Our challenge finished in a quilt

As a challenge, all the members of the Golden Lion Quilters were given 2 fabrics at Christmas to be used in a project with squares and rectangles. There was this japanese inspired fabric on the left, with a blue background. I liked that one.

And then there was this pale pink and green fabric , in a completely different style and colours.

They didn't go together and that was the challenge.

I managed to find some fabrics from my stash that went with the blue, but the pink was more difficult.

But at the end I think the number of fabrics mean that they blend together, so the result is not too bad.

  I kept the blocks pretty big so the quilt would be made quickly. It's a lap size and will be used in the family.

 It has been given to Frances who leads our group as I will miss the meeting when all members bring their production. That's a shame but my brother is coming next week with his family and I'm really looking forward to having them all here.
And because we cleaned the house a lot to put it on the market, I am not too worried about last minute tidying up. It will be easy.
Moving in a month though will be a different matter.
Enjoy your sewing.

Liberty table set

This is the last little project I finished. I started on holidays as it was easy to take with me. It was at Easter mind you. It's the label that slowed me down. Funny how I don't like doing the labels.

 And here is a detail of one of the blocks, the binding and backing.

 I was given tiny bits of Liberty fabric and thought I would use them up in this project. Needless to say I still have a few small bits of fabric left.
Maybe fabric lasts longer when it is cut up in small parts.

I wanted to try a classic design on a small scale, and do it fast. I think the result is very nice.
Now where should I put it...

Enjoy your sewing.

Pascale

Pennants for the Olympics

My local quilting group has finished making their pennants, and I have them until I can pass them to the organisation "Pennants for London". Here are some photos.

First are the ladies themselves holding the pennants. They are not always matching the pennants and the author, as some are holding 2.

By John G, Frances's husband.

By Libby T, because she went on holidays there and they will sail for the Olympics. 

By Frances G.

The windsurfer by Helen T

A life on the ocean by Jane T

Wiltshire Moonracker by Bernice P

Boat by Janet W

By Yvonne J

Swindon's famous roundabout, by Laine S

Red buses by Pearl P

Swindon Ssteam by Helen

Windsor Castle by Christine H

The celtic crosses representing a flower, keys and animals by Kaye M

These are all wonderful pennants, and we hope the people who will receive them will enjoy them as much as we did making them.

To see my own pennant go there.

We are hoping to move

This is the reason I haven't posted much recently. We saw a house we liked not far (so no need to change schools for the girls, nor friends or dancing lessons) and to make an offer on it we have put our house on the market. That meant a lot of tidying up and putting things away. Most of my sewing is now in the loft (le grenier en francais), and I have to be ready to show the house quickly. The garden is tidy, the kitchen empty and the girls have wonderful, clean bedrooms.
It's all good for selling this house, which we love but it has become too small for our big family. But it's no good for creativity and crafty activities. Hopefully the reward should be a sewing room, and not a bit of the living room for me. Hourra!

In the meantime I had to make a card for Irene's birthday (in the BQLPC birthday swap), and I was late. It is now in the post and she should have it on Monday. Here it is, a calorie free cupcake.

I'm just practising techniques. The wadding is a bit too thick but that's the one I could find.
I really enjoyed designing and sewing again, and hopefully should have more time for it soon.

Lighthouse fabric cards

Before going on holidays I made these cards. They are for the birthday swap.

I used the technique of reverse paper piecing. I've had a lot of practise through previous projects so it's not a problem for me. I drew these to the 4"x6" size needed for the postcards.

I find that I don't have much time at the moment to get involved in more card swaps, life is too busy.

I do a bit of sewing and hope to show you some things regularly, but I was hoping to do a bit more, and it's not going to happen.

Anyway on Friday I intend to go to Quilts UK show in Malvern, you can find more information on this page. It will be a great day, lots of shopping, inspiration, photos (I can't show them because of copyright rules).

Have a good time sewing.
Pascale.

Sorry for my absence. We went on holidays to northern France, I saw my sister and her family, my parents, some friends. Had a lovely time. We also started painting the bathroom in that house, it needs it dearly.

Since we came back a week ago I have been trying to get the house in order and working again. I haven't yet caught up on all the emails received in that time, the non urgent anyway.

I have done a bit of sewing but not  as much as I had hoped. I always take projects with me, more than I can do, just in case. I wonder if you do the same.

Here is a little pencil box I made before leaving. I use it on my coffee table whith a glass top, hoping it will look a bit tidier.

I decided on the size I wanted, drew it, added the seam allowances all the way around and made this shape. Use 2 pieces of fabric right sides together, and sew nearly all the way with 1/4" seam allowance, leaving one short side opened.

 You clip the seams in the corners, and turn it right side out. Next you measure the space you have in each rectangle area and cut some stiff interfacing to fit in. Insert the rectangles for the 3 sides and then sew to maintain them in place (sorry I forgot to take a photo at that stage).
Now do the same with the bottom of the box, sew the fourth side closed , and finish with the opened side where you might have to hand sew to close your structure.

 The last stage is to slip stitch the vertices, or angles of your box. Done.

You could make a lid, change the size to whatever suits you, enjoy.

Pascale.

My Japanese lantern box

I bought the book "Rangements a coudre" by Cecile Franconie, as mentioned in my post on the crochet holder. So this is the second project made from this book, and again it is a small project, easy to start and finish. There are still at least 2 things I want to make from this book.

 For the author this box is supposed to hold your thread while knitting. the only problem I could see was that you could not take your project away from the box if the thread was coming out of the lid through a hole. You are stuck with the box until you cut your thread. So I decided to skip the hole in the lid.

 Each face of the box is made with fabric glued on to a solid interfacing, same with the lining. There was a lot of hand sewing to put the parts together, but the result was worth it.

 My only remark about the pattern is that it should tell you to make the lid bigger than the bottom, otherwise it just falls inside. I had to remake a lid slightly bigger so it would close properly.

And finally I have this postcard below, stuck to the wall above my cutting mat. It's a reproduction from the second world war, and there is a reedition of the book of the same name. I just like old things related to sewing, and there are not many in advertisements.

I am not the only one noticing things linked to my hobby in movies, articles, museums, books. I suppose we become a bit obsessed, in a good way.

Pascale

My new green shawl

I'm wearing it at the moment as we switched the heating off. I saw the pattern in a shop in Bovey Tracey, Devon, called "Spin a Yarn" and bought their Kid Mohair Merino from Touch Exclusive in a bright green. It was very easy to knit in Garter Stitch (I had to check and it means all rows in knit stitch. I learned knitting in french so am not always sure when reading patterns in english).

On this project I also taught myself to knit with the thread in my left hand (continental knitting), and not in the right one (english knitting) as I was doing before. After some time to get used to it, I am much faster than with my previous technique.

 I asked DD3 to display it to its advantage in the garden, but the colour is really hard to show. It is deeper, not as pale as on the photo.

I had a plan with another thread to make a complicated shawl. It's not started yet, maybe it's too ambitious. Meanwhile this one was started and finished in a blink.

This green shawl is really good in the evening when I feel colder and don't want to go upstairs find something more consequent. I love it which is the main thing.

Pascale.

Japanese folded purses

A new little project.

We made these in our patchwork group, The Golden Lions, in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The pattern is not mine, in fact I don't know where the lady found it. So I don't know if it is protected and can't give a reference. That's why I will just show you the photos of my project.

 Maybe I can still tell you that you start with 2 squares of fabric, sew them together and turn them right side out. Slip stitch the opening closed. Then it's a question of folding and sewing by hand.
It's a very enjoyable little project, although I find that it is difficult to guess the finished size from the beginning squares.

Maybe I could try with a rectangle, or an hexagon ! with paper first then on fabric. That would be fun.

So thanks for reading me, and if you know the source of this pattern and could drop me a line, I would be very grateful.

Pascale.

Progress on a quilt

I just want to show you that I made some progress on my Dreamcatcher quilt. The design is by Jan Hassard, and it was started a long time ago, like in 2007 ! I can't believe it's been so long.
Anyway this is for DD2 who is 15 now, and has been waiting for her quilt for 4 years. It does show that I prefer small projects really.
So afer a full day spent with my group sewing, and a bit of time at home, I have finished the borders. The next step is to make a backing. As I have a lot of fabric, but no piece that would be big enough to cover that kind of surface, I will piece the backing. My briefing from DD2 is that she wants equal pieces. I wonder what she is worried about...

There are also all the other projects looking at me and saying "me first". And then all the things you find on the internet that make me want to start them, and the books, magazines...I love it.

Cupcake purses

This is oil cloth (in french toile ciree), bought at Laura Asley.
I cut it to keep the size of the cupcakes on each little purse. These will be useful for the girls, they can take some money to school to buy some tuck.
I also made a long pencil case in this fabric, need to find the photo. DD3 is using it already so it's not looking so new anymore.
I could make more and sell them, get on a kind or roll. But only for a while.

Knit hackers

My DH found this article about knit hackers in Austin, Texas. This is all done with the Museum of the town, and wouldn't have happened without an army of knitting volunteers.



I like the idea of knitting getting closer to art than craft. I think it draws attention to the possibilities offered by yarn and needles, or crochet. People take products for granted and at the same time lose the understanding of how it is made. That's when you get "Did you make that", in amazement and without any comprehension of the time and equipment needed to get to that result.

So I love these manifestations of textile art.

I'm taking part in the Olympics !

Ok I'm not taking part as an athlete but my participation will be given to an athlete coming to compete into the olympics or paralympics games. This initiative is run by "Quilts for London" and is going on in Great Britain. The idea is to give a pennant to every one of the 12 000 athletes, and we have until the end of 2011 to finish our work.

 I chose a gymnast as their silhouette is so recognisable.

You can see the quilting on the back. I kept it very simple.

I hope that the person who will receive it will like it.
Each one of us in our quilting group is making something, and I should be able to show you the photos when we all get together ready to send them off.

Pascale.

Hen cards

 These were made for a birthday request, and the theme was chicken. OK mine are hens.

I must confess that I was running out of time and used some pre printed fabric with hens on them. I still think that they look great, but wish my effort was a bit better. Days like this happen.

No more birthday for the moment so I should have time to prepare for the next one.

Napkin holder

This is a project using card and fabric. It was offered by my local quilt group, The Golden Lion Quilters who meet in Swindon. I chose a bright Kaffe Fassett fabric and love the result. Some members in my group have made several as they make really good presents. Here are the photos.

I put some white paper napkins in but they are a bit on the small side.











I wish you a good sewing day.

Pascale.