What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

I have been writing a weekly blog since 2008 and it has become a ritual or habit that I write something every Sunday unless I am busy travelling but this week I actually FORGOT to do it. Perhaps it is because Nella and I are trying to keep weekends sacrosanct since she has started college? Instead of catching up on customer quilts or working on projects we have been trying to do as little as possible.

At any rate here are some photos from the past week…:)

The cows in the field next door escaped this week. After exploring our driveway and leaving a couple of cow-pats, they trundled off down the track and trotted speedily up the road, causing a bit of a traffic jam. I phoned the farmer as soon as I saw the herd dispersing and he quickly rounded them all up again.

I quilted the Bewitched quilt (to be repurposed into a coat) using a Karlee Porter design called “Swivel Circle 2”. The gold lame looks fab, of course and it has made me wonder if I should invest in some new, shiny ...

There were no customer quilts waiting this week to make me feel guilty for not working on them. Instead, I have decided to spend the next couple of weeks pottering away at small things I have been putting off. I got through some admin, wormed the pets, had another go at making pumpernickel which was pretty good but rather sticky to cut, and filed all of my dress-making patterns into one drawer of the filing cabinet. My workshop still looks a bit cluttered and when Rainbows Warliors arrived back from the show, I decided to leave it wrapped up since ...

 Actually, this is another UFO! but not such an old one. After I finished my Calvin wrap dress by True Bias last year, I decided to cut another one. I don't have that many summery sundress in my wardrobe actually and I really like the fit of the one I had just made. I had this fitted bed sheet that was wearing thin at the corners but was still good otherwise and that had a lovely design. So I decided to cut another Calvin wrap dress then and there. All the cutting was done last year but never managed ...

 A few weeks back I received the Nautilus swimsuit pattern for free from Paprika Patterns so I could to try it out and promote it. I had just the right fabric in my stash (bought a few years back from Girl Charlee UK) but never used... but I didn't have lining or elastic so I ordered those.

It’s all very well sitting on the sofa criticising contestants on the Sewing Bee on TV for making silly mistakes but if I was ever selected then I would definitely be sent home in the first week. I did eventually get my oversized wool dressing gown finished. It is probably too big in the shoulders, could be even roomier elsewhere, is not made quite according to the instructions but I think it is a success. It does not need to be tailored as a garment for taking Nessie for a pee in the garden first thing in ...

I am a coffee snob with a penchant for collecting stovetop espresso makers. Freya should be able to come and stay next month so I wondered whether I could get a really big Bialetti that I could brew up in the morning and reheat later. I found an 18 espresso cup pot on Ebay and found it amusing to line all 3 sizes up on my stove. 

My new Mac Mini arrived and I am very pleased with it so far. I don’t particularly like the monitor by Dell as it seems temperamental. I have transferred all of my ...

 First item of dressmaking this year! Both the pattern for the Lahja dressing gown by Named Clothing and the waffle fabric have been in my stash for a long time (over 2 years I think). And finally when I saw Guthrie & Ghani monthly kit in December, for exactly this pairing, I knew I had to get those out. My current dressing gown is old and frumpy and I have been meaning to sew another one for a long while...

 Probably my last finish of the year, I put the last stitches on my glittery Moneta dress yesterday evening, ready for the non-party on 31st! 

 Finished! This one has been such a long coming... I saw this picture on IG during the summer of 2017 (!) and duly bought fabric and pattern to make the same. Well said fabric and pattern was stashed away until last summer, when I finally got it out and cut the skirt. Before stashing it away again... until this month.

Last summer dress? I don't know really but I cut this dress late August while it was pouring down with rain, not very promising weather for a summer dress. 

Sometimes projects, particularly dressmaking ones, are done quickly, sometimes they take me ages, and for no real reasons... This last one definitely falls in the latter category. I made my first Sirroco by Deer and Doe Pattern in June last year and it was assembled from start to finish in about 3 hours. Happy with the pattern and enthused by the arrival of beautiful new Italian matte lycra at Fabworks online, I duly ordered some aubergine fabric and cut a new one last September (yes I know, that was a year ago). I am tall so learning from my first ...

I started the week all fired up to make short instructional videos, kicking off with showing how to make an elasticated bowl cover. I was just filming this on my own using my phone, using the Apple Watch as a remote control. I realised that things need to be recorded in several takes, possibly having done an entire project as a practice. I did not use any of the footage but put it down as a good dummy run. 

Logistically, if I don’t manage to teach online I wondered about a Plan B and made a list of things ...

Another week has gone by and I wonder what I did to faff my way through it! There was one big, colourful customer quilt. I tried to quilt rainbows onto it but the pattern kept crashing the system so I used a substitute pattern called “Dizzy Izzy”.

Nessie tried out her new, fleece rain suit. She was not altogether pleased at putting it on and taking it off but once it was on she did not mind at all and it kept her clean on a muddy walk.

Freya and I both made new sourdough starters for bread making.  I ...

On the calendar it's still summer, through the window it looks like winter. It's the late summer Bank Holiday this Monday in the UK and it certainly doesn't feel like late summer, rather middle of autumn. Today was wet, grey and cold too, so what a better time to finish my next heatwave dress really?

I have to keep telling myself that there are bigger things in Life than worrying that I may not have a useful “plan” of what I should be doing each day. The horrific explosion in Beirut and the ongoing Pandemic are sharp reminders that it does not matter one jot to humanity if I decide to spend hours knotting string or make a quilt just because I feel like it. I should stop feeling guilty about how I fill my days. I do not mean that to sound like I am belittling world events – it is just that in the ...

I finally had some sewing time this week, and it felt so good to create again. I picked an easy project as I knew I would not have too much time, so a quick finish was a win-win. 

I had bought a lovely remnant from Jelly Fabrics a while ago, an organic cotton jersey, which I had just under 1 m off.

Throwing caution to the wind, I “allowed” myself time to complete the Virtual log cabin quilt at the start of the week. I decided to do it all using the quilt computer so started with some tight spirals then quilted a large Warli pattern over the top of that with bold, yellow cotton thread. I bound it and put it straight onto our scruffy, family sofa, upon which pets are welcome to perch. I have not liked a quilt quite so much for ages. Firstly, it is getting seen every day and I love all of the random fabrics surrounding ...

I have not yet shared my May UFO because it is away being long-arm quilted. May’s UFO, a sampler quilt, was such a large project that I set myself a far more modest goal for June: finish a top that I bought the fabric for and cut out in January 2018. Since then, it has been variously draped over my dressmaker’s dummy, folded in a basket or on the desk in my sewing room. Since I finished it last month, it has been on a coathanger in my sewing room.

The top is a repeat of a Liberty ...