Family Tree Quilt

There are just some projects that you have such great hopes for - that end result is just a tad disappointing. I really wanted this to be something super special and while I know that the finished project will be much appreciated .... it just didn't make the 'A' grade for me. I'm trying to apologize less - so that is all I will say and I will talk about how this project came to be.

I was reading an old craft book that I borrowed from my mother last Christmas ... and in it I found a pattern for an embroidered family tree.
Not being that talented at embroidery and thinking that using Bernie would be far quicker and easier - I set about changing the design into a quilt pattern. Here is my sketch ...
... I stuck together lots of pieces of paper together to make the pattern for the applique design ...
... and what followed were some rather long days of feeling not very thrilled about the project.

I had chosen to recycle silk ties for the applique - silk ties (because of the pretty woven designs) fray like anything once you cut them into small fiddly pieces. I have vowed not to use a lot of silk ties for a large applique project again. I am also a total beginner at applique and machine quilting and making sure that all the layers were flat without any proper large flat area or table was near impossible. Regardless of my excuses about a large flat area - I need to practice machine quilting ... Bernie did his job ... but his handler was struggling with where to start and how to constantly move the huge amount of fabric through and around him.

So once all the applique was finished and I felt like I had wrecked the quilt further by my bad machine quilting ... I decided that the cream fabric I had selected was a tad dull ... and the family tree trunk was too wide ... and that this kind of project really needs a dry run first and then on your second attempt you can correct all the things you found out didn't work on the first. But isn't every new project like that? And what would I do with the first version of the quilt once the second perfected version was finished? I couldn't throw it away - way too much time, love and sweat went into this.
So lets say what I like about the quilt - because parts of it are quite pretty. Although the silk was hard to work with - the patterns in the fabric are really lovely and when I hung it in the garden to take photos the gold and silver threads really glistened in the sun ...
... I like that we will be able to add names to the tree as folk get married and or have kiddies ...
... there are cute little insects crawling around ...
... and it fits a queen bed perfectly.
So to Elke - who is bestowed this gift - I am sorry it isn't quite what I wanted it to be but it is filled with all the love, effort and thought I could muster. Wishing you a very Happy Birthday xx

Marriage Guidance

Having a bad day with the hubbie? This book has lots of wise advice on how to have a happy marriage. Advice for a Happy Marriage: From Miss Dietz's Third-Grade Class is probably one of my favorite books.
I like to give it to all my friends who are about to get married. Flick through the book and you will find advice such as "you need to kiss once in a while" and of course the most valuable lesson taught in this book ...
... yes you read right - to have a happy marriage you have to get bunnies.

I'm a lucky lady ....

... I have been feeling really fortunate recently ... a warm glow of happiness ... why? Well I just feel really lucky ... lucky for lots of things.

Lucky for being able to craft all day long in the cutest rambling house ever, lucky for having a husband who seems to be going for "husband of the year 2008", lucky for a wonderful puppy who is ever so cute and lucky for having a loving family - both back home in the UK and here in the states. But I got REALLY REALLY lucky when Auntie Chris gave me SO much yarn that I feel overwhelmed with happy knitting thoughts. The yarn is made from her own sheep too - so it makes it an extra special homemade gift! I wasn't sure how to show you all just how much yarn there is ... so I laid it out on our dining room table ...
I want to get knitting right away ... but Castro wants to know what I'm going to make?
His question was a good one - so I took this perfect opportunity to find some inspiration ... (love love love craft books) ... and found the following two books ... my purchasing excuse is that I only have one skein of certain colors in my great haul of fabulous yarn and I don't want to waste any. One Skein: 30 Quick Projects to Knit or Crochet by Leigh Radford and One-Skein Wonders by Judith Durant - these are both filled with great little projects - and I'm still justifying buying yet more craft books - but it is great to be able to use up that odd skein of yarn left over from other knitting projects too.

Tutorial: Spotty Spring Drawstring Bag

One of my dream jobs would be to be a professional wrapper - you know the people that get to wrap up parcels all day in pretty paper and tie satin ribbons around them to make them gorgeous ... ok maybe after the 1,000th parcel I might have had enough ... but I love to wrap things up and the presentation of a gift (to me) is half the joy. Each cuddly little softie from Rachael Rabbit is sent to its new home in a little cotton sleep sack (gift bag) and the cotton bags really do add a little something extra.

I've also been made rather happy by dots recently - on a search to find a pretty baking dish to make cobblers in etc - I found these gorgeous dishes from Spode's Baking Days line. Every time I look at them in my kitchen I am inspired to bake something yummy and wholesome.

So it is now officially spring (we don't have any daffodils in bloom yet) and I've been inspired by dots or spots ... I made some Spotty Spring Drawstring Bags! These simple drawstring bags have so many uses - I use them for storage or yarns/craft items, protecting shoes and handbags, packing small items for holidays, laundry and as gift bags.

TUTORIAL: Spotty Spring Drawstring Bag
(Time: 30mins to 1hr) Finished Bag measures 21"l x 16"w.

Materials
1 x piece of fabric 45"l x 17"w
2 x strips of ribbon 36" long
circles of cotton (mine are 4.5" in diameter)
Cotton for sewing
Mistyfuse (optional)

1. Make casing for ribbon: In all 4 corners along long side of fabric fold 1/4" in and then fold 1/4" in again - press and sew for 2.5".
   Along short edge fold 1/2" in and then fold 1" in again - press and sew across entire length of short edge.
   
   
2. Embellish: Fold your piece of fabric in half and arrange your spots on the front of the bag. Secure with mistyfuse if you prefer. Sew around each circle (I used a satin stitch.)
   
   
3. Finish Bag: Fold fabric with spots facing in and sew down each side of bag. (Once the seam is sewn I also like to use a binding stitch to prevent fraying.) Turn bag right-side out and press.
4. Thread Ribbon: Use a safety pin or sturdy needle to thread ribbon through casing. Once threaded tie ribbon in tight knot at each side.

Recycling for Rabbits - Bunny Quilt Series

Do you remember the baby quilt that I made from recycled cotton shirts? Well this was the first baby quilt in a series of three. I have to say that I have loved all three very much. Maybe it is the pleasing simple blue and white colors or the bunnies all over them ..... or how incredibly soft all the materials are.

The first quilt had soft white bunnies on it made from a old fake pashmina which was an emergency warmth purchase in a Hong Kong market.
The second quilt had soft brown bunnies on it - the bunnies are cut from a pair of Nana's old tan trousers! One lucky bunny has a yummy orange carrot. This quilt sold as soon as I posted it.
The final quilt was finished for baby Nicolas Koltai who was born on March 23rd (yes Easter Sunday) at 2.30am at a healthy 8 pounds. This version had one bunny and a carrot in the bottom corner and extra quilting on each white square.
As I was finishing this quilt for Nicolas - I began to feel rather sentimental about all three of the baby quilts - so I took the first quilt off my shop page and I have put it safely in a dresser drawer. After parting with my dear bunny boy - I really have learnt that I have to keep the odd thing here and there.

Busy Week and a Baby Quilt

Its been a busy and fun week filled with birthday's, 3rd wedding anniversary's, two parking tickets (I'm innocent), visits from lovely friends, rescuing rather a lot of ladybugs, cooking a dinner party for more lovely friends (Martha's dessert recipe did not lie this time) and raking the leaves of the entire garden (yard) until you get a blister (ouch!) And today I finally got the chance to sew some more patches made at last weekends Denyse Schmidt's workshop into a bright and breezy baby quilt.

Denyse Schmidt Quilting Workshop

Yesterday Bernie and I took a road trip. We got in the car and drove to Bridgeport, Connecticut to Denyse Schmidt's workshop where we were taking a quilting course organized by Make Workshop. The course was SO much fun I can not begin to explain how liberating, fast and fantastic it was. I gave it a 10 out of 10 - I would gladly (speedily) go back - or perhaps beg Denyse to let me live in her workshop so I can engorge my greedy self on inspiration. You can see how much sewing we did in 5 hours from the little green piece of fabric I used as my thread saver.
Here is the first block of the day .... as soon as I saw it (it was so incredibly not me at all) ... I was proud as punch and immediately decided that it had to be made into a cushion (that's a pillow in the US ... or as we call them in our house "sofa slugs"!)
Today I got to finish the cushion. I bordered the block with bright turquoise and machine quilted the front using the same red cotton that just happened to be on my machine during the quilting class.
My only wonder is if whether I should have quilted across the green patches in the middle ... hum ... but I'm still rather proud of it. It is so bright and springy ... perfect for a garden chair ... sitting in bright green grass on a sunny day (has it stopped being cold yet?) I'll be putting it my Etsy store tomorrow.

The most liberating bit of the class was how we chose the fabric ... or rather the fabric chose us. (It was so hard not to cheat ... I did cheat a little ... sorry.) We had to pull the fabric blindly from big paper bags. I loved the process (despite trying to cheat) - so in my little workroom I now have 3 paper bags on my desk and every time I find or cut a scrap of fabric I am popping it into its size appropriate bag. I can't wait to see what comes out!