Saturday 13 October 2012

Little apples, little people

As I manhandled (or maybe that should be womanhandled) my oh so very large and so absolutely Charming Flowers (I must think of a different name as I find that one quite painful) about the ironing board last night, I began to understand why so many quilters stick to wallhangings and baby quilts.

Spot the pesky squirrel

I am also quite geometrically challenged and with an almost square quilt I have moments of confusion about which way is up and which across, which resulted in my sewing my pieced strip along, rather than perpendicular to, the selvedge. (Unlike  my friend from Ted and Bunny, I do not find unpicking at all therapeutic, especially when it is 7 foot long and it is 10 o'clock at night and I know that I won't sleep easy if I don't unpick every last stitch and press out the holes before I retire).

Little Apples

So as a little light relief for the weekend I thought I would show you a nice little baby quilt I made earlier in the year (every time I say here's one I made earlier I think of the Blue Peter advent crown and a childhood where you could buy sticky-backed plastic off the roll in the back corner of Woolworths [this is a peculiarly British reminiscence and will no doubt be utterly mystifying to my international readers, but if I attempt to explain the significance it will involve a meandering disquisition on matters sociocultural and historical here in Old Blighty, and would involve so many parentheses and much venturing up byways, that I would be sure to get Lost and Distracted {which I fear that I may be already}]).

Here's one I made earlier

So where was I, I think to myself as I extricate myself from a Parenthetical Thicket. Ah yes, a Rather Charming baby quilt which I made for a very sweet little chap earlier in the year (you will be glad to hear that I am dismissing all thoughts of Blue Peter from my head Quite Firmly, but I am finding that such a Firm Tone requires copious use of  the Upper Case).

The fabric I used was Little Apples by Aneela Hoey (she says in a Firmly Informative Tone), which I really like because of a family association with Apples and Squirrels (I must admit that the Squirrel Association is not an entirely happy one but the passage of time has enabled me to Smile at that Peculiar Irony).

Charming stitching

The pattern for this quilt is a Charmingly Easy one from the Cloud Nine blog - it is a free pattern and you will find it here. It is also a very good pattern for the Terminally Disorganized and Unexpected Arrivals, as it is genuinely very quick to make. The quilt is tied with embroidery thread in the centres of the panels, and the same thread is also used for some simple running stitch quilting along the edges and seam lines. (The Little Apples fabric is still available from JB Quilting and Ebay, she says helpfully, in case you wanted to make one later.)

So if you want a quilt that you can make in a weekend, one which will fit on your table for basting, can be pressed with not a hint of manhandling and which can be hand-quilted without tears in an evening, then this little cot quilt is for you.

Charmingly small

Unfortunately it looks rather meagre on a double bed, so it's back to wrestling those very Charming Flowers to the ground for me ...

In the meantime, hello to Lindsey and Mama Smith at Project Little Smith who is, rather intriguingly, an architect turned homemaker and takes very lovely pictures.



   





29 comments:

tlcukjourney said...

That is an absolutely gorgeous quilt! I also love the way you write! xx

Vintage Sheet Addict said...

I feel your pain! That quilt looks lovely, and it doesn't look small either! Ada :)

Pattypan said...

Hello Pomona that really is lovely and I like the choice of colours. Thank you also for the link. I have saved this as quilting and patchwork is something that I am hoping to get into and I think I could perhaps manage this as an early project. will have to wait until pay day though.

By the way love the personal trainer from your previous post.

Take care

Pattypan

xx

Tangled Sweetpea said...

Lovely quilt! The fabric is totally charming!
Victoria xx

Linda said...

What a gorgeous quilt! Lovely choice of fabrics. Linda xxx

Canadian Abroad said...

Lovely hand stitching on the quilt. I love Aneela's fabrics, they are always so full of detail like those squirrels, or tortoises. They make me smile.

Mrs. Micawber said...

The triple parentheses are BACK! :)

(Now I'm wondering what the fourth level would be - pointy brackets?)

I do like that quilt - turquoise and red are such a nice colour combo. And I think you're right about quilters preferring wall quilts and baby quilts. They're easier to handle and offer something more akin to instant gratification. (Especially mini wall hangings - 3 blocks, a border or two, a bit of binding, and Bob's your uncle. All the craft with none of the muscle strain.)

Pressing larger quilts wouldn't be so bad with a table-top size ironing board....

greenrabbitdesigns said...

Oh yes I remember the sticky back plastic in Woolies AND it was bought in feet and inches, we hadn't heard of metres!! I used to back my school books in it, tricky enough, you had to be careful not to get any bubbles in it!
Now I'm off on a tangent!!!
Quilt!!! As always~beautiful. :)

liniecat said...

fabulous quilt!

Mylittlepieceofengland said...

I love the colours in the quilt, lucky little chap! I've only made one quilt and found it rather tricky, so I just bow in admiration. x

Carol said...

Beautiful quilt, lovely fabric. One day I will make a quilt!
Carol xx

millefeuilles said...

Pomona, you always make me laugh in the nicest possible way.

Picking stitches in the early hours of the morning when your extremities have turned cold and your eyes grow bleary(I really must attend to the long-neglected first pair of glasses prescription wedged in my diary)is something I can identify with; thank you.

We must be virtually the same age, I think. Blue Peter was my staple diet during primary years.

Stephanie

Unknown said...

Such a lovely quilt. My Grandmother used to make magnificent quilts, but I was never quilt sure how she managed to stitch them altogether they were so big!

Take care,
Sarah xx

Crafty Green Poet said...

what a lovely quilt! I laughed at your comments about your relationship with squirrels...

the linen cloud said...

What a beautiful quilt ... I so love the Aneela Hoey fabrics ... I really like a Walk in the Woods ... so tempted ... to try it sometime ... Bee xx

andrea creates said...

it looks great-i love these prints :)
happy weekend to you~~

gilly said...

Gorgeous quilt and such pretty fabric too. Know what you mean - I love the (almost) instant gratification of little quilts that you can lay out on a table, and that fit perfectly through my little sewing machine to quilt!
xx

Madelief said...

What a lovely quilt Pomona!

wish you a happy new week,

Madelief x

Gillian Roe said...

I really like this quilt, and i especially like how it can be made in a weekend. I have no workspace or room, and projects have to be cleared off the table so people can eat...I appreciate a small and quick to make project!

Draffin Bears said...

Hi Pomona,

The quilt is so beautiful and love the apple trees and squirrels. I am with you having to unpick things which often seems to happen.

Have a lovely week
Hugs
Carolyn

Little Blue Mouse said...

A lovely quilt and lovely writing too.
I remember the sticky backed plastic, and wishing my Mum didn't use Fairy washing up liquid because I had to wait an age for an empty bottle (and of course it lasted twice as long as other washing up liquids).
I had to laugh at your squirrel reference.

♥ Mary Janes TEAROOM said...

I can certainly feel you pain Pomona...having completed a very large quilt in the summer which was exhausting to manoeuvre and now making one where I seem to have lost my poor sense of direction completely!
Love you fabric and colour choices which are some of my favourites,
Happy week,
Susan x

melanie said...

Such a gorgeous quilt, it is stunning! :)

Frances said...

Pomona, I can completely identify with your late night realization that An Error Has Been Made, that might need to wait until dawn to be corrected. And sleep might also not arrive until dawn. Oh yes, I do know that moment of truth.

I also know about Blue Peter, and have laughed with my expat friends over here in NYC many times when we've found ourselves in some sort of situation that summons up a BP memory.

Your apple orchard quilt is lovely and spritely. Can a quilt be spritely? Well, yours certainly is.

Good luck on figuring out some way (as I know you will) to get that large quilt pressed. Maybe you or someone you know has a longish table that could be covered with padding, and could provide more of a surface to support the "moving" quilt? Of course this longish table would also need a lot of surrounding open space....

Keep us posted! xo

Barbara said...

It's lovely. Your comment reminds me of the horrors of unpicking knitting. Something I hated.

Julie said...

I find the thought that unpicking could be therapeutic completely alien too. I get so frustrated at the thought of the wasted time (although possibly not as frustrating as trying to sort my sewing machine when it is playing up). Lovely little quilt. I must try doing a bit more handstitching, it is so effective. Juliex

Anonymous said...

What a lovely quilt! And thanks for the link to the source project. I'm just starting out on the adventure of quilting (working on a baby gift, in fact) and this looks like something I could manage.

angharad handmade said...

Beautiful quilt! I really like the handstitching detail, very pretty.

Funnily enough, I was reminiscing about Blue Peter and their annual advent coat-hanger craft just today! I came to the conclusion they must have abandoned it due to the problems of uniting small children, tinsel and naked flames.

Susan McShannon-Monteith said...

Wishing you and yours a very Happy New Year Pomona and I hope all is well.
Susan x

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