Friday 21 December 2018

Over and out

This is my last pre-Christmas post, though I shall still be wandering around the internet seeing what other people have been up too.  

Here's progress to date:
There are a few more bits like this too.  

I think I need to have a think about how they are going to relate to each other now, so I can do that in the next couple of weeks.  I also have a cunning plan to keep things ticking over.  There's no prospect of  laying things out, which is just fine, but I know I am going to need more stars and more of the flying geese, so in quiet moments I will try to cut the bits for them.  I'm fine if I can't get to a machine, but this would let me get going again in the new year without a struggle. 

I wish you all a joyful holiday period: time to reflect and enjoy the things, and people, you like the most.

Monday 17 December 2018

4 more sewing days till Christmas

I'm jumping straight into this one, trying to make the most of the last few days before everything stops for Christmas.  This is probably a good thing, as it's stopping me from overthinking the connection between this piece and Yellow Birds.

I decided to have one good look at that quilt and then not to look again until I feel like I've found a rhythm with this; I think if I keep checking back it could prevent me from finding my way.  What I took from that one look was a mental list of the different elements in the piecing: log-cabin-y bits with the birds at the centre, flying geese, some little strips of squares and rectangles and quarter sun blocks.  Oh, and words, which were a late addition last time but which I got printed up right at the beginning of this one.

I kicked off by cutting some bits of the lovely birds and starting to piece around them.  Sadly the pale fabrics lose a bit when the flash fires, but I'm sure as the light improves next year you'll be able to see them better.
I'm mostly still just making these bits and some geese, but have sewn one slightly bigger piece.
I am currently undecided about the suns.  I might try just making a couple, rather than a whole pile.  I am also wondering about throwing some stars into the mix.  Lots to consider!

Wednesday 12 December 2018

Off I go again.

My aspiration to make something simple seems to have amused some of you, but I will rise above it.  I will concede that my brain tends to complicate from even the most straightforward of starting points but I am hoping that this new project will be simple-ish, at the very least.  

I have never revisited an idea, but that's what I'm going to do now, which is why I am hopeful that this might not be too tricky.  Here are my starting point shirts:
They haven't photographed particularly well, but there are blues and yellows, and yellow-y browns.  

Then I rummaged through my boxes and came up with this lot.
Looking at this photo, it seemed like I needed more yellows and I have, since I took these photos, added a very dark blue shirt, a black one, and a grey and yellow stripe.  I have also unearthed quite a lot of scraps (almost all yellow) from this quilt.  I am thinking I want to keep some elements from that quilt but make it more about the dusk than the dawn.  

Let's see if this goes as planned!

Wednesday 5 December 2018

Map challenge, done for now

I can honestly say there were moments when I thought this quilt would never be done but I think I have most probably finished the piecing.  Somewhere along the way I stopped taking photos of every version I rejected but suffice it to say I found the last few inches tricky.  In the end I used entirely dark blue strips down at the bottom and a combination of leftovers pieced together and the dark green shot cotton to compensate for my shortage of fabric.  
Once the bottom was sorted out I added the dark blue strip on the left hand side, which sort of squares things up, but also felt right in terms of the balance of things. For the same reason (balance, not excessive wonkiness) I added one more row of across the top, echoing the darker blue at the bottom.

And just like that I was satisfied and it was done!

Next up I think I am going to do something nice and simple.