Back in the (sewing) saddle again

[Not my quilt! - read on]

After an interlude far too long to dwell on, I am finally back sewing and blogging.  A variety of tasks and activities have kept me away from my machine, some pleasant, some less so, but it feels  good to have spent a few days at last with fabric, needle and thread and I wanted to share what I have been doing: HAND PIECING!!!

Yes, I know - you can't chain piece by hand, but months ago I had booked two workshops by Karen Styles of Somerset Patchwork which were held at Cowslip Workshops last week.  Having enjoyed Karen's classes last August (and despite having made no progress at all on the quilts I started then...) I signed up and arranged our family holiday in North Cornwall to fit the dates...

Here is the view from Cowslip across the valley to Launceston Castle.  As you can see, our glorious and uncharacteristically hot summer has ended (we were 75 days without rain in Surrey) and the weather was much more typical of a usual August.  I love this scene, whatever the weather, and we were happily sewing so who cares if the sun is shining...

We stayed in a remote 17th century National Trust cottage down a very steep track in the Valency Valley, near Boscastle.  It was so quiet and peaceful, no WiFi or mobile phone signal, perfect for recharging human batteries.  For literary fans, I walked the dog up the valley to St Juliot Church where Thomas Hardy met and courted his first wife, Emma Gifford.

The quilt at the top of this page, Robin's Nest, is the one I was particularly attracted to making as it seemed to me there was quite a lot I could machine piece.  I do like intricate traditional quilts but I have to be realistic about how much time I have (not a lot recently, alas) so my sewing machine is always the tool of choice.

Here are a couple of closeups of Karen's beautiful quilt to show some of the elements:

and here is what I managed to make in the course of the day:

It may not look like much but I was quite pleased as it isn't always easy to achieve a lot in a class situation where there is a lot going on (not just chat!) and new ideas to absorb. 

I machine pieced the small red stars (3" finished) and set them into a ring with 60 degree triangles.  I handpieced the triangles to the stars which didn't take long: Karen advised it is easier to manage the angles by hand, especially with relatively small pieces, and had lots of tips for handpiecing which made it really straightforward and accurate.

I have since made twelve small blue stars which I will piece into the outer ring with brown triangles and then set the two rings together.  I also cut lots of diamonds for the diamond border and the outermost six-pointed star border and I glue basted some of the leftover scraps on to half inch hexagon papers.  These are pretty small but so cute!

I hand pieced the stars: Karen showed us how to spin/fan the seam allowances for flat centres and how to stitch so as to ensure there are no little holes in the middle where the diamonds meet.

So I am starting to get some of the elements together; maybe it is not such a daunting prospect after all?  Watch this space...

But I am also hoping (what an optimist!) to work on another Karen Styles quilt: Circle of Sisters:

This was the second class I attended and it complemented the first day perfectly as we worked on hand piecing six-pointed stars which of course form the outer border of the Robin's Nest quilt.

Here are closeups of some of Karen's fabulous blocks which I think are about 16" across:

The quilt is based on an original which Karen owns, and there is plenty of scope to play with the placement of fabrics to create different effects. 

Here is what I managed to do on the day:

I really enjoyed the handpiecing and have done some more in the past couple of days.  The surprise is, when you are all set up and have done the preparation (which admittedly isn't the most exciting part), the actual sewing isn't all that slow.  However there are 1600 pieces in this quilt, so it may still take a while...

I am also be inspired to make some smaller six pointed stars as Karen's little ones are so delicious, and the occasional use of fussy cutting makes them even more adorable:

and to try the 365 tiny blocks in the Star a Day quilt:

Also on my 'one day' list is the fabulous Mrs Billings quilt which Karen has assured me I CAN machine piece (apart from the hexagons):

So here is the amazing lady who has made all these quilts, and whose excellent teaching, pattern writing and the provision of precise templates have made the designs accessible to and possible for the rest of us.  Thank you, Karen, for a terrific two days of classes.

I won't be changing the name of this blog any time soon but I will be making time for some handpiecing as well.   Enjoy your sewing this weekend!