Still doing what I'm doing

I'm just quietly stitching away, trying to get a bit of quilting done each day.  Having said I would be able to keep track of exactly where I was, by counting my squares, it turns out that's not as easy as I thought, so I haven't bothered.  I can say I'm about twenty big 9 patches down, so that's still 60-odd to go.

I'm also making slow progress with my Alabama Chanin-style piece.  This is going slower than I would like, because it turns out that if the light isn't good I'm finding it hard to tell the difference between the stenciled bits and the fabric.  I wanted the stencil to be close to the base colour, but hadn't though this might be a catch.  With the benefit of hindsight I should have chosen to go just a shade or two lighter, but it's a bit late to worry about it now, so I just stick with doing it in daylight.

Linking up with Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching.

New project and more quilting

Not much piecing going on around here this week, but I have done quite a bit of hand stitching.  I have started a new Alabama Chanin piece: fabric cut and stenciled so now I am back-stitching around the shapes. The fabric is an organic wool jersey, which I hope is going to be nice and warm, especially as it is a double layer.  It may not be finished in time for this winter, but at least I'll be ready come autumn.

I have also been quilting Quiet Quilt.  It felt like I was making good progress but then I made a big mistake.  I realised that since the design is basically 9x9 9-patch blocks I could work out exactly how much of the quilt was done at any given point.  That will probably be fine once I'm halfway through, but when you still have 650-odd little units to do it's not so encouraging.  I have done 7 9-patches this week, which leaves me 74 (or 666 of the little squares) still to do. 

On the bright side, I am happy with how the orange-y thread is working. 

Linking up with Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Take a break, take a breath

I rather like the rhythm that Slow Sunday Stitching gives to my week, and this week the break from machine stitching is particularly welcome, as recent incidents mean I have temporarily fallen out of love with the latest project.  So I am focusing on quilting today.  I  am still working on the scrappy strips.  Originally I thought I would start quilting my circle quilt and just do this one on a more ad hoc basis, but I've made really good progress so have decided just to press on.  

I also finished my skirt.  Actually I finished it two weeks ago but it's taken me all this time to accept that there's never anyone around when I need a photo taken. I've resorted to photographing myself in the mirror.  The first attempt, standing on the bed, was blurry, the second, sort of squashed in beside a wardrobe door is maybe a bit better.

Without me in, it looks like this.

This is the third time I've tried this, and I still can't get over how totally satisfying I find it to know I can make an entire garment with just a needle and thread.

Slow but steady

I have finally made a back for the circles and stripes quilt, so one of my slow Sunday tasks, I hope, is to sandwich it ready for quilting.  In the meantime I have continued to quilt the scrappy quilt top. One of the funny things (for me, at least) about a quilt made of discernible blocks is that you can tell exactly how far you have got with the quilting, so this is block 12 of 70.   I will keep this ticking over once I start the circles, just trying to do a square to two each week.

I'm also expecting to finish my hand-sewn skirt today; this is the waistband going on, so very nearly there.

A quick gallop around my sewing table

Nothing happening on my metaphorical design wall, though things are stirring in the depths of my brain.  In the meantime I'm keeping things ticking over and making a few decisions.  

First up, the next quilt in the hoop will be the circles one with the colour definitions.  I had pretty much landed on the side of Quiet Quilt, which should by rights be next, but that would leave me quilting two circle-y ones in a row, which might prove a bit much so I'm going to shuffle them about.  

Here's a look at all my other little bits and pieces.

The next batch of shirt circles ready to go.  These are this week's as I'm all caught up now.

Another quilt back is being pieced, though, things being what they are it's not the one I'm going to need next!

I'm getting in a bit of quilting on this, unblogged, top.  It's a version of the Lego quilt: strips finished width 1" and is destined for someone who doesn't read the blog. 

Last, but not least, I'm making another Alabama Chanin garment, this time a skirt.

Despite my lack of a proper project I am linking up with Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday and Love Laugh Quilt for Monday Making.

Coming up for air

Well that was not a lot of fun; I can't remember the last time I didn't even pick up a needle for two weeks.  I'm slowly getting back into things now, though that is presenting its own challenges.  I am finding that the enforced break has slightly thrown me off my stride, so when I went back and looked at this:

which had just been sitting on the floor where I left it, I wasn't very happy with it, though I couldn't put my finger on why (my brain is still a bit woolly I guess).  I definitely wished I hadn't added the vertical line of medium-sized circles down the right hand side, and would have taken it off again, only the seam ripper has gone walkabout.  Instead I have decided to leave it there, but to change other bits around.

This is feeling better, so I am leaving it on the floor while I go to print more of the colour definition strips and prep the next batch of little circles.

Nearly a dress

Not much quilting has been going on here the last couple of weeks; partly because I like to be in the garden (though it has been a pretty cool, damp place) but also because all my sewing energy has been going into my dress.  To be quite honest I think I got a bit carried away, but it's been fun and now I'm nearly done.  There are lots of tiny shapes still to outline, but the bulk of the work is out of the way and I am very happy with the result.  There are things I will tweak when I make another one, but that's always the way.  

Everything is hand stitched, I felled the seams and have tried out reverse applique. with and without beading, straightforward ordinary applique and a sort of satin stitch. The beading is probably a one off; as much as I love it I just don't live that sort of life!

Slowly moving to a finish

This is the last tiny chunk of Two Hungry Birds, waiting to be quilted.

Then it's on to the binding.  This has been causing me some headaches, but I think I've found something I'm happy with now, so hopefully my next hand stitching will be finishing this one off.

I'm also (very, very slowly) making progress with my dress.  Here's a tiny chunk:

As you can see my beading is far from perfect, but hopefully no one will ever look at it this close once it's finished, so as long as it holds up I can overlook the wobbles (and I'm getting better as I go).

A view from the back

Today's Sunday stitching is still my dress.  I'm trying out a mixture of these these beads:

and it's going pretty well, but I want to show the back today, as I really like how it looks.

Something new for Sunday

I'm still quilting Two Hungry Birds,  but no picture this week.  It seems to be going along quite fast, but I realise that's because this is much smaller than Little Elephant rather than because I've put on a sudden burst of speed.

Also, I am starting another dress.  It's cut out and stencilled, so this will be my slow stitching for Sunday this week.  The second picture shows the colour much better.

Wearing my slow stitches

Turns out making a dress by hand isn't the major undertaking I thought it might be.  The patterns from the Alabama Chanin books are based on very simple shapes - my dress is four pieces and some bias strips - which undoubtedly helps.  The instructions they give on how to go about it are clear and straightforward, and because you are working with knit fabric, the edges don't have to be finished.   So, just like that (or so it feels) I have a dress. Furthermore I have a dress that fits okay and didn't fall to pieces the first time I moved in it.

The seams are sewn with a running stitch and then felled, the binding strips that encase the neckline and armholes are sewn with Cretan stitch.  My stitches could be more even: I found especially when felling the seams and sewing through 3 layers that I had to keep checking both sides, or one would look okay but the stitches would hardly make it through on the other.  But this is my first go and I'm pretty happy.  I was even prepared to have my photo taken wearing it but I had to enlist help with this and didn't think to check what else was going on in the picture, so I've had to crop more than I'd like (in real life I have hands, and feet, and a head). Oh, and I had wet hair, so those are drip marks on my front. You can see what a beautifully organised, well thought out life I am leading.

I'm definitely go to have another go at this. 

Slowing down for Sunday

After a week with two finishes I have slowed right down - and it's not as if I was rocketing along in the first place.  

I find I am increasingly drawn to all sorts of hand stitching at the moment: not just quilting, but the beautiful work on blogs like Spirit Cloth and Judy's Journal, the handmade clothing of Alabama Chanin, not to mention menders like Tom of Holland.  

The relationship you have with something you hand stitch is so intimate, invests whatever you do with so much of yourself, that it is strangely beguiling, more than slightly addictive.  So, in addition to continuing with my quilting of Two Hungry Birds...

I am having a go at handsewing a dress. I have absolutely no idea yet if it will be wearable, but I'm having fun.

I'm also thinking I might go back to the denim.  

All of which is more than enough for one Slow Sunday.