When in neutral…

Andrea’s bedspread: this afternoon I finished stitching the panels together (12 by 13 of them, to make 300 by 280cm) and topstitching, and tomorrow I’ll tackle the back. I had to spread it out over the dining table and chairs to get it all in one photo, and even then I couldn’t manage it.

There are some guinea fowl in grey, and some in brown, and a few proteas, and a bit of other handprinteds here and there, the rest is a combination of light to medium weight upholstery fabrics, mainly cottons.

This is for Andrea’s guest bedroom, and she specifically wanted neutral colours. Did I mention she is Swiss? Am I the only one who finds this amusing?

not much to show

Not much to show for the last few days.  There’s been so much shit happening on so many political levels here, the sense of impending major chaos is draining. And it never rains but it pours – other emotional taxes have been weighing heavily, too. The upside (if it can be called that) to all this is that one tends to find greater pleasure in the smaller things…a sweet goodnight whatsapp from Alex, new buds on the new hydrangeas and gazanias, Col’cacchio’s divine pizza on the couch with Rob to accompany the final episode of One Of Us, lots of lovely birthday wishes from friends…nothing to be taken for granted.

But I did manage to [almost] finish two things: (a) an order from a friend in Somerset West for a patchwork throw for his bed;

212 by 255 cms of browns and creams and greys and honeys, with a bit of mustard and blue for contrast. I’ve used fairly heavyweight upholstery fabrics and I can barely lift the damn thing. I’ve started on the second one for him, a larger but lighter-weight one in yellows and creams and mustards.

and (b) a blanket for my own bed, started 5 years ago and forgotten about until I had to pack up house. A row here and a row there and before I knew it, the thing was huge!

Not sure whether to work a row or two of dc down the sides or not, just can’t decide. It doesn’t look right, but it also doesn’t look right without anything. Also really really heavy. And also all the ends to sew in.

 

 

patchworky

I’m getting all patchworky. And I’m blaming Kate. My first two bedspreads were large irregular squares and rectangles and some strips. Nice, she said, but try cutting smaller squares because then you can fit in more contrasting fabrics. And what do you know, I’m hooked!

Side one and side two of a bright reddy-orangey mix, four strips of 10 squares each so far. I’ve opted for 10-inch squares because it seems like a manageable size. Not too big, not too small.  Yay for the rotary cutter and cutting mat. If the house started burning down, they are now the first two items I would grab. (Sorry, cats.)

Maggie asks if I will be quilting the bedspread. It’s a short answer – No. There will be no batting and no fancy-pants stitching designs. There will be a lightweight cotton backing and topstitching round the edge. I know my limits!

donkey work

I enjoyed playing around with those bits of left-over fabric more than I realised. And when it comes to enjoyable sewing, nothing beats the simplicity of straight lines. Someone I knew would have called it donkey work, in which case I’m having an Eeyore week.

The colours don’t show up that well in the pics, but they are a gorgeous mix of blues and creams and teals and greys and browns.

I like random, so I’ll never be one of those clever quilting ladies whose exquisitely thought-out fabric mosaics I admire so much! But I still felt I deserved a rotary cutter and a proper cutting mat – an early birthday present to myself :-)  My squares are so much squarer now!