Special seam stitches

I'm going to do a post on the stitches I'm using on my USA flag crazy quilt seams, as that's really all there is to do now, apart from backing and binding.

Yesterday I rewatched How to make an American Quilt - which you can buy on DVD from Amazon here

http://amzn.to/1b6D2wU

Towards the end of the film they show the quilt that the character have been working on - maybe this needs a spoiler alert! - but there is a crazy patchwork piece. Despite crying like a sentimental fool by this point in the film, my inner quilter kicked in and I paused the DVD to look at the stitching and discovered a variation of blanket stitch that I hadn't tried yet!

Here it is on my quilt.

So you're thinking 'which stitch?' It's the one at the top of the gingham piece, that forms triangles. It's basically a blanket stitch, so here are some other variations of blanket stitch.

Here (above) the blanket stitch forms a fan shape.

Another very similar stitch is this one that forms a bow.

On this stitch (above) the blanket stitches are crossed over each other.

Here the blanket stitch is worked on alternate sides. 

It's amazing how many variations you can make with just one stitch!

By the way I finished the stitching on the seams tonight! Hurray!

Meet Bartholomew J Mouse!

Since term began in September I've had less time for making than I would like, but I'm keeping my USA crazy quilt ticking over, and because I made a lot of progress over the summer, I am now on the penultimate stage of doing the blue stitching on the red and white portion. Of course, that's most of the quilt, so it's taking a while. I still aim to be finished by the end of the year!

Then there are the creative distractions, like deciding we needed a mouse puppet to use for the Christmas Eve service at church. Cue some sketching of ideas, and then re-watching of videos on YouTube to remind myself how to make a puppet using the Project Puppet pattern I have. (I'll try  and add links to these at some point, when I'm using a proper computer, and not my iPad!)

The Roly pattern from Project puppet is very easy to use, but has a round head, not mouse shaped. It's what I've used for Crockford, Brookland and Dexter.

Dexter the rock star!

Crockford with two camels...unusual for him as he prefers crocodiles, as he will happily tell you if you spend any amount of time with him!

I obviously had to make a mouse nose shape for this pattern, which I did using a cone shaped piece of paper. I decided to keep the mouse body thin, and his hands and ears big. I went for a grey tail, not pink, as that screams rat, and that makes me scream!

So here he is, posing with me - Mr Bartholomew J Mouse!

I was concerned he'd resemble Roland Rat (yay, hello rat fans!) which, as much as I like Roland Rat wasn't what I wanted. I wanted him cuddlier than Rizzo from the Muppets, and I guess he's turned out a bit like Tutter from Bear in the Big Blue House. I think he's his own mouse though, and I have some firm ideas about his personality.

I have a puppet board on Pinterest, so follow me on that to see what my favourite puppet inspirations are. (here's some clues...one is small, grey and squeaky, and is best friends with a bear, the other is green and has an 'it's complicated' relationship with a pig!)

Just got to write the script now!

Short burst of speed!

Having posted only last week about the current state of my USA themed crazy quilt, I am now about to post again! This is mostly thanks to the school holidays which means that I am able to get on a little more. (But only a little, as my mornings, a couple of afternoons and a weekend day are taking up with teaching English to foreign students!)

I was very pleased to finish all the red patches, and I made a start on putting the red pieces onto the backing.

As you can see my fabrics are mostly red, with hints of white, and include two fabrics that incorporate other colours. I wasn't sure if this was going to work, so I've just done a small section, and it's only tacked down at the minute. Actually this caused a crafting dilemma for me - all the fabric I've used so far has been from my stash of fabrics. I have only bought thread. I was battling with whether to try and stick with that, hence the fabrics with other colours, and the dominant red, or whether to try and find some white fabric with a red print or pattern. In the end I decided to use what I've got. It looks good, there's variety of pattern, and the white patches really stand out. Crafting can be a very expensive hobby, and I like to try and limit what I buy to stuff that I really need and haven't got in my stash already.

I also started adding the decorative stitching to the blue section of the quilt. My original idea was to use blue and white variegated thread on the blue section, and red and white combined on the red section. (Red variegated thread is inevitably pink...not the look I wanted!) However, when I made a start, I soon realised that you couldn't actually see the stitches. I think it's important that this detail stands out, so now I am using red on the blue section and blue on the red section. As an added bonus it helps the embroidered patches to stand out more.

Here's the first few borders!

What happened to that quilt you were making then Jo?

Waaaaay back in January I posted about a crazy quilt I was planning to make. It had a USA theme, and was going to be based on the Stars and Stripes. I had given myself the year to make it, and after that initial post I haven't mentioned it on the blog. 

So what happened? 

Well, I am very pleased to say that the quilt is ahead of schedule! I used an app called Priority Matrix to plan the quilt and that's helped me stay on track as I could organise what image I wanted on what colour, and allocate it a month.

As you can see, there are lots of green ticks :D 

So where are all these images? I've used the same process as for the eagle - find an image using Google (what did we do before Google?) put it into Adobe Ideas and turn it into a line drawing.

Print, trace onto fabric then stitch using stem stitch.

Here are the finished blocks. The blue and white ones are now stitched onto the backing fabric, which is an old sheet, along with other blue and white fabric.

Map of the USA

American Eagle

The White House

The Statue of Liberty

Chicago skyline

All the blue patches on the backing fabric.

The red and white blocks are still in progress, I've got one underway and 3 more to do. Then they can be stitched onto the backing fabric. Obviously because of the proportions of the flag, there are more red than blue blocks.

Orchard House - Louisa May Alcott's home in Concord, Massachusetts.

Sitting Bull

Fender guitar

Martin Luther King

American football player

Wolf

Mount Rushmore

Baseball player

Cowboy - I added a lasso.

Buffalo (or bison)

Golden Gate Bridge

Navaho pot in progress - you can see the pen lines, which will disappear over time.

Of course, once all the pieces are sewn on, then I will be adding decorative stitches, as I did to the Green Knowe quilt.

Some of the decorative stitches I used.

I think this may take the rest of the year!

USA quilt is underway!

It's taken a while to get going on this, despite my plan to do some each month, and I didn't want to get behind straight away!
I have now planned my embroidered sections, choosing images and then one of four colour ways. The images will be sewn in blue or red on white, and in white on red or blue. Scuppered a little by not having any white thread, I started with a blue on white bald eagle.
I used a photo from the Internet, and, inspired by Adrian's Christmas gift of iPad for Artists, I reduced it to a line drawing using Adobe Ideas. I transferred the image using a water and air soluble pen. I tried using the iPad as a light box, but as it's pressure sensitive that's a little tricky.
But here we are, my first patch ready for my American themed crazy quilt!

Frustrations, plans and new friends

In September I started the first full time job that I've had in five years. I love the job but it's been a shock to the system. I expected to have time in the evenings to do the creative things I want to do, and I was determined not to end up just working all day and vegging out in front of the tv all evening. But, of course, I'm exhausted and spend my evenings vegging out in front of the TV!

Thankfully a kind friend told me that it took her a year to adjust from part time to full time work, so I've taken some of the pressure off myself. What's left is frustration; I don't want to waste my evenings or my half terms (I'm working in a school) I don't want to be resting, I want to be making and doing and being creative. (I also had some good advice from Mum who said to do the creative stuff while you have energy because you can always do ironing etc when your brain is fried!)

I've managed to keep going with the Tag Tuesday blog and that's inspired me to make some plans for next year. I've also picked up puppeteering again, so there's an outlet there. I'm probably actually doing more than I realise, just not as much as I want.

So plans! I have in mind to make a crazy patchwork quilt, similar to the Green Knowe one I made. I want to base it on iconic images from the USA, and on the Stars and Stripes flag. I've been feeling the pressure to get on with it, so I've set myself this as a project for next year. Each month I will design and stitch a small panel, then in the school holidays I will assemble the panels that are done. By December 2013 it should be finished!

As for new friends, I've made several puppets. (See what I mean about doing more than I realise!) Excuse the photos, for speed I took them with my iPhone and iPad, and you don't always get the best results.
The old guy is paper mâché and fabric. I made the head ages ago and have finally got round to finishing it off. I've since replaced his hands with some felt that is more akin to his skin colour,and more to scale with the rest of him. I would make a longer sleeve next time.

The camels are adapted from a pattern I got from this website.
http://www.puppetpatterns.com/index.htm
I intend to make a third, what with Christmas coming up!

The little green guy is called Crockford, because of his jumper! He is so cute, aged about 3, and very talkative! He loves crocodiles and now has a big 'brudder' called Brookland. (Brookland looks the same but only talks by whispering to another person. He's about 6 and loves taking photographs. They are both named after places in Surrey!) They are made from the Roly pattern from this website, with Brookland being a 125% version of the pattern.

http://www.projectpuppet.com/servlet/StoreFront