threads that bind

when i was living in a little cottage in sussex in england with two friends i taught myself to sew paper pieced patchwork using recycled fabric..looking back i think i was inspired to start one because of all the second hand clothing we were given by members of the school community where one of my friends taught..

i ended up piecing a single bed sized quilt top which subsequently travelled with me to athens greece when i moved there where it became my bed cover..when my husband and i moved to the north of greece i used it to cover a camp stretcher that served as seating in our 'studio' and, before we left greece for australia, i gave it to a greek friend who loved it..

i tried piecing the american way many years ago but it didn't resonate with me at all so i went back to the slower english paper pieced method..yes..it's time consuming and certainly not for everyone but i find the processes soothing and very satisfying..nowadays i use both recycled and new fabric to make my quilts but recycled material has a special place in my heart..

in the last few years i've been really lucky to have had two friends and one of my daughters interested in learning how to make quilts using the paper pieced method..one friend, robyn, and i spent a day a week together for about a year while she made a quilt inspired by a trip to provence and i continue to have irregular sewing days with my other friend chloe (my son's ex girlfriend) and my daughter katerina..yesterday chloe came over and we worked on our quilts until quite late in the evening..we chatted as we worked by the cosy open fire drinking cups of tea and eating toasted sandwiches and freshly baked biscuits..my daughter sometimes comes to my place to sew but recently i went to her new house to sew and bask in the sunshine in her dining room..the connections made during these times are special and i treasure each and every moment..

 chloe quilting

it's close to being finished

katerina piecing

kat is still in the process of piecing her large hexagon quilt using fabric
collected by her grandmother  

a new ironing board cover

i don't iron much anymore..i used to..in fact i confess to having even ironed my children's socks and undies once..now i really wonder what that was all about but at the time i remember loving the little piles of freshly laundered and ironed clothes..i do still love to see clothes hanging on washing lines..and not just mine but other people's as well..anyway, now i'm hard pressed, so to speak, to bother ironing things that need it..for instance i have been known to drag a shirt from a pile of unfolded washing, give it a cursory shake, and put it on in the hope that by the time i get to wherever i'm going most of the creases will have disappeared from the wearing and those that remain look like ones that developed in the wearing..it's a bad attitude i know but i'm working on it..

a long while back i bought myself a present..it was a hand printed cheerful cherry (i love cherries) ironing board cover (it was a present because i usually make my own) and it made me happy until the elastic started to give..you know the deal..you're ironing away and the wretched thing slips around and you end up totally frustrated..well..that went on for a while..well months really..

i did a big pile of mending recently which i'd put off as much as the ironing but when i actually did it i wondered why i had procrastinated so much because it felt so good to get it done..ties sewn back on aprons and quilt covers, new elastic, repaired holes, buttons sewn back on, hems taken up and so on..and a new ironing board cover..

i used the cherry cover as my template by removing the elastic..that was easy..it was the sort of elastic that's sewn on to the edge of the fabric with no seam so i just snipped a bit of it and ripped it off..i do have an oh&s warning here though..be careful not to let the elastic slip as you're doing this because it can recoil, like it did with me, and give you a nasty bit of whip lash..the rest is equally easy..i chose a new vintage sheet as my new ironing board fabric..i put the template on top of the new fabric and cut out the new cover..i did add a bit of fabric here and there to adjust for length deficiencies on the old one..then all i did was sew bias tape on to the edge of the fabric and then i threaded the tape with elastic adjusting for the size of the ironing board..at least now when the elastic gives, which it surely will, i'll easily be able to put in new elastic..although knowing me there'll be a long period of procrastination..oh..and by the way it cost me about $0.50 to make..the sheet cost $4.00 and i only used a small fraction of the long end of it and the bias tape and elastic were given to me by a haberdasher friend..

a new continental quilt cover

i've done a lot of sewing in my life with some of it being challenging but one of the easiest things i make are covers for feather continental quilts..if you have a sewing machine and you can sew a straight line you can make one..

i used to make them from actil white cotton sheeting but in recent years i've used recycled tablecloths and fabric from cut apart second hand quilt covers for the tops of the quilts..i've collected several new vintage all cotton white sheets that i use for the reverse side..i'm always on the lookout for good quality covers but i don't find many that suit my purposes because i need them to be queen or king size so that i can remake them into double bed covers..i also need them to be an all cotton fabric that i like..

last week i was lucky enough to find a relatively new king size double sided waffle weave quilt cover for $10..i wondered if the person had got rid of it because it was so heavy..i gave it a really hot wash with an oxygen bleach as well as detergent and left it outside for two sunny days to freshen it up..

the  weight of the waffle weave fabric appealed to me because its heaviness would make a good winter weight quilt cover..and rather than putting something plain on the back of it i chose one of my $4 floral double new vintage sheets ..

to make the cover i just measured up the last one i made and cut the fabric to size allowing for seam allowances and for the hem at the closure end..for my double bed quilt i cut the fabric to 202 cms x 170 cms..then it was just a matter of joining the seams on the two long sides and on one short side (the top of the quilt)..then i turned up the closure end.. so far though i haven't dealt with the issue of closure..in the past i've tried buttons and large press studs and neither have been that successful..with repeated washing they come off and i'm not very good at replacing them..i'm thinking of sewing ribbon or tape on the inside hem so that i can tie concealed bows as the closure.. 

my new $9 quilt cover

goodnight everyone..sweet dreams..x

today i made a bag..

out of an old blanket and a vintage sheet that i purchased from an op shop.. it was a practice run to see if my idea of repurposing these fabrics to make a bag was a success or not..i am quite happy with how it turned out and i'm looking forward to making more of them using other lining fabrics..i'll be keeping my eye out too for more suitable blankets in other colours..there are many great blankets available but they are too thick for my purposes..i need them to be well worn but undamaged or stained.. 

happy monday everyone..x

cherry and daisy

many years ago in another life i had a job that, among other things, entailed interviewing families..this meant lots of driving especially at night..i noticed that i was finding it increasingly difficult to read street signs without getting out of the car and literally peering up at the sign..because of this problem i began to harbour anxious fears that i was going blind..it didn't occur to me immediately that all i needed was a pair of glasses..

cherry hexagon

basting stitches and papers need to be removed before being
 hand sewn onto the tea towel

daisy hexagon

paper piecing required followed by the same stages as
the cherry hexagon

this week in between lots of gardening and shed tidying i've been trying out a few ideas for embellishing linen tea towels that i plan to sell at a market in 5 weeks time..i decided to make hexagon rosettes and i've embroidered the central hexagons to reflect the fabric design..this entails quite fine stitching and i've been struggling with my eyesight again..

it's time for new glasses or i will have to throw in the (tea) towel!  :) jane