WIPW - A Finish

Oh, it is so nice to tick off a WIP (Work In Progress) on the Wednesday list! The H C Quilt is completed!

First, let's look at the update for

Trinity Green
It wasn't a very green week! Only 81 triangles added. Total count 4.482.

I had to take this photo while the daylight was still sufficient - since then I have stitched those remaining triangles, and have three filled paper strips..

Fabric in Focus
Dots, another favourite pattern that quilters often use, are many in my collection. Some dots sneak in with other patterns (stars e.g.)

Now for the completed

H C Quilt
H C standsfor Himeji Castle. Together with Kumamoto and Matsumoto castles it is one of the most famous medieval fortresses in Japan and is visited by crowds of tourist every year. It is also known as the White Heron Castle, and in the recent renovation the roof was restored to its original white colour. In the old photograph I used for my drawing on the quilt, however, the roof is greyish, and so I used grey crayons.
You can read more about Himeji Castle and its long history here.

The progress I made this week:

I quilted some rays of sunshine with metallic thread.

Then the wind in the sky.

A bit more greenery.

I settled for black and white stripes for the border.

Without too much trouble I made neat mitred corners.

Then framed the quilt

and hung it next to 'Kafferepet'.

It's rather small, the measurement is 54 cm x 65 cm.

The quilt has been given to an armchair traveller, with the hope that one day a real visit to the castle will be made.

WIPW - VL

There is Very Little Work In Progress Wednesday to report. The reasons? A forgotten birthday, a visit to the hospital and then a wake to attend.


Trinity Green
I started cutting new triangles.

I did not, however, have the time to stitch any of them. The total number of sewn triangles on the paper strips for the Trinity Green quilt thus remains at 4.401.

Fabric in Focus

Why is it that we love floral prints so much? I have shown some of these prints before, but you will notice that seen together there are many different shades of green, various styles and different scale, and the impact of the addition of colour.
The fantastic print in the left foreground with both tiny leaves and larger spotted leaves and grey-green flowers is a print I was given by Julie of My Quilt Diary. As soon as I saw it, it just popped up and begged me to be added to Trinity Green. Julie kindly said Yes. Thanks, Julie.

H C Quilt
I am beginning to run out of time and have worked hard to make the cherry trees, which to me looks more like plum trees!, blossom.
French Knot and Colonial Knot Stitches

 I also quilted some lines for the greenery in the foreground.

A Birthday Card

Birthdays at the beginning of the month are so easy to forget. On September 1 I turned the page of the calendar and saw that there in the beginning of the month was a birthday I should have prepared for weeks earlier.
It was a rush to stitch up this card and have it in the post before the last collection. Letter boxes are emptied four times a day on weekdays, and two or three times at weekends, here in Tokyo. It is a blessing, especially for the forgetful Queenie! Viva Japan Post!

I tried to add several TAST stitches: Stem, Fly, Feather, Chain, Cretan, Detached Chain, French Knot, Whipped Running and two coloured Berry, for which I got the idea from KippysSoMature. Blogging is a blessing, too! 

WIPW - Stripes

Here we go again, Wednesday is the day to hand in your progress report, WIPW.

Trinity Green
I handful of 13 paper strips loaded with 351 triangles means that I have a total of 4.401 triangles.

 My target is to make 10 paper strips a week, but thanks to the powerful typhoon that kept us indoors and without visitors, I managed three extra strips. It brings me a bit closer to my goal of 7000-8000 triangles.

Fabric in Focus
Today I will show you some stripes I have included in Trinity Green.

The angle the fabric has been cut gives variation - some stripes are horizontal, some vertical and others are on the bias.

Most of these pieces are from Sweden, from Åsa's stash, but there are also some typical (American) patchwork fabrics, and as you can see, one is a metallic print.

HC Quilt
I have quilted all the stones (how does one quilt a stone??!!) in the foundation of the castle and moved on to the windows.

Next week I will need green, blue and pink quilting thread! Guess where I will be working.

WIPW - The Usual + A Birthday Card

What news is there for Work In Progress Wednesday this week? Well, there is the ususal stuff:

Trinity Green
The addition of 270 triangles makes 3780 the total number in my collection.

Fabric in Focus

Last week I told you about the popularity of Laura Ashley in Japan, and I added a 'show and tell' of how I have used her fabric.

Laura Ashley is classy, but William Morris is classier! Of all the beautiful designs my favourite is Golden Lily. Do you know that there are two versions? I have some curtains in the traditional green and gold print

  then bought the minor version (Golden Lily Minor) in a shop in London.

 I had a wee bit left and as the material is much thinner and more suited for patchwork than the original cretonne it was sacrificed for Trinity Green.

H C Quilt
I have completed almost all the quilting on the line drawings on the castle. I'll do the windows later.
Next step is the stone blocks.

Stumpwork Portrait
I had another birthday card to make, and once again it became a stumpwork portrait.

WIPW - MFE

My Feeble Excuses for not having much to report on Work In Progress Wednesday are:

I've had visitors.
The visitors brought gifts of fresh but muddy vegetables.
The muddy vegs needed cleaning.
The mud clogged up the kitchen sink.
The sink needed de-clogging.
The de-clogging produced a heap of dirty towels.
The dirty towels needed washing.
The washing needed drying.
The drying was impossible in the rainy thunderstorm.
The thunderstorm kept me indoors cooking vegetables.
The vegetables needed packing, freezing, pickling and deep frying.
The deepfrying needed the chip pan.
The chip pan's oil needed filtering and the pan needed cleaning...

Feeble excuses, but there you have them. I am just wondering why housework causes a chain reaction and you end up with even more housework.

If I need further excuses, I went to visit my friend Julie, I cut a lot of new triangles and I made a stumpwork portrait for World Embroidery Day.

Trinity Green
Only 60 new triangles, total count is 3.192.

Åsa and Julie, if you are reading this post, you can see that some of your green pieces have found a new home.

Fabric in Focus

I was given a set of fabric, all of the same pattern, but in different colours, green, turquoise, red, grey... I used two for this quilt and they are sometimes among the dark pieces and sometimes among the light ones. Chamaeleon fabric!

'I'm LIGHT green!'

'So am I!'

 

'I'm DARK green!'

'So am I!'

'Hm, that is a matter of who your friends are!'

HC Quilt

Can you make out what it is?

WIPW - Getting bored?

Are you getting bored with my Work In Progress Wednesday (WIPW) reports? I have only two projects to show on Wednesdays and though the the progress is steady, every time it is kind of a repeat of the previous week's progress, isn't it?

Trinity Green
270 new triangles. I now have a total of 3132 in my collection.

Fabric in Focus
Last week I talked about an old corduroy shirt that was used to make triangles.
The focus today is on another garment, a blouse my mother made me when I was in primary school. She was a skillful dressmaker and made many of my clothes. If I remember correctly I selected the fabric, and she picked out the dressmaking pattern. Then she made an off white pencil skirt to go with the blouse. I still remember how grown up I felt, and how proud I was to have my own dressmaker!

 It was a delight to find a bit of the left over fabric in mother's stash, many years later, and I am so happy to add the fabric to this quilt, although I must admit there is only a little bit of green in the print.

HC quilt
I have had the chance to add quite a lot of quilting. While working I have been listening to audio books.

Are you beginning to see what it is?

WIPW - Why I cut up the 'Eco Bag'

This week WIPW really stands for Work In Progress Wednesday!
I have been able to work hard on my

Trinity Green

10 more paper strips of 27 triangles each = 270 triangles. Add those to the triangles I already have, and the total number is now 2592.

Fabric in Focus

This week I want to show you, what has become a VERY Japanese pattern. It is supposed to have originated in Egypt, though, and reached Japan via the Silk Route in the 7th century.
It is called 'karakusa moyou' 唐草模様 or Japanese Arabesque.

It is a typical pattern for the 'furoshiki', a cloth used to wrap up goods into a bundle, the ultimate eco bag. 

In cartoons and comics, the thief is often illustrated sneeking away with the loot in a karakusa wrapping cloth. To make sure I will not be mistaken for a thief I have cut up the furoshiki and used it in Trinity Green, ha, ha!!!

To read more of the background of this pattern I suggest checking out this link. You could skip the text, and just enjoy the illustrations at the end, you'll see the pattern used in the 'shishimai' lion dance, on various china ware and indeed a comic thief, there are even some cute cats...

H C
More rough quilting on the black inked lines.

Have you had a productive week?

WIPW - No Designer Soft Furnishings for My Dolls

This is the Work In Progress Wednesday report for July 6th 2016.

Trinity Green

I xerox copied a lot more paper strips, then stitched on 135 triangles. The total count is now 2322 triangles.

Fabric in Focus

Josef Frank was a famous and much loved architect and designer, who lived most of his life in Sweden. His usually large scale floral prints can be found in many Swedish homes, as wall paper, curtains, upholstery, tote bags ....

When I found this cotton print in Japan I instantly thought it resembled some of his designs and I could give a Josef Frank touch to my doll house furniture. Alas, I have now cut the fabric into triangles and they will end up in the Trinity Green quilt. Poor dolls, their home will have no designer soft furnishings!

H C 
More quilting. The pink crayon met a black quilting thread.

Here the quilting lines will be rough and a lot of the drawn ink lines visible. Some pink embroidery will be added later.

WIPW - Obstacles

More sudden obstacles mean my WIPW (Work In Progress Wednesday) report is meagre - yet again!

Trinity Green

I only had time to sew seventy triangles, so the total number I now have is 1987 triangles on the paper strips.

Fabric in Focus
Fuzzy cutting means that one cuts out a selected part of a print.
I have had this print in my stash for a long time, not knowing how to use it.
Although beautiful, it IS a very busy and overpoweringly PINK print, and I fuzzy cut the green leaves.

 There is still a bit pink left to add a bit of colour and interest to the green triangles.

H C
I have started the handquilting, and follow the black inked lines with running stitches in black thread.

 The quilted stitches are sometimes burried in the loosely vowen gauze on the back.