Post-Operative Stitches

I have a couple of finishes to share today.  My toe operation was put back by a day and so I had a free day to sew on Tuesday.  I finished my Malta cloth and a little bracelet bag (a kit from EuroJapan Links).

The Malta cloth, "Going Up, Coming Down",  has been a long project.  It started with cloth weaving when I did an online workshop with Jude Hill.  Over two trips to Malta I have added the embellishments, using up cycled fabrics, buttons and embroidery and lace, ribbon and thread bought on the island.  It is finally finished and I am finally happy with it.  I find it difficult to know when a piece like this is finished.  Posts about the project is progress can be found here, here, and here.  I used the piece of eco-dyeing that I did in Malta as the backing and bordered it with a batik to represent the island being in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.  I couched a bright cord within the border to represent the many festas and the big carnival that takes place on Malta.

This little bag was quick and straightforward to make.  I bought it as a kit but I think I will be using the pattern again and again.  It's a good size for a little portable project carrier and could easily be made larger to use as a toiletries bag for example.  I didn't quilt the bag but with a plain fabric I think quilting or sashiko would be very effective.

The bracelet bag is photographed against the piece I have been working on this morning.  As well as preparing the boro cloth to stitch during my convalescence I have this lovely piece of dyed cloth to stitch into.  It is a piece of kimono silk that I eco-dyed with Nat in Fujino, using moss, leaves and bark that I collected when we visited a shrine in the foothills of Mount Fuji.

So far I have simply back stitched the outline of the mountain in various places on the cloth using silk threads.  The bottom collection of peaks are stitched in a lovely thread that Carin sent me, it is a very fine perle thread and the green is perfect with the dyed fabric.  The paler threads at the top are YLI and Daruma silks.  I shall also be using some heavier threads that Blandina gave me when we were in Fujino so this is going to be another piece that is full of memories.  I think about those people and places as I stitch.

Not that stitching is that easy.  I thought I would have lovely long days of sitting with my foot up and sewing away to my heart's content.  At the moment I am finding it very hard to concentrate for very long and need to have frequent rests.  I'm sure this will improve, especially when I can manage with fewer painkillers, they make me even more ga-ga than usual!!  Wishing you a wonderful weekend, especially if you're in UK and have three days :-)

More Fabric Postcards

I had a lovely surprise parcel today from Catherine in New Zealand.  I joined her in a PIF and this lovely pincushion arrived today with some pins and needles.  Thanks Catherine, I love it.

Several people have said they are looking forward to seeing the quilt I'm working on for my daughter.  It's not ready to share yet but here's a quick teaser:

Over the past couple of days I've made a set of fabric postcards for the November swap at BQLPC.  The theme was "Something Black and or White" and as I have been working at the cloth weaving online workshop with Jude Hill  I decided to use that technique for the cards.

I'm pleased with the results.  I used a pair of wool trousers and a linen shirt, both from Oxfam, for the fabrics and added buttons and large handstitching.  They were fun to do (except my machine decided to throw a wobbly when I was stitching the edges).

Have a great weekend everybody and enjoy the fireworks.  I'm off to the Autumn Quilt Show at Chilford.

Pairing Up Workshop and More Cloth to Cloth

I recently enjoyed a workshop at Sew Creative (Wroxham Barns, Norfolk), called "Pairing Up" and tutored by Jane Bottamley. 
The idea was to create secondary patterns by using two patchwork blocks combined and paying attention to the colours and values used.  Jane brought some samples along, plus handouts for all the combinations she shared with us.
This was the design I had expected to do, Sawtooth Star and Churn Dash blocks.  I decided against it as it was the one with the smallest blocks and most pieces and I wasn't exactly running on full power!

I liked the simplicity of this combination of  Hourglass and Framed Four Patch.

The design I settled on was this pairing of Snowball and Framed Square.  I think I may well have been influenced by the colour combination Jane had used and the oriental look of the trellis-style secondary pattern.  I can certainly see myself doing this design using some of my Japanese fabrics.

As well as the handouts Jane had prepared samples to show how each block was constructed (and shared some good tips with us too).  She also gave us "blank" designs which we coloured in to develop our patterns.  Don't you just love it when a tutor is good?

Snowball block - without bias seams :)

Framed Square - without set in seams :)

Here's a close up of Jane's sample so you can see the details of the two blocks.

I worked much more slowly than usual as the workshop was my first "outing" after my stay in hospital but I managed to complete two rows of five blocks.  I've done some more at home and I'll share the finished project as soon as possible. 
I'm also working on Jude's Cloth to Cloth online workshop.  Today I've done some shaped weaving which has been interesting.  All samples, nothing finished but here's one piece (only pinned and tacked), I'm not sure where it's leading yet.

And this checkerboard style piece is destined to become a fabric postcard.

Starting the Cloth to Cloth Workshop

I want to share what I've been doing in the Cloth to Cloth workshop with Jude Hill which started this week.  We have a private blog for the class but you can get an idea of the exciting and innovative work Jude does by looking at her Spirit Cloth blog.
I read through all the class notes and the first lesson in bed last night and watched the videos again.  Then I tried to sleep.  Even though I was feeling shattered my brain was full of ideas and plans for cloth weaving.  I suppose it would have been a good idea to get up, get wrapped in a cosy dressing gown and do a little bit of cloth-making (I could have included it in my Friday Night Sew-In) but as it was dark and cold I really thought trying to sleep was my best option!
Anyway, this morning I made a start.  I have to say this is way, way, way out of my comfort zone.  Jude is encouraging us to recycle fabrics, to tear and rip, to leave gaps, to mix fabric types, weights and styles.  It's almost too much for my controlling brain.
I rummaged in my scraps basket and decided to start with some pieces leftover from a jellyroll.  These are all cotton, colour-coordinated and therefore not too challenging and a good way to get to grips with the cloth weaving technique.  This is what I did:

The weaving is pinned on a base of muslin and I'm now thinking about stitching and embellishing and particularly using all those little frames the weaving has created.

I then decided I was up to a bit of ripping!  I would make a very small cloth, with some real scraps.  The first piece I ripped stretched and twisted.  What did I do?  I ironed it!  Oh for goodness sake Lis!  I have a few frayed edges in this little piece and after pinning it I enjoyed stitching in in a fairly random way.  Again I want to add to those little frames.  I'm not sure about the places where I have longer frames with the same fabric in the warp and weft, they'll be an extra element to the finished cloth.

In the spirit of recycling DH has sorted me out some of his old shirts.  I had asked for them because Jude suggested they are good for backing fabric, being used and soft.  I'm thinking I will use them to weave.  I have a mixture of fabrics, including cotton and silk but a limited colour palette (the colours Al likes of course) and I'm imagining a treasure box of a collection from the beach in all those greys, blues and turquoises.  Shells, seaweed, feathers and foam, waves and wind blowing though the woven cloth.  Oh, I feel all poetic! I'll see what occurs after I've had a lie down in a darkened room, this can't be happening to me.

Hesitation, then a Decision

I'm about to do something rather different for me and have been thinking about it for a while and then decided to jump in, all needles and scissors blazing.
I'm going to do an online course with Jude Hill at Spirit Cloth.  The course begins in September and runs for four weeks, it is called Cloth to Cloth and is a re-run of the over-subscribed course Jude ran earlier in the year.
Her courses are unusual, challenging and interesting, have a look at Jacky's blog to see what she's been doing on two other Spirit Cloth workshops and get a teasing view of the original Cloth to Cloth in the second part of this post by Nat.  I think these classes will take me out of my comfort zone, I like to be in control and Jude seems to do a lot of "what iffing".  I'll share my experiences here and I believe there are a couple of places left for the Cloth to Cloth course if you are tempted, plus other things coming along in the future.
If you get Quilting Arts magazine you'll find an article by Jude Hill in the current (August/September) issue.