How many sheds does a man need?

I think the answer to this question is "He can never have too many!!" It seems no sooner has my husband built yet another shed, that it is filled with "man stuff" which threatens to engulf one upon opening the door, although his latest "shed" is OUR summerhouse in which there is still room to sit. 

For this latest project I have made him a small wall hanging which celebrates all of the buildings. It measures 24" x 6".

The buildings measure between 2½" and just 1" high.

This is a photo of the actual lean to and store shed on the left of the hanging

..and next to these is the car port - originally built for a van and now home to our diminutive car.

Then we have the white shed (so called because it had a white door at one time and the name stuck) and the old outside privy.

Next the tin shed (so ugly that I've been willing it to fall down for the past 30 years!) and the house.

Moving on to the hen house (sadly no chickens); the log shed and workshop; and Mabel's shed.

Finally the gazebo and the summerhouse

...and this is a photo of the actual gazebo - how I wish for a hot summer in the coming year so that it's not just somewhere to shelter from the rain!!

All the fabrics for the walls and roofs were stuck to the calico background using Steam-a-Seam 2. This is marvelous because it adheres to the fabric without being ironed. This meant that I could prepare all the different pieces first and temporarily lay them in position, moving them about as necessary, and only ironing for a permanent fix when I was completely satisfied. It's not that easy to hand sew through, but I mostly sewed along the edge as Steam-a-Seam sticks so well it doesn't really need to be held down with stitching. Some of the fabric pieces were tiny and my biggest problem was dropping them on the floor and losing them, only to find them later stuck to the sole of my shoe - after I'd cut a replacement - of course!

I think my husband needs a new hobby!!

Happy New Year - Anita x 

Almost too late for Christmas!

I tend to leave decorating the house for Christmas until the the week before and have just come across these little angels that I made a few years ago. It's almost too late to show you, but maybe you still have the time and inclination to do some Christmas sewing!! - as if!!

We all made these at Flowerpatch and they looked so sweet displayed together on a wickerwork tree at our exhibition. This is a link to the Christmas Angel Instructions.

I also found a label that I made. 

The Christmas tree and pot are simply sewn onto a piece of fleece fabric with a continuous line of sewing machine stitch starting at the top of the pot and sewing the pot on first. I cut the fleece a bit bigger than I needed and trimmed it to size after sewing on the tree, then I decorated the tree with random bullion knot candles and french knot flames. This is a link to Embroidery Stitches. The fleece is sewn onto a slightly larger square of corrugated cardboard packaging with big stitches and thick thread, starting at the top corner so as to leave a tie at the top. I used these on the presents for my nearest and dearest so that I could blag them back on Christmas day to hang as decorations!!

This "merry christmas" bunting is made in a similar fashion, but with blanket stitched fleecy letters.

............and this is what I wish to you! - Anita x

Christmas at Cowslip

Jo invited Flowerpatch Quilters to Cowslip Workshops for the December meeting and a real treat of stitching and feasting was in store. Jo is a founder member of Flowerpatch and it's always a delight to get together with her for this meeting. She had organised the sewing of a Christmas hanging with a star, reindeer and some rustic writing. These are some examples, but we mostly didn't finish our little squares as there was a lot of chatting, and the aforementioned feasting, going on!

These are some other pics I took of the evening.

Jo and her team always decorate the whole of Cowslip beautifully for Christmas both inside and out.

Last year Jo had us sewing friendship star blocks which were raffled at the end of the evening with one lucky winner of all the squares. Jennifer brought along the quilted door curtain that she had made - and finished just the evening before!

Thank you, Jo, for yet another lovely Christmassy evening.

Our next meeting is on 14th January when we will be sewing the charity quilt blocks together - after we've all had a say in their placement, etc!!! Please bring along the finished blocks and sewing kits.

Happy Sewing - Anita x

Nine Patch Quilt for Tasmania

This year Launceston Patchworkers and Quilters in Tasmania have been celebrating their 30th anniversary, culminating in their recent exhibition which by all accounts was an outstanding success with 160 quilts on display. Flowerpatch Quilters of Launceston in Cornwall, UK decided to send them a small quilt as a token of our friendship. Presents have been exchanged in the past and include quilts, fabric and most recently some wonderful bunting from the ladies in Tasmania. This is the "Flower-Patch" quilt that we sent and which was hung at the exhibition.

Each red flower was appliqued by a different Flowerpatch member onto a 3½” calico square.

This is the quick method used to make the nine patch blocks:
Sew with ¼” seam allowance.

Cut strips of fabric ½” wider than the finished size of each square in the block. (in this case 1½”)

Sew three of them together which will be cut to make the 3 squares on each side of the block and three others together which will make the 3 squares through the centre.

Press the seams away from the middle fabric on one set of strips and in the opposite direction on the other. This helps when you come to sow up the block.

Cut through the sewn strips at right angles making the set of three ½” wider than the finished squares (in this case 1½”)
TIP: When working really small if the seam allowance turns out a bit bigger than ¼” it makes a lot of difference. When these strips with seams in are sewn together the bulkiness can be a problem so it may be a good idea to cut these sets of three just a tiny bit over 1½”.

Sew these together to make the block, carefully matching the seams.

With a 1" border, and the binding, the finished quilt measures approx 30" x 24".

At Flowerpatch we do so love sewing our group projects - quilters are such a friendly bunch.

Happy stitching - Anita x

Miniature Row Quilts

At Flowerpatch Quilters last year we made Miniature Row Quilts. We sewed one row each month starting in April 2014 and were given instructions each time, ending up with a quilt approx A4 size. Each row is just 6" long! These little dears are the result:

Dawn's and Jane's

Karen's and Dy's

Liz's and Anita's

Mary's and Melody's

...and Joy's

These were the instructions that we were given:

FLOWERPATCH MINIATURE ROW QUILTS

Add seam allowance to all sizes

APRIL

6” x 2” Appliqué     

MAY

Three  2”x 2” pieced blocks joined to make 6” x 2”

JUNE

6” x 1 ½ “ – repeat pattern across the width

JULY

6” x 1 ½ “ – Appliqué on a pieced background

AUGUST

6” x 1” Use 5, and only 5, different fabrics one of which               

you haven’t already used in your row quilt  

SEPTEMBER

6” x 1” – At least one circle and one pieced curve                           

OCTOBER

6” x ½ “ – Any design of your own choice                                         

NOVEMBER

Sew your rows together, adding a ½ “ spacer row here and there if you like. Sew on a 1” border and finish with ¼ “ binding.

Our friends from Launceston Patchworkers and Quilters in Tasmania also did the miniatures and these are their sweet quilts:

Diane's and Marie's

Kay's and Diane's

This is a link to the instructions if you'd like to print them off: miniature row quilts

How I love a challenge that gets me out of my comfort zone!! - Anita x

Barbara Chainey at Flowerpatch

The Epworth room was packed with members and friends for a real treat at Flowerpatch Quilter's November meeting - a visit by renowned quilter Barbara Chainey and her talk "It's all in the Stitch". What a lovely self-effacing lady she is despite being an international speaker and quilt teacher. 
Barbara had brought along her private collection of old quilts many of which she had been given by other quilters who simply wanted to share their treasures with the wider quilting community. Barbara obviously adored her many and varied quilts some of which dated from as early as 1840, and each with their own particular personality, merits and faults. Some of the tiny, tiny quilting stitches had to be seen to be believed, and Barbara allowed us to inspect all the quilts closely and even to handle them. I took just a few pics:

We were delighted by the English paper piecing, machine quilting from 1880, info about dyeing, etc, etc all delivered with a great sense of humour. Thank you Barbara for a great evening.

St Marys Christmas tree festival in Launceston is almost upon us (4th to 13th December) and Dawn has designed some quirky decorations with an Antarctic theme for the Flowerpatch tree - all made by the members.

The next meeting is on 10th December at Cowslip Workshops. Please bring along sewing kits and a small embroidery hoop, if you have one, as Jo has devised some exciting sewing for us.

- Anita x

Wildlife Habitat Stack

The inspiration for a quilt can come from many different places and some of them seem quite unlikely. I was reading a book by Christine and Michael Lavelle called "How to create a Wildlife Garden" (although my garden is quite wild enough already - what it needs is taming!!) when this picture caught my eye.

I loved the idea of making a home for the myriad of insects, mammals, reptiles, etc in one place, even though my garden already has all the things they suggest like dry stone walls, log piles, rock heaps, trees, hedges, shrubs, ponds ........ . But it wasn't just the idea that attracted me to the picture - does it make you think of a row quilt, too?

I set too and built my very own wildlife habitat stack. I've put it in a hole at the bottom of the back wall of our old privy - I leave it to your imagination as to the original purpose of this hole! I've put some leaves in the back in the hope of attracting a hedgehog. It will probably be a luxury home for slugs and snails!!

So I didn't do the row quilt after all, but used my own habitat stack as inspiration for this little quilt, measuring 12" x 9".

The circles are made over circles of card as in the Four Corners post and I've sewn them on using the blind hemming stitch on my machine. I've also quilted by machine, contouring the largest circle.

I really like the very narrow edge of black fabric. This is achieved by cutting the binding strip 1½ “ wide, folding in half along the length and pressing. Sew on to the quilt as usual. Then you take the folded edge and the quilt seam around to the back of the quilt leaving as little of the binding showing on the front as you wish - none of it if you like. You can pin the binding to the back of the quilt and sew it on from the front by machine - I usually do two lines of stitching.

The weather has been very dismal and drizzly so it's been wonderful to be in my sewing room working with all these bright colours.

Sew Happy - Anita

Stripey Strips with Pintucks

My latest double bed quilt came about because a friend had done a quilt in soft greens and yellows. It looked so calm and peaceful, and full of the promise of Spring, I just had to do a quilt in similar colours (with a splash of red).

So I started by making up these little 4" flower blocks.

Hand applique is not my forte really - it takes me ages, but I persevere because I love the way it adds so much to a quilt. I cheated in that I stenciled the green leaves onto the calico before sewing on the petals. I used a stencil that I cut from a piece of clear plastic packaging and Dylon fabric paint. I put the absolute minimum of paint on to my stencil brush, to avoid bleeding under the stencil, and I pounced more paint along one half of the leaf to add dimension, like in this leaf.

This is a link to the flower applique and leaf design. The flower is turned a little for each block making them all slightly different.

The strips of fabric are cut ½” longer than the 4½” needed. This is so that they can be trimmed to size after sewing them together. Also, instead of calculating the exact number and width of fabric strips to get the correct width of finished block, I sewed strips of random width together until the block was longer than needed and shortened by adding small pintucks to the wider strips.(It never does quite work out even when I try really hard and I usually end up with a silly small strip which almost disappears into the seam! ). I like the way that the pintucks add some texture.

This is a finished 12" x 12" block. The 4" squares either side of the flower have a bit of a swirly pattern on them.

I ran out of steam a bit towards the edge, but the plain-ish border looks fine when the quilt is on the bed as it hangs over the side. The outside border is more of the strips with pintucks. It's lovely to have a "Springtime" quilt on the bed when we're heading towards the winter months. Not that I really hate the dark winter - extra sewing time!

Happy Stitching - Anita

PS. Two lovely quilt exhibitions coming up on opposite sides of the world:

29-31 October 2015: Trevithick Quilters Exhibition. Elim Centre, Kerrier Way, Camborne, Cornwall, UK, TR14 8FH. Open Thurs – Sat, 10 – 4

12-14 November 2015: Launceston Patchworkers & Quilters Exhibition, Punchbowl Christian Centre, 100 Punchbowl Road, Kings Meadows, Launceston, Tasmania. Open Thurs - Sat, 10 - 4.30

Flowerpatch Quilters AGM, etc.

Not just an AGM, but a busy evening with lots happening at Flowerpatch Quilters last Thursday. 

Firstly we were delighted to be able to give a cheque for £2,700 to the Cornwall branch of the Samaritans. This was the proceeds of our quilt raffle and other money raising ventures in the past year. Two representatives joined us to accept the cheque and to tell us about the Samaritans and about the Truro branch in particular. Do read about the wonderful work they do here. I was really interested to hear about all the training they have to do to become a Samaritan volunteer, and to learn that they can also be contacted by email, text and in person. The Samaritans have a new phone no. which is completely free to call from a landline and mobile - 116 123 .This is a link to the newspaper article in the Cornish and Devon.

Next came the AGM bit which was swiftly worked through. Lots of compliments from our Chairman Liz for all the hard work that every member does to make for a successful year - we think she does a great job, too!

Then the member's raffle. When we make up the blocks for our charity quilt we always do a few extra and this year they were made into cushions to be raffled among the members who did some of the sewing. We had three cushions and these were won by Elizabeth, Mary and Iris.

Here is a link to the floral border quilt so you can see how it all fitted in.

The applique flower cushion.

The two double-sided log cabin cushions.

These were finished using a really simple method from Jo Colwill's book "Cushions and Quilts". A narrow lining is sewn to the edge of the cushion as it is being made up and this tucks inside to hide the cushion pad.

Onwards to a show and tell of "Beginner's Quilts" and lots had been brought along. There were paper pieced hexagons and dresden plates, sample block quilts, simple pieced squares, etc and many had been made using fabric from dresses, skirts, blouses and curtains as this was well before we had access to all the super fabric choice we have today.

Finally Julia and Sue from Cartwheels Craft Centre had come along to tell us about the shop and the varied workshops they have at Merrymeet - not just patchwork, and they kindly brought along fabrics and supplies for us to buy.

Well, I said it was busy and there is yet more because, while we enjoyed our shopping and refreshments, next year's charity quilt sewing packs were being handed out; subs were collected - this is still only £15 a year; Charles Causley poetry lines were studied and chosen; and quilting books pored over!

I came home buzzing with the anticipation of another great Flowerpatch year.

Next month on 12th November Barbara Chainey will be giving a talk - "It's all in the Stitch!". An evening not to missed and eagerly anticipated.

Happy Sewing - Anita

Jigsaw Cushion

After the visit by Marilyn Hornby to Flowerpatch in June I learnt that my friends next birthday would be a special one. I loved Marilyn's redwork so what a good opportunity to make one of her Jigsaw Cushions.

I made mine small measuring only approx 8" x 8", and used twisted chain stitch instead of the more usual whipped back stitch. The other embroidery stitches are lazy daisy, danish knot, cross stitch and bullion knot. This is a link to the jigsaw pattern I used.

The words in the jigsaw pieces refer to all the things my friend has been in her life so far. I wrote them with my Micron pen (size 01) as I chickened out of doing such tiny embroidery stitches - it would have been illegible!

A real joy to make - Anita x

Lynda Shinner-Booth at Flowerpatch

We were delighted to welcome Lynda for a return visit to Flowerpatch Quilters, for our September evening meeting. She is such an enthusiastic and lively speaker. This time she brought along quilts made by some of her many patchworking friends and such a variety of styles and techniques kept appearing from wonderful quilted bags. There was something to please and amaze everyone, with spontaneous clapping as some were revealed. I only managed to get pictures of just a few snippets.

Two very different styles for Christmas

Two modern wall hangings

Curves that look very difficult and I do love it when the centre piecing extends into the border.

Finally a beautiful quilt with a pieced centre and flower applique border, and a large floral patterned fabric used so well. 

What talented friends Lynda has!

Lynda also wanted to tell us about the charity she supports, and knits for, called "Knitted Knockers UK". They provide a wonderful service, completely free of charge and confidential, for women who have undergone a mastectomy or lumpectomy and find the prosthesis they are supplied with to be uncomfortable. Please do click on the link to find out more - a really worthy cause.

Also at the meeting we chose the fabric colours for our next charity quilt and were shown the design - I am sooooo excited about this! Here are some of the fabrics we will be using - all from Cowslip Workshops.

The next meeting (our AGM) is on 8th October when we will be giving a cheque to The Samaritans in Cornwall. 
Cartwheel Crafts will also be there to tell us about their future plans and they will be bringing along fabric and patchwork goodies to sell. 
We are having a show and tell of the quilts we made when we were beginners at patchwork and quilting (there are so many different things to try in sewing that we are all beginners at something). We hope members will have a quilt to bring along and there will be lots to see.
The packs for making the charity quilt blocks will be handed out to those who would like them.

Happy Stitching - Anita