Quilted Cushions

I've been making quilts for years, having done a few courses back in the early 90's. Recently I started a City & Guilds in Patchwork & Quilting, although over the years I have picked up much of the basics, I thought that to do a qualification would help me in the future if I decide to teach the subject. With the C & G I have to carry out the work and then post it all on a blog for grading. If you would like to look at the work I've been doing you can see it at www.lindseytomsquilts.wordpress.com

I am also thinking about trying to sell my quilts etc on line. I have had an etsy shop in the past, selling children's clothes,but although I sold some items, I just didnt have the time to promote it and found that others were selling similar items on etsy at much lower prices. 

At the moment I am trying to build up a number of items which I think may sell on a website, when I get around to setting one up.

Here is one of the cushions that I have made, I love the 'flying geese' design for quilts and I also love plains and Liberty fabrics.

I quilted this cushion with a Sashiko style stitching using a very fine crochet thread.

  

flying geese quilt

I've been wanting to make a flying geese quilt for some time and decided on these beautiful plain fabrics. I'm happy with how it's turned out so far, I have put the layers together and plan on handquilting with fine crochet thread. 

For now, that will have to wait until I have finished all the knitting projects that I have in the go but will be a great project for those chilly evenings which I know just up ahead! 

I hope you've all had a great weekend :) 

Grandchildren makes

I love making items for my grandchildren and other babies, before Gilby's birthday, my daughter sent me the top left picture of a little leather waistcoat with a pocket on the back for arrows :)

The little boy does look a little like Gilby from the back. 

I couldn't find any leather so chose faux leather fabric which had faux sheepskin on the reverse, I decided to use the sheepskin as the outer side of the waistcoat and the 'leather' side for the pocket on the back. I used some embroidery stitches on my machine to stitch a pattern around the edge of the waistcoat. Finishing the waistcoat off with an old wooden toggle from my button tin :)

The photo I have of Gilby wearing the waistcoat was a little too dark to use

With a new grandson due at the beginning of May I have been busy knitting and sewing for him too

This little jacket is from a pattern book I bought when my children were young and the jacket is a favourite of mine, knitted in one piece and can be worn with the button at the front or back. It's a French pattern  book by Pingouin.

Sashiko stitching

I have managed to work on the linen star quilt that I am making for my son, the top and bottom only took a couple of days to put together and when the wadding and sashiko thread arrived on Saturday I was able to baste the layers with a little help from hubby and Molly :)

I am really enjoying working with the Sashiko thread for the hand quilting. My cousin, when she found out I was using it, sent me an paper that she had written about Indigo for her degree in which says 

Sashiko meaning literally little stabs, is a technique traditional to Japan. Old garments were re-cycled, the layers of fabric hand sewn together with a running stitch, in a contrasting colour.This practice harks back to times when cloth was a valuable commodity. both‘ “If you can wrap three beans in a piece of cloth, then it is big enough to keep.” This old saying demonstrates the frugality of ancient Japanese rural society, which held firmly to the notion of richness in poverty’ (Indigo, C. Le Grand, 78)

So sashiko was traditionally used to re-inforce indigo garments, recycle small pieces of indigo fabric to make larger ones, and in some cases the stitches made patterns which told stories of their own. 

I am stitching straight lines, two inches apart, across the entire quilt. I am glad it's winter as the weight of the quilt is keeping me warm and I certainly hope I finish it before the warmer weather arrives!

             

Liberty Quilt

Back in 2012 I wrote this post http://finelinenandpurple.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=Liberty

Well two years later I have finally finished my Liberty quilt. I will add, I haven't been making it all that time, I collected fabric and began making it earlier this year :)

I had also been given some pre cut squares, in two different sizes, so I joined those squares then made triangles and rectangles, backing the quilt with a sheet that my mother bought for my bed when I was 16 (obviously good quality to last all these years!) I hand quilted around each square, triangle etc and  then made bias binding from Liberty fabric, using one of those little gadgets which I had never used before but worked pretty well. All in all I am very happy with the outcome, I do love Liberty. 

We have just spent a few days over at our cottage in Wales and I took the quilt over to put on our bed there.

The weather was pretty chilly, the cottage is in Mid Wales and we are told that is the coldest area in Wales but with the heating on and the wood burner going we were pretty snug. 

And as you can see Molly enjoyed the quilt too

                                    

                                     

                                      

                                      

                                       

Liberty Quilt

I love Liberty fabric and have been collecting for my stash for a number of years. I have bought in sales, charity shops and been given pre cut squares. Due to these squares being of differing sizes it's not been easy to piece them together and make sure the joins and corners match. I decided to make some triangle pairs too which added to the challenge.....

However, amazingly when I came to attach the triangles they just fitted exactly around the edge. 

I have lots of fabric left and so need to think of which way to go next. I have a lovely vintage sheet from my Mothers house which I plan to use to back the quilt. And then I need to decide whether to hand or machine quilt it. I'm looking forward to this quilt being finished after waiting so long to starting it!

                  

2 quay street

While we were in Cornwall recently we visited a little town called Lostwithiel, we often stop as we are passing through but since our last visit this lovely fabric and knitting shop has opened up.

It is called '2 quay street' as this is where it's found, down near the river.

As well as selling a lovely range of fabrics, sewing notions and wool they also hold workshops....if only I lived closer :)

I bought the pre cut squares by Riley & Blake Designs and also a piece of beautiful organic plain fabric for the backing of the quilt I will make with the squares.

The two ladies who run the shop each have their own websites:

www.vintagesewandsew.com and www.lancasterandcornish.co.uk

Both are worth a visit and of course if you find yourself down in Cornwall just pop into their delightful shop!

                   

The baby quilt is finished ready for the baby to arrive next month. All very simple,  I joined squares, backed with white cotton from lovely up-cycled cotton sheet from my mothers house, machine quilted then washed and tumbled to make it crinkled and snugly :)

one done, one to go

I have finished the stocking for one twin, this has red check tape to hang it up, the next one will have blue so they can tell which is which. This fabric is lovely but it wasn't so easy to use for 'patchworking' a stocking. The patterns do repeat themselves but not all in one straight line so it was hard to get a complete pattern section cut out. Anyway, below are photo's of each side and I will try and make the next one the same :)

English Piecing

Some time back I blogged about this quilt that my daughter and I made. I had inherited the hexies years ago and my daughter pieced them together, I then made them into a quilt for her. I have been sending her lots more of the hexies to South Africa where she lives and she is making a pile of them. But she doesnt know how to make them into a quilt. So I have put together a little tutorial below for her. I have used some vintage triangles that I was also given. This method is called English piecing. 

This is her pile

Cut the correct size of backing fabric and wadding. You will only need the extra layer of backing if you are stitching hexies onto that before the wadding. If you are joining all the hexies together to make the quilt top you wont need that layer of fabric

 Stitch together hexies

 pin the joined hexies to backing using slip stitch around edge, leaving card templates in place

 When this is complete, pull backing fabric away from hexies and cut fabric away to reveal the card templates

 Cut away the tacking from the card, careful to avoid snipping your slip stitching

 Sandwich together the layers of fabric, wadding, fabric and pin through layers

 hand quilt through layers, along all edges of shapes and then around the outside of the total shape

Underneath view of quilting

If you are making the whole of the quilt top from hexies or other shapes there is no need to back that with fabric and cut the back away. You will just take the card templates out before sandwiching the layers.

Patchwork Cushion

Back in the Summer I posted this http://finelinenandpurple.blogspot.com/2011/08/what-treat.html about the bags of sewing bits that were passed onto me by a friend. The bits included some pieces of  unfinished patchwork that had been started by my friends mother Mary who died a few years back when she was in her 90's. Well yesterday was Mary's Great Granddaughters 4th birthday so I completed some of the patchwork and made it into a cushion for her birthday.

What a Treat!

While on holiday I met up with a good friend, after we had eaten she handed me a couple of carrier bags containing 'sewing bits' that had belonged to her mother Mary. Mary died 2-3 years ago when in her 90's, she had been a great sewer and knitter and I remember her knitting clothes for my eldest daughter when she was small. 

Well I didn't look into the bags until yesterday and what a treat!!  

I am sure Hadley from http://flyingblindonarocketcycle.blogspot.com/ will love the look of the Hexies!