Chilled out sewing and pondering on psychedelia.

I needed a bit of mindless to de-stress, so I sorted the 1 1/2" strip bin and did prep for sisters choice. Pressed, ready to cut to 1 1/2" pairs.

 These, will eventually become these-over a very long period!

I also trawled the sales for reds, pale blues and yellows, these are now washed and pressed ready to cut a few 1 1/2" strips from, then join the stash.

I have been pressing a few random 9 patches now and again, of the 200 or so I made, whilst browsing Pinterest for an interesting setting.  Nothing appeals yet. 

 They can always be stored until I find that perfect pattern!  Some of them will make their way into a linus quilt this year.

All the black and white nine patches are done, about 100. 

Morphine is a design as I go quilt, where the blocks sill be set on point.  I have a few ideas for other rows-all in black and white- but nothing is decided yet......

I want the effect to be a little jarring as the ceiling light cover that inspired this quilt as I was coming round from my anaesthetic was doing crazy things!

I have papered several hundred more hexies in the past month, I only need another 5 of these random sets to complete a double quilt top

 I had completed these tree tins of rosettes a few months ago (pic from a previous post) ready for sewing: I decided to split them half in the random hexie box, half in the rainbow hexie box, it seemed crazy to leave them sitting there for another few years when they were needed for something else. Believe it or not, real progress being made!

And this weeks read...

Linus

I found a string of corners I had sewn onto 2" neutrals-I had forgotten about these.  They were clippings from sisters choice in pink that I thought I may be able to use for something.  I am putting them together with more neutrals to make mini butterflies that I will quilt in variegated pink to boost their visibility, as they are rather disappearing at the moment.  The neutral squares are from the pre-cut stash. This will be a small Linus quilt about 40" square.

I have been reading this book for about a month now, I'm 2/3 of the way through, its a 1,200 page trilogy.  I thought I wasn't going to like this SF classic at the beginning, as it's not overly 'scientific'.  Themes of planetary evolution and inter species war are addressed then after a while the SF angle comes in (no spoilers!).  Aldiss is a wonderfully imaginative and articulate author,  I highly recommend this work. It is half the price on Kindle!  I bought the heavy hard-copy, which was still reasonable priced, as I want to lend it to my son. 

I am also dipping into

I wish maths was easier for me, I grasp something and it slips away again-I had originally hoped to do a physics degree with the Open University, but I had to rethink due to the maths!

Catch up

I have used some mindless sewing on the road to recovery to occupy myself over the last few weeks. 

I sewed some more bow ties, about 300, I guess: I can't wait to start putting these together, but I must finish the sets I have kitted up, so I have maximum variety-this is a sample I made earlier to try a layout.  There will be about 1200 when I'm done, all finishing at 3". I think there are about 900 done already, the double quilt will need 1000 or so.

Most of the knots don't match the bows exactly: I had all the squares cut and waiting, I refused to cut more fabric so I raided the 1 1/2" strip bin for most of the bow tie  'knots'.

I have sewn some strips for the rainbow hexie

 ........and the Darwins Flower garden now has-almost-all the corners done-red, orange, blue, green, so just the border paths on the four 'corners' and the green 'hedge' edging to do, the end is in sight.

 Centre.... 

..before I sewed the orange up...

  ....and the blue corner almost done.  

The blues are really vibrant, I have a new phone with a truly rubbish camera, this picture is adjusted for white balance!  I have a new camera too, but its barely out of the box, I will have to get familiar with it.

Over  Christmas I lost myself in making the nine patches for the black and white quilt 'Morphine', about 100 of them.  I will be cutting triangles next for this quilt.

I have plans for a design wall, I will definitely need to to lay this one out. 

I got really bored with black and white, and started sewing randomly coloured mis-matched nine patches as leaders and enders, from pre-cut 2" squares, taking care to use up all the uglies.   They took over and I made about 200!  I haven't  decided what to do with them yet. 

I have not been working on the random hexie, though I know I only have about 5 more sets to sew before I have enough for a double quilt, this seems to have grown faster than anything else.  The top will definitely be done this year.  Not hand quilted though, there are others in the queue before this!

I can remember roughly when and how I acquired all these random fabrics!  Why can't I remember where I put the car keys!!!

 This year needs to be about machine quilting- I have a bout 10 tops ready to go.  I keep putting it off as 'I'm not good enough'. Things will get out of hand with the number I have to quilt soon-as if it's not already out of hand!

I have decided on the next leader-ender project, it will keep me busy for the next two years at least, it's Bonnie Hunters Perkiomen day dreams, each little square finishes at 1 inch. 

This is the basic unit......

Pale blue, yellow , red, and dark blue.

About 10,000 squares in a double. Gulp.

Summary for 2014

1. Two projects started!! (Random nine patch, black and white 'Morphine' nine patch)
2. Significant progress on Darwin's flower garden, bow ties and rainbow hexie.
3.  Another project planned. 
4. Promises of finishes!

Black and white

Back in the groove after an enforced break to recuperate in which only these were done....

Today I'm working on squares I cut ages ago but never got to start: the quilt will be called 'Morphine' because I came up with the design after coming round from a minor operation earlier in the year and studying the fluorescent light cover for a couple of hours!

Puttering

I've been struggling with illness for a couple of weeks, and went right off sewing-the horror! I did a bit if this....

  

......then picked up on the old knitting habit.  

Don't worry, I have not gone off quilting: I discovered 

Pinterest 

and have spent  lots of immobility time looking for free motion quilting inspiration-follow me!)

I bought some yarn about 6 moths ago in a fit of enthusiasm to make tops for my daughter in law and myself,  then promptly  forgot it.  Perfect for an immobile occupation, I have almost done the vest top from this yarn in white, it was very quick to knit up. 

I was looking for my knitting needles to start,  I have around 50 pairs, mine, my mums, my aunties, I put them somewhere safe a month ago. VERY safe. 

After an hour and a half or 'tidying' to find them, no luck.  They will turn up eventually!

So, I have been knitting on circular needles.

 I found a ball of yarn that I chain crocheted about 5 years ago from (5 x 1 ply=DK) industrial yarn bin end cones in the 'tidy up':  it is too tight really and has made a rather unyielding yarn,  but in the effort to use it up I made a cowl, it came out rather well.  It only took me a day on giant  circular needles.   I'm making one as a Christmas gift with the rest of the ball.  

Now winter is here I can get out my Kaffe Fasset inspired woolies.  I would be lost without this coat. It's the second one I made in this colour way, I have had one for 20 years. It has become part of my identity. It's calf length, absolutely huge and snuggly (much bigger than ME and I'm 'generous'!)

I made a grey and blue one for my mum but she won't wear it as its too heavy, so it's my winter dressing gown now. Cozy.

I am gluten free and there are not often treats in the house for visitors as I have no willpower if left alone! I wanted some of those old fashioned recipes for biscuits where you store a roll of stiff dough in the fridge and cut rounds to bake-I found this 1970's gem in the charity shop, that also has lots of gluten free un-messed about with (i.e.  not modern and faffy!) recipes for sweet treats in.  

8000 recipes for £2!!  There will be warm fresh biscuits, cheezy and fruity, on the menu to go with tea and coffee for guests this Christmas.

There is also this surreal section-Tales from the Raj!!

Kindling a debate

I have neglected my reading this year in favour of sewing.  I've had an enforced sedentary period in the last couple of weeks, so I'm steaming a head now, with 21 books (6670 pages) read since January.  These two are recent reads that I enjoyed equally, for different reasons. 

I keep a record of how much I read to track my habits, which can vary wildly over the year. January/February is always a bookish time of year. I have read 165 books in 6 years. Not great really. That's about one a fortnight, some less than 200 pages, some near 1000.  At the rate I'm going I will not read the books I have by the time I'm 100 if I'm lucky enough to get there!  I have stopped buying books in charity shops (mostly!), unless they are science fiction. There is one shop I go into every three weeks, that's it.  No more muti-town days out cruising the charity shop bookshelves, coming home with 20 or so books. I am proud of myself, I have conquered an addiction, I let them go through Bookcrossing when I have read them now!

 

Now I'm on to........

 I loved the film, I have no idea how the book will compare. 

I can read longer and quicker on my Kindle than with a book.  I thought at first this was coincidence, but time has shown it's not. This rather stings my sensibilities, as the only reason I relented and bought the Kindle was because there are so many free classics available and my second hand book issues were out of control!  I passed on about 60 classics from the shelves that I was able to get for free on Kindle. Perhaps Kindle reading is faster because I seldom buy new books (if I'm let off the leash in a bookshop I don't know where to start as I want the whole shop): if I buy a Kindle book, it's something I really want to read. 

 I spent my childhood with my nose in a book. I was a member of two local libraries and the school library.  Additionally, my dad was a  school caretaker and I used to sit in the library whilst he worked, I had it all to myself for hours. My own library (almost)!  Books made me feel connected to the world-we often lived in out-of-the-way places and we moved every 5 years or so.

I have around 1000 books waiting to be read now, that's almost a library.......................

One of life's greatest pleasures, reading in bed, or going out for the day and finding a quiet spot to rest and absorb a sci-fi universe.....

Bindings done, three more finished!

 VE1 series table mats, six and seven of eight.

Charity play mat, about 42" x 42"

Isle of Man calling.....

These blocks haven't see the light of day since last Christmas. I was fed up with hexies and needed another hand sewing job.  I need at least 100 for a quilt top.



There is no wadding in this quilt. The  10 1/4" backing squares are cut from a variety of fabrics that I had multiple yardages of and will coordinate in the finished top, after a fashion.   I draw diagonal lines on the wrong side of the backing and the 3 1/2" centre square so I can stick a pin through and line them up properly.

This project evolved as a way  to use up ugly greens and clothing-I have got to the stage where I can't throw things out at all, they have to be re-purposed.   The strips are all 2", not cut to length before I start.   The cream strips have duvet covers, pillow cases, accumulated charity shop shirts, my shirts, my mums, colleagues and some cotton quilting fabrics too.  I'm not fussy about using all cottons in this, as its meant to be a utility quilt.  The centre squares I'm using at the moment come from a top I picked up in a 50p bin at a charity shop-the red square is meant to represent the 'fire' in the cabin and this fabric is flame-like!

It is pieced around the centre in the same way as a traditional log cabin, the diagonal lines on the backing help you keep things straight. Once a strip is sewn down, using thread that blends with the backing (you don't see stitching on the front), fold it towards the edge, 1/3 on the bottom, 2/3 of the strip on top, giving a 2/3" overlap.  When I get to the last round, I tack down the last fold.  The backing is about 1/8 to 1/4" larger than the front. Traditionally this is all done by hand, however, I will probably sew the backing together on the machine, then fold and tack the top joints and sew them down with a decorative machine stitch.

The sewing part is really quick, its the lining up and folding for accuracy that takes the time-whilst I'm watching TV, each block takes about 2 1/2 hours.

Additional info here:

 http://needlemenow.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/new-handwork-in-february.html

An Oldie Exhumed

I made this duvet cover over 20 years ago: it's all cotton and has lasted well, considering it was made from cheap cottons and dressmaking scraps.  I haven't used it for a few years, it was rediscovered at the back of the cupboard.  It's all soft and worn now, cozy as we have a cold snap. It's not until I took this photo that I saw the blocks spun the wrong way!! 

310 bow ties  spun so far this month, I'm trying to stitch 10-20
a day to get them done.

 I couldn't resist  sewing a dozen together.

Crummy week

I decided that as the crumb bin is overflowing, it needed proper attention.    I set out to use it all in strips for the next crumb quilt.   Last time I left it far too long and the task was overwhelming, but I did get this flimsy out of it........



I sewed strips around 10" long, using up a whole bin full...

Now the rather tedious job of trimming!  These will go away for a couple of years I expect, until the bin is full again. There will be a different colour batch of crumbs, so I will be able to mix the strips up before I sew them.  This batch had a lot of pink (sisters choice), brown (hexies) and black and white in.

I got a coupe of these random hexie sets sewn up, and strips done for about 10 more.  They will be a portable project now.  Each set is around 17 x 15", I need 36 for a full flimsy (plus the infill on the edges). I had a count-up: with the strip sets I have, I only need five more! Yay!  Although this has been on the go for ages, it seems to have been quicker than I expected it to be.

I have also sewn in a lot of papers lately whilst watching TV. I have done so may thousands over the years I can sew and fold without looking now.








I was doing a few in the dentist waiting room the other day, it's funny how people will watch you but if you look up and smile they look away embarrassed!  Older men will speak to me more often, saying they remember their grans doing it.  As one chap last week said, "At least you're not fiddling with your phone!" What did we do before mobile phones? We read a magazine or just relaxed whilst we waited I suppose (though maybe not at the DENTIST), without feeling to need to pretend to connect with an environment other than the one we are actually in!  Sometimes we even talked to a stranger, shock!

Randomness.

The final batch from September, 102.

That's a months total of 902 bow ties.  I recon I need about 1000 for a quilt, which I will have now.  There are  500 or so left to sew up, I will do this  before I start to piece the top, so I have maximum variety to choose from.  I see these quilts as ongoing-its a good way to use larger offcuts, I add to the pile of sets every time I cut something.

 

Sewing stopped for a family emergency for a while, now back to normal I hope.  Whilst I was away I sewed a few of the 1/2" paper pieced diamonds and triangles.

 I watched a film and went through the crumb bin this week on my return. Some more 1/2" diamonds cut, a few hexies, the rest will be for a second crumb quilt-a lot of these crumbs are already sewn into pairs from the last one.  I love this kind of relaxed piecing.

 

I have cut lots of black and white nine patch sets, along with bricks and squares for future projects.   They are stacked underneath the acrylic table top, bow ties on top.

I have some brown hexie paper pieced blocks sewn up too and made progress with the random hexie blocks last week. 

So, quite a bit  achieved.  Once the current batch of bow ties is completed, it's on to quilting some of those flimsies!