First Quilt Finish of 2014

Taking inspiration from Textile Ranger who recently posted her first finish for 2014, here’s mine. I just managed to get this log cabin quilt done (and posted here) within the first quarter of the calendar year. Doesn’t that sound like an office worker talking?

Measurements: 50 by 50 inches

This time the centre ‘hearths’ are a mellow orange colour and I chose a binding of a darker orange to continue that theme. The label still needs to be attached but other than that, I’m done.

It’s the first quilt I’ve made where I haven’t pre-washed the batting and I’ll be interested to see how it responds to washing. But first, I plan to use it a bit.

Fibre and Fabric in Devonport, New Zealand

We found two fibre and fabric related destinations in the picturesque suburb of Devonport today.

The old Post Office

Devonport is a short ferry ride from downtown Auckland. Or you can drive across the Auckland Harbour bridge which was opened in May 1959. The bridge quickly proved to have insufficient capacity so lanes were added to the outside of the main structure. The additional lanes were sourced in Japan and at the time were referred to as ‘the Nippon clip on.’ It sounds vaguely racist these days but I feel obliged to share the story.

Wild and Wooly Yarns

Wild and Wooly Yarns describe themselves as a wicked and deliciously decadent wool store. It’s located in the charming old Post Office building which has wonderful wooden floors. The stock seemed to be aimed at knitters and it did, indeed, look appealing, though for knitters, not weavers.

Cushla’s Village Fabrics also has a shop in Devonport. We had previously visited their Waihi store, which was located in a traditional New Zealand villa.

Cushla’s Village Fabrics, Devonport

Cushla’s in Devonport was a more traditional shop in a shopping centre but had the same excellent range of quilting fabrics, lots of kits and Kiwiana. Cushla’s must be doing well. They have just opened a third store in Mapua, near Nelson, in the South Island. Good on them.

Basket Weaving

No, I’m really not planning to take up basket weaving but I couldn’t pass on the opportunity to buy Canework by Charles Compton, de-accessioned from the Handweaving and Spinning Guild of Victoria’s library and on sale at their textile bazaar, held this morning.

The photo shows my purchases from that sale – an inkle loom and shuttle, one roll of cotton yarn and two of linen (both from Sweden) and some ratchet wheels for that day we decide to build our own loom.

I got to chat with some guild members I hadn’t met before and even swapped knot techniques with one of the senior members, who was pointed out to me as the inkle loom expert. This delightful lady was of retirement age and willing to share and enthusiastic about learning. Once she explained to me that the inkle loom warp is a continuous circle and that I need to thread alternate warp ends through the heddles, it all fell into place. I did take the opportunity to borrow a book called Inkle Loom Weaving by Frances B. Smith from the guild library as a reference though. The guild charges members 50 cents per book borrowed which is something I’ve never come across before. Perhaps the charge is to fund the library’s accession program. I’d love to know.

The knot technique I taught the lady was an English knot or fisherman’s knot, one I’ve had to do a few times lately after messing up my most recent warp so badly that all I could do was cut it, sort it out and retie it over the warp rod. That will be a blog post for another day, but the lesson learned is that two crosses are NOT better than one.

Meanwhile I’m stash busting with a log cabin quilt. I’m calling it a warm hearted log cabin because it has larger central squares than my previous log cabin. This setting is called barn raising.

Barn Raising

I decided on a log cabin because I wanted something to do where the piecing would just flow without too much thinking or fiddling about. Work is busy at the moment and I just wanted to be able to cut and sew without running back and forth to the ironing board or fiddling with triangles.

I went to Generations Quilt Patterns to look at what they had to say about layouts. They had advice on how to make sure no two log cabin blocks abut each other with the same fabric. I din’t want to be that particular. It seems to go against the spirit of a scrap quilt. I just tried to make sure I mixed things up a bit as I went.

Red & White MYO Charm Quilt Finished

Started late in 2012 and painstakingly pieced and finally finished.

The dimensions are roughly 110cm by 120cm. I wanted to quilt it myself about a quarter inch from each seam line but I realised that would require more time than I had available. My professional quilter expressed a preference for an edge to edge design because it was easier for her to execute. I regret agreeing to that as I feel my design vision wasn’t delivered. I like this quilt, but I don’t love it as much as I was hoping/planning to.

The batting is Quilters Dream Poly (throw sized) in mid loft which was quite inexpensive and can be quilted as far as 12 inches apart. It will withstand lots of washing and doesn’t require pre-washing but I find it little stiff. So far I have not found a polyester batting that drapes in the way I want it to, ie like cotton batting. I have a packet of low loft Quilters Dream Poly ready for a jelly roll quilt that is yet to be started and I’ll be interested to see how that compares.

Note the quilt stand in this last photo. It’s my brand new (to me) Druva four shaft floor loom and it came home yesterday.