Florence's Attic

Festival of Quilts and Hever

Before we went away at the end of August I asked my Dad to collect my Festival of Quilts entry as the form said it had to be collected that week.  He forgot (was away with work and very busy...) so I just put it down as one of those things.  It wasn't a quilt, and if it was I would've been a bit more proactive about making sure it was collected and chasing it up, so I thought I'd just miss a few samples.  Well, anyway the freight company called last week to say they still had it.  I got it off my Dad yesterday and I didn't know you got judges comments back with your work so they were a lovely surprise.  Two of the judges awarded me excellent for every category with lovely notes added.  One of them was Linda Seward whose books and writing I admire so that was great.  The third judge awarded me an excellent, a satisfactory and the rest of the marks were good.  They (only have the initials so don't know who it was) added a constructive comment about my use of materials, but added it was a great idea.  I am so pleased!  It is the first show I have ever entered so was great to have encouraging feedback.  As the board is A2 and the box 3D I am planning to take it apart and put it in my college sketchbook along with the judges comments.  Next years theme is Elemental mmm only 10 months to think about it!

I also mentioned on here last week that I wasn't going to the Hever Quilt show.  There is a really good write up of it here so thank you for the photos Ferret and well done to you for winning another prize!  It turns out the challenge winner is someone who was on the very first patchwork course I did so well done to her too!

Right, I have an hour and a half free, my conscience is weighing up housework vs quilting...

Crochet Workshop

I went on my crochet workshop yesterday and it was amazing!  It was at Kangaroo in Sussex and the tutor was Jane Crowfoot, a Rowan knitting consultant.  What I loved about the day was she tailored the course to everyones needs, from beginners (including my mum who did very well) to a lady who had been crocheting for years.  One of the projects advertised for the day was a ruffle scarf, which in the end no one did as we were all busy practising new stitches.  I got so much out of it as I had a chance to go over what I already know and make sure I am doing things correctly, and then try out new stitches.  She bought Rowan yarn for us to use for the samples which was great as I am hesitant at messing about with what I class as luxury yarn.  The tutor mentioned she may be doing a crocet inspiration course at Rowan in the future - a weekend workshop based on developing your own designs drawing inspiration from places such as wallpaper - that sounds very interesting.

Here are my samples.
The top one is made from Rowan Cotton Handknit (my favourite) and is spike stitch with a row of bobble stitches on top.  I have always wanted to try this and am amazed at how easy it is.
The dark pink sample is made from Cotton Glace and is a sampler square where we went over the stitches.
The circle was made alonside Jane as I wanted to ensure I was closing the cirlce up in the right chain stitch.

The kidsilk mohair sample was going to be a flower, but I got rather annoyed at how long it took as it is so fine.  She suggested doubling it up in the future as it has a fuller effect.

We also did some crocheting with beads.  I am almost embarrased that it is so easy and I have never tried it.  I got some pink cotton glace and beads to try out.  I'll make some coasters or the edging of something for Bizzie.

 

and finally, I bought some yarn to make a ruffle scarf.  I am always scared of buying expensive yarn, but I won't be crocheting a lot this autmn so this is my time out project, and we got a 10% discount!  The colours aren't great in this photo, but the yarn is Rowan Tapestry and a ball of Kidsilk to edge the scarf.

Ooh, and I should mention lunch.  Quiche, different salads including tomato, basil and red onion (my favourite), cheese and biscuits and strawberries and cream.  Not to mention the afternoon tea and cake - we were a group of very contented hookers!

Check out the Kangaroo website - their yarn is sent out with no charge for postage.

Dolly Done and Quilting Bits

Ahh, the dining room is a bit tidier than it was to give me some space to finally sew.  The poor machine needs a bit of a service, so I am going to try and see what I can get out of it before it finally eats a whole reel of thread!  I can always tell when it needs a service as it starts refusing to chain piece - breaking the thread between pieces.  I am working on my City and Guilds quilt at the moment, but as it is quite a slow project I want to do some other bits alongside it.  I am just finishing the design of the quilt and then will be dyeing and embellishing the fabric with print.  I then need to piece it, baste it, quilt it blah blah blah.  I am looking forward to the piecing as although fiddly it is foundation pieced so should be quite straight forward.  Other current projects include my writing, a baby quilt from someone coming into the world very soon and Christmas.  I normally don't say the "C" word until the end of November but in recent years things have got more and more stressy round here so whilst I am not starting my shopping early, I am thinking about starting my handmade pressies.  I am writing a piece for the Zine at the moment about handmade presents so it is something I am giving quite a lot of thought to.  I think you have to choose the right recipient so that people know how much effort has gone into it.  I have heard of funny stories of people recieving a quilt and giving it to the dog - how mean!

Here is a photo of the Claire Garland dolly from this post - her ankles look very chunky in this photo, a problem I have too!  She needs a bit more hair, but is finished.  Her dress is a quick basic copy of a shirred one I made Bizzie this summer.  I love the fabric - it is 100% cotton and only about £3.00 a metre from Fabricland in town.

Rock Chick Granny Square

As you can feel from the last couple of posts I am desperately trying to get organised for the autumn.  First step is probably to send off my re-enrollment form for college.  If I do that I feel I have made a good start!

I have been checking out the stuff I have got stashed away and come across this grand 14" granny square.  I bought the cotton yarn from the old Co-op store on the London Road in Brighton.  It sadly closed earlier this year after being a landmark for Brightonians for years.  It got very outdated, but I have fond memories of meeting my Grandad there for coffee and popping into the Top Shop concession on my lunchbreak from my first job (Saturdays in a book shop in case you are interested).  Anyway, I get this yarn for £1 a ball not quite knowing what to do with it.  You know how you get blinded by the price...
I made up this granny square and then got stuck.  It was very bright and not really to my taste.  What a difference the summer makes.  I have now decided to mix it with some smaller granny squares to make up a blanket for Bizzie for the winter, and I actually quite like it.  I have a crochet course coming up next week so will be desperate to get the hook out again.      

I have also been busy yo yoing today (I know it's not a verb, but sounds better than Suffolk Puffing!).  They are so addictive and there are so many uses for them.  Mmm, wonder if I could crochet a circle and then pull that into a yo yo...?

If you need cheering up, have a read of this post, so close to what always seems to happen to me, and it really made me laugh.

Happy Friday x

Take a deep breath - and go shopping!

Phew, things are starting to slow down round here.  As well as the holiday we have had a family wedding and my brother and his family have been down from Yorkshire so I have tried to spend a lot of time with them.  We have also had the last of the birthday parties (I did not plan the children so close together!) and had the start of the new school year for Mister J and nursery for Bizzie.  It is only two short mornings a week, but gives me a bit of time to do all those things which need doing.

I went into town before work yesterday and bought myself a new pad, pen and pencil in Paperchase to help get me organised.  A necessary purchase I am sure!  I also popped into the new Cath Kidston store in town.  I love her stuff and it is a real treat to have a store I can pop into.  I love some of the new merchandise for autumn such as this sewing range but felt a bit uncomfortable when I saw that the cute needle case was manufactured in Indonesia.  I feel the brand is based on Britishness and it would good to see some items made in the UK.  Apart from that the layout was lovely, very homely and there were some vintage items which were gorgeous (if pricey).  My favourite thing was a textile wall-hanging of a cottage.  Retailing at £275 there are 2 per branch and they are in the style I love - naive applique with decorative stitching.  At that price however I did come away doing the crafters mantra - "I can do that myself", especially as they were a bit similar to the box I recently made.

It is the Hever Quilt show this weekend.  Whilst not local, is is about a 50 minute drive so not too far.  I took Bizzie last year and had big problems wheeling the buggy round the marquee as it is in a field with lots of divits!  I have decided not to go this year as I bought some bits at the Festival of Quilts and really need some time to get on with actually doing some sewing, but if you are going then have a good time.

Talking of the Festival of Quilts here is a photo of some of my purchases

half a metre of fabric which was £3, two packs of linen ribbon (check out the Eiffel Tower one) for £1.00 and couple of blades for my rotary cutter.  One is plain, but the other is pinking and I have wanted one of these for ages.  I am going to use it to cut the fabric up for the Zine.

5 fat quarters for £6.25.  I like the cute thirties prints so whilst I don't know what I am going to use them for, they won't be in the stash for long.  Peeking out from the bottom is half a metre of plain blue which was £2.50 - bargain!

 

and whilst I was in town yesterday I popped into a fabric shop and bought these Tana Lawn prints.  They are the ones which I think are Liberty bolt ends.  At £12.95 a metre they aren't cheap so I just bought a little bit.  I love these prints, although they are a bit thin and slippery to be used in patchwork so i take care about which projects I use them for.  I love the deep colours of the one on the left, and the whimsical print of the one on the right.

Another buy from the Festival of Quilts is the fabric to dye for my City and Guilds quilt.  I have never used cotton sateen before and worried about putting it in the washing machine to pre-wash it.  A few days later I realised that it will need to handle going in the washing machine if I am to dye it!  Moral of the story, don't consider dyeing fabric when you are doing a million other things, and never get too precious about fabric for dyeing!

Finally, just a plea for the Zine.  If you have made a quilt you are particularly proud of and fancy sharing a photo and tutorial with us, then please get in touch.  Either leave a comment on here or email thequarterinch@hotmail.co.uk and I'll reply with with a bit more info.

Thanks for reading! x

Hitting the ground running...

We are back from our holiday staying in this

We had a great time, the birthday celebrations were fab and we found little places such as this beach

so fifties, and so untouched compared to Brighton.

Things are busy round here till the weekend when we can slowly get back into that September mood of reassessing and starting new things - as well as buying lots of stationary.  I absolutely love stationary and buying pens and don't see why I shouldn't join in with the kids at my age!  As for my work it is my quilt project and the zine which are at the forefront.  I can't start those however till I have found those bloomin plimsolls I put in a safe place at the beginning of the summer holidays!