Hand sewing is perfect in Winter

At long last, I finally got going on my applique quilt again.  I have been at a standstill on this project for months, putting off doing this house shape, mostly because the size of the fabric pieces were larger than I am used to managing in my lap.  I would love to say that I have finished the entire quilt, but alas this is only one block.

But at last this central block is finished, and measures 20" x 20".

This square will eventually be the centre square of a nine square garden-themed quilt.  The pattern design is by Anni Downs, an Australian quilter who has a sweet blog and business called Hatched and Patched.
Below are the five squares I have completed so far.  Five down, four to go!

It is quite a naive style that I am usually not drawn towards, but for some reason I kept coming back to this patchwork garden idea and decided I would personalise a few of the features to match our own garden.  If you are interested you can read about the making of the other parts of this quilt here.

Linking up with Finish-A-Long

 I was being a little hopeful and unrealistic to think that I would be able to finish all five remaining blocks before the end of the year.  But I am very pleased that I was finally able to finish this block at all, as it was somehow blocking my way forward and I just couldn't get started on it.  Thanks to posting this as a Finish-A-Long goal, I was at last able to smash through the stumbling block and am now confident that the next four blocks will get done very soon.

Not sure if this counts as completing my pie-in-the-sky goal, but I am pleased I have made some headway!

WIP updates

Having finished my course of antibiotics I do feel I'm back to my normal self this week, and have hopefully kicked this bout of tonsillitis.  I've got a busy week at work ahead, with a lot of "best foot forward" expected of me, which will be a little extra pressure, so I'm just taking one day at a time.
So to give myself some me-time, I've done a bit of catching-up at Nessa's Place this week.  Here are three WIPs (works in progress) that I've updated today:

W.I.P. 1

On and off (mostly off) I am working on some hand sewing. (I tend to occupy myself with this when the mother-in-law comes to tea) It is a hand appliqued and patchworked quilt, designed by Anni Downs.  It is going to be a lovely big wall hanging quilt for our stairwell.
Today I finally finished the fourth 20" x 20" square! This large flower pot has been a bit of a nightmare - I have not enjoyed the fiddliness of the stalk and stems at all, and I think it has taken so long to do, simply because I was putting it off.

This quilt is a Block of the Month (BOM) idea called In My Garden, and was supposed to have been finished by November 2012 but oh well, life is busy. I do like it and shall keep going with it (on and off).
Actually it is quite nice to spend an hour getting the fabric and little pieces all ready and pack it all into a little project bag, ready for picking up and taking anywhere to do a little hand stitching whenever I feel the need.  I think I enjoy this preparing work quite a lot actually... I've posted about the joy of preparation before.

W.I.P. 2

On our last holiday to the Isle of Skye I bought some materials to make a small wall-hanging quilt inspired by the colours and the landscape.  Well, I have done absolutely nothing on that since the last time I mentioned it.  Could have done a bit today but I didn't feel like it.  You know how some days one project seems more fun to do than the one you know you should do?  Well today just wasn't Skye quilt's day.

But we also bought some Harris Tweed remnants that were on sale in a knitting shop.  (Harris Tweed is made in people's homes on the Island of Harris, off the west coast of Scotland, and it is lovely)  I have pressed the pieces and cut them into workable lengths, all prepared and ready to be made into cushions for our lounge room.

W.I.P. 3

As part of House of Pinheiro's International Craft Swap, I am also working on something crafty to give to my  Pinheiro-paired partner.  Just in case she reads this post, I won't mention what I am thinking of making for her just yet, but here is a sneaky peak at some of the things I just might be using to make it. 

The idea is to make something with a Nautical theme to suit my paired-up partner, and she will make something Nautical for me.  We're supposed to use things from our stash, but I didn't have anything nautical so I got a few things at the recent Stitching exhibition in Glasgow and the Quilt show that was in Edinburgh.

I'd be interested to know what you would make from these lovely fabrics and ribbons?

Half the job is in the preparation.

My own guilty UFO.

I enrolled in a Block-of-the-Month (BOM) program where I was supposed to follow an applique/patchwork pattern and get one 20" square finished each month. For the first three months I was always on target, and then life interrupted, as did other more interesting sewing and knitting projects.  So I got a bit distracted and instead of having 9 finished blocks by November I have only got 3 and a half done.

This is the progress of block number four.

Having this blog makes me feel a little accountable, so I decided I would photograph the process of finishing block 4, in the hope that I would then be re-motivated to press on with the work.

First I trace each shape from the pattern onto the paper side of Freezer Paper.

Then I label each piece to indicate position, then cut them out
(with paper scissors) and store them carefully.

Then I choose my fabric colours, using the pattern photograph as a guide.

Then I sit the pattern pieces of freezer paper spaced-out onto the fabric,
plastic side down, and dry-iron them onto the fabric.

I let them cool, then start cutting them out, leaving about 1/4" edge of fabric,
to later become the turned under hem.

Then I match the fabric colours to some thread, and keep it all together
in a zip-lock bag so that I can grab it and go, and I know everything
 I'll need is inside ready to be worked on.

All of this takes MUCH longer than the actual sewing, I spend about an hour one day doing the paper tracing and cutting, then on another day I will choose the material and press the pattern pieces onto the material and cut them out. Then on the third crafty session I can actually start the sewing part!

Actually, now that I have typed this out I have noticed that it is the same with my dressmaking.

Day one I cut out the paper pattern, for about an hour. Day two I pin it to the fabric and cut that out. Not until the third day do I actually spool on a bobbin and begin the sewing... I wonder if I could have made an entire dress in the same time as it will take for me to finish this block?? Hmmm...

In My Garden

Karen mentioned a piece of my stitching work on her blog this weekend! How exciting for me, as a newbie to blogging! Some lovely ladies ( Joanne and Abby) commented on my mysterious WIP (work in progress) and said such kind things too. It's so encouraging to get complimentary feedback.
So thought I had better help out any guessing people who might pop over to my blog page for some clues about my WIP:

The quilt is based on Annie's design from Hatched and Patched. I've changed a few of the pictures, but not many.
The individual patches have been hand appliqued and then pieced together with patchwork strips using the machine.
This square is 20" x 20".

This 20" x 20" square will be placed to the right of the first one.

This 20" x 20" square goes to the right of the above square to form the top row of my hand appliqued quilt.
This is my most recent one - can you spot where the WIP mystery photo from Karen's blog comes from?



psst! - it's a pear tree in a diamond.

In My Garden BOM

I have started teaching myself how to do applique by hand. I saw this lovely quilt pattern from Hatched and Patched called In My Garden and knew it was the perfect challenge for me to tackle a new skill.

Anni sends out one pattern each month, and then I use the photos to try to colour match the fabrics from my scraps collection. Her quilt design is based on her feelings about her garden, and uses personal images that reflect her garden from growing up until now. I hope she doesn't mind, but I have already decided to imitate her and have slightly altered a few of her pictures so that My quilt will reflect my love of my garden here in Scotland.

Here's my first ever attempts at needle-turn hand applique AND I LOVE IT!

This is block #1. I changed her bird design into a chicken, because I was looking forward to getting chickens at the time! I also changed the flowers in the top diamond shape into snowdrop shapes, as that was a flower in the garden at the time.

This is the starting patches for block #2. The only thing I changed here was the shape of the butterfly wings - I wanted them a bit rounder looking.


What is your prefered way to applique?