out it would become very grubby quite quickly she decided on a retro style print featuring sewing accessories.  The way she chose the contrasting fabric for the lining was interesting she laid out the pieces on the table gradually auditioning and eliminating the unwanted ones till she found the one she liked.  This all without any help from me.

 

oops watch the hair doesn't get in the way

The Sketchbook fits nicely

 

Ta Da!

 

Didn't she do well!  We had a great day and I hope E will continue to experiment with the machine and go on to make bigger and better pieces.  We will arrange another day soon for another sewing session.

I have still not managed any sewing myself this week but I hope to make progress on the class BOM this weekend.  The blocks are all finished, the top pieced and its now ready to be sandwiched together, although I'm struggling to decide on the backing.

I hope you all have a good week and continue to enjoy this lovely weather.

 

Time Management - Nil Points

Where are the days flying off to - yet another week gone, nothing interesting to blog about and no sewing done of any note.  I really don't know what I am doing with my time these days.  Spending too much time thinking and not doing, I am sure would be the answer.

I did manage to make a few blocks at our class on Tuesday evening but that was all the stitching I have achieved in a while.  I did however collect Mum's sewing machine which has been for a service and is now ready to be passed on to my niece E.  Electrics all checked, a shiny new light bulb, and the missing spool pin replaced a new needle and a good clean and it's all ready to go.  I learned to sew on this machine with Mum looking on.  Mum and I made a few outfits together on this machine including my wedding dress!

E has already got a couple of projects in mind and is planning to stitch on the machine and I hope she enjoys using the machine and learns how satisfying it can be to make crafty things for herself.  I hope she is still keeping herself fit because this is no lightweight - I don't think she will be carrying it very far!

 

An Outing

What a lovely day we had yesterday.  Our quilt group went on a little outing. This was the first time we had done this kind of thing together so it was a real experiment and I am delighted to say it worked.  Rather than organise a minibus, arrangements had been made to car share.  We all met at the arranged time in the garden centre for coffee and yummy warm scones before embarking on our foray for fabrics.  

Eleven eager quilters descended on Kaleidoscope all with saved pennies in hand, bright eyes and bubbling with excitement ready to cause mayhem in the shop.  The ladies were very helpful and patient with us, answering many questions and helping us work out fabric requirements.

Bolts and layer cakes were being piled up in little bundles around the shop for our variety of projects in the making, jewel tones, backing fabrics, crib quilts, bed runners and cushions were some of the projects I heard being mentioned.  

My selection of fabrics

 

Soon it was time for lunch and a hungry group walked across the car park to the eatery.  Well, we did spend a little longer there than I anticipated - it was very busy and a little slow but the food was good and sustained us for the afternoon.  Some ladies headed off home with their bags in hand and I am sure had a lovely evening going through all their purchases.

A few of us returned for another look.  It's good to walk away for a little while from the bundle of fabrics you have initially chosen.  A second look will sometimes give you more inspiration to add another colour or change that one fabric you are not quite 100% sure of.  Sometimes it's good to have a break to let your head settle.  To remember or actually look at the list you made with those essential items that you really need to complete the project you are in the middle of. Or indeed you might just see more than you really need and decide to buy it anyway.

Well no matter what went through all our minds yesterday I think the consensus was that it was an excellent day out - we enjoyed the camaraderie and experience of each other's knowledge for a really fun day.  I hope we can all do it again in the future.

Target Achieved

Piecing it all together was born a year ago, spurred on by my boys to get into the sewing frame of mind again after having looked after Mum during her illness.  I had lost all my enthusiasm for sewing and after she died I was in need of some sort of therapy to get over the loss.  Squaring the Circle was the quilt that got me really going with an aim and a purpose again to raise a little money for Marie Curie nurses.  Squaring the circle was supposed to be sold, raffled or given way to the charity.  Although not normally sentimental I found when it was finished I just could not part with it. You can read the original posts here and here if you haven't been following my journey.

Squaring the Circle

 

This is Piecing it all Together. The mark II quilt.  It's slightly larger, ie 12 inch squares instead of 9 and I have used some of the same fabrics.  The difference is the colour of the sashing and  border which is taupe not grey and the fleece on the back is cream.  There are no circles and squares just paths of lines of going every which way in the squares - not knowing quite which way to turn.  I will give this quilt to T next time I see her so she can make good use of it for the charity.  It's very windy today so can't manage a photo outside.

Piecing it all Together

Yesterday I am took my Mum's singer sewing machine to have a service and have the electric wiring checked out.  My niece has shown an interest in sewing and I think it is now time for her to have her Gran's machine.  It is sewing well and singing nicely but it needs a new lightbulb and the wiring checked before I feel it is safe to be passed on.