Dyeing

I've had a busy time this week - it's half term so I've been off work, which would theoretically mean more sewing time. But, after a hectic few months DH and I decided to go away for a short break. We visited DD in Brighton, which is a very lively and fun place to visit even when it's raining (as it was!) , and then took the ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe to be rained on in France! Never mind, we had a good time, sheltering in Rouen Cathedral, sitting sipping cafe cremes in little cafes and taking advantage of a break in the clouds to walk along the beach at Deauville - a very sophisticated resort! And no holiday in France is complete without a visit to the hypermarket to stock up with French wines for Christmas entertaining. We definitely clanked back over the channel!

Now I still have a day or two before I get back to work, I decided to try Karol-Ann's excellent suggestion of dyeing some donated curtain lining to make some kits up for jars quilts. DD recently dyed a charity shop dress black in my machine, and not only did the dress come out black, but my subsequent washing didn't!

Here is the cream-coloured lining fabric, waiting to go in the machine.

Here is the dye packet - it promises 'velvet black'.

Here is the dry, dyed fabric. It is darker than it looks in this photo, a very dark charcoal, but not quite black. I suppose it was my fault as the instructions said the pack would dye 600 grammes of fabric, and I put in just a little more. Never mind. It'll be fine for jars quilts, and so long as I keep some back for borders etc. nobody will notice.

Especially when the jars are full of things like these which I picked up recently!

Local people, look out for the kits in my Project Linus box!

One fnished and 1002 to go!

Well, I'm exaggerating slightly on the numbers of quilts I have yet to finish, but it certainly feels like a lot!

I have actually finished my jars quilt for Project Linus. Most of the jars were donated by Karol-Ann, but I made a few more myself to bulk the numbers up. I have been rooting round in my stash for other fabrics with designs which would be suitable to keep in jars, so I can make some kits up for Linus. It's not so easy to find suitable motifs.

My Turning 20 quilt is now a top, and I have the backing and wadding all ready to turn this top into a quilt - all I need is the time! (I decided to extend it at the sides slightly to make it a bit wider. I just put multicoloured strips together. I didn't want a border the whole way round, as I felt it was long enough already!)



Other UFOs are waiting in the wings - such as this Mile a Minute for a colleague's son. He's a football fan and supports Coventry, who are called the Sky Blues, so it had to be bordered with pale blue!

I still haven't got the Old Quilt finished. I think it's the size which is making me reluctant to tackle it, plus the boring quilting motifs. I prefer to do something a bit more exciting than hourglasses!

I'm also making another baby quilt for a little one due to appear in November! I must get this bordered and finished if I'm to be in time for its arrival.

And of course, there are always extra bits and pieces on hand. Some lovely ballerina fabric was donated to Linus, but there wasn't enough of it to do anything with. I fussy cut the ballerinas out, and have started to make them into Mile a Minute blocks. Seemed like a good idea at the time!

And to add to all this, I've just downloaded the pattern for morsbags, to start my life as a guerilla! So much fabric, so little time!

Jars

I had always fancied making a jars quilt (remember when quilts with jars full of insects were all the rage?), but never managed to collect enough suitable fabrics for one. So I was doubly delighted when I received a collection of jars which Karol-Ann kindly sent me for Linus. Apparently they has been in her UFO box for two years, and she didn't think she'd get round to using them. (Makes my UFO collection seem positively antique!) Thanks Karol-Ann for donating to Linus, and also thanks for giving me nearly enough blocks to make a jars quilt without having to buy lots of different fabrics!

Here are the blocks ready to play. I loved all the blocks, but had to reject this one as I'm not sure it's suitable for a Linus quilt!

I added a few blocks of my own and here is the basic arrangement ready for a border. The royal blue you can just see on the right is probably going to be the colour for the border as it needs something gutsy but which won't take the emphasis away from the jars.

Many thanks to all those who commented on my quandry about the old quilt I had been given for Linus. I found out who had given it to me, and it turned out to have belonged to a 91 year old lady who had recently died. Her daughter had found the quilt amongst her mother's things, and given it to a member of an embroidery group who she knew was a quiltmaker. It was she who had given it to me. After a lot of thought, I have decided that it will be better to find a museum which would like the quilt. I know it will end up in a box, but at least it will be an acid-free box in a temperature-controlled environment. It may not see the light of day much, but that means it will survive longer. If that fails (there are hoards of unfinished hexagon quilts in the UK) I will think about putting it on ebay for a collector to look after and love. OK?