What's For Breakfast? Mondrian and Ikat Of Course

Instead of eating breakfast this morning all I wanted to do was make my November Bee Blocks - remember I shared the fabric and instructions with you yesterday?

So that's exactly what I did and here's the results

the block on the left is 16.5" x 16.5" and the block on the right is 15.25" x 13.5"

In the end I changed my design for the right hand block so I could make a larger block and use more of the fabric I'd been sent.

While I was busy sewing, Simon picked up some pain au chocolat for us and Flicky's house guests - which were far more scrummy than the healthy breakfast option I'd have made for myself.  While all this was going on Tatty busily wrapped herself up in my Juicebox Sofa Quilt - I just love my dog xxx

Related Posts:

Ikat and Mondrian - My November Bee Block 

And you can click this link to see all of my NYC Mod Quilt Guild Bee Blocks and Challenge Blocks/Quilts.

 

 

Let's Get Acquainted

Last week I was asked if I'd like to move forward my 12 November slot on the Plum & June's Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop to Thursday, 11 October. I jumped at the chance - not a hope of me creating a new tutorial by then, I thought, but I'd just posted one that same evening and maybe not that many would already have seen it, so with that sorted, here I am.

For anyone who doesn't already know me, I'm Chris, I'm English, and I've been living on Manhattan's doorstep since 1 August 2011.  Thank you for visiting, and an extra big 'hi' to anyone who's also taking part in the P&J LGA Blog Hop.  Thanks also to Beth, who is Plum & June, for organising what has turned out to be one heck of a fantastic 6 month Blog Hop marathon :)

View From My Roof Garden

Tatty the Havapoo

For 20 years, I've been married to my worst enemy, Simon - since this Blog Hop started, I've wanted to say that as I can't quite believe just how many quilters are "married to their best friend" ;).  It's Simon's fault that I'm living in America and that I've given up so much to be here.  I admit I've done quite a bit of kicking and screaming along the way, but the problem is I kind of like it now and don't want to leave, but let's just keep that between us as there's a lot more mileage, yet in him not knowing!

I have one dog, Thatcher (known as Tatty to her friends and named after a woman I have much admiration for - Margaret), and then there are my three children.  Jack is 23; he graduated from uni in July and has since completed an intensive teacher training course and started teaching English at a school in Seville, Spain. 

In the middle, I have Joe, who is 22, and he too graduated from uni in July.  He's about to move to live in London as he's an aspiring actor, so if anyone knows of any roles suitable for someone bearing a remarkable resemblance to a young Hugh Grant, send me an email.

My youngest is Flicky, she lives here in America with me and today is her 18th birthday.  This is a significant birthday in England as you are now considered an adult in all respects and legally old enough to buy alcohol.  Unfortunately for Flicky, we live in America, so she won't be celebrating her big day in quite the same way that all her friends back in England celebrate theirs.  Still, I hope this shout out for her via my blog will ease her disappointment to some extent, but somehow I don't think so!!!

These photos were taken in Manhattan on Christmas Eve 2011, the last time the five of us were all together.

As is the way in my day-to-day life, I've just realised that I'm talking on and on about my family and haven't told you anything really about me, so ...

I've been sewing and knitting since I'm too young to remember.  I watched my mum knitting and then when I was about 7 I had a go myself in my bedroom.  I made a jumper for my teddy bear, Bruno, using scraps of Mum's leftover wool, and I remember how shocked she was when I showed her what I'd made as she'd had no idea I'd been watching her and learning.

I have always been artistic and creative but was pushed down a more academic route at school, as we pretty much all were back in those days.  I tailored my own clothes in my teens and 20s and then made everything for my babies as they were born, and finally, in 2006, I gave up office-based work and went back to college.  I studied Art & Design, following my creative dreams, later specialising in Ceramics and then moving into Textile Art. 

When we moved to the States, I booked myself on a quilting course and started quilting 1 year and 6 days ago today, and I haven't looked back; I've written more about learning to quilt on my blog post My Very First Ever Quilt.  I started blogging on 28 April this year, and you can also find me on Facebook, Ravelry and Pinterest - please come and have a look :)  Hopefully, my green card will arrive any time now, allowing me to set up my Etsy shop and start selling my work as my current visa doesn't allow me to earn money.



I'm an NYC Metro Mod Guild member, and I'm in their Mod Bee with my Queen Bee month, December, coming up fast.   When I'm not quilting, I can often be found at my LQS in Manhattan, searching out fabrics, attending classes and chatting with friends.  I also like to go to the NY Philharmonic Open Rehearsals on Wednesday/Thursday mornings. If you're visiting NYC and love classical music, this is an excellent way of seeing a concert for $18.




I'm counting down the days and weeks to QuiltCon, Austin, Texas, in February and hope to meet up with lots of you there so I can put faces to all the wonderful people I've met through blogging.  Be sure to let me know if you're going too :)




Here's a quick list of answers to Beth's original suggested questions for the Blog Hop:

Favourite quilting tip(s)
Using 2 small spare pieces of fabric, chain piece on and then off your main fabric piece saves thread, and the machine foot doesn't have to go up and down as it stays engaged.  That's hard to explain in writing, so I'll have to sort out a photo tutorial!!!

Favourite blogging tip(s) 
Don't write long wordy posts - this tip is very tongue in cheek as I'm the world's worst  ;)

Favourite fabric (or wish list fabric)
Currently, Aqua La Femme by Melissa Crowley and a Betsey Johnson plaid that I'm using to make a lofty quilt for Flicky to take off to uni with her next September.

Favourite craft book
Piecing, The Piece o' Cake Way by Becky Goldsmith & Linda Jenkins
a 'how to' quilting book recommended by my first quilting teacher, the fabulous Christine Janove.

Favourite book (or book you are currently reading)
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
Both of my two grandads, as teenagers, fought in the WWI trenches and survived The Somme.  This book gave me my first insight into what shaped them as men and helped me understand the subsequent impact on their offspring ... my family.

Favourite children's book
Unless he was working, my Dad read to me every night while I was growing up, and every night I asked for the same story - Old Mister Glue-Pot from Tales of Green Hedges by Enid Blyton. 

Favourite quilting tool
I can't pick one as I have three that I love so much I did tutorials on using them.
June Tailor's Shape Plus Cut Ruler and Bloc-Loc and Rotating Cutting Mat

Favourite music to listen to work to
The Wanted, Neon Trees, Cee Lo Green, LMFAO, Katy Perry, Jesse J, Ed Sheeran, Olly Murs, Taio Cruz, oh and better mention One Direction as Flicky and her friend Maud run a fansite about them, Maud and the Dods.

Favourite TV shows to work to
The Great British Bake-Off

Strictly Come Dancing
Project Runway
The Good Wife

Binding
99% of the time, I machine the front binding and hand sew the back.

If I'd only known 
What excellent, encouraging people are out there sharing the same interests and equally keen to share their knowledge with you too.

Other people on the Blog Hop this week and next:
Tuesday, 9 October: Amy from Sew Incredibly Crazy and Foster from Foster Reviews It
Thursday, 11 October: Marit from Sew, love, live
Tuesday, 16 October: Vicki from Quilting Lodge Blog and Liz from Dandelion Daydream



The official theme of the Blog Hop is novelty prints. Fortunately, I posted a tutorial last week using 2 novelty prints - Echino Deer Patchwork in Purple and Circa 1934 by Cosmo Cricket for Moda. Here it is, A Laminated Mug Rug, for those who are still awake to finish reading this!

and finally, finally


Happy 18th Birthday, Flicky xxx

Tutorial: Laminated Mug Rug

Made these 2 lovely little mug rugs as thank you gifts for Daughter F's College Guidance Counsellor and her History teacher at Dwight, who have been supporting us through her university application process.   

Although there's a lot of mug rug tutorials out there I've never seen one using laminated cotton which can be wiped clean so I photographed each stage and here's my quick tutorial to share.

Before we begin let's get this important informational bit out of the way :)

Care Instructions:

Before making the mug rugs I did some research into laminated cotton fabrics to see if you can machine wash them thinking that, although you can wipe the mug rug clean, at some stage you'll want to give it a quick wash.  I've discovered that these fabrics have come a long way even in just the last 12 months.  

Manufacturer instructions are that these fabrics are machine washable in cold water and additionally they can be tumble dried on low.  You may, however, prefer to line dry your mug rug to keep it away from heat in its wet state.  For anyone still wondering about these fabrics here's a great piece about machine washing with before and after photos by Kelly McCants of OilCloth Addict

Additionally, laminated cotton can be ironed on the reverse with a medium hot iron.  Once made you can happily iron these mug rugs quite firmly on the back only.

For each mug rug you'll need:

8" x 5" laminated cotton fabric for the top sheet

8" x 5" batting

8" x 5" backing fabric - I used 100% quilting cotton 

2¼" x 36" binding fabric

First cut out your fabrics (as above) and then layer just the batting and the backing fabric together and baste (as below).

WARNING:  
At this stage if you accidentally work through all 3 layers embroidering a message or name to the backing sheet then this will show in reverse on the top sheet.

Also, even if you choose to finally quilt through all 3 layers to include quilting the top sheet, don't baste through the laminated fabric as the basting pins are too big and will leave large holes.

Next, I used my machine to embroider my name through the fabrics - this stage isn't necessary so you can leave it out or embroider your own message either using your machine or by hand just be sure to have read the warnings I gave earlier in this tutorial.  

When I'd finished I knotted the thread ends and then using a hand sewing needle I drew them through to the back of the batting.

Now it's time to quilt the mug rug - IF you want to quilt through the laminated cotton too then now is the time to add it to your batting and backing sheet sandwich.  I decided not to do that so I'm just working with the 2 layers at this stage.

First, I free machined a flower chain onto the spotty pink Echino fabric in a contrasting thread

and then I did a similar free machine design on the brown stripe.

OMG! doesn't this just look awful?!!!  The quilting design works against the fabric pattern in every way possible - it's screaming at us and just looks dreadful.  There's nothing else for it ... I'm ripping the lot out and starting again.  

If you look closely at the photo below you can see that I've already started to unpick the quilting and then I thought that I should share just how bad it looks with you so you don't make a similar mistake!

Here's my second attempt at quilting the brown stripe - it's so simple and 'in keeping' that you can't even see it in the picture on the left so I thought I'd better share the back view with you as well so you can see that I really have quilted it!!!

Once you're happy with all of your quilting then it's time to add your laminated cotton to the sandwich.

TIP: Laminated cotton can be tricky to feed through your machine as it can be a bit sticky and difficult to move.  Try adding a layer of baking parchment or tissue paper between the laminated fabric and the sewing plate, this will slide easily over the plate and simply tears away afterwards.

Sew around the mug rug as close to the edge as you can just to hold the 3 layers together securely but not at the 1/4" mark or you might end up with a stitch line showing after you've added the binding.  Again that word of warning from earlier,  probably best not to baste the laminate to the sandwich and I found that the layers held together really well without basting, nothing slipped at all.

If you click on this photo below you should be able to see a larger version of it and then you can better see my sewn lines around the mug rugs - I've torn the baking parchment off the brown laminated cotton and left it on the other piece so you can see just how it was attached.

At this stage I suddenly panicked and wondered if the laminated cotton can take the heat of a hot cuppa - so I decided to conduct my own test and I can confirm that they are much hardier than one might imagine.  I tried 2 different mugs - just in case some mug bases get hotter than others - and filled them with water straight from a boiling kettle.  I left the mugs on the laminated cotton for 30 minutes, checking the condition of the laminate every 5 minutes and NOTHING!!!  Phew, that's a relief!

 

I ironed the binding strips in half lengthways

I'm going to assume here that you all know how to sew on and join binding so I'll not go into any detail.

I sewed the binding strips around the front of the sandwich using a ¼" seam and my walking foot.  I didn't use baking parchment this time as the laminated cotton is sandwiched between the binding fabric and the batting.  Then I hand sewed the binding down to the back of the mug rug - of course, you could machine sew the binding on totally if you wish.

I gave them a good press with a warm iron on the reverse and here they are complete! 

Daughter F loves them, hope her tutors agree.  We're going to make some very English Eccles cakes for F to give with them but might have to keep a few back for ourselves :)

This tutorial is featured on:

Want To See More?

Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only, no payment or commission is received on click-throughs and opinions are my own.

Click to follow me on

 Follow

An Unexpected Trip to Mood

All fired up after the Tula Pink event at The City Quilter (detailed post with lots of piccies to follow), I headed off to Mood, Manhattan with Ivete from Rose Smoke.  Ivete was keen to pick up some fabric for a jacket she's making and I just tagged along because I'll go anywhere if there's fabric involved and sometimes even if there isn't!

So, long before Ivete found even the first item on her list, I'd fallen in love with a woollen plaid.  During the summer on a trip to Purl Soho daughter, F, had spotted Aqua La Femme Deco Vines Essex Linen by Melissa Crowley for Robert Kaufman.  There and then she decided that what a girl really needs to go off to university in England next Autumn is a new quilt - not just any quilt but a quilt made in this fabric and this quilt has to be lofty.  Deep joy!!!  I've never worked with lofty batting before but I picked up some tips from Kati at Kati's Quilting and Sewing as I know she used 2 layers of lofty batting in her log cabin quilt, and my nervousness is now confirmed - watch out shoulders you're in for a rough ride.  I didn't buy the fabric there and then - they didn't have anything that appealed to me for the backing and I wanted to mull it over, but it's been nagging me ever since because I knew she wanted it so much.  I went back to Purl Soho last weekend to buy the fabric regardless and they'd sold out - feel an internet search coming on!

Well when I walked into the wool section in Mood I spotted just the thing - I knew instantly that it was exactly the backing fabric that I needed, a fab pink plaid.  Off to have it cut, there was no price tag attached so I was sure to ask the price up front as, quite rightly, Mood say you have to buy fabric once cut.  As there was no tag the guy asked a colleague who confirmed $18/yard.  I'm busy contemplating how much I need for a whole quilt or whether a bed runner will do the trick ... I'll make a bed runner or throw and maybe a few cushions with the left overs, so I'll go with 3 yards ... "what exactly do you think this fabric is?" I ask, "wool" he replies, well I knew that but it feels pretty amazing for a wool plaid ... he cuts the piece and then he finds the price tag deep down inside the inner tube.  "F**k" he says, which really caught my attention, "this fabric's Betsey Johnson cashmere and it's $25/yard".  I stayed still and calm, pondering over the fact that Betsey Johnson makes fabric and knowing there was 3 yards of the stuff cut on the desk and Mood says once cut you have to buy.  He obviously wasn't best pleased at the dilemma on his hands and then he reluctantly said "I'll have to let you have it at the price I said".  I breathed a sigh of relief and did a quick mental calculation to confirm that I'd just saved $21 on what I thought was a bargain purchase anyway!

I've researched how to pre-shrink the wool before I make the quilt and found this easy method using just wet towels and the tumble dryer by Off The Cuff - (click the link and scroll down to 7 September for instructions).  I'll give it a go and let you know how I go on.

Guess I'd better get myself cracking with my internet search for Aqua La Femme before I end up with just the backing and no quilt top!

Christopher's Dress at Lord & Taylor

 

Daughter, F, loves the new wool plaid but is so much more impressed with my 'Mood' story of my face to face encounter with Fabio from Project Runway - well more of a face to neck tattoo encounter as he's a bit taller than me - it was one of those 'if I step to the left will you step to the right or step to the left as well?' moments.  Love his work but have to admit to rooting for Christopher Palu especially having seen his fab evening dress on display in Lord and Taylor's window on 5th Avenue. 

 And for anyone who might be wondering, given how this post started, Ivete got everything she needed for her jacket too - what a good day :)

PS: I've just watched this week's episode of Project Runway (the mums and babies episode) and daughter, F and I couldn't believe our eyes.  Fabio made the mum's dress from a fabric that I'm using to make a dress for F (should have made it this last summer but got carried away with my quilting!).  Just to prove that we chose it first I've taken a photo and included my Mood receipt - 30 March 2012 still it's good to know that we're 'on trend' but by the time I make the dress it'll be more like 'so last season'!!!

For details of other fabric, yarn, trim and notion stores that I've visited around the world along with the NYC stores I love, exhibitions and events I've attended and wonderful people I've been lucky to meet click the links below or in my sidebar :D

Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only, no payment or commission is received on click-throughs and opinions are my own.

Play Quilt And Matching Dog Set

In March this year, the most wonderful little fluffy person came to live with us, her name is Thatcher (yes, she is named after our British ex-Prime Minister, Margaret) and she is known as Tatty to her friends.  

It was a difficult decision for me as I was still reeling from having my chocolate button-eyed poodle, Lucy, put to sleep 12 months earlier.

Tatty is a Havapoo (Havanese and Toy Poodle) and she is the happiest, friendly and adorable bundle of dogginess that you could ever wish to meet.  Her arrival immediately turned our apartment into our home and now we wouldn't be without her!  She's also given my daughter, F, hours of fun trying all her teddy bear's clothes on her: can you spot St Trinian's Tatty; Cowgirl Tatty; Harry Potter Tatty; and Dumbledore Tatty and there's even a very British Tatty in there too.

My eldest son, JA, did spot another likeness, though - Tatty looks uncannily like that dreadful Scottish export, Susan Boyle!

Anyway, back to more serious matters - Quilting!  I immediately set about making Tatty her own quilt - doesn't every dog deserve a quilt?  Well so far Tatty's got two, one for her pram that I've posted about previously (yes, you did read that right), Tatty has a pram and she goes to Doggie Daycare in it once a week at Fuzzybutz in Hoboken so a big shout out here for Vicki and her team who are just amazing :)

But this post is about Tatty's play quilt.

I made the quilt using some old cushion covers from the kid's TV room in our English home and backed it with a piece of faux fur that I had in the bottom of my stash.  I didn't put batting in the quilt as the cushion covers were thicker than quilting cotton and the faux fur gave the quilt plenty thickness also.  I quilted in the ditch, completely ignoring the 8" rule, and I have to say that the quilt's holding its own well.  It takes a constant battering from Tatty and frequently reacquaints itself with the washing machine and tumble dryer and it's not showing signs of wear yet.

I machine sewed both sides of the binding and it only took an hour or so to make.  Tatty loves it and I'm guessing the people in the apartment below love it too though they don't even know it (we like her to eat her bones on the quilt as she makes a terrible noise when she drops them on the wooden floor).

My friend, P, pointed out that Tatty and the quilt coordinate - totally unplanned but I kind of like it "A Matching Set"!

And finally here's some more photos of Tatty enjoying life on my Juice Box Sofa quilt that I posted about previously and have just updated with new photo detail.

Disclaimer:
This post is for informational purposes only, no payment or commission is received on click-throughs and opinions are my own.