Index Card a Day Challenge (ICAD) 2022 - Week 3

Week three of this challenge is done  - the time is going fast!  Above there is (from top left): Mix and Match (I did some paper weaving); Jukebox; Mango (with a gel print background) and Bitmap or Half Tone. 

Here is Selvedge (I scanned some of my material stash into the computer) ; Ouija Board and Solstice.  Again, all pretty literal interpretations, but enjoyable to do nonetheless.

Finished - at last!

Here is my patchwork quilt, almost finished and ready for binding.  I don't know how people manage to quilt a big quilt on a domestic sewing machine because I did struggle fitting this small quilt through, even though I rolled it up and everything! (Many choice words were muttered under my breath!) The walking foot was brilliant with the straight line quilting and I was pleased with the result.

 Here's the back, ready for binding.

 Someone (I'm looking at you, Scruffy!) decided that the quilt would make an extremely comfortable bed.

 No, he wasn't going to move...at all!
The binding went remarkably smoothly, owing to my little Accuquilt Go Baby machine which cut beautiful straight strips for me.  So, here's the finished quilt (I need a drum roll or something).

Hmm...I was trying to artistically drape the quilt over the wall, but it just looks a bit crumpled.

 Here it is laid out on the sitting room floor.

Here's the back.  Choosing a nice patterned material disguises any wobbly stitching lines.

So, what have I learnt from this project?

• I don't like rotary cutting, which is a real skill.  If you don't cut accurately, you can't sew accurately.  This may well curtail any thoughts I had about attempting other quilts
• I would not want to attempt to quilt anything bigger than this quilt myself. (It is about 32 inches square)
• I like using the Accuquilt cutting machine
• I enjoyed making and sewing the binding on
• I still like the materials used in this quilt
• I am not a perfectionist, which is a slight disadvantage with quilt making.  I am much more of the 'oh, that'll do' school of sewing 
• I may attempt another quilt one day, using strips, but won't be quilting it myself, unless it is by hand

The biggest positive is that I am proud of myself for completing this project, my first patchwork quilt, and on the whole, I am pleased with the end result.

My first visit to Hull (or Kingston-upon-Hull to give the proper name) and Hull Scrapstore

Humber Bridge (photo from Wikipedia)

We headed to Hull last Saturday to visit the Scrapstore (more about it here) as we had seen a visit on a blog (Life without Money - see the post here) and it had whetted our appetite.  It was the first time I had travelled over the Humber Bridge which seemed to go on for miles and was really impressive.  On a sunny day, I imagine the views are wonderful.  Sadly, as it was raining when we went, our views were limited.

The Scrapstore was an Aladdin's cave full of all sorts of bits and pieces from cardboard tubes to paper and card to a room full of fabric remnants and an art department.  While you can fill a basket for £5.00 in the main room, the art materials are individually and competitively priced.  Chris bought some more materials for puppet making.  I was quite impressed with myself as I was quite restrained.  Here's what I came home with:

 Some sequin waste, gummed brown paper (which I use for stretching paper prior to watercolouring) and three curtain samples which I think will make great bags or cushion covers.  The retro looking rose patterned one we both spotted in the video made by Ilona from Life Without Money and I was really pleased that it was still there and almost pounced on it!

While this photo looks rather underwhelming, it represents really good value for money. Hand made paper from India in A2 size (at least) for 10 pence a sheet.   Of course, we bought 10 sheets, well, why wouldn't we?

We had rather a detour on the way back as we went round by Goole, missing going back over the bridge (which I was a bit disappointed about).  Still, there's always another time.

There are Scrapstores around the UK - there may be one near you.

Making a start with organising - a slip case for my stamping press

I have many stashes for my many craft hobbies - sewing, papercrafting, jewellery making, felt making, printing etc.  These are spread over three rooms in the house; two bedrooms and the sitting room.  (This is why we need a bigger house with a dedicated craft room - perhaps one day).  I have various storage boxes, sets of drawers and shelves which are all pretty full.  

I have recently bought a craft bag for my basic papercrafting tools which will be carried from upstairs when I need to make something.  My stamping press (above) is one of those tools which will live in the bag (it is a great tool for stamping which I wouldn't be without, particularly for layered stamps which can be difficult to line up by eye).  However, I felt it needed a padded bag to protect it, so I made a pattern and found some material.  I decided that the inside would need to have wadding so was able to use the even feed or walking foot on my sewing machine for the first time.  As the name suggests, it is for feeding material evenly through the feed dogs - made for quilting with all the layers. 

 Once I had worked out how to attach the foot (that took a couple of goes as the instructions were not very helpful), off I went. 

  It was really easy to use and did a great job.  Had this been quilting which would have been seen, it would have been measured and sewn accurately, but this was the lining, so I just did it by eye.

 I used thin polyester wadding but in hindsight, probably should have used either a thicker one or a cotton/polyester mix one for best results.

 Still, it worked - no puckering on the sewing at all.

 So here is the finished slipcase (you'll have to take my word for it that the lining is inside as you can't see it from the outside!)  Chris suggested a velcro strap just to make sure the press won't fall out, so I added that on.

I am really pleased with the end result.  My new work bag is the next project.

Sewing Projects...and plans

Sewing has taken over a bit recently as I have lots of projects in my head. In fact, I have had to start a hobby notebook which so far has sewing project ideas, wish lists of plants and wish lists of more crafting goodies.  However, I am gradually  making progress on the sewing list front.  I have finally finished my cat cushion cover which has turned out just as I'd hoped.  The centre panel is a screen print onto calico, surrounded by a cat print material which I love as it makes me smile.

The back is a simple envelope  but shows off the fabric nicely.

This tunic dress has featured on my blog several times and I am finally happy with it and actually wearing it now.  It was too short originally and I made it with puffed sleeves which weren't very comfortable.  I changed the pattern to sleeveless and lengthened the hem, covering the seams with blue bias binding.  However, it was then too long and I didn't like the bias binding much.  As a last attempt, I took off the binding, shortened it a bit, and covered the bottom with cotton lace.  Now I am finally happy!

I have also finished my second Cleo pinafore.  I stuck to the seam allowances more this time so it is a little slimmer than the first one, but still comfortable and loose to wear.  The buttonholes went really well too - no unpicking needed this time!

 Here's the back.  I have worn it once so far.  It will be great for Autumn.

Here's the material for the next Cleo pinafore (it is a little bluer in real life) and then I would like a denim version.

 I also bought this sheep fabric to make a new bag for work, probably using denim for the bottom panels and this for the top/

How can you not love a stripy sheep?

My next projects are these.  Two (hopefully) simple summer tunic dresses.  I have had the patterns for a while but have never got around to making them.  I will make a toile version first, just to get the hang of the patterns and to adjust the fit - I have narrow shoulders so will probably need to adjust the pattern a bit. 

 Here are the fabrics for one of them - I really like the cheerful little birds and thought they would look great as a contrast hem or pockets or sleeves (or all three).

I saw this magnolia fabric and just had to buy it.  It may be the main fabric or a contrast - I haven't quite decided that yet.  So, plenty to keep me busy and I do need to get on with the summer dresses - I need them for work!

Stitching Santa 2017

I took part in Stitching Santa, organised by Sheila at Sewchet, which was a new blog exchange to me.  We were given a recipient's details and our details were given to someone else, so it was a big surprise to all of us.  My sender was Nikki from SewingNikki and she was so incredibly generous.  I have been so lucky with all the swaps/exchanges I have taken part in and it is lovely to know that there are so many kind and generous people out there in Blogland.  My parcel arrived and I had to leave it alone until Christmas Day.

 On opening it, there was a beautifully decorated box, adorned with all kinds of pretty ornaments.

Inside was tissue paper, held together with sewing related stickers. 

 Inside that, was a beautifully made bag and under that...

 ...was all this!  What a treasure trove of sewing goodness! Stickers, decorations, wool, a pack of material to make a cushion, an embroidery hoop, a pattern to make bags, a tape measure, some flowery organza type material and a jar of trimmings.

 I love the sheep fabric for the cushion - just gorgeous.

 Definitely an embarrassment of riches.

Wasn't I lucky?

This was what was in the jar - an array of trimmings and haberdashery (I love that word!).  A HUGE THANK YOU to Nikki for her amazing gifts, her generosity and kindness.  I love it all and will enjoy using it over the next year(s).

My recipient was Kimberley from Creative Chaos, who lives in New Zealand.  I had been partnered with her before, so had an idea of the things she liked. I have already shown the fabric box I made for her.

 Here are the other things I included: a felt heart with a pearl charm, some hot chocolate, some red and orange patterned cotton material, some gingham ribbon, a spoon rest/tea bag rest, a reel of sewing thread, some notelets (as I knew she liked stationery) and a little notebook as I also knew she would be starting a teaching degree at University and thought it might come in handy.

Here are the parcels ready to go. They arrived safely and I received a lovely thank you card with two little gifts from her.
It was a lovely swap/exchange to be involved with and I really enjoyed taking part.  Thanks to Sheila for the expert organising.

Send a Little Love Swap 2017

I have just taken part in Tracy (at Mad About Bags') 'Send a Little Love' swap 2017.  I have taken part in this swap for several years and always enjoy it.  This year I was partnered up with Pilar from Cenefas de Flores who is from Barcelona.  We were given some guidelines with this swap:

"The idea of this swap is to send 5 things to include :

Some sewing or yarny notions that have a love theme

Something heart shaped or themed

Something deliciously edible

Something handmade

Something red "

So, we emailed and looked at each other's blogs, as usual, to pick up some clues and then we got making and swapping.  My parcel from Spain arrived and it was the hardest thing not to peek before grand opening day, although I did manage to leave it alone until then.  As you can see from the top photo, I had been sent the most beautifully packaged gifts.  I loved the floral tissue paper with the labels.

Here's what was inside...wow!  There was ribbon, lip balm, heart shaped decorations, rose scented flower petals, violet flavoured sweets, heart shaped buttons, pompoms, red flower linen material, two beautifully made cross stitched pin cushions/decorations, a fridge magnet and two recipes.

 I was, yet again, extremely lucky.

 She had been so generous.

 Aren't these absolutely stunning? I found out that the little black cat was inspired by Scruffy.

The wooden decorations will be added to my seasonal tree stash.  Thank you Pilar (she has put her post up about the swap too) at Cenefas de Flores so much for all the lovely gifts - they are fantastic - you were an amazing swap partner. 

So here's what I sent to her.  The heart swap things are on the left, including heart bunting, heart cutters, love heart sweets, heart ribbon and washi tape, a felt heart (of course), a heart mug and a polymer clay and gemstone bookmark.  On the right are the extras, a UK cross stitch magazine, some pearl earrings and some wooden pegs.

 Here's the heart things...

...and the extras.  I did wrap them in heart wrapping paper, but forgot to take a photo before I packaged it all up.  Thanks to my lovely swap partner and also to Tracy for doing the organising. 

Scruffy enjoyed playing in the wrapping paper, but of course he moved when he saw the camera and although he does actually have his eyes open in this photo (amazingly), he is studiously ignoring looking at the camera.