Cath Kidston lunch Bags

I loved Cath Kidston fabric even before I knew who she was. Back in 2003 there was this gorgeous pop paisley fabric selling in IKEA for £2.50 a meter. If I knew then what I know now, I'd have bought bolts of it! Even so I did by several meters and used it to make my first Project Linus quilt which was machine quilted on a table top frame. It was so pretty I made another so I could give it to my daughter and enjoy it around the house.

On Saturday I wanted to make something that I could finish in an hour. And the girls lunch bags were getting rather tatty - so I decided to use my precious Cath Kidston scraps and whip up a couple of lunch bags. I adaped the stlye of the old bags and re used the ties at the top. The girls were 'chuffed' (fun English slang word meaning really pleased!) Now I get a bit of Cath Kidston to brighten up my morning lunch making routine. My 17 year old son, commented that they were 'really sweet' and added that he'd rather just keep using his old bag. Vive la différence!

Grateful

On this day in 1989 my husband asked me to marry him, while I was in the basement doing laundry. Twenty one years and six children later, not to mention thousands of laundry loads, I'm still glad that I said yes.

Today on the 'other side of the pond' it's American Thanksgiving. I'm reminded to count my blessings and I think that perhaps happiness has little to do with getting what we want and everything to do with being grateful for what we have.

Deep AND Wide

One of the reasons that I love my JUKI TL-98P is that when they made the throat of the machine longer they made it taller too. Many of the other longer armed domestic machines on the market are only longer. Now long is good. I love having those 2 extra inches. In fact they seemed like miles more room when I first switched over. But once you put a sewing machine on a machine quilting frame the height of the arm really makes a difference.

It matters, as you can see in the photo because the first fabric bar is going under the arm of the machine. And as the quilting progresses the fabric rolls on to this bar and the roll gets bigger. That's where the height comes in handy. The JUKi TL98-P is 2 inches longer AND taller. The extra inches don't matter much when you're starting out. But they make a big difference as you come to the end.

Rosie's Fibonacci

Yea! I'm finally finished Rosie's fibonacci. Rosie and Emily share a room. I finished Emily's fibonacci last summer. Rosie's is quite similar, just a little more pink! One of the best parts of starting a quilting project is choosing the threads. I love getting all the threads out that might go and auditioning them against the fabric.















Here I'm using a no mark free-motion line design which I call the 'Ripple Stipple' I like using lots of different threads which end up looking like sunlight on water.

Full Circle: Helen Deighan's Coil Baskets

Last spring I came across a neat basket tutorial from V and Co. I'd been wanting to make something like it for years and was thrilled to find such easy to follow directions.Well, I did make one and I loved it but it took ages. I was hoping that there was a quicker way to do it. Later in the year I visited a gal who was 'dispersing' her quilting stash. She was so generous selling her fabrics and books for a song. Anyway, there was a book that showed some directions for stitching baskets together by machine. It looked promising. But other projects got in the way, as they do. Yesterday at the Knitting and Stitching Show, I came across a stand where the gal was demonstrating how to do it by machine. How cool is that! Anyway I started asking questions and Helen told me that she was the person who came up with the technique. Then I received my very own personal tutorial. Now I can't wait to get started. When I came home, I got out the book and guess who the author was? That's right, the very same Helen Deighan!

In the stripy purple basket base above, Helen is wrapping a strip of purple and white fabric around a special firm but flexible cording that she has made in specially China for these coil pots and baskets. She uses the little yellow bulldog chip to hold the fabric in place as she zigzags the layers together.

Here's the package. You can order this directly from Helen's website: http://www.crosswayspatch.co.uk/

Another method was to cover the cording like piping. In the photo below, Helen is using hand dyed yarn to wrap the seam allowance around the cording. I just love how this looks like braided rag rugs.















In this photo, Helen is showing how to shape the sides of the pot by flipping it up with one hand as she zigzags. There are some more detailed 'hints' about this on Helen's website.
















Finally, here's a gorgeous bag that Helen's created using hand dyed fabrics. I can't wait to have a go! Interested? Visit Helen's website for information, tips, gallery, books and workshops.

The Knitting and Stitching Show

We just got back from the Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate. If you're not from these parts, Harrogate is a small town in the north of England. And the Knitting and Stitching show is more geared to textile artists, beaders and papercrafters than quilters. It was a school trip arranged by the textile teacher and my two younger daughters and their friends came along. The girls had a great time and happily there were just enough fabric stands to empty my pockets. The exhibitions were great. Where else could you see a life size knitted fishing boat?

The girls enjoyed having their lunch in style in one of the boxes at the Theatre Royal! Quite the stunning venue. One of my favourite parts was the private tutorial from Helen Deighan. But I'll save that for tomorrow.

Texture Magic Teaser

Here's another of Bronwyn's Texture Magic teasers. Once more she's used a variety of fabrics, many hand dyed. Using a different colourway, Bronwyn is experimenting to see what happens when she uses different fabrics and stitches with the Texture Magic. Clicking the image will give you a good close up of the results. Texture artists would consider this a first step in the design process of a larger work. I think it's pretty neat in its own right. But it has served the purpose of generating lots of ideas for future undertakings.