Sewing from Fabric samples

Some time ago I received a message from one of my nieces. At her workplace they were about to throw away some older fabric samples, and she wondered if I could make use of some of them.

I happily accepted to take everything she got, and here is the lot, released from the books and cards they were fastened to. They were mostly curtains and upholstery fabrics, which are heavier than ordinary quilting fabrics, and with lots of interesting textures.

I chose this two tone twill weave to start with. After scrubbing away the paper backing, I cut off all the pinked edges, and made sure all the rectangles were exactly the same size. Then I separated the sample pieces into piles of dark, medium and light, and one pile with pieces that had a bit more colours in them than the beiges and greys which dominated the sample collection.

I arranged the three different piles in a 3 by 4 grid, and also put some of the coloured patches into the layout. The samples measured 12 by 16 cm, so each group layout ended up as a 48 cm square.

I drew a full scale simple pattern: a large circle touching the edges, with a smaller circle inside, then a large pie shape that intersected the two circles. Then I drew the mirrored pattern on three pieces of paper backed fusible web. I also drew the 3 by 4 grid, and the outer edges.

I turned the diffferent groups of samples upside down, and ironed the fusible web to the back side of the samples, taking care to line up the grid lines exactly between the patches.

I cut along the pattern lines, and then turned the pieces right side up, keeping the same groups for now.

Then I had some fun shifting the different pattern pieces from one group to another. I played around for a while till I was satisfied with the effect.

Then I removed the paper from the back of the pattern pieces and placed each group onto a fabric backing, taking care to line up the grid and pattern lines. Then they were ironed to the backing, and I could sew the patches down with a double zigzag stitch, using a dark grey thread.

I decided to make the panels into three cushions. The samples came with one fairly large piece in one of the beige colourways, so I used that to make zippered backings for the cushions.

And here they are, resting on the sofa.

🙂

Eldrid

Memories coming together

Three years ago, just before the Covid19 pandemic hit, we were on holiday in Morocco. While staying mainly on the coast, we also took an inland trip all the way to Tinghir at the outskirts of the Sahara desert.

We visited the impressive Todra Gorge just north of the town, and while there, husband was approched by a small Amazigh (Berber) boy, who gave him a horse made from a palm leaf, shown in the picture below. Apparently, this is something most children there know how to do, – also in the likeness of other animals.

Husband thought it was cute, so he put it inside a book, and it came home with us. I did not quite know what to do with it, so it stayed pinned to one of my design boards until this autumn.

On our previous trips to Morocco I had noticed all the beautiful carpets displayed everywhere, both outside in the streets and in shops, and also used in and outside many hotels, – and this time I had more or less decided that I wanted to take one home with me. The problem would be to choose just one, as they are all beautiful, each in their own way.

So on route from Tinghir back to the coast we made a stop at Association Iklan in the small village of Talouste, close to Tazenakht, some distance southwest of Ouarzazate. It is a cooperative where local Amazigh (Berber) women can sell their carpets. ( Here is an interesting blog post with more information on the cooperative, posted by a travel company)

One of the members of the cooperative, a sweet older lady, demonstrated how they spun the yarn using a drop spindle, and how to weave the carpet on an upright loom. We were also showed the various plants that were traditionally used for dyeing the yarn in different colours.

Then it was on to the shop to choose a carpet. There was a lot to choose from.

We were served mint tea, sweets and nuts while contemplating our choices.

I finally chose the one below.

I wonder if I was drawn to this one because of my patchwork background. Anyway, it has lovely warm colours, and I never tire of looking at and studying all the different triangles, – each with their onw smaller pattern inside, – and also how they line up, and the overall layout of the design.

So this autumn I decided to make a small quilt inspired by this carpet, and use it as a background for the plaited horse that my husband got.

I chose some warm, red colours, and made four borders with equilateral triangles in some of the other colourways found in the carpet. I deliberately chose patterned fabric to reflect the patterned triangles of the carpet. It is barely quilted, – just to hold the layers together, as I wanted to put it in a frame.

Here it is in the frame (hard to avoid the reflections in the glass). The size is 40×40 cm.

The plaited palm leaf horse finally got a home, and we are reminded of our interesting and exciting trip every time we look at it.

🙂 Eldrid

Sewing Machine Still Running

It has been some time since new projects were posted on here, but I can assure you that my sewing machine is still active, although not quite as active as in previous years.

About a year ago I finished my last commissioned piece, and decided not to take on any more commissions in the future, but to only sew according to my own whims.

The first thing I needed to do, was to let the machine run freely, – to just happily sew along without too much planning. That is what Log Cabin is for, in my opinion: Cut lots of strips in happy colours, light and dark, and just sew along. This was at the end of winter, and the Covid19 pandemic had just sent us all indoors, – so I craved some bright, sunny colours to work with.

I had planned and cut fabric for a large quilt for a double bed, but decided I did not need such a large quilt after all, and went for a single bed quilt instead. Then I suddenly had a lot of leftover blocks, so I could also make a throw.

And would you know, there were still lots of fabric strips left, so I could throw some solid black into the mix and make a Roman Stripes quilt. This one can go on a single bed too.

As we all know, scraps tend to multiply, so I had still lots of leftovers. This time around they will go into some scrappy blocks. By now I have enough for another throw, if I set them with sashings in between.

The finished quilts have all been quilted by Sølvi Quiltestudio. At the same time I also sent her a very old top, started some time in the early nineties. It is log cabin blocks sewn on a foundation, and I had planned to hand quilt it (silly me).  It was all basted and I had quilted perhaps a fifth of the surface before it was put away. I have long since realized that I would never finish the hand quilting, so I ripped it all out, and sent it to be longarmed along with the others.

Now it is finished, and I am very satisfied with that.

🙂

Eldrid

 

Winter Sewing

In between travelling, family obligations, and other stuff, some sewing is still happening in this house. These past months have been dedicated to finishing some UFOs (UnFinished Objects).

I had finally sent off three “leaders and enders” tops to be long arm quilted by Sølvis Quiltestudio, but when they arrived back this autumn, they went into a pile, waiting for me to tackle the bindings.

I finally got on top of the task this January. Sewing the first seam by machine does not take long once I get started, and putting the binding on three quilts at once was very effective, – it was done in almost no time at all.

However, sewing the binding to the back by hand is a much longer process. I enjoy doing this, but have to do it in short intervals because of shoulder pain. The quilt sits right beside my comfy chair so I can pick it up and do a few stitches whenever I feel like it.

I was so lucky as to get this retro combined pincushion and spool holder as a Christmas gift from a delightful young neighbour girl. I had been looking forward to using it, and it was perfect to sit on the table for such long term on-and-off sewing.

Finally, all three quilts are finished.

In between, I have also been making some tote bags. Like many quilters, I have aquired lots of fabric over the years, so there is no shortage of material for such projects. It feels good to put it to some use.

Most of the bags have been given away to charities and as gifts, but I kept a couple to use for shopping instead of the usual plastic bags.

🙂

Eldrid

Heart Shaped Bag

Youngest grandson wanted to make a bag as a birthday present for his mom. He was very determined that it should be shaped like a heart, and it had to be red. Before he came to visit, I made sure I had some red  fabric available, plus iron on vliseline, and some sturdy woven ribbons for the handles.

We discussed various heart shapes, and decided that a shape with a rounded “bottom” would work better for a bag than one with a pointed “bottom”.

Drawing a heart pattern is easy. Just fold a paper in half, and draw half of the heart shape the size you want, then cut out.

The next thing we did was to cut two heart shapes out of vliseline.

We ironed the two vliseline shapes on to the wrong side of the red fabric and cut out.

I insisted that the bag should be lined. He was a bit sceptical as he had never made a lined bag before, but I explained that it would be easier to sew a lining than to fold and hem the rounded edges, so he went along. We chose a lining with a pattern of book ends. He thought it would fit very well as his mom loves books and works in a library.

Then he had quite a job zig-zagging the edges, all the way around each shape.

Then we pinned the outer shapes, and tried the placement of the handles for best balance. We wanted the heart shape to show also when carrying the bag, and found that if placed too far out, the bag would “collapse” the middle part, and if placed too far towards the centre, the sides would sag.

We also decided on the size of the opening at the top. The opening can be as large as you like, depending on where the side seams start.

We marked where we wanted to start the seams. Then the handles were placed and pinned in position for sewing on the right side of the fabric.

Next the lining was placed on top, right sides together, then pinned along the curved edges and sewn between the marks. Clip the seam allowance, especially in the “valley”. Turn right sides out and stitch the edge from the right side.

Both halves of the bag had to be sewn like this before we could go on.

Next, we had to fold away the lining fabric, place the red fabric parts right sides together, pin and sew the side seams, right up to the marks, or as far as we could manage.

Then we did the same with the lining fabric, – both sides pinned together….

….. except for a short distance of approximately 15 cm near the bottom, as there has to be a small opening so the bag can be turned right sides out after sewing. This was the fun part, – he was very thrilled to see the bag emerge through this small opening. Then we sewed the edges across the side seams, and sewed shut the opening in the lining.

Voila…. bag finished!

Both the maker and the recipient were very happy with the bag. It is a perfect carrier for mom’s knitting projects.

🙂

Eldrid

 

Autumn Bargello

This quilt was part of an online class I taught a few years ago about how to make Bargello quilts. After the classes stopped, there has been some demand for a pattern for this quilt, and now I have finally taken the time to edit the class so it fit into a pdf-document.

It is available for purchase through my website.

 

🙂

Eldrid

Rendezvous in Røros

27 years ago my family and I visited Røros during a holiday trip.

In the museum there was an exhibition of textile art, and among them were several works by artist Ela Monsen.

 

I was so impressed by her work at the time that I took several photos, using a cheap camera I had at that time, – and also using the expensive film and paper copies of that time. I wanted to remember what I saw.

 

The wall hangings were hung in a room with dark drapes on the walls, and even though my small flash light did its meager best, the photos were only so-so, – even by my then standards. But they were recognizable.

A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I visited Røros again, and we stayed at Røros hotel. In the lobby, I was pleasantly surprised to see the wall hanging with the dancing couple hanging on the wall.

 

Of course I recognized it at once, and was happy to be able to see it in better light conditions, and to be able to study the details. Of course I did not think twice about taking lots of photos, – these days photos are cheap.

The next morning I was again pleasantly surprised to see another of her works in the dining room:

 

This rendition of a wedding feast is the one I thought most impressive back in 1990, so I was very happy to be able to study it in closer detail. It has not lost its impact since then.

Ela Monsen died in 1978, so these two hangings were made just one and two years before her passing. Luckily, some of her works hang in public places so we can continue enjoying them.

🙂

Eldrid

 

 

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Bags

I have been on a roll lately, making bags.

I was inspired by a super easy tutorial on Pink Penguin’s blog, and suddenly I had made seven small bags. Six of them can be seen below, – I lengthened the handles a bit, and changed the shape of the bottom compared to the original.

Four of them have been sold or given away already.

 

Then I wanted to try computer printing on linen, and made a couple of designs  that fitted on a large sheet. The result can be seen below. I like longer handles so I can carry the bag on my shoulder, even if the bag itself is not very large. The black fabric is furniture suede, the others are linen and cotton.

The Norwegian text says: “If only the best bird were allowed to sing, the woods will become very quiet”, and: “Sing with the beak you have got”

🙂

Eldrid

Lagre

Endearments to History

Summer can be a hectic period with travelling, visiting family, have family visitors, minding the grandchildren, (a favourite occupation), and with everything else that needs to be done around the houses and gardens. It is also the time of year when you can expect to find exciting stuff in many of the smaller galleries in the area. I finally got around to visiting the closest one, Kulturhuset “Heimen”, and was blown away with their current exhibition, which is in its last week, by the way.

 

 

I was especially taken by the collection of  works by textile artist Edith Bentdal Skjeggestad, which she has called “Endearments to History”.

 

 

Ms Skjeggestad has used lots of old lace, fragments of garments, table linen fabric and towels, and arranged the pieces so you get the illusion of a dress bodice or blouse, focusing on the area closest around the neck.

 

 

She has made use of many embroidery techniques to make each unique piece into a visual feast, with lots of details to study and admire. Just look at that fabulous smocked piece, for instance.

 

 

I was impressed by the embroidery made with thin, black thread. It gave the impression of a patterned fabric as well as a textured background, depending on the stitches.

 

 

The collages were set in deep, white, glass fronted frames, and bore titles such as “Flirt”, “Romance”, “Sadness”, “Nostalgia”, and “Longing”, all with lots of embellishments.

 

 

Most were definitely “female”, but there were also a few pieces like the one above, called “Wonderboy, white collar”. It made me almost feel sorry for the menfolk who had to dress so simply and monotonously, compared to all the beautiful lace, embroidery and pearls shown on the other pieces.

 

 

There was also a project called “The Embroideress’ Secrets”, which consisted of a large group of smaller, deep frames, or boxes. In these frames were shown small collages of different sewing equipment and small, exquisite, examples of handmade items connected with the different equipments. The reflections in the glass made it a bit difficult to photograph, but below are a few of the boxes:

 

 

Again, here were lots of details to study. I especially liked the small Russian doll showed with the red embroidery.

 

 

There are also works by other artists exhibited in the gallery, like these prints by Jertrud Eikås Eide and ceramics by Anne Lise Aarset. The sculptures by Aase Botnmark in the window are in this gallery on a permanent basis.

 

 

But the other exhibitions will be taken down this weekend. Just a few days left. Hurry if you want to see it.

🙂

Eldrid

 

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The Fantastic Seam Ripper

Grandson has finished his very colourful shirt, which has been in the works on and off for some months now. Last of all he sewed the button holes for the buttons.

Then he discovered what a wonderful instrument the seam ripper can be. It sheared open the button holes soooo easily. This was real fun.

A few minutes later, our test patch looked like this:

Too much fun to stop. Luckily, we have no shortage of fabric scraps to serve as test patches in this house.

🙂

Eldrid