Work Shirt Quilt

The quilt was my main large project this year.

I started with a pile of work shirts.  They were all well worn and had been washed many times, so were lovely and soft.

I used scissors first to cut out the main areas of the shirts to be used.  Then cut out pieces 15cm square x 225 with a rotary cutter and self healing mat. 

I had two sets of fabric in dark and fine striped so I used them for the main pattern.  Each 3 x 3 square had 5 dark/fine striped pieces in the corners and middle.  Then 4 different colours for the remaining spaces.  I placed these in the same space on each block (I don’t like random patterns on things like this). 

Someone pointed out when it was finished that I should have worked out from the centre so the pattern was mirrored but I worked top to bottom.

Then pieced the 9 piece squares alternately in rows of 5, then joined the rows, ironing seams as I went.  By the end it was quite heavy, even though it is fine material.

The square sewing was completed on the boat during our summer trip, on a tiny Janome sewing machine and using a small IKEA table top ironing board (which was only used for sewing projects). 

See www.fleurofpendle.blogspot.co.uk for more information on our trip.

I used wool wadding in the centre which I bought from ‘Immanuel Fabrics’ in Burnley (a hidden gem of a store with prices starting at £1 per metre).  They also had 72” wide duvet cotton which was used for the backing.

Using the craft club floor, myself and Annette pinned the cotton to the carpet, then laid on the wadding (which must be washed, as it shrank by a third and had to be pieced with zigzag stitches).  Then finally the patchwork top.  We used safety pins to pin it together and then rolled the whole thing to take it home.

I used elastic bands to prevent the rolled ends from unwinding.

Then using a ‘Walking Foot’ (which lifts to allow the fabric to move and not bunch up) on my home machine I wrestled the quilt through.  I stitched ‘in the ditch’ between the squares on the seam.  I only quilted horizontally as it looked well quilted once the whole thing was complete.  Starting in the middle and quilting half at once.  Quilting both ways could risk puckering.

I decided to use the backing as the edging by folding it forward, machine stitching the edges and mitring the corners by hand afterwards.

The finished Quilt.

It was supposed to be a light weight summer quilt, but it has turned out quite heavy, but very cosy.

Bunting

Bunting makes me smile.

My first attempt was really cheating as I used Synthetic cord and glued the pinked/sheared pieces of cloth over it.  But as you can see below it looked OK.

Christmas Bunting 2013

I tried hard with this and precisely cut out symmetrical triangles.  I sewed the fabric right sides together and then turned them inside out and steamed my fingers whilst ironing them the right side out.  I used Bondaweb to make the letters and ironed them on.  I intended to sew around the letters but they looked fine so I saved myself a job. Then I halved a length of ribbon lengthways and inserted the triangles along the groove.

The wreath in the centre was a polystyrene ring which I tied lengths of material to. 

Note to self.  Cover the white ring first so that the gaps do not show.  It took a lot of material, tied on, to fully cover the ring.  I found some lovely small baubles to add and a length of Maribou.

Christmas Bunting 2014

Making bunting for Katie and Ella’s cafe (Eastgate Cafe, Manchester) from fabric which had Merry Christmas written on it and a one way pattern, meant that I was left with many upside down triangles which could not be used in the normal way.  So I zigzag stitched two pieces together with a small ‘pot shaped’ piece of green felt in the sandwich.  Then folding and ironing red ribbon lengthways gave a good string to attach the trees to.  A little star glued on the top of each tree and on each pot (on both sides) gave them a little extra sparkle.

The ‘Scandi’ fabric I found in ‘Greens Fabrics’ in Blackburn for just £2.50 per metre gave me the idea for the dual purpose ‘Scandi’ bunting.  The backs are made from Red Polka Dot material, so that by using it against a wall you can use it all year round.

I made a cardboard template for cutting out the triangles this time and then used it to iron each piece of fabric edging around the template.  This gave a triangle with the edges folded in.  Two pieces were sewn together and then added to a string of ribbon as above.

This is going to make nice Christmas presents, for its equally bunting mad recipients.

Bears 3 – Small Plush Bears

Faux Cashmere can be bought from Bear Suppliers (like Bear Basics and Christie Bears).  It is very short pile fur with a material like backing.  It is very easy to sew.  Pull the stitches tight to make them almost invisible.

First Plush Bear

I bought the pattern for the panda, but it took me ages to find the plush fabrix, which I now know is Faux Cashmere.  He has ‘shot’ in his belly to make him heavy.  Again not suitable for children.

Like the Pandas we love he is a twin.

He also won a first prize in the WI show.

Plush Cream Bears

I found that due to them having large feet these bears are able to stand.  They are made from combinations of cream and white Faux Cashmere.

 

Small Bear Groups

These look super cute arranged around a small teacup and saucer.  The large bear gives an idea of scale.

Hamish McHoneymoon Bear 2012

As you can tell from his name I made Hamish on my Honeymoon, sailing from Largs in Scotland to Northern Ireland.  He is made of cream suede with salmon pink paws and is wearing a little tartan sash.

Winter 2013 and Summer 2014

These plus bears are made from combinations of several different colours of Faux Cashmere.  Mixing up the colours gives different results.  No two are ever the same.

Bears 2 – Small Bears

This was my first small bear approx 12cms from a pattern.  He is fully jointed, using string.  He has suede paws and sewn eyes.

Bear patterns can be easily bought from web shops like Bear Basics and Christie Bears.  You can buy a kit with all the pieces or just the pattern.

Small Brown Mohair Bear

The brown bear above was made from lovely short mohair (7mm) and I sat him on a Tunnock’s Tea Cake to show his size.  A lady called Elaine bought him from my first Christmas Fayre, I met her a few weeks ago and she still has him by her bedside.

You may be able to see that his face is trimmed.  Professional makers use this technique to give the faces more shape and definition.  It shows off his smiley face too.  You need a steady hand and sharp scissors.  Take it slowly as you can’t stick it back on.

Golden Small Bear

Golden Mohair for this small bear.  His face is clipped and he is fully jointed.  I used 10mm cotter pin joints (like small split pins).  Sadly they are not suitable for small children so they usually go to adults.  They have old fashioned Glass Eyes which are also not child-friendly.

Small Brown Mohair Bears 2014

These are bears made in the Summer of 2014 on the boat.  I took a large piece of Mohair with me so they all look the same.  They do have different coloured paw pads which are made of suede or faux cashmere (which is like short pile velvet).  Can you tell I took a lot of red ribbon too.

You can see an improvement in my skills over the past few years.

Bears 1 – The beginning

First Bear from a pattern

I was so pleased with this bear.  The material lay on my Dining Table for 2 weeks before I summoned the courage to cut it.  It is made from Schultz Mohair with joints in the arms, legs and head.

This is a later image for a set of 3 cream bears, but gives you the idea how it’s done.  The secret is very pointed scissors, cutting under the fur and through the material.

He won first prize at the WI show and I was chuffed to mintballs.

Francesca and Gabriella’s Bears

These are the same as the first bear and I made boxes for them to sleep in.

Harvey’s Bear

The bought the labels which say ‘Handmade by Ann-Marie’ from a clothing labels company on the net and inserted a little bear onto the label too.