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Post by sandrainsydney on Sept 10, 2010 6:17:13 GMT
it was made for someone who is passionate about local history & used the path of one of the recipient's favourite buildings.
I have a pic of a very different tiled path in my inspiration file. It's modern & uses b&W tiles - hmmmmm.
sandra
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maeve
Member
Posts: 1,157
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Post by maeve on Sept 10, 2010 6:31:57 GMT
Sandra, have you ever looked at some of geometrically patterned mosaics in Ravenna, Italy? Perfect for quilts, needlepoint, etc.
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Post by sandrainsydney on Sept 10, 2010 10:21:00 GMT
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maeve
Member
Posts: 1,157
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Post by maeve on Sept 10, 2010 22:49:39 GMT
I came very close to staying in Italy to enroll in the Ravenna mosaic school.
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Post by sandrainsydney on Oct 30, 2010 7:41:43 GMT
On wednesday I finally cut into my thai silk (the post-waistcoat blues certainly lasted a long time!)
I've been doing small stuff - finishing little things for a sales table & (not) working on an embroidery. It's a simple piece - 8 paisley shapes filled with simple stitches, chain, buttonhole, running stitch, lazy daisy etc, - but I get offended that my chain stitch edgings aren't neat.
So on Wed, I finally cut into my thai silks (after chatting & flipping thru the Show & Tell books, & the give-away magazines) & cut my first 2 squares - about 1.5" square & joined them.
So easy, especially as I had marked the grain on every piece I drew after cutting 4 sample squares a few weeks back & joining them without thinking of direction of the silk.
so now I have strip of around 6 silks. I'm joining them in the order of the sample swatches, so I'm cutting them out one at a time! And making sure the arrows are in the right position.
Quilt is 8"x10" & I'll make 8 strips, then join them.
just had an idea - 1st strip 1 - 10 (top to bottom) 2nd strip 11-20 (bottom to top) 3rd 21-30 top to bottom etc.
hmmmm - I can see the group standing around the tiny little quilt advising on the colours!
sandra
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ragdall
Global Moderator
Posts: 1,687
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Post by ragdall on Nov 2, 2010 4:59:05 GMT
Sandra, It sounds as if you'll be doing some very fine scale work. I'm not sure if I understand . Do you have 30 different sample swatches to work with?
I'm anxious to see the quilt as it goes along.
rags
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Post by sandrainsydney on Nov 2, 2010 9:32:23 GMT
only 26 - I had mentioned them in earlier posts & didn't explain cos I knew I had mentioned them (how do I expect everyone to remember everything I've posted when I don't remember everything you've all posted!) here are the first 2 strips sewn together (not yet pressed, the reason for the pins)
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Post by sandrainsydney on Nov 2, 2010 9:36:23 GMT
here's a few pages of the swatch
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Post by sandrainsydney on Nov 2, 2010 9:42:54 GMT
The pieces were folded & edged in paper, so I opened them up & drew 3 squares on each one. I'll draw a few more when I get to the end : 3 x 26 is less than 80! I also plan to scatter a few squares on the back of the quilt. I'm cutting a piece at a time cos I don't want to get confused - cut, match arrows, sew; cut next, match arrows, join to first ...
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Post by maryinkentucky on Nov 2, 2010 17:37:05 GMT
I not sure I understand either, but they look absolutely gorgeous!
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Post by sandrainsydney on Nov 3, 2010 10:18:22 GMT
I have 4 strips done & am well on the way to finishing my 5th. Nearly there!
Today I found out that drawing around a 1" square hole inside a 1 & 3/4" square template does not necessarily mean there is 1" between seams when squares are joined, even tho all seams are carefully sewn along the clearly drawn sewing lines! The squares will all a bit smaller so the quilt will not be 8x11" - but it will still have 80 squares.
It's very hard to get complete accuracy on such a small scale, so my plan is to straighten the very obviously slanted seams & join the strips together.
When it's done I'll cover the joins with fine silk ribbons, cos I'm sure not all blocks will meet perfectly. Even if it's only a whisker out, it will be very obvious on such a small scale!
but now I have a e-newsletter to get composed & sent. It's Wednesday night here & the first event on the list is Friday night.
sandra
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Post by jennieg on Nov 3, 2010 11:38:40 GMT
What beautiful colours, Sandra! I don't envy you - silk is not easy to work with.
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Post by sandrainsydney on Nov 4, 2010 6:16:11 GMT
part of the delay was my attempts to cut them with pinking shears. My shears are very heavy & cut into my fingers, & appeared to be a bit blunt. My vintage shears are lighter & don't hurt my fingers, & definitely very blunt. So I went looking at new pinkers - BUT a warning note on the best quality pair said not suitable for silk & fine fabrics (the fabrics that might be more likely to need pinking!) fooey I assume the edges on the swatch were pinked by an industrial machine. I recently was talking to a woman who inherited her seamstress great aunt's equipment, including a small pinking cutter that is operated by a handle! www.australiancostumersguild.org.au/forum/index.php?showtopic=1755 - this page has a pic of a blade from an Edwardian pinking machine & 3 examples of pinked edges - WARNING - clicking on the 1903 gown page is addictive - I've added 2 URLs to my Bookmarks & spent a lot of time there. cutting the silk with my Fiskars soft touch microtip scissors www.tradepar.co.uk/details/fiskars-soft-touch-micro-tip-scissors-8099-565.html did the job. sandra
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Post by jennieg on Nov 6, 2010 10:37:15 GMT
I have used dupion silk for cushions - it frays dreadfully when cut. I learnt very quickly to overlock (serge) the edges as soon as it was cut, before I started working with it. You can also back it with iron-on interfacing to give it more body and to stop the fraying.
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Post by sandrainsydney on Nov 15, 2010 8:10:38 GMT
when the 80 squares are joined, I just might back it with the very finest iron-on interfacing before backing & quilting. It's far too small to oversew the edges of each piece. I can remember oversewing something in the recent past & getting nice lumpy edges that showed & had to be undone.
sandra
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