Sunday 26 February 2012

New beginnings and new ideas

Curvature - Australian Patchwork & Quilting, Vol16, No10

When I decided to do my first bargello I guess I should have chosen a smaller project, but I love challenges and this is certainly starting to be one. I firstly picked out all my 13 fabrics and thought I had them in the correct dark-light order, but upon looking at my first block I now realise I have two colours out of order. Since I have now sewn all my strips together and cut them, there is no going back, but onwards with a mission! Again I shall put this down to practise, but a costly one!

Here is my first block. To me the green in the centre sticks out like a sore thumb. At first I was peeved at myself for making such a silly mistake. Colour No.1 should be the darkest (the orange shade) and no.2 should have been a 'accent print'. I thought that meant a shade that looked right together, not that green shade...


Here is my second block which is now complete. I did this one with more ease than the first. I chose not to iron every single strip as I sewed them together. They lined up so much easier. There are 16 blocks in total... 



New ideas - landscapes

Because I get bored easy, here are my next two projects lined up - attempts at doing landscapes. I picked out two photos I took on my travels in South Africa. The first a sunset on top of Table Mountain looking out over the Atlantic Ocean. I have no idea how to sew them together! 


The next photo was taken on a short tour of South-West Africa, as it was know in the 1980's! This trip took me to Etosha Park and this landscape was nearby. Just breathtaking. When I sew a few fabrics together I shall add some more photos to show you progress. In the meantime I may have to attend a class to get the hang of what I'm doing.



Molly in the Garden - applique

Before Christmas I started this pattern that I brought on Trademe. I think it's called 'Molly in the Garden'. I have all the fabrics in place ready to applique and also have to do some flowers at the bottom, and draw in a face and a couple of handles. I generally like applique, but haven't touched it since December 2011.


My fabric hanging is in pinned on the hall wall. When I'm not using it the fabric is doubled over and pinned higher so as my kitten doesn't continually jump up at and try to pull it down. Life is one game when you are small and furry!