Zip Pouches for my FMQ Ruler Work

One of the quilting techniques to which we were introduced through our local quilt club is Free Motion Quilting" and Quilting with Rulers. I loved both concepts. And of course being a bit OCD, I just had to have a range of rulers, didn't I?

And so gifts for the next couple of birthdays and Christmas for me, was dead easy... either rulers or vouchers to buy them.

Herewith is my range of quilting rulers - oh! And "yes", each has their own see-through storage pouch (of course): 

Ruler #1: HQ Swiss Cheese Template

Ruler #2: Bernina Squiggle

Ruler #3: Bernina Mini 4 in 1 (includes Apple Core)

Ruler #4: HQ Oval D Templates

Ruler #5: HQ Hands Versa Tool

Ruler #56 Bernina Straight Line 

Ruler #7: HQ Arc C Templates

Ruler #8: Bernina Foot Extender #72 (another one I use quite regularly)

Ruler #9: Bernina Circles

Ruler #10: HQ Half-Circle Templates

Ruler #11: Bernina Oval Templates

Ruler #12: HQ Mini Scallop Ruler (and this is the one I use most of the time)

Note: HQ = Handi Gadgets (the trade name)

Cutting Board Bag

This project was definitely an evolution, starting out being something for this and finishing up, still as a something for "this" but it turned out to be bigger than Ben Hur for what the project called for. Oooh! Bad English there! Apologies...

I cut a board (of thin wood) on which my large cutting map could sit, as I cut on our Dining Room table, so that if I cut beyond the mat, the rotary cutter would not cut into the table itself!

So far, so good! So the board was prepared and bound with tape to prevent splinter accidents happening. But how to store said piece of wood? And maybe the cutting mat as well.

Ah! Of course, make a bag for them! So bag was duly made, complete with a handle. Oooh! the front looks a bit bland - let's make a pocket for whatever. And then let's put an appliqué on the pocket. What though? Why not an "M" for Maggie? And so you're getting the picture of how this once simple project started evolving into something which was bigger than the original plan...

And so herewith, is said carry bag...

.. with the board showing through the opening.

Kent Flag Mug Rug

Norm has Kent County heritage (UK) and so this is yet another Mug Rug to be made. In the meantime, herewith a photo of the Kent flag - until it's replaced by the Mug Rug itself!

Squishy Bags

Making Squishy Bags was another workshop I did with our local quilt group. I love them and find them ever so useful.

This one holds my small iron, making it easier to carry to workshops and the like - as well as storing the iron. I have another in the caravan which holds my travelling hair dryer.

Sashiko Panels x4

I found these Sashiko panels in a quilt fabric shop - as one does - and really loved them. I bought, I stitched but I can't say - I have finished them, yet! They can be used either as cushion covers or wall hangings - I've opted for the latter - we already have way too many cushions and accompanying covers! I have 2 of the wall mounts but even with them, I haven't taken the next step! Hopefully, that will happen within the next 6 months - coz now they are back on my radar and let's get the job done and them hung!

And then they can be hung on one of the walls of my sewing room. Yay!

Project Bags

If there's one staple a person involved with crafts, and especially sewing or thread related crafts needs, are Project Bags

This is my Mrs Bobbins Project Bag - I love Mrs Bobbins. I discovered her on Facebook - she's always getting into trouble with her Mr Bobbins and leads him on a merry chase, as she continually visits fabric shops and, in his opinion, buys way too much fabric.

And yet another Project Bag.

One can't have too many Project Bags - they are just so useful. This one is showing off the plastic front which they all have.

So to prove a point, here are a few more - this one has the requirements for some Sashiko I am working on. All I need to do is to grab the bag and all that I need is already inside - ready to go!

This Project Bag has all I need to finish one of the quilts I am still working on...

And here are more, waiting patiently in their box for each project to be completed.

Japanese Tea Mug Bag

I attended our State Quilt Exhibition a few years back and was intrigued by this little kit of making a tea-cup travel bag. So, after humming and haring over it for a while, I lashed out and bought the kit. Note: the kit did not include the fabric.

My Japanese Tea Mug Bag, complete with a tea mug inside. Errr... There just happened to be another staff at the exhibition which sold Japanese pottery!

And so the journey begins...

And continues...

Just a few more steps to go...

And as every tea mug needs it's own coaster, let not this one be out of step!

And finally, my Japanese Tea Mug on its Coaster - the journey is complete!

Caravan Water Box Cover

Friends of ours bought themselves a Motor-home which they use when travelling. they prefer to use boxed water when out and about but they didn't like the look of the water box sitting on one of the benches. So, knowing that I sew and do patchwork they asked if I would make them a cover for their boxed water. They bought the fabric - a Duck weave with suitable motifs printed on it. They loved the fabric - mind you I like the printing on the fabric but Duck weave is not really what I'd call patchwork-friendly to work with. for starters it frays like billy-o!

Now, one would think "sure, that'd be easy"! But did you know that every brand of boxed water is actually a different size and sometimes a different shape than their rivals? And some have their spout on the right, others on the left, and others it's in the middle! So answers needed to be sought from the customers. Which brands are they most likely to buy?

The settled on their preferred brand and away we went! I suggested that in the event they can't purchase their preferred brand that how they can get around it is to remove the bladder from each box and swap them over - it's easy enough to swivel a bladder around so that it lines up with the original hole.

But wait, there's more... could we have some placemats, as well?

And oh! How about a table runner? Sadly, I forgot to take a photo of the finished table runner, so this is it, while I was hand-stitching the binding on... As you can see, Patched the 4 colours of the placemat bindings together for this little number.

Kilt Table Runner

After I received the box of kilt offcuts, I then had to think what I would do with them. Naturally, I took them out and marvelled at the collection I had received and instantly decided on a knee rug/quilt. But how to stitch them together? I experimented with a couple and then settled on a technique. This was my sampler to check out what stitches on my machine would work best and also how they would like, once stitched. 

At the end, rather than tossing this out, I made a small table mat from the sampler and it still adorns one of our small coffee tables and receives most welcome comments from all who visit - and especially those with a Scottish heritage.

See in another Blogger page my "Kilt to Quilt" which is the end result of this piece of testing...

If you look closely, you will notice several different stitches that I've used to join the offcuts together - this was my tester piece and after I settled on the stitch I would use for the quilt, I decided to turn this into a small table runner, for a side coffee table.

A5 Note Book Cover

During the years I did the Textile Course at Hamilton College, we were each given a note book - I used mine at every lesson, as there was always something new to learn. 

Over a decade later, I am still referring to this notebook and so I decided to make a cover for it.

Photo below shows the pockets on the inside front cover which provides storage for pens and pencils

Photo below shows the pocket on the inside back cover which provides storage for notes and a small notebook

 

CVQ Mystery Quilt 2016 - Japanese Theme

My Mystery Quilt in 2016 was made in Japanese blue fabrics.  This Challenge was set by Chris O’Brien and of course, as we finish one instruction, we have no idea what the next will be - will it all work out and look good - or will we finish up with something that resembles a dog’s breakfast? Along the way, Chris was intrigued with my interpretations and encouraged me that “yes”, I’m on the right track - keep with the Challenge and see how it unfolds. Mind you, because we didn’t know what the next instruction was, we couldn’t plan ahead.

In the end, it all turned out ok!

The instructions included:

Round 1: Create a circle

Round 2: Set your circle into an interesting bordered background

Round 3: Next border is to include sets of squares or rectangles, offset by circles

Round 4: Next border must include some curves which connect back to your centre

Round 5: Next border is to include some triangles but set in waves

And this is my interpretation of the instructions:

Coptic Crosses and Thread Drawings

We lived in Egypt for several years in the early 2000s and during that time, we saw much of the country - from the bustling streets of Cairo to far-flung villages. We attended many Coptic Orthodox churches and learnt much about their rich history and heritage.

I was fascinated by the many forms of crosses we discovered everywhere and took photos whenever I found another one.

From those photos, I selected 12 which form the foundation for this quilt-cum-wall hanging.

In addition to the crosses, I also designed some fabric art using a needle and thread - I'm not sure what I'll do with them - I've had many ideas and plans for both the crosses and thread-drawings but thus far, they are still sitting in a box in my sewing room.

CVQ Mystery Quilt 2017 - Star on White

Another of our members created this year's Mystery Quilt and the results were amazing as to how we all interpreted her instructions.

Round 1: Create centre block with points ie mariner's star, star points

Round 2: Add a border using 3 fabrics including one used in the centre

Round 3: Add border or 2 or 3 that reflect an element, theme or shape from the centre

Round 4: Add a border which includes at least 3 triangles

Round 5: Do something unpredictable in this final border

And this is my interpretation of these instructions:

As you can see, it's still a flimsy - yet to be quilted.

Norm's Coffee Table Runner

Norm bought himself (us) a beautiful wooden, hand-made coffee table at a country Show. It only j-u-s-t fitted in the car with much effort, I might add. And we were to discover it was equally as difficult to get it out of the car, once we returned home. Anyway, it's his pride and joy.

Sadly, it only took me nearly 3 years to finish it. But finish it I did.

CVQ Mystery Quilt 2014 - Love, Hope, Joy, Peace

2014 was the first of our Quilt Club’s Mystery Quilts - an idea I got after visiting the Quilt Exhibition at Alice Springs the previous year.

I brought the idea to the Committee of my own Club and they were in agreement to give it a go. Yay! That was the first step taken. Next was to ask permission from the AESS group - which they readily gave and offered a copy of their instructions, to give us a leg-up.

The item could be made any size and shape - anything from a KS quilt to a table runner, as long as each set of instructions was easily identifiable in the finished item.

The instructions included:

Round 1: Create a square

Round 2: First border must contain triangles

Round 3: Use 2 different pieces of fabric in this border

Round 4: Add a border of feature fabric but it must start with the letter F ie fish, frogs, flowers

Round 5: Add a border using characters ie words, numbers, foreign characters

Round 6: Add a border with curves in it ie circles, waves, swirls

Round 7: Add a star or a cross somewhere in this border

Round 8: This last border must contain postage stamps

And this is my interpretation of those instructions:

More Pastiche - Lee Newman

This follows a previous entry under this heading and while time has moved on from that entry, the purpose is still the same. When one of our quilting group of friends suffers the death of a loved one, then those who wish will do something with a 6.5” block - what is done is different for each situation.

In this case, our blocks are following the death of one of our members, Lee Newman. Lee had 2 daughters and it was agreed that instead of one quilt, we would present each daughter with something - maybe a knee-rug size?

Our instructions this time was to incorporate one of Lee’s passions in life into the block. These included her faith, her love of singing, her love of sewing and embroidery and her passion for the charity of Samaritan’s Purse, who provide a shoe box full of gifts to children in disadvantaged areas of the world.

Recently, my best mate in life (AKA husband) and I went through a couple of shelves in our Linen Press and decided to downsize big time! I think we put aside about ⅔ of what was on those shelves! In the mix were doilies and 2 in particular caught my eye - as they were both tatted - not by me - but tatted all the same. I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of them - well, not yet anyway!

And within a couple of weeks, news came of Lee’s death and the subsequent 6.5” block request - but this time, there were 2 blocks! Perfect! I would stitch these doilies on to the blocks, as they were a perfect fit. Job done!

Block #1

Block #2

From Kilt to Quilt

During 2023 (in July, in fact) I received some tartan kilt offcuts from a friend and decided to make a knee rug from them. And here is the result of a lot of trimming and sewing - not to mention how much tartan fabric frays!

This photo shows the reverse side of the quilt.

… and here it is thrown over our couch - it fits perfectly - both in size and colour.

Photo showing the kilt offcuts.

And so the tedious task of joining all these rectangles started...