hand piecing
Showing posts with label hand piecing. Show all posts
Sunday Stash: a bit of everything
I've been enjoying a return to what started as my 100 day project, hand piecing my Merrow Croft quilt (pattern by Margaret Mew). If you haven't done any hand piecing before, I have a how-to with lots of tips in my hand piecing tutorial. Using some of my treasured hand printed fabrics by Karen Lewis and Lucy Engels, I'm enjoying the neutral cool vibe of these pieces.
So I'm using up my stash but I'm also adding to it...
The 100 Day Project for me
I fell for the Merrow Croft pattern at the Festival of Quilts in 2019, where I met Margaret Mew and was enchanted by her work. My wonderful friend Michelle very kindly (and sneakily) bought me the pattern and gifted it to me later, just when I really needed something to smile about. It's taken me some time to start working on it but my plan was to finish a couple of other things first - they're getting there! With everything that's going on though I decided I really needed something that was no pressure, that I would enjoy making and that was a bit of a challenge. For those reasons, I have chosen to work on the Merrow Croft pattern for The 100 Day Project and you can follow my progress at #100daysofmerrowcroft. Obviously there's a lot of hand sewing in this quilt so I don't expect to be anywhere close to a finish after 100 days, all progress is good though and I'm excited to spend a little time each day working on it. It's mostly hand piecing and hand appliqué, I have looked at how Margaret stitches and preps her work so that I can try and do things in the way she does, much of which I have never done before. Learning is my love, I get excited about new information and trying different techniques... more on that shortly.
I have chosen some fabrics for the quilt (see the first picture), however it may be subject to change and additions! I have no plan, I'm working on each section or round at a time and choosing the fabrics as I go. These were my choices for the central part of the quilt:
a piece of me scrappy pouch
Back with another make that was finished last year. I can never have enough storage, sewing or bags for sewing supplies. I made this pouch on a whim, using up pretty scraps and repurposing a little jewellery bag (the mustard yellow above), because it was so soft and it seemed wasteful to throw it away.
I began hand piecing the scraps together, organised by size, starting with the smallest pieces. It grew until it was enough for a panel and then I repeated the process to make a back panel.
It was so fun, just stitching the fabrics together and not being too precise about it. I like using a long needle for piecing, a milliners or straw needle, and Aurifil 50wt thread. I decided to continue the hand work by hand quilting the panels and used Aurifil 28 weight #6722, a nice neutral.
I used the Clover Black Gold quilting needle #12 and it sewed beautifully. I have used the Black Gold applique needles and they are my favourite. The coating really helps the needle glide through the layers and they are so sharp.
Of course I went with my very favourite quilting pattern, a simple cross hatch. I adore the texture.
What is cool about this pouch pattern is you can see the quilting on the inside of the pouch too. I used a plain fabric for a pop of colour, my stitches are always smaller on the reverse and I love that it shows it's handmade.
For added fun, I used some alphabet stamps to add lettering. Hooked on a Feeling has been on repeat in our house because my middle child is obsessed with it and it is a super happy song. I stitched some split crosses randomly around the letters for a bit more texture too.
Time for assembly! Despite having a stash of various coloured zips, I went for simple white and cut the bias binding ready from the blue and white print.
This pattern has the SIMPLEST zip insertion and what I love is how neatly it turns out. No faffing, just clever needle alignment. If you struggle with zips (or even if you don't!), do buy my pattern because it makes sewing them joyful!
Looking at it now, the white zip does contrast nicely with the lining and because it coordinates with the thread it makes the quilting pop too. So good choice past me.
Rounded corners - instructions in the pattern - add such a nice modern and aesthetically pleasing bottom.
For even more pizzazz I finished it off with a little zip charm I made. A felt pom pom, glass bead, split ring and perle thread holding it together. I left tails and cut the ends of the perle thread rather than burying it, and I like the fluffy texture it adds.
Not intentional, but because of how I pieced the binding strips (cut from scraps so didn't have enough for one long strip); the print ended up on one side for one edge and then shows on the bottom and other edge on the other side. I actually love it, random in the best way.
This pouch ended up being 7.5" x 7", a handy size for bits and bobs! Earlier in the week I used it to take some hand piecing with me to Cardiff, I got everything I needed in it (48 squares of fabric, embroidery scissors and a spool of basting thread - I even managed to store my glasses in there when I realised I forgot my case) and it fit perfectly in my smallish handbag. Gotta love portable projects!
You can purchase the A Piece of Me Pouch Pattern here - remember it's easy to adapt the pattern to any size and this version is a perfect stash buster, so have fun making pouches for all the things!
✦ crossed orange peel cushion ✦
Don't you love it when a plan comes together? Even better when you finish a project you have been meaning to work on for some time, when the initial plan you had changes and turns out better as a result. This version of my Crossed Orange Peel pattern was a challenge to myself, using slightly more difficult seam construction and it's my project for the April Aurifil Artisan challenge, which is to create a project using my favourite Aurifil thread. That is like a trick question though because I genuinely love and use all the different types of Aurifil thread for different projects. I've opted to focus on 50 weight thread because it is the one I use the most and for a variety of sewing methods.
The pattern is hand pieced and my original Crossed Orange Peel, see above, is different in that it has five pieces making up the central X of the blocks. I wanted to see if it was possible for me to piece that central section using one fabric. The Ladies Night print by Sarah Watts from the Black and White collection was absolutely perfect for this, by sheer coincidence five faces/dots fit beautifully in my pattern template.
Sewing ✖ Orange Peel
This is the stack of quilts I took to Leicestershire and Rutland Guild, where I was invited to give a talk and teach a workshop. It's always exciting and slightly nerve wracking for me to visit somewhere new. All the ladies that weekend were so welcoming and it was great to arrive on their Area Day at the end of last month. It began with everyone working on their own projects and there was a wonderful show and tell. I really enjoy seeing peoples creations and hearing stories of how it was made. Sadly I didn't take pictures but it was a lovely mix of quilts, bags and more. All quite different and all beautiful! Later I did manage to snap this gorgeous pincushion, I would like to try the technique used on the top here as it's so pretty (sorry the lady's name who made this escapes me, please leave a comment if you know or if it was you and I will add credit).
There was a delicious shared lunch and in the afternoon I gave a talk about my journey and experience as a quilter. I have had nice feedback, it was fun for me looking back over some early makes!
On the Sunday it was time to teach my Crossed Orange Peel pattern and it was so awesome to see everyone creating beautiful blocks sewn by hand. It's lovely to teach a class where people can sit and chat without noise from the machines, there's a certain calm that washes over as people hand stitch.
It's hard not to admire all the fab notions, storage and bits that everyone has with them, not to mention the fabric! I like seeing what things people find useful and the handmade items they use while sewing. this clever thumb pincushion is one, with the bonus of a bobbin of thread and a cutter!
There was never going to be a complete quilt in a day, though the progress was really impressive and all the blocks looked fabulous and very neat. Classic William Morris, Japanese woven fabric and an array of modern prints, they are all unique and wonderful.
You can really get a sense of how fabric placement can change the design. Fussy cuts work beautifully and using bright, dark or tonal shades can easily make different parts of the block stand out.
Imagine these blocks repeated, mixed with similar variations or contrasting joining blocks to make the quilt pattern. Beautiful!
If you'd like to make your own Crossed Orange Peel blocks or quilt, you can find the pattern - with a free hand piecing guide - HERE.
It was a scorching hot weekend (similar to the current heatwave) so thank you to everyone that attended! Thank you all for being so welcoming, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole weekend. Special thanks to Sarah for organising my visit and for being such fun company.
★ patterns ★
I thought I would share some updates, I have expanded my shop and am working hard to create new patterns. It would be great if you could take a look and maybe give some ♡ to the listings if you can!
First up is the lovely tangible paper patterns, which I have listed in my Etsy shop. They are all printed on quality paper locally and carefully hand packaged by moi.
For the patterns with templates, these have been printed separately to allow you to easily make copies and keep the original in tact if you so wish.
It's been something I have wanted to do for some time, I know that PDF patterns are so easy to buy and download but not everyone likes buying patterns that way. This is for the people who like physical copies and they would also make great gifts for someone wanting to learn a new skill; hand piecing, an easy zip pouch or the cute Stitchy Pie needle case! All of my patterns allow you to sell handmade products on a small scale so they are perfect for those of you that do handmade fairs too.
If you would like some happy mail through the post, click here for paper patterns.
As I grow my pattern shop and add new designs (coming soon!) I hope to encourage more people to try something new and if I can inspire anyone to do some hand sewing I will be happy! If you frequent Etsy I would be so grateful if you would head over and like my shop or patterns - it will help me know which ones are favourites as well as keeping you informed when I do have updates.
There could well be some actual makes heading to my Etsy shop too, I have really been enjoying making tassel charms. Thank you to those of you that bought them at Stitch Gathering recently! The one I made for my sewing case is often admired and they are a really cute addition to any bag or to hang in your sewing space. Hopefully they'll start making an appearance this weekend so keep an eye on the Available now in the shop!
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