disappearing 4 patch block and Tula

I learnt about the disappearing nine patch which I really like and now I have found out about the disappearing 4 patch   form Sarah at Sew Me here is a link to the page "More Like Magnus":   I can not believe I have achieved this,   will just click and see if it has worked  yes it seems to have.  I cut my blocks 3" two of each colour making four and joined them up as in a four patch block.  I then cut them 1" away from the centre on each side of the centre seam both vertically and horizontally

this is the block cut

here I have flipped the pieces to make the correct pattern

the finished block.

I can see me using this again but will try and be more accurate next time.

Two firsts for me on the blog today,   managed to give a link to another blog and have given a mini mini tutorial!

Now for the next 6 tula pink blocks, we are still in the stripes mode with these.

Block 61,    this has been personalised, the 4th row is not correct the two orange strips need to be swapped, I call it personalising it but really it is doing it wrong but I did not notice until I loaded it onto the web page

block 62

block 63

block 64   rather like this one

block 65,   this is my favourite, I had a jelly roll of batiks which I have used up making little bags etc and  have used the rest up on some of my blocks,  must get some more batiks for my stash!

block 66

That is it for today, only 34 more blocks to add,   they have all now got their sashing on and I have ordered a 8.5" square so I can get them cut accurately, will then be back asking what I should do with them!

crazy quilting

Here goes again,  I have just done a blog but hit some button on the keyboard and have not a clue where it has gone or if it will come back so will try again!

I realised I had not posted about the October block so here it is now.  Could not decide what to do at first then hit on the idea of doing a bock around Halloween.

I do like my catbat in the left hand corner and the spiders web has worked quite well with a tatted spider that is a little on the large size for it.    I feel it needs a bit more on it but not sure what so will leave it till all 12 are done then hopefully inspiration will come.  The orange ribbon looked rather in my face but see on the photo it has calmed down a bit. Of course I could not resit a few bits of tatting, no crochet this time though.  I also used Sharon`s stencil, these have been a great buy,  have not used them to their full potential by any means,   they are from Sharon she can be found under pintangle,  sorry have not worked out how to add as a link, have had a few instructions but still not there yet!

I have signed up for CQJP 2014 but think I will not make all 12 blocks in advance like I did this year as I want to add more lace etc and maybe do the blocks in different colours and with more patches on them  who knows i could change my mind half a dozen times between now and then

I have added a sizzix big shot machine to my collection of bits and pieces,   it was an offer to good to refuse at hobbycraft, down to £50 for a few days, normally about £75, have also bought the hexagon and tumbler dies but not worked out how to use it yet, must take the bull by the horns and have a go!!

Will put the latest Tula blocks on tomorrow when they get uploaded to the web site.

birth sampler cutting and more cutting

Being one of 5 children all but one having had children there are now new arrivals coming with another generation.My sister has 3 grandchildren,   17, 15 and 13 years old and I have one Sal who is 15 then no more until last year when 2 of my brothers` sons became grandfathers for the first time  I made samplers for each of the new babies. these were given unframed so they could decide whether they wanted mounts and choose the frames they liked rather than me picking them for them..  In august my youngest brother became a grandfather for the second time in 18 months so another sampler was required, this I have stitched over the last couple of days and my new camera managed to take a reasonable photo of it, the previous 2 were taken with my previous camera but they did not come out well enough to share with you all.  So here is the latest one stitched for Peter

sorry the picture is not as good as I thought

the words at the bottom read 

God bless this child

with all thy kindness.

Guide this child with tender love.

show this child

the ways of goodness

Fill his little heart with love.

I am not sure where I found this little prayer, I have quite a few I have written in a book that I browse through and add to when I can and thought this was just right for this latest dear little boy.

I have recently had a photo emailed to me of the one done for Molly last year, here it is

unfortunately it has caught the shadow of my brother, have asked him to try and get a better one as he and Sue my SIL are up in Scotland visiting their son and family this week.  The words at the top read 

   

someone special, someone dear

someone new to love is here 

and on the bottom i

I have put

cherish yesterday

dream tomorrow

live today

and

during your life I wish you two things

one is roots and the other wings

unfortunately I have no photo of the other one I did last year but it had the same sayings on as Molly`s but was done in blue as it was for a boy.

The sampler is now in the post along with a little bag for Molly I had stitched some time ago

I have made quite a few of these for charities etc and they always seem popular. I have a few hanging on  various little chests of drawers that I have  and I keep pieces of jewellery in etc. I have a few larger ones too that are hanging from the curtain pole.

Today I took the bull by the horns and cut out 200 2" wide by 6.5" long pieces and 200 2" by 9.5" long pieces for the sashings around the individual Tula blocks,  it was not as daunting as I thought it would be so tomorrow I will start attaching them all.

my embroidery journey

I thought I would share an embroidery which got me into embroidery in 1989.   My grandmother taught me to crochet when I was little, unfortunately I was only 9 when we lost her but the love of creative crafts had been planted.  Nor much embroidery was done but I did start making my own clothes whilst as school and carried on making them for myself then my 2 daughters as they came on the scene until they got to the age when they were embarrassed about wearing what Mum had made. I continued to sew for myself and also made for a small clientele until I found the machine was causing me problems, spondiliitis in the neck which the hospital said was caused from too much machining.   That is when the knitting needles came out. Then I came across an old piece of linen in a shop with a picture on it which I purchased then put away for a few years in a  drawer. In 1989 I decided I would try and stitch it so went along to a class every week and the teacher would help pick the threads and told me what stitches to do,   I thoroughly enjoyed this project and even now when I look at the picture I feel pleased with myself,  the one part I would redo is the grave stones, they stick out like a sore thumb to me ,never mind .  After completing this project I started on a piece of hardanger (my grandmother`s mother was Norwegian) and from there my teacher suggested I take the city and guilds course which I started in 1992.
This taught me so many techniques, a lot I would never use again but on the whole enjoyed the course and completed part 1 in 2 years,   3 years away then a glutton for punishment I went back and took another 2 years to do part 2.  Sorry I have rambled on rather a lot,    will now share the photos of the embroidered piece that got me started and my first hardanger piece.

sorry about the reflection caused by the glass.

   Now a photo of the latest half metre lengths I have bought to add to the stash,  what a shock when I counted them today I have 153 half metre pieces,    time I got something worthwhile made with them!

these are a bit different,  camper vans, owls and tiny russian dolls.

patchwork blocks

I am today adding the latest Tula Pink blocks,   another six as I forgot to add the three for last week.

 block 55  have put this on the wrong way so have redone it at the bottom. This is the last of the triangles section.

 block 56     we are now into the blocks made of stripes.

block 57

block 58

block 59

block 60

this is block 55 as it should be.

I have now bought the fabric for the sashing which is going around each block individually,    black is the colour.  Many thanks go to Susan who kindly did the sums and told me how much I needed,  thank you Susan
I went to York for the fabric and when I got home found they had given me one metre short of what I asked and paid for,  a quick phone call and the extra metre was in the post.  Now to start cutting up 6.5 x 2 and 9.5 x 2 strips for each block, have washed it so no excuse not to start.

I have the october block for the CQJP challenge to do first and in a rash moment signed up for next year too.

I am also taking part in a round robin with 5 other girls from embroidery friends which is a group started when the EG stopped the forum on their web site, this group is open to non EG people as well    just as well as I have decided not to renew my membership this year.  My piece I started was based on gardens,  I stitched a pedestal which I see as a bird bath and then sent it on to the next on the list, wonder what every one is going to do with it.  Her is a photo of what I did.

so far I have stitched one more and today have received the next one to do so must get on with that too.   One lady taking part is in Australia, one in the Netherlands and the rest in the UK.

the quilter Ferret

As promised here are some of the quilts made by the amazing quilter Ferret that were at the Harrogate quilt show last month.   I have done them as collages but I am more than happy to re post any as whole photos or email them to any one who would like to see them closer up.

what an amazing girl she is.  The large black and white quilt she has a book on, have not bought it     yet!

quilt show photos

Finally I have pulled myself together and I am sharing some photos of the Harrogate quilt show with you all.  There have been quite a few of the festival of quilts show so not planning to add any unless requested to do so.

these are my favourites from the applique ones,  the first one was the overall winner, I was lucky to meet the lady who stitched it and she was interesting to listen to how she did the quilt. I do like the applique ones and will one day try and do a small, very small one

A selection of the tradition block patchwork,  I am really drawn to the ones that use lots of different sizes in their blocks,  I plan to one day have a go at one of these  notice the word plan!

 such skill here I love a quilt that is pictorial,    the face when seen at the show did not strike me as being a face rather two horses on their hind legs but when looked at through the camera a very clear face appeared,  so very clever.

a couple of cushions and a lovely miniature in the boutis technique,   have not tried this but there were a few quilts done in this way

I also took quite a few photos of quilts done by Ferret a quilter from London, will post about them another day they need to go on indiividually

how do I calculate fabric

Today my friendly bloggers I am hoping you will help me out in how I calculate how much fabric I need to finish the tula pink quilt.  I want to put borders on each block I think in black and then cut them on a slant,  here is a picture of what I am trying to do just using a bit of poly cotton for the trial piece.

The green piece is cut 8"  and the pink 7",  sorry the pink looks bigger must have had the camera closer as it is smaller really,   I used a 2 wide strip on each block,  think I need to do them 8" as if I use the smaller one there might be very little border or no border at all depending on how I cut them,   or maybe I need to make them larger,   advice please.

I do not think I will get them all cut at the same angle,  well I know I will not be good enough to do that but wonder what they will look like if not all the same?

I have tried to calculate how much fabric I will need    200 strips 6.5" and 200 9.5" if I make them finished to cut down to 8"square  so they will end up 7.5 when put together,  am I doing okay with this calculation so far?
Maybe I need to make them a little bigger but that will make the quilt so much bigger, this way it will measure 75" square plus a border and binding.  Oh yes need to add the border which will be in the black too,  not sure how wide to do that but that will need 2 strips 75" long and 2 well depends on how wide the strips are. maybe 3" so that would be 2 strips 81" by 3" or do these need to be a bit wider?  Then I need fabric for the binding, think this will be done in the black too not sure how much I need of that,  but sure you will all help me there. Well now to work out how much fabric I need, not sure how I go about this so the ball is now in your court   please help me!!

I trust this is understandable and please help if you can, hope to go to York on tuesday to get the fabric, there is a man on the market there who sells a good quality plain fabric which is better than my local supplier or do I need to buy kona fabric, that seems to be very popular and think I can get it on line,   price permitting of course. Think I am going to be in for a bit of a shock with cost.

Alfie and Tula

I thought I would share a photo with you all today of Alfie,  he is my daughter Helen`s cat and he comes to stay with me when she is away. I had him for 2 weeks in august whilst she was suning herself in Portugal.  He is a very large or should I say fat cat and last week was under the weather, as Helen was on a 12 hour shift, she is a nurse I took him to the vets.  An expensive visit £88 and a big ticking off, he weighs 7.5 kilos which they say is twice what he should weigh!  He is now on a diet, 2 pouches of food a day, no biscuits or treats and if he does not lose any weight his food will be cut back further.  Just as well they did not see him a couple of years ago, I am sure he was fatter then!!

Now for Tula,  I have 2 weeks of photos to add blocks 46 to 51

We are working on triangles at the moment,   well at least we were  |I have now done all 100 and they are spread out on my lounge floor,   a good excuse not to hoover don`t you think! I cut loads of them out  early last week and then over from friday to sunday stitched 40 so was very pleased to get them finished, now wondering what to do with my time!  I do not know what I will do with them but wondering about adding a border to every block, this way they will all be exactly the same size as some are  not quite right. Maybe grey would look good, it will be hard to pick a colour that will go with everything , I do not want to use white or cream as I think it will be too pronounced, what does anyone else think?   Thought I would also off set them but no hurry as we only load 3 onto the site a week. Here is a photo of them on the floor. They are in number order but will move them around to get a better effect when I join them up.  If I am honest I am hoping my good friend Cheryl will help me, I will have to arrange for her to come and stay as she is  in London and I am in Leeds. It will be lovely to have her here and might even be able to unload some books onto her! Cheryl is an excellent quilter and a great friend who I met up with at the festival of quilts, we also met Queenie who I am sure a lot of you follow on her blog.

This is the 100 blocks, just as well I do not use my lounge isn`t  it.

I still have not posted any quilt photos, will do soon but her is one of Queenie with her quilt and with me.

I am the one on the left in the orange tee shirt!  It was lovely to meet with Queenie and she shared so much info with me as she is a far more experienced quilter than me a mere learner. Her quilt is really beautiful

crazy quilting

At last I have got round to doing a blog.  It has been about 4 weeks, sorry will not overload you with things just my september CQJP piece and the latest Tula Pink blocks,, I have posted them every week on the web but not updated here so I have 12 to add.

CQJP september.

Not much happening in the garden now, just greenery but do have an apple tree so the centre block is just a branch of it with a couple of apples!  The hedgehog visited and was investigating the apple that had fallen. Sharon`s stencils have been useful again and a tatted josephine knot has taken up the top left hand corner block.Somehow this block looks rather dull not sure how to lift it, have used quite a bit of yellow, will see when they are all finished as to how to liven it up a bit.

Tula Pink blocks 34 to 45

 I have done these as a collage as there were so many, if anyone wants to see any in further detail I can let you have an individual photo.  I now have all 100 blocks cut out so ahead of myself which is good.

Two wonderful quilt shows will post some photos soon, sorry I have been lazy with my blog.

Yesterday I went to a group in Castleford, thought it was a quilting group but   well it is but it is linked to a flour mill that is being restored and the group meet to stitch things that are sold in the local market shop to raise funds to restore the water wheel etc.  I have come home with some blue fabric to make a cot quilt but will pop into the market this morning as I need some white to make up the blocks, They are using half square triangles in 2 fabrics 6" each a total of 15 squares so will see how I go on, if successful a photo might appear here.

crazy block

Another month has come so here is my block for the CQJP challenge for august. Think I might have been a little lazy with this  time, the centre flower is a little crochet flower and down in the bottom left hand corner was something i attempted on the embellishing machine  (can only improve). Only 4 left to do now hen will have to get the thinking cap on as to what to do with them all. There are a couple of Sharon`s stencil patterns here, a beaded dragonfly and of course more little bits of tatting. Over all I am quite pleased with it.

 It is also time for 3 more Tula Pink blocks. These are nos 31, 32 and 33.

courthouse steps bag

I have been playing about with some jelly roll that I have and decided to try my hand at the Courthouse steps block,  having made 25 blocks thought they might work as a bag so joined them all up and then made the back of the bag using strips of jelly rolls.   I mounted these on some bump with a muslin backing and hand quilted both pieces.   I used perle 5`s for the back,  this was a mistake as I thought it was an 8 perle.  The front I used 8`s in red and green,  working diagonals in the centre squares and just stitching up the centre of the steps.   For once I am feeling quite pleased with myself and at last feel like I am getting some where with my patchwork.    I lined the bag with a pretty piece of poly cotton,   I suppose you are tutting now that I did not use cotton but the bump is made from polyester so did not think it would matter.   This bag I will take to the quilt festival with me, lots of room in it too!   I even made a buttonhole on the tab fastening and covered a button with some of the fabric.

When I went to the local market to get the fabric for the lining I took my piece of bump with me  ( I did not know what it was ) and the lady said it was bump which is used to put between curtains and their lining.   Am I okay  to use it in patchwork, it is made from polyester, must say it was lovely to hand quilt.  Advice please.

Prior to making this bag I made another that was in the popular patchwork  bag special.  It is not as big as I would have liked in fact it is small  but was a good learning curve, will try and make another bigger as I am sure I can find things to put in it.  This one you cut the 2 pieces of fabric 9.5" by 15", it has an external pocket both on the front and the back.

I also used the bump in this one.  The bag I made prior that I put on my blog I think I will take apart and use some bump in it as it is very floppy and has no body, I put a small book in it and it went all out of shape,  never mind I have learnt by my mistakes!      Next think I want to try is a bit of machine quilting, I do have a walking foot which makes it easier so just watch this space but do not hold your breath.