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Wednesday 23 October 2013

Voila! Or Nearly!

Ages ago I mentioned that I was making a patchwork quilt - I really, really don't know how you quilters manage to make so many quilts in such a short space of time as it seemed to take me forever!  Anyway as today is a bright and sunny day and thus the light was right to photograph my effort I decided to take the photos even though the border isn't quite finished.  I almost left it too late as the sun had gone from the washing line and the only place that was still in full sun was the hedge!  That's Mr M's hand you can just see bottom right holding it down as the wind was trying to blow it away!


  This quilt is the first proper quilt I have ever made - the one I made for the wanderer was simply backed with fleece and not layered like this one.  I was determined not to buy anything to make it and the fabrics are all bits I had - some were given to me by a friend of a friend who was downsizing and getting rid of some of her crafting stuff, some was from projects I had made in the past, and the backing determined the finished size as it was amongst the fabrics I was given and this was its size - 104 cm x 120 cm or 41" x 48" approx.  I was aiming for a completely random effect but now I see that I seem to have finished up with 3 orange squares together bottom left.  Oh well never mind!


 I machine stitched the patches together using reels of thread which I chose when a friend - one of a group of friends with whom I did the City and Guilds Creative Textiles course back in the late 80s and with whom I have stayed in touch - died and her family gave our group all her bits and bobs to see if any of us wanted any of it and I chose her tin of sewing threads along with a couple of skeins of her hand spun vegetable dyed wools.  So apart from the wadding which I originally bought for the wanderer's quilt and then didn't use I have made this totally from what I had.


The blue inner border is made up of strips joined to make a length and I am now wondering if I should perhaps quilt that in some way - maybe lazy daisies or crosses at intervals perhaps or maybe I'll just take the tacking stitches out and leave it.  I hand quilted the whole thing using Perle 8 thread in different colours - thread I already had.  I probably should have done it in both directions or done several rows of stitching but I'd lost the will to live by the time the first single row was done!  I can hear Madame le President, at the Patchwork group I used to go to when I lived in France, tutting at the stitching but then I thought perhaps it added a sort of naive look which went with the random and childlike effect of the patchwork - well that's my story anyway!  As nobody other than me will see it guess it doesn't matter too much anyway and I am quite pleased with it.  I won't be going in for quiltmaking in a big way any time soon though as however much I want to enjoy doing it patchwork doesn't seem to be my metier at all - as I said to the French friend who first encouraged me to join the patchwork group in France I am not accurate enough and I now know that I am also far too slow and I get fed up before I am halfway there!  I am in awe of people who can make quilts on a regular basis and those who go to their patchwork groups every couple of weeks with yet another one finished. 

20 comments:

  1. Good for you. No, those folks who turn up with a new quilt every other week are cutting corners and machine quilting very boringly. Don't go there. I have given up on actual patchwork (apart from the hexes) and prefer appliqué and hand quilting. There is no need to hurry, the family is not shivering in bed waiting for thier quilt to be finished, go with the flow. Love your new header by the way! Lx

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  2. I find it charming. All those lovely bright colors warm the spirit as well as the body. Good for you - a quilt is a big project (which is why I do other projects)

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  3. Well done indeed! I wonder if I might finish the hand-pieced one that I started in 1973?

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  4. Well done you for sticking at it.i am also impressed that it didn't cost anything.I used to do quilting but just havn't the patience to have to do things with absolute accuracy any more.I used to make all my daughter's clothes when she was small because money was tight.I made a quilt with all the bits that were left over and we do get it out from time to time but the rest of the time it is stuck in a bin bag in our loft!!

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  5. The quilt is gorgeous
    Julie xxxxxxx

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  6. Looks great, doesn't it feel good to get one of these quilts finished? I love that you used materials that you already had, so much more special.

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  7. It's beautiful! You should be very proud of your work, it really is lovely.

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  8. You've really got to the true spirit of quilting there Jane. I'm so impressed with your economy here as I find it a really expensive exercise and way too expensive to keep on making them aimlessly for fun. I'm like you and a little bit goes a long way! and I'm also not accurate enough either. They say that all quilts have mistakes- and the very good quilters put them in on purpose as nothing's perfect- no problems there for me !!

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  9. It's great Jane and just as the oldest quilts were made it's made from bits and pieces and all the more lovely for it!
    V x

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  10. I love it that you used all the fabric and thread that you already had. To me, that's the true spirit of patchwork.
    I hand piece and it takes forever. I always say to people it's not a race. As long as you (and I!) enjoy the process, who cares how slow we are.
    You will enjoy your quilt for years to come and that's what matters.

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  11. Fantastic Jane, your quilt is lovely, stitched with so much of your heart. I hope you will use it to keep snug.

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  12. Well I think it's brilliant - very much in the tradition. Any ambitions I ever harboured towards quilting were well and truly quashed many years ago when I visited a lady I worked with, who was preparing pieces for a quilt she was making - it was completely obvious to me that I don't have what it takes in the precision department, as she made millimetre perfect copies - ahh well, sometimes it's good to know your limitations...

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  13. It looks wonderful, and the three orange squares are the best bit in my opinion! Such a lot of love and memories in every stitch, which is what quilts are all about. Love Carol x

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  14. I can't do quilting quickly either. I have great ideas but it takes time to see them into fruition. Yours is lovely.

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  15. Jane, you should be very proud of this. I think sticking to your plan of only using materials you already had is a great idea - more so because you achieved it! I often say I'm going to use up bits and then succumb to something new to add on so well done you. I laughed when you said you nearly lost the will to live... it's not my thing for the same reasons you state. I'm not accurate enough and I'm too impatient with things that don't 'grow' at the speed of light. It may have tried your patience but it's now an heirloom with every piece a memory of something or someone.

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  16. It's just what a scrappy patchwork quilt should be - a jumble of memories and materials. Well done, making Something out of Nothing.
    Don't forget a label, though...

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  17. Your quilt is gorgeous Jane. I started an english paperpieced cushion a few years back but I really didn't enjoyy sewing all those hexagons together and trying not to catch the paper behind with the stitches. Well done on having the perseverance on creating a lovely heirloom. x

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  18. It's a really attractive quilt and brilliant that it's made from things you already had - real pioneer homesteading:) I am in awe of anyone who can make quilts, I've often thought I'd like to but I know I have neither the time nor the application required. Nor the skill come to think of it!

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  19. It looks wonderful Jane, and extra special because you didn't purchase anything for it. That's the true spirit of quilting. I don't know how people turn out quilt after quilt either, maybe they have a maid to do all the housework etc!

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