Altered Book "The Secret Garden"

For Mothers day this year, I went to one of those amazing little bookshops that have stacks and stacks of tottering books leaning precariously into the aisles. I picked up a little green book of Spanish Poetry published in the early 20th Century for £1, because I loved the small size and felt it would be perfect for an altered book.

I love the story of The Secret Garden, so I based it off that; the image of the mysterious gate behind which lies an amazing overgrown garden. First, I separated the book into rough halves; I held half to the front cover, and the other half to the back. I slathered a thick layer of strong glue along the page edges and left it to dry; after a while, the second half of the book was stuck together at the edges.

I then cut a large rectangle out of the second half; going through each page was easy because they were stuck together at the edge. After doing this, I slathered more glue along each edge of the inside of the rectangle to really glue the pages together strongly.

I then stuck the first half together in the same manner (along the edges) and finally glued it to the second half, before cutting out the door from the inside, making sure not to cut the fourth side of the door to allow it to hinge back and forth.

I then decorated it; for the wall, I drew the bricks on loosely in brown pen, before smudging a layer of brown chalky dust over it. I had a lot of leftover green plastic foliage from a dolls house project, so I arranged it to look as if it were tumbling over the edge (at least, that was the intended effect). I finished off with drawing a title on the front page, copying a pretty calligraphy script off the internet.

The robin I drew on the back of an old train ticket before sticking to a piece of blue ribbon. Funny story actually; I accidentally drew on a new train ticket (one I needed to go home again the next day) and had to carefully stick the robin back in place with sellotape. The train conductor in London thought it was pretty hilarious.

Breaking the Rules of Quilting

My mother always says to me; "There is no such thing as the Quilt Police!" and by this she means that there a lot of "rules" in quilting that aren't really true at all. Below, I made a weird piece with a load of new exciting fabrics I had bought at a show, trying to break as many rules as I could just for the illicit thrill. 

I decided to create a piece that showed a beach with a seaside town. I had written a few sentences describing an imaginary town, all the smells and sounds that you can't really experience with fabric. I was not about to wash my gorgeous new silks in salt water but I suppose a more dedicated artist would have done!

The first and most important rule I broke was how to finish a quilt; I have left the edges raw cut, but had fun with the blue silk "sea" by gathering it into a blue bead and stitching it closed. I really liked the way this looked afterwards, almost like a wave, but it was a complete accident so I can't take credit for it.

I tried playing around with some free motion quilting for the sand, where the waves had washed up and down leaving marks. I messed up a little because  I meant to have the darker sand down by the sea and the lighter yellow fabric by the town, because that would be more realistic, but I sewed the pieces together in the wrong order.

Between the layers of light yellow and dark yellow I trapped some fine gold mesh fabric, before tying a bunch of lovely auburn threads together at both ends and sewing them in place. This was just an experiment really, to try and get some movement of the sand. I wrote in pen (gasp) on the town buildings the description I had written before I started the piece, rather than draw windows and doors etc. All in all, not a bad little foray into rule breaking.

Go ahead, give it a go, ignore everything you've been taught and just be free with gorgeous fabrics!

Free Motion Quilting Sampler

This is a free-motion quilting sampler that I made one afternoon as an excuse to try out my mum's new exciting sewing machine. I had two pieces of white fabric, sandwiched a layer of batting in between, and sketched out a design of two books in black felt-tip pen. I loaded the machine with variegated thread, so I wouldn't have to keep stopping to re-thread.

Quilting without the feed dogs is equal parts thrilling and scary (unless you enjoy roller-coasters or bungee jumping by which it's probably quite boring). You have to start slow, with some easy, manageable shapes, so I did the border with a row of curled circle scribbles.

Once you get a little bit confident you can try some really fun things. I tried writing words, doing some strange shapes or colouring in the back of my book sketch. You can get a bit carried away, because the possibilities are anything you can draw with a needle and thread.

Look up some art quilts or "free motion embroidery" for some inspiration!

Another Art Doll

This was my first foray into art doll making, which is why she looks a little special. I decided, halfway through, that she was going to be a little bit broken, a little bit 'quirky', and a little bit weird.

I sketched a simple stick man shape, fleshed it out a little (only a little on the arms and legs, I was aiming for the current trend of thin, spindly art dolls that I love!). And for some reason gave it rabbit ears. It took me an absolute age to turn the right way out, and most of the left arm got stuck in the process, so I had to cut the right one down to size to match. 

I spent an awful lot of time making her clothes, because I think this is the most fun part! She has a white tunic top, a pink patterned skirt, blue patterned bloomers, a cream and rose kimono and a blue denim jacket (pictured below) that was originally a pair of blue denim jeans but I made them wrong.

Making her was a great (and steep!) learning experience, and I was pretty happy when I could say it was finished. I would very much like to make a pretty dress for her some day, but sometimes you need to say "it's done now" and put it down, before they have more clothes than you do, and you haven't made a cooked dinner in two weeks.

My two attempts at art dolls so far, with a little red book. This book is actually a needle case I made (a red rectangle of fabric, some wadding, and a few sheets of thin batting for "pages"). The great thing about art dolls is that they are so weird and mismatching, they have their own personalities!

Some things I learned in the art-doll-making process:

• Try not to expect perfection, because it likely won't be, and that's okay!
• Go with the flow; accidents happen. I think the jacket looks better than the jeans did anyway.
• If you think it looks unfinished, try something new. 
• Relax and forget the "rules". If you want it to have no arms, it can have no arms. If you want it to be tiny, or huge, flat, rounded, rectangular, bright, pale, gaudy, hell anything you can imagine it can be!

Patchwork Story Quilt (Small)

This is actually the first quilt I ever made, a bit ambitious maybe but I think it came out alright (if a bit indistinguishable). It is very small, as you can see, but I'd actually advise making a small quilt for your first try as you can make mistakes and learn the techniques without worrying about wasting miles of fabric!

This quilt, like the one previously posted, is a simple square patchwork that I speed-pieced together. Unlike my other quilt, this one has a design that I tried to create, a story I tried to tell (see if you can guess it before I tell you. Don't be worried if you can't, it's a bit "abstract art" by which I mean it's kinda rubbish)

It's meant to be a house, in front of a wild woods, with a patio, flower garden, at the edge of a lake. I really like interesting, unusual quilts that tell a story, or form a picture, because they do so much more than keep you warm! Of course, the perfection of some of my friends' quilt creations in the traditional designs are nothing short of art; I have neither the patience or the skill for such works, so I aimed in a little different direction.

I would someday like to make a beautifully pieced traditional design quilt, like those shown at my local quilt fairs and at the national Ally Pally show each year. But you have to start somewhere!

I practiced a little hand sewing with some embroidery threads, and tried a few experiments (using lace to form fences, and cutting flowers out of larger designs on fabric to use as decoration) but it obviously still needs work.

My favourite bit is the beading and free quilt embroidery I did on the border of the lake. If you have never tried free quilting on a machine, it is so much fun but can feel very scary to begin with. I managed to sew straight through my left index finger, but thankfully it was on a test piece so there is no blood on the quilt. Also I am more clumsy than your average toddler so it's not a real threat to anyone with even basic control of their motor skills.

I challenge you now, to create a little picture, or a landscape, or maybe a recreation of a photograph, in square patchwork with a little embroidery (or a lot of embroidery!) because it is so much fun, and creates really interesting, unique pieces. Also it is great for using up those pieces in your stash that you hold on to but think how am I ever going to use this black fabric with huge print tomatoes?!

Art Doll and Bed

After perusing a number of my favourite Pinterest blogs, I was left with a hankering to make something. Anything. So I sat down with my sewing box, and sketched a simple doll on a piece of white fabric. 

I sewed it together, firstly by hand and then (remembering how terrible my hand sewing skills are) by machine over the top after stuffing her with cotton wool from my medicine cupboard because I had run out of stuffing.

I drew her face with black Pitt marker, and dabbed a little water colour pink for the cheeks. I then realised I hadn't turned her inside out before sewing her together completely. I told myself I was going for the "rough edged shabby chic" look.

I made her a veritable hoard of clothes whilst watching crime documentaries on telly. This is my favourite, the silky dress with a lace fringe, made using two triangles of silk sewn together, then a gathering stitch of elastic for the waist, neckline and arms. I should have sewn the lace on before I did this, but hey ho.

My mum, the artist, is working with wire a lot at the moment, so there are shards and reels of metal all over the house. I wove it together (at the expense of my fingers) to create a square mesh-like contraption. I then bound four chopsticks to each of the four corners of the "bed" with thick thread. I could have bound it with metal, but I was scratched up enough as it was.

I threaded some lace through the wire mesh, to create a border, before making a few mattresses (small quilts with thick batting) and a pillow and quilt-top. Here is her petticoat, another simple cut tunic of two pieces of white fabric, stitched together then a cunningly positioned bow over the accidentally unfinished neckline.

The bed was very fun to make; after attaching the four chopsticks, I wound some more metal around the top in a square, planning on a boudoir-style drapery. Instead, I wound some white embroidery thread between the wires because I had run out of nice fabric to use for the drapery (and the wire wasn't strong enough to hold it all up anyway). I suppose you could attach four more chopsticks at the top for a sturdier canopy.

I went a bit mad with some green thread (wound round each post) and fake flowers and leaves (from Hobbycraft, used for making cards for weddings and such). I decided there wasn't quite enough twee yet so I sewed two bows to the top front posts.

The pillow, you may notice, has unfinished sides and is lumpy as all hell. This is because the aforementioned running out of stuffing, so I stuffed it with teeny fabric remnants I had destined for the bin. Again, some more tactful use of bows to hide the worst of it.

This part I really enjoyed, and it was really, really simple. A straight stitch (or running stitch) in a lovely hand-dyed embroidery thread I had bought from an artist many years before. I love the colour change effect! I finished it off with some sequins because I hadn't sewn right to the end of the quilt top, so it looked a bit scraggly. Well, finish as I started I suppose!

A Simple Patchwork Quilt

A cheeky pose from Jiji! This quilt was made using Moda Charm Packs, speed-pieced together to create a simple patchwork.

Quite a few people think that using pre-made material packs like Jelly Rolls, Charm Packs or Layer Cakes is 'cheating', but as my mum says, there is no such thing as the quilt police!

And if they are, they are far too squishy and cuddly to be a real threat, eh?

These pre-cut fabric shapes (squares and strips) are arranged into groups of similar or complimentary colours and designs, usually from a collection by an artist.

This means that, for your first quilt, or if you're wanting to get stuck right in without buying an entire stash of fabric, these make for a quick, easy piece together.

I like Moda because they are quality fabrics in a range of nice designs.

Click here to go to Moda Shop Online!

They can also be used for more complex quilts, and there are hundreds of books on patterns to use especially with these Packs.

I will hopefully do a tutorial on speed-piecing for patchwork, because it is really simple and really hard to mess up!

(I managed it. You'll see the lines do not match up in a perfect geometric way. Also I got muddled as to where I had put each colour block so none of it matches my original design!)

First Post Nerves

Hi there,

This is the start of something (hopefully) pretty alright. At the very least, it's great fun to share stuff with friends without having to scroll through hundreds of holiday snaps to find that one poorly-lit photo of a quilt or book (I am not a very accomplished photographer!)

After posting a few backlog projects done over the years, I'll try and start doing some tutorials and step-by-step guides to bits and bobs. Mostly the point of this is to show that you don't have to be Martha Stewart to get a good go at art and craft!

So let's have some fun!