What’s On Your Workdesk Wedne{Tue}sday

It would seem I am ahead of the game. Not something you’ll hear very often from me.

I taught a class in Mere this morning and after lunch I settled down to make some boxes. All the supplies were together so it made sense to use them before putting away again.

You can’t see from the angle I chose to photograph, but it’s a two part box. The inner ‘drawer’ is made from kraft cardstock and it’s sized to hold three tea lights.

I’m going rogue this week and posting early. It’s OK, Julia said I could.

Hoping I have broken my bloggers block now and aiming to be back real soon.

A Friendship Quilt ~ The Nine Patch Block

I found that there were a lot of tutorials out there for making nine patch blocks using a rotary cutter and ruler, but not much in the way of alternatives. Here’s my attempt at putting one together for anyone who doesn’t have those tools on hand.

Pick your fabrics and iron them. Make yourself a 2.5” square template. I made mine from a cereal packet. Draw around it onto the back of your fabric. I used a Frixion pen, because when you iron it the marks disappear. Pretty cool huh? Cut along the lines as accurately as you can. You’ll need nine squares, but you knew that. Right?

Lay the squares out in your chosen design.

Take the 3 squares in the left hand column and lay them right side down on top of the squares in the middle column.

Sew each pair together with a scant 1/4” seam.

Open out and press, being careful not to stretch the fabric out of shape. I pressed the seam towards the darker half of the block, you can press it open if you prefer.

Now take a square from the remaining right hand column and place right side down on the middle square.

Sew together with the same scant 1/4” seam. I’ve marked a line on the bed of my sewing machine, with masking tape, so that it stays the same throughout.

You should now have 3 rows of 3 joined squares. Press the seams.

At this point I’m hoping that the seams line up pretty well, which they do. Phew!

Now take the top row and place it right side down on the middle row.

Match the raw edges along the top and line up seams. Sew together.

Take the final row of joined squares and place face down on the middle row. Matching the bottom edge and lining up the seams. Sew together.

Open out and press. There you have a nine patch block. It’s not perfect, but I’m OK with that. It’s also not quite as crooked as it looks at the bottom right corner! You can see that the left hand edge is not level all the way down, but it’s more important to me to have the seams lined up in the middle of the block.

Any questions ask away and I’ll do my best to help. I have a Sizzix die that cuts 2.5” squares. If anyone taking part in the Friendship Quilt project, would like some cardboard templates, I’d be happy to send you some. The die also cuts nice neat squares from fabric, if you have a Big Shot. Just sayin’.

If you are planning to make a simpler Four Patch Block, then you would need to cut the fabric into 3.5” squares and join two pairs together using the scant 1/4” seam.

That’s it from me for now. I’m so looking forward to seeing what arrives with Abi over the course of this month.

A Friendship Quilt ~ The Colours

Thirty days hath September….allegedly….and I’d love to know where they went! We’ve been laid low by a nasty virus and it’s taken a while to get back on our feet. Today I’m going to share the colour schemes that everyone has chosen for their patchwork blocks. It’s a lovely selection.

Abi ~ Creating paper Dreams ~ Neutral with pops of colour

Alexa ~ Trimming the Sails ~ Peachy shades

Alison ~ Life in the Slow Lane ~ Teal/turquoise/cream

Amy ~ Over at Our Place ~ Seaside colours, washed and worn: cream, kraft, pale blue, muted denim  Plain fabrics, stripes or spots

Beverly ~ BE Glorious ~ Blues, greens (think Caribbean shades) and orange

Deb ~ Paper Turtle ~ Bright colours

Deb ~ Debs World ~ Spring time colours: pinks, blues and greens

Fiona (me!) ~ Staring at the Sea ~ Anything goes

Jacky ~ Scrappy Jacky ~ Rust/terracotta and greens, but not lime green

Jo ~ Buckingham’s Palace ~ Blue and Yellow with white/cream

Jo ~ Sugar and Scrap ~ Pinks and turquoise

Sian ~ From High in the Sky ~ Creams, whites, tans and linens

As I said in the email, we’ll keep the posting order alphabetical, exactly as it appears here. Abi will be the recipient for this month and Alexa in November. We’ll take a break in December, I’m sure we’ll all have enough going on then. Resuming in January with Alison and Amy will be Miss February.

There are quite a few useful links and tutorials in these two posts from last year. I’ll be back on Monday with tutorials for a basic nine patch and four patch. Those I have found online all involve rotary cutting, which I’m assuming beginner quilters will not have the equipment for. Don’t worry they can be made using scissors instead.

If you’ve already started, just remember your finished block must measure 6.5” no matter what design you’ve chosen to make. Have fun with it.

Summer Scavenger hunt Round Up #3

Squeezing in under the wire, with the last of my scavenged photos.

12. A cloud in the shape of something

I’m going with the disappearing dragon as I’ve found nothing better. Not for the want of trying!

16. A windmill

At Bristol airport.

17. Candles

My boy on his sixteenth birthday

18. Your local pub/bar, coffee house or tea shop

A favourite Sixth Form hang out recently revisited.

19. A fisherman

He’s caught a fish in his hat. Does that make him a fisherman?

20. A dinosaur

The rarely seen Gromitasaurus.

21. A photo of you with an artistic tool

I don’t do much without this!

That’s it. Almost a full set. I’m not counting the dodgy fisherman. Thank you Rinda for keeping us entertained this summer with your brilliant Photo Scavenger Hunt. Looking forward to the next one.

A Friendship Quilt ~ The Basics

I can’t tell you how delighted I am that so many people wanted to join this project and that some of you are giving patchwork a try for the very first time. There aren’t many rules involved, only that the finished blocks need to be 6 1/2” square. They can be made to any design you like and that will depend on the individual stitcher.

I’m (fairly sure) that I’m going to stick with the basic Nine Patch for everyone. My plan is to make two blocks, one for the person whose month it is, in their chosen colour scheme, and a second matching block to keep myself. I’ll then have 24 blocks at the end of the year, which will make a larger quilt.

You could choose to go a little simpler and make a Four Patch block. You would need four 3 1/2” squares for this one and in each case the seam allowance would be 1/4” to give you a 6 1/2” block once it was sewn together.

Thanks to everyone who has sent me their address details and colour schemes so far, there are some lovely choices among them. I’m already dreaming up a few ideas. I’ll get the list together as soon as I’ve heard from everyone. As for me, I’m going for the pot luck option and trust that it will be wonderful when it’s all sewn up.

I’m putting together a couple of tutorials for these basic blocks. Showing how I would do it with a ruler and rotary cutter and how it can be done just as easily with a pencil, scissors and cereal packet templates.

Have a lovely weekend.

What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday #224

It’s going to be very short and sweet from me today. My girl has kindly allowed me to share the drawings I mentioned last week. For her Art homework she had to produce three A3 portraits. One of herself, a friend and a family member.

Here’s my girl….

….and her friend.

Both produced at the kitchen table, just not by me! My boy was not keen to have his portrait shared as he thinks he looks like a girl in it!

Head over to Julia’s place if you’d like to see what everyone else is sharing today.

A Friendship Quilt Around the World

I’ve been toying with an idea for a long time, after seeing the many beautiful patchwork quilts, made by sewing bee groups, on Flickr. I’ve wanted to have a go, but all the participants seem to be experienced and the blocks they contribute are often quite intricate designs, as specified by each member of the group.

All a bit scary for a novice. They must have started somewhere though so I came up with a plan for a virtual sewing bee of my own. I sent out a few emails to blog friends just to see if there would be any interest in such a project. I didn’t want to blog all about it and then find nobody wanted to take part. To my surprise almost everyone said, “Yes!” and we now have a group of twelve ready to begin this year long venture.

Abi ~ Creating paper Dreams

Alexa ~ Trimming the Sails

Alison ~ Life in the Slow Lane

Amy ~ Over at Our Place

Beverly ~ BE Glorious

Deb ~ Paper Turtle

Deb ~ Debs World

Fiona (me!) ~ Staring at the Sea

Jacky ~ Scrappy Jacky

Jo ~ Buckingham’s Palace

Jo ~ Sugar and Scrap

Sian ~ From High in the Sky

The idea is that everyone in the group will be assigned a month and will choose their preferred colour scheme. During that month everyone else will make a block for that person to their own design. Allowing for the fact that we all have different levels of sewing experience. Many of us have never made patchwork before. I didn’t want anyone to feel put off by that. We all have to start somewhere, right?

You don’t need any fancy equipment. A pair of decent scissors, pins and some neutral coloured thread should suffice. I imagine most people will sew their blocks on a machine, but they could be sewn by hand if that suits you better. The blocks can be anything from the simplest four patch to something a bit more challenging. Whatever you feel comfortable with. I want it to be fun, not stressful.

For now all I need you to do is decide on a colour scheme. This could be fairly specific eg blue and yellow or shades of blue, more general eg Autumnal or Summery colours, or you could just embrace the hotch potch nature of patchwork and go for the ‘pot luck’ option. Your choice entirely.

I also need an address from everyone so that I can make up a master list to send out to all the participants. If everyone could contact me by the end of the week with posting/mailing details (including surname) and a preferred colour scheme, that would be great. I can’t wait to get started.

I’ll be back soon with more info, useful links and some tutorials that may be of help.

PS If anyone reading this post is interested in the idea of a virtual quilting bee, I’d be happy to organise another group.