Sometimes Things just Don't Work Out

It's ok, I'm not breaking up with you! It's just that lately a lot of my projects have gone a bit skew-whiff, which has made me feel a bit skew-whiff (and subsequently un-bloggy).
I read a lot of make-y blogs and oddly one of the things I like to see is not just the recipes / projects they're sharing, but the mishaps they have. I like blogs where people break stuff, their kids are tearaways, and their crafting area is the living room floor with the furniture pushed to one side. I mean, I'm happy if you and Jesus are such good pals, if your husband hails from Stepford and your children from Midwich, if you have a huge, supportive, and loving family and a craft room that Martha Stewart would kill for.
I just don't identify with that.

I have no husband (hoorah!), my family is small and distant, and Jesus and I barely tolerate each other.

This is my craft room:

I call it my mixed media room. Friends calls it the junk room.

It will be a mixed media room, one day. I shall have a sewing table, and a Robert's radio in a fashionable duck-egg blue, and a cosy chair in which to sit and read overly-wordy craft books.
As if!
But hopefully it will one day be a bit tidier, a bit prettier, a bit more inspirational.
One day.
And I really would like that cosy chair. Unfortunately the dog seems to have bagged that.

Anyway, in the spirit of things Just Not Working Out I thought I would share a couple of my skew-whiff's with you, and what I did to un-skew them.

This is a crazy project I started with huge enthusiasm several years ago.

Quilted Curtains.

Seriously.
Quilted Curtains.

I actually thought that would not only be a good idea, but would look good too! After doing about 90% of the work I realised what you probably did as soon as you read those two words - it was a terrible idea! So I folded them up neatly, stashed them in a bin bag and pretended to myself that I would come back to that project one day.
Fast Forward a few years, to last month actually, to a warm spring evening when it occurred to me that the dinosaur summer quilt I had made for my six year old son probably ought to be retired now he's 14 years old and six foot tall. I pulled the buttons and header tape off one of the Quilted Curtains (I just can't stop saying it, as if repetition will make it sound like a slightly less crazy idea!) and removed the wadding, then bought a cheap (£3.50!) duvet cover set from Ikea. Insert wadding, hand tie at 30cm intervals and stitch the bottom closed, et voila!



An actual usable item that I can actually use! And I still have the other curtain to pull apart if I want to make another quilt. The hand tufting is quite subtle, but you could always use a contrasting yarn for more pop. And the beauty of using a pre-made duvet set is that it comes with matching pillowcases for no extra effort!

The next project that didn't quite work is another bedding-related item. I wanted a hand-crocheted blankie to throw over the back of the sofa, something warm and cosy to snuggle under on a chilly evening. I found the loveliest pebbley coloured yarns, and a simple and pretty shell pattern to work from, and I set off.

It was obviously going to take me quite some time, each row took well over an hour to complete, but I loved the pattern and the combination of colours and figured it would be worth it in the end. But after a few months I realised I was putting less and less time into it, and I knew what was making me uncomfortable - it was way too stiff. It looked beautiful, but it was far from snuggly. I found myself starting other projects all the time, anything to keep me from putting in any more time on the blankie, but finally, after at least 18 inches of work, I admitted what I'd been trying to avoid - I needed to unpick it.

Unpicking crochet or knitting is always a sad thing to have to do, but when you've put in months of work it's even worse. It took hours to unpick, and I got quite tangled at times, but once I started the blankie again on a much bigger hook I realised I'd made the right decision. Not only was it working up lighter, softer and more fluid, each row was only taking about 20 minutes to complete!

In only a few short weeks I had a finished blankie, ready for snuggling under just as the weather turned a bit nippy.

I was gutted when I started unpicking all my hard work but it really did work out perfectly in the end, and I used half the amount of yarn I expected too ~ there's enough left over for a couple of matching cushion covers now.

After I finish this cup of tea . . .

A Crafter's Wedding List

Spring is here! Blue skies abound, buds and blossoms are bursting and blooming all around, and wedding season is well under way.

The last wedding I went to was lovely. A very dear friend marrying a wonderful guy. Both of them had been married before and had done the whole big White Wedding thing, and this ceremony was a much smaller, intimate, personal event, and as a result was one of the loveliest weddings I have ever had the fortune of attending.
The only thing that made me uncomfortable was that they had asked people not to give them gifts. They already had all the toasters, cutlery and electric can-openers that they could ever need, and simply wanted to share their special day with their friends and family. And while I understood and respected their decision, I felt a little sad ~ I really enjoy giving someone a special gift to mark such a special occasion, it doesn't have to be a big expensive gift (I'm way too skint for that!) but a thoughtful, meaningful, homemade present can be a pleasure to give and receive.

I started to wonder, what would I have done in their situation? I wouldn't want gifts either, but I do love keepsakes from pretty much everything I do. And then an idea hit me that I just had to share . . .


from Sew and Quilt

I would ask everyone to bring a 12" square of fabric. It could be something they have bought from a shop, or an upcycled piece from an old pillowcase, shirt, or summer skirt. You could specify a colour range if you likes, such as pinks or blues, or pastels or brights.

from Always Knitting and Sewing

Then after the wedding, when you get back from honeymoon and life is settling back into a rhythm, take your squares out and sew them into a patchwork heirloom quilt. You could cut each square down into smaller squares if you wanted to, or keep them the size they are, which ever works best for the colours you've ended up with. I would be tempted to either embroider or quilt the gifter's initials into each patch too, but that might be a bit much. ;)

So what do you think of my idea? I almost wish I was getting married so I could do this myself, maybe I'll save the idea for my 50th birthday instead!

If you like the idea but don't know how to quilt, there's a fabulous tutorial on Georgina Giles website.

A Really Good Friday ~ Part Two



After a cup of  Earl Grey and a gooey chocolate brownie to recover from the cultural whirlwind of the Bowie exhibition, my friend and I went across town to the Fashion and Textile Museum, to an exhibition of Kaffe Fassett's work.

 

Kaffe Fassett is an American artist and textile designer who has lived in London since the 60's. He started out as a painter, but after a trip to Scotland was inspired by the colours and textures of the yarns he saw in a local shop and persuaded a fellow train passenger to teach him to knit on the journey home. This was the result:

 

 

Not bad for a first attempt, eh!

 

His use of colour is fabulous, matching tones and textures perfectly. 

 

This is a quilt made from men's shirts:

We so often see heirloom quilts that are feminine, what a fabulous keepsake to make for a son!

This quilt blew me away:

Again, the tones are perfect. But what struck me most with this was how the circular quilting on top of the hexagonal patchwork changed the look of the quilt.

Here you can see how his needlepoint designs have been influenced by blue china:

and by the natural world:

 

Kaffe Fassett - A Life in Colour runs until 29th of June. As well as the knitting, quilting and needlepoint mentioned above, there are also examples of his printed fabric designs (and if Cath Kidston wasn't heavily influenced by this guy then I'll eat my embroidery hoop!) and documentary footage of him discussing his work and sources of inspiration.

 

If you love any kind of stitching, I can guarantee you will come away from this exhibition with a head full of ideas, and I recommend you do like Kaffe and take some yarn for the train ride home!