12 quilts in 2019

I have decided to set myself a challenge to use up some of  my copious stash of quilting fabric and make 12 quilt tops this year.  Then I intend to do a 'free-motion machine quilting' class and learn how to do it properly before I set about quilting them.

I used to go to quilt shows and fabric sales and buy lots of stuff!  The fabric has been languishing in my stash for up to 10 years, so it is definitely time to do something with it.  Some of my purchases have been kits to make a quilt, and some have been odd fat quarters that I have liked.  For example, here's a picture I took of some fat quarter bundles I bought at a quilt show in 2012.  I used the Christmas fat quarters for Christmas bunting as gits for my friends a few years ago, but I still had the blue, pink and white fabrics!

The blue and pink fabric have become baby quilt tops.  I love these 2 quilts!  I found the triangle pattern online and it was so easy, I completed it in an afternoon.  I love that the large triangles make it look so modern despite the prints being a little old-fashioned.  I bought the sashing fabric sometime later to go with this set of fat quarters.  I have enough to do the backing too.  The blue one is a windmill pattern, again found online (Pinterest has been my friend here!).  The dotty fabric used as sashing was bought separately.

 

This next quilt is the first one I made this year, and it was during sewing this that I decided to challenge myself to at least 1 quilt per month.  I bought this kit at a class I went to at a local quilt shop.  The owner held the classes in her own home, and it was a lovely atmosphere.  She has sadly closed down now.  I made this 'disappearing 9-patch' quilt in the class, and bought this fabric to make another one exactly the same.  (Not sure why I wanted another one exactly the same but heho!)    I have to say that I am not in love with this one.  I don't really like the orange 'background'.  The patterned fabric has little cartoony dogs on it, which was why I was attracted to it.  It is by Basic Grey, and I had a charm pack (precut 5 inch squares).  I still have enough of the border print to do the backing.

Another quilt that I had wanted to make for a few years is made with some of my vintage embroidered linens.  I collected some vintage embroidered tablecloths sourced from eBay and local charity shops.  I sold some of the perfect linens on my Etsy shop, but kept back anything with holes or stains.  I managed to cut out some pretty embroideries to use in my quilt.  A friend had answered an advert for some vintage cotton lawn scraps, which she shared with me, and I also used up a few ditsy prints of my own.  Originally I was going to sew the blocks together without sashing in between, but decided to use up the scraps of linen.  I am really pleased with the final quilt, it is so pretty!  I bought a green ditsy flowery duvet cover from a charity shop that I will use for the backing.  So pleased to have made this quilt almost entirely from second- hand fabrics.

I am now working on a 'wonky star' quilt using some gorgeous plaids.  This pattern comes from a really old quilting magazine, Popular Patchwork, February 2003.  Each block is hand sewn, but I expect that I will machine sew the blocks together.  I am about half way through making the blocks at the moment, but may make the quilt bigger.  I have loads of plaid fabric!

Slow Fashion - Top 5

Having read a few books on the subject of 'Slow Fashion', I became quite concerned at the amount of Fast Fashion consumed, not only for the cost to the planet of using up resources, pollution and adding to greenhouse gases, and therefore climate change, but also the poor conditions of the workers.  I started looking at labels in my clothes to see where they were made - India, Vietnam, Thailand, Pakistan.   It didn't seem to matter whether they were bought from Primark or Marks and Spencer, our clothes are now mostly made in third world countries with very much third world working conditions. 

This got me wondering what I could do as an individual.  I decided to have a year of not buying any new clothes.  It was quite an adventure!  I have been sewing my own clothes for a few years now, and this year had enough 'me-made' items to properly join in with 'Me-Made May'.  Here's my blog post about it.  But I had not really ventured into buying second hand clothes much before.   I am not much of a 'rummager', I find it a bit embarrassing!

However, with the plethora of charity shops locally, I gave it a go and had some successful buying trips.   Notably, this coat.  It is an Eastex coat, and hardly worn.  It is lovely quality wool, and very comfortable to wear.  It cost me £10, just in time to wear to a day out in London in March.

 Other successes include jeans that fit!  These jeans have not got a label in them, so I am assuming they would have been quite cheap brand new.  I wear them all the time!  This jacket was an ebay purchase and I added the embroideries as embellishment to try to bring it up to date.

I wore this combo of cream trousers and top a lot in the summer.  I really love this top! 

I bought this orange t-shirt because I loved the colours.  I altered it as it had elastic around the hem which I didn't like.  It means that the t-shirt is a little short, but I still wore it a lot in the summer.  Here it is with some black linen trousers that I previously bought from a charity shop and altered to fit.

I did buy new shoes and boots, a new handbag, and new underwear.  I am sure I could find shoes and boots in charity shops, but I am not too sure about wearing second hand shoes yet!  I have noticed lots of handbags for sale, but they tend to be rather old fashioned.  I also must confess to buying a couple of new items - a brand new faux leather jacket (because I love the look!) and some new black trousers to wear at Christmas (because I didn't have time to make trousers to go with the top I made)

I would like to carry on not buying new clothes, but I don't think I will be so fastidious about it in the future, although I must admit that I am out of the habit of shopping for new clothes now!

My goal originally was to learn about global warming and climate change.  But I found that it was such a big subject that I didn't know where to start!  By starting with learning about the fashion industry, and Slow Fashion, I am inspired to live a more sustainable lifestyle in more areas of my life.  My goal for 2018 is to reduce the amount of plastic that I use.

I will be back to show you my Top 5 makes soon! 

Cheap Dressing!

I am trying not to buy any new clothes this year!  Instead I am sewing new clothes or buying second hand from charity shops and ebay.

Here's an example, what I am wearing today.

First the jacket.  I wanted a light coloured jacket that I could wear on cooler summer days really.  I bought this one from eBay for £4 and decorated it with some cheap iron-on rose embroideries.   The jacket has been brought up to date!

Next the jeans.  I bought these from a local charity shop.  They were brand new, and I think I paid about £5 for them.  They fit perfectly except that they were a bit long.  So I turned them up, double stitching the hems as they were originally. 

The top is new and is from Lidl.  I think it was about £6! 

So whole outfit for £15.  Bargain!