COMPLETING THE QUILTS. aka Carry On Quilting.

This morning, bright and early aka stupid o'clock, the postie arrived with the Sashiko coasters kit. Having extra time on my hands, due to waking up so early, something I am not a fan of, I decided to get stared on my first Sashiko project. There's not a lot of instructions with the kit. I'm going to have to check out some instructional videos. Thank you KaiteYarnGarden for sending a very good one.  As soon as I started using it, I didn't like the needle sent with the kit. It seemed to be blunt to me but I thought maybe it was because I was so used to hand sewing with smaller  very thin very sharp needles. So I persevered until I had finished the center stitching. My middle finger, the pusher, suffered. I switched to a similar but much sharper big needle for the border lines and it was much easier going.  I'll add more photos as I finish the sashiko stitching on the other three coast...

I've done a few samples, experimenting with different waddings, fold sequence, etc. It's all been very fiddly and has  aggravated the arthritis in hands, arms, and shoulders to a point every I thought the whole thing may not have been such a good idea after all.   But, taking into consideration that I will not be doing more than two or three at a time once I have caught up with what days have already gone by, I have decided to continue. I don't think it's going to be as good looking as a finished article as I imagined it would be. I may divide the centre of the block diagonally. Vertical or horizontal just doesn't look right to me. And I'm having second thoughts about the aboriginal prints for the background/border fabric.  If I didn't want to persist with the QAYG method, I would probably change to Drunkards Path blocks as its one of my favourite blocks and I have a 3.5" die to cut them. But then I'd be looking at a full sized quilt, and not someth...

Ive decided I'll make a Temperature quilt this year. This project will slot in amongst shasiko stitching small projects and a few full size quilts I have here, cut and ready to go. For this Celsius temperature quilt I'm doing quilt-as-you-go lozenges. Probably 3.5" or 4.5" max across from point to point.  They will be stacked on their long side in columns. One column per month. It will be a wall hanging. The center of the lozenge will be split in half, low left and high right. I'm using a selection of 17 solid colour fabrics for the centers with a 3 degree breakdown, and 7 aboriginal prints for the backings. I'm awaiting delivery of the fabric and then I will have to go flat out for a couple of days to catch up.  Big photos. I haven't worked out how to make them smaller yet. There doesn't seem to be a way to do it while composing a blog post. 

About me hand sewing.  I very rarely hand quilt. Only really special quilts. Or very small projects like mug mats or place mats.  But I do hand piece these days. I stopped going out into my studio when my husband was ill as I didn't like leaving him alone in the house. He had Vascular Dementia. Because of his declining mobility he could no longer get out to my studio. So, I started hand stitching while we sat and watched TV together. It was a sad time for me watching him decline but there were good things about it.  We chatted a lot, discussed lots and lots of things, reviews many many photo sideshows on the TV, and he liked watching me sew and assemble quilts. I put up a temporary design wall in the lounge room. And even though he died in April 2020. I still sit and sew, in my chair, next to his.

The sashiko supplies I ordered have started arriving. It's all very exciting.  But I'm going to finish the project I'm currently stitching and then get into the sashiko. I think I'm going to enjoy it.  I've also planned a Temerature year quilt that I have ordered fabric for and will have to put in a big effort to catch up the past days so far.  It is a quilt as you go Lozenge shape, (elongated hexagon) 17 plain colours in the center and 7 aboriginal themed fabrics for the backing.  More about this later when I get along in it a bit so I have something to show you.  Both these projects probably won't start until February.

I've decided to explore Sashiko.          " Sashiko (刺し子, lit. " little stabs ") is a type of traditional Japanese embroidery or stitching used for the decorative and/or functional reinforcement of cloth and clothing". I will be doing a few samples like in the photos, but I've also got it in mind to include it in some form when hand quilting some chosen projects.  I have long had an interest in this Japanese traditional embroidery technique but this is the first time I have investigated supplies and shops and committed with $$$. I was tipped over the edge of curiosity into participation by one of the members of KiwiQuilters.  More about this after supplies arrive. 

Here's something I wrote a few years back.  I had a blog called PEACE BY PIECE back then. ********************************************* LETTER TO A NEW QUILTER Bought to you by - ‘ Dee  Easy Peasy Info For New Quilters’  © G’day Newbie Quilter. Welcome to a wonderful world of Quilters. We are an entity unto our selves you know, and I’ve written this to help you get into the swing of things. As with any new venture, there are going to be words and terms that you will not understand to begin with. I will explain some of them here to get you started. As you come across others, don’t be afraid to ask. Quilters will always help another quilter, especially a beginner. Consider joining a local quilting group or internet quilting list. This way you will always have the knowledge and advice of experienced quilters to help you along the way. Here’s some terms to get you started. Knowing these will help when you read quilting magazines or books or hear other quilters chatting. ...