Quilting samples

I've finished the little sample I started yesterday, and I quite pleased with it. I just hope when I do it on the coat it's not to dense and makes the coat like a board!

Log samples

More log samples

More fmq samples

Trying out different ideas for the logs on the bottom of the coat.

Time flies !

Well as usual I've got side tracked! Have finished quilting the caravan quilt.  Broke my machine in the process but now have it fixed and got a new one too.

Just need to bind it.

A few days of catch up!

Where to start with telling you what I've done on my coat since my last post. 

Those horrible lumpy bits I had I managed to rectify almost. There is still a little bump which I think is quiltable. 

All the panels are together as you can see from the picture (its not too good sorry). I've not sewn the shoulder seams together as I need the coat to be as flat as possible for quilting.

I rechecked the wadding pattern pieces just to make sure the coat had not shrunk when I washed the stabiliser out. 

Then I cut the wadding sections out and sewed them together. I spray glued the seems open so that they are as flat as possible, again this is for quilting. In some sections I have enough thickness from all the fabrics seams without adding to it with wadding.

Yesterday I layered the coat up, and pinned the top half and lightly spray glued the bottom. I know this sounds kind of strange but the spray glue I'm using is '505 Spray'. Its a basting glue that doesn't leave a sticking residue on your needle when quilting. It does wash out, but as I don't really want to wash the coat at the moment the spray makes everything a little stiffer. I don't fancy feeling like I'm wearing cardboard!! I will probable use a basting gun on the top section instead of pins, I prefer this for free motion quilting as it means I don't need to worry about where the pins are.

The last thing I've done is some more research on wood. Or more specifically bark and rings, to get a better picture of just how I'm going to quilt the bottom section to represent wood logs.

(Logs from my wood store)

Well on that note i'd better go and fill my cup up (which always seems to have a hole in the bottom) and head on up to the work room and carry on.

Good days work!

I've had another good day in all in all. Got some potting up done in the greenhouse first thing, then up into the workroom for an hour or so on the coat.

I managed to get the other side together and attached it to the back section. Then washed the solufleece out in the same way that I did the other side. It didn't make the line today until late and it's not been such a good drying day as yesterday, so its now hanging in the bathroom. When its dry I can give it a good steam press.

I also recut a section of the back/side back as I wasn't happy with how it was going to look. After sleeping on what i'd done yesterday I can't say I'm happy about those little bumpy bits, but at the moment I'm not sure how i'd rectify them, so they'll have to stay.

Hopefully tomorrow will see the whole thing together!

Washed out!

Today I bit the bullet (so to speak) and washed the three sections i'd completed. I did the first wash in warm water, gave the piece a squeeze. The second wash in warm water again but this time with a little non-bio, then lastly a cold rinse. A short spin in the washing machine then out in the sunshine to dry.

It was really quite warm today they dried in about 1/2 hour. Now I could give them a good steam press, something i'd wanted to do for ages.

They havn't turned out too bad, still a little bumpy but hopefully some clever quilting will slove that issue. If not, well i'll just have to live with it!

 

One 5th done

The front, side front and side back are now together. It looks very puckered in places I'm hoping that it's due to the fact I'm ironing the sections with solufleece on and they are shrinking. If not then I've got real problems.

Wash time next to see what happens!

Another good day

Another good day all round today. The sun was out this morning so was my washing. I did a little bit of work in the greenhouse before I headed up to the workroom.

I managed to get 17 more pieces sewn together. They haven't gone together quite as well as I'd like but I'm hoping the quilting will hide it, I'm sure it will.

I received my wadding and thread samples through the other day and really must get and order what I need before I get to the point of panic as I can't go any further with the coat.

A good day sewing

What a good day today has been. The sun has been out all day, it's been warm and I've had some good hours in the workroom. I'm so pleased with what I've got done, it really feels like it's coming together well.

I'm sewing it together in two halves as much as I can for ease of handling more than anything else.

As you can see the bottom two rows are together and I've started figuring out how the rest will slot together. Why oh why did I have to do so many curves!

Assembly starts

After a week or so break today saw the start of putting it all together, whilst fittinga gardening and playing with the dog. Trying to multitask could be the reason for me making so many mistakes and spending more time un-picking than sewing. Well I got there in the end. The top centre back is together, a little bumpy because of the solufleece and the fact that I can't use a hot iron like I normally would until it's washed out. And once it's quilted as well they should go, I hope!
Roll on tomorrow and the next stage once I've figured out what that is!

Cutting the fabric

Well I always find the first cut the hardest. It doesn't matter what the fabric is or how much it cost I still have that nervous moment what if it's wrong! Once that first cut is made it's sink or swim from them on. I'd have to say that 9 times out of 10 it's swim thank goodness.

More pattern cutting!!

There’s me thinking I was doing so well and had traced off all the pattern pieces, well it turns out I had only traced off the foundation pieces, batting & lining pieces so I've spent the last two days in between playing with the dog, gardening & housework tracing off all the rest of the main fabric patterns, but hey all done now and I'm ready to start have some frustrating fun!!

More samples!!

A couple of days ago I decided to do a couple more samples as I wasn't quite sure just how I was going to wash the solufleece out. So I did two samples, one with just the solufleece on the back the other as if I had quilted the garment with the fleece in.

I drew round them both just to see if there was any shrinkage during washing. I then washed both in the sink in warm water and hung them out to dry in the sun.

Although the fleece had gone from the un-quilted sample they both felt a little stiff, so I washed them again using a little bit of non-bio liquid and again hung them out to dry.

The un-quilted sample is fine but the one I quilted is still stiff.

So I will need to wash all top before I quilt it, which scares me a little that it will miss shape. I’ll just have to make sure I baste the edges well to stop them from fraying and be very careful handing it out.

Yippee, The Foundations are finished!

Well at long last all the foundation sections are finished. I’m quite relieved I can tell they've been quite a chore at times. As you can see from the photo I’ve had to pin the back flame & smoke section down the side, my notice board was just not big enough! (It’s 1500mm x 1200mm I couldn't fit anything bigger in the alcove!!)

Now here comes the fun part trying to figure out how to sew it all together. Something I should have thought more about in the beginning me thinks!!

Home run!

As you can see I've been quite busy again. I'm on the home run, the back blocks of the coat. As there is no mirroring I only have to do them once. Yipee. I can't wait to get them done.

Blocks redone

I've redone those two little blocks and I'm much happier, they don't stick out now.

Need to redo?

I’ve done about 4 sections today and very pleased with what I've done, but having looked at my coat on my work board I've decided I need to redo a small piece as I think it sticks out like a sore thumb, the greys are far too light. So before I do any more sections I’ll redo those two sections.

Nearly there!

Well another two pieces done, and I've just looked at what I've got left to do and have been pleasantly surprised, not much!
I guess some point soon I must get and cut the main coat sections out and figure out how I'm going to sew it all together.

Back to the coat.....

So I've tried to do at least a couple of hours each day on my coat that way it grows little by little and I keep my mojo going.

The "Logs" are all done as you can see, although maybe a little hard to make out. I' m hoping the quilting will make them clear.  

I'm now working on the flame sections. They are made from graduated flying geese sections and some odd shaped spirals

The look so far.... 

It growing and evolving like I couldn't have imagined.....

A long time no post!

Well it’s been a long time since my last post but my hands have not been idle. I lost my mojo for my coat sometime at the end of last year whilst doing other bits and pieces, but know it’s back, thank goodness. I've really missed working on the coat.

So what have I been up to? 

I started working on a quilt for our caravan. I've had a Moda jelly roll kicking around for ages, but couldn't decide quite what to do with it. I loved the colours when it was rolled up, but once unrolled thought it was a little to pinky for me. (I’m not a pink person!) So I had a look through my jelly roll books for a design, I just wanted something easy, not brain taxing to try and find my mojo again. The tops all done and is now layered up ready for quilting, and its growing on me. It’s now packed away as I thought if I start quilting it I’ll never get on with my coat.  

The next distraction was an art day down our community centre which I said I'd volunteer for. We held a couple of sessions during the summer holidays for the kids and then did some adult only days. As the adults needed very little help, I was able to do a small portrait of our little girl Ella, a Newfoundland cross German Shepherd. She was only a pup when the photograph was taken; well she’s still only a pup now at 22 months. It was great fun and I really enjoyed it.

  

Then came Christmas!

Well what sort of patchworker would I be if I didn't make some of my Christmas presents? 

For Alfie bear a little suitcase made from an Altoid mint tin. Just the right size for a 9” teddy bear!!

For my dad, sister and Nigel, some mug rugs for their coffee breaks. For my husband and I a pair of "Paws to Eat" placemats for the caravan, and also some earphone holders made out of the scraps from my much overflowing scrap bag.

Then it was time to think about what I was going to do for the TR&H Spring Show. It’s only a little local show which the local horticultural association hold three times a year. In the spring show they have a handicraft section as well. The categories for the patchwork section were: a Christmas stocking, a pincushion and a cot quilt. There was also a knitted item, a crocheted item, something hand or machine made, an item of woodwork and lastly any other handicraft.

So what could I enter? Well as Christmas was now all done and dusted, I wanted to do a stocking that wasn't in traditional Christmas fabric, so FMQ it was. The pincushion, well that had to be a fun item not something traditional, so the Pavlova slice was born. And a cot quilt, well I did one for the show last year and didn't really want another. So I wanted something that I could use as a lap quilt, and as my “Scruffy Paws” collection was born last year it had to be something dog related. “Paws to Sleep” came to mind. 

A crocheted necklace loosely based around 'steampunk' I thought would be a little different, and a newsboy hat made from the scraps of my coat i entered in as a machined item.

I must explain about “Scruffy Paws”. After doing the placemats for the caravan and having a really cute pup it just sort of came about. Everything I make dog related now goes into the “Scruffy Paws” collection; a bit sad I know but fun too.

Something a little different! A FMQ’d card. Although I’ve done fmq on quilts I’d never done a card. I wasn’t sure quite how it was going to turn out? I don’t think it turned out too bad, well they loved it and that’s all that matters at the end of the day.

Meet Alfie Bear..... He's my sister's little bear only about 9" tall. He’s here in his graduation outfit, but has a whole wardrobe at home to choose from. (Good use of my college skills!!) About 4 years ago I made him a snuggle sack which is now looking very worse for wear. So for his birthday next month he'll be getting a new one. He also wanted a birthday cake that was bear friendly, he doesn’t like bath time, and candles would singe his fur. So here it is, his own little cake. Yes I know we're all mad!!