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Topics - Sheilago

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16
Current Projects / ‘Whale’ of a mishap
« on: February 20, 2023, 13:21:58 PM »
Last week I was working on the quilting of my whale quilt. I decided to do wave-like free motion quilting at the top. As I’d not done that very often I thought I’d grab my frixion pen to draw the first two waves. Only after I’d finished did I notice I’d drawn with a normal biro pen!

Yesterday I decided to have a go at removing the visible biro marks. I didn’t want to wash the whole quilt, so I sprayed the section with Vanish and washed with cold water and was pleased to see that I had successfully got the ink marks out. However, after leaving it to dry , I was horrified to see that the fabric forming the red whale had bled red dye into the off white background. :rant: :headbang:

The whole quilt is now in the machine on a cold wash, in the hope that it might look ok . Fingers crossed!




Update - now out of machine and so far it looks better. Here’s hoping it stays that way until it’s dried. :facepalm:

17
A Good Yarn / Mismatched buttons
« on: January 22, 2023, 12:51:59 PM »
I just finished a baby cardigan and thought I had the perfect cat buttons for it. ( the new parents have a much loved cat) . However I now find that I have 5 buttonholes and only 4 buttons. I looked online but can’t find these buttons now - probably bought them years ago.
Do you think I should use the 4 buttons with maybe a plain one at the top or will that just spoil it?
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Another possibility is to use 3 , with star buttons in between . Or maybe I just need to buy new buttons.
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18
Dolls and Toys / Simple easy doll patterns?
« on: November 25, 2022, 12:32:15 PM »
I wondered if anyone had come across a free little pattern to make a doll hoody or jacket. I plan to make some simple clothes for my granddaughters dolls as part of their Christmas present. I would probably just use left over fleece and some Velcro to fasten, but it would be easier to have a pattern to work with. I have seen a few online but they ask you subscribe and I’m wary of giving away my email address unless I really need to .

19
Current Projects / Starring inaccuracies!
« on: May 11, 2022, 20:28:12 PM »
 So here’s my latest project. As usual I’m copyingusing as inspiration a quilt I saw online, so I have no dimensions or a pattern to work to. No problem, I thought. I’ll start by making the central star 12”, with a 3” border of squares all the way round. That way I’ll need 3 sawtooth stars on each side , plus one at each corner.
All seemed well until I got round to measuring the finished star and border and instead of being a little over 18” it was it 20.5” wide on each side. Somehow my border ended up too wide, but I couldn’t cut it back to size as my outer layer of squares would then have been rectangles! However, at least it was consistently out on each side  :D

I thought, ‘All I have to do is make 3 stars to fit each 20.5” side’!  :laughing:
It was then that I discovered that the handy sawtooth star instructions I have,  offer measurements for 6” or 8” , not the just under 7” I needed.
This fiddling around , of course, makes the whole process much slower, but it’s getting there. :rolleyes:

The moral of the story …… measure, measure, measure !
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20
Current Projects / Pillowcase to apron transformation challenge.
« on: April 21, 2022, 17:43:36 PM »
We are all going to a wedding in 2 weeks time and I thought my granddaughters , aged 1 and 3 could do with nice aprons to wear to protect their new dresses. Quilting fat quarters were not quite big enough to make them from, but then I came across 2 old pillowcases. I’m quite happy with how they’ve turned out, with the addition of some contrasting quilting fabric. I left the two layers of the pillowcase to make the skirt more protective and the bib section is lined with towelling for extra mopping up.D All done in 2 hours! :D

21
A Good Yarn / Rescue needed for button band mistake
« on: February 22, 2022, 22:37:13 PM »
Finished this cardigan for my granddaughter tonight by knitting the button band and sewing it all on, with the subdued lighting in the lounge.. Took it through to wash and realised I’d done the button band in cream! There is no way I’m unpicking it , as I’m sure I’d end up unravelling the knitting by mistake , so I thought I could maybe crochet cream edging elsewhere or embroider cream and pink flowers - the holes look a bit like leaves.
Any suggestions most welcome  :D
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22
Current Projects / Last piece of patchwork for the year
« on: December 31, 2021, 15:32:51 PM »
… and a lovely one it was too. Made the label for my new granddaughter’s quilt as she was born this morning! 
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23
A Good Yarn / Decrease at neck edge?
« on: December 07, 2021, 22:04:54 PM »
I’m knitting a pattern that says to shape the neck ‘ K25 , turn, then decrease at neck edge until 19 sts remain’. Would you decrease once at neck edge on every row or on alternate rows? It’s just not clear and not obvious from the photo either.  :\

24
Current Projects / Pale and interesting quilt finished
« on: November 24, 2021, 11:03:25 AM »
Just finished this quilt, this morning. Cutting off all the tiny loose threads is always my least favourite bit!
 It’s for my granddaughter who is due to arrive in early January and quite different from my usual quilts. Originally I was going to give her a quilt I made in the summer from brightly coloured HSTs, but then I found another baby to give that one to. This one is probably a bit/ very gender stereotyped :S but since this is the first grandchild that I’ve known in advance is a girl, I was just in a girly mood! I usually avoid pastel colours in play quilts, but I’d seen one similar to this on the web and liked it. I also thought it was a good use of all those paler bits and pieces I had lying around.  I hope I’ve given her lots of interesting things to look at as she plays on the floor.  [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]  

25
For Sale, Wanted & Free to a good home / 3” squares galore!
« on: November 20, 2021, 17:52:21 PM »
My sister runs a charity shop ( Mary’s Meals) and they’ve received 2 bags for life full of 3” squares of mainly good quality cotton curtain fabric. I recognise some as Laura Ashley fabric. They obviously belonged to a sewing enthusiast. See photo.  [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]  
 Before they are binned, I thought I’d mention it in case anyone could use them- they were obviously intended for patchwork , but could perhaps even be used for a school craft activity or for a patchwork class.
I am happy to send however many you’d want for the cost of postage plus perhaps a very small donation to Mary’s Meals, should you wish.

26
Patchwork & Quilting ... Welcome to the Darkside / Why are my binding corners sometimes too tight?
« on: June 08, 2021, 19:57:39 PM »
I really thought I knew how to do mitred binding corners, using the method I saw online years ago. I sew to about an inch from the corner, then fold the binding up at 45 degrees to the corner, then fold it down along the next side and begin stitching from the top. Usually this works, but sometimes I get corners where there doesn’t seem to be enough fabric to get nice square corners and they’re a little rounded. I can’t work out why.

Has anyone got any idea? My latest quilt has broader than usual binding . I cut 3” strips for the double layer binding , so it’s about 3/4” wide  each side , instead of the usual 1/2”. Would the width of the binding affect this?  :thinking:
I didn’t think it would if I folded at 45 degrees to the corner, but the corners are all a bit tight. They’ll have to do: I’m not unpicking all the binding :faints:, but I’d like to know for the future.

27
Current Projects / HST find
« on: May 24, 2021, 17:21:41 PM »
As I have no urgent things needing made, I decided to do a bit of tidying in the huge sewing room chest of drawers.
I found polythene bags with unused blocks that I’d completely forgotten about including lots of half square triangles. I love the feeling of making something from nothing, so I cut them all to the smallest size 2.75” in square and came up with this. Think I’ll make a pieced duck ( which is very triangular ) for the centre and obviously tweak the layout of the colours. it’ll eventually make a good play quilt , I hope  :D
Needless to say the tidying hasn’t  progressed too well. :laughing:
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28
A Good Yarn / How to make border bigger
« on: May 12, 2021, 11:05:40 AM »
I am not an expert at crochet, but can manage to do things especially if I have a video to follow. I have crocheted the centre of this baby blanket, but I think it is a bit small ( I used 4 ply and a smaller hook) at just 24” square . I’d like to add a broader border of maybe 3” to take it up to 30” square, but I don’t think the pattern is quite that broad. I’ve done one row of uk doubles and one row of V stitch, but think I need to add extra rows. It’s supposed to have 2 rows of V, one row of Granny and then a frill row. Could I maybe add a treble row somewhere or an extra row of V? Not sure how that would look, so if any expert crocheters have a suggestion, I’d be grateful.  [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]  

29
Current Projects / Should the dog go?
« on: April 19, 2021, 10:26:31 AM »
I’ve been making this play quilt for the expected grandson of a friend. The quilt is animal themed using a set of Dashwood fabrics and I thought I’d add a few pieced animal blocks .
 The family have always owned Golden Retrievers, so I made an ‘ orange ‘dog, thinking it would match the orange in some of the fabrics. I laid out the blocks on the floor ( they’ve still to get pale grey sashing), but I feel the dog is jumping out at me. I tried putting it in the corner but that didn’t really help.
Should I make a mustardy dog  :thinking:
What do you think? :woof:  [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]  

30
Patchwork & Quilting ... Welcome to the Darkside / Table runner ideas
« on: February 28, 2021, 12:10:37 PM »
I have rescued my mother’s coffee table, while clearing out her house. It is dark wood (106 x 42 cm ) and as I plan to use it in a conservatory, I thought I’d protect it from sun ( and dogs, children etc) with a table runner. I thought maybe something with flying geese and wondered if anyone else had made such a thing. I had a quick look online, but couldn’t find many that inspired. Colours will be cream, terracotta, with maybe a bit of green.

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