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Topics - Lowena

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31
Patchwork & Quilting ... Welcome to the Darkside / Use of space
« on: January 11, 2020, 11:36:30 AM »
Following on from the discussion about combination machines on another thread, I began to think about use of space.
I have a small sewing room.
I make quilts.
I am, at present, assembling the top of a fairly large quilt and about to embark on a real whopper!
It's difficult for me to arrange the blocks as I don't have any floor space and only a desk 4' x 2' as a worktop.
I could utilise a piece of wall, approximately 3' x 3' but I don't want anything which would be permanent or disfiguring.
Although it's my dedicated room, I do tidy everything away each evening, don't know why
I'm interested in any solutions you can suggest.
What do you do?
P.S. I do not want to encroach on any other area of the house.
Thanks  <3

32
Patchwork & Quilting ... Welcome to the Darkside / Today I made a discovery
« on: December 19, 2019, 19:49:50 PM »
I was looking at the lovely work @Stitches had produced with her embroidery machine...when..... she let slip  ;) that you can use it to quilt patterns on a sandwiched quilt. It looks like FMQ but the machine does the work for you  :S You just move the hoop around  :S
So.... some of the work which looks so difficult and technical might be done on an embroidery machine with computerised patterns.
I find that very interesting..... food for thought....... counting my pennies  :devil: :D
P.S. this subject reminded me that I went into EWM today  :S and bought a present  :o ( it was only a pair of thermal gloves and they weren't embroidered  :D )

33
Current Projects / Batik quilt a la Lowena
« on: November 24, 2019, 14:23:03 PM »
First block completed.

34
Patchwork & Quilting ... Welcome to the Darkside / Sewing Speed
« on: November 19, 2019, 17:27:04 PM »
Do you piece quickly or slowly?
Do you use your machine's speed limiter?
I can't bear to do things slowly...it makes me less accurate if anything  >:)
I like the piecing best and love to get on with it to see the finished block  :D
I'm quick in everything I do.... Perhaps that's why I find curved applique tortuous to do  :devil:
Thoughts please

35
Current Projects / Awesome Ocean quilt
« on: November 18, 2019, 16:59:52 PM »
First two blocks of my Awesome Ocean quilt finished.....only 78 more to do  :D

36
Patchwork & Quilting ... Welcome to the Darkside / Would you believe it???
« on: November 13, 2019, 18:12:32 PM »
As most of you know, I only do P & Q. 90% of my makes are quilts. Ok so far..... Wouldn't you expect that to have penetrated the mind of someone I live with??
We were talking about the possibility of reducing our use of central heating. OH said " if we needed extra warmth in the bedroom, we could always add blankets to the bed "  :S. I said " or a quilt??? " to which he replied " Oh yes, maybe"
Hmmmm....... Thoughts please  :D

37
As you may know I am struggling with having several projects on the go or unfinished. I hate it.
I don't know how it happened and I am trying to clear the backlog asap.
Now I have found some blocks I simply cannot remember making
The fabric is unsuitable for Linus or Quilts for Care Leavers and in my experience Hospices, Care Homes etc won't take them as laundering is a problem.
I can't have quilts hanging around at home and no one wants them, so...... any ideas of a charity shop which might help ( some are picky) or shall I just take them to the local Oxfam recycling collection bin?

38
Patchwork & Quilting ... Welcome to the Darkside / Where is Everyone?
« on: November 03, 2019, 19:01:52 PM »
Dead as a doornaill on here  :'(
What's everyone up to?
Today I made most of a small teddy bear ( needle felting ) and tomorrow I hope to finish him off and make him a quilted, patchwork sleeping bag, so he's cost  ;)
Also, August is underway with my temperature quilt

39
Tomorrow I was supposed to leave here at 8am!! ( don't usually surface much before 9 ) and spend the day at the Duxford Quilt Show. Due to unforseen circumstances that is no longer possible, then I had a brainwave....
I shall spend the day, locked away in a sewing retreat Chez Lowena.
I am not,not,not enjoying having UFOs hanging over me like the sword of Damocles...it's alien to the way I work...so...
I'm listing what I want to accomplish to spur me on.
I'm finding it difficult to think of more than one project and need to get some either finished or up to date so I know where I am
1. Temperature quilt....up to date
2. Sewing group quilt....put together what I've done
3. Fancy Forest quilt...press, ready for sandwich at sewing group in November ( big tables available )
4. Awesome Ocean...review completed blocks and either ditch them or unpick and Restitch them ( not good enough )
5. Jitterbug Quilt ( Lintotts name for it ) check completed blocks and note progress.
Then decide where to go next...which order to finish them in.
I hate having several things on the go at once...does my head in! Never again :ninja:

40
I am changing how I work.
I now have 3 projects on the go! :S
I'm doing the temperature quilt which is obviously ongoing. I've started Awesome Ocean which is very fiddly.
I have Fancy Forest to sandwich and back.
now I have begun a new project I was given a jelly roll for my birthday and am making a Lintott inspired qui!t.
My fears are two fold
1. Will I cope with chopping and changing between projects?
2. How will I keep each project separate but accessible?
I haven't much room or much storage and I must have things neat and tidy or I can't work.
Should I stick to my original policy of one project at a time and see it all the way through? Although that suits my single mindedness, I find I get a bit bored on occasion.
What to do? What do you do?

41
Patchwork & Quilting ... Welcome to the Darkside / Fancy Forest
« on: October 07, 2019, 10:29:10 AM »
I have finished my take ( not an exact copy ) on Elizabeth Hartman's Fancy Forest.
Here is a poor photo ( now you know why I don't take photos ) of the completed top.
I will get David to take a good photo when the actual quilt is complete but I wanted to share what I've done so far.
I'm now starting on Awesome Ocean.

42
Fun with Fabric / Makower Inprint grey
« on: October 06, 2019, 11:49:06 AM »
I'm looking for more of this fabric but can't find it anywhere in the UK ( I won't buy from abroad ). If you come across any please let me know. Thanks. :sew:

43
Sewing Machines / HELP!!!
« on: September 29, 2019, 14:03:57 PM »
I've broken my machine.
I inadvertently pressed the foot pedal while there was no fabric under the foot. I remedied that, and it seemed a few stitches a d the thread broke.
No it is completely stuck. If I turn by hand it grounds and won't move. The lever, between 1 and 2 when threading is stuck down and won't move at all.
Nothing moves and it just grounds at me. Nothing unscrews.
Any ideas? I can't send it away for over a week.
It is a 4yr old Brother Innovis 1800q

44
Honestly
I ask because I don't usually have any.... but....... somehow I have found myself with the following :
Temperature quilt - I know it's ongoing but I'm only up to May  :S
Fancy Forest quilt, blocks made but needs to be reassembled and finished off
Linus quilt being made to use up surplus blocks ( from FOQ Linus quilt ) extra blocks needed then fleece backing.
For me, this amount of ongoing stuff is unheard of ( glances at @Iminei who has at least a hundred UFOs  :devil: ) and I must clear the backlog as I have patterns for 2 new quilts ( Awesome Ocean and Dogs in Sweaters ) shouting at me from their drawers.
Also, OH wants me to make 2 large Union Flag cushions ( but in different colourways ) for a new sofa.
Are you able to settle and concentrate on something new when there are things to be finished off??
Please share your tips.......
How do you rekindle love for a project which has been put aside??
P.S Have you cleared your backlog yet @Pearl ??  :ninja:

45
Patchwork & Quilting ... Welcome to the Darkside / They've Gone
« on: August 30, 2019, 13:27:19 PM »
As I've said before, I have all my completed quilts packed away in a box on a shelf in my sewing room. They never see the light of day and have not been looked at since being used as packaging when we moved.
Today I bit the bullet..... I took them to the Oxfam textile recycling bin  :S
I need the box as it's ideal for storing sheets to be used as quilt backing. We are updating our linen and there are some barely used duvet covers, and curtains which can be stored there.
I was a bit nostalgic when I looked at the quilts but....  it had to be done.
I only have one quilt now...I only keep it because my d.i.I bought me the jelly roll it's made from for my70th birthday  <3
Brave, aren't I?  :D

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