The great Granny Square project part 2 and unfortunately Covid 19 again

 As of today, the country, once again, is in total lockdown. Omikron scares the shit out of everyone ( no, I will not *bleep* that) and in an effort to withstand that tsunami that`s apparantly coming, everything is closed. Well, “essentials” like supermarkets, drugstores and such, remain open. Bookstores and quiltstores are, ofcourse, non-essential. 

To make this worse for me personal: I am vaccinated twice with AstraZeneca. The experts state, and I quote:” AstraZeneca provides no protection against Omikron whatsoever” Shit again then!!

Ofcourse I immediately booked a booster appointment: first opportunity is the 7th of januari. Did I already say “shit” ?(I actually said something worse)

But it is what it is. The grandLadies will come to stay the coming week, as the parents have to work and schools are closed too. For various reasons, there will be no danger of them infecting us with Covid.. At least the ladies will bring laughter, distraction (and chaos LOL).

And now the Great Granny project!

Quilttop nr 1 is done. Yeey! No fabric shop roadtripping, so no backing yet. Therefor I started Quilttop 2, for the eldest one who has pink as her fav colour, instead of the purple in top 1. Thing is that I really hate pink. I have a scrap and one fq and that s it.

It`ll be enough I think :).

Weapon of choice for this one is the 1956 Featherweight. (  Yes, I am the proud owner of two feathers.)

An excellent, outstanding year 1956!! Ask me how I know….haha. Problem was that it rattled like an old truck, although fully serviced, oiled etc. After half an hour of troubleshooting with zero effect,I decided to put a new needle in and that did the trick. Pffff.

Now I have one day left to sew in my room. The Ladies will confiscate it, as soon as they walk in…and I don`t mind at all…..

The great Granny Square project part 1

 I`m a proud oma to 3 lovely grandgirls. In our family they are commonly referred to as `the Ladies`, so I will stick to that name. I made the oldest one a babyquilt and that was all. Shame on me, and I feel that.

So, let`s change that and make the Ladies each a quilt! I decided it should be a GrannySquare (duh) and to make things easy, I will make 3 of those. Since I handquilt, it will surely be a `great`  project that will take me some time to accomplish.

This is my weapon of choice: the 1950 jubilee Featherweight. What a joy to sew on that machine again. It has been a while..

When I `design` a new quilt, I never measure beforehand. I`ll go where the blocks take me.None of the quilts I made have the same dimensions.

I made the Granny block with 3” squares. This is what I have so far!

It turnes out, it`ll be around 68”x 78” . The border square~in~a~squares are very time consuming! Sewing those is more of a chore, but with at least an hour every day, coffee at hand and Coldplay on Spotify, it is doable.

The one will be for the middle Lady. Her fav colour at the moment is purple, so she`s getting some purple blocks. I had approx. 4 purple fq`s LOL.

Off to sew another batch of border squares!

Sewingroom thoughts

 I am lucky to have my own sewingspace. Even better, it`s a corner of my livingroom, separated by a sliding door. DH attached flanel covered boards on that door: my designwall.

It`s not big: about 3x2 metres, but it`s all mine. One exception: when the grandgirls come for sleepovers, it`s theirs. I clean the table and in no time everything is covered in colour pencils, drawing stuff, lego etc.

I`m always looking for ideas to make it better, better ways to place the furniture, storing solutions, that sort of things. Pinterest, instagram, blogs; I search them for ideas. Over time, a few things stood out…

Rugs…. Why?? The threads that will bury themselves there. I already have to get on hands and knees to vacuum them out the doormat!

Decor…. I see rooms covered in an abundance of decorations, bunting, haberdashery..stuff everywhere. Ah the dust it gathers ( I`m allergic and would sneeze constantly) Besides, it would distract me big time. In an ideal sewingroom, for me that is, it would be almost empty, minimalistic. I constantly struggle between `the need to display` and almost empty shelves.

Another item I often see: Singer Featherweights put on the highest shelves for decor purpose only. The machine is ,again, accumulating dust and that`s not a good thing imho. Besides: it`s so nice to actually use them and sew with your Feather..

This is my view across my table. Too busy, but no room e.g. to put the quilts elsewhere….

Fabric storage…..why oh why do so many people store their fabrics on open shelves? So you can see what you have?? Mine are in drawers. No dust, no discolouration and when I open them I can easily see what I have.

Other things that I see are: sitting with your back to the door ( makes me uncomfortable). Big cutting tables, small sewingtables. ( here the other way around, C can come over and sit across me:)

On the table now my iPad and notebook (writing down the measurements of the new project), a small ironingboard that`s big enough for blocks (belonged to my mum, must be at least 50 years old) with my normal iron and an antique one that I use as a clapper.

Last but not least the messy sewingrooms with godknowswhat scattered all over the floor, tables etc etc. Don`t get it, I would close the door and never come back. 

Ofcourse there are plenty of quilters with beautifully organised rooms too. With built in cupboards, nifty storing solutions, room for a computer desk….ah one can dream is it not?

Oh, about my previous post:  Meanwhile I found some quiltshops that are not too far away with fabrics that appeal to me. C and I will plan a roadtrip soon!

Shopping online frustrations..

 We`re entering the 4th Covid wave, so I don`t like to go on a hunt for new fabric in the stores. Since I`m retired I have a choice to go out or stay in and I have the tendency to choose the latter. Besides, there are no fabric stores in my vicinity: nearest one is about an hour drive ( and an hour back!)

Therefor, I wanted to know beforehand, if  a particular store has the fabric I like and want. Lately Tula Pink is hot here and the more classic `tea-dyed` stuff as C and I call it. I want neither.

You would think Google is the solution here: check a shop`s website and drive there if it is to your liking, or order online if it is a too long drive. Well…that`s when things do NOT work out.

At least 2 shops I had my eye on, had no webshops. On their blogs one sometimes shows a few fabricbundles you can order by email and leaves it there. The other (and only one in my vicinity) mentions that you `can always call or email me if you want to order something`. Point is, that I don`t know what kind of fabrics they sell. On their blog they show e.g. the christmasdecorations or a customer `s quilt. Should I email to ask about the stock?? Nah..

There are seldom shops big enough to carry all sorts of fabric; they mostly specialise and like I said, ` tea` is popular..

And last but not least there are those websites that only show a tiny tiny bit of their stuff ( `we have a lots more in store!`) and those whose website is so unclear and messy, I don`t even want to start browsing.

Luckily I finally found what I needed/wanted. Some shopowners have a great website as well as a webshop. Fabrics ordered and in my letterbox 2 days later.

If another Covid lockdown is due: I am prepared!!

Technology

 The reason the blog stayed silent was the lack of proper blog devices. Laptop is old with Windows 7, iPad  didn`t post pictures anymore (outdated too) and blogging on DH`s iPad wasn`t working out for me either.

Since the first of september I retired and from my last pay check I bought a brand new IPad mini 6! Yeey! (I loved my old mini since it fits in every bag.) A few weeks later a mini keyboard plus cover was available. On my Sinterklaas list is a simple bluetooth mouse and then I`m all good. 

Meanwhile, I finished the Gossip top. I`ll buy a backing at the end-of-the-year clearance at the nearest quilt shop.

Except for the applique blocks, the Gossip was mainly sewn by machine, so I needed a project on the go.I can`t simply watch tv with idle hands. C gave me a stamp for my birthday last February so it was time to put it to use. Stamping stars it was. I randomly cut scraps and when I finish a star, I literally slam it on my wall. Sorting and colorplacement will come later!

We`ll see where this project goes!

After the hype….

 In the quilting world there are certainly hypes. Suddenly a quilt or designer is the one and everyone jumps in. Dear Jane, all from Susan Smith, Jen Kingwell, fabrics from Tula Pink…to name a few.

The Dear Jane hype was not for me, others I liked but didn’t buy the pattern ór got the pattern waaaaaay later and didn’t come to actually make it, due to other, more pressing matters, patterns, events etc.

The It takes 2 quilt is a 2015 pattern, just saying..( might even be older..)

While I was waiting for more red Kona cotton Poppy to finish the border of the Takes2, I cleared out the quiltroom and came across another fav from the past: Gossip in the Garden from Anni Downs.

And years after the “hype”, I jumped in.

Most difficult part is choosing the fabrics. I put the finished blocks on the wall and sometimes I pulled them of and made a new one with different colours/fabrics. More than once,I must add. I also changed the original design. Ditched the hexies e.g. and one of the dresden plates ( too many imho).. 

This is the last picture I took, working on the middle block as we speak.

Note the drawing on the right, made by my granddaughter:

That’s me on the left, picking her up from school. The most beautiful piece of art on my designwall if you ask me🥰

Superheroes

 No, I did not fall off the wagon again, blogwise. My blog devices are a bit out of date and blogging was just not do-able anymore. Pics were messed up or did not appear at all; that sort of thing.

I confiscated my DH’s iPad, which is a tiny bit better up to date than mine, so let’s try again!

So….Superheroes!! Years ago, I made one for the first grandgirl, and never got to making one for grandgirl 2. That became painfully clear when I put them to bed the other day, and oldest had her Supergirl “ standing guard” in her bed and her sister had pulled out a rag doll, for she” did not have a Superhero” Oef! I felt that!! So I went to work after getting her wishes: purple hair and pink clothing ( remember how I hate pink?? Luckily neighbourfriend C came to the rescue with a pile of pink)

I one made the youngest one too. Her big sisters chose the hairstyle….

Just dolls, Superheroes or Princesses? They can be all three..

I combined several patterns from the Happy Quilts book: mermaid and princess hair, hero body etc. 

Great fun book btw!!

Just takes 2 quilt

That red and white growing on my wall, does deserve a bit more introduction!

It is a tribute quilt to the red and white, an infinite variety exhibition  The 2 designers from Sentimental Stitches picked 100 blocks from those quilts and put them together and presented them as a free BOM. I first saw it on insta at the beginning of the first lockdown and it was on sale !yeeey!

Lockdown 2 last december brought me the time to make the rest of the blocks!

Piecing it together took some effort but…..tadaaa! So far so good!

When I started, I used Kona cotton white and poppy. Unfortunately I ran out of the poppy shade when I got to the borders and to add to the frustration: due to Covid it was out of stock éverywhere. I ordered from a US store that had it on back order, so I had to wait. And wait…☹️

This screenshot shows the finished quilt with the borders. This is my goal!

Soooooo, what to do while waiting….(drumming fingers) : getting rid of all those pesky red and white threads all around the house, getting my sewing space back in its “ howitshouldlook” state and …oooo look ! I forgot I had this pattern! Let’s sew, uhh see 

It only takes two

Remember this picture of something red and white growing on my wall?? 

 

It’ s an old BOM from Sentimental Stitches called

 “ it takes 2”

I made a few blocks to see if I could do it and if I would like it. Who was I kidding??

It grew like a mold:)

By day I sewed blocks by machine and in the evening the more difficult ones by hand. There was a lot of appliqué involved, not my expertise. So since there was a lot of time to kill during lockdown 1, I watched how to's on YouTube endlessly 

  

The pics aren’t great; I didn’t take them with a blogpost in mind.. 

The sewing frenzy came to a halt when school (and thus work) re opened again after the summer holidays…

I also became a grandmother, or “ oma” in Dutch for the third time! Late July we welcomed a third granddaughter! Quilting DD now has 3 little ladies.

The 2 older sisters came to stay for sleep-overs several times while schools and daycares were closed (parents working from home) and I love having them. Never knew that being an oma could be so wonderful!

Gifts….

 Gifts that came by mail,unexpectedly,during the first Covid lockdown….. those are the best and most treasured!

Grandkids made drawings and Quilting DD embroidered it. 

And on Mother’s Day, I always welcome a bunch of tulips, my absolute fav flowers!

Block book

I usually use my machine by day and hand sew in the evenings. I lay my pieces out on a tray and put that tray on the armrest of my couch. At least once, every evening, I kick the tray off. 

I needed a block book and here’s how I did it:

I cut 2 pieces of fabric approx. 35x 70 cm, and cut one of those pieces in half, and seamed those on one side.

Put the pieces on top of each other, right sides together and stitched 3 sides: the seamed side is left open. Sewed a ribbon in the outer seames. Turned  and ironed:

 Measured height and width, and cut “pages” just a cm smaller

I cut 3 flannel pages and 2 cotton ones and stacked them alternately. In my experience, patchwork block pieces tend to migrate to the adjacent page when a block book is closed. The cotton pages will prevent this ánd I can pin something on that fabric. The middle pages are both flannel, for XL blocks.

Sewed the pages together in the middle and placed them on the outer part, the dotted red. Sewed all layers again in the middle

 And last I cut two pieces of cardboard and put those between the 2 outer layers.

Now the outer layer is sturdy and the cardboard can be removed if I want to wash my book or want to fold/roll 

Ready to roll!

As I was sewing this, more ideas came to mind: a pocket could be added to the out- or inside of the outer fabric to store a pattern e.g.

Other materials,  room for a cutting mat…

Maybe next time :)

When the sewing mojo hits, it hits hard...

 So, during the time between quilting the blocks and making my mind up for a border motif  for the Farmer’s wife, I cleaned out drawers and boxes in my quiltroom. Donated a shopping bag full of fabrics that I didn’t like anymore ( or gifts from others that I never liked: neither person nor fabric LOL) and re-arranged fabrics that were keepers. I even cut out a piece of cardboard in order to fold all of my fabrics the same size, so I could get nice, even stacks....yup: omg 😮, lockdown fever perhaps?

I also came across a pattern I got for free when I bought the matching panel.

I tucked everything else I found in a box labelled “ UFO’S” and sewed this together frantically on and off in about 2 weeks time.

The pattern as well as the panel is called Thicket from Moda. I hoped it would make a dent in my black/white fabrics, but it turned out that my whites were mostly a bit off white instead of really white.

Not quilted yet, there was no backing available in my stash and since then, non essential shops are closed. Quilt shops are non essential, but that one is open for discussion if you asked me!

But! Note the red and whites appearing on the left side of this pic. O my, that was when the mojo really grabbed me by the throat,so to say. There was no stopping me now: I plunged into a red and white adventure!

Lockdown quilting

During the first lockdown, march 2020, I cleaned my sewing room and found the Farmer’s Wife quilt, hidden away in a corner, half of the blocks were quilted. I decided that I wanted it out of the way and finished! Goal was to handquilt at least one block per day. 

That went smoothly, but it took a while to decide what to do with the border. Templates I had were to small or to big and I had no idea what motif to use...Back in the corner it went.

When it came to the second lockdown last December I made a fan template, quilted every evening while watching Netflix and before I knew it.....tadaaaaa

If not now, then when..?

We ‘re in the middle of the second lockdown since the pandemic started. Work has stopped for the second time ( high school is open for a limited amount of students per day and catering is closed, so nothing to do for me as caterer). I found my quilting mojo during the first lockdown in March ‘21, after a really really long time. I never stopped reading everyone else ‘s blog, just neglected mine and considered starting it up again during the first  lockdown, first time schools were fully closed. After all: something was happening again quilting wise and above all it seemed such a significant time in our life, that, somehow I started to feel the need to record “something”

Laptop died since, so I’m depending on an old mini iPad and I already hate blogging on it ..But if I am starting  up this old blog again then yes: if not now....