Alphabet Chart - DONE!

I bet you are all very relieved to see this blog post title - that's it, you'll never have to read about this damn project again!  This is number 14. -  Alphabet chart on the list.  In the comments some have you have called it a quilt, others a book and I realised I'd never actually explained.  It's neither.  It is to be hung on a wall, like the poster versions most kids have.  Want to see it?

I've just realised I never measured it.  Well I must have to cut the interfacing and backing fabric, but I didn't write it down.  Each square was 6", I sewed with a 1/4" seam allowance, making each square 5.5" x 6 across = 33" wide, and 5 tall = 27.5" high.

I took some closer up photos as it's hard to see on the top photo where I was standing on a sofa!

Have you got a favourite square?  Any letters where you would have done a different image?  Do you know what the orange blob is yet Samantha?

I like the rabbit best, but then you already knew that.

I kind of wish I'd kept track of how many hours I put into this project, it was a lot, I can tell you that.  I started it about 3 years ago!

Here it is without the letters added on.  I was also sewing up a little drawstring bag to keep the letters in and, would you believe it, I got it wrong.  I completely messed it up and haven't had a chance to remake it.  It's my goddaughter's birthday on Saturday and I'm not sure when I'm seeing her but I might not have time to make a new one!

Oh, almost forgot!  I twin-needled!  Oh yeah baby.  It's actually really easy, just like normal sewing.  I used pink and yellow threads with white in the bobbin.

I backed it with this very appropriate fabric that I bought about 3 years ago for this alphabet chart and have been sitting on every since.  Phew, I'm exhausted, pass the coffee someone!


Related Posts

A, B, C, D, E, F and G
H and I
K, L and M
J
P, R, S, U
T, Y, Z
X and N
O and W
V and Q

And Sew On - rotary cutter

It's now September and I've just finished July's block for the And Sew On BOM, hosted by Kristy at Quiet Play.  I actually made this block in August and intended to make August's block but had forgotten to print it out and my printer, along with my computer, is currently residing under half a ton of brick dust (oh! the building work is finished!  I must remember to post some photos... still got the kitchen to install though so I'm still living like a student and the house is still a mess).  So I made July's block first.

Ta dah!

No failures.  I'm sorry, I know that makes me a very boring blogger.  Like Kristy, I intend to do all the hand sewing at the end, embroidering details like the lines on the cutting mat (the green square above).

This involved a lot of tiny pieces, but that's fine, I quite like that.  It's big angles I can't do!  I found this block easier than the first block.

Oh yes, one slight oops with a seam allowance.  I just added an extra bit in.  It will mostly disappear in the seam allowance of the finished hanging anyway and if anyone does notice and point it out I'll just call them a loser and bury them in brick dust.

I'm halfway through August's block, just got to get some time to sew, then Septembers incredibly complex block and then the finished "thing"!  Don't get too excited ladies, you know what I'm like at finishing stuff... it'll be on next years WIP list!


Related posts

block 1 - Measure Twice
block 2 - disaster
block 2 - You little ripper

block 3 - Spoolin' Around
block 4 - Snip It Real Good
block 5 - All About The Iron
block 6 - A Stitch in Time

The last of the squares

I have finally finished all the applique on the alphabet chart squares!  

I'm not going to make you guess as I know it's a hard game!  This is V for vase.  Hopefully it will be more obvious which is which when it's all stitched together in alphabetical order!  My original plan was to embroider daisies, but I decided the buttons were more in keeping with the rest of the chart.

This is Q, that's meant to be a quilt.  I started off doing a Queen but her face was ridiculous.  I threw her away and then realised I couldn't find the rest of the 6" squares I'd been using for this chart so the style of the backing fabric is a bit different for this one.

More letters were made... see, that one that someone thought was an orange blob is actually the number 9!

I really quite like that ladybird.  The matching fabric on the kite square and the K was an accident...

The end is just so close...



Related Posts

A, B, C, D, E, F and G
H and I
K, L and M
J
P, R, S, U
T, Y, Z
X and N
O and W

Hardanger August

Ooops, it seems I completely forgot to post!  I thought I'd scheduled enough posts to get me through the week but apparently not.

First of all, massive apology to all the people who've left me comments or emailed me.  Besides the full inbox, I also discovered this morning that a lot of emails I'd sent hadn't actually left my outbox and I can't make them send now.  So sorry if you thought I was ignoring you.

This is August from Mabel Figworthy's Fancies Song of the Weather SAL.  I actually got this finished in August, so was all caught up... but now it's September and I'm not caught up any more.

I really enjoyed this one, except for the picots.  You can see my attempt at picots in the middle cutwork square above.  Unfortunately, when I was stitching this I didn't have access to a computer, couldn't get to the SAL blog post to see the tutorial and couldn't get to my Hardanger reference books due to the building work.  I wung it.  I definitely got it wrong!

Here's July and August together, but upside down I now note!  I took these pictures on my phone as the camera is better than my normal camera which always gives white a blue tint.  I'll try to remember to do that for each month, or whenever I'm photographing something white.  No promises, my memory is appalling.  I actually wonder if I was born without a short-term memory at all, though that would make me forget that I was typing halfway through a

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January and February

March 

April
May
June
July

christmas card book and giveaway wins

Earlier in the year, the lovely Jillayne from A Fine Seam made a very generous offer to her readers.  In exchange for 6 Christmas cards, she would make us a Christmas art journal.  How could I pass up being the recipient of a handmade gift from someone so talented?  

I made my cards from strips of fabric sewn with the world's most irritating metallic thread.  They took me hours due to that damn silver machine thread!  I added some sparkly stickers and holographic card.

Last week I collected the parcel from my PO Box (my parents' house).  I was so excited I had to open it there and then, so no photos of how beautifully it was wrapped, but it was wrapped in an old pattern with raffia and a hand-stamped tag.  Want to see how beautiful it is?

The outside is fabric wrapped and closed with a lovely satin ribbon bow.

The spine features button clusters, look at those buttons!

Inside the pages are cards from the other participants.  This one is all stitched and so was loose in the book, it was made by Susan from Suze Tats.

The leaves (not sure if that's the correct term) are made up of a mixture of patterned and textured pages and all different sizes to allow me to add onto the book sideways so as not to add bulk.

This card is from Karen of Todolwen (sorry, no blog address, if anyone happens to know it, I'll add a link.

This gorgeous French card was made by Freda of Sew What's New.

This beauty is from Diane Kelsey of Diane Hobbit (sorry, again no link).

And last but not least is a card from Marj Talbot who does not have a blog.

Ladies who sent in the cards, thank you for your participation.  Jillayne, thank you for a wonderful gift which will be treasured.

Last week was a lucky week (besides the whole house falling down thing), I also won a giveaway held by Lucy at Charm About You.  I've won a dress pattern!  I'll show you when it arrives.  Thanks Lucy.

I then found out I'd won another giveaway, this time at Clover and Violet, it's a Subscription to Hop, Skip & Jump Block of the Month from Sew Lux Fabric & Gifts.  Thanks ladies!

Now if I could just get some house-shaped luck...

house update

I thought you might like an update on the whole house falling down business.  Today is the start of the third week in what was originally a 2-week job before we found another wall falling down.  Of course, when the builders have finished, the plaster, electrician and plumber come in and my Uncle will carry on with the kitchen refit that was aborted in April...  I can almost taste the real food from a real oven...

We came back from our holiday to find that someone had stolen part of our house.  I took the picture in the dining room, looking into the kitchen.

On the left is the basement stairs, the right is the dining room.  Mr CA likes it like this, all open plan and wanted to keep it.  Unfortunately that would also mean keeping those steel pillars which are holding the rest of the house up.  I said no.  Understandably.

Last week they got working in earnest.  This is the dining room/cellar wall, the one they discovered was falling down whilst we were on holiday.

You can see the difference between old, Victorian bricks and modern ones.

Whilst trying to replace the lintel that ran across the doorways leading to the dining room and the cellar from the kitchen, the builders discovered that the lintel also holds up the doorways in my neighbour's house.  That is not normal at all.  A new plan had to be made and the cellar entrance is being bricked up and the doorway moving to the dining room. The kitchen is the smallest room in the house so that's actually quite good news.

This is what I came home to on Friday!  It's starting to look like a house again.  Despite the bare brick walls, the two remaining steel props, the plastic sheeting nailed to the ceiling and the brick dust everywhere.  I'll be glad when this is over.

starting on the letters

Good morning ladies, I hope you are all having a lovely evening.  I've wiped brick dust off a patch of sofa and spent some quality time beading and also spent some time in my sewing room.  The alphabet chart is coming along nicely.

I finished embroidering O, which is my owl from Mary Englebright's Stitched So Cute.

And I also finished W which I'm quite proud of.  It's a whale in case you can't tell.

It was time to do some of the letters, even though there were 2 more letters to go.  I drew some guidelines and wrote some chunky letters.  The second one on the top line is an upside down G by the way, not a Russian B, and the last but one on the bottom row is the Q.

After going over the outlines with a Sharpie, I could turn the letters over and trace them onto my Heat n Bond.  After experimenting, I decided I didn't want to machine stitch them, I would have lost the will to live by C, so I used the super sticky stuff that you can't sew through.

After roughly cutting round the letters, I chose felt and fabric for each letter that corresponded with the colours used in the square.

The Heat n Bond was ironed onto the back of the fabric, cut out neatly and ironed onto the felt, using a pressing cloth.  I then cut another piece of felt the same size and sewed the soft part of some velcro on the back.

I then cut another piece of Heat n Bond, fused the two layers together and cut round them.  See what I did with the A?  Would you believe that out of 26 letters I only made that mistake twice?  Both times it was the A!

I then gauged where on the square I'd like the letter and sewed on some velcro.

Coming along nicely... good job, I've only got 13 days left before the little lady's birthday!

Related posts

A, B, C, D, E, F and G
H and I
K, L and M
J
P, R, S, U
T, Y, Z
X and N