Skip to main content

Scrappy patchwork and Katherine Parr

It's the weekend already, and the central heating's kicked in because of a cold, frosty but bright morning.  I've succumbed - yet again - to buying a book online.  It's 'Embroidered Purses' by Linda Tudor, the library book I featured on my blog the other day.  Decided I needed my own copy and - ooops! - I seem to have purchased it.  How on earth did that happen?  Oh well, it was a bargain price from the ever-reliable World of Books.  
On the subject of books, I recently finished 'The Casual Vacancy' by J.K. Rowling, a terrific read, I really enjoyed it.  Last night I got to the end of this Philippa Gregory, 'The Taming of the Queen'.  The queen in question is Katherine Parr, the last of Henry VIII's many wives and thankfully a woman who survived the terror of being married to him.  I'd read Elizabeth Fremantle's 'Firebrand', another novel about Katherine Parr, but I think 'The Taming of the Queen' is the first book that really, really portrays just how vile a creature Henry Tudor was.  He was a killer.  Not only of wives, but of so many men and women in his Court and in the country as a whole.  Childhood friends of his, the young, the old, anyone he considered a heretic, even though that definition appeared to change from year to year, month to month.  He had the power of life and death over people and appeared to enjoy exercising that.  It's a chilling read, especially when Henry tires of marriage to Katherine and even goes so far as signing her death warrant, though obviously that's never actioned.  I don't want to put you off though.  It's a very good book, as you'd expect from Philippa Gregory.  She rarely lets the reader down.  
Okay, on to crafty matters.  I've been sewing lots of scrappy patchwork, to use up what I've got.  I like the sharpness that comes from using almost exclusively black, white and grey.  Though there's something to be said for simply throwing every colour and pattern into the mix and enjoying the eccentric jumble that emerges.  
Any scraps that're too tiny to be used for patchwork, plus bits of thread and wool, are thrown into this bag and used for cushion filling.  I'd got a bag full so I made a very simple cushion pad from two squares of material.  
I'm not keen on either of these fabrics, meaning they're ideal for using up in this way.  The cushion pad was stuffed and sewn closed, and inserted into the cushion cover.  I reckon this hexagonal patchwork was originally intended to form part of a quilt, but it's been repurposed.  Better to use it for something than have endless half-finished quilts lying around, don't you think?  
Okay, I need to get ready for my day-out in Leeds, the last of my fabric covered book classes.  Let's see if I can avoid taking a detour into Hobbycraft again.  Too many temptations in that shop, especially as I'm coveting DMC cotton perle threads at the moment.  Can I resist buying a handful of 'em?  Let's wait and see.  

Enjoy your weekend.  





 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

HOW TO MAKE: these decorative birds

 I suggested yesterday that I'd run through how to make a fabric bird wall or window hanging (can't think of a snappier title for it than that!) so here goes.  I'll start with the first decorative hanging I made.   It's something you could make in any colour combination you want, and would look good hanging at a window with translucent beads that'd catch the light   I used five birds for this, but you could make it longer if you prefer.  (Incidentally, if you're wondering about what's hanging off the bottom on this, it's a metal Christmas decoration, shaped like a lantern.  For some reason I thought it looked appropriate to leave it there, looped over the end.)   WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO GATHER TOGETHER:  Assorted scraps of fabric for the front of the birds - aim for a mix of colours and textures.  Silk looks good, as does anything with embroidery or intricate patterns.  You might aim for a hippy-ish boho look, or maybe you're more the minimal Scandi
4 comments
Read more

Sari scraps, PVA, a couple of books and a necklace

  I'm typing this as snow's falling, and has been steadily all day.  It's not settling to any great extent, though I bet by tomorrow morning the paths will be slippery with ice.  Which always makes me paranoid about falling over and at the very least looking undignified, but at worst breaking a bone or twisting an ankle.  Oh well, it's ideal weather to stay inside and craft, isn't it?  I finally got around to listing packs of sari scraps on Etsy this morning.  I only made up six bundles as I've no clue whether they'll sell or if I've set a reasonable enough price point.  Time will tell.   This is a link to the listing, if you're interested.  This vaguely pink fabric isn't from one of my Etsy packs.  It's from a bit of experimenting I was doing yesterday.  I'd seen a post on Instagram showing how a DIY version of batik could be done without using hot wax.  The Instagrammer used PVA instead, and I wanted to try this out.  The glue's su
4 comments
Read more

Paper flowers, leaves, feathers ...

  I had a few requests after posting this photo on Facebook, people asking if I could explain how I made these paper flowers. Your wish is my command, and here's the info.  It's all very simple and you don't need any advanced drawing skills.  So grab a stack of gell prints, a pair of scissors and off we go!  The type of print that seems to work best is one where there's a fair amount of detail, rather than a block of solid plain colour.  Prints where you've maybe channelled your inner Elizabeth St. Hilaire and 'layered layered layered' as she's always urging us to do.  POPPIES If we start with simple poppy seed heads and stalks, they're cut freehand from paper that's mainly shades of orange and brown.  I glued those on to a sheet of white copier paper, then cut them out, leaving a narrow border around each.  Backing the gell print with the white paper adds that contrasting border, but also strengthens the piece, especially the thin stalks.   I
Post a Comment
Read more