Saturday 5 September 2009

Scraps from Scratch


A few days ago I asked Jim to bring me down all the boxes out of the attic that

Contained all my material for patchwork and quilting. I thought this would give me

The inspiration to take the courage in doing basics again. I have in the past tried to

Follow patterns only for the project to go pearshape then put back in the boxes again, never to see daylight til another couple of years. I'm sure this has happened to other

Wanna be quilters too. Thankfully I didn’t throw all the fabric away, I still kept some, along with the wonky shapes and squares that have mysteriously grown through some

Magical time warp.

So armed with MC Calls magazine of scrap quilt ideas, I took the plunge in working on the simple blocks of square within a square and brick blocks I call them. I thought I was doing fine until horror of horrors, one strip was perfect and neat and the other strip terribly longer but just could not understand why. I gasped in absolute disappointment as I had spent days cutting out the material and sewing them, pressing them too. No wonder everything just got thrown back in the box and put back in the attic in the past.

“No!”, I thought to myself, I'm not going to do that again. Ive got all the charity quilts

that I want to get on with and I am….. going to try and sort this out.

So after a break of about an hour, I looked at the blocks and cut them neatly this time to six inch blocks perfectly trimmed with nothing hanging over the edge.

This was the mistake that I had done on the blocks so many times.

When Jim came home from work, I showed Jim the amazingly oddly shaped strip and

The perfect one, Jim was so calm and cool about it,

“Don’t worry, just unpick the seams and look at the blocks again to make sure not out of the six inch territory!”… so today I will do that.

I just might get a lift to the Fabric Guild as I need some backing material and twin size wadding.

Here is the follow up to all what has been happening. I did end up unpicking a few rows then just worked on block after block, row after row until the quilt middle came

To this. This is a practise quilt but…..I'm going to think about the border maybe fabric paint some roses who knows what will happen I will keep you all informed.

It was great to get behind my sewing machine again just doing very basic things.

I still have a lot to practise I know this quilt square is not perfect, it’s a work of art

To me, the more I do, the better I will get.

I bought some more purple from the Fabric Guild place for the backing along with some wadding. I met one lady there who may be able to put me in touch with a quilting group for this area so fingers crossed. I hope everyone else is having quilting fun. Ive got the seascape to work on now, I had to stop this a few days ago as I got

The quilters block, inspiration went out of the window, hopefully it will come back now after I take the dogs on the park and had a rest.

10 comments:

Beena said...

Oh, Faith! It is just magical with those stars peaking out in places, and this selection of colors. It's radiant! Keep up the great, great work, girl! You are an doing awesome job!

Allie said...

This is so beautiful! Please do keep at it - it will be wonderful. My quilts always end up wonky and I'm coming to terms with it....it's a hobby and I can't forget to enjoy it, or I may as well give it up. And that won't happen, lol!

Mama Spark said...

I think this is marvelous. Are you using a rotary cutter and ruler or trimming and cutting with scissors?
Rotary would make it much easier for you. I hope it works out that you can become part of a quilt group near where you are living too. Keep us informed!

Draffin Bears said...

Hi Faith,

That quilt is lovely and you should be so happy with it.
Sometimes if we put things away and go back to them, you see things with clear eyes and fresh ideas.
Good luck with finding a quilting group in your area, that you can join.

Happy weekend
Hugs
Carolyn

Harmony Hopes Studio said...

You did it girl. A plastic ruler for cutting with a rotary cutter and rotary mat is a wonderful tool for having all your pieces the right size and the 1/4inch quilter's seam is a must. I hope you can find a quilters guild in your area. Quilters are generous at helping each other.
Penny

dianne said...

i think your quilt top is magical! love the colors!

Jenny said...

Faith it's lovely, well done!

Myra said...

Looks great Faith! Don't be so hard on yourself! 8-)

Dolores said...

I'm glad you stuck with it Faith. Just don't be so hard on yourself. Things will work out in the end. Can't wait to see it all done!

Jill said...

I know nothing about quilting but you win my prize for perseverance.looks impressive to me.