Just Playing Around

My DDs think its so funny that I convert so many everyday objects into 'containers' but the fact is, I never seem to have enough, so I'm always looking at everyday things to see if they'll be suitable for my needs. 

This was a tissue box, now its my portable sewing kit for when I move around the house.

This was a tea jar and it's really handy, so no doubt I'll be covering this too with a fun fabric when I get a chance

as well as this old coconut oil tub

and it probably won't stop there

Speaking of fun fabrics, this cat panel fabric below has caught my eye as something really cute and fun. I especially like the mustache and busted cat and I think it would make a gorgeous pencil case - and I always need more of those about. I found this fabric over at www.equilter.com. I haven't purchased anything from them before, but prints like this are just too cute. 

LE: Beautiful Bountiful Berries

My berries are a lot like my hearts: but smaller and fiddlier! Again, finding the right fabric was tough but I was lucky enough to find some in my stash. I thought long and hard about ruby red berries which just felt so logical, but they really stuck out too much against my scrappy fabric. Then I thought about pinks but gave up on that for the same reason. I had settled on the idea of a rust, brown or mustard coloured tones as all these work so well with my fabrics - but felt they weren't authentically 'berry' enough. Then I found this fabric - I really don't do a lot with anything from the purple family, its a colour that doesn't immediately speak to me. But it works perfectly as a berry colour - its a bit red and blue - just enough but not too much and it blends in with all my scrappy mid tones beautifully. And the yellow helps it blend in with my browns without disappearing completely.

I really enjoyed seeing how many of you worked your own berries. With so many of them to do, its really something to consider in terms of shape outcome and time. I did think about embroidery. But decided that I couldn't do justice to perfectly round berries and anything less than perfect little spheres would have proved to be too frustrating.

Here's what I'm doing: cutting the berry pattern shape from wash away fusible - that's the white circles you see. Then, putting this cut out shape in the center of a larger circle - that's the circle drawn onto the fabric.

The circle I'm using for the larger circle is precisely drawn thanks to the aid of this plastic template called a "Mathomat", I purchased it for a few dollars from my local newsagents. And it has a circle that works well for this purpose.

You can see how much turning margin I have all around the circle: I'm cheating because this extra fabric will actually be my 'filling' so my berries aren't completely flat. It's just enough without being too much. 

So, the end result from the back looks something like this

I'm going to make all my berries before I start hand stitching them down on the background. With tasks like this, I break the preparation down into 'parts' because I personally think that I create slightly different work on different days and I like to get it all out in one 'lot' so that its as uniform as possible.

In all, the pattern calls for 96x berries. This means I'll make 100x as I always make a few more in case any turn out wobbly ;)

I'll be breaking up my berry turning preparation with a few hours of Hungarian stitches for my stems. But for now, I just have to keep on turning...

WOW: LE: Hand Sewing

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays 

Today I'm sewing down the last of the zig zag border - its taken a few weeks but its a time consuming task and can't be rushed. I'm already thinking about the berries to come and I have created a 'sampler berry' and pinned it down to check for size. I've also pinned down my newly turned hearts and I'm delighted with how they look. I've pinned the vase down because I've started thinking about my vases, I think they need more embellishments and I'm thinking of some embroidery work on them. I'm in two minds about this, but I think LE need more fuss. 

One thing's for sure; I have plenty of time to think about it as I work through another 5 or so hours of needle turn applique today. I find hand sewing quite soothing and once you find a rhythm, it can be hard to stop. I will usually sew next to this window here until light fades and I have to set up my daylight lamp or my needle snaps (and that is happening more and more, I'm sure they just don't make them as strong as they used to!)

This is what I mean when I say, 'happy sewing', I hope you find your creative nook today as I have found mine; its a creative and rewarding place to be.

What's Your WOW ? 

An InLinkz Link-up

LE: Turning Hearts

These are the hearts tucked in around the vases. I've been thinking and re-thinking the colours for months. Originally I would have gone with blue - and this was when I was thinking of a light and dark blue zig zag border throughout the quilt. But since going scrappy, I was really stuck. I considered pink of course, but all my pinks seemed too pink and clashed with the scrappy style of the rest of the fabrics I'm using. Then I found these fabrics in my stash, and they are the perfect balance of pink and a few other tones that keep them in harmony with my other fabrics without taking my quilt into a pink direction. Although I do love pink, there's a real danger of overtaking the mid tone colours with a few bright hues which would dominate and unbalance the overall 'look'. I'm really happy with these blender hearts now.

I purchased lots of fabrics when I started LE, but am surpised to find the best blenders in my own stash!

and I fussy cut through the fabric the get the colours and hues I thought would work best

I'm using wash away fusible for my applique pieces - it really speeds things up and I love the end results too

LE: Stitching Down the Zig Zag Border

Finally, my zig zag border goes down. Last month I spent 3 days pinning down each zag zag against the pattern precisely in alternating shades of light and dark. In that post I showed you how I was hand stitching the seams between the light and dark units together (left).

Some of you reading this blog (but not making or reading the pattern) wondered what I was using on the applique pieces - I'm using Floriani stitch n wash fusible. You don't remove this product, you just keep on working. When washed, it simply goes away. I have used it in many projects previously and I like the results it gives.

Today, I'm taking this half assembled zig zag border, accurately placing it on my background fabric and hand stitching it into position.

Yes, I'll be hand stitching all my applique, all the way. This is a decision I made when I stated LE, it is an heirloom quilt and its one of those 'once in a lifetime' quilts and I'm going for 1790 authenticity with hand stitching and intense attention to details. This is a quilt of flourishes, fussiness and time.

Preparation, repetition, addiction: a true labour of love

If you're making this quilt yourself, remember to add your own LE based blog posts over in the Love Entwined Archive at the top of this blog. We love seeing how every quilter makes LE their own - me included!

WOW: LE Embroidery Stems Completed

WOW = WIPs On Wednesday

My own Love Entwined is really taking shape now. I've spent months in preparation, doing bits here and there, which I now have ready to finally get the center underway. I'm really excited to be at this stage, after all the hard work of this beginning, there's a lot of fun ahead. During the months when I was sitting down doing all the tiny prep work, turning hundreds of pieces over and over, what really inspired me was seeing what everyone else was doing. Most quilters making LE are miles ahead of me and seeing their progress kept me motivated. 

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to add images in the Yahoo BOM Group or on Pinterest. I know uploading images takes time - time most of us just don't have much of nowadays. I'm deeply appreciative of how keen so many of you are to share your journey with all of us. We all need an inspiring boost every now and then. It just reminds me how wonderful it is to make a quilt within a community, and in this case, an online community. What a great place to be. THANK YOU!

What's Your WOW ?

An InLinkz Link-up

WOW: LE Vase Details

WOW = WIPs On Wednesday

I've been spending all my spare time embroidering. My hands are numb! I'm really looking forward to returning to some applique. The vases in these pictures are just pinned in place to help me guide the embroidery, I won't actually stitch them down until my zig zag border is down. It's just a progress shot, but I really love it. Now I just have two more vases worth of stems to stitch down and I'm hoping to get this done today.

If you're making LE, remember to add a linky to your own blog posts over in the Love Entwined Archives.

What's Your WOW ?

An InLinkz Link-up

LE: My Flower Stems

This stitch really appeals to me: it's called a Hungarian Braided Stitch. It looks like a plait and I think it's just perfect for my flower stems. I considered a lot of stitches for the stems and really agonized over my all the available choices. Personally, I think you should select a stitch based on your design and personal taste. The pattern actually has an appliqued stem - and I love that too. In fact, at this stage I plan to applique my stems on my red and white LE. Something about this scrappy style called for embroidered stems in my opinion and I did think about it for a few months before committing. There are so many beautiful LE's being made over in my Yahoo BOM Group that when I started seeing the embroidered stems, they just spoke to me. So I changed my mind. 

I'm combining the Hungarian stitch with free stitching and I'm using two shades for the main stems and the little flourishes and thinner stems branching out.

Mostly I use an embroidery hoop, although I did create a few stems 'freehand' but then it just got too difficult. My zig zag border is precisely pinned to my paper template (below) and ready to be appliqued to this center, but I really wanted to have the embroidery down before I put down that border. I'll repeat here that I used a Pilot Frixion pen to transfer the pattern to my chosen background. I pre-tested this pen before drawing it up.

Now, with the zig zag border, its so important to accurately put it down as there is a lot going on in the center square. Please don't go ahead and 'fill out' your center without the zig zag down first- even though it appears that I am doing that now. I am actually not doing that. I am creating the pattern out of order from the BOM Parts and because of the hoop and handling for embroidery (and potential shrinkage) I wanted the embroidery finished before stitching down the border. The border has to be in place before you place the vases and flowers or else you'll have clashes. I really don't want anyone creating a bad habit because it appears that I am working 'out of turn'.

Each week I select a different area to focus on and I work on whatever suits me at that time; taking into account hand and eye strain. I can afford to do this as I know the pattern very well and am experienced, but if you are working from the pattern I do suggest you stick to the order of the Parts as they are released. There's just so much work - too much- to have to re-do any one part. You don't want to face that discouragement! 

Embroidery stems are not better than the pattern applique stems - they're just different, and whether they will work on your own quilt will depend on the style of your fabrics and your own personal taste.

Here is an excellent YouTube Tutorial to help you learn this stitch, if you are interested in making it yourself.

As for me, I have a lot of embroidery to be getting on with!

If you're making LE and you blog, please consider adding your progress over in the Love Entwined Archive at the top of this blog - it's easy to add a link and it allows quilters in the future to see how other quilters made LE their own.

WOW: LE - Embroidered Details Around The Crown

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

I've been working on the flowers between my compass crown shapes. I fussy cut the fabrics in the first place and I thought they were so lovely. But then, I decided to embroider them too. I don't know why I did this, I hadn't planned to. I just like how it looks.

When I first started creating the pattern, I was interested to see (from the black and white image in 'Patchwork'), that the original looks like it has embroidered spots and flourishes in any spare spots. That really spoke to me. After all, is is a busy quilt! For me, I just felt like embellishing these. I guess you could call it a 'warm up' because I am going to embroider my stems on this quilt too. I don't know what I'll do with my red and white version yet, but having seen how embroidered stems look, thanks to the ladies sharing their images over in my Yahoo BOM Group, I've fallen in love with the look. I think it works especially well with a scrappy style LE too.

My hand embroidering has a distinctly naive look to it, and that's fine with me. I haven't embroidered this much work in years and I definitely needed a refresher. I love how LE is making me use all my skills, in whatever level they fall, at this stage in my life. It's a challenge and I love that.

What's Your WOW?

An InLinkz Link-up

WOW: LE Zig Zags

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays 

I'm making progress on Love Entwined. The Zig Zag border is so important. It sets the colour tone for much of the middle fabrics and you need to get it down accurately before you can fill in the center or else your pieces won't fit. It is a busy center and the borders really balance out the applique.  

To make sure that all my zig zags are accurate, I am hand sewing the pre-prepared pieces into position and aligning them with the master template I created. This helps me stay on track. It's vital. I know some of you were thinking about piecing this border for accuracy and line (and I know some of you did and it looks great) and whilst I completely understand this inclination (I thought of that myself!) I just couldn't bring myself to do it. It has to be all applique. All the way. 

Love it! I'm really looking forward to spending the day progressing with Love Entwined

 What's Your WOW

An InLinkz Link-up

LE: Ziggity Zag!

No matter what other project I tinker with, and I do love to start new things, my mind keeps wandering back to Love Entwined. Once you start LE, you can't stop for very long. It wont let you. I always said there was something special in the makings of this pattern and the longer I spend with it, the more sure I am that this is true. I've been progressing with my zig zag border.

As mentioned in the pattern, I think a contrast of light and dark shaded fabric is the way to go. Mind you, I did start out with a plan to make my border in just two tones; that of light and dark blue, but LE changed my mind and the longer I worked on it, the more certain I was that this heirloom wanted to be a patchy style. I wish I'd known that at the beginning as I'm sure I would have made some different fabric decisions. But anyhow, I am settled on this look and over the last few weeks I've been separating fabrics that I thought would work as my lights and darks for this border.

Preparation is key. In everything. LE demands as much work and time in preparation as it does in assembly. Maybe even more. This little box is the result of weeks of fiddly tedious work and I'm only ready now to put it all together. And by 'together', I mean hours of more tedious fiddly work. It's an intense quilt, no doubt about it and every single block demands so much attention and skill but I do think there is something so special in working on a creation like this. I am making another red and white LE and thinking about that quilt all the time too (although I haven't made much progress on it yet). I do wonder if when I get to my red and white quilt - if I commit as much time as I have with this one - or if I will just raw applique the whole lot??! I have no idea. I'm just going to do what feels right at the time. I know I'm never going to make another quilt like this again - I don't think I could. It's a once in a lifetime quilt.

I will just mention that this month I released Part 14 & 15 of LE however I am making LE in my own time and out of order, so this is not a guide of where the pattern is up to. I'm behind in some ways and ahead in others. So don't worry if you feel confused seeing my 'progress'. At the top of this blog I have added a Love Entwined Archive where anyone making Love Entwined is invited to add specific blog posts linking to their own methods and working progress. Go and have a look at what and how everyone else is tackling each month, its a real treasure to be able to re-visit these posts and connect with other LE makers. And of course, you can discuss LE anytime over in my Yahoo BOM Group. Because I have so many LE posts that are out of logical time line, I am planning on creating my own LE archive in my own working order just as soon as I have completed it, and that too will be found in the archive page above.

I worked really hard in creating distinct light and dark contrasts for my zig zags. Something that interests me is how my natural eye always selects a mid tone to work with in each colour value. Even when I try not to, it happens. I notice over in my Yahoo BOM Group that some quilters have distinct light and darks, some are mid tone like me and some are gentle gradients. I think its so interesting how we interpret colour. Obviously some colour schemes have been selected on purpose, but I can really see my mid tone bias in my selection here. I love it.

 Tomorrow I'll be putting the zig zags into position.

WOW: Now I can't stop!

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays 

Since last Wednesday, Patchwork of the Crosses has really ignited my imagination. It's been a good opportunity for me to use up some fabric without tiring my hands. I've done so much hand sewing lately, I need a break from active LE work. It's just so effortless to play around with fabric options and then slot them together. I'm cheating by using an easy method, I simply glue (lightly) the fabric directly down on top of the paper. I have created 15 blocks so far and am already thinking about what fabric to use between all the blocks as a joining colour. But first I'm trying to decide when to stop. 15? 21? 30?

I'm actually hoping to simply stitch over the blocks as is -and then tear the paper off afterwards.

 I'll let you know how it works out for me. 

It' such a versatile block and pattern and I love the idea of using the same fabrics over and over in different arrangements, which is what I would be doing right now on a dark background if I didn't have such a large stash. Mine will be a mix, a bit of everything.

What's Your WOW ? 

An InLinkz Link-up

WOW: Patchwork of the Crosses

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays 

I've been wanting to make my own Patchwork of the Crosses since 2009. You might know from this blog that I've been sidetracked and swamped with WIPs galore but this project is so charming that I always intended to get around to it one day. I think we all know how that is? Too many ideas, not enough time?

Luckily for me, on Sunday I had the opportunity to attended a workshop and had an enjoyable day making my own crosses. I say luckily because we have had a nasty virus at home and I didn't think I would be up to going (and certainly didn't want to be sitting there feeling miserable). But on Saturday I felt better and on Sunday I tool some tablets and got through the day just fine - not my usual self, but not sick. Then, on Monday I started feeling unwell again. It seems like this virus has come back for round 2. My DH is now recovered but I am unwell again. I intend to spend today taking it easy and tinkering around with my blocks when I feel up to it.

Although I am usually working on LE every spare minute I have, the fact is that it is an intense heirloom full of finicky pieces. I'm not complaining, but it does mean that I have to pace myself as its hard work on my hands and eyesight. Patchwork of the Crosses is an ideal in between project. Actually I've noticed that a few LE makers are also making other projects and I understand completely - it finds its own time. Another issue with LE is how addictive it is. I can work on it 9 hours straight and this puts strain on me- which I know I need to avoid. But what can I say? Its so addictive..

It's so popular and fun, I think almost everyone has made Patchwork of the Crosses by now - have you?

 What's Your WOW ? 

An InLinkz Link-up

Love Entwined Part 14 & 15 is Launched

It's time for the double bow borders of Border 4

There's 4 to make in so it's a double month

The original was made in light and shady prints and I will be alternating light and dark also, as I have done for the zig zag border throughout.

  

If you observe the original quilt, you’ll notice that it is not as square as mine is. Up until this double bow border, which is border 4, the original and my own are drawn in the same (or as close to as possible) ratio and scale.

In the original however, the 4th border develops longer and narrower sides and the applique appears somewhat squashed. The bows are positioned to the seam and there is a visual embroidery line in between the bows to visually correct the size difference and disguise the difference between the top and bottom borders and the sides (which are all double bow borders).

Did the maker run out of fabric? Most probably, but she still managed to finish all the applique; although the last corner baskets appear to be out of alignment. You only see these differences on close examination and it in no way detracts from the beauty of the quilt. In fact, it’s these details which make the quilt so endearing.

Throughout the quilt design, I have purposefully tried to keep the stylistic lines of flowers and leaves, natural, imperfect and looking somewhat hand drawn—and this has been done to stay true to what I see as the elements of the quilt design.

This is a busy quilt which demands so much investment in time, embellishing and detail. Every corner is full of details and you can just feel the energy which was spent creating it.

Hopefully now, in border 4, your own quilt has absorbed your own style and is already reflecting the time and energy you have invested in making this interesting quilt your very own.

This is where we are up to

Part 16 will be released on September 15th, 2014

 Can't wait to see what you do this month...

‘Love Entwined 1790 Marriage Coverlet’ is a Free 18 Month Historic BOM

Each ‘block’ of the month is released monthly, on the 15th of each month.

All ‘blocks’ are available for download via my Yahoo BOM Group only

WOW: At It Again

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

It's a gloomy Wednesday here in my corner of the world, its morning but dark outside and the light is gloomy. I'm relying on my 'natural daylight' lamp and thank goodness I have it - I would not be able to do a stitch of sewing today without it. It's really liberated my sewing. You don't realise how invaluable these lamps are until you own one and can sew any time you feel like it, regardless of the lighting conditions. I've had a sew free week since last WOW as we've had a virus in the house - the long lingering knockout type. First my husband and then when he was feeling better, I went down with it. It's been hard to shake off and yesterday was the first day I felt 'normal' again. This morning I've wasted no time getting started on my next shumper. It's a gorgeous tree of life style design which reminds me so much of Klimt's artwork and mixes beautiful greens and beiges, I'm going to get so much wear from it.

Thank you to everyone who commented on my last shumper post, just before I went down with the virus. You were all so supportive and helpful regarding my Bernina 820 issues. I am at an impasse with this machine and will have to do something. It's the something which troubles me. You see, its not like the 820 is a good machine with an actual fault that can be remedied. Its clear to me now that the 820 model itself should not have been manufactured to begin with. That makes it hard to remedy. If I trade it in, I lose a significant amount of value and money. And I feel that this is a further insult - to be punished for buying the machine in the first place. But if I keep it, I have an overpriced machine which is, in the truest meaning of the term; unfit for use, unfit for purpose and as far as I'm concerned, unfit to carry the Bernina label.

It was very hard for me to admit that this machine model is just dreadful but now that I have, I'm glad about it. I have been contacted by numerous 820 owners who are tearing their hair out and facing the same issue as I am - this machine should never have been produced. I would just love to spend an afternoon with the engineer who manufactured it and talk him through why this machine is not worthy of the Bernina name. But for now, I'll have to make do with dusting off my trusty 1950's Elna. It's true what they say: they just don't make them like that anymore.

What's Your WOW ?

An InLinkz Link-up