Red Brolly

Le Jardin Quilt.

  This is a photo of me looking out the window of my office through the clematis that's happily enjoying the sunshine.You can just see me if you look through the hole in the clematis to where the window is. See- I'm waving! Behind the venetian blinds.

Sadly the garden doesn't look like that at the moment- the clematis has gone into hiding for the winter.

But luckily there's the Girls Own Stitching Club with it's embroidered flower samplers to keep the spring memories happening.

  I've been madly sewing the first sampler we did into a block and written the instructions, so you have it ready before the Girls own Stitching Club Second Sampler next Thursday.

   I've called the quilt we're making:

                                                                                        LE JARDIN QUILT.

              Following on with our French Country Garden Theme.

  So... here's the First Le Jardin Block. I've used Tilda fabrics- but you can use whatever fabrics you like.

  If you need any Tilda fabrics for Le Jardin Quilt- don't forget they're available in the Red Brolly shop. Just click on the Quiltshop icon in the side bar.

  I'll work out the entire fabric amounts you'll need for the quilt - for next week's tutorial.

For the time being- you'll need 25-1/2" (65cm) of background fabric for the embroideries.

 And the same amount of stabiliser (lightweight woven, fusible interfacing or similar) to back the fabric with after you've traced the designs.

 

LE JARDIN BLOCK 1:

Here's the first page of the instructions for Le Jardin Block 1:

  Read the instructions here- BUT download them as a PDF file where it says to "Download GOSC SAmpler 1".

 

Download GOSC SAmpler -Sampler 1 

 

 

  And the second page....

 

 

Download Gosc Block Layout

 

 

 

     It's a good idea to keep all your needlework tools, threads and instructions in one place along with the embroidery you're working on.

Don't forget the Girls Own Stitching Club Needlework Bag which is ideal for just this!

  The pattern is under the "Free Patterns" button on the sidebar.

 

 Make sure you keep your finished Le Jardin Block 1 in a safe and clean place.If you can get your hands on a clean Pizza box- this is ideal for storing all the blocks in until you're ready to put them together into the quilt.

 

  If you've got any other great ideas for storing the blocks- please let us all know in a comment at the end of the post.

         Maybe there's better things than Pizza boxes!

 

  And finally- Always keep our Club Rules in mind....

 

 

 

   Happy Block Making-

 

P.S.

  I've put  Le Jardin Quilt threads together in a kit with a needle pack of the needles you'll need for the embroideries ( two general embroidery needles and two milliner's needles)- which will be available in the Red Brolly shop tomorrow if you need them- special price for the Girls Own!

 

Make:: DIY Felt Hydrangeas

Feel like making something crafty? I was discussing the other day on facebok how lovely hydrangeas are. I think my favourites are the pretty vanilla cream ones with tinges of pinks on the tips, though I do like those green tinged ones too. My mother has them growing along her driveway, and when in ful bloom they look so pretty.
So today's craft project is how to make some pretty felt hydrangeas. I made mine into wall art, but you could make a cushion covered in hydrangeas, or a brooch, a hair clip or bag button.

• felt- one larger piece for the background and then several different colours for the flowers
• a pair of very sharp pointed scissors
• needle and thread (thread can be matching or contrasting with the felt)
• fabric marker
• glue
• pins (optional)
• Hydrangea template-  Click here to download PDF Hydrangea template by Red Brolly

Have you got all of your materials? Ok, let's go.

• Download and print your hydrangea template
• Cut out the flowers. There are 3 different sizes to choose from.
• Place your paper template on top of the felt. Pin into place if needed. Carefully cut around the paper template. This is where you need your sharp scissors. Cut as many felt flowers as needed. You will probably need about 30 as a minimum.

• Get your embroidery hoop. Cover the inner ring with your background felt.
• Place the outer ring over the top and tighten.

• Roughly place your felt hydrangea flowers onto the felt background to work out where you are going to stitch them. When happy, you can pin them into place, or you can just work freehand.
• Take your needle and thread, and with 2 strands, stitch a small cross-stitch in the centre of each flower to secure into place.
• Keep on stitching the felt flowers into place. Position the felt flowers quite close to each other. Make sure some overlap.

• Using your preferred method, transfer the word "hydrangea" onto your background piece (you may need to take it out of the hoop to do this part and then put it back in)
• Using 2-3 strands of thread, backstitch the word "hydrangea." Click here if you'd like a tutorial for backstitch. I added some extra "flourishes" at the start and end of the word.

You are finished.

I might go and make another one in pinks. I think that might look quite pretty.



Well that's about it for the French Garden. I know I promised some lavender, but I decided to save the lavender stitchery for teh Girls Own Quilt. Thought that it went better.

Life:: Happy Mother's Day

To all the Mother's....Happy Mother's Day. Hope you all have a lovely day. I have a special day organised and hope you do too.

S.J.V.H has decorated her sideboard as a tribute to her Mother- in her Mother's favourite colours none the less! Purple and Yellow! I leave you with her gorgeous sideboard, but see you tomorrow for more stitching.

See the photo on the sideboard?...that's her mother. She may look a little familiar to you. She was the little Pears soap girl and appeared on all their soap boxes of the time.

S.J.V.H also has a french connection, whilst we're talking about families and French things. Here's her Great Grandfather...Louise Joseph Lamotte circa 1880's, in France.

She's telling me that he's the one with the accordian in the corner. S.J.V.H loves to trace the family heritage and is continually finding out new information about our family history. Do you like to trace your family tree? It was very interesting when she traced her family back to France. Just look at that finery? Could you imagine wearing dresses like that? How adorable are the children?

See you tomorrow when we wrap up our French Country Garden theme. Till then....

 

The Wise woman of stitching :: Lucy Boston quilt

 

Remember yesterday I told you I was going to show you some of the Wise Woman's quilt she is currently working on? It's going to be amazing when she's finished. Cynthia is working on a Lucy Boston -Patchwork of the crosses quilt...all English paper piecing...lots of fussy cutting!

Lucy Boston was a famous English author, most famous for her " Green Knowe" children's series. She was born in England in 1892, and over her long life time, she designed and made over 20 amazing patchwork quilts.

Her house, near Cambridge, was built in the 1130's and is the oldest continuously inhabited house in England. The house, known as "The Manor," was made famous in her Green Knowe books. You can travel to Lucy Boston's house and see all her amazing quilts on display.

Our own Wise woman is attempting to make one of these gorgeous quilts. So far, she's sewn the blocks and now she's up to piecing them all together.

Cynthia thought that you might like to know a little bit about what's involved in making a block. Here's the tools that you'll need...

One of the best tips from Cynthia is to make a "view finder" out of cardboard. This view finder is the size of the finished honeycomb piece. She carries this view finder with her to fabric shops. Because the quilt involves lots of fussy cutting, she places this view finder on top of fabric to see what the finished piece will look like! Great tip hey?

I'll keep you updated with her progress. Maybe you'd like to start a Lucy Boston quilt and stitch along with our Wise Woman?