Patchwork quilting for the lazy and chronically unco-ordinated with a Big Shot, paper pieces and glue

I absolutely adore patchwork quilts.  I almost booked to look around a totally inappropriate house in our recent house search because in the estate agents photographs, all of the beds had lovely patchwork quilts on them.  Presumably, they would not have been included in the sale :D

Anyway, although I love patchwork quilts, I have an uneasy relationship with cutting stuff out.  I am absolutely, chronically dreadful at it. I remember one parents evening a teacher said "I despair of ever being able to teach that girl to use a pair of scissors". They just don't seem to like me.

Patchwork quilting requires not only a great deal of cutting out, but a great deal of *accurate* cutting out.  Game over. Inaccurate pieces makes for a very frustrating sewing experience.

Step in the Sizzix Big Shot The Big Shot is a die cutting machine.  Basically, it is a roller set on a platform.  You buy foam with an inset of a very sharp blade arranged in a shape (a die). You then put your die and fabric (or paper, or various other materials) between the cutting pads and roll it through the rolly bit (I realise this is a very technical description, and I apologise).  For my birthday, I received a Big Shot, a hexagon die to cut fabric, and a voucher to buy some fabric (I chose a rather lovely bundle of seven fat quarters from Annali).  Armed with these, plus some pre-cut hexagons, 1/4" each side smaller than the die, and some Sewline fabric glue, I set out to start my very first patchwork quilt.

The technique is called English paper piecing.  Basically, after cutting a bijillion or so little hexagons out (which took next to no time at all with my wonderful super cutting machine), you are ready to begin.  One paper hexagon nestles on a fabric one.  You glue each seam down and then simply whip stitch the seams together. In one day I have produced this:

 

 

So many beauteous hexagons.  Actually, not all that many really, but I don't mind, as they are like doing a big, fun, really easy jigsaw puzzle :)

 

From the back they look like this:

 

 

You simply remove the paper pieces once the hexagon is fully surrounded. All the joy of patchwork quilting, and hardly any of the dreaded cutting out.



I thought this was going to be quick and easy...

 

The Seamstar craft kit for February was some particularly lovely spring bunting.  Luckily for me, my daughter's name is palindromic in shape, so the fussy bit of ironing on letters in reverse was stress-free, and the bunting was relatively simple to make (although it did take a little longer than the "leisurely afternoon" I was promised.

Here's her bunting.  As you can see - each end has a nice simple heart with a word and a little button sewn on for good measure.

"I want bunting too for my new room!" says Asher.  Since we are not moving for a little while, I think this is certainly within the realms of possibility.  "And I want robots at each end!"  OK, no problem.  Hmmm. Not only is his name an irritating two whole letters longer than Ava's, it's even palindromic.  I consider just doing an A in the middle of two robots.  Apparently this is not acceptable.  So tonight I finished robot no.1. The enjoyment of his creation was hampered quite significantly by the knowledge that I have to make another, identical one before I can get on with sewing the flags up.

Easter Wreath

I was going to start putting pictures of stuff I make on my usual blog, but realised that making stuff doesn't really tie in with reading books.  I mean, I can *sort* of knit and read on my kindle, but not particularly effectively, and only really, really easy patterns. So, I decided to start another blog, about my craft creations.

Yep, my life really is that rock n roll - not only do I love reading, I also love knitting, cross-stitch and sewing.  It's pretty edgy, but I like to take risks.

I am totally rubbish at sticking to just one project at a time. Yesterday evening, I was working on my latest kit from Seamstar. I am a member of their craft club, which means they send me a rather lovely kit each month to make something fabulous.  This month the kit is based around felt flowers in Spring colours.  I happen to have acquired a willow wreath type affair from my mother-in-law, and so decided I would use that as a base for my creations. 

I was originally planning to just add a few felt flowers, and be done with it, but last night I found myself knitting a cover for a polystyrene Easter egg that I just happened to have lying around.  Then, in true gilding of lily style, I added a bit of felt, ribbon, and a button for good measure.  Because who doesn't want a nice pink button on their wool and polystyrene Easter egg? The wool is 4 ply and from Five Moons, and the colour is Acid Drop. The pattern can be found here and the eggs which fit the egg shell (so to speak) can be ordered in packs of 10 from Baker Ross.

The kids and I are planning to do a few more felt flowers and leaves and then add them all over the weekend.  But here it is so far.