Makes of late - July

It's been a productive summer so far and what with my self-imposed clothes buying ban (except for a swimsuit), I have a feeling that there'll be a few more makes to come before we reach September.

Anyhoo, here's what's been under my sewing machine lately...

Baby quilt (which I blogged about here) // Scout tee (which you might recognise from my Me Made May post) // patchwork sleep mask // self drafted day dress

This was my first Scout tee and my first attempt at set-in sleeves. They're not a complete disaster but they are a bit puffy. Overall I'm happy with it - it's wearable (always a bonus when making clothes) - but it's a bit boxy which is probably due to my fabric choice. Don't get me wrong I luuurve the print but the material, although it's some cotton blend, it's quite stiff. I reckon this tee might be better in a lawn...

As much as I love these daylight savings hours, a combination of 4:30 sunrises and crap blinds means that I've been waking much too early for my liking. The sleep mask then was born out of need rather than whim. It's patchwork and quilted with some wadding in the middle. I cut it into a vague sleep mask shape before covering the edges with bias binding. I had some rather nice stretch cotton lace lying around so I stitched it to the otherwise boring elastic. Pretty simple but a cute (and useful) item nonetheless :)

Last but not least is my latest bit of dressmaking, finished last weekend, a self drafted day dress. Again, not a complete disaster but the zip isn't my finest bit of sewing. I have a long history of zip struggles and it really doesn't seem to be getting better with practice! Fortunately it's at the side which means it's not some huge monstrosity going down the back. The fabric is super light and airy, perfect for this spell of hot weather we seem to be having!

Next in the pipeline: possibly another baby quilt (a friend has just had her second bubba); more tees and hopefully more dresses...watch this space!

the joy is in the planning: star block baby quilt

I'd not made a quilt for quite some time (over two years ago in fact!) and stitching this one reminded me of how much I enjoy it, the sewing and quilting yes, but actually it's the planning I love the most - figuring out which blocks to stitch, how many I might need, what fabrics to use, how big the quilts needs to be - it's all very satisfying.

I gave this latest quilt to its teeny recipient on Saturday as a christening present, I hope they liked it :)  I made a similar star block quilt for his sister three years ago and I thought it'd be cool to replicate the design albeit in different colours.

It took about 4 months to complete, but I really did take my time with it, and, like I say, I probably went a bit over board in my planning stages.

There's not much else to say really, it was great fun to sew and because it's a baby quilt it was very manageable under the machine and not unwieldy to quilt by hand. Another friend is having a baby in about two weeks so I'm tempted to start another one but I might need to replenish my fabric stash, any excuse for fabric shopping :)

Makes of late

I've not made much time for my creative outlets during these first few months of 2016 (something that reading Big Magic is sure to change, don't you worry!). One thing I did finish making however was this little deer.

Rather than dwell on the fact that I started her back in June last year (I was asked to do some hand modelling for a crochet shoot and I felt a little out of practice so I picked up this pattern to get me back into the swing of things), what's important is that I finally completed her and she's cute (I'll also ignore the fact that Mitch was like: cool, what do we do with her though? We don't know any small children right now so duh, she's for display).

A second thing I made (and in one afternoon no less) was another Zippy tee with the fabric I picked up in Brighton. I have four zippies now :)

Next on my making list: a baby quilt for a friend's little one (progress is currently slow but there's a sneaky peek below) and dresses! Although the weather in London is all over the shop (snow on Tuesday!) spring/summer will arrive at some point in the capital and I have a distinct lack of dresses. I've seen a couple of patterns I'd like to try and it's pay day on Friday so watch this space! What are you making at the moment?

cross pattern baby quilt & a weekend in essex

That was probably one of the best weekends ever! Not only was the sun shining but I spent two very different but bloody marvellous days in Essex. On Sunday we had a converging of mine and Mitch's parents at a lovely pub called The Cricketers. I was told that it was something of a big deal food-wise and it was! I had the most delicious pie (alas no pictures as I was too busy stuffing my face). If you happen to find yourself driving around the stunning Essex countryside near Clavering, I highly recommend a visit, although you may need to book in advance, it's a v.popular place.

On Saturday, a small group of uni buddies and myself journeyed to Leigh-on-Sea for our v.good friend's baby shower and to meet her (very) new baby! Her sister did an excellent job of decorating the house and laying out the cutest spread (baby carriage eggs!). I really wish I'd taken more pictures as it looked amazing. And the stars of the afternoon? Well it goes without saying, he was unbelievably adorable and my friend looked fantastic; it was really hard to believe she'd only given birth two weeks before!

A few people were wondering why the baby shower took place after the birth as I think "traditionally" (are they a tradition? I know nothing) they happen while the mother's still pregnant... Any-hoo, I think having the shower after the baby arrived was perfect – we got to meet the bubba and lavished Lauren with gifts. And talking of gifts, I managed to finish the baby quilt just in time! I seem to be making a habit of doing things at the last minute. Here's the finished blanket...

It's a pretty simple cross pattern which was actually v.straightforward to construct. Saying that though, I think I went about it the wrong way – joining long vertical strips rather than doing sections at a time – you can see that some of my points don't match quite as perfectly as they should.

The simple construction and cross shape meant that I could have a bit more fun with the quilting, trying out different designs and patterns etc. I quilted it all by hand which is what I prefer to do anyway; it's a nice break from sitting at the sewing machine. Fabric wise I just raided my stash which, for the first time in a long time, is now looking rather pathetic (I'll just have to do some fabric shopping - it's a hard life). I didn't have enough blues so I threw some greys into the mix. It was a bit of bugger to plan out but who am I kidding, I really love the planning stages and working out how all the colours will fit together.

I was super happy to find the fabric for the backing. They're little VW beetle-like cars which was perfect as Lauren got given an original beetle for her 21st whilst we were living at uni. The fabric was from Fabric Rehab but I actually bought the last 1m - talk about lucky!

The last thing I wanted to mention was the label. I know it's nowhere near perfect but my embroidery skills are definitely improving (too bad I failed to get a non blurry picture of it though)! I really love making baby quilts, not only do they  take about two months to complete (and that was me taking my sweet time) it's proper lovely when the person they're intended for really likes it. Lauren did so I was v.happy indeed :)

Hope you all had fabulous weekends too!

things we do in bed @ Danson House

Yesterday I took a train to Bexleyheath to see a mini quilting exhibition at Danson House, a big old Georgian mansion in the middle of Danson park. Novelist Tracy Chevalier has curated the show having become a quilting enthusiast thanks to her research about the craft for her latest novel. Things We Do in Bed focuses on exactly that. The exhibition was divided into 5 rooms representing birth, sleep, sex, illness and death, with the quilts in each one relating to the theme.

Birth
Grayson Perry's striking "Right to Life" foetus quilt is pretty disturbing but also v.cool. It was made in response to the American abortion debate in the 1990s. Also in the Birth room were two historical cot quilts. The quilting on the 18th C one was incredible.

Sleep
The star of the Sleep room was the quilt stitched by prisoners through Fine Cell Work, a social enterprise that teaches inmates creative skills (including needlework and quilting) and provides them with the opportunity to sell their work. Each patch on the quilt was made by an individual  and accompanied by a paragraph or so (written by the maker) to explain the design.

Sex
The most disappointing of all the rooms as it only offered one 'quilt'. I feel like much more could have been made of this room.

Illness
This and the death room were probably my favourites (not sure what that says about me). I think that because quilts are normally made for someone in particular and because they are quite time-consuming to make there's a lot of thought and personal story connected to them which is why the illness room was quite touching. I loved Sue Walters 'Unchained Melody' quilt as much for the beautiful fabric choices as the story behind it. She  made it sitting by her husband's side whilst he was in the severe stages of Alzheimers. I also really liked Becky Knight's quilt that was linked to her struggle with depression. It's v.cleverly constructed with actual stones trapped between layers of fabric (emulating the weight of her depression) and an outline of a person made out of painkillers. I say it all the time but I really like how many different forms quilts can take, it's such an expressive medium.

Death
Understandably it was all a bit morbid in here but the quilts were wonderfully creative. The coffin shaped tweed patch quilt was cool but sadly I didn't get a picture. Nor did I get a picture of the two quilts by Michele Walker which were particularly poignant. But I did take a picture of this 19th C widow's quilt which is beautiful.

We also had a look around the rest of the mansion which had recently-ish been restored to its former Georgian glory. My favourite thing was the Octagonal room, it had the most amazing carpet and wallpaper (not original but a fairly accurate reproduction of what it would have looked like). The oval staircase was also pretty special. Before getting back on the train my mum and I popped into the tea room - which was v.nice. A massive sandwich and a scone later we stepped out into the most torrential downpour. My feet got absolutely soaked on the walk to the station (damn converse) but the rain made the park, including the avenue of horse chestnuts, look incredibly green and lush.

It's a rather teeny exhibition but the price of the ticket does mean you get to wander around the rest of the house which makes the ticket price (£8) worth it I reckon.

So it's a pretty grey, chilly day but at least it's Friday, a Friday before yet another long weekend - yay!

Making & Baking - easter weekend

A lot of cooking went down over the long weekend, mostly thanks to the fact that I was catering for the easter sunday family get-together. On the whole it was rather successful but a bit of a pastry overload.  Let's just say, people certainly didn't need to eat anything else that day! I also did a bit of sweet baking in the form of this (even if I do say so myself) a-mazing sweet potato cake. It actually requires a cream cheese icing but seeing as it was intended for my v.pregnant friend who can't eat soft cheese, I made a simple buttercream topping instead. My sister found the recipe and it really is a winner: super moist (much like a carrot cake) and delicious without icing if you find it too sweet. Plus, there's the added novelty of cooking with vegetables - never a bad thing in my view. The cake made the journey to Essex with me and, thankfully, arrived in one piece. After a nose around my friend's new house we had a good old catch up over lunch, the best bon-bons I've ever eaten, tea and homemade goodies. Pretty much the perfect day really :)

As well as baking and stuffing my face I met up with a few friends in the evenings for drinks (and on friday, a game of five-way ping-pong - best. game. ever) and made time for a bit of craft-related productivity. I'm about half way through making the top of a baby quilt for my friend who I mentioned above. She's actually 8 months gone (and looking fabulous) so seeing her was both a reminder for me to get a move on and the exciting fact that the next time I see her, she'll be a mum! The quilt itself is a v.simple '+' shape design which I might do a DIY for once it's completed... I'm also slogging away at the crochet blanket - not long now though, I'm hoping it'll be finished by the end of the month.

star block baby quilt

Finished! And in the nick of time :)

I managed to finish the quilt just in time for the Christening at the weekend (it was a seriously close call what with making the label and stitching it on about 15 mins before we had to leave for the church).

Due to its tiny recipient, this is the smallest quilt I've made, and took around six weeks to complete. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out - the fabrics and colours suit a baby quilt I think and the variety of star blocks look cute together. However, in true Annie style, it is in no way perfect. The edges are rather wobbly, the blocks are anything but straight and don't even get me started on my corners - why are they so difficult? - at least they're an improvement on my first quilt's corners.

Although it was a bit of a rush to get it finished I really loved making this quilt. The small size meant that it was a (relatively) short project to do and the star theme gave me boundaries but also a bit of variety in terms of shapes to construct.

Now that it's over and the quilt is in its new home my hands are idle again. Watching a film or something on iplayer without making something just feels odd so I'll need to start a new thing soon. I quite fancy making another quilt (that said I do have another one on the go  which is more of an on-going project), or perhaps it's time to pick up the knitting needles again and get cracking on that scarf, or the crochet hook as Meredith of One Sheepish Girl is organising another yarn bombing... the possibilities to create stuff are endless and I bloody love it!

the festival of quilts '13

Last Thursday was the opening day of the Festival of Quilts - not only was this my third time in attendance at the show but it was also rather special because...my v.own quilt was on display!

Childish excitement abound, it was the first thing I looked for upon arrival. Back in May I'd entered the 'My First Quilt' competition category (mostly on account of my 'Do More New' approach to life) and so there it was (and would be for the next 3 days) hanging up amongst all the other hundreds of other competitors. I quickly realised that my first attempts at a quilt were nowhere near as good as most of the people in the category but it was pretty cool to see it up on display all the same - especially when I saw one woman take a picture of it :)

Anyway enough about me, the rest of the show was v.fun too! Highlights for me:

★  Lynne Edwards mini exhibition, in particular her feedsack fabric quilts.
★  Mandy Pattullo's beautiful fabric and paper collages
★  Listening in on Kaffe Fassett's interview
★  Godharis from rural India
★  The beautiful geometric patterns (and products) by Heleddmai.

Close-up of the butterfly quilt by Lynne Edwards

Lynne Edwards' feedsack fabric quilts

Mandy Pattullo work taken from 'Thread and Thrift' exhibition

Mandy Pattullo. This and the one above were my favourites.

Mandy Pattullo - skirt

One of the godharis (that's quilts to you and me) from rural India. These pictures really don't do the colours justice - they were amazing.

Godharis close-up

Godharis

Left: Alicia Merrett -  Map quilt.
Right: 'Box' entered into the 'Quilt Masters' category, sadly no name was displayed next to it. 

Kaffe Fassett chatting away. He was very charming with an interesting turn of phrase - he actually described paisley as sexy!

'Crossroads' - Hayfa Al Mughni


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And now for some of the competition pieces which really stood out for me...

Left: 'Princess and the Pea' - Sue Trevor
Right: 'Just to make you Smile' - Gillian Travis.
Both from the Quilt Creations category

Left: 'Scarlett's Crimson' - Philippa Naylor (Quilt Creations)
Right: 'Little Stars' - Jean Ball (Traditional Quilts)

Left: Peckham community quilt (I think this was in the group category)
Right: 'Flower Pecker' - Stephanie Redfern (ContemporaryQuilts)

'Every text he ever sent' - Lara Hailey (Art Quilts). I thought this idea was v.clever and pretty insane if you think about the amount of hours needed to stitch all that text!

'In the style of Frank Lloyd Wright' - Mary Morrison (Miniature Quilts)



Lastly, as always, I couldn't leave the NEC empty handed so bought a couple of fat quarters for the stash from The Running Chicken.

Nice eh?