Dormant so long

I doubt I will ever really ressurect this blog, but it’s fun to pop in every so often. New quilts, new cats, new machines in my life.

xx JJ

Baby quilt

Long time away from this website!

I just finished a little baby quilt for a very new second cousin who I will be lucky enough to meet in a couple of weeks. All pieced from my stash, on one of my little Featherweights, and continuing my personal challenge of not even shopping for backings. Hurray: (almost) two quilts in one!

Hurray, it’s the beginning of my summer holiday. I certainly need a break!

Happy summer stitching (or winter, if you are far afield…), JJ

Latest hobby is getting out of hand…

Such fun hunting for and playing with old sewing machines and sewing notions.

Not so many people interested in these old ladies in Switzerland, so it’s fun to find them, restore them, and sew. My project for the evening is a foot pedal!

Thankfully they pack away into lovely neat little boxes. But I probably have enough. No?

Happy rewiring!

JJ

End of year breathing

Winter light, and quiet times at home, surrounded by a family needing rest and peaceful times as much as I do. Snowy slopes are calling us, but meanwhile, right now, it is time to tidy up the chaos, sort out my creative space, and play.

Once that was done, I got out my little Featherweight, oiled her, and played.

This machine is called Felicity, in honour of my grandmother. I love the idea of naming machines. I remember my Gran teaching me to sew on a hand-cranked Singer, during a special Suffolk summer holiday. Wonderful memories! My grandmother is now 94, and fragile. But what an inspiration she has been to many all those years.

I thought these machines were so popular because they are cute and historic, but I must say that in using her to piece, and quilt, and sew through thick layers, I am really really impressed with how good she is. A real precision little power punch. How gorgeous. How lucky I am.

Happy resting! JJ

Halloween

When your cat is convinced all this sewing is just about making his bed more colourful…

Quick satisfaction from making a seasonal quilt top of rather random fabrics! Now, to speed quilt it to have something cosy to snuggle under!

Happy pumpkins! JJ

#Peaks12

Silence for months on the blog pretty much reflects how little sewing I have been doing since the last sewing retreat in the Spring. Here, in pictures, some finally finished pretties.   

The quilt is the second one I made from my father’s shirts, now happily jumbled in with other fabrics. Another stage of making grief possible, and reflecting another stage in that path. I mostly pieced this over the summer, and finally put the top together now.

And back home, one little fellow is waiting for me… He’s brought much happiness to the family this year, not to mention adding a decorative touch to quilt photos!

Happy autumn!

Scrappy squares, again

How many scrappy square quilts have I made? Hmmm… lots. Tonight, I finished one more that had been lying, almost-finished, since our last summer holidays. Tonight, ready to be washed, it is resting on our bed. I’m so glad it’s done. I was getting bored of it staring at me, in a forlorn pile, looking mutinous.

It’s a funny time at work: the students’ exams are over, but the new term is two weeks away. It’s hard not to work on planning next term’s teaching, although my conscience tells me I should also be writing. So it is nice to start the weekend having achieved something, after only post-suppertime sewing. Why did it take me so long? It wasn’t only because the sewing machine was being repaired. Hey ho, sometimes I just procrastinate, I suppose. 

Intriguing scrapets of news on some of that fabric!

Still, this still isn’t the blue quilt that needs finishing to match the freshly-painted wall. That’s for another time. This is just a thrown-together-get-it-finished scrappy, useful no-pattern quilt. I’ll have to find somewhere fun outside to photograph it.

I’m glad my creative energy is mostly back, partly helped a couple of weeks ago by a frantic creative venture making pink hats in crochet or fleece. I handed them out to people who looked cold on the march in downtown Geneva. Now that was a great way of channeling frustration with the barrage of depressing news!

And by the way, cheap pink furry fleece blankets make great hats… I wonder where they ended up?

Happy growling! JJ

Featherweight

A bit of care from my friend Miss E of Busy Needle, and new rubber feet, new LED light, and a clear 1/4 inch foot, and my little flea market find is as happy as happy. I am thrilled! It is amazing to realise how things made in the 1950s last so well. I doubt things we buy now will be working in 60 years time..

Now, after a peaceful Christmas, I am happily playing and tidying my sewing room. So lucky!

   
Happy end-of-the-year! Xx jj

Totally fabulous days

Spending a weekend sewing up a mountain in lovely company, one week into an academic term, was just perfection! What fun we had! It was the 10th edition of the now-famous Patchwork in the Peaks, led by the fabulous Elita, in Morzine in the French Alps. A little over an hour’s drive from my home.

 Elita, organiser-extraordinaire and our guest teacher the famous Lucy of Charm About You. A beautiful, inspiring fun and clever quilter, and a pleasure to meet.    

 Gina, leader of the ever-famous and legendary ‘scrap-attack’ projects, helping an experienced sewer/ new quilter, in the amazing temporary studio overlooking the mountains.  
   
Then, once back near Geneva, I had the pleasure of placing my newly-finished quilts around the house. Truly a treat.

  
And on the way home from work today, I popped into a second-hand shop and found this little beauty for all of ten Swiss francs. She clearly needed rescuing! Amazing, as quilts really aren’t much of a thing around here.

Right, now back to work for the rest of the term…

Happy quilting! JJ

 

Home!

The heavens welcomed us home. So, so very lucky to be able to move. 

   

My new sewing room (!!!!) had crazy splotches on the wall where the previous owners filled up holes. I won’t have time to paint it before term starts, but the underlying colour is green (green! i love green!). Yesterday evening, using masking tape, I laid out a grid, and filled it in using all the mini-tester pots of paint we wanted to try out. Instant quilt, and fewer splotches!  

Now, to unpack more boxes…

Happy nesting! JJ