Ta Da! The Chevron Quilt

It seems to be that my 'Work in Progress' posts are actually helping me to finish projects. Yay! After writing about my Chevron Quilt last month, I steamed on with the quilting and the binding and Ta Da! One finished chevron quilt :) I really enjoy how quickly quilts seem to come together after all the planning and cutting, and the hand binding (done in front of the telly) is one of my favourite bits.

 



The general consensus was to use the denim flannel for the solid binding and I'm really happy with how it turned out. It's a very simple design which is just perfect for our sofa and front room (which incidentally isn't where I took this photo! This was taken 'on location' at Holly Frindle, a gorgeous weekend house we visit.)

Although I photographed this on the one sunny day last weekend, the weather in the south of the UK has turned decidedly wintery this week so we have been keeping warm under this quilt already!

I'd love to see any projects that you've finished this month - leave me a link below, or tweet me a picture @thisiswiss

Bye for now! angela

Work in Progress...the Chevron Quilt

 

This week's Work in Progress features the chevron quilt I am making for the sofa. I wanted a snugly quilt to throw over us while we were watching telly on chilly evenings...last winter. Yes, I've been planning it that long! I only actually started cutting the fabric at the start of this year though, and as seems to be the way, the quilt top came together really quickly.

 

 

I love chevron designs and I have pinned tons of them onto my Quilt Loving board. I think I got a bit carried away choosing fabrics and colours, because in hindsight I think I would have liked there to be one back ground colour and then I could make more of a feature of the zig zags of colours. Never mind! You learn as you go along...

 

I used diagonal half squares to make up the chevrons (rather than using rectangles) and I'm really pleased how they turned out. I was worried about them stretching out of shape as essentially they have all been cut on the bias but I was careful to press, rather than iron the seams.

 

 

The fabrics are nearly all from the Timeless Treasures Sketch range - coffee, denim, latte and lime all in cotton. The bright green has a hexagon waffle pattern but I'm afraid I can't remember what it's called. I was keen to use textured solids to add extra interest to the simple pattern.

 

 

I'm using a Sketch Flannel in Neon for the back, and the same flannel in Denim for the binding...I think! I really like the pieced binding I did on this quilt and am struggling to decide whether I should do the same on the chevron quilt, or if a plain colour will frame it better. Hmmm? (Any opinions will be gratefully received!)

 

I asked Twitter for help on choosing which batting to go for as I wanted to make sure this quilt would be warm and cosy. The answer came back as Sew Simple Eco Wadding which is made from 100% recycled material: 70% cotton and 30% polyester. I'll be quilting it myself in zigzags either side of the chevron pattern.

 

Work has had to stop for a week or so while I make some more This is Wiss stock for my upcoming markets, so it remains a work in progress for a little while longer. Although I love the sunny days we're enjoying at the moment, I have to admit I'm still glad it's cold in the evenings. If only so that we will be able to use the quilt when I finally finish it!!

 

What are you working on at the moment? Please share photos or links of your WIP so that we can all spur each other on to the finishing line!

 





Mum's Quilt

I blogged a little while ago about the quilt that I'd made for my mum (Life is Hard, Sewing is Easy)

I was in such a hurry to give it to her I forgot to take any pictures of it. But this weekend we went up to stay with her, and the sun was shining so I was able to get some better shots.

The quilt was made from two charm packs of Winter Memories by Tilda, and the muted colours are perfect for my mums room. The back is made from a brushed cotton sheet which was also wrapped round to make the binding. The over all size of this lap quilt is 1m x 1.25m, so it will fit on a single bed, or be perfect for on the sofa.

I quilted it with simple straight lines about 1cm away from the seams. I much prefer this than 'stitching in the ditch' as you get to see all the quilting properly.

I finished the quilt with a little message for mum, to remind her always.

Kid's Bedroom Makeover Challenge!

We moved house at the end of the summer last year, and although one of the reasons we liked this house is that it didn't need any DIY doing to it, it is a bit of a white box. Well, a white and magnolia box. A white and magnolia box with stained pine woodwork. Grrrr!

Now I don't mean to offend anyone who likes magnolia or wood finishes, but it's really not for us. So I've had 'decorate entire house' on my To Do list for a while now! We've obviously put our furniture in, and (nearly) unpacked all the boxes. The dining room had a mini-makeover but we've not got round to some real decorating. Until now!

Wiss has been asking for a yellow bedroom since we moved in. He loves yellow. And getting up early! We have had enough of early morning calls (pre-6am, sometimes pre-5am!) so we thought that if we gave Wiss a 'big boys' bedroom then he may stay in his bed like a 'big boy'. Yes, we are that desperate!

Wiss went off to Nanny and Grandad's for the weekend on Saturday morning and the secret Changing Rooms challenge began! This is how the room looked before:

 

Nothing that awful but generally very bland, nothing exciting and too many toys! Our requirements were: yellow, more storage, less toys out, and just generally cooler! I also wanted to use things that we had already if possible, rather than buying more stuff. Lots of things that Wiss had in his nursery at the old house had been in storage so we rediscovered those, along with old shelves we no longer needed.

On Saturday we cleared the room and painted. The woodwork had two coats of undercoat and a top coat of white gloss. This made me so happy! The magnolia walls were repainted white :) and then the chimney breast became the feature wall (Crown Funky range 'Taxi'). Sunday was spent attaching the new light fittings. (I guess we/you should use a qualified electrician to do tricky stuff like this. We didn't though.) Then we had to put up all the shelves for storage before putting the room back together and adding the finishing touches.

I tweeted pictures and updates as we went along using the hashtag 'changingrooms' and I received so many lovely comments, and questions about certain things I thought I'd detail everything here. Just in case you were interested too.

This is what the room looks like now:

• Kids chair and road rug (hung over radiator) from Ikea
• Grey Blackout blind from Ikea too
• Inside of window recess painted dark grey (Urban Obsession from Dulux)
 

• 'Buzz' moon pendant light from Habitat (bought about 5 years ago)
• Metal Bus Eireann sign from Crystal Palace Antiques
• Perspex storage unit (on the wall) from Ardingly Antiques Fair (think it's from an old sweet shop originally)
• 'Star' wall light fitting from John Lewis, painted to match wall
• Vintage school desks from Ardingly bought for £20
  
  • Brilliant Lego storage head from Amazon 
  • Patchwork quilt made by me (with help from Ray Stitch)
  • Red bunting made by my mum for Wiss's birth
    
• Perspex Rocket on wall (I hope Wiss will make some flames to add to this)
• Multi-Storey Doll's House (which will have a blog post of it's own soon!)
  
• Robot Wall sticker around the light switch from Not on the High Street
• Unseen, but I covered the ceiling in 100 Glow in the Dark stars too

We were exhausted after a very busy couple of days, but couldn't wait to see Wiss's reaction. He was truly amazed and it was so sweet to see his face as he ran around the room looking at each bit in turn. It really did make it all worthwhile.

And I'm happy to report that on the first night in his 'big boy's room' Wiss stayed in his own bed all night and woke up at 7.05am! He could just have been exhausted by Grandad or maybe (fingers crossed) it may have worked. We'll see.....!

A Wonderful Introduction to Quilting

Last Sunday I discovered a very enjoyable way to pass the hours, especially on a grey and wet day, and learnt a new skill that I can't wait to practice some more. I treated my mum and myself to a day's Introduction to Quilting at Sew Over It in Clapham, London. It was something that we had both wanted to try and we'd get to spend some quality mother-daughter time together too. It's just I kept it secret from Mum until we got outside: she had no idea what we were going to be up to.Surprise!


The day started at 10am in the lovely downstairs space of the shop. There were 5 of us altogether so the class was very relaxed and we all got lots of time and attention from our teacher Kate Sherman. She taught us the Log Cabin style of Quilting, which involves building the pattern from squares and strips of fabric. They provide everything you will need and there is a big box of fabrics to choose from but I had been planning my first quilt for some time so I took along my own selection.

I am making a quilt for Wiss as my first project and when I discovered the Moda Robotics Range I knew it would be perfect. The grey and white with rockets and planets, and the red stars are from that range, and then I mixed in some co-ordinating grey and red cottons. Everyone in the class chose really different colour schemes and patterns but I was amazed by how good the fabrics all looked together, even ones I wouldn't have put alongside each other initially. (If you are in any doubt that clashing patterns can work together then look at this amazing blog I'm a Ginger Monkey. This blog was my main inspiration for wanting to learn to quilt!)


Kate explained how we should get started by cutting squares and strips of our fabrics: I used a rotary cutter for the first time and now wonder how I have got this far without one! Then after some tea and delicious cake (banana loaf for me) we started to lay out the strips and get an idea of what arrangements would look best. You can literally do this for hours so I decided to just plunge straight in. I am terribly impatient at the best of times! The sewing machines are all digital Janomes, and with a cute touch are all named. Mine was called Frank!

There is something very rhythmic and soothing about sewing, pressing, cutting, sewing, pressing, cutting. And then seeing the patterns evolving from all your strips is very satisfying. The main thing seemed to be to be as neat and precise as possible. This is not a million miles away from my day job as a modelmaker so I really got into it. My mum, however, kept declaring "I've gone skew-wiff, Angie!"

We all worked at different speeds but all of us produced finished quilt blocks that could then either form a cushion cover, or a quilt if we wanted a new Work In Progress to tackle! There was more tea and cake in the afternoon (I went for carrot and courgette cake this time) before we were taught the techniques in how to assemble our blocks, make up the quilt sandwich, to actually quilt them together and finally how to bind your finished article. I'm a long way off yet but I'm really looking forward to getting to that stage.

You can see from just these two images how the arrangements of your blocks can create wildly different effects. I'm not decided yet but I know that I'd like to use more of the Robotics Space fabrics, so may introduce a border to each block before they get sewn together. I'll be sure to keep posting with any progress made!


Both my mum and I had a great day and I would thoroughly recommend the class at Sew Over It. Check their Lessons page for all the classes they run. It was a lovely, sociable (and delicious) way to learn a new skill and get inspiration.

I'll be posting again soon with news of New Locations for my This is Wiss stall! New Limited Edition Product Ranges! And some New Improvements to old favourites! Now if I could only discover that elusive 25th hour in each day.... See you again soon!