Patchwork Cushion Day Two

I know it seems like Day Two has come around quickly but worry not.  Day One was Saturday and Day Two was Sunday. I finished the patchwork  too late to take a photo so here is one I took this morning before I did any more to it.

I have another strip ready to add and then I need to think about the borders and backing and indeed whether it is big enough.


I do like this but next time I am going to use some brighter fabrics.

Patchwork Cushion - Day One

On Saturdays the girl has drama club so we bus down and whilst she has her club I enjoy 2 hours of me time which involves window shopping, real shopping, tea or coffee and a sit down in the library.

I love the library in Palmerston Road and I didn't think I was going to.  It moved into the old Woolworth's shop and it has a cafe and it is loud.  Not horrendously loud but a rather nice noise.  It made me realise that people talking, sometimes a baby club singing, ladies having a chat in the cafe is all a perfectly acceptable background noise.  In libraries where everything is dead quiet then someone speaking comes as a shock.  But in a library where there is already a level of noise, it doesn't. So I can sit in a chair with a coffee and happily read my book.

This Saturday was the first Saturday of the month and it is when Love Southsea hold a market with a mixture of stalls including lots of handmade.  It was also a Saturday when I was a bit skint so I will be popping along next time with more cash.  However poor I was I still seemed to squeeze some money out of my purse for some fabric. And I did.  I bought a few pieces including these three which I knew I was going to use in patchwork.

 I have been doing some patchwork with a couple of children at work which made me realise how much I fancied having another go myself. I have never used a sewing machine for patchwork as I don't really know how.  But I shall one day. Meanwhile I do enjoy hand sewing and patchwork is a great project to do in odd times and to take to the cafe with me next time I go.


I never knew until this weekend that this type of patchwork was called English paper piecing.  It is the only patchwork I ever ever done and I think I was taught it as a child at school.







It is an addictive craft and I kept sewing until very late (plus I spent a while on Pinterest compiling a Patchwork Board). 

 So here is what I have finished at the end of Day One.

'Finished' Rug and How Handmade can Reach Out Across the Years

My daughter said she like the rug and can I sew her name in the middle.  Well I have to admit that I cheated and glued her name, using the remainder of the yarn I had made.

I was telling some people on the wonderful UK thread on etsy that I inhabit, and one rather clever chap said that I can always add to it as she grows.  What a good idea!  As she grows out of her pyjama's I can add more rows. So it becomes a little story about her.

I was reading, this morning, a blog that I love and I urge, simply urge, you to go and have a look here. This particular post on Indietutes blog is about how she is mending a patchwork quilt that her children's grandmother made.

I love the idea that handmade treasures pass down the generations, and even get added to over the years.

The children at my work have been asked what they want to sew next and a couple have suggested patchwork.  I learnt patchwork at about 9 or 10 and it is the only patchwork I have ever done - by hand. I do not even know how to do it using a machine, although it is about time I learnt.

So I think I will look for a simple pattern and then try and find some cheap cotton fabric for them to use.  If you have any going spare (and free) then please let me know.

Do you have a handmade object that has come down from other generations?   I still have the cardigan my nanny knitted me. Too small for me, too small for Mary. But it is there in my wardrobe.  

Patchwork Throw

I found some fabric I had stored away in my wardrobe. It is perfect for my current needs. I have decided to start making a patchwork throw for our couch. It will be handmade i.e no sewing machine (but of course I might change my mind!). I was going to do octagons as I have an octagon template but decided it was too hard so it is nice easy squares for me.

I have posted photos of the very beginning and hopefully you will be able to see the progress week by week. This was a few days ago and already I am a little further on.

My mum has given me some lovely remnants that she bought from Allders (when they existed). They are going to be made into something sumptuous.

Also I went to a shop that sells curtain material and bought lots of remnants for a very good price.

So I have a very nice stash of fabric but I still want to buy some fat squares from Etsy. Lovely Japanese material.