Happy New Year!

 

Our five year old granddaughter was here today and disappeared into "her" room for a few minutes. This was her Mummy's (our daughter's) room but DGG has it as her room now, full of our children's toys and books and where she sleeps when she stays over with us.

 

After they left I found this message she has left for us, spelt out from a box of plastic letters.

So I am passing her message on to you.

 

I hope 2016 will be a good year, full of good health and happiness and lots of sewing too!

 

I have been looking back at a post I wrote in January 2015  .......... I am still getting used to the idea that 2015 is now "last year".

 

I cleaned out my Sewing Room and found various WIPs which I said I would finish.  How successful was I?

 

On the positive side I completed an almost finished quilt top which made a nice quilt that I gifted in June to baby Rebecca.

 

 

I used a lot of the strips and squares I cut from scraps .................... and have cut loads more to add to stash!

However, on the negative side my Project Packs have remained untouched, also most of the packs of blocks I found during my Big Sort Out. 

 

As a result I already have lots of old WIPs that must get finished in 2106. I hope.

 

However I have accomplished a lot this year:

 

• Made 9 quilts, 8 of which have been gifted.  There is one Baby Boy quilt waiting to be given to the next baby boy that appears.
• I made and gifted 17 different small projects, knitted as well as sewed items.
• I made and gifted 2 lots of Charity Blocks.
• Took part in 2 Group Quilt for members of my Patchwork Group.

So, all in all 2015 was a busy and successful time on the crafting front.

Here's to 2016!

 

And the Last will be First

My last finish of 2014 is becoming my first gift of 2015.

Another little needlecase made using the excellent tutorial from  Amy's nanacompany.typepad.com

I have altered Amy's design a little by adding two thin ribbon strings which tie in a bow, instead of the button and loop which Amy did.

As I like to try to keep my stash and projects organised I have a Needlecase Pack containing the instructions, suitable pieces of thin ribbon, the Strawberry template, fusible webbing and scraps of fabric for the strawberry and leaf, the fronts and inside of the needlecase and 1.5" squares already cut for the patchwork. Then it's easy to grab the pack and make another little needlecase!

And here it is, opened up to show the patchwork back.

This one is a little "Thank you" for Teresa Rawson (her blog is fabrictherapy.BlogSpot.com)

I entered Teresa's Giveaway in mid December and won!  The prize was a great magazine, one I have seen mentioned in lots of blogs: Quiltmakers 100 Blocks which looks a great resource to have on the bookshelves in my Sewing Room.  So, thank you, Teresa.  The Strawberry needlecase will be in the post to you tomorrow.

I love these little needlecases and have now made quite a few which have all been gifted. 
This gift takes to 20 my total of little gifts for 2014. Not all patchwork: there are a couple of crocheted blankets and some knitting but I did make three of these Strawberry needlecases. 

I like to keep a record of all the crafty things I make: mostly Patchwork (quilts, cushions, bags and needlecases) but also a bit of knitting and crochet.  I use Flickr as a vehicle for this record and organise my finishes into Albums.  A couple of years ago I had the bright idea of keeping a clearer record of things I have made by adding the year in the title of the album.
For instance Small Gifts 2014 where this little gift is number 20.

By looking at these Albums I can quickly see what I actually finished in 2014.

I made 8 quilts, 5 of which I have already gifted, 4 sets of blocks for various charity quilt drives and 2 crocheted blankets which have yet to be given away. 

Not as many finishes for 2014 as there were for 2013 but last year was extremely busy on the health front - for me and also for my daughter who had a slipped disc in September which took a lot of time to improve so I was helping out a lot there too. 

We are hoping 2015 brings better health for us.

So, as this is my first Blog post of 2015, may I wish everyone a Happy and Healthy and Creative 2015!

New Year Resolutions

As a general rule I don't make New Year Resolutions but a few years ago I decided to make One Rule for my Quilting Life.

To use up scraps as much as I could.

I have to say this has worked really well, particularly as I love making ( and looking at ) Scrap Quilts.
During the past few years I have made loads of quilts, many of them Baby or Children's Quilts in a variety of designs.  Wonky Star quilts, I Spy quilts, Log Cabins, String Quilts and Cushions, Ticker Tape Quilts, Coin Quilts, Freckles Quilts ( inspired by the book Scrap Republic), Crumb Quilts etc etc.  My Flickr photos show them all in their glory.

I also started to piece backings, backgrounds to my Freckles Quilts and extended the piecing to joining pieces of batting.  Batting has always been expensive but now seems to cost more than ever so I have every intention of using up all the odd bits you get left with after measuring out wadding for a quilt. I even sorted it all out a couple of months ago so it is all 'to hand'!

One of my Christmas gifts this year is a book produced by York Museums Trust. 
It's called Through the Needle's Eye: The Patchwork and Quilt Collection at York Castle Museum.  I have so enjoyed reading about all their Patchwork and Quilting collection.
We all know that Patchwork and Quilting started off as a utilitarian way of making warm bedcovers from scraps and recycling fabrics, reusing the 'best parts' of worn out clothing and this collection reflects that so well.
As a child born not long after the end of WWII, when rationing was still in place, I was brought up not to waste anything so of course this has been carried on in my Quilting Life as well as in other aspects of my world. So I was delighted when I came across the following in the York Museums Book:

" Old patchwork quilts were frequently re-used as wadding inside newly made covers.  Even in well-to-do Victorian homes thrift was assiduously practised, and books on household economy gave advice as to the best use for old materials.  In the early 1870s Cassell's Household Guide enthusiastically recommends wadding for counterpanes in patchwork for the upper rooms.
' Take all the old blankets and flannel petticoats to spare, wash them clean, and dry and air them well.  Cut out all the best portions and join together.  You may make them two or three thick. Line with a sheet of cheap unbleached calico, first soaked, or even an old sheet, neatly patched.'
Perhaps aware that this procedure might deter rather than encourage useful economy, the writer adds: " We have also seen old counterpanes and quilts in mere rags tacked together, placed between a patchwork quilt and a sheet........ Of necessity such arrangements are as warm and comfortable as they are thrifty.' "

Well my continuing thrifty New Year Resolution will not take me quite that far, but I shall continue to join pieces of batting together for my quilts and continue to use old pillowcases and sheets as the foundation squares for my String Quilt blocks and feel proud of myself for doing so and keeping an old tradition alive!

And of course, the scraps, however tiny, will continue to be used!  ...................  Only one problem:  mysteriously, however many scraps I use, more and more scraps magically appear!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A few of my 'Scrap Quilts':