Wednesday 29 January 2014

Sew Kitschy

After completing the And Sew On BOM last year, I knew I would also join in with Kristy's BOM this year, Sew Kitschy.  Then January came and pretty much went as fast as it had arrived.  I didn't think it was going to happen.  Then, out of the blue, I just did it.  It's quite a simple pattern, perfect for beginner but I wanted to add something more to it.



So I made an economy block for the potholder!  Yep, just the one economy block.  And it has a little birdy sitting on an arm chair.  



And here's my finished block.  Our kitchen has black counters and hob and a black floor, the cabinets are all white and the walls will be when we paint them.  The tiles are multi-coloured so any colour scheme goes, though I'm drawn towards red.  I bought some new oven gloves in Tesco last week which are red gingham with little birdies.  I wanted to piece the oven glove in red gingham but the only one I had was too dark, so I went with this pretty print.  The back ground fabric is black to represent our kitchen counters.

Now I had an issue.  Not the FMQ issue (which I'll come to later), this was when I came to quilt the potholder.  It just wouldn't work, I couldn't sew it.  Then I realised why.  I'd forgotten to remove the paper!! Just from that square.  Surgery was required.



I'd already quilted the background so I couldn't just undo it!  I cut a hole in the back and wrangled the paper out.



So what do you think of the quilting?  I took Trudi's advice and FMQ'd random swirly loops.  I'm sure it looks like a dog's dinner to all your accomplished quilters, but I'm quite chuffed with it.  I had an issue 3/4 of the way through.  I'd just finished quilting, turned it over and it was loop and nest city on the back!  You know what I'd done?  I'd forgotten to put my presser foot down!  I made sure to keep checking after that.  


The potholder and glove are done in straight lines in a grid, just like my real oven gloves.  And that hole I cut in the back?  (not sure why Blogger is forcing me to have this bit of text centred)


I used a small square of fabric and glued hems around the edges, then glued it in place and quilted over it!  It is the back!


I think you can see I have slight tension issues, along with wibbly stitching, but my tension wheel doesn't seem to do anything at all.  I'm convinced it's just there for decoration!


I used what little there was left of the oven glove print for binding, but it was nowhere near enough, so I added in some of the blue star from the economy block.  My binding is a mess.  There was no way I was doing this by hand, my evening sewing is my crewel work at the minute and this is a trivet, so I did it on the machine.


And ripped half of it out as it hadn't caught the binding on the back, and redid it.


And it still looks a mess.  It's staying a mess.   After all, this is a trivet"


This is sitting on our ceramic hob, the perfect place to put hot dishes taken out of the oven.  I asked Mr CA if he knew what it was.  He said "yes, it's to put hot dishes on", so I explained that I wanted to know if he knew what the picture was.  He said "yes, it's a bird or something on a chair."  Oh dear...





17 comments:

Sarah in Stitches said...

It's so cute! I'm sorry you had trouble with it. It still looks a thousand times better than anything I could make!

pennydog said...

Oh well I think you fixed that pretty damn well, and I think the economy block is ingenious. I have some tension issues too but it comes from learning my new machine, and it's impossible to sew with the foot up, hurray! If your wheel isn't doing anything, try rethreading the top thread. On my old machine there was a bit of metal that it was supposed to go to the left of, but it was very easy to put it to the right (like, just as easy), but it ONLY worked at the left of this metal. I had to ring up the retailer thinking it was broken just to find this out....

Celtic Thistle said...

Get you, FMQ'ing and paper piecing like a demon! Think you need to sit Mr CA down and explain to him exactly what kind of responses are required to these important questions!

Sandra :) said...

My husband offers no opinions on my sewing. If I try to get his attention to show him something, his eyes glaze over, then keep sneaking to the TV show he was trying to watch when I demanded his attention :D That's OK though - he offers me Joanns runs on a regular basis so he's definitely a keeper :D

Your trivet story is hysterical! You should have a column in a newspaper - The Trials and Tribulations of a Crafter's Apprentice :D

Janine @ Rainbow Hare said...

I love this! And I think the quilting has turned out perfectly :)

JoJo said...

How did you do those swirlies? All by hand? Or is there a setting on your sewing machine?

Jane said...

Oh, I love your surgery! And the quilting is brilliant, it'll make a great addition to the kitchen

margaret said...

top marks for your perseverance with this project, when things did not go to plan you had an answer and ended up with a complete finished piece, very nice, I have yet to attempt machine quilting!

Unknown said...

Congratulations! It is a fine trivet, and I love the design. I'm a beginner at this quilting lark, so I am well impressed with your curly-swirly quilting! And what a clever solution for the back...thank you for all the photos, warts and all - it's very helpful to see where you made decisions and how you deal with challenges. Chrissie x

Anonymous said...

Your quilting looks great, and well done for solving the problem with the paper.

legato1958 said...

Oh you are a clever girl! What a brilliant idea you have to make it into a hot pad! I love it!
And I love how you solved your "quilting resistance" issue!! I bet you were so excited to get it quilted, that the "remove the paper backing" step just slipped your mind! (I often do things like that, too!)
I did so enjoy this post!
I am doing the Sew Kitschy , too, and need to put my block up.

Susie

heart of charnwood said...

Well i think it looks great, well done, despite very challenging circumstances :o)

Nancy Lee said...

Well, I love it. Thw swirl quilting is awesome. Binding frequently misbehaves unless, well, you know...baste. I also love that it matches your new kitchen. Nicely done, Mrs.

Carrie P. said...

your hot pad is really cute despite leaving the paper in. Easy to do.
I really like your fabrics and your quilting is super.

Kristy @ Quiet Play said...

I love the economy block addition! That is perfect! Shame about the hassles you had with it - but it looks great in the end! And yay for a cute new trivet!

liniecat said...

I agree with Sandra, you should have a page or article in a magazine!
One of the Uk quilting mags has a page at the end written by the quilters ( long suffering ha!!)'husband' which is humorous and not just at his expense lol
Should try and find you an example but if 'he' gets paid for it, then so should you....more fabric spends it could be!
Anyway Im going to try that swirly FMQ it looks fine to me and Ive no right and left hand cordination - seems to me - but I might manage that style!
Okay to prove Im thick, is there a symbolism in having a bird in a bowl on the chair? :) Lyn

Kathleen said...

That is one dang cute idea for the pot holder block!! I'll have to remember it when I finally make my blocks. And thanks for the individual trivet idea too. [see, it pays to wait for others to be done . . .]. I wanted to make these blocks for my daughter as a wall hanging, but I don't think she would use it that way. Individuals trivets though? I can see these getting used often.