Over the rainbow

I woke so early this morning that I was sitting up in bed drinking tea well before 7am. There had been some rain overnight but the sun came out and I spotted the most glorious rainbow. I grabbed my husband's phone quickly and took two photos; one through the bedroom window and the other through the study window to catch both ends of the rainbow. The photo does not do the colours justice but it was spectacular.

Such an uplifting start to the day.

My English Country Garden appliqué quilt was so near completion yesterday that I left everything in the kitchen overnight. I don't have a dedicated sewing room so use the kitchen table for my machine and the centre island for cutting fabric and assembling the blocks.  The top came together fairly quickly although the pieced cornerstones and flying geese meant there were lots of points to match along the way.

I hope you will not mind a few photos. I am really pleased with the finished top.

Mike is hiding behind the last photo!

I used fabrics from my stash for the flowers on pieced blocks using Lynette Anderson's range of fabrics called Bread and Butter. Some of the flowers are hand turned appliqué, some using fusible with machine appliqué. A few flowers are embellished with very simple embroidery mainly blanket stitch, chain stitch and a few French knots. I would love to improve my embroidery skills one day.
The border fabric is the new blender range called Bumbleberries from Lewis & Irene- they do a huge range of colours in this blender so I think it will become a favourite.

Thank you Kerry for giving up your time to design this lovely pattern. It has been a pleasure to work on it. Details of the pattern can be found by clicking the link in the side bar.

Also thank you to new visitors to my blog. I have really enjoyed your comments recently.

Catherine

I'll be linking up to Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? and TGIFF tomorrow (well, it is a finished top!) and Esther Aliu's WOW (Wips on Wednesday) next week with this post. All links are in the side bar. I know how much comments mean so please take a peek at these parties if you have the time and give some encouragement if you like what you see.

My English Country Garden.

I've been a bit behind with the blocks for Kerry's fabulous English Country Garden appliqué BOM on her blog Pennydog Patchwork so I decided to get my act together yesterday to finish the 12 blocks.
The final blocks were the dahlia and clematis. I had left the dahlia for some time as the background was a set in circle. I really should have taken photos of the method but it was fully explained in the block instructions. I was so pleased when everything worked out.
I had used the blocks to practice different appliqué methods but decided to make the last 2 blocks with fusible web. This saved time. So without further ado....

I have used PicMonkey to make a collage of the 12 blocks in order to try and work out a layout.

This is not the final layout and due to different lighting conditions the colour of the background fabrics is not always true. I chose a Lewis & Irene blender fabric called Bumbleberries for the sashing from my LQS, the Patchwork House in Llantrisant. This lovely blender comes in 20 beautiful colours to coordinate with all their fabric lines.

The blocks will be divided with cornerstones in the sashing. Check out Kerry's here. Kerry has used very dark background fabrics and sashing and her cornerstones really pop.

I hope you have all enjoyed the Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK. Mike and I had a wonderful time with two of the grandchildren, Jacob and Isobel, at the Moscow State Circus in Cardiff on Saturday. The acrobats, high wire and trapeze were fantastic and the whole show was so professional.

I should get the sashing finished this week if the weather is as bad as the forecast suggests.
Have a good week anyway whatever the weather.

Catherine

This week I am linking up to the fabulous Esther Aliu's WOW link party. Esther designs the most marvelous appliqué and is currently running the Oma's Blues appliqué BOM. There are always interesting projects to admire so please check it out if you have time.

I'm also linking to Kelly's Needle and Thread Thursday. The link is in the sidebar on the right.

Oma's Blues Progess; making templates and starting to sew.

I set aside a couple of days for sewing this week. I fancied a quiet time to recover after the stress of my father's illness and appliqué hit the spot nicely.
I had been studying Simply Successful Applique by Jeanne Sullivan for the best way to make templates. I decided to try a few different ones to find which suited me best. Initially I thought I would use fusible Wash-Away sheets for templates but there had been several comments on the Yahoo group that this product might not wash away completely so in the end I chose to use freezer paper. The book suggested that ironing two sheets of freezer paper together would provide a more stable template.
Mike had acquired a rectangular wooden wine box and it struck me that it would be ideal as a light box. The wooden top was replaced with a perspex sheet and a 10 watt fluorescent light was fixed inside. Ridiculously easy and saved us a whole lot of money too. I look a bit studious in the photo but I was concentrating and not posing.

Tracing the freezer paper templates

The central medallion is a basket of flowers and a bird surrounded by the triangle pieced ring with so many small elements so I needed to be organised. I labelled and numbered the various elements on the plan of the design and as I cut the templates I also labelled them and placed them in ziplock bags.
Selecting the fabrics was the most difficult part for me. I was trying the base the tones on the colours in our Chinese plate with a good range of dark, medium and light blue tones. I had found the ideal fabric to fussy cut for the bird's wing but trying to get a good range of blues with similar tones was hard. Some were too green, others too lilac.

Once the fabrics were chosen I ironed the freezer paper templates on the right side of the fabric. These were cut with a scant ¼" border for the majority of the shapes and ⅛" for the tiny pieces. The freezer paper templates were then detached, the material turned to the wrong side and the templates laid down with the shiny side up.
Concave curves were snipped to a couple of threads from the template. I turned the border over and 'tacked' the straight sides with a touch of the Clover iron. The edges adhere to the freezer paper to stabilize the piece.  Using the Apliquick tools I turned the curves over and used spray starch liquid applied with a paintbrush and the Clover iron to set small gathers to make a smooth curve. I hope I have described that adequately and I highly recommend the book for lots of information and great photos of all the techniques.

The background fabric was marked with lines of running stitch from corner to corner diagonally and from top to bottom and side to side to find the central point. These lines are to help with the placing of the templates. I also traced a vinyl overlay as in the photo below so that I could slip pieces under to the correct positions. Another easy way to place the pieces is to use the master pattern on the light box and place the block on top. The pattern is seen easily through the fabric. The stems, bird and leaf were stitched first then the basket and large flower.

appliqué with vinyl overlay

So, my progress so far is slow but very satisfying. I really feel I am getting to grips with some new techniques.

If you fancy having a go at this there is a link to the Oma's Blues group in the side bar on the right. If you join the group there is access to the pattern for free plus some great Easter projects.

Enjoy your week,

Catherine

I'll be linking with Esther Aliu's WOW party on Wednesday. If you have any WIP's you are working on why not add your link as well? Click the image for WOW in the right hand column to go to Esther's blog.

I'm also linking to Celtic Thistle's New to Me in 2015 (see the link button on the right). I thought I had nothing new until Fiona suggested the lightbox and the matter of a few new to me appliqué techniques!

Oma's Blues- I've started!

A new sewing week and hardly anything else in the diary this week at all. All my fabrics are washed and pressed, I have all the notions I need, so, no more excuses, I'll start Oma's Blues.

I traced all the elements of the centre straight onto the Wash-Away appliqué sheets. These are cut out now and put into separate plastic bags. Some of them are so tiny that I'm afraid of losing them.
My first real sewing is the round border for the medallion. This is pieced from alternating light and blue triangles. I traced the ring onto the sheets which I had joined together, numbering the triangles. I separated the sheets and cut the arcs of the circle with a rough ¼" border. The fabrics I chose are a pale blue and a dark blue and white flower print from the Oriental Blue fabric range from Makower. If you are sharp you will notice I have reversed the placement of the dark and light fabric. I would like to say this is a design element but truthfully I got them the wrong way round and there is no way I am doing the circle again!

I will finish the circle today and trim the fabrics to ¼" from the triangle points. I am undecided about the technique I will choose to turn the seam allowance under. Leah Day has a You Tube video where she makes a template from bonded sheets of freezer paper. The strengthened template is inserted behind the fabric and then the edges are turned with starch and pressing before the template is removed. The turned edges are then sprayed and pressed again. The alternative is to snip the inside circle, apply glue stick to the back of the Wash-Away sheet and turn the edge to stick down which is a technique used by Lynette Anderson. Advice has been offered on the Esther Aliu Yahoo group for both methods but I may go for the more time-consuming template method as it is said to give a smoother curve.

The weekend passed so quickly. My granddaughter Isobel turned 2 and came to stay with my daughter and the rest of the family. Aunties, Uncles and cousins arrived along with the other grandparents and we had an old fashioned birthday tea with cake and jelly and then a couple of party games. The adults all stayed for supper too so it was a very full day.

So by my next post I hope to have finished the ring, prepped the white fabric square and started on making a few of the elements for the centre.

Getting ready for the Oma's Blues Applique BOM

I seem to be getting ready for so many projects and I will be glad when I can get started on a few.

If you have not seen Esther's Blog yet you really should check it out. Esther Aliu is a textile artist and quilt designer. She established a private Yahoo group to link quilters world wide and regularly releases free patterns for the group. Membership is by application to Esther by email and comes through quite quickly. How do you all find Yahoo groups? I admit to being slightly ambivalent. I find the set-up a bit clunky but once you are in there are forums, advice, patterns and so much more. The BOM runs from January-November 2015.
The newly released pattern is called Oma's Blues which is a reference to her German grandmother's plates. I think blue and white quilts are quite beautiful and the design for this one is stunning.
There will be a central medallion plate with bird, flowers and foliage, surrounded by borders with other motifs.

I took a Chinese plate that we have to our LQS and came back with just the three fabrics you see above with the plate. The light blue and the darker fabric are just right but the fabric with hexagons will be kept in reserve. Not sure it has the right feel. I may have to make a detour on the way to London to get some more. I have very few blue fabrics in my stash and none with these kinds of tones.......

......a few days later and after our visit to London....

Mike and I spent last weekend staying with friends. On the way there a little detour was in order to a fab shop called Creative Quilting in Hampton Court Village. This shop had everything I needed, fabrics, notions and a whole lot more including the most helpful staff.
I bought a selection of fabrics with mid and light tones. These have now been washed and pressed. The photo below shows the color catchers from these fabrics at the top and from blue batiks at the bottom.

I ordered Mettler 60/2 threads online for the appliqué. I thought these would be the range of colours to blend with the blue fabrics. The background is Kona Solid White, a good white white, if you know what I mean.  

I'll be trying a couple of new products for my turned edge appliqué. The wash away sheets can be used in the photocopier to copy the pattern then to stabilize the pieces. It will also be used for the foundation piecing of the pieced triangle (see above around the central medallion of the Oma's Blues). Those teeny, tiny triangles have to be pieced in a circle!

The central medallion pattern pieces have now been printed and traced and next week I should have prepared the background square and have some actual progress to show.

A few tools I ordered online to help with the appliqué. I'll be reviewing them when they have been used.

close-up of the tips

Just a small finish to show you this week. I knitted a Perennial hat, pattern by Alana Dakos, from the Sweet Georgia yarn I used for the Oak Trail hat. All the details are on my Ravelry project page

I'm linking up to Freshly Finished Friday (link in the right side bar). Click through on the little blue frog to see the links to posts.

Have a super weekend. It is my granddaughter Isobel's 2nd birthday today and we are hosting a tea party here on Saturday for grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and cousins. Should be fun!

Catherine

Busy week

This week is flying by so I am taking a few minutes this morning to jot a few things down that I have been doing.

On Tuesday I hosted a sewing bee for the Honey Bee group I belong to. We are all ladies "d'un certain âge" who met at a beginners quilt course. There are about 6 or 7 of us who decided to keep meeting up as we enjoy each other's company so much. We have a laugh, share ideas and generally get along. Liz was feeling not so good so could not join us this week so there were only 5 of us; Gilly, Jan, Kathy, Jane and me.

Concentrating on getting down to work

Gilly with her new fabrics

Jan starting to bind her quilt

Jane and her Bargello quilt and Kathy with her embroidery sampler

I worked on some hand stitching of another flower block for the English Country Garden BOM so that I could organize drinks and lunch. I cooked 2 soups for lunch; Nigel Slater's Smoked Haddock Chowder and Jamie Oliver's Creamy Mushroom soup. Mike made some bread to go with the soups, Gilly brought her delicious chocolate brownies and some cheese and I made an apple and cinnamon tray bake.

As well as the usual show and tell we decided to do a small fabric swap and Jane had brought a pattern for foundation paper pieced stars. We will be using the swapped fabrics and some from our own stash to make the stars. The idea had been to try to use fabrics that would not be our normal choices but that was easier said than done as we were all drawn to the colours we like the best!

Jan brought along her subscription copy of Quiltmania, a French magazine that is also published in English. One of the projects featured was a Mystery Quilt BOM called Colmar by La Fée Pirouette (Nathalie Mèance) and only available in the UK though The Running Chicken Quilting Co. We all liked the project so much we rang and booked our places there and then. We want to work on a project together, building on our fledgling quilting skills by learning the new techniques. The photo of the first block is taken from the magazine.

The kits can be ordered mainly in Europe but with one outlet in Australia and one in the USA but places are filling up very fast. The written instructions are backed up by online videos so I think we should be able to cope. I am looking forward to improving my appliqué and embroidery skills.
New skills sometimes require new kit too- I ordered a set of Apliquick tools. I had seen them being used by Lynette Anderson on Youtube and I hope they will make it easier to turn fiddly edges on small pieces of appliqué. I also ordered a book on appliqué technique; "Simple Successful Applique" by Jeanne Sullivan. It arrived yesterday and I have only had a quick flick through it but it looks comprehensive with great photos, a video and patterns for 9 projects.

My cardigan is progressing well and I hope to have more photos next week.

Mike and I are off to stay with friends near London for a few days. A theatre visit is planned so I might include a review next week too.

Whatever you are doing, stay warm, stay dry and stay well.

Catherine

A Swarm in June is worth a silver spoon

It must be summer. We've had at least seven days of sun here in South Wales which is getting on for a record here. Today has been a scorcher.
The best news of the day so far is that we have bees again. Mike went to look at his hives this morning because he had seen a couple of dozen bees going into his empty hive over the last couple of days. He came back this morning to say he had seen a swarm in the hedge about 30 yards from the hives. Mike has never collected a swarm himself so rang our friend and neighbour Andy for advice. Both men went to have another look and no collection necessary. The bees had found their own way into the hive. A celebration beer for the men and rosé for Carole and I.

‘A swarm in May is worth a load of hay; a swarm in June is worth a silver spoon; but a swarm in July is not worth a fly’ 

 It was decided that our bottom field was ready to cut for hay so that began this morning. So we will have both a load of hay and hopefully some honey later in the year.

I needed a new challenge on the quilting front and decided to confront my demons. My first attempts at appliqué had been very poor and I needed to give it another go. 
Kerry at PennyDog Patchwork is running the English Country Garden BOM. The patterns are free for the first month of the BOM then available at her Craftsy shop for just less than £1 each. A bargain!
The BOM started a couple of months ago so I had to work on the first three blocks this weekend. The background fabrics are Lynette Anderson Bread and Butter and a fabric from my stash (unknown origin). The fabrics for the flowers are all from my stash so far but I may need to buy some red for a poppy or rose later.

I love the naive simplicity of the English bluebell design. The Sarah Raven book was a present from Mike last year. Possibly one of the best wild flower books I have seen.

Kerry's instructions include a number of ways to appliqué either by machine or hand. I traced the design pieces onto freezer paper, ironed this to fabric then cut the shapes with an approximate ¼"seam allowance. I clipped the curves and used Sewline fabric glue sparingly on the seam to form the shapes. These were placed and pinned on the 12½" block and I used a Mettler silk-finish 50 wt. thread to match the background (col. 725).

The only problem I have had so far has been turning seam allowance on the points without showing any excess fabric from the front. Any tips anyone? I'm just a bit concerned as July's pattern is a hyacinth and I presume the shapes will be like the bluebells but smaller.

The June block is an Iris and I have made a start with the log cabin background and cut the petal shapes for the Iris itself. I might do some sewing this evening once the house cools down.

I have been doing very little knitting or crochet due to the hot weather but I have almost finished a bag I am making from Lucy's pattern at Attic24. It is made with a chunky yarn - Bergère Magic+ in Brebis, Lichen, Colvert, Corail, Petrol and Criquet.  Just the handle to make now and then I will have a bag for my projects.

showing the bottom of the bag

The bag is fairly large so next time I will be following Lucy's pattern for her Jolly Chunky Bag which is smaller and neater. I will be using Lucy's collection of yarn colours in Stylecraft Chunky acrylic from Wool Warehouse which are in her typical bright palette. Have a look at the selection here This should work out a bit cheaper too than the Bergère yarn.

I'm linking up with Catherine at Knotted Cotton for the Slow Bloggers linky and with Janine at Rainbow Hare Quilts for Wool on Sundays. All those of you who sometimes feel pressured to blog need to look at the Slow Bloggers manifesto! Janine has been making the most amazing jointed cloth doll family and there are always lovely project links.

I'll also be joining in the Sew Darn Crafty Linky party when it starts later today

and also joining for the first time

Have a wonderful week and keep your fingers crossed that it remains sunny to dry our hay.

Catherine

***** UPDATE*****
I was too late to join the Slow Bloggers Linky but please check it out as it is being hosted by Martha at Weekend Doings. Talk about SLOW!
The manifesto for the Slow Bloggers though is on Knotted Cotton. Take a peek.