This one is going to be a longer one. Not because of the amount of text or photos (that too). But longer in terms of needing more time to write the post. I’ll explain why I have been playing with fabric lately… It is actually because I have to give my elbow a bit of rest. Yes, I have been overloading the poor thing. I have been working with a heavier cotton yarn for a crochet item. I usually work with a rather tight tension and my guess is that I have been pulling the yarn a bit too much. That must have hurt my elbow (or at least the muscles attached to it). At first, you think that it’ll get better by just taking a rest for a few days or switching to a lighter yarn (there are enough works-in-progress laying around). But that didn’t really help. So I have put all yarny stuff into a corner where I can’t see it and I went to see a physical therapist.
Of course, I know that complete rest will help my elbow to recover better. And I have really tried! I’ve been reading a lot (e-reader on a pillow on my lap, not holding it in my hands) and I have been catching up on TV-series. That’s okay for a few days, but it made me so restless and frustrated! That’s why I have pulled out the sewing machine!
My love for fabric is at least as big as is my love for yarn, so I have a small stash of fabric hidden in a few storage boxes in my craft room (which is actually more of a storage room since I do most of the crafting downstairs in the living room). Recently, my friend Ingrid came over for a sewing date and she taught me the beginner basics of the quilt-as-you-go technique. It’s addictive! By the way, you may know Ingrid because of her lovely project bags which she makes herself and sells on Instagram and Etsy. Go have look!
We started with a small project and we made a mug rug. Well, it’s an e-reader rug actually. The photo above shows the in-progress version.
As I mentioned earlier, this technique is really addictive and I made the beloved e-reader a small pouch as well (unfortunately, it did turn out a little bit too small…). I then decided to make a decorative piece for the dining table.
These are the fabrics that I wanted to use…
It starts with cutting and planning the pieces of fabric.
And for this piece I wanted to make a so-called ‘Log Cabin’: you sew on strips of fabric and, starting in the centre, you work in a spiral. Your piece grows with every strip of fabric that you add. I chose to place them diagonally on my batting.
All strips are sewn on the batting!
I’ve folded the overlapping pieces of fabric to the back and secured them with clips. My backing will be a piece of felt.
The photos above show how I did the folding in the corners.
I then placed my work on the piece of felt and pinned it in place. I have left some extra along the sides…
The extras are trimmed off after sewing the top part to the backing.
And this is the result! I had some tiny leftovers that I used to make two matching coasters. Not perfect yet… but I’m very happy with it for a first attempt!
It was a pure coincidence that we had matching tulips in a vase at the time I made this table rug. And since everything looks better with some tulips added… here we go:
There are new ideas popping up in my head already!
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