A Bobbin a Day Keeps the UFO at Bay....

I have been trying to get more disciplined with my quilt making. I am between studios at the moment as we fit out the new one. So i'm working on the kitchen table. Its a bit cramped but it makes you really aware just how much you have bitten off and if its more than you can chew.

I have 4 projects on the go at the moment. I know thats not a lot for some of you, but its a lot for me. Especially in a very small temporary work space.

The one I am really trying to make a dent in at the moment is my Postage Stamp Quilt. Its 1.5 inch, finished 1 inch squares. Also, its for our bed so its going to be a large queen size quilt. So... when I do the math.. this is what it needs...7,744 squares. Thats quite a few.  Then the back, then the quilting.

I started this one on the election day last year and jokingly thought to myself to have it done by the next election...4 years. So I started cutting squares while I was doing other work and filling preserving jars. When they were full, i'd start stitching them into 2 patch.

The start....the jars to be filled

I would go through all my orphan blocks, all UFO's and any other scrap and cut the squares. I keep a large mixing bowl at my cutting area. After cutting other things, the scrap goes in the bowl till its full.

The mixing bowl. I like using bowls as I can dig my hands in.

A bit of everything.

My bobbin a day came from chain piecing. If I could just stick it out for a whole bobbin's worth of sewing I could at least make some sort of progress for this quilt. I am determined to get it done. I have wanted a postage stamp quilt for ever and a day and I have never found one. I have seen them, but not for sale. I also have to find my quilts. They need to cross my path. So, I'm doing my own. And for me its a bit of a journey and its a record of the fabrics that have passed through my studio, my collection and the print archive. I hope to be able to see this quilt as a bit of a snap shot of my fabrics and adventures over time hunting them down.

Chain piecing a bobbin a day

So now I'm onto my 5th jar of squares and i'm about a quarter of the way through this quilt. I have got them into 4 patch now, they are squared and trimmed and ready to be made into 16 patch. Then I will work out a bit of an arrangement of those.

4 patch ready to go

I am really trying to be very random about this quilt. I am trying not to look too closely at the patches as I assemble them. I want this to look very hap-hazard. As a graphic designer I was trained to be very methodical and precise about things. I am trying through making this quilt to become a bit freer. It's hard at times and I do chuck the patch back in the pile and go find another to make a more pleasing arrangement but in a way I feel I am not sticking to being random and free if I do that. I am trying to un-learn a bit. And to just let the scrap do its thing.

Fudging it...

The Perfect Patchwork Primer by Beth Gutcheon was first published in 1973. Its as old as I am!

Written before the time of rotary cutters, computers and companies dedicated to printing 'quilting fabrics'. I forgot what a great read it was, not only that its a great reference. Partly because it covers how blocks were constructed before the advent of the concept of 'straight seaming'. Where shapes were cut and pieced whole with set in seams rather than in 2 or 3 parts to achieve straight seams for a sewing machine. 

But the thing I like most about it is Beth's take on things. Known more now as a fiction writer, her first 2 books were quilting books, her second being the The Quilt Design Workbook. Both considered classic texts in the field.

It has some really refreshing snippets in it. Ones that still 'ground' me when i'm being a bit hard on myself or when I hear some of my customers frustrations that they feel they can't put something together the 'right way', being it colour, design or skill.

So I would like to share with you some of Beth's wisdom... (hold onto your rotary cutters people....)

"Each piece of patchwork is cut out separately, using care and very sharp scissors..."

"Tearing the fabric is the most desirable alternative because it saves you the rather annoying task of measuring and drawing..."

"Don't worry about pruning the dangling threads close to the material; they'll all be inside the quilt and won't matter..."

"...when one unit is much larger larger than the one its supposed to match, you may even have to sew in some puckers, but with puffy batting behind it puckering isn't nearly as obvious...."

"...you can take a few liberties with the straightness of the seam."

"A pucker is better than a hole, and if you press the bejesus out if it, once the batting and quilting are added you'll hardly know the difference."

And the best line being this...."Up to a point you can fudge, and the better you are at fudging the better you are at your craft".

Thanks Beth. I feel a whole lot better. Now, where are my scissors....

No Pain, No Gain....

Finally after a long break I am back doing some hand quilting. It's been a long time between projects for myself. In fact most of the time I am 'reverse' quilting, I am unpicking something to re-work or salvage it.

But as I have not picked up the needle and thread to quilt for quite some time my fingers are out of condition. They have gone 'soft'. I am a lap quilter and I have never quite got the hang of using a hoop, let alone a thimble. I sometimes use a bit of tape or a bandaid when my fingers get sore, but I need to investigate some of these new fangled quilters thimbles in leather or the other plastic ones that you stick on.
As I sit and quilt I keep hearing John Lennon from the Beatles White Album going....'i've got blisters on my fingers'.... his were from playing guitar, my sore spots are from the needle making a groove in the edge of my finger.

Along with pricking myself in a few spots too, I am cursing that I am not developing some good old callouses fast enough. So, as they say, no pain, no gain....I need to toughen up!

One day I hope to be able to quilt in tiny stitches, evenly and finely. It takes practice and strong fingers. But until then, its a small job and I need to quit complaining...sigh...

Quilt Top Contraband....

There have been a few tips and tricks I have had to rely on over the years getting through airports with too much luggage. Often my carry on gets a little over loaded and more than once I have had to stuff a few things in the top of my pants to get past the check in at the gate. My most preferred method is to wrap a few articles of spare clothing around my middle or stuff a few things in the top of my boots til they tell me my carry on is light enough. Now, I don't recommend any of this, but sometimes you gotta do what ya gotta do.

One of my customers came for a visit to the studio. Her husband was waiting in the car, but she spied a 1930s Double Wedding Ring quilt top. And as what so often happens when people visit the studio, they fall in love with a treasure that has to come with them.

The quilt top had to be hers... But what about the husband? Well, as a joke, I said you can stuff it down your pants? Or how about I post it to you? Thinking that posting would be the option chosen...I could have popped it in the post pack and it would have arrived the next day. But no, the option chosen was the former...
So I folded the queen size top into 8th's length wise and flattened it down. Her arms went up and we tightly wrapped the quilt top around her middle and stuffed it into the top of her jeans. Jumper down and coat on top....can you notice? ...No, he won't suspect a thing.

Off she went beaming...was it that she now owned a beautiful one of a kind vintage quilt top....or was it that she got one over on the other half safely home and into the stash??

Orphans and Under Dogs...

I've had a lot going on lately in my non-working life, but is made me make some connections to my working part of things...the other 8 hours a day....well, its more than that but I like to think I sleep for 8, work for 8 and live for 8.

I have always had a thing for the under dog, the one left behind, the one that surprises you (go Quintana - TDF reference here)  the little thing in my eyes that I think is gold, a tiny scrap, something that is left behind.

When I travel I pick up orphan blocks (the blocks that don't make it to a quilt), unfinished quilts and those ones many would leave behind, perhaps the corners don't meet up or they have a patch that needs replacing or some stitches to repair. I love them. To me there is so much potential, there is a story to them...there is a why?
They show a touch that is human and by hand. The wonky stitches or the patch that still has a button of the shirt cuff on it. Names of makers and friends, connections. There is a need in me to finish them or to find them a new home.

Those who know me well will know why this is and over time I will draw some lines to this and join the dots, but in the mean time, enjoy some of my collected underdogs....the unfinished or the abandoned and make them a part of your stash....give them a new home.

Open Drawer Camberwell for June

Hi all, you will find me and some of my goodies at Open Drawer in Camberwell over this June. Wednesday, Thursday and maybe Friday depending on clients in my graphic design side of things - I think I need to clone myself some days!

I will also be holding some mini work shops on Scrap Quilting old school style.
So all you need to do is bring a needle and thread, some scissors and a bag of your scraps. You know, all those bits you can't part with but don't know what to do with....yes, we all have loads of them - well I do.
The workshop will take you through string style piecing using what you have at hand and some colour theory so you can push your scraps about a bit.

Come on down!

Open Drawer is at 1158 Toorak Road in Camberwell (Hartwell Village)
You can get the 75 tram to the front door or the Alamein Train to Burwood Station.

1940s string pieced diamond block. www.thequilter.com

Up Close - 1940s Grand Mothers Flower Garden Variation

A lot of you have been quite interested in this quilt. So here it is up close so you can all get a better look at it.

The top was made some time in the 1940s. I picked it up on a trip to the USA a few years back and it sat in my stash for quite a while.
I decided that it was time for it to find another home, so it was purchased by one of my clients. Off it went to India where it was hand quilted in the traditional Fans pattern. It was then hand bound by me. Now its off to the other side of the county. So before it goes, here are some notes.

This quilt top was hand sewn. 1 inch hexys. What is so striking about this quilt is the use of black and the variation in the layout.

Notes on what you need....this is a big project! Brace yourself this is going to be a big one....finished is queen size. 225x210 cm.

Cut your template for fabric with an edge length of 1.5 inches. For a finished hexy of 1 inch. Cut your paper templates as 1 inch sides. I'd use template plastic or cut several from a cereal box to make sure you are not grinding the edges out too much. Or print off a pile on thin copy paper and snip out.

Black - 755 for centres and 'stars'.
White - 1062
Plains - this quilt has a mix of solids. Min 6 of each colour x 59. Or 354 in total - 59 colours x 6 hexys.
Prints - 708 - a mix of prints of min 12 of each - 59 prints x 12 hexys.

.75 yard/mt of additional white for inset edges.
.75 yard/mt black for binding.
Backing of your choice.

Vintage Grandmas Flower Garden - Cutting Plan

Start paper piecing and i'll see you in a few years....

Notes on this quilt... None of the prints or solids double up, some are really close but not the same. So start raiding that stash or ask friends if you can raid theirs for prints and plains to get this mix. You are aiming for 59 different plains and 59 different prints. Yay! We all love a challenge....