Hand Stitched Hearts and Birthday Wishes

Well my Quilty Friends, today I'm posting a Video Tutorial on how to make the Hand Stitched Hearts we made in class today for our Community Centre Christmas Tree.

 Doesn't it look lovely with a mixture of last weeks Machine Stitched and this weeks

Hand Stitched Hearts?

 And here are a couple of pics of the Monday Ladies busy hand stitching.

 I had made up lots of little kits for them - including a needle - I wasn't taking any excuses!

I couldn't make a kit each for you my readers.

Sew,

But you can certainly watch my

Hand Stitched Hearts Video 

Hope you enjoy the video

I know lots of Monday Ladies today were rushing out

to buy some felt to make more of these simple but stunning little hearts.

And of course they are not just for Christmas.

Hearts can be hung any time of year.

AND

If you stuff them a little more stiffly, they make lovely pin cushions too.

ALSO

You might Enjoy Browsing Thru

My Other Social Media Links

Yours in Stitches, Joy

Strip Quilts - Monday Group

Ideas for strip quilts are flowing in thick and fast in Monday Group.

Judith C is  working on a second lovely strippy in happy spring colours.

Judith D has gone for a  mini strip.... This is from the book
101  Fabulous Small Quilts - I think

And Jean is working on a cross between a log cabin and a strippy
aren't they simply stunning colours - and as you can see in the picture it's from a Kaffe Fassatt's book
Quilts en Provence. And being Jean, they are made up in silk fabrics.
Jean is working on her fourth block so has only another forty to make.

Well done ladies I'm proud of you all - keep up the good work. And thank you for allowing me to document your progress.

If you would like to see some other strippy ideas click on my Facebook page link here. 

I'm holding fire on my strippy for a minute. We are going to Doughty's road show in Cowbridge tomorrow and I want to lay my strips up against a few different fabrics before I decide on the sashing/borders.

Sew, for now, Yours in Stitches,

Joy 

Getting the paints out - Monday Group

Well my Quilty Friends as this hot weather continues here in Wales my stitching has almost ground to a halt.

It's just too hot to be indoors sewing. So it's hand stitching in the garden for me.

Mind you even that's not easy with Daisy (my new puppy) wanting to help all the time.

Once the weather cools down the and normal sewing resumes, the next part on my log cabin is the binding.

Meanwhile,
 I'm going to show you a little piece I'm currently working on.

As a backdrop to this story. Me and a few of my quilty friends have recently joined the Contemporary Section of the Quilters Guild of the British Isles.

I've been a 'Guild' member for years, but this May decided to join the Contemporary Section.

Well, we all went to a Guild Area Day last month and the speaker was Gillian Travis. She is also a member of the Contemporary section. And she was showing amongst other things, some of the pieces she had made for the Contemporary challenge this year, Journal Quilts.

We would have like to join in, with the Journal Quilts challenge, but as we joined in May we were too late to join in this challenge.

 So between us we devised a quilty plan.

We would have our own little contemporary challenge. We choose memories of each month, so our first month would be Memories of June which we would each have to bring along and show at our monthly Swansea Quilters meeting.

Sew, this is mine, a work in progress at the moment. But it has to be finished for Saturday so I'd better get a move on.  

 I have chosen a picture of Daisy take just a few days after we had her.

I took lots of photos that day and as she raced around the house and garden,

most of my pictures were of a blur of black, a black tail or even some with no Daisy in at all.

This was one of my better ones - she's almost all in it - it's just her head disappeared as I took the photo.

Anyways, I had the photo printed out. Then I took a piece of thinish calico, laid it on the top of the photo

the simply traced the outlines of the photo onto the calico.

Next - very brave of me

I got out some of the fabric paints I'd bought over the last few years.

You know,

The kind of quilty thing you buy intending to try straight away

Which then sits in a draw for the foreseeable future

mainly due to your being too scared/not having the confidence to try whatever it is out.

Sew

Feeling enthused and fearless after Gillian Travis talk - 'just do it' she said.

'Use these little quilts to try out different ideas', she said

'Don't procrastinate', she said  

SEW

I got out my paints, sat out the garden and painted the photo  

And you can see the result in the picture above, above the actual picture.

And I'm very pleased with it for a first attempt.

Now even I can see that the wall is a bit wonky

That's where I didn't follow the lines and added some of my own

Leason learnt there.

This picture has some machine stitching on it.

You can probably make out the stands of cotton that need to be cut off

These are from where I've 'jumped' from one section of stitching to another.

Next I plan to start hand stitching Daisy in.

It's no masterpiece - but I'm quite thrilled with my first attempt

I particularly like the cartoon feel to it - it wasn't something I was aiming for but I like it.

Well that's me done for today,

remember you can click on the 'pink links' to find out more. 

Speak to you all again soon,

Yours in Stitches, Joy 

Win's 100 year old Welsh Quilt

Win's 100 Year Old Welsh Quilt

In actual class today our most Senior Member, Win, brought in one of her mothers quilts. Obviously being in Wales this is a Welsh Quilt.  It is about 100 years old.

Above, Win with her mum's Welsh Quilt

Below showing both sides of the quilt.

The plain side shows off the quilting beautifully

While the patterned side has some wonderfully colourful flowers on it.

 Above and below are close-ups of the lovely quilting patterns.

I was tempted to record her telling the story behind the quilt. But she was half way through when I thought of it and I didn’t like to ask her to start again.

Anyways. As I said this quilt belonged to Win’s mother. And in typical Welsh fashion, the quilt was made by the village quilter/sewing lady.
Win was brought up on a farm. And sadly her mother died when Win was very young.  But she knows the story of her mums quilts very well.

I’ll try and tell you the story as best I can.
This story is set in Pontrhydyfen in South Wales in the U.K.  One thing they had plenty of on the farm was sheep – no surprise there – if you come to Wales – your gonna see sheep.

And after sheering, their wool was taken to a wollen mill in Neath Abbey where Win’s mum would insist that   A, the wool she took in was used for her blankets (she insisted that her wool was of the best quality and very clean going in and she didn’t want anyone elses wool in her blankets) and B, that only the best, most skillful girls worked on her wool to make her blankets. 

Win has previously brought in one of her mothers blankets which had a beautiful woven design.
However, they also got plain white blankets and these were used as the ‘wadding’ in their quilts.

I have been teasing Win, that her family must have been well off to afford a Wholeclothquilt – and when I heard the wadding was a brand new blanket – they must have been very rich indeed! As the more lowly people would have used old bankets, wornout clothes, an old worn out quilt, or even paper,  as their quilt wadding. But Win assures me that they were not rich – they just had lots of wool.

We then had a discussion about how the quiltmaker may have been paid. I thought maybe a barter system – with woolen blankets as payment  - but who knows.
Anyway this quilt was kept for best (Doctors visits etc).  Which is why it has survived all this time in such a good condition.

We marveled at the quilting designs used and sat and stroked the quilt for ages. I just love, love, love the texture that quilting makes on fabric.
We noticed that the valance had been stitched on by machine. And thought most probably at the time the quiltmaker would have been the only person in the village to own such a modern invention.

 Above the central Medallion pattern 

such a tradition feature in a Welsh Quilt

 Above is a laughing Win

and below is

a concentrating Win.

So, can I say thank you, thank you, thank you Win for bringing your quilt in to share with us all today.

And of course I must mention that Win herself has made many a beautiful quilt over the years.

Monday Group - Marbling

Today we had a complete change in class and played with the Marbling Kit we bought in the Quilt Show in Malvern last month.

We used a pipett to drop in our  paints, and a cocktail stick and a makeshift ‘afro’ comb made out of cocktail sticks and selotape to ‘marble’ the paints.

Here are some of the finished pieces.


I then took them home to line dry them.
Look – blue skies – summer has hit Port Talbot.

We had a wonderful morning with comments such as:

I wouldn't think of doing this at home. But I've enjoyed playing with the paints here. (All set up and ready for them).
Can we do this again please?
and
Can we paint on shells next time?

The swirling the paints with the cocktail stitcks was by far their favourite part - seeing what patterns emerged from the paints.

So it looks like we will have to go to the beach to find some shells then!

Above is a video of Chris 'having a go' this morning.

Monday Group – Machine Quilting

Good Monday morning quilty friends.
Today I’m going to talk about machine quilting using your Walking Foot.

Last week I put together my Half Logcabin quilt top, and now it’s time to quilt it.

Sew, let’s talk about quilting.

As I said, I’m machine quilting this quilt. I’ll be using straight line quilting, some what I call ‘three step zig-zag stitch quilting’ and just a little machine decorative stitch quilting.

Let’s take a look at some examples:

This first one is machine quilted in the ditch. You can’t really notice the quilting.

This second logcabin block is machine quilted using a zig zag stitch – so the quilting stands out.

   This flower is straight line quilted diagonally.

Below, I’ve used straight line quilting either side of the ‘free motion’ quilted leaves.
  And finally this block has been ‘crosshatch’ quilted with additional vertical lines.

Now don’t worry if I’ve used some quilting terms your not familiar with. I’ll be showing you each one in more detail over the next few weeks.

I just wanted to give you a taster of what you can do with ‘straight line’ machine quilting.

And now for something completely (well slightly) different.
In todays video I’ll show you how I get ready for straight line machine quilting.

Hope you enjoy,

That's all from me today folks,

But why not Check out 

My Social Media Links

Yours in Stitches, Joy

Monday Group

Good morning everyone, it's the start of a new week and I think winter is finally leaving the U.K. Spring hasn't quite fully arrived but it's edging it's way in. We still have the heating on all day but my jumpers are getting a bit thinner.
I have been busy stitching together my logcabin blocks into rows.
And in this weeks video I show you how to stitch the blocks into rows and then how to stitch the rows together. It's simple enough if you follow a few basic  tips which help ensure the seams meet.
So here it is,

Hope you enjoy and it gives you the confidence to have a go. It's not the end of the world if all your seams don't match - but if you can match some/most of them you'll feel you've achieved something.
With there being lots of seams to match in each log cabin block I've used more pins than I normally would. And although people in class tend to think my works is very accurate - I am no where near perfect. And the point is none of us needs to be 'perfect'.
We just need to do the best we can at the time.
And I stitch as a hobby, for fun. So, do your best, have fun and above all enjoy the journey.

Yours in Stitches, Joy

p.s. I love it some of you could post pics of your locabin quilts on my joyofquilting FaceBook Page 

   

Monday Group

Hope you are all enjoying your Easter Monday and have had your fill of chocolate.
My hubby took my hint and I got the egg I wanted plus a box of chocolates on the side because he didn't think the egg was big enough;) So I'm rather full of chocolate today.

Anyway, today I'm going to show you how to 'factory' or 'chain' piece your Logcabin blocks.
If you have been watching my previous videos numbers one to four showed you how to, (Rotary cut your Strips), make a (Basic Logcabin sample block), make a (Courthouse Steps Logcabin sample block), and finally a (Half Logcabin sample block). If you missed any of these or simply want to catch up. Just click on the relevant link inside the Red brackets above to see the videos again.

Now I showed you how to make a sample of each of the above Logcabin Blocks. But in real life you would most probably be making lots of these logcabin blocks in order to make a log cabin quilt.
And Factory or Chain piecing makes stitching together lots of logcabin blocks much quicker than making them up one at a time.
Instead of constantly stopping to cut and press each strip this method means you stop to cut and press only once for each set of strips you stitch on. Is that clear as mud to you, yes. Just watch the video below and hopefully all will become clear.
Now for todays video number five.

If you have any questions about any of the videos, or anything on my blog please ask and I'll try my best to help you. Sometimes it's only when someone asks a question that I realise I'm not making myself clear.
I just watched this again and I talk about one and a half inch strips and two and a half inch squares.
I was just a tad confused. I should have said one and a half inch strips and one and a half inch squares.
Next week I'll show you how to stitch your blocks together in rows and how to stitch rows together so the seams all match up.

Yours in Stitches, Joy

Spotlight Wednesday

 Welcome everyone. Today we are going to look at a few different Logcabin Blocks.


First, we have your Basic Log Cabin Block. The one I think most of us are familiar with. This is the type of block we have been making a sample of in our Monday Group Video.                      

And this Kickback Friday I will be showing you how by just playing with the positioning of this one block in a quilt can give you many different looks.

This is a Half Log Cabin block. This block is put together by stitching strips to just two sides of your centre square.  I may make a little video of this method too. Because I know it's easier to understand these things when you can see them actually being made up.








Thick & Thin Log Cabin Block.                                            
This one does what it says on the tin.  It's  stitched together the same way as the basic Log Cabin block. Working around a centre square with thick strips on one half (two sides) and thin strips on the other half (two sides).

And finally we come to Courthouse Steps Log Cabin Block. This block is put together a little differently and I will be posting a video lesson on how to make this block next Monday (18th March 2013)





There are other variations on Log Cabin Blocks. But I think we have enough samples to be starting with here.  Looking forward to chatting with you all again on Kickback Friday. Yours, in Stitches,                            Joy

Monday Group

Welcome everyone.  Today I have uploaded the second video for logcabin blocks. Today's video follows on from last week's rotary cutting video where I showed you how to cut strips ready to make a sample logcabin block.  And today I'll be showing you how to stitch the strips together.
Just click on the arrow to start the video.

Also today we have some pictures of ongoing logcabin quilts from group members.
Below is Joan's 'wavy logcabin' quilt top.

And above is Win's 'wonky logcabin' quilt top.

They look so different don't they.
I'll be explaining/looking at different types of logcabin blocks in Spotlight Wednesday.

Meanwhile have fun watching/making your own logcabin sample block.
                                                            Yours in stitches, Joy x

Spotlight Wednesday

My first Spotlight Wednesday is tied in with Monday class. I am going to attempt to upload a video.......it's How to rotary cut strips for a basic log cabin block. I think it's so much easier to learn how to do these things when someone actually shows you how. AND it sticks even better once you attempt a sample piece. So, today I'm showing you how to cut the strips and next Monday class I'll show you how to make up a basic log cabin sample block using the said rotary cut strips.

For today you will need three fabrics, one light, one dark and one for the centre block.

Tip for video - to watch it full screen click on the little square at the bottom right of the video once it starts playing.

And yes, I know this 'Wednesday' blog has been posted late on Tuesday evening, but I was so excited and wanted to make sure it would work:)

Monday Group

OK - Big deep breath. This is a bit scary for me. But every journey must start with the first step - so here we go my first Virtual Monday Group meeting.

Welcome one and all. Firstly let me tell you a bit about Monday Group.
There is an actual Monday Group/class.  We met, obviously, on a Monday.  We welcome all new members no matter where they are on their quilting journey.

We usually have a project on the go in class. We help and encourage members to work at a pace that suits them as we try and help them develop their stitching skills. Also if any members need help or advice on their own projects we do our best to help them.

We also drink tea/coffee and eat cake/biscuits, show each other what we are working on, and plan trips and visits to quilty things. Oh, I almost forgot something very important. We laugh. A lot. After all this is a hobby, we are supposed to be having fun! I find the last sentence goes down very well, especially when someone is un-ripping a seam - a very long seam - for the second time.

 In our 'Virtual Group'  I'll  be able to share words, pictures and maybe some video of our work and trips but feel free to actually join in with the laughter, and the drinking of tea/coffee and the eating of cake/biscuits - us quilters have to keep our strength up.

I have had this blog for some time now. But felt it lacked a focus.  Although my blog has always been about patchwork/quilting. I knew I needed to hone in on some aspect of the craft. And then it hit me. Although I love patchwork and quilting my passion is sharing my knowledge and helping and encouraging others. So I thought what if I transferred my Monday group passion onto my blog.  So there we  have it - a 'Virtual Monday Group'.
I'm going to run this group alongside the actual group. We'll be following the same projects and I'll be sharing  Actual Monday's with  Virtual Monday's and visa versa!

I hope you are as excited as I am about this - ok, well I hope your a little bit as excited as I am about this.
Just think about it.  It doesn't matter where you live, what age you are, whether you are a beginner or not, if you already belong to a group, can't leave the house, or even if you can't make Mondays.  As long as you have an internet connection, your in.

I have so many plans for you all. And I hope some of you will feel happy to comment and share with the rest of the group.

So today marks our first Monday meeting. At the moment we are working on Logcabin blocks.
But let's not run before we can walk. This weeks assignment is to do a little research  on logcabin blocks. Don't panic I just want you to look at some different logcabin blocks (click on the logcabin blocks link to see some logcabin images). And next week I'll show you how to put together a basic logcabin block, which you will then be able to make up yourself as a practice/sample block.
                                                                                                               Yours in stitches, Joy x                          

Next blog update will be on 'Spotlight Wednesday'