At last, a chance to sit down and write a post. Another month has passed and so much has happened. I have been away twice, to Wales and to Scotland, and have spent the whole of the past week on admin when I would much rather have been sewing.
Still, I can show you lots of photos, even if not all my work. My young students have been coming to me once a week for over a year and I am pleased to be able to show you their recent finished projects.
Here are Miriam's matched pair of cushions, her first commission; the brief was blue and white with some red, for a holiday cottage, and I think these fit the bill perfectly.
Since they each made their first full size quilt back in the early summer (see this post), the girls have been working on a variety of small blocks. They chose the ones they liked best from the 3" blocks I have made for the 365 Challenge (which still isn't finished, alas - I have rather gone off the boil).
The idea was to grow their skills by making sampler blocks but without having to make another big quilt just yet. So they started off just making a few of each sort of block from the ten or so designs they had chosen without any very clear idea of what they would do with the blocks.
They had a chance to try different ways of colouring the same designs to achieve a completely different look, so it was a good way to learn how important value and contrast are in patchwork. Because the blocks were small and relatively quick to make it stayed a fun project, and it was OK to abandon the ones which didn't work so well as not much fabric was 'wasted'.
As the weeks went by the question became, what do you want to do with all the cute little blocks?
And here's the answer - Sophie made a cover for her sewing machine with her forty five blocks (displayed here on my machine, there is a row you cannot see very well along the top):
Sophie fussy cut and matched the end panels and quilted them to increase stability. She then finished the external seams with white binding to match the narrow sashing between the blocks.
Miriam made a capacious bag for all her sewing stuff with forty 3" blocks and chose a really jazzy fabric for the lining, sides and handles which pulls the colours in the blocks together:
I hope you agree, both projects are a great success and have developed their skills both in accurate block making and in construction of useful items. I am really proud of them both and so enjoy their lively company on a Friday afternoon. Next project? Miles of rainbow bunting: stay tuned...
And now for some holiday snaps and my finish for Finish it up Friday with Crazy Mom Quilts.
We had a week's holiday in Wales early in September, in a cottage in a quiet valley near Abergavenny.
This was the owners' house, a traditional Welsh farmhouse dating back to the 16th century. We stayed in The Old Stable next door: you can just see the wall in the corner of the photo.
It is not an area we have previously visited and we loved the hills and tranquillity, just what we needed at the time. Apart from walking every day we just pottered around, and enjoyed the peace and quiet.
I hand sewed the binding on this small quilt made from spare HSTs which had been kicking around for ages (mentioned in the second half of this post).
Simply quilted and hung on the door of The Old Stable, it's good to have a finish, however small. Better than a bag of bits in the cupboard anyway.
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