Nicola's Nook

Saturday 14 January 2017

2017 Q1 Finish along

Unfortunately for me I didn't manage to link up my finishes in time - boo! But I did have some finishes! Which is what counts right? I finished the pink quilt for my niece Megan, made a Noodlehead Supertote and openwide pouch and two fabric envelopes. Maybe I will get to blogging about them in the future...

Some things will carry forward on my list, some have been added and some will come off the list. I've recently moved from South Africa to England and therefore quite a lot of unfinished projects have had to stay in Caper Town, waiting for me to live there once more. Perhaps they will come over here eventually, but there certainly wasn't space for them in my luggage! As it was a disproportionate amount of weight/space in my luggage allowance was on sewing things!

Without further ado, let me write down my hopeful finishes!

1. Plus Quilt

My big long term quilt project is a quilt using Blueberry Park by Karen Lewis . I have loved this line since it came out,but couldn't find it in SOuth Africa. I knew Craftsy was still selling it, but they didn't deliver to SA. So when I knew I was moving to the UK I splurged and bought the cool fat quarter bundle.

I plan to make a double bed (twin) plus quilt with it, with a white background. To that end, I bought the Simple Addition quilt pattern from Cluck Cluck Sew. I have also bought white backgrond fabric from Tikki London.

2. Liberty mini quilt

This next project is also a new one. I bought a Liberty min quilt kit from Tikki London . I love Liberty fabric, it is so beautiful and soft and extravagant. My aunt had given me gift vouchers for Tikki so this seemed like a good project to use it on - something I might not necessarily have bought otherwise. The below pictures are from the kit.

3. Cosy comforter

This is a beanbag to put in the microwave to heat and keep you warm. It is filled with barley. I have made progress since 2016 Q4 - I have sewn the outer bag and the inner. It still needs to be filled with barley, sewn shut and sewn into divided areas though. This picture is from before it had been sewn into the bag, and compared the new fabric to the older fabric that had been used and slightly burnt! It is Liberty pincord, so gorgeous! I can't take a new progress shot because I am at my uncle & aunt's house for the weekend and all my sewing stuff is back where I live.

4. Shirt

This is also a carry over from last quarter. It just (just!) needs buttons and buttonholes.

5. Liberty mini quilt

These liberty fabrics were bought a couple of years ago from Ali at VeryBerry fabrics, who was very helpful. Sadly she no longer seems to sell Liberty, but her blog veryberryhandmade is lovely. I have 20 charm squares, all different (bottom left in the picture) as well as 7 fat sixteenths. I think I'd like to use a windmill block, simple but showcasing the fabric. Last quarter I said I wanted to use yarn-dyed Essex linen but couldn't find any. When I ordered my Blueberry Park fqb I also ordered some Essex yarn dyed linen so this is one step closer!

6. Chevron tote bag

I made these chevrons quite a while ago and would like to make them into a basic tote bag. I even have the turquoise fabric to go with them. Like many projects, it hasn't been made yet! The fabric is Prince Charming, by Tula Pink, and I got the fat quarters from a fabric shop that has since closed. I think this fabric is coming to London with a friend of mine (it didn't fit in my luggage!) but can't remember what made the cut for coming with her and what had to live in Cape Town a while longer. I'm fairly sure it is coming to London...

7. Stash quilt

In May 2015 I went on a quilting weekend away and got too anxious to sew. Instead I cut a 5" strip from every fabric I had and then subcut into 4.5" squares. I still have some squares to cut and then it needs to be sewn together in a simple dark/light square combination. I love that I know the story behind each fabric. My stash wasn't/isn't very big, hence being able to do this!

8. Neighbourhood charm quilt

Many years ago my lovely aunt (see above for our fabric bond) bought me this road15 charm pack. Right from the beginning I wanted to make a Neigbourhood charm quilt with it. I thought it would be fun to play on the little houses theme with housey/roady fabric.

9. Sherbet Pips quilt

Sherbet Pips, by Aneela Hooey, was one of the first fabric collections I loved. I googled it and loved it and googled it some more. Then, fortuitously, my friend went to America. I spoke VERY nicely to her and she brought fabric back for me. Chief among these was two Sherbet Pips charm packs, a grey & white Kona solids charm pack and two yards of 'Girl on a tree swing', my favourite print. I'd like to make these into a quilt eventually. (I think this is also coming to London with my friend).

10. Zipper pouches

Who knows why I have so very many zippers! I am completely flummoxed... I'd like to make a little zipper pouch to store my wonder clips in. I have to choose between the three florals on the left (decisions, decisions) and will likely use the smallest pink zip that it at the front. I couldn't resist photographing them all though, it is pretty impressive for someone who hasn't really made anything with a zip!

I wrote the above in October 2016. I am proud to say that I successfully made an openwide pouch in December. It looks great and I am thrilled with how it looks. Now I want to make more zipper pouches! Both flat pouches and more openwide pouches by noodlehead.

11. Bucket basket tote

I adore this William Morris Apprentice fabric - isn't it beautiful? I'd like to make the Bucket basket tote . I will need to buy interfacing to make this because the interfacing was left behind in Cape Town.

12. London Modern Quilt Guild Challenge

I went to my first LMQG meeting last Sunday and enjoyed it. We were each given a small scrap bag of Liberty fabric and challenged to make a modern mini quilt with it. At least one re-used fabric needs to be used and no rulers are allowed (except for squaring up at the end). I'm quite nervous! Luckily I have until July to complete this. (Image taken from the London MCQ blog, because I don't have my specific scrap pack with me)

My list isn't as long as last quarters, but I am definitely not going to finish everything on it anytime soon. But I might as well have it on the list!

Nicola

Sunday 16 October 2016

2016 Q4 Finish-a-long

This is my first time linking up with the FAL but I thought that it might be a good idea to have a concrete list of all I want to do. There is no way I will ever finish all of these - just one or two would be grand - however I decided to put everything I want to make on here! We'll see how it all goes...

1. Pink Quilt for my darling niece

I cut out all the squares and sewed on the side sashing in May at a quilting weekend away. However since then I haven't progressed. My niece was born in July but I gave her a baby quilt I had previously made and just needed to bind and label, which I did. Obviously she has no idea about any of this and will not mind if it is late! I made a temporary 'design wall' by pinning batting to the lounge curtains and have now decided on the layout of the squares. Hopefully this will encourage me to now sew them together.

2. Biggie Best first quilt

This is the very first quilt I ever made, or perhaps I should say started! I sat on the couch and loosely cut out the squares using a flimsy cardboard template. The material all comes from the scrap bin at a shop called Biggie Best, which mainly sells upholstery weight fabric. I have never finished quilting it - it is about half done - because the squares are not even, which makes my plan of sewing lines on either side of the seams fairly difficult. It also wasn't basted well so there are lots of puckers. I think I must just grit my teeth and do it though.

3. Shirt

About two years ago my granny helped me to make this shirt. It has languished in my cupboard ever since even though it only needs buttons. It came to light about a month ago when I did a huge sort out and throw out of clothes. I have since bought the buttons, but am very nervous of sewing the bottonholes!

4. Bucket Basket Tote

I adore this William Morris Apprentice fabric - isn't it beautiful? I'd like to make the Bucket basket tote . I have also bought the interfacing, which I forgot to photograph (perhaps because it is hiding in the depths of a cupboard).

5. Tea & books mini quilt

This was originally meant to be for a placemat swap at my local guild, Creative Quilters. However it wasn't completed in time because I was sick & in hospital. I'd like to make it into a mini-quilt, and am thinking of reducing the width since it no longer has to be a placemat. I'll probably make it square.

6. VPP Bag

I had all but finished this bag - I only had to turn it the correct way out, join the handle ends and topstitch - when I realised that I had used a bad polyester thread. It had melted and/or gone brittle while ironing and a seam was coming loose. It has sat in my sewing pile making me irritated for about 18 months. Two days ago I decided that I couldn't chance more of the seams coming apart so I unpicked all the sewing... grrr! I couldn't just sew over the current seams because I wouldn't be able to do that on the darts, which was one of the seams that split. Hopefully now that it is completely ready (except for a press) to be sewn it will soon become a bag. The bag pattern and tutorial is from Very Purple Person and I have made two or three already and like it.

7. Liberty cosy/beanbag

I love Liberty fabric and bought this liberty pincord two years ago from Shaukat specifically to make a cosy comforter (beanbag filled with barley for aches and pains). Since I use a cosy so much I reckoned pretty fabric was the way to go and have enjoyed it very much. It is one of my favourite designs called Sarah's Secret Garden. Unfortunately a few months ago my mum burnt it by putting it in for far too long (something about pressing the 10min button three times instead of the min button three times! Luckily we realised after about 15 minutes. The barley didn't really burn but, as you can see in the picture, the fabric got rather a brown tinge.) I have enough pincord to make another cosy so I think I'll make a new one and add it to the stash of cosy's.

8. Advent Calendar

Last year October my aunt bought me this beautiful advent calendar panel as well as 4 half-metres of Christmas fabric. My aunt is my fabric sister-in-arms and knows my fabric likes well. She lives in London while I live in Cape Town. South Africa. Last year they came down to Cape Town for my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary and this is what she bought me! I'm a little confused about whether the single pockets should get box pleats (so you can fit more stuff in the pockets) but hopefully if I look a bit closer I will figure it out.

9. Zipper pouch

10, 11, 12: Tshirt, long sleeved t-shirt & jersey knit cardigan

I bought these patterns a couple of years ago and would really like to make myself a t-shirt with that stripy fabric. You can't tell but it is actually navy and is a gorgeous weight. However I have never made any clothes with knit before (and not much in other fabric). There is a new acquaintance from whom I might be able to take lessons, in which case a t-shirt will be my first make!

13. Liberty mini-quilt

These liberty fabrics were bought a couple of years ago from Ali at VeryBerry fabrics, who was very helpful. Sadly she no longer seems to sell Liberty, but her blog veryberryhandmade is lovely. I have 20 charm squares, all different (bottom left in the picture) as well as 7 fat sixteenths. I think I'd like to use a windmill block, simple but showcasing the fabric. I'd love to use yarn-dyed Essex linen, all projects I have seen with that paired with Liberty is beautiful, but haven't found it anywhere local.

14. Chevron tote bag

15. Stash quilt

Last year May I went on a quilting weekend away and got too anxious to sew. Instead I cut a 5" strip from every fabric I had and then subcut into 4.5" squares. I still have some squares to cut and then it needs to be sewn together in a simple dark/light square combination. I love that I know the story behind each fabric. My stash wasn't/isn't very big, hence being able to do this!

16. Neighbourhood charm quilt with road15

17. Cat in the Hat baby quilts

About two years ago my local fabric shop (NOT quilt shop. The everything and the kitchen sink type of fabric shop. Which is great for many things but doesn't have many quilting cottons.) had Cat in the Hat panels for sale for, I think, R25 a panel. (< 1.50 pounds/$1.80) That is incredible! So I bought a couple (or more panels). I have made one friends boy a baby quilt using two panels and backing it with flannel. I aim to make one or two more flannel backed quilts with these, even if they are just for charity. Fabric World (the fabric shoop talked of above) had a good run two or so years ago when they had a few quilting cottons for about R40/metre (< 2.2 pounds/&2.80). I got two metres of some Lotta Jansdotter fabric. Unfortunately since then it has mostly been cheap , average quality quilting cottons.

18. Sherbet Pips quilt

19. Felt brooches

About two years ago I bought from some beautiful felt brooches from Buttercup Boutique. SHe makes gorgeous brooches using felt, beads and Liberty fabric. She custom made the brooches using my favourite Liberty fabric (Sarah's Secret Garden, see above re: pincord). Inspired by these brooches I bought some wool blend felt from paper-and-string which my sister brought back when she went to the UK. I'd like to make myself some more brooches, even though they won't be nearly as pretty as the ones Kathryn from Buttercup Boutique made. Mostly I think it is courage to start I need.

20. Cheater Quilt

I bought this fabric because I love the colours and the 'cheater' fabric. I have two metres of each. I don't know if it will be made into two 1m baby quilts or a long & narrow quilt. But it should be made into a quilt because the fabric is beautiful! The fabric is from Storybook by Kate and Birdie for Moda.

21. Canvas tote bags

I bought this fabric at Ikea when I was in England in 2010. Funny story, on my trip home, 11kg of my 25kg luggage was fabric... I think I'd like to make another VPP bag (see no. 6 above).

22. Back to Basics Sampler

This should actually be no.1 or no.2 and I only just realised I nearly left it off! I am too tired now though to change all the numbering so no.22 it is. Over the last year and a bit I have been doing a sampler quilt with my quilt guild. Going on the typical timeline I should have been finished all the blocks about 5 months ago, but I have taken much longer. On Thursday I finally finished the last of the twelve blocks (the applique block on the top) and was much relieved. Oh, the most important part of why it has taken so long is that it has all been done by hand! Now I have bought sashing fabric and need to create the quilt top, baste it, quilt it and bind it. Thank goodness the sashing will all be done by machine! The idea for quilting is to ditch stitch all the block/sashing seams and then hand quilt each of the blocks.

As you can see this is a ridiculously long FAL list. And as I said before I am likely to only finish one or two things. But it felt good to make a list of everything I want to make (Although I do feel slightly twitchy and wonder if I'll EVER finish it all!) Work, depression, anxiety & fibromyalgia all make for slow sewing, but I try to enjoy what I do without feeling overwhelmed.

Nicola

Monday 29 August 2016

Twin baby quilts

This blog is much neglected but I refuse to let that bug me. Instead I shall post if/when the inspiration strikes (which seems to be every two or three years...).

These two quilts were made for a special friend of mine who lives in Guernsey. I met her and her family eight years ago when they lived in Cape Town and have kept in touch (sporadically, neither of us are much good at emailing!) since then. She is very dear to me though and when she revealed she was pregnant with twins I immediately knew I wanted to make quilts for the boys. The process took a very long time though! I couldn't find the sort of fabric I wanted so I ordered from the UK. Unfortunately it got caught up at Customs and took forever to arrive. Then I started making them and made all the half square triangles before putting it aside for ages. In May I went on a wonderful weekend away with my quilting guild. There are no classes or anything it is just a chance to work on your own projects and spent time with like-minded people. I finished both quilt tops on the weekend. I didn't feel up to quilting them, so I asked my lovely neighbour, Dot, to quilt them for me.

With one thing and another they ended up living with her for longer than either of us would have liked. While waiting for them I made the labels and binding. Eventually I got them back on a Thursday evening. Then I had a race against time; my uncle was visiting from London and could take them back for me... But he left on Wednesday afternoon! That meant +-9 metres of binding plus sewing on of labels five days, in addition to work and family dinners! (We don't see him very often). In the end I didn't quite finish - there was about 40cm of binding still left to do. Luckily my aunt is also a sewer & she was able to finish it for me - what a relief! Postage in South Africa is both extremely unreliable and expensive so I really couldn't pass up the opportunity to use my uncle as a packmule!

These are now in London, finished and being posted to Guernsey next week. My aunt, uncle and cousins have been to New York for five days (lucky fishes!) and are now in Devon. When they get back from Devon & the craziness of work and school starting have calmed down my aunt will package them up and send it on for me. I am very grateful for lovely family.

The quilts are 'same, same but different'. They are both based on Amy Smart, Diary of a Quilter's, Lone Star bay quilt pattern. I used two fabrics in both quilts (starts & chevrons) but two different fabrics for each quilt. One had octopi and anchors, the other had vw combis and forest animals. The background was a sweet pale grey with small hearts. I wanted to make it boyish and cute but not babyish with pastels and nursery prints. I also bound them in different bright colours just for a fun colour pop as well as backing them in different materials. My neighbour, Dot, did an amazing job with the quilting. I gave her free reign to do whatever she wanted and she came up trumps. I aspire to quilt like her. This is unlikely to happen though because a)I don't have a longarm (computerised or other) and b)I don't really enjoy quilting. Shocking, I know! I prefer piecing.

I love this photo!

Perhaps it will be a shorter time before I post again. but perhaps not... We shall see.

Nicola

Friday 11 December 2015

Testing

I need to see whether or not I am a no-reply blogger.

Tuesday 8 July 2014

I have a few things that I have made over the past year or two that I never took photos of and never showed. So here are a few makes that do have photographs (I am notoriously bad at taking photographs. I have a slight phobia you could say!)

Arran and Ethan are two gorgeous boys I have the pleasure of being friends with. For their birthdays (Arran turned 5 and Ethan turned 2) I decided to make them some long sleeved t-shirts for Winter. Correction: there is NO WAY I made these shirts - I bought them and embellished them! :) My original plan was to applique dinosaurs since Arran had a dinosaur themed birthday party. However I then remembered this cute alien fabric I had. In hindsight it would have been better to to one of two things: 1)Make aliens out of plain fabric or 2) Do a square/circle of the alien fabric. But I did both together which is why they are a little busy and it is difficult to see the shape. Oh well, next time I will know better! I still think they are pretty darn cute though! Ethan put his on straight away and insisted on wearing it to bed since I gave it to him in the evening. (Don't you love grateful recipients?)

A googly-eyed monster for Arran

A crazy haired monster for Ethan

The next make I am showing you was for Ethan as well. This I made way back in 2012. I made it and gave it to him - well, his mom - without taking any photographs. His dad takes AMAZING photos and I was promised photos but, unsurprisingly, it was never high on the priority list and photo's were never taken. Nevermind, this time I came prepared! When I gave the boys their alien t-shirts I borrowed my mums camera and made sure to take photos of the quilt as well. More than a year and a half later I have photographic evidence that I made this! Hooray! This quilt is made from a Dr Seuss Cat in the Hat panel. It is actually made from nearly 2 panels (hence the repeated 'blocks') but I cut off a column of blocks on the right hand side so that it would a) fit the backing and b) so it it would be a more useful size. Everywhere there was a square on the panels I would quilt around it. This quilt is backed in the perfect turquoise flannel - I wish I had bought oodles of it because it is warm and good quality and lovely. I didn't do any batting and used the flannel to 'bind' the quilt on the front. I am very proud of this as it is/was my first proper quilty finish.

Cat in the Hat Quilt

Ethan wondering why I am making him lie down on his quilt!

Watching tv wrapped up to keep out the cold

Close up of the cute panel I used to make this quilt

Showing the square quilting on the back.

My very basic 'quilt label'

Precious boys

I will have more pictures for you over the coming week or two (I hope!) as I find pictures/take pictures of things I have made already.

Nicola