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.

Twister Complete

K and I met up for coffee and a blether yesterday afternoon after a particularly difficult week for us both.  It was good to relax and chat, share concerns and woes and talk of quilty things, drink coffee, eat biscuits and enjoy a little time for ourselves.

The quilting of the twister quilts is now finished so I can now share my photos.  As I have said before this was a particularly fun quilt to make and I loved everything about it.  The pattern and fabrics were chosen way back in the spring in Cochrane and the piecing of the top and back was done in Canmore.  I brought it back home to sandwich together and that's when, as usual, I got myself stuck.  It all lay for a while as I mulled around different ideas for quilting.  I had thought about taking it to the longarm quilter but I hadn't left the obligatory 6ins all around on the backing.  One evening I laid it all out again and the inspiration I needed came to me.  So here it is all done! 

I may still add a few more smaller circles but I will leave it be for now. K was spurred on by my jibe in my last post and she has made a fantastic job of her quilting and as I said more adventurous than mine.

Our quilt group is having a little outing next week to Kaleidoscope so I'm looking forward to some quilty retail therapy and fun choosing fabrics with others.  We have rather large appliqué project in mind for the class next session and although we all agreed on making it I think there are a few having second thoughts.   

Mark II of Squaring the Circle is sandwiched and quilted so just about on target to get it finished this week.  I'll have to give it another name though as there are no circles in this quilt!

Until next time enjoy your long days and hopefully a little crafting too.

A Small Finish

The weekend has gone by quickly again and a very pleasant one it was.  The gardening jobs were done, grass cut, plants planted and most of the dreaded weeds have gone until the next batch sprout forth.  Time spent in the summerhouse was lovely and relaxing drinking coffee and watching and listening to the birds.  

I don't feel as though I have been very productive sewing wise recently however I have managed to get through quite a few items which have been lingering on my to do list of household chores, so I feel good.  I have also gone though some boxes of photographs.  The sorting process has begun but it will be a long one and time runs off with you when you are sorting and eats into your day.  It's difficult to know the best way to organise this huge task, I think a little at a time in small batches is necessary.  One thing I do wish is that dates and places and even names had been put on these old photos.

I did manage a bright and cheery finish this week a little I-spy quilt for the Linus Project it only measures about 28 inches square but I think it will be ideal for a little one to enjoy.  

 

 

 

What do you think?

 

A Gift of Caring - A Lovely Lady

I met a lovely lady last night for the first time who has a wonderful gift.  The gift of caring. We have spoken a number of times over the past year but I was so pleased to finally meet up.  T nursed Mum last year, she is one of a wonderful team of Marie Curie nurses who devote not only their working hours but many of these ladies fundraise for the charity and help others in need of care outwith their nursing hours.

Whilst clearing out aunt's house the family felt quite a lot of the household items could be used and given to charity.  As well as being a MC nurse, T helps people who have nothing, or very little, set up house and add to their meagre possessions.  I delivered a number of boxes to her last night full of linens, towels, crockery, cutlery and kitchen goods. She was delighted.  

I also delivered these. five quilts which I have made over the last few months.  These will be used specifically for Marie Curie either in fundraising events or as a little comfort for people like Mum.  As the anniversary of Mum's death draws closer I hope she would be pleased that I have managed to help in a very, very small way.



Crazy Paving

 




Lavender Lane

Limes Leaves and Lovehearts

 

Churning it Up - 15 Minutes of Play



Baby Blue

 



Twister is finished but I don't have a photo yet.  I will not reveal this one until K has finished hers.  I know her quilting design will be much more detailed than mine but I don't want to influence her in any way.  This has been a great project which I really loved doing.  The little bright Linus quilt is almost finished too it just needs one edge of the binding to be stitched and a label.

It's great that the sun has been shining this week - I may manage to sit in the garden today and finish off that binding!