Fabric Musings and Memories

Since last weekend, I seem to have found my new lockdown project in the form of this English Paper Piecing quilt which I started a couple of years ago.

Beyond knowing that each shape is a hexagon, I have no idea how it will all turn out. I am not sure if my pattern will be made up of hexagons sewn into flower shapes, or if the colours will be arranged in a rainbow or, most likely, if it will be a random assortment of colours scattered over a pale background. I thought at first that I might be really strict about the palate and style of fabric - and if I was going to buy fabric for a quilt now, I probably would - but the point of this project was always to use up my fabric stash which consists of lots of small pieces. Not enough to make clothes - not even enough to make a cushion cover - but lots of pieces left over from old clothes I cut up or fat quarters I bought for crafting projects or to be hung in an embroidery hoop. 

I think this fabric above is by Nani Iro, and I cannot for the life of me remember where or why I bought it in such a small amount, but it's glorious and my favourite fabric so far in this quilt. I am working with all cotton but in a mixture of weights, from the lightest Tana lawn to heavier ones. This is probably not ideal but I am not aiming for a show-piece quilt here, just something  beautiful and cosy and full of memories and character. 

But the nicest thing about rummaging around through my fabric for this project, has been uncovering fabrics I had forgotten I even had, and then remembering what I used them for. It's been lovely.

Take these Cath Kidston prints below.

I wouldn't choose them now, but I bought them for this blue quilt...

...and then used them again in this kitchen for a mouse.

I remember buying the pink floral fabric below at a car boot sale in Wetherby. I think it was something like £1 for the whole vintage duvet cover.

It was enough for an ironing board cover.

The  cotton below, with the tiny floral print, I found in a bargain bin somewhere and I remember being really pleased because I needed a lot for a project.

I used it to line the inside of this vintage suitcase, which I'd bought on eBay. I still use that suitcase to store my yarn and it lives under the TV unit in the living room.

I think I bought this very Cath Kidston-style floral fabric in IKEA.

I remember using it to make these picnic napkins as teacher gifts. Now, I cannot imagine ever having the time!

This dark brown fabric was from a shirt I bought in Gap.

I can't remember why I cut it up but it made a wonderful dog...

...as well as a shirt for a fox. Both of these are still upstairs in Angus's bedroom.

If you look carefully at this pink fabric below you'll see that some are more faded than others.

I made some really simple cushions for Bella's bedroom in 2013 and they are faded from the sun and being washed.

The hexies below are a mixture of Liberty print tana lawn cottons, and probably some of my favourite ever. They're not cheap so I've always used them sparingly, but now is the time to use up every last scrap.

They made beautiful bookmarks...

as well as these dolls.

I bought this gorgeous cloud print fabric to make a PE bag for my youngest god-daughter - very definitely NOT a girly-girl - when she started school. I appliqued her name on the front and it was lovely, and still in use I believe, although I can't find a photo sadly. But the pattern is a good neutral to balance out all those florals. 

I don't much like this fabric, but I have to include it for the memories. Bella chose it when I made her PE bag, right before she started school in September 2011. It hung on her peg outside her classroom in two schools, right up until she left in Y6. She doesn't use it now, obviously, but I think she still has it somewhere....

I arranged these hexagons like this on purpose.

Familiar?

They were framed in embroidery hoops and hung above our sofa in our old house in Leeds.

I hope you can see the fun I am having as I gather together years of fabric collecting, crafting and memories, then put them all together into something new. So far I have made just over 200 hexies and I am really loving having the time to do this. I hope you enjoyed this little trip down memory lane with me. I know some of you have been with me, reading and commenting, for many years, maybe even since the beginning in 2012, and it's lovely to have an indulgent look back at the past sometimes. 

Long Weekend

I feel that food has become more important to us as a household now than ever before. I'm not talking about the physical acts of shopping, cooking and eating, but the emotional way it feeds us. It marks certain points in the day, helps a dull day at home pass more agreeably, differentiates a weekend meal from a weekday one, and gives us something to look forward to.

What I choose to eat for breakfast, say, marks the difference between a week day (cereal or fruit and yogurt) and the weekend (pancakes or waffles or toast) more than it used to, and I really enjoyed cooking and baking so many treats to celebrate the Easter weekend: mini egg nests, biscuits, chocolate fudge cake, roast lamb, strawberry pavlova.... 

We've started having things like homemade pizza or nachos with chilli and homemade guacamole (a revelation) more on a Saturday night, maybe with a film too. 

I also recognise here the privilege we enjoy as a family: we have enough money to buy food, a car to drive us to the supermarket so that we're not reliant on public transport or deliveries, good health so that we can shop in public without fear or worry, and children old enough to be left at home unaccompanied should they need to be. I've felt my privilege more than ever before in these last weeks, as I watch Bella and Angus play in our back garden knowing they have free access to a secure outdoor space, as we all live together in a house big enough for us to have space to escape to, and as we live in an area where we can easily walk our dog at any time of day without thinking twice about our safety. Not everyone has this and I do not take it for granted.

Politics aside, it's been a lovely Easter weekend. I think I finally gave up fighting the enforced lockdown and just relaxed into it. I make time to exercise daily, I do everything at a slower pace (for someone who always feels she is rushing, this is taking some getting used to) and try to enjoy this strange and temporary situation. The warmer weather, lighter evenings and lack of school have given us after-dinner water fights and a generally more relaxed approach to bedtime routines.

We finally braved the Lego situation yesterday. 

If not now then when?

Our daily walks have been glorious, the most boring street transformed by the blossom everywhere.

On Easter Sunday, late in the afternoon, we walked down to our local woods which seem to become more green with every day that goes by.

I've not really started any particular "stay home" project yet, but now seemed like as good a time as any to pick up this hexagon patchwork quilt which I started in summer 2018.

I've made 108 hexagons, about enough for a pillow case, and I estimate I'll need between 1100 and 1200 to make a quilt big enough to cover our bed.

I had a lovely trip down memory lane looking at all the different fabrics, and remembering when and where I bought them, what project I used them in. I feel that might deserve a blog post all of it's own sometime. 

I did finally finish this beaded bracelet. I bought in on holiday last summer from Purl Soho in New York and it's not my usual craft but I ordered a small beading loom from Amazon and I thought I'd try it.

It's fiddly, and it took me a while to get the tension right, but it's also incredibly satisfying to make and I found it strangely addictive. 

It has the most beautiful texture, like a slinky, and feels wonderful when you wear it. I have lots more beads, and the loom of course, so I might make another.

My trio blanket is growing slowly. I was starting to feel bored by the lack of colour change but when I turned over the bottom and compared it to the foundation row, you can see the colour change more distinctly as the purple and brown fade and the cream turns to grey.

I am enjoying it though, and it's a good TV crochet project as it doesn't require much concentration. 

I hope you are all ok. Take care and stay safe.