July's bag

And another bag finished, for the BQL challenge again.

As my niece was visiting us in England, I offered to do this one for her, she had the choice of the fabrics. She also decided on one pocket and the heart design in quilting.

As before the design was made by Kandy Newton for the challenge she organised on BQL to make a bag a month.

The 2 sides of the bag are identical.

The wadding is a bit thick which gives a good loft to the quilting. On the photo below on the right you can see our paper template for the heart, so easy to do.
The bag can fit an A4 paper.

And this shot to show the inside fabric.

Dorine loves it, and will take it back home in France in a few days.

I must say that it is now the school holidays, so I have been quite busy with my 4 girls and Dorine.

We try to show her around a bit- she came before- my husband was away on business and I feel like I am cooking a lot. There isn't much time available for sewing.

Luckily the weather has turned summery, at last, and we do enjoy that.

Chris's bag

My friend Chris liked the bag I made in April, from a pattern by Kandy Newton, and she will soon get her own bag, the same size, with more pockets and details.

I found this cat fabric, and she likes cats, bought a metre, and had some darker coordinate, half a metre, and at the end I had to check the position of my pieces to have enough fabric for the bag.

I added a pocket with a zip and another pocket divided in 3.

And the last detail but I think it makes a difference, is a long string and hook to attach your keys on, pull them from the bottom of the bag where they always end up, and open the door with the keys still attached. You shouldn't lose them any more, and if need be you can still detach them.

I also added a button to close the bag in the middle of the top, as it is quite big, it will protect the privacy of the content when the bag is on the floor.

I hope she will like it. She is quite worried about her Mum at the moment, so it will distract her.

Luxquilt cosmetic bag

I have found this tutorial on luxquilt for a cosmetic bag. I thought about it for a few days, and couldn't wait anymore to start, and finish it.

The finish is very professional, thanks to the directions from Fernande. And so I am very pleased with the result.

But it is not a quick project, or maybe it would have been faster with less quilting and less interruptions.

The fiddly bit is sewing the second part of the zipper, as you have to find space for your machine foot.

At the end it looks clean inside and out, go and have a look at the tutorial.

Evening scarf

Another knitting project which I finished a few days ago. I used to take it to the swimming pool, watching my youngest daughter. Again no need to think, just do row after row.

Although I must precise that you have to keep watching what you are doing because of the thread, which is made with a gap in the center, and the needles can get caught in this, and because of the size of the needles, 10mm. They are big.

So at the end it doesn't go as fast as you would expect, and I am glad I have finished it.

My first pair of socks

Some weeks ago I finished my first pair of socks, TADA..!

I told you about this project earlier here when I bought the wool at Cheltenham Craft Show.

I didn't show the photos as I thought Iwould change the toe part as they are not the same, but now I find that I can't be bothered. They are different anyway because of the changes of colour.

The tread changes colour irregularly, so there is no need to change the wool to get the stripes.

I bought more wool to do another pair, but my needles have been broken, twice, when I took my socks on the plane, or rather they went in my luggage. I had these lovely bamboo knitting needles, very nice to work with, but I can't find the same size.

So I will have to find another 4 in a different size.

I really enjoyed doing them, it is a very portable project, and not too much to think about until the heel and toes. I need to perfect my technique though as there is a small hole near the heel where the work is pulling a bit when it changes direction, if you know what I mean.

I don't think I will wear them as everyday socks, they are too special for me. More in the evening to watch tv sometimes, I don't want to wear them out.

Atelier rouge, a new block

This block was started some time ago, but I stopped and it lingered in my drawer. Finally after a last bit of applique, it is finished. I have sewn bands of fabric for the background, different greens to give the impression of a dense forest. The house on stilts is made in patchwork and applique. When I will be at the quilting stage I will add details to the water. It is all my own design.




















I have even managed to sew it to the next block, and as you can see there is only one more missing. If you have any idea leave me a word, the theme being red houses.
I suppose I could do a schoolhouse, or a houseboat...

And if you want to see what the other members of this challenge have managed, then check this link to the photos of the Atelier Rouge on Pascale's website, Au bout des doigts. It is in French, but you don't need a translation to see photos and if you want to leave a message, she does speak english.

June bag

Finally I am back at my sewing table, the show is finished, my parents have gone back to France, and I have a bit of quiet.
So yesterday I finished my June bag in the BQL challenge.

It is smaller than the ones we did previously, more the size of a handbag, and I like that.
The flying geese are separated by some sashing, and there is a lot of free machine quilting so that the bag can stand by itself.

There is a pocket inside with 2 flying geese.
For the lining I used some hand dyed fabric that I made 2 years ago, it is very bright to lift the bag.

The bottom is a rectangle where the corners have been replaced by a round shape.

I am glad I have been able to do some sewing, I missed it.

The quilt that walked to Golden

Sorry I didn't post much but this is a busy time with 3 of my daughters in a show. My eldest is Peter Pan and I had to make a costume for her. I will take a photo as soon as I can. I also had to sew 40 sequins on a ballet dress; it took me all of an evening as I couldn't do knots on the netting.

I wanted to tell you about a book I finished and really loved. It is called "The quilt that walked to Golden" by Sandra Dallas.

All publishing rights will go to the museum of quilts in the town of Golden, USA.

Basically it tells you the story of quilting in the state of Colorado, through the history of America. There are a lot of photos, and I read it as a novel, easy and entertaining. I strongly recommend it.

Don't you wish we could go in that shop and have a peak at all the goods stocked...?

Another bag

This bag was made with Daughter 3, who will be 10 soon. She chose the fabrics, the order of the strips, and did some of the sewing.

She found it difficult to cut with the rotary cutter, her hand was moving too much on the ruler. And sewing along the edge very precisely was also a challenge: I had to help a bit at the end.

Now that the bag is finished she is very happy with it, took it to school this morning. And she told me one of the pockets was perfect for her water bottle.

I love doing things with my girls, and hope they will catch the sewing bug... there are worse addictions.

To make the pockets i sewed a tube of fabric on the width of the lining with a horizontal line, where the flat part of the bag was to start; and added some vertical lines of sewing to separate 3 pockets. The sides are in the seam of the lining.

2nd block Nature et petits points

This is speedy for me, but I have finished the second block in our little challenge organised by Pascale, see previous post.

Maybe I am feeling guilty at already being late in following it.

This is ribbon embroidery, very pretty.

Is it a cherry tree ?

Some daffodils(fr:jonquilles) and grape hyacinths (muscaris). Ribbon embroidery and embroidery.

Shall I start on block 3, or rather finish other projects ? There is always lots to do.

1st block Nature et Petits Points

Finally I finished my first block in our new project directed by Pascale in France on her blog Journal d'un Atelier. She has created another blog just for that project where you can follow what the other participants are up to Nature et petits points.

I love this block, but just find it hard to get the time to do it. I kind of need to be near the computer to follow the instructions, and the lovely photos.

So I'd better start straight away on block 2, after writing another post to show my work in France.

And this was my block before ironing. Sorry I don't seem to be able to erase it from the post...

May bag for BQL

I have just finished tonight my May bag in our challenge organised by BQL (the yahoo group British Quilters List). The pattern was with bow tie blocks, in 3D, and an insulating wadding, which means that you can take your bag shopping for frozen food, or take a picnic.

I wonder if I will use it for that purpose or be too worried to get it dirty.

I enjoyed making it, and am reducing my stash a bit.

I had ordered some little labels to say that it was handmade by me, and put my first one in that bag. I think it does finish it well.

Malvern, 2

Here are more photos taken at the Malvern Patchwork and Quilting show, May 2008.






















And a detail from the bottom part...












This one reminded me of my first quilt, but of course it is better...

A sampler quilt...

More photos to come...soon.

Malvern 2008-1

Last Friday, 16 May, I had my very nice and awaited trip to see the Malvern Quilt show. I was not disappointed by the display of quilts, and the number of shops demonstrating and selling their products.

I was pleased to notice that the price of fabric has gone down with time. We are still more expensive than the US, but where I used to pay £10 a metre, there were not many fabrics at that price any more. I think £8 was more the norm, and it went down to £3 in some places. All the better for my purse.

I carried with me my last BQL bag, which I had to borrow back from my daughter, and used it to recognise other members of the group.
First I met Susan Briscoe on her stand, with her books and japanese fabric. She had a quilt on show, here on the left.

She is very busy at the moment, preparing her latest book, and she was waiting for the visit of a professional photographer.





I wandered and took lots of photos, and as I was about to leave, tired at the end of the day I met Susan Anderson, who had come with her husband to the show. She had a quilt up and I believe she must have had a lot of fun making it, with all these men checking her out...

It is very nice to meet someone from the group, there wasn't many of us on Thursday, but I know quite a few went to the show over the 4 days it ran.



And last but not least I can show you the winner quilt of the show, beautiful work, lots of hand applique, very nice quilting. It might be by Liz Jones, but I need to confirm this.
It was difficult to photograph as there was a lot of passage in front of it, as well as a busy shop just next.

I regret now that I didn't buy the official program, it would give me all the names of the artists, but I thought I didn't need it and that it would clutter my house afterwards. Regrets...

Charity presentation

On Wednesday 14 May 2008, we, the members of the Golden Lion Quilters, presented our cushions to Shirley Garman who is the regional group contact for Breakthrough Breat Cancer in North Wiltshire.








The charity was created in 1991, to provide specific breast cancer research. In 1994 the charity had received enough money to fulfill its first aim and create a centre in London. They have now opened centres in Edinburgh, Manchester and a second in London.
In England 44500 women are diagnosed every year, and they can all visit these centres, as well as ordinary hospitals for help and treatment.





And so we made these cushions which will be given to June Thorpe, and she will sell them in a quilt show, to people who know how much work went into making them.
If you want to organise your own fundraising event you can contact Shirley Garman on 01793 538 475, in England.


Here are Shirley on the left with our own Glenys Timms.




And from left to right, Glenys Thomas, Janet, Shirley Garman, Glenys Timms, Frances our president.

It was amazing to learn that our group made 40 cushions altogether.