Category Archives: Home sewing

Foxes Quilt

Fox quilt

I finished this big project last month but only just got around to taking photos, as it was a housewarming/birthday gift for my little sister. It was also my first quilt, and I jumped into the deep end by designing it myself too. Oh, and I started it with about three weeks to go before her birthday. I never learn…

Fox quilt
Fox quilt

She’s really into foxes, so I decided to make her a foxy quilt to match all her other fox paraphernalia and the colour scheme of her new flat’s living room. (We made that fox cushion above together, using dashwood studio fabric). It’s totally not perfect at all but I’m still really happy with how it came out, and my sister loves it which is the main thing. Nerdy quilting process post incoming…

Fox quilt

This was my first real foray into patchwork and quilting, besides a cushion class at The Make Lounge years ago (which is still pride of place on my sofa) and my recent sewing machine cover. I had some invaluable email advice from my quilt guru Kate before getting started.

Fox quilt

She suggested I use Thangles to make all my HSTs (half-square triangles), which were SUCH a timesaver. You just need to cut your fabric into strips, pin on the paper template, stitch and cut where marked, press flat then pull off the easy-tear paper. I used the 3″ Thangles (they come in 1 – 6″ sizes) – you cut the strips a half-inch wider to end up with a final seamed square of your chosen size, keeping fiddly maths and measuring to a minimum. My final quilt is 36″ x 48″ (12 x 16 blocks), which I think is a nice petite size for a throw/lap quilt and was manageable for a first quilting project. Nb. I think it’s best to request skinny rather than fat quarters if you’re using Thangles, so that you can run the full width of the fabric with your strips. You can fit about 24 3″ HSTs into a skinny quarter.

Fox quilt

Working methodically, setting up a strip at a time and working production line style, it was really quick to make up all the squares I needed for my design. I did a strip here and there on my working at home days, in between emails and so on (the joys/perils of having a joint home office and sewing room). It only took two days of part-time stitching to get all the basic HSTs made and another two to sew them all up into my quilt top.

Fox quilt

I put the fox head blocks together first, edging them all round with a half-width strip of my backing fabric to make the total width of the quilt 12 blocks. Then I sewed the rest of the design together in horizontal strips, attaching each to the quilt as I went to avoid getting muddled. I used my new 1/4″ edge stitching foot to sew all the squares together, which is a pretty essential bit of kit for quilting I’d say. It’s got a groove on the side meaning your stitching stays nicely aligned an exact 1/4″ from the edge.

Fox quilt

My points are mostly pretty accurate for a first go…

Fox quilt

… some miss the the mark a bit though!

Fox quilt
Fox quilt

Final step is the assembly and quilting part, which was even more nerve-jangling than getting the top made. I figured out my quilting stitch pattern ahead of time in Illustrator, laid out the layers and used safety pins to tack them together. The most annoying bit was manoeuvring the quilt through my machine and pivoting around. My machine’s quite small, as is my workspace, so I was sending things flying at every turn. It was quite a physical workout! I can’t imagine making a quilt any larger than this without going insane.

Fox quilt

The backing is a plain charcoal grey flannel which is soft and snuggly. I was running out of time to finish near the end, so did a ‘cheat’ binding method – just folding the backing over to the front and topstitching – using this tutorial. It was really quick and looks quite neat. There’s a world of excellent quilting tutes out there on blogs which I’m very grateful for!

fox quilt pattern

If you’re interested, here’s my quilt top design in full. You’re welcome to use it, I’d love to see more foxy quilts so please share if you do. The fox block would make an adorable cushion on its own, too.

fox quilt patterns

Here are some of my rejected designs. Hello, can you tell I’m a graphic designer? This part was most definitely my jam: I found it amazing how many designs you can come up with just using HSTs. I dithered for ages about what design to do in the middle but decided on a centred pattern rather than a repeat like the chevrons, which were my original choice. I thought it worked best to have something symmetrical as the foxes on each end are mirrored. The good thing is I have lots of designs for other quilts now – I’m sure there will be more!

Fox quilt
Fox quilt

Spot the non-deliberate error: one fox’s face is upside down to all the others! Doh.

Here are all the fabrics I used (I have quite a bit of most leftover)
1m Essex Linen in Flax, Robert Kaufman
1/2m Sketch in Orange, Timeless Treasures
1/2m Botanics Line Scratch, Carolyn Friedlander
1/4m Windmarks Mirage, Tule by Leah Duncan
1/4m Dots & Spots in Blue Moon, Cloud 9
1/8m Sketch in Smoke, Timeless Treasures
1.5m Charcoal solid flannel, Robert Kaufman

Fox quilt
Nat's flat

It looks really at home my my sister’s flat, and she loves it which is the main thing. I don’t think anyone can argue that the actual process of sewing a quilt is particularly thrilling, but there is a such a satisfaction in seeing it slowly come together, and the end payoff of a snuggly handmade quilt made to your exact specs is a lovely thing. Plus unlike a garment, it will always fit and be useful! I’m sure it won’t be my last quilt. Back to the design board…

Quilted sewing machine cover with Heal’s fabric

Heal's sewing machine cover
Heal's sewing machine cover

Here’s a little make using some fabric kindly sent to me by Heal’s. This department store institution and window-shopping favourite of mine has just relaunched their fabric department, with designs by Zandra Rhodes, Cressida Bell and Malika Favre amongst more. The fabrics are all sold by the metre as well as ready-made into soft furnishings and accessories to buy; you can see the product range here.

Heal's sewing machine cover

I didn’t have much of each fabric so decided to patchwork them as I thought the prints looked so pretty together, and create a much needed sewing machine cover to keep the dust/cats out, and temptation away while I’m working at home.

Heal's sewing machine cover
Heal's sewing machine cover

I did this by cutting each piece into strips, using the width of my ruler as a guide…

Heal's sewing machine cover
Heal's sewing machine cover

…then sewing all the short ends together to make a long strip…

Heal's sewing machine cover
Heal's sewing machine cover

… then cutting the strip down into eight even pieces and sewing the long ends together.

Heal's sewing machine cover

I used leftover grey flannel for the sides and back, sandwiched with some fluffy wadding I had lying around, and quilted in simple straight lines down the ‘ditches’ between the rows. It felt so soft and snuggly at this stage I considered just making it a tiny useless lap quilt!

Heal's sewing machine cover

Finally I bound the edge and added some ribbon to tie it around my machine. It was good to have a little project to practice patchwork and quilting on, as I’ve just undertaken another quilt project – for a gift, so secret right now.

Heal's sewing machine cover
Heal's sewing machine cover
Thanks, Heal’s, for a bright and pretty new addition to my sewing room! I look forward to popping into store to check out the new fabric collection in person.

Sewing for the home

Sewing non-garment items didn’t really appeal to me when I rekindled my hobby, but I’ve recently found it quite enjoyable and a great way to use up those awkward scraps left over from other projects. There are a few other bonuses: quick gratification, no chance it won’t fit, great to make gifts, a way to use fun prints without worrying about wearability. Here are a few things I’ve made recently.

Make-up bag

A handy make-up bag using a fat quarter of Birch cotton and lined with a scrap of chambray. I used Flossie Teacakes’ tutorial, adding a boxed bottom by stitching across the corners so it sits up nicely. I used this over Christmas as it fits my essentials in perfectly. I especially like the sturdiness given by interfacing the fabric and the pro finish the bound zip ends provide. I’d like to make one in a laminated/oilcloth fabric for taking larger toiletries in too.

Ironing board cover

A much-needed new ironing board cover. Our old one was very sad and stained, so I removed it and used it as template to trace this new one. I overlocked the raw edge and folded it in 1cm to make a channel, through which I threaded thin elastic to keep it taut. Really easy! The fabric’s been in my stash for ages – I bought it in Tokyo in 2009 – so it was good to use it for something where I’ll see it often. The printed lines also come in handy as a guide for pressing up hems. I find ironing a real chore, even for sewing, so this might encourage me to do it with a bit more enthusiasm.

DIY footstool

A footstool/pouffe for our living room. I’m pretty proud of this – would you believe it’s upcycled from a stained old double duvet that I didn’t know how else to get rid of? It’s just rolled up into a sausage shape, padded out with quilt batting, covered in a jersey knit ‘skin’ and finally a cute quilting cotton cover.

DIY footstool

I added a couple of handles to the top for easy moving around, and a pocket to the side for the remote control.

DIY footstool

Considering how it was nearly free and I totally winged the construction I’m pretty pleased with it, as is Small Cat who immediately claimed it for her own. (You just know that if I actually bothered to make her a bed, she wouldn’t go near it.)

destashpins

I’ve got plenty more ideas and tutorials saved on my Destash ideas Pinterest board. Next I’d like to make myself a new shoulder bag with canvas and pleather, and some handy fabric buckets to store my knitting projects. Anyone else enjoy making non-garment projects from time to time?