Lockdown Sewing....Crafting through Coronavirus

In 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!

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. 
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.
Little did we know.
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.

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. 
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.

"Are you sewing?" "what are you making at the moment?" people would ask.  'Nothing' I'd reply, morosely.  I had lost my sewjo.

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.

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!

Quilts in the Wild: Exploration of a Hashtag

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.

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?

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.

A Beautiful Contrast?

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.

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

#quiltsinthewild - A Practicality?

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?

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!

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.

Social Media...Expectation V. Reality

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?

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).

Is this what we are doing with our quilts, bowing to other's expectations of perfection?

            Expectation                           V.                                     Reality

#quiltsinthewild: A Gallery

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.

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.

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.

What is Quilting?

Since starting my online fabric shop Fine City Quilting one of the questions I'm often asked is;

 What is Quilting?

You may have seen a quilted jacket or call the duvet you sleep under a quilt -  so what is quilting?

Well quilting is the process of sewing together layers of fabric in order to make a thicker, warmer layer. 

Three layers are usually used and often referred to as a quilt sandwich:

1) The Quilt top (the pretty patchwork layer you can see)

This layer can be as simple as a single piece of cloth (a whole cloth quilt) or hundreds of pieces sewn together.

2) The Wadding

Wadding can be made of a variety of warm materials making up this padding layer - cotton, cotton mixes, bamboo, polyester or wool.  At www.finecityquilting.co.uk we stock cotton and bamboo (which is excellent for allergies).

3)  The Backing

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...

  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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

International Women's Day

International Women's Day is here again, time to hear some idiot say

'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.

This time last year I made a wall hanging to raise awareness.  Last year's theme was 'Push for Progress'.

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.

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.  

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'.

Gradually the idea of my quilt was born.  I entered it into the Festival of Quilts 2018 at the NEC in Birmingham.

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.

Since that day I've started my own business Fine City Quilting 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.

Love 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.

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.
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.

Fast forward a few years and I find myself in the throes of another sew along....enter the #fussycuttingsewalong
Now I was not on instagram for the first but having read about it on it's creators website https://naomialice.co.uk I sure as heck was getting involved for the second!

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:

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.

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?'

Obviously I took the opportunity to suggest on a lovely new cutting mat from www.finecityquilting.co.uk

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!!

Christmas Tree Bunting

It may be controversial in some circles to have your decorations up before advent....but you can definitely scratch that festive itch by making some!!

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 know me will have to walk past and buy or ignore *gulp*

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.

However, this is a fun bunting you can make easily and quickly.

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.

If you're not confident making your own, you can follow this link to a pdf to stick to card and cut out.

Christmas Tree Bunting PDF

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.

3.  Now lay tree 2 on top of the fabric and pin in place

4.  Sew all the way around your tree with machine or by hand and unpin template 2.


5.  Trim approximately 1cm from sewn line with pinking shears for a lovely tree like edge.

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. 


7.  Sew from one end of your bias binding to the other securing all trees in place.

8. Et Voila!  Sit back and enjoy your festive smugness..