Raggedy Friends Quilt, and Spring news

The Darling Buds of May - I have been watching a re-run of the life of the Larkin family based on the stories of H. E. Bates. It is a very nice series, no wicked persons who get away without consequenses, just a story of a large and loud family. Our newest buds of the month are these lilies of the valley, and with the temperatures around +10 C they will remain buds for a long time. While spending time with the Larkin family, I have also been hand sewing...

... finally the binding on the Raggedy and Friends quilt, and Andy posed for the block 11:

Here are the last three blocks, this one is 11:

And Annie is on block 10:

Both dolls are shown in the final block.

Here is the finished quilt, picture was taken in today's cloudy weather after the rain had stopped.

Thank you Kaaren, this was a fun project and I managed to finish it using only fabrics from my stash, many of them recycled. It was sometimes difficult to choose "my colours" for the ones given by Kaaren, but I think I can be pleased with the result. There are 5 ninepatches included, so I think this will qualify for Anne Marie's 9-patch challenge as my third finish as well.

For the first time in my life I have been growing tomatoes from seeds. These were sent to us by Candace and Mr. Squash as a Christmas present. Now I heard from experts that I should have started growing them indoors in March already instead of the beginning of April, but I hope that my little greenhouse cupboard will keep them warm and they will grow big and strong and happy and make lovely tomatoes.

Today I made sure we will get at least some tomatoes from our own garden: I'm making an exchange with a greenhouse-owner friend and get one of her plants agains two of my tiny ones. We will not have space for all these when they need bigger pots, so we will be giving some away to other friends as well. I couldn't imagine there would be a plant from every single seed I put in the pots! Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Squash! Mr. K. is wearing his Jersey Tomato t-shirt when he is gardening. It was a perfect fit, which is very unusual.

Stash use report for April

Oh this was a bad month! I didn't finish any bigger projects, just a pincushion, a tissue holder and a pair of potholders, for which I used about 15 cm of fabric scrabs all together. The fabrics are all from my stash, and the potholder fabrics are all recycled, so this is naturally a good thing. Both have a 9-patch, so they qualify for Anne Marie's challenge, even when they are just a tiny project. I took the photo before the last binding was sewn on the reverse.

My only other finish, the Bag Club reversible bucket bag took about 1 m of the three fabrics all together, and that is all I managed to sew in April.

The other side of my statistics shows very big figures. The fabric store I usually use is closing business and selling all fabrics with a 30 % discount, and I have bought something every week. Big pieces of fabric, to make backings, and lovely pieces that have been too expensive until now. Can you believe it: 19 m in all. (I wrote it small so you would not notice how much it was.) Soon there are no nice fabrics left in her shop, so I don't need to buy them any longer. And I hope to get at my Raggedy and Friends quilt this month; it only requires quilting and binding, and then I can count all the fabric I have used for it since last Summer. I'm also working on a jacket for myself, and a slip for a dress, so I think things will look better for May.

I hope you have had better results than I for your using your stash and (not) buying fabrics in April.

Nine-patch, and signs of new life

Today I saw the first sign of new life in the garden: the first snowdrops came through the snow:

Do you remember my unlucky binding on the 9-patch?

Here it is now after one night of unpicking and some hours of new cuts and sewing:

The quilt is all finished now.

 

There are three nine-patch blocks in different sizes on the backing. A row of the smallest squares goes across the quilt, and a row of three squares just so, joining all the bits of white sheets I used for the backing. Anne Marie's strict rules required all material to be from stash, and so it is. This is my first finish for the Nine-Patch Challenge.

 The label is framed with tiny leftover scraps from the denim shirts I used for the solid squares on the top. This was the first washing I could hang out to dry this year. Until now the snow has been too high under the line. I love the fresh smell of laundry from the washline on a sunny day.

Stash use report for March

This should be the beginning of Spring, and the shops are full of daffodils in yellow pots. They can cope about -10C /+14F, and I planted some to replace the faded Callunas of last Autumn. After their first day we had some new snow again, and then two nights with -15C/+5F. About half of my flowers have frozen to death, but many have survived. I hope the nights will be warmer from now on.

One more birthday present, a rusty brown and red shawl knitted by my sister Maija. I'm wearing it now around my neck with my winter coat, but it will be lovely in Summer on my shoulders too. Kiitos, Maija!

As you can see in the picture, there is quite a lot of snow on the ground and it will take weeks before the first Snowdrops raise their heads through the last snow.

My stash seems to be growing, but there is a perfectly good explanation: My favourite fabric shop will close in the Summer when the owner lady retires, and she started selling everything 30 % off the normal price from the 1st of April. I was looking for some white flannel for baby quilt backings, and as she didn't have any, she sold me some in red, and gave me the special price in advance. As the cotton prices are expected to go up, it is only rational to buy now.

This is the pieced backing of my 9-patch quilt, with some 9-patches in different sizes just for fun. I had to piece the backing as I couldn't buy new fabric for it, to meet Anne Marie's challege rules.

I wondered how stupid a quilter can be. You see, I straightened the edges for the binding and cut exactly at the points of the red sashings, thinking the white points will be sharp anyway. And then I machine stitched the binding on, and spent three nights hand sewing the three edges before I was too annoyed with the cut-off red points.

So the stupid quilter unpicked the binding, ironed it again , cut a bit from all 4 sides of the quilt and started sewing the binding back on. It is almost done now, so I can count the backing and binding to my March fabric use.

This is something else I did in March, after Melanie sent me the adorable book on Celtic, Viking and Anglo-Saxon Embroidery by Jan Messent.  The book is about ancient embroidery and the new use of the stitches and pictures by the author. Beautiful, inspiring pictures of her work. Melanie had sent me some plant-dyed threads earlier, and some perlé threads a year ago, so I thought I would use them to make her a small picture of the Kalevala Jewelry bird I sent her for her birthday. I added some antique silk threads from my Great Auntie Saima. My design and stitches reveal that this is my very first attempt, but I had great fun while making it, and Melanie understands all the hidden meanings important for both of us.

A few weeks ago we had a visitor from Belgium in our sewing class, and to give her a feel of quilting I helped her sew one QAYG block from my strings for the Oz Comfort Quilts. I made one too, and hope to get at sewing some more for a new delivery later this month. Counting all these projects together I have used 4.5 m of fabrics from my stash in March, but also bought 5.5 m new fabris. Increase: 1 m. I need to finish lots of projects in April to make the figures look better!

Surrounded by snow

You might think that spring is almost there, but it certainly is not here. We had some new snow last Friday

and the weather has been so cold that the white new top layer still is there making the snowbanks look fresh and clean.

Last weekend we cleaned the birdhouses for new nest builders, and the tits have already started looking at the houses again, and singing their little songs.

I have been working on some secret projects I can't show before next week, and enjoying my new book I was allowed to open as soon as it arrived. The sweet Melanie had come across this book when she was looking for something else, and she knew I would love it. And I do. I think this is the finest, loveliest, most interesting book I have had in ages, maybe ever. And the most inspiring one too. I think it is wonderful that someone knows you so well that she can choose you a gift better than you would  yourself. Thank you, Melanie!

I'm half way through machine quilting the 9-patch quilt, but for some reason I have no pictures of the backing I had such trouble with. I will show it when the quilting is done. I made the binding for this in class tonight.

On Mondays and Wednesdays I go to Järvenpää for errands and grocery shopping, and I usually have a moment of my own time in the cafe at the shopping centre. I like the view to the florist's shop, always changing with the seasons and special days.

At this time of the year we need colourful flowers in the house, because the gardens are still covered in snow for weeks, and after the snow is gone it takes some time before the greenness wins the battle against night frost and the autumn's dead leaves and grass.

I'm going on a little holiday during the weekend, just a short trip to an old little town Porvoo. I try to make some nice pictures there, but the weather forecast tells there will be snow again on Saturday. Maybe I just need to concentrate on staying on my feet on the icy pavements. Maybe I'll need a walking frame now.

Freezing

This winter feels like there is no end to it. It started early, we had the first snow in mid October, and the snow that stayed came around the 15th of November. Three months ago. It has snowed over 60 cm or 25" ( a quilting ruler would be snowed in) in all, and there will be more snow before any sign of spring.

A sunrise last week:

Our little friends have eaten almost 50 kg sunflower seeds and peanuts this winter. Here on the left a Mrs. Bullfinch and on the right Mr. Gray Linnet. He is a newcomer, they don't usually stay up here for winter.

This morning the temperature was really low, -23 C or -9 F, but (or beause of that) the day has been sunny. Mr. Bullfinch enjoys the sun here.

It has been so cold that I have just been knitting socks by the fireplace and not freezing by the sewing machine. All I finished this week there was these two pillowcases for Jackie's summer camp project.

This left me with some colourful strips so I can make a couple of QAYG blocks for the OZ Comfort Quilts - click the button on my right sidebar.

The ninepatch backing gives me a headache so I decided to let it rest until my head is clearer. I started - finally - a plaid shirt project from this book in class:

but the sewing was so wonky that I think I have an unpicking project for the evenings before I can continue. I hope you have had a more successful week!

Stash use report for January, and 9-patch update

The first month is behind us and it is time for me to look at my stash. Much of it looks like this:

I seem to collect all the nice shirts from the family and charity shops. If I buy a shirt for quilting, I count is as bought fabric, not for the "full value", but maybe for 1.3 m if it is a good big one. So much goes to waste when I cut them to squares for my quilts. When I calculate how much fabric I have used, I try to think how many of those squares I would get from the width of a normal fabric, and I don't think about the waste bits at all. They will be counted when I use them for smaller things like scrappy stars. So, according to my careful measuring and calculations, I used 3.5 m plaids for this nine-patch top, plus 1.5 m denim, and 1.3 m solid red for the sashings. I'm thinking of our normal, 1.5 m wide fabrics. Naturally, sometimes my fabric is only 112 cm, so there will be less squares for the width of the fabric.

The QAYG blocks and bindings and my other sewing projects added, my total fabric use was 14.2 m. No matter how hard I think, I can't remember having bought more than 1 m of black T-shirt material, and 3 m of children's prints for the pillowcase appeal. That makes 4 m, so the stash was reduced by 10.2 m in January. I think it is a very good start! The most of the fabrics were recycled or leftover bits from making clothes.

On Thursday in my class I will be working on the backing for the nine-patch quilt, and I'm thinking of a nine-patch surprise for it.

It is a bit chilly today, so I'm going to make a big cup of tea and take some quilting magazines for inspiration with it. What happened to your stash in January?

Some progress

My time seems to go too fast at the moment. The week is gone and I wonder if I managed to get anything done. Last week I sent my red and white granny squares to the Rainbow.

I have also been working on my nine-patch quilt for Anne Marie's challenge. It is going to be a big one. I have used the sleeves of 16 plaid shirts and almost every part of three denim shirts. I still need to work on the sashings and make the backing from stash.

Naturally I have been watching the birds too. I love this acrobat titmouse:

We have had some sunny days already, and the day is about 2 hours longer than at winter equinox in December. We expect some 30 cm or 12" snow for next weekend. I think we already have enough for one winter!



I better go back to the sewing machine and start to work again. Have a nice and productive week!

New project with shirts, and bird news

As you may know, my favourite fabric source is Mr. Kotkarankki. I usually just gently guide his shirt choices to suit my purposes, and then wait patiently until the collars and cuffs start to fray. It takes a few years to get a shirt to my stash this way, but if I'm lucky and he likes the shirt, he wears it often and I get it sooner. Another way is to make him understand that he doesn't really like a shirt because it is a) too tight or too big, b) too stiff or too coarse, or c) the wrong colour for him after all (but not for me!). This way I can lay my hands on barely used shirts. This lot has been worn and loved, and now it is mine:

And this is what I have been doing with them this week:

The first nine-patch blocks for Anne Marie's Nine Patch Challenge 2011.

The blocks will be 9" finished size, because so many of the shirts have such big patterns. I must dig deeper to find more material for the light squares.

It has been snowing almost every day. My path to the composter is more than knee deep. There is more snow already than there was last year during the whole winter, and we still have about two snowy months left. It often snows in April too, but by then most of the snow has thawed away.

When there is no wind, the snow gathers on the oak branches.

We keep a record of different birds we recognize in our yard, and mark on a list the first date we spotted them each year. The long-tailed titmouse flock comes a couple of times a week to eat the fat and seeds. I think they look cute, such soft, round creatures.

By this date we have seen 15 species, most of them daily visitors at the bird feeder. They eat sunflower seeds with a small addition of peanuts, and the tits and woodpeckers like the fat-and-seeds sausage or balls. They need lots of energy just to keep  warm in this climate. We take care there is always food for them once we have started the winter feeding. When the weather has warmed and there are insects available, we take the feeder away so the birds will take care of themselves during the warmer season. After the migrating birds have left in late October, or when the first frosts come, we start feeding birds again. This way we don't tempt the migrating birds to stay as they are not going to survive our winter, no matter how much we feed them. This place is for the tough guys only!

Use your stash again this year

I spent a long time making a new button for my own little challenge for 2011. Blogger and Picnik both work in curious ways, and so my pile of farbics is upside down and the picture is rotated to the right to make it look like this:



Edit: if you want to copy and paste this button, please use the smaller one on my right sidebar!

I'm pretty pleased with my self with the new motto: Use your stash to make space for new fabrics in 2011 sounds so positive! You are welcome to copy the button to your own blog, if you share the stash problem with me and want to try to make something about it. There are no rules, just try, like I'm doing, to use more fabric than you buy. Use the ones you have first. Check what you have before you buy a new fabric for a need. Nobody can avoid sudden urges if they see a lovely fabric they must have. Then you just need to use more of the old ones! I have a couple of good suggestions: Join Anne Marie's Nine-Patch Challenge (button also on my right sidebar) to make yourself a lovely new quilt, join Jackie's call for pillowcases (tutorial here) for the Hole in the Wall Gang, or use your strips to make some 10.5" blocks for Oz Comfort Quilts (tutorial here) . This is my lot photographed on the floor before I packed them tightly in a light shopping bag I had made earlier, and sent for Jan to Australia. I took care to keep it just within the weight limit, sending the maximum amount with the minimum cost. Jan will join these with other donated blocks or ones she made herself to make a quilt 5 x 7 blocks, and later they will be brought to the Queensland flood survivors. The bags will be used to pack each quilt in, and the people will get a nice bag instead of plastic ones for their things.

From small scraps and orphan blocks you could make boobs for Mrs. Moen's therapeutic art project for breast cancer patients (instructions here), or you can send her treasured boobs, or even adorned ones. One her blog you will also find the shipping instructions, and she hopes to get them before the end of March. The Make a Boob blog homepage is here. You will find answers to all your questions there.

This week I finished my sixth block of the Raggedy & Friends BOM quilt by Kaaren at The Painted Quilt. Next week she will give us three new blocks, smaller than this and each with only one stitchery. All the previous blocks' instructions are still available for free, so you can start your own Raggedy Ann and Andy quilt now if you like.

My Raggedy Ann has posed for many pictures like in the stitchery drawn by Kaaren, but we both found this one a little too tricky for her. She doesn't have wings, and the position was too demanding for her. Let's hope there will be easier ones coming, as we both enjoy our little photo shoots so much.

The days are visibly longer here already, but the sun keeps still very low, hardly over the treetops, and most days have been cloudy, so there are no nice new photos. It is best to keep indoors and cut fabric, drink hot tea and keep warm.

New Year & new challenges

Today we had the first thaw since November. It is raining now, and the snowy pavements will be ice and awful for a long time. I prefer -10 C and dry snow anytime between November and March. The apple tree picture was taken a few days ago when the air was curiously red.

I used a lot of fabrics last year, but I hope to use even more this year. I have started with a big plastic bag of strips in any colour, length and width.

 I'm sewing them together to make 10.5" blocks with the QAYG technique, so I can use leftover bits of batting as well. The blocks - 10 ready by today - will go to Jan Mac in Australia. She will join them with other blocks from other places of the world, and deliver them to the Queensland flood area, where families have lost everything.

Jan has a tutorial showing how to make the blocks on her other blog, and her address is on the Oz Comfort Quilts blog. Every block sent to her will find its place in a quilt, every block counts. The postage of a few blocks sent in a big envelope is not too much, if you want to help. Or maybe you have a group of quilters who could share the mailing costs and send more blocks together? They are in fact fun to make, and it takes about half an hour to make a block. It takes 35 blocks to make a quilt.

I have joined another challenge as well already: Anne Marie from Norway is challenging other quilting bloggers to make a Nine-Patch quilt from stash by September 1st. It is not a swap, you can do anything you like with the quilt, and there are no size limits either. Your quilt just needs to have a Nine-patch block or many of them.

Both these projects suit perfectly my efforts of reducing the amount of fabric I have laying around the house, mostly folded in boxes and sorted by colour but also in plastic bags, baskets and just free-standing piles. If you have the same sort of a problem, these are two nice ways to help you towards your goal.

I wish you all a happy new year, with lots of inspiration and lovely projects!