tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84218409528789465002024-02-07T21:19:10.321-08:00Fine City Quilting - The BlogUK Quilting Blog, tips, ideas. my quilting journey!Zoe Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07415520247342735025noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421840952878946500.post-18899136555808391912020-10-23T01:36:00.021-07:002020-10-23T01:41:25.614-07:00Garden Flower Blog Hop 2020 #GFBH2020<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY01TH18ZB5fNHs6uxL8ptVMykd9s22lSV1AgKC-6oz98W00ORpBy_OZ9WOIM1Mz2Lqm_soaDawqxA17MPcp4Xcx4TfmofSJ8luJ2NCfJKkY0AtSefShKowZS4QeYu7wftseYKVWRHP04/s1512/sweet+pea+finecityquilting+sgbh2020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="1512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY01TH18ZB5fNHs6uxL8ptVMykd9s22lSV1AgKC-6oz98W00ORpBy_OZ9WOIM1Mz2Lqm_soaDawqxA17MPcp4Xcx4TfmofSJ8luJ2NCfJKkY0AtSefShKowZS4QeYu7wftseYKVWRHP04/s320/sweet+pea+finecityquilting+sgbh2020.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>In September I was very excited to test myself by joining the Blogeratti, that is the very talented ladies who design patchwork blocks and blog on the UKQU site. Welcome to my humble attempt to join in with this fantastic event!! My first ever blog hop and my first time trying to write a pattern! If you check out my pattern, please also have a 'hop' though the other blogs, there are some really beautiful ones.<div><div>
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In a year that's been extraordinary so far (and that's not a dare 2020, you've already exceeded yourself), I don't think I've ever appreciated my garden so much. In the dark first days of this pandemic when we couldn't see any familiar faces (except via Zoom!) what joy to find the familiar faces of perennial plants returning.</div>
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This inspired my contribution to this blog hop..the Sweet Pea. Please click the link below to download the free pattern and read why I chose this particular garden flower.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.ukqu.co.uk/gfbh2020-the-sweet-pea/" target="_blank">The Sweet Pea</a><br /></div>
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Zoe Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07415520247342735025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421840952878946500.post-67423968855275056462020-04-20T08:23:00.000-07:002020-07-29T07:26:55.759-07:00Lockdown Sewing....Crafting through CoronavirusIn February 2020 I was in Budapest, celebrating a friend's 40th birthday, I'd been nervous about going...typical Mum guilt and worry but boy was I glad I did!<br />
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At that time Coronavirus was something that was happening in China, then it was something that was happening in Italy. We'd been aware of it as we were preparing for the trip but assumed flights would be cancelled if there was a problem. I won't get political but it was clear that Hungary was feeling that close proximity to Italy. The airport in Budapest was very strict with sanitiser and when we returned 3 days later to fly home to England it was even stricter. <br />
We arrived back in Stanstead to no sanitiser or reminders to 'wash our hands'. That we supposed was that. Another strange foreign virus that wouldn't trouble our shores.<br />
Little did we know.<br />
Less than a month on the 16th March in an unprecedented move, the UK went into lockdown. As a Mum of school age kids I started to home school my kids.<br />
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Now, if ever I had anticipated this unimaginable situation I'm sure I would have thought 'haha, more time to sew - no places to be, no school run!'....but it wasn't like that. <br />
I felt so tense inside, I felt worried for the children. I would home school in the morning, make lunch, make sure the boys played outside and then cry once they'd gone to bed. I remember two non-consecutive days when it all seemed too scary to bear.<br />
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"Are you sewing?" "what are you making at the moment?" people would ask. 'Nothing' I'd reply, morosely. I had lost my sewjo.<br />
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Slowly though lockdown became the norm. I decided to make a wall hanging of HST made with sample squares suppliers send and a cream solid. There was a bare patch of wall at the bottom of the stairs going up to our attic bedroom...if I could create something positive and bright we would see it every morning when we walked downstairs to 'face' the day.<br />
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So it's a reminder that some positive things came from the COVID-19 lockdown, time spent at home with family and my sewjo returning!Zoe Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07415520247342735025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421840952878946500.post-40279499879757707022019-05-28T12:08:00.001-07:002019-05-28T12:12:02.063-07:00Quilts in the Wild: Exploration of a Hashtag<br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">The very fact
you're reading this blog post means you know a quilt sandwich from a ham
sandwich. An interest in quilting and access to the internet will have probably lead you to Instagram or Facebook where the popular #quiltsinthewild or #quiltsinthegarden can be found.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Quilts have been around as long as people could sew fabric in layers
for extra warmth. They have comforted us for centuries and are more synonymous
with cosy fire sides and guest beds rather than rocks and forests. Surely this
makes the quilt a domestic animal?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">So why
#quiltsinthewild? The earliest I used this hashtag was January with a quilt I
had made for my sister, I held it up in my garden for my husband to dutifully
capture, but I was by no means an innovator of this term. Inspired by some of
the quilters in the US I was riding the crest of a wave that had started in
2013 with a seemingly random post. A year later Jaybirdquilts posted an actual
quilt in the wild or at least outside and not on a bed.by November 2014 we were
starting to see quilts held up with snow around and mountains forming a
magnificent backdrop.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">A Beautiful Contrast?</span></h4>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Is this the same as
the Sunday Supplement fashion magazines showing a Supermodel in a supermarket or a grubby stairwell?
After all these sort of 'fish out of water' images are used by high end fashion
photographers all the time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">The Kardashian
sisters were lambasted (and celebrated in equal measures) by the media for
appearing in skimpy bikinis and posing in the snow. Are our show-off quilts the
fabric equivalent? Here in the East of the UK we had heavy snowfall in March
2018 (when the Beast from the East came over from Russia) and for this avid
quilter it was an excuse to get some wonderful contrast shots...who could
resist a 'cosy' quilt viewed with a foreground of icicles? Or in a homemade
igloo (certainly not me!! All of these shots can be found on www.instagram.com/finecityquilting<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">#quiltsinthewild - A Practicality?</span></h4>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">So far we've
concentrated on the whimsy of a quilt being an entity that could be even
considered to have domestic or wild habitats - what then could realistically
lead to this hashtag becoming one of the more fun quilting hashtags to follow
on Instagram?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Lighting is the
first practicality of taking a quilt outside, you can't really beat natural
light. Some of my funniest moments as a Quilter who uses the medium of Social Media often are the moments in the depths of Winter where the sun has come out enough on to wet grass and I've ran out with a plastic bag and grabbed a quick picture of some EPP I'm working on. I like to think these little moments of silliness make other quilters smile - they probably make my neighbours laugh!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">Secondly the space..to get far enough back that you can photograph your
whole quilt is not something we can all do in our homes and who wants to get the kid's toys out of the way or make sure there's no underwear on the floor in the background! The outdoors suddenly feels like the sensible option.</span><span style="color: #4b4949;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #4b4949; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-size: 14px;">Social Media...Expectation V. Reality</span></span></h4>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Could it be simply
that our interiors are not what we consider 'gram-able', i.e not good enough
for the 'gram (instagram)? Not fitting in with the social media expectation of
perfection?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">I was lucky enough
to spend a gorgeous week with my husband and children in Interlaken,
Switzerland last summer. There was a small pontoon which people queued to sit
on in order to get their friends to take a photo of them sitting alone at the
end of, as if captured having been captured having a private moment in such
serenity. The reality versus how it was being represented on social media was
hilarious. Also funny was how you could really have it to yourself at 7am
(trust me, camping with two young children you tend to experience most of a
holiday from very early).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Is this what we are doing
with our quilts, bowing to other's expectations of perfection?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Expectation V. Reality</span></span><br />
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#quiltsinthewild: A Gallery</span></h4>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">A final
consideration is that Quilters are Artists...we may not always have a white
wall to hang our quilts against or the money or backing to hold or enter a
show.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">One thing nearly
all of us have is a phone and access to the internet and that has lead to us
realising that the one thing we all have in one way or another is the great
outdoors. I've seen quilts on beaches, quilts on rocks, quilts in forests,
quilts draped over lifesaving towers, bridges. City quilts, country quilts.
Long suffering partners being wind whipped by flailing quilts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">The hashtags
#quiltsinthewild and #quiltsinthegarden gives us all the opportunity to be
curators in our own galleries, to exhibit on social media platforms that we are
able to share with anyone who's interested.</span><span style="color: #4b4949;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Zoe Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07415520247342735025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421840952878946500.post-7587339769031965912019-03-10T08:14:00.000-07:002019-03-10T08:16:50.931-07:00What is Quilting?Since starting my online fabric shop <a href="http://www.finecityquilting.co.uk/" target="_blank">Fine City Quilting</a> one of the questions I'm often asked is;<br />
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<b>What is Quilting?</b></h3>
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You may have seen a quilted jacket or call the duvet you sleep under a quilt - so what is quilting?</div>
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Well quilting is the process of sewing together layers of fabric in order to make a thicker, warmer layer. </div>
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Three layers are usually used and often referred to as a quilt sandwich:</div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">1) The Quilt top (the pretty patchwork layer you can see)</span></h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaqDCL1DDw-G6EfQkG5w-6NfBd4cjc6u7YbYAUQKTdg1v8UoPgfQhR29Nj4lNoJJr44uptO2Puz9SiNYcJWHQ0L5STgBt-xbZK3ZWvy3iFsAbdidqSQ3pZOniL4DvLk54yZgzQAfLfD_k/s1600/Actual+close+up+landscape.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaqDCL1DDw-G6EfQkG5w-6NfBd4cjc6u7YbYAUQKTdg1v8UoPgfQhR29Nj4lNoJJr44uptO2Puz9SiNYcJWHQ0L5STgBt-xbZK3ZWvy3iFsAbdidqSQ3pZOniL4DvLk54yZgzQAfLfD_k/s320/Actual+close+up+landscape.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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This layer can be as simple as a single piece of cloth (a whole cloth quilt) or hundreds of pieces sewn together.</div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">2) The Wadding</span></h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTxz8rvjq2oho369Acif7EmpDtS3X8u64b0KRuypOOotEyE3XdNXTpMH0YHGnO5b9HmL3DpGJE2q4yrE38WexrjO7Kws9uIg1K99YSkNQCrpsnC4O0TeXzU-bDzCrxYSpjQson_rBSNWs/s1600/Wadding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="310" data-original-width="480" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTxz8rvjq2oho369Acif7EmpDtS3X8u64b0KRuypOOotEyE3XdNXTpMH0YHGnO5b9HmL3DpGJE2q4yrE38WexrjO7Kws9uIg1K99YSkNQCrpsnC4O0TeXzU-bDzCrxYSpjQson_rBSNWs/s320/Wadding.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Wadding can be made of a variety of warm materials making up this padding layer - cotton, cotton mixes, bamboo, polyester or wool. At <a href="http://www.finecityquilting.co.uk/" target="_blank">www.finecityquilting.co.uk</a> we stock cotton and bamboo (which is excellent for allergies).</div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">3) The Backing</span></h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSKx4Jx0lNT02pzjKlxNYZjaKelxFf0veSO6_H1A9A19aWDFJFwaM4TYvFZMBHmytC-0Q9ORyc6hc8JLe-uI_0qR9jGfxi7PHpssJFJiZZ4Ut0hhKLNo74O5mi560Yxkbje3RFVYwVHeU/s1600/SSF62371CORAL+Square.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="504" data-original-width="504" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSKx4Jx0lNT02pzjKlxNYZjaKelxFf0veSO6_H1A9A19aWDFJFwaM4TYvFZMBHmytC-0Q9ORyc6hc8JLe-uI_0qR9jGfxi7PHpssJFJiZZ4Ut0hhKLNo74O5mi560Yxkbje3RFVYwVHeU/s200/SSF62371CORAL+Square.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsZzpAhC6M-nhcM6V_LoM5dh_1I7CzlhJ1mVJf9gacNxXKwOIyFPL7pkJMPSPIB1oVcrpWb7WazwrBhl2A0YybnKs_S__hwDvs9jku1-RQLyNjrsocC4rz072QCJl0XiCZtS-0JG0RQWE/s1600/SSF62372YELLOW+square.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="504" data-original-width="504" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsZzpAhC6M-nhcM6V_LoM5dh_1I7CzlhJ1mVJf9gacNxXKwOIyFPL7pkJMPSPIB1oVcrpWb7WazwrBhl2A0YybnKs_S__hwDvs9jku1-RQLyNjrsocC4rz072QCJl0XiCZtS-0JG0RQWE/s200/SSF62372YELLOW+square.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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Plain solids such as these Sew Simple Solids are perfect for an economical quilt backing, but plain doesn't mean boring. With the current trend for solids on the patchwork top layer, you may prefer to contrast and use a fun print on the backing of your quilt...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuVd-Na4C8V12zonfGfAMwAC0mGZS0cDzHcyY8GgRrMv3OMzc54onIPpArjgbUUXG3czzagJvHx3dYjyUPyTL8pHnfU3_1EkqGofvaEj3ufutVPQURbr-yJbQsULgEF0Z0tuiTi2F_OLc/s1600/Fine+City+Quilting+Michael+Miller+Fabrics+Champignons+Green.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="583" data-original-width="583" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuVd-Na4C8V12zonfGfAMwAC0mGZS0cDzHcyY8GgRrMv3OMzc54onIPpArjgbUUXG3czzagJvHx3dYjyUPyTL8pHnfU3_1EkqGofvaEj3ufutVPQURbr-yJbQsULgEF0Z0tuiTi2F_OLc/s200/Fine+City+Quilting+Michael+Miller+Fabrics+Champignons+Green.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<i> Tip: using a print on the background may help to disguise any quilting mistakes, whereas a solid as backing could really show off your skills!</i></div>
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Once the 3 layers are basted (temporarily fixed together) either with a basting stitch that will be later removed or safety pins or an adhesive spray, the quilt sandwich can be quilted by machine or by hand.</div>
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Hand quilting with a needle and thread (make sure you're using a Quilting Needle, they're sharp) is sewing a running stitch through the three layers to secure them together. This can be achieved with a stab stitch or rocking stitch.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK2UtTK-C2-imfmcv7j-qIaYONNc0bF0eYE_qsxM6o_nKEiugg0gRVPXo5Sn1OpdodPbQ1iVfCDMEuoxcb8etu9O5LvdYUSY88pv989VcmhyphenhyphenRFuShMHp0ow-RnFdCy9CMmLY_QpT9nmJA/s1600/what+is+quilting+finecityquilting+hand+quilting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="432" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK2UtTK-C2-imfmcv7j-qIaYONNc0bF0eYE_qsxM6o_nKEiugg0gRVPXo5Sn1OpdodPbQ1iVfCDMEuoxcb8etu9O5LvdYUSY88pv989VcmhyphenhyphenRFuShMHp0ow-RnFdCy9CMmLY_QpT9nmJA/s320/what+is+quilting+finecityquilting+hand+quilting.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Hand quilting as seen above is distinctive and can definitely make an item more personal. It is a contemplative task which is slow and rewarding.</div>
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Machine quilting provides faster results but can be fraught if things don't go to plan. Unpicking is harder. Straight lines and gentle curves can be achieved with a walking foot like the section of a wall hanging below.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcCbCekBDFdtg2C6_CqtVX5R6HH-x2SOwMWbDMkZOXtp7c1gpjAjbpydEh4qNfs_qFdI3ID_im5fvvcgZsGWjJvQInCRCvitGZ7g5ZBprwGLFTBJpm1GMYNGriuAKhyznEUbGWSlyt2g4/s1600/finecityquilting+what+is+a+quilt.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="576" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcCbCekBDFdtg2C6_CqtVX5R6HH-x2SOwMWbDMkZOXtp7c1gpjAjbpydEh4qNfs_qFdI3ID_im5fvvcgZsGWjJvQInCRCvitGZ7g5ZBprwGLFTBJpm1GMYNGriuAKhyznEUbGWSlyt2g4/s320/finecityquilting+what+is+a+quilt.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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For anything that requires more curves, you'll need a Free-motion Quilting Foot, also known as a Darning Foot or Hopping Foot. With this many effects can be achieved like the examples below.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0TGjs5-CitbI_yqjwSWcW50cZGBSw3tXuhggmZOcB3CMCyJhFCBS35967ljVmETpRYCicQxglO-i4E7JvJNRH2CSBHlUmXUgsTEzD4peUQlrHlWhEVWpIX5owwB7ijhM7Pv2ItDKbnzI/s1600/fine+city+quilting+fmq.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="432" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0TGjs5-CitbI_yqjwSWcW50cZGBSw3tXuhggmZOcB3CMCyJhFCBS35967ljVmETpRYCicQxglO-i4E7JvJNRH2CSBHlUmXUgsTEzD4peUQlrHlWhEVWpIX5owwB7ijhM7Pv2ItDKbnzI/s320/fine+city+quilting+fmq.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Zoe Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07415520247342735025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421840952878946500.post-58740940641421625312019-03-08T07:23:00.001-08:002019-03-10T08:18:57.446-07:00International Women's DayInternational Women's Day is here again, time to hear some idiot say<br />
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'When is International Men's Day then, eh?' (November 19th incidentally), joking aside this is an opportunity for Women's rights to be examined, brought under the spotlight and for people to remember that the battle for equality still continues.</div>
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This time last year I made a wall hanging to raise awareness. Last year's theme was 'Push for Progress'.</div>
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Over the next few months the theme weighed on my mind. What had pushed for progress? Certainly not politicians or industry, the Equal Pay Act is 9 years older than me and I'm nearly 40 and yet there is still a gender pay gap. For me the answer is in the way you're reading this now - the Internet.</div>
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What else has given people ways to meet, ways to rebel, ways to protest whilst remaining anonymous. The phrase keyboard warrior is often used and that fascinated me. </div>
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In the wake of #metoo this was a way for Women to stand together...to say 'that also happened to me and I was sad and internalised it but now I see how many others it's happened to I'm angry and I want change'.</div>
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Gradually the idea of my quilt was born. I entered it into the Festival of Quilts 2018 at the NEC in Birmingham.</div>
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I was proud that people stopped to read what it was about, why I'd made it. I stood in front and my husband took a photo of life imitating art.</div>
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Since that day I've started my own business <a href="http://www.finecityquilting.co.uk/" target="_blank">Fine City Quilting</a> and a sewing group for parents and carers called Sew Tired. I remember many years ago writing my dissertation on 'The Rise of Entrepreneurial Women', and discussing the many issues that have contributed to the rise such as childcare, the glass ceiling and gender pay gap. In 2019 the theme for today is #BalanceForBetter, so lets make 2019 the year we keep an eye out for discrimination, speak out when we see it but also celebrate achievements.</div>
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Zoe Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07415520247342735025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421840952878946500.post-74504343495849610392019-02-26T06:21:00.000-08:002019-02-26T06:21:30.417-08:00Sew Tired No not a complaint but a new group for parents or carers in Norwich!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEdwUqRVsvhm9kUY6wRtBBD9ZJUJGYa0wibf-M0P9yr9AThBkt5JwkNQhAWJN_VWxGOClVqoLr7LkiBGiEPa3gWR7f7FnjXJFtnzR-za_z7KKwCzJa68Ta5lAy7WhFC0a_jcTSARZSdqk/s1600/Sew+Tired-turquoise+background.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="361" data-original-width="361" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEdwUqRVsvhm9kUY6wRtBBD9ZJUJGYa0wibf-M0P9yr9AThBkt5JwkNQhAWJN_VWxGOClVqoLr7LkiBGiEPa3gWR7f7FnjXJFtnzR-za_z7KKwCzJa68Ta5lAy7WhFC0a_jcTSARZSdqk/s320/Sew+Tired-turquoise+background.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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This week sees the first session of Sew Tired, a group that will meet fortnightly in Norwich with the aim of giving parents or carers (with or without their children) a chance to be creative in a friendly and welcoming atmosphere.</div>
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We've all been there....it's ANOTHER early morning with your baby (whatever age that baby might be!), the start of a new day. Your creative juices are flowing...'Nap time' you say to yourself, 'I will make something/get started on that drawing/finish that scarf/cut out that pattern...but nap time doesn't always happen and in all honesty when it does there's often (horrifically often) housework to be done. Then nap time is over. </div>
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'Tonight'..you think to yourself, 'tonight, I will get a tray prepared so as soon as they've gone to bed I can get one with what I've been really hoping to achieve'. But guess what? You're exhausted and food needs to be prepared, eaten and quite frankly there's probably something awful on TV that is all you can face.</div>
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Before you know it, the hobbies that make you YOU are feeling like they're falling by the wayside.</div>
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Obviously there is joy in every precious day spent with your baby and it whizzes by before you know it, but whilst you're looking after them, making a small amount of time to keep yourself happy is equally important. </div>
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People often discuss whether the transition from 2 to 3 children is the most stressful but quite obviously its 0 to 1 (or 2 or 3 - hats off to the Mum's of multiple pregnancies!).</div>
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If sewing or being creative in any way is your bag then maintaining that can be a very healthy choice.</div>
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This first session will include some English Paper Piecing, one of my favourite patchwork methods. Hopefully I can convert some of the attendees!</div>
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If you're a Norwich parent and fancy getting involved search for group <span style="background-color: white; color: #4b4f56; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sew tired </span><span class="_5mfr" style="background-color: white; color: #4b4f56; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 1px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="_6qdm" style="background-image: url("https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/fbf/1/16/1f4a4.png"); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: contain; color: transparent; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; text-shadow: none; vertical-align: text-bottom;">💤</span></span></div>
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or <a href="mailto:wave@finecityquilting.co.uk" target="_blank">email me</a> for more details - venue has car parking a plenty and baby change facilities It's £5 per session and coffee and cake is provided to fuel us 😊</div>
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By the way if you're admiring my rather super logo - check out the very talented <a href="http://www.sallyfranks.co.uk/" target="_blank">Sally Franks</a>, she worked fantastically with the brief given!<br /></div>
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Zoe Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07415520247342735025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421840952878946500.post-82137510588356513362019-02-21T07:25:00.000-08:002019-02-26T05:32:15.272-08:00Love me a sew along💗 I do love me a sew along, I've said it before and I'll say it again, whilst the internet has undoubtedly brought many ills to the world it has also brought groups together who have a shared love.<br />
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The first time I got involved was The Splendid Sampler and personally it's that BEING PART OF SOMETHING BIGGER that really touched me. I had two babies under two but being a determined sausage I managed to (most days) get them napping at the same time. Of course I took joy in my babies and every change that they were going through and still do, but I found the satisfaction of getting my weekly block completed gave a little nod to my own self worth.<br />
I would share my blocks on the website and then gradually a Facebook group was set up and I would share in that medium. Here were other quilters who didn't know that one of my sons had cut a first tooth and the other was starting to talk. Here my small achievements or funny stories of misread instructions were taken just for my own and not linked to my progeny.<br />
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Fast forward a few years and I find myself in the throes of another sew along....enter the #fussycuttingsewalong<br />
Now I was not on instagram for the first but having read about it on it's creators website <a href="https://naomialice.co.uk/sewalongs/fussycuttingsewalong/" target="_blank">https://naomialice.co.uk</a> I sure as heck was getting involved for the second!<br />
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Last time hexagons took centre stage but this time small diamonds making up six point stars are the focus of learning and showcasing different methods of fussy cutting. Below you can see a few of mine so far:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvrZkUvlpTul_Pc-0d8fyPhHi6glbPeED9Ld5iRM1rABpgMtJvAm6WJnG5tNqNxJGsEPimO-O04pwrD7FI3fdbdQhyphenhyphen-r94womJMUy0QV7wvtqbWefCO6CmNJpxst-1MUOMR0nErJE_jVE/s1600/IMG_7754.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="640" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvrZkUvlpTul_Pc-0d8fyPhHi6glbPeED9Ld5iRM1rABpgMtJvAm6WJnG5tNqNxJGsEPimO-O04pwrD7FI3fdbdQhyphenhyphen-r94womJMUy0QV7wvtqbWefCO6CmNJpxst-1MUOMR0nErJE_jVE/s320/IMG_7754.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuj8xM385sVHOeKIHRv_VkpCJZKYjh_Js4yLfY6e5N8iyc5SlXd3uznA3bxzrpSa-V576I1RffTnk3G9Bc9NArSNnoYue0wHg-Bbec331Rn0yuuPCylHqPQLP-FKo4pmVT5ZI5jrJ-ce4/s1600/IMG_7795.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1074" data-original-width="1080" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuj8xM385sVHOeKIHRv_VkpCJZKYjh_Js4yLfY6e5N8iyc5SlXd3uznA3bxzrpSa-V576I1RffTnk3G9Bc9NArSNnoYue0wHg-Bbec331Rn0yuuPCylHqPQLP-FKo4pmVT5ZI5jrJ-ce4/s320/IMG_7795.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimxsJEE7cI6689yefd_ZwlQTmPJD7ge_AAZMtM_cbN0RNxyxAm8Rh7k1-qe0duTQPNSxPxuawaxe0FQdtg2GOPy4P8xQu4XrL8X4A0AR68dhPNkuNBvRUvJKCgcq-tRjaMsqtRJTiuIbk/s1600/IMG_7910.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimxsJEE7cI6689yefd_ZwlQTmPJD7ge_AAZMtM_cbN0RNxyxAm8Rh7k1-qe0duTQPNSxPxuawaxe0FQdtg2GOPy4P8xQu4XrL8X4A0AR68dhPNkuNBvRUvJKCgcq-tRjaMsqtRJTiuIbk/s320/IMG_7910.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLF7KpFthebU0XlvM36UtvFyzHWOwr0D1S46za0fKDUHog47pST5D2T1YTke8W13DDVgh1bJfRmM_rCVU1WatTjmOZyfzPVH69H4ucYehzfvxl2jy47Hv57mfmWy61yN0orY-xj1xUz3M/s1600/IMG_7976.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLF7KpFthebU0XlvM36UtvFyzHWOwr0D1S46za0fKDUHog47pST5D2T1YTke8W13DDVgh1bJfRmM_rCVU1WatTjmOZyfzPVH69H4ucYehzfvxl2jy47Hv57mfmWy61yN0orY-xj1xUz3M/s320/IMG_7976.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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These are shoddy workmanship indeed compared to some of the crackers to be found over on Instagram. I implore you to follow the #fussycuttingsewalong to really appreciate what can be done.<br />
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I took the opportunity to ask Naomi how much love has been put in and come out of the fussy cutting sew along and quite rightly she questioned 'how do I measure it?'<br />
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Obviously I took the opportunity to suggest on a lovely new cutting mat from <a href="https://www.finecityquilting.co.uk/prym-cutting-mat-45-x-60-cm-cminch-pink-144-p.asp" target="_blank">www.finecityquilting.co.uk</a><br />
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It's clear that this sew along is a real success and due to the effort put in by it's creator and participants, as with every sew along there are skills to learn and friends to be made - get involved!!<br />
<br />Zoe Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07415520247342735025noreply@blogger.com0Norwich, UK52.6308859 1.297355000000038752.476717900000004 0.97463150000003873 52.7850539 1.6200785000000386tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421840952878946500.post-13687366721714683272019-01-11T04:10:00.000-08:002019-01-11T04:10:56.078-08:00 How do you make Beeswax Wraps?<div style="text-align: center;">
CALLING ALL ECO SUPERHEROES!!!</div>
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WHO WANTS TO HELP SAVE THE PLANET ONE FOOD WRAP AT A TIME? </div>
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All of you. Brilliant. Lets get going then...<br />
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You'll need - Fabric (approx 1 Fat Quarter), Beeswax, string, pegs or buy a kit from the gifts and kits section at ↴<br />
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<a href="https://www.finecityquilting.co.uk/gifts--kits-5-c.asp" target="_blank">https://www.finecityquilting.co.uk/gifts--kits-5-c.asp</a><br />
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also you'll need some sort of spreading device, I used an old paintbrush.<br />
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1. Preheat your oven to 180F (160F fan) and get a baking tray ready.<br />
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2. Tie some string up as close to the oven as possible and get some little pegs ready.<br />
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2. Cut your fabric with pinking shears for pretty edges. Now a quick note about fabric choice...I'm not saying pre-wash but you need to make sure its a quality cotton that is colour fast, cut a few different sizes - think about what you want to use it for.<br />
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3. Line your tray with grease proof paper or foil and pop your fabric in, sprinkle beeswax lightly over it.<br />
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4. Pop it in and check after a few minutes. When it's ready the cloth will look soaking wet, use your paintbrush or spreader to ensure all the fabric is covered. Carefully remove the tray from the oven and peg up to dry. You will get hot wax on your fingers at this point unless you wear gloves.<br />
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5. Enjoy being a smug eco sandwich wrapper. </div>
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** Your beeswax wrap will last about 3 months - some careful people manage to make them last 6-12months! You can clean them with water and gentle soap. </div>
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To wrap around food, fold as you would cling film and hold you hand around the wrap, it will soften the wax and you can mould it over the top of a bowl or around an item.</div>
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When your wrap is tired and old it can be added to a compost bin, it will biodegrade. If you have a fire or bbq you can wrap it round wood for a decent fire starter**</div>
<br />Zoe Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07415520247342735025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421840952878946500.post-7587064480642458732018-11-29T03:32:00.000-08:002018-11-29T03:32:06.824-08:00Christmas Tree BuntingIt may be controversial in some circles to have your decorations up before advent....but you can definitely scratch that festive itch by making some!!<br />
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It's always been on my to do list to have a stall at a craft fair and so when the opportunity presented itself for the Christmas Fair at my sons' School I thought why not...a sentiment I never repeated once the reality of making bits and bobs that people who <i>know me</i> will have to walk past and buy or ignore *gulp*<br />
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Its a week and a day away now and those who know me well will be right in thinking that I've probably got a lot to do.<br />
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However, this is a fun bunting you can make easily and quickly.<br />
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1. Make your templates, being the scavenger I am I used an old birthday card and a magazine cover. The card was useful as its already folded in half.<br />
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If you're not confident making your own, you can follow this link to a pdf to stick to card and cut out.<br />
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<a href="https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A0d11f5aa-008d-4c0a-a33c-dfe074c51f5b" target="_blank">Christmas Tree Bunting PDF</a><br />
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2. Now pick your fabrics. I chose 4 complimentary greens and one Christmas Fabric. Now use the larger tree template to cut your material. Fold your fabric in half, right sides out with the tree 1 on the top. Cut around the template in a big curve...this template is just to make sure you have enough.<br />
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3. Now lay tree 2 on top of the fabric and pin in place<br />
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4. Sew all the way around your tree with machine or by hand and unpin template 2.<br />
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5. Trim approximately 1cm from sewn line with pinking shears for a lovely tree like edge.<br />
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6. Choose or make some bias binding and cut roughly 2m. Fold it over so you've got two neat edges so you can tuck the top of the trees inside as seen above and iron gently. Starting in the middle pin one tree in place and then measure equal distances to each side and attach your other trees. I put 6 inches between each of my trees. <br />
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7. Sew from one end of your bias binding to the other securing all trees in place.<br />
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8. Et Voila! Sit back and enjoy your festive smugness..<br />
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<br />Zoe Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07415520247342735025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421840952878946500.post-41650709274835608182018-11-24T00:31:00.004-08:002018-11-24T01:10:00.248-08:00Keeping up with the KashubiansFirstly apologies to anyone of Kashub descent for that shocking title but it was too tempting to resist!<br />
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Without further ado let me just show you why we're talking about this ethnic group from North/Central Poland....<br />
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YES - a fabulous folk print, I'm getting obsessed with folk prints. They're having a fashion moment and this is one you DON'T see everywhere.<br />
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This 100% cotton print and will shortly be available for sale on my website <a href="http://www.finecityquilting.co.uk/">www.finecityquilting.co.uk</a> and is inspired by the rich embroidery patterns of the Kashubian people. Etsy is awash with beautiful Kashubian inspired embroidery and if you want to go back to the source to get some inspiration, I found this site really useful: <a href="http://originalhandicraft.org/en/kashubian-embroidery-symbolism-and-history/">http://originalhandicraft.org/en/kashubian-embroidery-symbolism-and-history/</a><br />
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I'm thinking these patterns would look awesome quilted on a whole cloth quilt too...<br />
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<br />Zoe Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07415520247342735025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421840952878946500.post-89238480970695562842018-03-03T14:30:00.000-08:002018-11-24T09:05:42.646-08:00The Beast from the EastHaving ventured to Copenhagen in February half term I thought we were hardy to this cold....but no! We didn't count on the Beast from the East and being in the East of England (Norwich) we really got hit by it!<br />
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A few weeks ago I felt that nothing I was sewing was coming from the heart. I started reading about improvised quilts and felt like 'Yes! This is what I should be doing!'....it wasn't easy.<br />
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Olly and I had been missing skiing and wishing we'd booked to go and gradually the blocks and different sized half square triangles were forming something like a mountain scene.<br />
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For once instead of feeling like it 'had' to develop into a quilt I decided to have a go at a wall hanging. I feel I should let you know that at this point I felt that I was making the best of a bad job but I guess that's part of finding yourself as an artist is to let yourself make these mistakes and grow with them.<br />
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Starting to quilt this wall hanging was a relief, with my complete lack of FMQ skills I decided to just jump on in and give it a go...I wanted swirling wind/mist round the mountains....I got this!!<br />
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Do you know what though...I finished it and then took it out to play in the snow!<br />
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<br />Zoe Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07415520247342735025noreply@blogger.com0Waterworks Rd, Norwich NR2 4DF, UK52.6375805 1.265727900000001752.6351715 1.2606854000000016 52.6399895 1.2707704000000017tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421840952878946500.post-16054473786844782322016-04-26T03:52:00.000-07:002016-04-26T03:52:13.278-07:00The Splendid Sampler is taking over my life!!Since Valentines Day there has been a new love in my life...The Splendid Sampler!<br />
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The above shot was taken as we reached 18/100 blocks. This project run by Pat Sloan & Jane Davidson is great fun...more to come soon WHEN I HAVE TIME!!!</div>
Zoe Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07415520247342735025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421840952878946500.post-28473758688807055382015-10-07T06:10:00.003-07:002015-10-07T06:12:06.888-07:00Catch up Quilting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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For once I'm in the position of having to catch up on the blogging not the sewing - a rare occurrence. The unpredictable British summer continued and the heat started up again. August came and a family holiday to celebrate Dad's 60th year on the planet. Unfortunately truck issues meant Olly couldn't come at the last minute so Debbie (Rahrah to the boys) came in his place. So it's fitting that when back from vacances I picked up on a project abandoned many moons ago. This quilt for Debbie was started maybe 3 years ago or more, the blocks were all separate still and there was little cohesion. However, Debbie is a girl with crazy tastes so after our holiday I was inspired to continue. I've joined up these 8 blocks and popped a border on. The plan (in time for a Christmas present) is to add another 2 borders, one made up of squares of the original fabrics, then a plain one and then to go to town on crazy decorations, I'm thinking kitsch patches, sequins etc</div>
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My next project has a long history. When my Granny and Grandpa moved into a nursing home their house was emptied. My Mum and Dad saved me some bags of what appeared to be table linen. On closer inspection these belonged to my Granny's father Charles Micklem. Charles Micklem joined the Howitzer Brigade of the Royal Artillery and saw action at Gallipoli and in France. He must have been quite a remarkable man as he found time to take a law degree while serving in the trenches. What I had was a bag of his linen from World War I all monogrammed in some way. I decided to make something for my Granny Dora out of these. I'd seen a similar pattern to what I ended up making but couldn't find it so made it up as I went along and this is how it turned out:</div>
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The idea was for it to be a little envelope bag, so I sewed strips of slightly different patterned linens together, used a strange embroidered face/table cloth corner to be the flap. I then lined it with a pretty floral fabric.</div>
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My final project of late has been one that I won't finish until I'm 101. A charm quilt that has been on the go since I first heard the idea of no one piece of fabric being the same - what fun! My Mother in Law explained EPP (English paper piecing) to me after I had already started using the most laborious method ever so I then thought that it had been pointless and chalked it up to experience...however, I revisited it and found that I can join EPP bits to it, so the charm quilt lives and will go on growing....gradually!<br />
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Should anybody ever ask, I know the history of all these little bits of fabric from my Nana's nightdress to a skirt I bought in River Island aged 15!Zoe Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07415520247342735025noreply@blogger.com0Norwich, Norwich, Norfolk, UK52.6308859 1.297355000000038752.476717900000004 0.97463150000003873 52.7850539 1.6200785000000386tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421840952878946500.post-29624397380813840382015-07-31T00:04:00.000-07:002015-07-31T00:04:53.751-07:00Binding Achieved!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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Breaking with convention somewhat I have bound my quilt before I've finished quilting it and it's turned out to be a brilliant idea! The raw edges of the quilt were really stressing me when I working on it and I think I needed to feel like some more progress had been made to spur me on. It's meant my quilt feels a lot more secure to work on and I've fallen back in love with it.</div>
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The weather has been terrible these last few weeks in what is supposed to be summer. Having taken the boys to France with my Mum for a week at the end of June/beginning of July in a 40 degree heatwave I wasn't expecting to work on this quilt again until the season changed. This is the largest quilt I have ever attempted and when working on it you feel like you're sitting in bed as it fits on a double bed! So in a way this cooler spell has been a blessing although wearing socks and slippers in late July is just rude.</div>
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As you can see there's a lot of work to do, spiraling every light grey square and quilting in the ditch between everything else but there's a sense of achievement already in that it is now a functional item. If it snowed tomorrow, unlikely I know, I could gather everybody under this and watch Disney's Hercules for the 5th time this week.</div>
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Also we're redecorating the living room and so when we're all snuggled under this we'll be perfectly co-ordinated, almost camouflaged!<br />
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<br />Zoe Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07415520247342735025noreply@blogger.com0Norwich, Norwich, Norfolk, UK52.6308859 1.297355000000038752.476717900000004 0.97463150000003873 52.7850539 1.6200785000000386tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421840952878946500.post-88258272541710008242015-04-02T06:30:00.001-07:002015-04-02T06:30:52.323-07:00Spiral Quilting We have quilt off! <br />
It's a relief to finally be hand quilting this project and I'm starting to see it come together.<br />
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I took the boys to my parent's for the weekend so my husband could have his friends over for a boozy 'Super Saturday' (last day of the Six Nations Rugby Tournament for those blissfully unaware). This turned out to be rather handy for the making of my quilt sandwich. As I had started to lay out the backing fabric the folly of having this hobby whilst living in a Victorian terraced house became apparent - NONE OF MY ROOMS ARE BIG ENOUGH TO LAY OUT MY QUILT!!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thankfully Mum & Dad's living room is bigger than mine<br /><br /></td></tr>
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So when the boys were napping I started. This was the lovely clear sky that followed the morning where we had a near total eclipse. We didn't see any eclipse as it was so cloudy but it did turn eerily dusk like for half an hour or so and the day that followed was beautiful.<br />
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I feel the Emilly Herrick fabric is really working with this pattern but made me realise I will not quilt all of it in the way suggested in the pattern as the individual squares were solid colours. I plan to quilt in the ditch around the coloured squares and the white strips and do straight line spirals in the larger grey squares. My backing fabric is a darker grey from the lovely ladies at <a href="http://www.sewsimpleonline.co.uk/">Sew Simple</a> in Taverham one of whom not only cut my backing fabric to size but also said that my children were definitely in the better behaved end of the spectrum she saw in the shop. We thanked her and hastily left before they showed their true colours! Zoe Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07415520247342735025noreply@blogger.com0Tring, Tring, Hertfordshire HP23, UK51.796077999999987 -0.6558790000000271951.756796499999986 -0.73656000000002719 51.835359499999988 -0.57519800000002719tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421840952878946500.post-62340698083320173762015-03-12T10:00:00.002-07:002015-03-12T10:00:20.949-07:00Under the Sea Baby QuiltWe knew a little person was expected across the road from us on the 18th February as our neighbour was booked in to have the baby by C-Section. I had planned to make a quilt for this baby and as Amanda got larger and larger I kept on thinking well I better start soon! On the 12th February I finally got into gear! I decided to make a modern chevron based pattern I'd seen in Love Patchwork & Quilting (issue 4) by Manda McGrory. I thought the mustard & grey she used were gorgeous but having left it until the last minute I delved into my own fabrics.<div>
I chose a navy fabric and a blue/green batik and got going.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First look at blocks</td></tr>
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I had said from the beginning of the pregnancy that I thought the baby was going to be a boy but having committed to traditionally masculine colours I started to worry & thus a gender neutral themed quilt was born - Under the Sea. I figured that the chevrons <i>could look like waves...</i>and if this baby was going to be inconveniently female we would just add a few pink fish at the end! </div>
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Once the quilt top was assembled I started to rough edge applique some fish/seaweed/urchins etc onto it. I really wished at this point I'd started earlier as I was tempted to keep going and going, I think it's definitely inspired me for future baby quilts!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Halfway through</td></tr>
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The orange fish in above picture never made it to the final quilt but at this stage I had more pressing problems afoot - the baby had arrived and was a beautiful baby boy - Theodore Geoffrey John. When my two boys were born I'd received framed cross-stitch pictures with their details on and I loved them so much that decided to embroider Theo's onto the quilt. For once I prepared and <b>BOUGHT AN EMBROIDERY HOOP</b>, I know, anyone would think I was learning from my mistakes. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Hoop in action</td></tr>
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<br />Once his name, date of birth and birth weight were embroidered I faffed about a bit with three blue fish I'd added in the seaweed and then fixed the fluffy blue backing. The instructions were brilliant and I found the pattern easy to follow. Below you can see the finished present, it's currently in the washing machine and will be given to Theo tomorrow - I hope he likes it and if he becomes a Marine Biologist I hope to take a little of the credit.<div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'Under the Sea' for Theo</td></tr>
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Zoe Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07415520247342735025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421840952878946500.post-76356987628373299892015-01-13T09:15:00.001-08:002015-01-13T09:19:08.644-08:00Sick Note!So here we are into a new year and the last time I wrote this blog progress was fast and satisfying. We had a week or so to go before the start of advent and I had completed 5 out of 12 blocks but was starting to be able to put a block together in an hour (if the pieces were cut out and ready!) so felt that although it would be tight my deadline was achievable. Then the first bug hit....Caspar was the first to be sick, then Elias, then myself then my husband. Then Elias got earache, then I got earache, then Caspar was sick again and we continued in this vein until only really close family could bear to listen to us. We were ill for so long it was boring people.<br />
Then Christmas happened, we should have been expecting it but it crept up and the aprons I had decided to make for my Aunt, Sister and a friend's Mum had to be made. <br />
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So there it is. I failed my first deadline! Now to pick it up and carry on. I stole away to the top room where the Beast awaits and sat down to assess the situation...7 blocks complete and an 8th within what I felt was striking distance.<br />
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The Beast did not agree. Maybe it's been lonely for her over Christmas but she went on strike. So I packed her up in her case and sent her to Magdalen St to a lovely lady at Sew Creative for a service. Fingers crossed she'll be OK. In the meantime I shall return to hand sewing in a bid to catch up on some of the lost time. Here is a picture of THE QUILT TOP SO FAR............(to be continued!)<br />
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<br />Zoe Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07415520247342735025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421840952878946500.post-21161665212152860362014-11-02T06:12:00.003-08:002014-11-02T06:13:46.571-08:00Quilt Update!Well, it's taken me ages to cut out most of my blocks. Caspar has been cutting his 2nd tooth and refusing to sleep at the same time as his brother at lunchtime so I've still not finished cutting out the white strips that frame them....BUT I couldn't resist any longer and had to join a few blocks up to motivate me onwards.<br />
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I've decided to machine piece this quilt as I want to see results quicker which has some irony as my sewing machine (we'll call her The Beast), is two floors up so escaping up there without waking sleeping babes is often time consuming in itself.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Beast</td></tr>
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<span id="goog_744951660"></span>The Beast used to belong to a lady who lived on the Isle of Wight in my Father-in-Law's Parish (he is a Church of England Vicar), and when she died her husband gave her sewing box and machine to my Mother-in-Law. Along with the Beast came a box filled with bobbins, a few different feet and threads. I don't know the lady's name or anything about her but the smell that comes when you open the box is very much a <i>person's </i>smell (not in a bad way), and consequently I feel strangely linked to her whenever I use it. The Beast is my first sewing machine - she is a Singer and I love her. Except when I'm having bobbin dramas but more of that another day.<br />
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With much fanfare here are my first two blocks, of course as soon as I'd chain pieced a few more a wished I'd finished cutting them out first BUT I find being purely logical a struggle and it is nice to be reminded again of why you're doing something. So onwards and upwards, I hope to report back within a week or so with more blocks pieced!<br />
<br />Zoe Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07415520247342735025noreply@blogger.com0Norwich, Norwich, Norfolk, UK52.6308859 1.297355000000038752.476717900000004 0.97463150000003873 52.7850539 1.6200785000000386tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421840952878946500.post-11987879640723754082014-10-08T00:48:00.001-07:002014-10-08T00:52:50.263-07:00The best kind of post!My two year old had his birthday recently so was eager to open the package I received yesterday, I think he thinks all parcels are for him and was most disgruntled to be told 'No' this was Mummy's parcel!<br />
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After hours and hours browsing <a href="http://www.eclecticmaker.co.uk/">www.eclecticmaker.co.uk</a> I decided to treat myself to a fabric pack of fat quarters. The aim is to make a lap quilt for cosy film watching on the sofa this autumn and winter. I want it to have a modern feel and I want it to reflect the rest of the living room which is a mix of contemporary and classic with the main colours being a dirty lime (sofas) and cream and light grey (walls & other bits and bobs).<br />
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SO.....this is what I've chosen;<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emily Herrick's Rustique Fat Quarter Fabric Pack<br />
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...and now I have to do something with it! I think this has to be one of the hardest bits of quilting when you actually have to make the leap into a project. Maybe one day I will buy a ready to quilt pack but not being quite sure whether something will work or not has to be more exciting. I spent last night going through quilting magazines and rounded it down to four designs.<br />
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The quilt design I'm going to go with is one that was featured in Fons & Porter's Easy Quilts in the Spring 2014 issue. The quilt is designed and made by Corey Yoder (who blogs as <a href="http://www.littlemissshabby.com/">www.littlemissshabby.com</a>) and in the magazine is called 'Gray Square Scramble'. </div>
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Now the challenge is on to see if I can find time everyday to get this quilt going - I'd love to be able to watch a film under it by the start of advent or at least be kept warm by sitting under the sandwiched layers hand quilting it by then! ONLY TIME WILL TELL.......</div>
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Zoe Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07415520247342735025noreply@blogger.com0Norwich, Norwich, Norfolk, UK52.6308859 1.297355000000038752.476717900000004 0.97463150000003873 52.7850539 1.6200785000000386tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421840952878946500.post-56427490032307682352014-10-06T10:41:00.000-07:002014-10-08T00:54:09.435-07:00The Hungry Caterpillar QuiltThis next quilt was put together hastily with the onset of Winter. Elias was born in September 2012 and within weeks the weather was getting cooler. We had decorated his Nursery in the theme of the children's book by Eric Carle 'The Hungry Caterpillar'.<br />
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A crib made for my brother Jonathan by my Grandad was used again and a huge green leaf from Ikea stood over it. The walls were painted sky blue and I made small pictures of the caterpillar chomping his way through leaves and all the other bits and bobs he eats (NB I could tell you - I know the entire wretched book by heart).<br />
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The quilt top was several simple 'Pinwheel' blocks. I used two 'Hungry Caterpillar' fabrics and these were interspersed with a tablecloth which had belonged to my Grandparents. Neither my Nana or Grandad are with us any more and so using something of theirs to help keep my baby warm felt right. I think this is the reason I find throwing fabric away so hard, surely every piece is right for something!<br />
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This quilt was the first time I had used my new but old Singer Sewing Machine and close inspection would show it! I'm still so new to patchwork and quilting that I couldn't tell you my preferred technique but given the practical need for this quilt I appreciated how quickly it came together because of the machine.<br />
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Soon it was time for Eli to move into his big boy bedroom to make room for someone else. In February 2014 Caspar was born, and here is No. 2 son modelling No. 2 Quilt.<br />
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<br />Zoe Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07415520247342735025noreply@blogger.com0Norwich, Norwich, Norfolk, UK52.6308859 1.297355000000038752.476717900000004 0.97463150000003873 52.7850539 1.6200785000000386tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421840952878946500.post-48098134211405610972014-09-30T05:24:00.000-07:002014-10-08T00:56:01.593-07:00My First QuiltThe first quilt I made was a present for my Mum's 60th birthday (in May 2012). My Mum loves blues and greens so this was to influence my palette choice. I also wanted the quilt to be used at my parent's holiday chalet in France where my Mum has all her table and glass ware in lovely shades of turquoise. The chalet is somewhere we all love holidaying, it's right by the river, and we all enjoy the birds and other wildlife we see from the verandah.<br />
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When choosing fabrics I found myself drawn to florals and leaves and birds and even found a fabric that had a small 'tricolour' flag and an anchor on it. I decided (thankfully!) to make it a lap quilt, I think retrospectively anything else would have been madness with no experience!<br />
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Here are a few of the blocks before the quilt top was assembled;<br />
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This block is Barbara Frietchie's Star & was made (except the blue floral) from old shirts.</div>
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This block is a Pierced Star & used a lovely batik along with the turquoise dotty fabric.</div>
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This block is called 'Susannah' and here you can see the French/Nautical fabric I was pleased to find.</div>
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When all the blocks were complete (along with the blocks seen, I also used an 'Anvil', 'Stars & Stripes', 'Puss in the Corner', 'King's Crown', 'Evening Star', 'Flyfoot', 'Crosses & Losses', 'Star of Le Moyne' and 'Flock of Geese'), one of our cats Boogle gave his approval to the proposed layout and a good sniff, so I was then ready to start assembling the quilt.</div>
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It is worth recalling that in the last few months before my Mum's birthday I was newly pregnant with Elias our first child and also working full time. There were a few fraught and tearful telephone conversations with Vanessa my Mother in Law who did her best to reassure me as I struggled with my first attempt at quilting!</div>
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I chose a lovely batik in muted greens and turquoise to be the backing fabric. Instead of binding I then wrapped the backing fabric round to make a sort of frame. My memory goes a bit hazy at this point (possibly the stress!), but I then really enjoyed choosing things to quilt on the borders like a Mother Duck being followed by two ducklings.</div>
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Below is the finished article;</div>
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It wasn't perfect but it is loved and used all the time (Mum and Sasha the dog take their daily nap on the verandah on or under it depending on the weather!) and that, I think is about all you can hope for with a quilt.</div>
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<br />Zoe Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07415520247342735025noreply@blogger.com0Norwich, Norwich, Norfolk, UK52.6308859 1.297355000000038752.476717900000004 0.97463150000003873 52.7850539 1.6200785000000386tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8421840952878946500.post-81800386942400701172014-09-30T00:40:00.000-07:002014-09-30T00:53:47.173-07:00About<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Welcome to <b>Captain's Quilts</b> where I will seek to catalogue work I have completed, keep track and on top of current projects and plan for future patchwork and quilting. I am inspired by travels, life and nature and love experimenting with colour. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Over the last seven or so years I have rekindled a love for the crafts I was never confident enough to try at school, thanks in no small part to my Mother in Law who is a fantastic quilter. Like most quilters I hoard fabric and take over any small part of the house allowed for my stash. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hopefully blogging my progress and ideas may be somewhat motivational, as a full time Mum to two little boys (Elias 2 years and Caspar 7.5 months), the temptation to sink into the sofa in a spare half an hour and watch television and eat chocolate is ever present.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I aim to post weekly and not stick to my comfort zone but try new techniques and styles. SO WATCH THIS SPACE!!</span><br />
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Zoe Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07415520247342735025noreply@blogger.com0