Play date with VE1

I have been thinking about this photo of a vitreous enamel sample plate for a month, so today I played.

No planning, I dragged out a few blues and I was off, making it up as I went along.

All the yellows were pre-cut so I went with the sizes I had for the yellow blocks.


I'm not really a wall hanging kind of girl. I do need to experiment more and there is no point in leaving things in a plastic bin, so this will be my first wall hanging.  There are plenty of plain walls to hang it on as I don't have pictures up either!

#1  Log cabin construction

The colours are a bit bleached in this photo.  Simple log cabin construction to be enhanced with machine quilting after I have sketched from this book.....

#2  Strings

The blue string bin was out,  so that one was next.  I have to force myself to deviate from the original brief and get creative, it's not a easy process for ma at all. I'll just have to practice (;@]


I needed to use up some old blue curtaining........

#3  Curtains and rectangles

#4  Big squares

 Next........................

#5  Reflection

And finally.......the light blue centre picks up the reflected skylight in the original photo.  I'm not sure about the borders, they were just what I had leftover.

I could go on for a week on this theme, planning and sewing more samplers!  I'm happy I have had a creative splurge and now I can get on with unfinished projects, having started yet another one!

Booksnobbery

This weeks read was the Sugar Camp Quilt, which I read via Bookcrossing.   I have realised I'm rather snobbish about my reading having studied it at university level~these books are well enough written, sometimes a girl needs a gentle easy read with a bit of history, quilting and romance for good measure!  It did me the world of good in a very stressful week.  



On to this, that I was sent by the author in a RABCK (random act of Bookcrossing kindness).  I will be sending it to the International Sweepstake winner in Canada when I'm done, so its back home to Continental America for this book.

Next,  The true history of the Kelly Gang, for a swap with another Bookcrosser.

Sewing is still Kiss in the Corner, I am approaching the second corner!!  One long side, one short side done by the weekend!  I think my technique is improving slightly, though its a good job there is a 'busy' backing.  Moo!


I have been watching shows from thequiltshow.com whilst I sew.




A few brown hexies over the last week or so at lunchtimes and at a picnic.......

Remember these from past posts?

Vitreous enamel sample plates from work as design inspiration.  I asked if we had a manual of defects (not that we EVER make aything like that!) and we did.........

Dry old reading for most people, I know, but it's an atlas of quilting inspiration for me!

I'll be doing some design work on this at the weekend.

Turning a corner...

 ....on Kiss in the Corner

OK, now I can see the end, one side completed, second side started!  Woohoo!

 

 A few more sisters choice blocks.  these are being put away for the time being.

I had another walk round work with the camera.  I see more design possibilities with this vitreous enamel colour sample plate. 

A stroll round work

I found this little lovely-we make vitreous enamel signs. This is a sample plate of yellows on dark blue for a customer.   The yellow is matt because its been screened but not fired a second time to set the yellow.  This would make a simple but effective 'man' quilt in dark/light blue, and yellows.   A few partial seams  of light blue (where the light blue skylight is reflected) against the yellow, but not too difficult.

Sewing is much the same, pink and kiss in the corner; nothing new as I'm trying to FINISH something!







I saw this in a Sussex village the other day. I was amused. It called this nursery rhyme to mind-I had to look it up, I couldn't remember it from my own childhood, it wasn't something my boys would have been interested in!

 

 

"The three little kittens, they lost their mittens,"

The three little kittens, they lost their mittens,

And they began to cry,

"Oh, mother dear, we sadly fear,

That we have lost our mittens."

"What!   Lost your mittens, you naughty kittens!

Then you shall have no pie."

"Meow, meow, meow."

"Then you shall have no pie."

The three little kittens, they found their mittens,

And they began to cry,

"Oh, mother dear, see here, see here,

For we have found our mittens."

"Put on your mittens, you silly kittens,

And you shall have some pie."

"Purr, purr, purr,

Oh, let us have some pie."

The three little kittens put on their mittens,

And soon ate up the pie,

"Oh, mother dear, we greatly fear,

That we have soiled our mittens."

"What, soiled your mittens, you naughty kittens!"

Then they began to sigh,

"Meow, meow, meow,"

Then they began to sigh.

The three little kittens, they washed their mittens,

And hung them out to dry,

"Oh, mother dear, do you not hear,

That we have washed our mittens?"

"What, washed your mittens, then you're good kittens,

But I smell a rat close by."

"Meow, meow, meow,

Kiss in the corner

A little progress has been made this week towards edge filling, I'm approaching the second corner.  I didn't get much done in the evenings, this was my first full week back at work after 5 weeks of on and off illness and I was tired! 

Sunday morning, I woke early, sun streaming in.  I made a pint of tea, went back to bed and caught up on Quiltcam whilst I did some sewing.  Very cozy.













These are the colours I am choosing from to quilt with











Lunchtime therapy has been brown hexies this week, I took them visiting yesterday too.

I found these synthetic threads on ebay for machine quilting, aren't the colours delicious?   Don't know what the quality is like, or even if they're colour fast ( I will be testing that as they are manufactured abroad). I'm not going to recommend the seller as my delivery got 'lost' and my emails were ignored, then my questions were not addressed (there's more but don't start me off!).  It was a MONTH before they arrived. Gr. However wonderful these threads are I will not be using the seller again. I'm a professional purchaser and deal with suppliers all day long so I know things go wrong sometimes, but customer service is about what you do when it IS going wrong and a lot of the time it was nothing!

I have never had much luck with ebay (:</




About a month ago I was charity shop browsing and I found a bigger-than-king size white cotton duvet cover, all soft from use and wonderful quality.  I'm having that for backing, I thought, for a minuscule  £4.   It's now on my bed as it goes with my newly painted white room!  It has a really high thread count, is slightly textured-extreme close-up.  Yesterday I found another one, but I think that will end up on my bed too for the time being!

I think its time for a tea refill and a to start my new book, promised as a gift to DubaiReader, another Bookcrosser.  I have about 850 books to read so I had to organise a draw as I couldn't make my mind up!

Pressing on

I have to get this done!  It's well overdue.  I did about three hours yesterday.

Distraction 2

I sewed more sisters choice sets yesterday to get to this stage...........if you sew in the same order every time they act as their own leader/ender project  in a neat string ready for snipping and pressing.  Then I sew the borders on, working on two blocks at a time.

I sewed these yesterday using  snips for the tie knots.  I'm trying to move the colours to orange and red so I don't end up with too many pink blocks.  I didn't need to do any of these as leaders, it really IS a distraction. 

I now when I have trimmed, I sew the  knots onto cream 2" squares, pair up with the coloured squares, and the sets go in the box ready to be sewn later as leader enders when they are needed as such.

Sorting out the pile of snips wasn't too fun.  That's why I'm sewing them up as I get them now.  These corners are around
1  1/2", just the right size.

A slight distraction

What to do with the waste from Sisters Choice? Each block generates 8 snips of pink and 8 cream. 

 This is is an odd block, I like these.  And see the deliberate mistake? 

All those triangles on the border strips get snipped off.

Light bulb moment.   Leaders and enders........

 

....for bow tie knots

A little try out...seems fine to me once I worked out how to get the irregular snips fairly straight by lining up with the opposite edges.

Happy days!  Reuse and recycle.  The bow tie quilt may end up with a lot of pink in!

A few more blocks completed, I have done around 100 now.

An I have even managed to use up a random FQ that I thought of as irredeemably ugly-see that pink and brown diamond fabric?  Just shows you have to find the right quilt for it.

I can't leave these alone!

The latest set.

There are some oddities in here-garlic and owls.......

.......and some make do and mends (I like these a lot!)

Whilst I was photographing another one with odd star points I saw one of those deliberate mistakes.....

oops.

And this weeks read is a history of the South Bank  in London, from rural carp ponds to brothels and theatres in Shakespeares time...that's as far as I have got!

Slave to the rythm

These are so relaxing to make-twelve more.

The colour is much nicer in real time!

All the quad strips are cut and randomly put into sets. 

Everything  is ready to pick up and go whenever I feel the urge.

One for baby (maybe if it's a girl) and a king size for me.

Creative insomnia

I stayed up until after 2.30 a.m., sleepless due to a hacking cough, for three nights. I had to do something.........

I have started an affair with pink, a previously loathed-as-a-stereotype colour, thought I seemed to have a bit of it..........

I have cut some more and kitted up for a full size quilt as I love the way this looks. 

I have absolutely no doubt that I have overdone it again!

All the cornerstones are pre-cut, just a few 2 x 5" cream strips needed. 

There is quilting to do before I indulge in this though. And it is indulgence, there is something about the rhythm of assembling these blocks that is soothing.

I think I have cracked the baggy edge issue too.