A Basket? Or a Bag?

Is there a difference between baskets and bags? I knocked up two today, using the same method but different measurements. The one I made for husband's lunch is probably a bag

 

While the one I made for my hexie kit is probably a basket:

 

And this is what it looks like with my recently created hexie kit in it

 

Is it OCD to like to have my hexies all lines up and in a box that fits? Maybe, but it makes me happy! (And It also makes me happy that toothpaste boxes are the perfect size for my hexies!)

 

Posted with Blogsy

Such a happy me

Blogger have finally helped me to sort out the original blog, so all these posts have been transferred, and this blog will no longer be updated.

My new home is

www.SLIKstitches.com

I look forward to seeing you there

Benta

Foundation Pieced Flying Geese

I came home tonight to an email from Sally, the Assistant Curator at Chertsey Museum.  She wrote "I forgot to ask… What is the topic for next time?"

I was so tempted to reply telling her that the next topic would be Foundation Pieced Flying Geese, and see what she made of that, but she is too lovely for me to be that mean! (and if she started using archaeological terms to me, I would lose very quickly!)

So I have started a sample and can send her a photo. 

Not too bad for an hour's work :-) I will finish it before the August class.  Oh, and the Museum have just confirmed dates through to the end of 2012! 


Yay!

And... off topic - I had an interview at a lovely little school today.  They really want someone all day every day, but i cant do that, so I'm starting temping for them in September and they'll see how that goes until October half term, so at least I have work for 7 weeks - yippee

Cut. Stitch. Press. Repeat

A lovely day yesterday :-)

I came back to working on the Aunt Grace's Flowers jelly roll, and made up strips for 9 patch blocks, and a random alternating-with-white quilt.

I tried to explain my time saving method last time, and certainly confused Hadley, so here it is again with pictures!

Pick up a strip of white, and a strip from the jelly roll.  Cut 8 inches off the end of both.

Stitch together the long lengths that are left.  Then at one end add the short piece of white (so create a section which is white-coloured-white) and at the other end add the short piece from the jelly roll (coloured-white-coloured)

and then trim off the two ends where the triple section is. Press everything. The middle section can be trimmed into 2.5" pairs, and put to one side until there are about a zillion of them

Trim the two triple pieces each into three triple strips each at 2.5".  Now you have enough to make two nine patch blocks, one with white corners, one with coloured corners

Clear as mud?

Anyway, new topic - shopping!!!

I want to start a hand sewing project in grey and red for the sofa, and decided to do log cabin using foundation by the yard.  Good plan, but f-b-t-y log cabin doesn't exist, and I really didn't fancy drawing out each foundation block by hand, so I have switched to court house steps.  The foundation fabric arrived today, along with (well if I was paying P&P I might as well add some more stuff???) some f-b-t-y flying geese for the Fun With Fabric course, and a cutting board that I have been lusting after - one that turns, so it's much easier to always cut away from me.

Now off to a job interviw and then an afternoon shopping with Mum and Lisa :-)

School's Out For Summer ... and Nine Patch blocks

School finished (for me) at 6pm yesterday, so I now have six weeks with almost nothing to do apart from sewing, yippee!

I managed to get to the fabric shop yesterday morning, and got 3m of white cotton for the Nine Patch project.  About 3am I woke up thinking that I didn't much like the planned layout.

 I am planning to make two quilts with the fabric, one will be alternating random 2.5" squares of Aunt Grace fabrics with white and I'm happy with that one.  The other is so far equal number of  4 white/5 coloured, and 5 white/4 coloured 9 patches which I was going to arrange randomly

But it doesn't read (to me) as nine patches, but as not-quite-random 2.5 inch block and white

So I thought I might go for a colour wash Irish Chain with the 4xwhite blocks (do these have a proper name?)

and perhaps a diagonal arrangement of the 5xwhite blocks

I have plenty of time to make up my mind, and I have another 17 strips of  white to cut, 17 pairs of white & coloured strips to sew together, 17 hours of ironing and trimming ... good job I don't have to go to work!

Benta's Blog and some sewing

I have renamed the blog "Benta's Blog" as I am beginning to lose hope that I will ever get SLIKstitches back, and SLIKtemporary was chosen in a fit of pique!  I think the address will have to stay though, as I'm not taking the risk of messing with that again!

I have stitched the (hopefully) last block for the texture quilt, but no photo yet.  It is a mosaic type, raw edge applique, so needs to go through the wash and tumble drier before it looks right.

I have done some repairs on some silk and velvet pillow cases from Laura Ashley.    They had been marked down as waste as the silk had frayed at the seams, and the caretaker at school's daughter had been able to get them for her mum for free.

I had some pleated fabric in the right sort of colour, so added a strip to each pillowcase.

Very satisfying to do!

Texture Quilt and Pay It Forward ideas

I have finished the woven block for the texture quilt, and have made a log cabin.  I think there is just one needed now, and that will be raw edge applique: a sort of ticker tape block.  Then I might iron and square them all off before arranging them

I also started playing with ideas for the PIF gifts

 ... I was thinking of using one of these fabrics

 

or maybe one of these

or this one

Hmmm, time will tell. 

I did make a prototype of my PIF possible project - but Lisa said it was exactly what she wanted, and she loved the fabric - that was such a compliment, I had to give it to her!  I didn't even get a photo, but as both my PIF's read the blog I wouldn't have posted the photo anyway!!!