New Project...

I've been procrastinating, partly, before beginning this next new project. It's going to have to be "design as I go" to some extent because I am upcycling, to coin a term, clothes into a memory quilt. It is for a friend of a  friend. The fabrics are predominantly patterned nighties of her late mother, 2 PJ tops of (I presume) her children, and a bridesmaid dress.

So it's a challenge, for sure. I have been thinking about how to do this for some time, and have settled on Le Moyne Star, mainly because I have done that block a couple of times before, and I think it will work ok for the nighties, as I've already done it out of mens' shirts before for my first memorial quilt.

I'm not sure, as yet, how to use the bridesmaid dress - originally there was a design I fancied using that did ask for a silk to go on the blocks. My issue with this is that the quilt was a bit too small to be useful and I think the recipient really has a bed quilt in mind.

So this is going to be my first "Quilt Process" pledge project. I'm going to be a while making it, perhaps, and it is interesting (and brave) to track it as I go along.

First photos are the original clothes I am working from, then the fabric  and buttons, lace and ribbon I am left with after cutting the seams open and harvesting the fabric and buttons last night.

Planning stage:

• So now I am using graph paper and trying to work out the design and how much fabric I have.
• I also need to research how to stiffen the fabrics I am working with. The fabric is (unfortunately) poly cotton, emphasis on the poly! My experience with the shirts tells me that simply starching this fabric isn't going to be enough. The poly cotton shirts were terrible to work with.
• The other reason I need to do something to the fabric is that especially the white fabric is very flimsy and will be somewhat transparent - it will show the seams, the batting, and just needs a denser white behind it. I am hoping that this isn't going to prove too expensive. I am going to have to find some sort of iron-on solution - interfacing?
• The bridesmaid dress is offwhite - not fantastic seening as 2 of the nighties are white based patterns. I also don't know how to use the red without totally drowning the quilt. Mmmmm quite a challenge then.
• The little PJ shirts will probably have to make tiny squares to go within the border. I am thinking the bridesmaid dress ivory fabric ought possibly to be used in the border.
• I may have to buy a co-ordinating quilt fabric to make the materials go further. And probably for the border / definitely for the backing.
• The finished quilt will have buttons on it in some form, and I'd also like to use the little ribbons I cut off last night when I was beginning the fabric preparation.

Next post - early planning pics.

Not that I am taking the pledge too seriously but it is important in this case I think for me to keep track of my planning, and possibly interesting for someone else to see how I work. I am totally self taught so have no idea whether there are better ways of doing these things.

This quilt is to celebrate life. Family life. Remembering a loved one and joining with the present. It's what Sew La Vie came from - a real burden for Life. I'm praying I can do a good and fitting job to bless a dear friend's dear friend...

Memorial Quilt

Here's the quilt that has inspired the name of this blog, the style and reason for some of my sewing, and making it was an act of worship, grief and healing. That's all I will say about its raison d'être.

The quilt is designed (all by myself, first design and it worked!) to represent Noah's ark. The design of the blocks is Le Moyne Star. So the coloured blocks (apart from the middle one) are designed to represent all colours of sky, including pinks and purples, grey and white. The middle block is the one that represents the rainbow - God's promise - and the points of the star are in order of the colours of the rainbow with a bit of artistic licence - required, because I made the blocks entirely out of recycled shirts. The white in the rainbow block also represents the dove. Dove of peace, and God's messenger.

Most of the shirts used are mine, Matthew's, or other family members but I did have to buy a couple from a charity shop in order to complete the rainbow block. The buttons dotted around the quilt at the end represent stars. The buttons were of course harvested from the shirts!!

Works for me anyway! :)

I made a very special label from the back - borrowed Little Miss H's birthday double rainbow to print on a dedication label on the special ink jet printer fabric you can buy (not cheap but a perfect finishing touch to a special quilt).

Technically speaking - the blocks were difficult - I have started my quilting career breaking rules before I have properly learned them (Life's too short) so the shirts were not all 100% cotton. The Marks and Spencer oxford weave shirts were an absolute dream to sew with. The more 'vintage' inclusions were a nightmare: flimsy and frayed easily. I will learn from this and when I am over it I will use fusible web next time to strengthen thinner fabrics before I cut them  - will have to do this on the next memorial quilt I have waiting for my next big project.

I have since made a Le Moyne Star quilt and (tho its not completed yet, still have to finish the actual quilting!) it was much quicker and easier for the experience of having practised the blocks with much harder materials first time around!

This project was very special to me though because it was designed, pieced, and quilted in prayer. An interesting experience and one I believe God has tangibly worked through in my life, though I pray He has done more than just that - not that  I need to know about it - I have let this one go.

Midnight Mystery Quilt!

I am sure I could add the word "Midnight" before many of my creations, as could many crafters! So the idea of going to a class at my local quilting shop entitled "Midnight Mystery Quilt" seemed as good as anything else! No babysitting issues, I'd most likely be sewing that time of night at home anyway, but the added bonus of making my first patchwork quilt top with a group of other far more experienced quilters (like, they'd done at least one before!) and pizza and hot chocolate on top (not on top of the quilt) = my dream Friday night!!!

So... it was from a jelly roll (Anna Lisa cut and rolled the fabrics for us in advance) and we had to choose "Country" or "Florals" in advance of the night - the rest was the Mystery! I hovered over the choice but thankfully had read at least one quilting magazine prior to enrolling, and decided Country was it for me. Wise choice (from my point of view).

I did the class about 6 weeks before Little Miss H was born. So it was inevitable I suppose that the quilt would be nearly another year before I finished it. Mostly what stopped me was lack of any help in assembling and quilting (had to look at internet sites to calculate backing, and wadding, and work out vaguely how to baste and quilt). Then a new-old friend (who conveniently identified herself as a quilting geek...) kindly came over and helped me tape the quilt to the floor in my living room, layer and baste it, and then I quilted simply on the diagonal. Just in time for her birthday - I think I had a few weeks to spare.

I had a bit of extra time left over so I made a Waldorf inspired doll from leftover wadding, a baby sleep suit she'd worn, and an old tshirt of mine (face, hands and feet) that the boys and I dyed in tea.

Voilla! Happy girl on her birthday quilt with her doll. Not much else a fourth baby needs for their first birthday really, is there????!

New Year, New Blog...!

I have taken so long setting up this blog that the address isn't quite what I wanted it to be, but hey I don't think it matters (still have a relevant email address set up from last year when I had this idea about getting more serious about sewing!).

First I will have lots of photos to upload of what's been keeping me busy for the past little while as I explore and experiment with patchwork, quilting, and little bits and bobs of ideas for leftovers!

Anyway, I can post my pics, share ideas and keep a record of what's going on here!

Why Sew La Vie? Because my first few pieces have been about Life. My first quilt (picture to follow!) ended up being a wonderful celebratory present for Little Miss H's first birthday (and she is a good girl and one of her earliest words has been to say "Wow!!!!!!!!!!!" whenever she sees my sewing. She'll go far...).

Second quilt - not such a fantastic set of circumstances but my statement about Life all the same. A Life cut short so more of a memorial - but a memorial and a prayer project for me. Spiritual defiance mixed with a journey of grief culminating in a very special quilt I have given away and I have prayed God will continue to use it. My time with the quilt came to an end and I passed it to its intended recipient full of hope for the future. I like the idea of sewing inspired by Life. So that is what I have decided to call my sewing hobby. I am having some labels made for what I make - but again, that's been in the pipeline for a while and I haven't got around to it yet!

The next major project is another memorial quilt. Commissioned by a friend (she's paying the international postage!!!) as a gift for a friend of hers in memory of her mum. I am in possession of garments she used to wear, as well as a bridesmaid's dress, and will eventually receive some buttons... I am discovering buttons can be nice on quilts so because the lady had a button collection, it will be a perfect addition at the end. So I have to get busy designing and making that one but for now I am enjoying messing around with post Christmas craft, finishing a quilt for one of my children, and getting ready - I hope - for another homeschool term beginning at the end of January. So I am enjoying the holiday spirit!