Role reversal

Sorry for not posting in a while; the reason is that my sister and I have temporarily swapped roles. I've been knitting and she's been making chutney!

Anyway, I thought you'd like to see my latest project. I knitted this for a friend using Sirdar Big Softie, which is lovely and cuddly (and pretty good value in my humble opinion). I used almost a ball and a half of each colour, which is a lot, but I did 30 stitches accross and then sewed it up so it's basically a big tube. It's just straight stocking stitch, so you get nice curly ends. Incidentally, I read a pretty negative review of this yarn, so just for the record: I didn't have any trouble knitting with it, and I'm a pretty rubbish knitter.

(Sorry - colours don't come out too well here)

My next project is set to be rather more challenging, and it'll also require Rachel's hat felting expertise... Oh dear - I'll keep you posted!

Easy and virtually free patchwork quilt – Part 8 THE END!

Binding

At last - we are at the final stage!

Read part 1
Read part 2
Read part 3
Read part 4
Read part 5
Read part 6
Read part 7

This is the kind of thing that is so easy to show but very hard to describe, so I've drawn little diagrams to try and explain. There are lots of different ways of binding the edges of your quilts. I am showing you this way because it is totally machine sewn, therefore very fast, and doesn't involve tricky mitred corners.

First cut your 2 inch wide binding strips. Don't use a very thick fabric for this. Use a light cotton, maybe some of your left over sheet backing. Fold the strips as follows:

Iron the creases in really well. Open out the strip again and position it as shown

Turn over the quilt and fold back the binding strip along the fist crease, like this:
Fold in the right hand edge, and then fold it over again down the centre crease. Sew through the whole lot as neatly as you can close the the folded edge of the binding. Trim off the ends. Thats one side done! Repeat on the opposite side of the quilt

For the other 2 sides position the binding strip as before, (face down on the wrong side of the quilt) but this time with 1/2 an inch extra at the ends.

Again, turn over the quilt and fold back the strip

To neaten up the edges, fold in the ends like this:

As before, fold in the right hand edge, the fold again to close up the binding. Sew close to the folded edge. The corners will be bulky so go slowly and don't panic.

Other binding tips:

Use up scraps by sewing together off-cuts, then cutting out the 2 inch strips.

I never pin, but fold and position as I go. Try it and see.

Percieved wisdom says that your binding should be darker in colour that your quilt top, but I don't heed this advice. I use up scraps, or go for a contratsting colour to create a frame.

If you don't like the effect with the stitching on the front face then the traditional way of binding is to place the strip face down on the right side of the quilt first, sew down the crease, then turn it over, fold in the edges, and hand sew it down. You can do mitres too but I don't usually bother unless it's a really special quilt.

So - thats it! You've finished your quilt. That wasn't too hard was it!

Project Perseverance Awards

As Eleanor mentioned, we are pleased to award the first Project Perseverance Prize to Jenny, who has been making her very first patchwork quilt by using my instructions.

She has been doing so well she emailed to say that she had caught me up and was waiting for the next batch of instructions so she could carry on! Now that's perseverance!

Here is a snap of her quilt top, ready for basting and quilting. It looks absolutely fantastic to me. It's flat, with lovely straight seams and perfectly aligned corners.


Well done Jenny!

Jenny is now eligible for the big Greenlaces Annual Award, for which there will be an excellent prize (to be announced.) Emma is also entered, after making falafel, but with a cunning twist.

If you want to be considered all you have to do is email a photo or tell us about your efforts to info@rachelsimons.co.uk

Easy and virtually free patchwork quilt – Part 6

Read part 1
Read part 2
Read part 3
Read part 4
Read part 5

Basting

Now you need to ‘baste’. Nothing to do with turkeys you’ll be glad to hear. The idea is to temporarily hold the 3 layers in place so you can pick up the whole thing to quilt it.

Lay the backing on the floor (right side down) and smooth it out. If you are on your own sellotape the corners to the floor. If you can get a friend to help it’s much easier. Lay the wadding over, followed by your pieced quilt top and smooth out any wrinkles.

The traditional way to baste the quilt is to use large running stitches. Start from the middle and sew a line of large running stitches across the whole quilt.

Repeat with more lines about 6 inches apart until you’ve covered the quilt. Then do it all again perpendicular to the first lot. Frankly I can’t be arsed to do that. My knees can’t take it. I either use safety pins, or for the true speed merchant, quilt basting spray, which is essentially a spray on glue. Quilt basting spray is marvellous but for a larger quilt you definitely need a helping hand or you’ll drive yourself batty trying to get it stuck down straight and flat.

For the safety pin method I use quilter’s safety pins which have a cunning kink in them which helps you to pin while keeping the whole thing flat on the floor. Put the safety pins about 6 inches apart right across the whole quilt keeping all the layers smooth.

When it’s all basted trim off any excess wadding and backing so it’s about an inch bigger than the quilt top. You will neaten up the edges later.

Now you are ready to quilt your masterpiece!

(Or in Jane's case, another gin.)

Easy and virtually free patchwork quilt – Part 5

Read part 1
Read part 2
Read part 3
Read part 4

Before we get on to assembling the quilt, you need to organise some supplies. A quilt is a 3 layer sandwich:

The quilt top - the pretty bit you have spent ages making.
The wadding - the soft fluffy insides of a quilt that makes it warm.
The backing – usually plain fabric.


Wadding and backing basics

There are loads of different types of quilt wadding. (Americans call it batting) Some is made from natural fibres like cotton, some from polyester, and some are a blend.

The polyester wadding is inexpensive, and comes in different thickness. It doesn’t shrink when washed. I used 2 inch polyester wadding in the first quilt I ever made. We use this quilt everyday on the sofa and it has turned super soft and snugly.

The cotton wadding gives a more traditional flatter look, and generally I prefer this, especially for art quilts that hang on the wall. It will shrink a bit when washed so either pre wash it, or embrace the antique puckered look you'll get in the future. The cotton wadding is more expensive but lovely.

There are more expensive alternatives like wool or even alpaca if you want to go for warmth.

If you buy wadding on the internet it is generally sold in pre-cut bed sized pieces, so you will probably get quite a bit of wastage. Most fabric shops will sell quilt wadding by the metre and this is your best bet for avoiding leftovers. John Lewis also sell wadding.

I bit a rather expensive bullet a while ago and bought a whole bolt of cotton wadding.  It seemed a big outlay at the time but it was sensible because I make alot of quilts.  I haggled the price down with the fabric shop man because the wadding had gone a bit bobbly.  

Extra thrift tip:  Keep all scraps of wadding, however small.  It makes very good stuffing for soft toys. 

For the backing you need another piece of fabric just larger than your quilt top. My local fabric shop sells bed sheet seconds for £2 so I often use those for backing. Also I use cream calico quite a lot as  it’s very reasonably priced. Recycle an old bed sheet if you have one spare. If you don't have a spare I bet your Granny has. If you want the backing to co-ordinate with your top you could buy some matching cotton.

Your quilt will probably be wider than your backing fabric so you will have to join 2 or 3 lengths together. It might seem like a waste, but put the seam down the middle, not to one side. I know it means ending up with 2 thinner off cuts, but an off centre seam looks like a mistake. You can always use your off cuts in another patchwork project!


Similarly if you need 3 widths to make up the desired size, put your seams symmetrically like this:


Of course if you are using a bed sheet no joining will be required!

Hope you like my little diagrams! Please don't reproduce them without asking me first.

Easy and virtually free patchwork quilt – Part 4

Read part 1
Read part 2
Read part 3

As I mentioned previously I am making this quilt at the same time as photographing and writing about it. It's the crafting equivalent of Jack Bauer and 24; it’s happening in real time, as it were. Not quite so many terrorists involved though. I’m telling you this so you realise that I’ve not forgotten the rest of the instructions. I haven’t – I just haven’t completed the next step yet!

The result of my lax attitude is that this is not really an official 'part' - I just wanted to show you my finished quilt top:


I’ve sewn together all the blocks as described in part 3, and pressed it all nice and flat. It will seem to shrink slightly as you sew because you are losing fabric in the seams. The more seams you have the more it will shrink in overall size.

When you are pressing the quilt top don’t be afraid to use the steam iron to your advantage. If it is a bit puffy in places keep pressing and gently pulling until it’s flat. If after intensive ironing it’s still not totally flat don’t worry, the quilting process will help to disguise the problem.


So far this quilt has been free and fully recycled. The next instalment will require a small financial outlay, so get saving those pennies. Back soon.


I’m really pleased to report that I’ve had an email from Jenny who has decided to try this project and make her first patchwork quilt. If anyone else is planning to give it a try, please let me know! It gives me incentive to carry on writing. Jenny said she went to a curtain fabric shop to ask for a sample book and they gave her 4 enormous folders full of fabric. There is nothing like the thrill of getting something for nothing!

Easy and virtually free patchwork quilt – Part 3

Read part 1
Read part 2

Assembling the quilt top

Time to sew this baby together. Start with the top row. Grab the top left block and it’s neighbour. Flip the second block over and position it on top of the first block so the front faces are together. Sew them together down the right-hand side. (Sorry if this is a bit obvious) You can pin the pieces together first if this helps you.


Speed Tip: You don’t need to reverse the stitches at the beginning and end of the line of sewing like you would in dressmaking.

Usually with patchwork you sew the pieces with very small 6mm seams. This avoids wastage and lots of bulk. In this case my fabric was very loosely woven and fraying like a bastard, so a 6mm seam would pull apart in a jiffy. I used a 1cm seam. If you are unsure what to do test a bit using the scraps you trimmed off earlier. Yank it about to see how it holds up.

Open out and iron the seam flat from the back. Don’t faff around opening out the seam - I always iron the seam over to one side like this:


Now attach the third block to the second in exactly the same way.


Keep adding blocks until the top row is sewn together in a long strip. Iron all the seams to one side, and all in the same direction.



Now start on the second row. Do exactly the same, but this time iron the seams in the opposite direction. This is so that, when you eventually sew the rows together, there isn’t too much bulk where 4 blocks meet.

Stitch all the rows in the same way, alternating the direction you iron the seams. Put each row back in it’s position when it’s done so you don’t get them in a muddle.

Now it’s time to join the rows together. Take rows 1 and 2 and lay them face to face. Pin them together so that the join of each block on row 1 matches up with the join of the blocks on row 2. Put a pin at each join.


Sew right along, removing the pins as you get to them. Make sure your carefully pressed seams stay in the direction you made them. Twisted seams don’t look very nice but if you get one by accident don’t worry. Press the bejeezus out if it with a steam iron and you’ll be ok.

Keep adding the rows in the same way, and don’t skip the pinning part here. It will look 100 times better if your corners at least vaguely match up. I am the world laziest pinner, but even I pin when I want the corners of blocks to match. If you have lined up the joins, and pinned properly you should get perfect points, like this:


And on the back your seams should look like this, going in opposite directions:


Turn it over to the front and press the whole thing again while admiring your handiwork.

Well lookie here – you completed the quilt top. Well done. Have a large G&T.

Easy and virtually free patchwork quilt – Part 2

Read Part 1: preparing and trimming the curtain sample fabrics.

Designing your quilt

So, by now you should have all your blocks cut to the same size, and with nice square corners. (we'll do purposely wonky pieces another time, square is much easier for now.)

Now it's time for the creative part. Lay out the blocks side by side in a combination that pleases you. In order to get a rectagular quilt you might have to ditch a few. I had 41 blocks in total, so I could have made a 5 x 8 or a 6 x 6. I plumped for a 6 x 6 as there were a couple of colours I didn't really like, so omitting 5 blocks was no hardship.

If your sample book has only a few very large fabric pieces, consider cutting them in half to give yourself more options.

Anyway, this is what I did:
First I pinned them up in the order they were fixed in the book.



Then I shuffled them about a bit:



Then I rearranged them all starting with the palest colours in the centre moving to the darkest colors at the edges. This is my favourite layout:



In my studio I have a wall covered in polystyrene so that I can pin up quilt pieces when I'm designing. Before I had this little luxury I used the floor.

Now you are ready to sew it all together. That's part 3 though, so come back soon!

Easy and virtually free patchwork quilt – Part 1

Don’t be overawed by the thought of making a quilt. It won’t take you 2 years like in the olden days, and it’s not hard if you have half a brain. You don’t have to make a huge monster for your bed either. For starters I would advocate making a smaller ‘lap quilt’ which you can use on the sofa. This not only looks good folded up over the arm but is lovely to snuggle under if you are trying to reduce the amount you spend on your heating bills.

The following instructions are for very beginners. However, I’m assuming you’ve got (or can borrow) a sewing machine and can figure out how to sew 2 bits of fabric together in a straight line.

Buying all the fabric you need to make a quilt for your bed or the sofa can cost a bomb, and collecting scraps that match can take forever. Do not fear though. When I am strapped for cash I head on down to the local curtain shop and beg for their old sample books. In most cases they tell me to look by the bins because they normally just throw them away. What a waste!

This is a quilt I made a couple of years ago using a salvaged curtain sample book and a bed sheet second that cost £2. The one we are going to make here is even simpler, so don't panic.




The advantages of using curtain sample books as that the fabrics will be of the same weight, and will coordinate beautifully. The disadvantages are, for a beginner, they are more tricky to sew with than quilting fabrics as they are thicker and usually more coarsely woven, so fray easily. Don’t be put off though, who cares if it goes wrong? It was free.

Step 1: Preparing the fabric and cutting the blocks.



This is my sample book. Yours wil be different in size, but it won't matter, the principles are the same.

First, you need to prepare the fabric samples. Lever off the bindings with a screwdriver to liberate the fabric. The books are held together with dangerous spikes, so I asked an adult to help me with this part.



If there are paper labels on the back these are best removed by soaking in a bowl of warm water. I would also advocate washing the fabric at this point, but if truth be told I very rarely do this. (True quiltmakers would be horrified by this admission.) It is prudent to avoid any nasty colour running accidents or ugly shrinkage in the future. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Hang the fabric out to dry then press them flat.

Right. Now you are going to trim the pieces so they are all the same size. I can’t guide you here – my sample book here is quite small, yours might be massive. It doesn’t matter as long as the blocks are all identical at the end.

Some samples have a sort of plasticy glue down the edges to stop fraying. You should remove all of this in the trimming process. I also cut off the tops of my pieces where the spikes had punctured the fabric. I use a rotary cutter (like a pizza wheel for material) and a cutting mat to trim and square up my patchwork pieces, but scissors work just as well.

I’ll be back with part 2 later in the week, when I’ve trimmed me bits, so to speak. I’m making this quilt and writing about it as I go, so I hope it doesn’t go horribly wrong!

Easy hot water bottle cover

For the first crafty post, here's something anyone can make, whether you feel you have talent or not. It needn't cost you a penny, embodies the notion of recycling, and is a perfect thing to make on a cold Sunday in February. I don't claim to be the first to think of this idea. I've seen it around in various forms for yonks.

You will need:

An old jumper
A hot water bottle
other fabric scraps for decoration (optional)

First raid your wardrobe, or in my case my Husband's wardrobe, to find an old jumper. The garment donated to me (under slight sufferance) was not the most cheerful of colours but beggars can't be choosers. By the way, the best jumpers to use for this are knitted ones with nice ribbed cuffs.

OK, stuff your hottie inside the arm of the jumper with the bottle neck at the cuff end to test for size. Chop off the arm of the jumper an inch or so below the bottom of the bottle. In my case I decided to leave lots of extra space at the cuff end so I could turn it under to make a sort of polo neck effect.


Now turn the severed arm inside out and sew along the cut edge. If you are doing this on a machine then also zig zagging over the cut edges will avoid any fraying.

Essentially that's it. Told you it was easy.

We decided to embellish ours with some felt shapes. Sew them on or use fabric glue.

Because our sleeves weren't very stretchy we made cute little ties for the neck. To do this cut off either the neck band of the jumper or the waist band. We sewed on little felt covers to the end of the ties to stop fraying and to co-ordinate the colour scheme.

Insert your empty bottle through the neck hole, and tie the waistband ribbon around the neck to finish. Ta daaaaa!



Eleanor doesn't really do crafts at all - she's the foody one - but even she managed to make one of these with my instructions. We each had a sleeve of the jumper. She complained that mine looks better than hers, but for a first attempt at something like this I thought she did brilliantly.

Below is Eleanors hot water bottle cover. She went for explosions instead of flowers. What would Freud say about that? (Actually the real reason is that Eleanor is left handed and struggled to cut with my scissors. She needed a shape with straight lines!)