Well it's up ..................

My "Chelsea", all blue, roman blind (an extension of Kaffe Fassett's Jewel Squares in Glorious Patchwork)

It's lined in white so the daylight filters through the paler fabrics ..................

 
It was hard work ............. right to the end.  The law of averages is that if there is maneuverability in something then there's going to be movement.  I did start to quilt it but changed my mind ............... it was too difficult getting the fabrics to lay flat together without shifting and looks better up without the stitching anyway.  I'm really pleased and feel so much lighter having got up this morning knowing that there was nothing further to do to it!
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A Milestone

Amidst the cold breeze outside, I have managed to get a decent pic with the help of my husband ........................

To say I am delighted to have got to this stage before Easter is probably an understatement.  Approximately 200 hours, 3000m of thread and a colossal amount of fabric  I still have decisions to make as to how exactly I am going to convert it into a blind .............. getting some of the seams to lay flatter is top of the list and, thanks mum, your suggestion that I could always cut it up and make cushions whilst practical is not what I wanted to hear lol!

For now, I have lots and lots of household duties to catch up on and, hopefully, the family can look forward to more dinners of the usual standard!

Happy Easter Everyone

and for those who don't celebrate Easter

Have a Nice Weekend
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Running Out Of Space ....................

Thankyou all - I am now feeling much, much better.  I haven't tried Echinacea so will look into it.  Continuing with the patchwork this week, once I have completed this strip, I need to add 13.5" to the width  ............... that will be fun because I will have run out of floor space!  I could lay it out on the bed but running up & down stairs every 5 minutes I can't see working somehow!

I've changed it around a bit since the pic (no surprise there) but I'm still in love with it despite about 120 hours to date, the sewing machine having monopolised the kitchen/dining table for weeks, worktops covered with fabric and cutting equipment and so on .................... .  don't think I'm going to be progressing to bed sized quilts somehow!  It's not laying very flat. Perhaps I should have trimmed the seams a little more but am concerned about it being MANhandled once it's up! Yes, cotton sateen sounds good .............. I just hope I can make something work to stabilise it.  Maybe quilting it direct to the backing?  I can see myself creating more work here somehow!



There's been little time for anything else except spend a minute or two thinking about the Postcard Challenge.  As always, the scope for interpretations on a theme is enormous.  March = "Words to Live By" and my thoughts for this included "The Best Things in Life are Free".  Love, Friendship, Beach, Sunshine ............ they're all free!  Textile artists love bright sunny days (I'm waiting to do some sun printing but fear it's going to be some time yet before there is enough sun for that).  No less, there was some delight being expressed on fb one morning last week in being able to get the washing on the line after all the wet weather so far this year thus my quick sketch (sorry if the pencil isn't too clear).

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Patchwork Progress

Having been unwell this past week I have done nothing except work on this when I have felt well enough and which I can photograph now the laptop charger problem is resolved ...............

It's getting there.  158 blocks completed and probably 75% of them pieced together in approximately 80 hours so far.  The next stage is to finish the piecing of this stage and then to make a lot more blocks to add 12" to both the width and height.

It's not without issues.  The dark (Timeless Treasures) fabric on the outer of the large centralish square in the photo has a lot of give one way ........... the wrong way thus it doesn't lay very well with the rest of the fabrics.  I'm not sure what to do with it just yet.

Although there is a lot of work yet to do before I get to that stage, I have been giving a great deal of thought as to how to finish it (probably too much thought for my own good!).  It will be a Roman style window blind pulled up on cords threaded through equally spaced rings on the back.  The patchwork needs some stability.  Quilting?  Nothing that is going to bulk it out and interfere with the fluidity of the piece so maybe straight onto a backing fabric?  Or perhaps a sandwich to accomodate some of the bulkier seam bits?  Nothing too heavy as am thinking of using velcro to hang at the moment?

It's addictive!  I'm desparate to finish it but it's hard solid work.  I don't feel so feverish now though my chest is rather sore so I hope it doesn't develop into a full blown chest infection.  I would like some normality in the kitchen.  I bought lemons for a lemon meringue pie over a week ago................... . 

My blog posts sometimes appear so negative .......... maybe I am a touch too self critical of my work at times?
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WIPs

Over 80 blocks now complete so just over half done for a finished size of 40" x 40".  However, I need a finished size of 50" x 52" so an extra 80 or 90 blocks by my reckoning.  I could use a border (or two) to speed things up but not sure if it would look quite right.  I really could do with a large pin board to put these up and see how the ratio of shades and tones is working out .  Never mind!  Thankyou for the comments and thoughts everyone.  On the iron .......... think I will stick with what I've got for now and just remember to switch it off regularly.

This weeks contribution to the "Rainbow" .............. some detatched chain stitch.  The hand stitching is such a struggle.  I'm not entirely happy with it and the rhythm of the needle dancing in and out of the fabric is lost now that I'm having to use a magnifying glass.  This is so disappointing and I'm really not sure how to progress from here ..........

The beginnings of a bag being stitched at 1am this morning - something to satisfy my rainbow thing of the moment?  I don't think I even like it now 

What to do?  Join a postcard challenge!  I am really looking forward to thinking these out and hope to work on one tomorrow.
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Working Hard

Adopting a working pattern has had an advantage.  Starting 20 blocks and working the same stage on all 20 before moving onto the next stage was a bit of a revelation (probably common sense to some) and meant I completed all 20 today (9 hours work).  It's a working method I would follow in other textile/embroidery disciplines so can't think why it wasn't obvious in the first place!  For the first time in a long time I am keeping a record of the hours worked so will probably blog about it more than usual.  I apologise in advance for repetition of similar posts.

It started out as an exercise to try and cut down on the amount of time the iron was on ............ ironing each stage on all 20 blocks then switching it off rather than leave it on all day.  My iron is 2000w .......... am wondering about getting a 1200w one for £2.99 at Argos if it means saving on electric.  Would this be a significant saving or false economy?
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Slow Progress

I have managed to work out (well kind of) how to do the patchwork mentioned in the last post and estimate that I'm going to need about 200 squares of varying sizes for a blind ............

 

I knew it wasn't going to be a 5 minute project but with 20 squares completed in 2 whole days it's going to take longer than I thought,  Does one get quicker with practise I wonder?  I've found that some of the squares haven't worked particularly well but am hoping they'll somehow get "lost" in the finished item and I do like the recycled M&S stripey boxer shorts!
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