Not done any more quilting since last time but I have been looking around on the net for more patterns and at the pretty fabric.
I found a pretty pattern I wouldn't mind trying with the moda freebird jelly rolls but I'm not feeling quite rich enough for that yet. They are so much cheaper over in the US :(.
I found a site with gorgeous african fabric and have really had to hold back on ordering some of the kits and fabric from there too. It's all so pretty! I have to keep reminding myself to just go 1 step at a time.
My other amazing discovery is on the V&A museum site there is a tool that lets you turn photos into quilt patterns. I've been playing all night! The dog doesn't look so good quilted but my picture of the gryffin (or winged lion) statue in Pierrefonds castle that I took in April looks rather good. May have to give that a try (again, must remember not to try to run before walking!) Hopefully this link to see it works.
At the end of all this I"ve yet to work out what I'm going to do next. I'm so indecisive. May use the spotty Ikea fabric to make a variety of patterns and create a small sampler. That would be the obvious thing to do...
Saturday, 26 June 2010
Sunday, 20 June 2010
My Queen's Guide skill - Quilting
As I've already said in my intro post I'm learning how to quilt for my Queen's Guide skill (from now on I'm calling it QG). Lots of people when choosing their skills pick something they have a bit of experience in - my sister has done photography, a friend did cross stitch. I decided to pick something that I have no knowledge of at all. It has been made even harder because at the start of all this I couldn't even use a sewing machine and I refuse to do this by hand.
In Feb I had my first attempt at Quilting. I made a cushion cover from a kit that my mum had bought be before she died. It was a traumatic experience and put me off trying again until now. I suspect part of the trauma of the cusion cover was that I used one of those cheep sewing machines that you can buy in the supermarket. NEVER again. It constantly unthreaded itself and was just a pain to work with.
Many moths later I dug out my mum's old sewing machine (was her mum's before that). It's an old Singer one. I got it serviced (with a bit of help from a friend who has more of a clue about these things than me) and finally set it up on the table on Saturday.
For my next task I had to work out what to make! I had a pile of fabric beside me, a book of quilting patterns, and another kit - this time to make a bag but I'd already started this and declared it was too hard. I eventually opted to attempt to finish the bag becasue the ide of me having to cut fabric is rather scary! It means I have to commit to something :(
It took me about 30 mins to work out how to get the thread on the bobbin and to then thread the machine. Doesn't help that the instruction book is missing and the pdf I found on the internet wouldn't load past page 13 and I needed 60 something. Never mind, i got there and I was off!
I started at about 3pm and at 3am (yes, I kept sewing until 3am!) I finally had the bag finished. I'm amazingly proud of it.
Sewing with the big sewing machine is actually much easier than with the small one - it made it a much less daunting experience and even the instructions that went with the bag made more sense to me than when I first tried in Feb. The only bit I struggled with was hemming the bag becasue I hard hard handles to avoid and unlike modern machines this old one doesn't have room under the sewing bit to just pull the material around in a circle. Delicate maneuvering was required.
I'm now left with the dilemma of what to do next... I want to make a quilt that's just squares of pink and purple blocks, my sister has requested a quilt that's a bit more complicated but still just squares (how hard can it be?) but I'm also toying with the idea of ordering some random scraps and making a crazy cushion cover. the first 2 actually require me to commit and cut the material. I don't know why I'm scared of it but I am :( I'm also tempted by this quilt. It looks nice and can't be that hard to make?
Hmmm We'll see what happens. If I don't post about quilting for a while can someone poke me to make sure I'm doing it? I'm much more likely to do it again now that I've discovered how to work the proper sewing machine though :)
In Feb I had my first attempt at Quilting. I made a cushion cover from a kit that my mum had bought be before she died. It was a traumatic experience and put me off trying again until now. I suspect part of the trauma of the cusion cover was that I used one of those cheep sewing machines that you can buy in the supermarket. NEVER again. It constantly unthreaded itself and was just a pain to work with.
Many moths later I dug out my mum's old sewing machine (was her mum's before that). It's an old Singer one. I got it serviced (with a bit of help from a friend who has more of a clue about these things than me) and finally set it up on the table on Saturday.
For my next task I had to work out what to make! I had a pile of fabric beside me, a book of quilting patterns, and another kit - this time to make a bag but I'd already started this and declared it was too hard. I eventually opted to attempt to finish the bag becasue the ide of me having to cut fabric is rather scary! It means I have to commit to something :(
It took me about 30 mins to work out how to get the thread on the bobbin and to then thread the machine. Doesn't help that the instruction book is missing and the pdf I found on the internet wouldn't load past page 13 and I needed 60 something. Never mind, i got there and I was off!
I started at about 3pm and at 3am (yes, I kept sewing until 3am!) I finally had the bag finished. I'm amazingly proud of it.
Sewing with the big sewing machine is actually much easier than with the small one - it made it a much less daunting experience and even the instructions that went with the bag made more sense to me than when I first tried in Feb. The only bit I struggled with was hemming the bag becasue I hard hard handles to avoid and unlike modern machines this old one doesn't have room under the sewing bit to just pull the material around in a circle. Delicate maneuvering was required.
I'm now left with the dilemma of what to do next... I want to make a quilt that's just squares of pink and purple blocks, my sister has requested a quilt that's a bit more complicated but still just squares (how hard can it be?) but I'm also toying with the idea of ordering some random scraps and making a crazy cushion cover. the first 2 actually require me to commit and cut the material. I don't know why I'm scared of it but I am :( I'm also tempted by this quilt. It looks nice and can't be that hard to make?
Hmmm We'll see what happens. If I don't post about quilting for a while can someone poke me to make sure I'm doing it? I'm much more likely to do it again now that I've discovered how to work the proper sewing machine though :)
The daunting 1st post
I guess I should use the first post here to tell you all a bit about me!
Let's start with the basics. I'm Alex, I'm 25 and I'm from Newcastle (the proper one in North east England - not the fake one down south...)
I'm currently unemployed so always on a job hunt. I'm also a Guide and Ranger leader so I spend at least 3 hours each week working with girls and young women aged between 10 and 26! The younger ones are just scary. This year I'm taking a group of Guides to the big Girlguiding centenary camp at Harewood house in Yorkshire. I can't wait!
My hobbies include reading, geocaching and listening to music. I have also taken up a new hobby too - one which I hope to blog about. For my Queens Guide skill I"m learning how to quilt! For those who aren't in the know Queens Guide is essentially the Girlguiding equivalent of the Gold Duke of Edinburgh (DofE). Over a year I'm meant to do 60 hours.
I think that's about it for now. I'll do a different post with an update on the quilting (part of my reason for starting this blog is so that I can hopefully get a bit of encouragement and poking with the quilting).
Let's start with the basics. I'm Alex, I'm 25 and I'm from Newcastle (the proper one in North east England - not the fake one down south...)
I'm currently unemployed so always on a job hunt. I'm also a Guide and Ranger leader so I spend at least 3 hours each week working with girls and young women aged between 10 and 26! The younger ones are just scary. This year I'm taking a group of Guides to the big Girlguiding centenary camp at Harewood house in Yorkshire. I can't wait!
My hobbies include reading, geocaching and listening to music. I have also taken up a new hobby too - one which I hope to blog about. For my Queens Guide skill I"m learning how to quilt! For those who aren't in the know Queens Guide is essentially the Girlguiding equivalent of the Gold Duke of Edinburgh (DofE). Over a year I'm meant to do 60 hours.
I think that's about it for now. I'll do a different post with an update on the quilting (part of my reason for starting this blog is so that I can hopefully get a bit of encouragement and poking with the quilting).
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