QUILTY 365 (March 2016)

March flew by!

 

I was busy tying up loose ends at work

before starting a new job in April.

 

But managed....just!...to keep up with Quilty 365.

It's 125/366 days so far.

Just a few highlights:

Week 14

 

Inspired by a linocut workshop I attended.

 

Chose fabric with prints that look like linocut patterns. 

 

Am thinking of designing/carving my own pattern,

printing on fabric and using them for a quilt.



Week 15

 

These are the oldest fabrics I have in my stash. 



Week 16

 Colours of flowers, trees, berries in the park where I walk almost everyday. 

 

Week 17

An emotional week as I remember this man.



Week 18

 My friend lost her beloved cat, a companion for many years.....so sad.

One more look at the flowers so far:

 

 

~Ema N~

Linking up with QuiltyFolk, host of Quilty365.



QUIILTY 365 (Feb 2016)

 

A total of 92 days so far....

I had such fun doing flowers for February!

 

Let me show you:



Week 10

I love this flower ~ I call it mum's flower.

 

She made clothes using polyester

as they freed her from ironing,

her least favourite household chore.

Week 11

I love this flower too!

 

It captures the festive mood as we celebrate Spring Festival.

 

This is my favourite flower in Quilty 365 so far.



Week 12

 This is the family flower.

 

The colours are off.

 

The sheep is on a pastel blue background.

This fabric used to make PJs for a little one.

 

Next to it, pink flowers are on a pale yellow base.

It made a pretty dress with fitted bodice and gathered skirt.



Week 13

This is the leap year flower. 

 

An extra petal for 29 February.

 

One more look at blooms for the past three months:

 



~Ema N~

Linking up with QuiltyFolk, host of Quilty365.

Photos and text belong to the author of this blog, unless otherwise stated.

Please do not use without permission.

 

QUILTY365 (Jan 2016)

 

This is how it looks after 63 days.

 

The whole cloth backing is slowly filling up.

 

It's less intimidating now.

 

Unlike early December when there was

just one lonely flower on the two-and-a-half yards of cloth.

 

 

 

Week Six

 

Week Seven

 

Tatting ~ I did get two new thread colours: orange and blue.

 

I'm tatting ahead of the applique flowers as it is so portable

and I make one up when I have a few minutes.

 

Week Eight

 

I bought a black fabric inkpad.

 

Inked the back of Mint and Turnera subulata leaves
and pressed them on to a piece of cloth.
 

 Ironed, rinsed and the imprint is still there, I hope permanently.

I like this: it captures a part of my daily environment on fabric.

 

 

Another thing that happened this week: tree trimming.

Good reminder at the start of the year:
  Prune the old to encourage new growth.

Not just physical things but also thoughts, habits.
 

Week Nine

 

One more look at the flowers so far:

 

~Ema N~

Linking up with QuiltyFolk, host of Quilty365.

Photos and text belong to the author of this blog, unless otherwise stated.

Please do not use without permission.



 

QUILTY365 (Dec 2015)

 

The flowers are blooming!

Each one represents a week.

So far, I've kept to two sizes: 24cm/9.5" and 18cm/7".

There is no particular order to the layout of flowers.

It'll all be random.
 

Week One

I found out after applique-ing this first flower that

I had sewn it on the WRONG side of the cloth!

 

So ~ unpicked and re-appliqued this again on the right side.

 

I'm glad I spotted the mistake after the first flower.

Imagine if I'd noticed after the 10th flower!



Week Two



Week Three

The tatted centres are not sewn on yet.

 

I keep changing my mind about which colour to use!

 

They will most likely be the last thing I sew on.
 

Week Four

Week Five

 

Now that the shops are having post-Christmas sales,

I might venture out to buy thread for tatting.

 

Need more colours!
 

One more look at the flowers so far:

Thanks for reading!

~Ema N~

Linking up with QuiltyFolk, host of Quilty365.

Photos and text belong to the author of this blog, unless otherwise stated.

Please do not use without permission.

 

QUILTY365

I'm making flowers for Quilty365.
 

I'll pick fabrics based on what made me happy or what I'm thankful for each day.

 

Each flower will represent a week.
 

 The centre was originally to be a circle applique

but I wanted to have some variety, ie not all fabric.

 

I tried a tatted* motif and like the way it brought the petals together.
 

So all flowers will have tatted centres.
 

It doesn't take long to tat these, so I think it's do-able.

(*Tatting is a method of making lace by hand using a shuttle and thread.)

 

I started on December 1 and here's my week:

 

I'm using a whole piece of cloth as the base fabric.

 

This saves me from having to cut background squares

so I can concentrate on needle-turn applique for the flowers.

 

 

There is two-and-a-half yards of this men's shirting fabric.

 

I had intended to make a shirt dress out of this but never got around to it.

Can't wait to fill it up with happy flowers!
 

~Ema N~

Linking up with QuiltyFolk, host of Quilty365.

Photos and text belong to the author of this blog, unless otherwise stated.

Please do not use without permission.

PATCHWORK PURSES

Recently, a friend asked me to make
a patchwork purse for her birthday.

I was pleasantly surprised!

She had said before that

patchwork is too old fashioned for her  :-)

 

 

This friend and I often get together to bake and have tea.
 

So I fussy cut the lining to reflect our friendship!

 

  

Fabric used was a sweet combination of
gingham, dots, stripes and floral fabrics.

Added the ribbon tab as music is an important part of her life

The recessed zip and bias binding were hand-sewn.

I prefer the look of recessed zips --- it's neater.

 

On the practical side, the sharp end of the zipper pull is hidden
and less likely to scratch other stuff in the bag.

 

(Yes, that's how my mobile phone got its scratches.)
 

Hand-quilted.

 

The larger purse is 16 x 13.5cm, the smaller is 10.5 x 9cm.

Both have a 1cm gusset.
 

 

These purses and this pretty pendant I made were gifted yesterday.

 

Read about the pendant here. 

 

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts' Finish It Up Friday.

~Ema N~

 

 

Photos and text belong to the author of this blog, unless otherwise stated.

Please do not use without permission.

 

FABRIC ON SANDPAPER

 

Every Japanese patchwork book I've read so far

suggests readers place fabric on sandpaper.

This gives a better grip so the cloth does not move about

when drawing in sewing and cutting lines.

I thought that made sense.
 

But did I follow the advice?
 

No.

Earlier this week, I found a piece of fine-grade sandpaper,
a clipboard and a roll of double-sided tape.

  I ran out of excuses.....

 

I now have my very own “sandpaper base for fabric”.

 

It makes me feel very authentic,

like a serious patchwork craftsperson when I use it.

 

:-)

The important thing is, it does make a difference,

especially when working with small scraps of cloth.

I'm pleased I finally got around to doing this.

 

 For future projects, I'm going to tape sandpaper

to the underside of paper templates too.

 

It will grip the fabric and not move about when I trace around it.

 

If and when I really do that, I'd feel even more authentic.

 :-)

~Ema N~

Photos and text belong to the author of this blog, unless otherwise stated.

Please do not use without permission.

 

ENGLISH PAPER PIECED TORTOISE

 

Please meet Ms Pearl, my new animal friend.

 

Can you see what she is reading?

 

It's the dictionary entry for "Slow".

 

Yes, she's my visual reminder to.....

 

.....slow down

 

.....breathe

 

.....smile.

 

 

I just had to add two felt flowers as her accessories.

 

So Frida Kahlo-esque.

 

The flowers are from the needle holder in my sewing box.

 

You might have noticed them in the first slow sewing post here.

 

Ms Pearl's shell is made by English Paper Piecing (EPP) scraps together.

 

Limbs, head and tail were machine-sewn, stuffed with polyfil.

 

Shell and base were hand-stitched together, body stuffed with scraps.

 

The pattern came from Cath Kidston's "Sewing Book".

 

Ms Pearl won't be a pincushion, though.

 

I cannot bear to stick pins into her :-)

 

She will be on my bedside table, where I have a spot for favourite things,

stuff that makes me happy when I see them in the morning and before I go to bed.

 

I leave you with another look at this stylish lady.

 

Linking up with Scraptastic Tuesday.


 

~Ema N~

 

Photos and text belong to the author of this blog, unless otherwise stated.

Please do not use without permission