I ended up spending about two days this week creating the Trifold Journal that I mentioned in last week's post. One of those projects where I have all the tools, only they are spread across four floors in various craft stashes, so lots of hiking up and down stairs to retrieve paper trimmers, bone folder, bookbinding glue, quilting thread, fabric, applique punches etc. It was quite fun though, I started out only planning a basic folder around a printed journal, but then kept thinking 'I could add a pocket', 'I could add some embellishments' and printing off various things to add to the creation. I am quite pleased with how it has turned out, with all the decorative journal pages printed from the Cosy Cottage digital download, an accordion pocket inside the front cover, a flat pocket on the right hand cover, a dangling charm, a fabric spine, I added pen loops, stocked the pockets with cut out artwork etc. No idea what I am going to do with it now - my handwriting is awful and would instantly desecrate the lovely pages - so currently I am just opening it up and admiring it occasionally.
I finished most of the accessories for the
1:48 scale Betterley quilting shop, and started stocking the shelves which was quite fun. I am gluing everything in, the scale is too small for me to use movable adhesive like tacky wax, if anything fell out it would be gone forever. Even with all the fabric folding to make over 100 fabric bolts and I don't know how many fat quarters, I still only just had enough to fill the shelves. Fingers in photo for scale.
Having finished the vintage pink doiley quilt and getting it off the frame last week, I loaded on a printed panel that I bought at Crib Quilts in Tokyo, in the distinctive style of the designer Masako Wakayama. It's a quilter's map of Tokyo, but using western architecture in her typical Primitive style. It even includes her Crib Quilts shop that I visited. I took the opportunity to try out my 3" clamshell ruler, the first time I have used it for an all-over texture. I had a few tension issues for a while but got them sorted, and overall it has turned out ok and I like it. Not sure if I will turn it into a wallhanging or just use it as a decorative throw, it is in fact crib quilt size. This is a photo straight off the frame, it needs washing, trimming up and binding still.
I made a start on the bookshelf in the dollshouse room, going through all the books and pulling out about 12 or 15 general works that can go to the charity shop (and disturbing a few spiders while I did it).
I finished weaving the colourful table runner, it's currently drying after a wet finish. It's my first really unbalanced weave (unbalanced means the weft is a different thickness than the warp) and I struggled to keep the selvedges tidy but it's turned out ok. Will snap a photo when it's dry and the fringe is trimmed. I picked up some cheap macrame cotton cord at Aldi this week, with the idea that I could weave placemats with it, so that may be my next project.
I tried out a free online two-day quilting summit this week, with a programme of free talks and workshops. The relentless upselling is pretty offputting for this type of event, but some of the talks were good. I was particularly struck by one speaker who was reflecting on going to a quilter's estate sale and seeing all the quilter's fabric for sale cheaply. She spoke to the common issue that I mentioned before, that we save the good fabric because we are afraid of making a mistake with it and wasting it. So we use the 'OK' fabric, or even buy OK fabric, to use instead. She pointed out that we are therefore producing a body of work which does not truly reflect what we love, because we are hanging onto the fabric we love and only using the OK fabric. This is so true, and I think applicable to other hobbies besides quilting. I have been guilty of saving the pretty knitting yarn, or the expensive dollshouse wallpaper, for some future perfect project instead of using it up, and then it sits there for years instead. Other useful talks included tips on photographing quilts with a smartphone, how to use batik fabrics in projects, and finding out about various apps that people are using for managing their quilting projects. Good to be exposed to new things though.
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