selfsewn

Sunday, 2 February 2014

Are you economising?

So I fell hard for this economy block along.

The crush was so great it developed into a kingsize.

An 81 block kingsize.

My scrap stash dictated the colourway.

There are some ~~god awful~~ really unusual combinations here,

as I chose fabrics that contrasted in the main.

I still need to settle on the layout

the layout above although looks good on screen

but in person it was too hectic

so I have sewn another 9 with muted contrasts,

to give the eye a rest from the stripes.

Wish me luck with the block swapping,

I'm not sure why I'm in such a hurry

I don't have the money for wadding

not with having a new boiler fitted this week... no but at least I am economising.

I am thinking of hand quilting diagonal lines in black...

what do you think?

Monday, 27 January 2014

bohemian like you quilt reveal

If this quilt were a song it would be

bohemian like you

by the Dandy Warhols.

I will pass on the over used term boho chic much in the way I do the term shabby chic.

Generally speaking my quilts gather a life

which is not pre-determined.

The seed for this quilt was a simple glimpse of my own stacked quilts.

I fell in love with the blue, white and natural colourway.

I also blame my visit to Libertys

for totally bringing me back to my arts and crafts

state of mind.

Although I am known for hand piecing quilts

I am not averse to a bit of machine action....

but don't worry I made up for it with a

marathon of hand quilting!

I love how the gingham binding

creates a 3D looking double helix pattern,

discovered by accident when trying out binding fabrics.

This quilt has a real vintage/alpine/Liberty feel to it.

It is all about texture

and is really not like a quilt as we know them.

The heavy quilting has given the fabrics stability....

which makes it feel like a turkish rug!

Vital stats:

Size~50" x 60" (the perfect size for lounging)

Strip~ widths approx 1.5"

lengths various

Number of strips 40

Fabrics~ mix of stash fabrics inc my favourite Joel Dewberry herringbone

also fabrics gifted to me from Deborah simply miss luella

and from my pal Lisa jumble and jelly

thank you girls.

Backing~ vintage terylene type fabric of an indeterminable age.

Binding~ another stash fabric of unknowness.

Quilting~ hand quilted with almost 3 balls of number 8 perle cotton.

Rows approx half an inch apart.

120 rows equals 6000 inches of hand quilting!!!!!

Time taken to hand quilt ~ approx 60 days.

Cause I like you,
Yeah I like you.
And I'm feeling so Bohemian like you,
Yeah I like you,
Yeah I like you,
And I feel wahoo, wahoo, wahoo!

ps. I love you.

Thursday, 23 January 2014

scrappy economy block

Hi thank you all for your positiveness regarding my sketch.

I thought I would reward you with some patchwork!

Don't tell anyone

but I seem to have joined in with something!

With my efforts to reduce my scraps being poor to none

I thought this economy block was just the thing

to lessen the load.

And because you have been ever so nice

an update to the crazy one.

I was thinking how my quilts are all different

yet go well together..

I guess fabric choice has a lot to do with it.

This is ~~another~~ a little experiment with colour choice

it is what it is

okay with a little tweaking here and there.

100% s-crappy fabrics

You can find a tutorial and qal links here
I used Crazy Mom Quilts measurements
which makes the finished block a little over 8.5 inches.

ps.

I know they are not perfectly square...

but who wants to be square right?!

Tuesday, 21 January 2014

feeling sketchy..

So here's something different for you Diane.

All I ever wanted to be as a child was an artist.

No one ever told me I couldn't

so unlike everybody else I never thought about

forging a career as a dentist or a doctor.

I have never been a fan of sketching

because I don't have that natural talent.

The one thing aside from life drawing

that I remember from art college

was a visit from a brilliant artist who sketched every day....

20~something years later and here I am.

Looking for inspiration I stumbled upon a whole new world

a world of sketchbook art..

google it if you dare!

So I started today.

I'm not sure of anything

I'm not sure where this will lead

I'm not sure what to sketch.

I'm not sure I can sketch.

Which is why I am also keeping a colour inspired book too,

for the pencil days that don't happen.

ps. cos theres always something I want to whisper
It's been a long time since I really evaluated my face for an artistic foray,
for now I'm leaving the wrinkles and jowls out.
I'm already giving the evil eye
and anyway I'm the one with the pencil!