Saturday 20 August 2011

BLANKET, HEXIE QUILT, QUILTING ACCESSORIES

This might very well be my last-ever post. I'm tired of the way blogger keeps messing me about so I'm not going to paragraph anything here, just keep going. That's just ONE gripe I have with it!
Anyway - on to nicer things.
The photo above is of the fifth blanket I've made this year and now I'm having a break from kniitting, just for a while, probably until Knit and Natter starts again.

I've finished the long-hexie quilt I started on 26th April using the English Patchwork method and the PDF Kath sent me of the hexie itself. I finished it yesterday morning, 19th August. I hung it on the line to take this photo as it was a sunny day, unlike today which has turned grey.
I tried to do some of it every day and only missed a few sessions for one reason or another. I'm aiming to put it in a local Horticultural Show's Handicrafts section though don't expect it to get anywhere - too many of the patches don't match up and the quilting on the back is - well - Could Be Better. Never mind, it's 'mine'...



This is my plastic quilting frame which comes apart for storage. I've had it for twenty years, or perhaps more, since I can't remember where I bought it. It would have been at a Quilt Show somewhere, perhaps Malvern? The 'bar' resting against the part on the floor is one of the grips which holds the quilt in position when it's spread over the top of the frame.


Here are the 'grips'...




I was given this wooden chair about 10 days ago to pass on but I've kept it because it goes through the frame - my dining chairs are too wide in the seat - no, not me, of course!


This is the bag I made when I first got the frame. As it comes apart this is the easiest way to store it between quilts and it doesn't take up much room, either. I made a tube, cut a circle of firm cardboard which I covered and then stitched to the bottom of the tube. I think the cord through the top came from a duffel coat or something similar plus a couple of beads from - can't remember. It's never been washed but would have to be only part washed as I'm not taking the whole thing apart...



The frame's in here now.




I'm trying out some more crazy quilts and these three trial runs are just plonked on the wall as
I finish machining and pressing them, not in their final position, assuming I continue with them.

These are 5 1/2" wide strips made in the same measurement downwards, too. I saw a blogsite with a quilt made of strings like this so am having a go to see how I feel about it. It began as 9 1/2" wide strips just to be joined into 4' strips without any sashing. I decided that would be over-powering for a lap quilt so cut each piece to 5 1/2" widths, meaning to use the 3 1/2" left over pieces as 'piano key' edging - when it's finished. At a car boot last weekend I bought a single cream duvet cover with this kind of quilt in mind.


Lastly there's this pattern. I fancy this design and the offcuts from this go into one of the other examples. I've had a couple of goes already, one on backing paper (no...) another as a QAYG (no...) and then found this one meant to be cut from widths but, being me, I'm spending ages fiddling about using up scraps. I wonder which, if any of these three, actually become quilts and which end up in the Orphan Blocks box???

Now to see what the layout looks like.

5 comments:

Kath said...

hey that long-hexie quilt looks great Silve! (Mines still in the "trellis" stage with no filler squares attached yet).
I do like the diamond arrangement, a bit like the cobweb quilt that's awaiting my further attention (blushes).
Nice bright colours too!
That's a great little chair, it looks like an old school chair.

Marigold Jam said...

Wow you have been busy. Hope that you don't decide to pack it in although I do know what you mean and I keep thinking the same thing but so far have kept going. Sometimes a break is all that's needed. Hope to see you back again soon.

Sylve said...

Hi ladies,
I always use Internet Explorer but decided to go for Firefox this time - blow me down, all the Followers are there!!! Thanks for your kind comments. Kath, I found it easy doing the centre squares as I went along, not too heavy. Now what can I do???

Sarah Elisabeth said...

i like the diagonal ones that eventually make the big diamond shapes, they look good. x

Sylve said...

Thanks, Sarah, you can see it when you come round...