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...

Clara's Quilt

 In about 2010-2012ish my friend and I decided to make a quilt for our sewing mate's first grandchild.

I had recently seen this technique where you buy a panel, then slice it into x number of pieces and rejoin it with sashing - so we decided we'd give it a go for our friend's granddaughter; and herewith is our finished piece. I'm not sure it turned out exactly how we imagined but we were happy with the result nonetheless.

In the photo are Heather and I with the very happy grandfather.

Raffle Quilt

Around the 2008 and 2009 mark I was asked to make a quilt as a raffle prize for a not-for-profit group, to raise some funds - which I did. It was agreed that the colours be subtle so that no matter who won it, it would not offend - ie not too bold, not too pale, not pink, not blue, not too busy and the list went on. The photo below is the finished quilt and by all accounts the winner was thrilled with their prize and the colours and tone were perfect.

Manuela's Quilt

In about 2008 we befriended Hani and his wife Maggi, Egyptian newly weds. I think someone asked if I would help Maggi with her English but in the end, I probably learnt more Arabic than she learnt English - she just wasn't all that interested in it. After a while (maybe a year or so), they were having a baby, so I made their little bundle of joy, who they named Manuela  a small quilt.

Eventually, we lost contact with one another as she was bound up with baby-things, naturally; and still wasn't interested in improving her English. And I had my own life which was becoming increasingly busier and busier.

Anyway, this is Manuela's quilt!

Hamilton's Row-By-Row Quilt

This was my first real quilt, made as part of the curriculum of a Textiles 3-Year course, which I started in 2008! Well, it will be a quilt when it's finished - this is only the top part of it - the "quilting" bit is yet to happen - but given time, happen it will!!! And "yes", I'm really happy with the result thus far. 

I'm currently on a commission to make another Sampler Quilt but this time as a Queen Size for the 40th Wedding Anniversary of special friends - it will be basically like the one above but will be wider - wait for the photos - I'm hoping to have it finished by April 2010.

Update: in 2023, himself and I moved into a Retirement Village which meant, for us, that we were going to a smaller home, which meant that we had to reduce stuff in almost every area of our lives, which included our interests and hobbies. We didn't stop doing our respective interests and hobbies but what we did do, was to downsize what space those interests and hobbies took. For me it was my love of sewing. 

And so, in the mix, I looked at the heap of flimsies I had (a flimsy is a completed quilt top [patched and stitched] but not yet sandwiched into a quilt.

And this little number was in the mix of what went! I gave it to our Quilt Guild through the Quilt Club I attend and some angel out there, would take it as it is, or enlarge it and then sandwich and quilt it - from there, it would go to someone via the Charity Depot - whether that be as a knee quilt, a cot cover, a play mat or as a small child's quilt.

Rachel's 21st Quilt

I wanted to make Rachel a quilt for her 21st but what to make - what design to choose? 

What to do on one side?As I had already decided to make a Temperature Quilt on the other side.

Her mother (my cousin) suggested that Rachel's favourite colours at the moment were black, grey and white with a splash of colour - and so that's what I did on the reverse - exactly that!

As mentioned, I had decided on a Temperature Quilt on one side - and so I set about doing the research on it. First, I had to find the daily maximum temperatures for each day of her birth year and then calculate how I would "display" them - I settled on a colour for collections of temperatures (in celsius). They being:

a)  10-11-12 = ice blue

b)  13-14-15 = light blue

c)  15-17-18 = medium blue

d)19-20-21 – darker blue

e)  22-23-24 = light green

f)  25-26-27 = medium green

g)  28-29-30 = darker green

h)  31-32-33 = yellow

i)   34-35-36 = light orange

j)  37-38-39 = darker orange

-->

k)40-41-42 = red

However, I needed another 9 rectangles to complete the set. Problem solved - I chose fabric with musical notes on them in a light shade of white/grey and I placed them at strategic points on the quilt - the birthdays of herself, her siblings and her parents, but because I still needed another 3 placements, I chose New Year's Day, ANZAC Day and Christmas Day coz on each of these days music is played - think about it! And so the quilt below has the 365 days of Rachel's birth year, plus these extras to complete it.

Wall Hangings

From time to time, I've made some wall hangings - usually they are small - sometimes really small. Here are some which I've made:

The Ten Commandments

At our Quilt Club, one of the Challenges that I entered into was to make a wall hanging depicting a movie title. You can see what I chose (it's about an A4 size):

Flying Geese
This wall hanging was made for an English cousin, as a thank you for having us stay with them in 2015. Gladly, she loves it!

Beach Hut
I recently made this for a friend who loves the beach - and I mean she LOVES the beach - it's her happy place! I was thrilled that she just loved this small wall hanging I made.

Mug Rugs, Placemats & Runners

One Christmas I was gifted a rather beautiful and dainty tea mug - which sent my head into a spin coz immediately, I knew I just had to make a Mug Rug for it - AKA a coaster.


Herewith said mug, set upon its own Mug Rug!!!

... and here is a picture of the same Mug Rug but with a couple of biscuits popping out from the pocket. If you are gifting this to someone, you could put a couple of their favourite teabags in the pocket for an extra treat!

... and here they are with their very own Mug Bag - is this 5-Star service for the humble tea mug???

And then when one is on a roll - let's make some more Mug Rugs - these 2 were gifted as part of a Christmas Gift Swap:

Our Christmas Runner
This has been "coming" for several years now and finally, it's been pieced together but still not completed!!! Maybe 2017 might be the year it sees the light of day as a Runner????

Sodoku Mat
Just for a bit of fun, I decided to make a Sudoku Mat, so we could play the game with friends as a Board Game! But where to get big enough chips or discs from - we first used plastic bottle tops and we collected a heap of colours - 9 of each but they became too bulky to carry around - so we're still looking for suitable discs, buttons, chips or tiles - but whatever we get has to have 9 of any one colour to make it work - it's still a work in progress!!!

Each 9-piece block is a different shade of neutral...


And then I decided to make a Runner for our Occasional Table, using Japanese fabrics in positive and negative of the same fabric.
This is the positive side:

And this is the negative of the same fabric:

Quilted Basket (for Fat Quarters)

Another workshop at our Club was making fabric baskets and this is the one I made! The basket itself is big enough to hold 2 sets of Fat Quarters side by side, sitting flat - which means it's about 6" x 12".
You might recognise the fabric from another project which I posted a bit earlier - and it'll probably turn up again - it was my favourite at-the-time fabric and I made a few things with it!

And of course, I had to make a 2nd one, didn't I? But this time, I flipped the handles to the side instead of them being at the ends and it makes a perfect little bag-cum-basket to carry things like my knitting or other small projects around.

Caravan Place Mats

We recently upgraded from a Camper Trailer to a Caravan and during the transition time, I got busy and made a few things for it - to celebrate a new era in our lives - as one does!
Other items will be published in between other posts...

Shirt Thread Catcher

On one of the numerous quilt-related Facebook pages and groups to which I belong, someone posted the photo of a Thread Catcher which they made and provided a free pattern (it was free from the author). I was so taken with it, that I decided to make it - coz I could!

The original pattern didn't include the buttons but as I had some pink flower buttons in my Button Box, I thought they'd make a lovely addition.
And PS: I use the Thread Catcher all the time - I love it!!!

Reflections of Egypt Quilt

My husband and I spent several years living in Egypt and this quilt has been inspired by our time there. It is not going to be finished overnight - or even this month; and most likely not even this year but you are welcome to journey with me, as it unfolds...

These 12 crosses will form part of the border. They are each 4" square, on calico which is currently 7" square but will be cut down to a 6" square, closer to the time. The crosses are taken from photos we took as we travelled about the country.

This too, is a pattern taken from one of our photos and is one of 6 or 7 such scenes of Coptic Egypt that will eventually make up the quilt. It's a typical scene of Coptic Churches which are dotted throughout Egypt.

This is the 2nd embroidery piece that I've finished. The picture depicts an inner sanctuary of the Church compound.

And this is the 3rd piece finished thus far. It depicts a village built into the hillside away from the Nile, with crops growing along the banks of the river. For those who haven't been to rural Egypt, houses are built away from the fertile land and in many villages, each house is painted a different colour than its neighbour - which gives a happy look to an otherwise mono-tone landscape.

And that's it for now - I'm busy drawing the next picture from one of our photos but you'll have to wait and see what it is... However, I can tell you that if it works, it's some challenge I've set myself...

The next picture in thread will be one of the many market corners in Cairo but as one can see, it's only half finished - but I thought I'd upload it, so you can continue to journey with me, as I finish more of it.

I've been busy with other projects and so haven't done much hand stitching of late, but it'll still be there when next I pick up my needle and thread...

You will notice that none of the edges have been stitched or finished off - that's because I want to do them all the same and until I have more of them finished, I won't know what colour to use - see!!! - there's an answer for every occasion or in this case, for every question!

And finally, I've started planning for the quilt itself - here's a template I've made as an idea for the background patchwork.

The Barrington Quilt

This quilt I've called "The Barrington Quilt" which is based on one I made for myself last year, but then created a Queen size version of it for the Ruby Wedding Anniversary of friends of ours - hence the dominance of red. It was the first time I had enlarged a quilt & like all artists, realised along the way that there was more than one way to do various aspects of it. Would I do another one like this? Probably "no", but I would implement some of my lessons in other quilts & so am really thrilled for the opportunity to make this one. I'm happy with the finished product & hope against all hope that our friends also like it.
And this is the label:

I made it so that it looks like a mini-quilt on the reverse - a bit finicky but well worth the effort.

Double-Take Quilt

At College, we were shown yet another technique of quilt-making - called "quilt-as-you-go". We learnt there are at least 7 "quilt-as-you-go" methods. And realised that last year, we covered a couple of these, without realising it... And so, as the name implies, this quilt has 2 sides to it - above is side 1. The colours on this side are mainly greens, golds & charcoals with many being oriental fabrics.

and this is the other side of the same quilt! Hence its name "Double-Take".

As you can see, this side is made from predominently reds & blues - some of which are, again, oriental fabrics.

Quilting & Quilts

... and we move on to "real" quilts! Quilts made either made from a pattern or to a theme and with coordinated fabrics.

Photo: a "scrappy quilt" - on one side are scraps from a previous project - in tartans & the reverse are left-over gingham squares.

Photo: another "scrappy quilt" - this time made with flannel fabrics - the size is actually King Size and so it's
b-i-g!!! I made it for our camping holidays as I wanted something which was warm - and this certainly does the job.

From "scrappy quilts" we moved onto another style - this time a Sampler Quilt but instead of the usual square blocks, we've done this as a Row-by-Row.

Photo: this is my first real quilt! Well, it will be a quilt when it's finished - this is only the top part of it - the "quilting" bit is yet to happen - but given time, happen it will!!! And "yes", I'm really happy with the result thus far.

I'm currently on a commission to make another Sampler Quilt but this time as a Queen Size for the 40th Wedding Anniversary of special friends - it will be basically like the one above but will be wider - wait for the photos - I'm hoping to have it finished by April 2010.

Update: in 2023, himself and I moved into a Retirement Village which meant, for us, that we were going to a smaller home, which meant that we had to reduce stuff in almost every area of our lives, which included our interests and hobbies. We didn't stop doing our respective interests and hobbies but what we did do, was to downsize what space those interests and hobbies took. For me it was my love of sewing. 

And so, in the mix, I looked at the heap of flimsies I had (a flimsy is a completed quilt top [patched and stitched] but not yet sandwiched into quilt.

And this little number was in the mix of what went! I gave it to our Quilt Guild through the Quilt Club I attend and some angel out there, would take it as it is, or enlarge it and then sandwich and quilt it - from there, it would go to someone via the Charity Depot - whether that be as a knee quilt, a cot cover, a play mat or as a small child's quilt.

Patchwork and Quilting

... now we're starting to really talk about passions - patchwork and quilting - what a great combination ... ...


Photo: another genuine patchwork quilt - like it's mate below - it was made while we were overseas - and as mentioned below, cotton was hard to come by - and so, this was made out of soft furnishing fabrics - some were 80/20, some 20/80, some 60/40, while others were 50/50 - it was a challenge to find as many compatible fabrics as I could, from the stock I was given by my friend. The recipient of this quilt, who was also the provider of the fabric, was over the moon with the result of it. At the foot of the quilt are several cats - with a ball they are playing with - this was the only request my friend made - she wanted cats on the quilt - and so cats, she got!!!

Photo: now this is a patchwork quilt - well, the basics of one, at least! I didn't use a pattern - it was purely utilising whatever fabrics I could lay my hands on - we were living offshore at the time and cotton fabrics were nearly as scarce as hen's teeth. At the time of the photo, the top was all but finished - sadly though, I didn't take any other photos of it, before giving the completed quilt to a special friend. And that was pretty well the start of making a series of quilts - for myself, for my beloved and for other special friends in my life.

Note: for other quilts - see under "Quilts"

Welcome

Welcome to SilvaThreads. Take a tour of some of my thread work - some items are finished; some are still a works-in-progress [don't we all have plenty of these in our boxes, cupboards and drawers?]; and there'll be others still in the planning stages.
Enjoy!