2014-12-06

Happiness / Szczęście

Many things make me happy, but there is something special in private swaps.
The feeling when a person whose creations you admire agrees to or suggests we make each other a gift, the joy you feel when you get to create something for someone who shares your passion for sewing, the happiness (and relief too, shhh) you experience when you learn they like what you've made for them and the jumping for joy when you receive their creation and it's just so lovely - all this is so amazing.
And all this is also what I experienced during our recent swap with Kasia.
{Wiele rzeczy sprawia mi radość, ale jest coś szczególnego w wymiankach.
To uczucie, kiedy osoba, której prace się podziwia zgodzi się albo sama zasugeruje, żebyśmy coś dla siebie nawzajem uszyły, radość z tworzenia czegoś dla kogoś, kto podziela pasję szycia, szczęście (i ulga też, ćśś) kiedy się okazuje, że to co się zrobiło podoba się tej drugiej osobie no i skakanie z radości, kiedy dostanie się swój prezent i jest on taki piękne - to wszystko jest niesamowite.
Tego wszystkiego również doświadczyłam podczas naszej wymianki z Kasią.}

Just look what I got {Spójrzcie tylko, co dostałam}:



This cushion (or pillow ;)) combines so many of my favourite things. I love the fabric choices - colourful plus low volume (and especially dots and text) are just my thing, as are DS fabrics, and the little gnomes are cute but not too sweet, if you know what I mean. I love the economy blocks (still on my list of blocks to try). I'm also in awe of the flying geese - all the points are perfect. Finally, the quilting. I can quilt in swirls and wavy lines but straight lines are really hard for me, so I admire them immensely.
{Ta poduszka łączy w sobie całą masę moich ulubionych rzeczy. Bardzo podoba mi się dobór materiałów - kolorowe materiały w kombinacji z jasnymi (szczególnie kropkami i tekstem) to to, co tygrysy lubią najbardziej, tak samo zresztą jak materiały Denyse Schmidt, a krasnoludki są słodkie, ale nie przesadnie, jeśli wiecie co mam na myśli. Uwielbiam economy block (hm, mamy jakąś polską nazwę na to? W każdym razie w dalszym ciągu jest na mojej liście rzeczy do uszycia). Jestem też pod wrażeniem "gęsi" - wszystkie końce są idealne. No i wreszcie pikowanie. Potrafię pikować w zawijasy i falowane linie, ale linie proste są dla mnie bardzo trudne, więc podziwiam je bardzo.}
Kasia, thank you so very much! Kasiu, bardzo, bardzo Ci dziękuję!

If you want to see what I made for Kasia, she has blogged about it here. (For those who don't know Polish - Kasia's post makes me blush, she likes the cushion and she's much too kind in writing about it.)
{Jeśli chcecie zobaczyć, co uszyłam dla Kasi, notka o tym (która zresztą sprawia, że się czerwienię) tutaj.}

2014-10-20

Around the World Blog Hop

Pisanie wyłącznie w obcym języku sprawia, że człowiek trochę zapomina jak powinno się pisać w języku ojczystym. Niemniej jednak, zaproszona przez Kasię, tym razem spróbuję opowiedzieć trochę o moim szyciu również po polsku. Z góry ostrzegam, że quilt nazywam po polsku "kołderką" i żadna siła nie jest w stanie tego zmienić. Nie śmiejcie się za bardzo.
I've been invited by Kasia to write a bit about my sewing as a part of Around the World Blog Hop. It was a bit challenging to write in Polish about the matters I really know only in English, but I'm glad I did. And now let me add the English version, too.

Nad czym obecnie pracuję? What am I working on?

Zwykle robię kilka rzeczy na raz, choć ostatnio nie wszystkie związane z szyciem (jak pokazuje lista tutaj), ale to na czym teraz najbardziej się skupiam, to tzw. niebieska kołderka, która na razie wygląda tak:

Blok, który tworzy kołderkę, to flowering snowball (zawsze mnie zastanawia, czy mamy jakieś polskie nazwy na różne bloki. No i czy w ogóle "blok" jest odpowiednim polskim słowem?). Skusiłam się na niego po tym jak po raz co najmniej 58. wróciłam obejrzeć tę wersję uszytą przez Mary.
Ze względu na rozmiar próbek materiałów, z których w większej części kołderka będzie uszyta, zmniejszyłam dość mocno szablon, więc bloków do uszycia wyszło mi 112. Biorąc pod uwagę, że na razie mam ich 31, to jeszcze chwilę mi to szycie zajmie.
I usually do a few things at the same time, although recently, as you can my most recent list illustrates, not all of them are sewing-related. Anyway, the project I'm concentrating on now is the blue quilt, which for now looks as in the photo above. I'd been drawn to the flowering snowball block for some time and after coming back to see Mary's version for the 58th time, I finally decided to give into temptation.
Due to the size of the cotton sample pieces I'm sewing the quilt with, I needed to scale down the template quite a lot, so there will be 112 blocks in the quilt. Taking into consideration that I have 31 so far, it'll take me some time to finish it.

Czym moje prace różnią się od innych? How does my work differ from others?

Szczerze mówiąc, nie jestem pewna, czy się jakoś bardzo różnią. Jak można wywnioskować na podstawie kołderek, które uszyłam do tej pory, nie udało mi się wypracować jakiegoś własnego, unikalnego stylu. Szyję albo ze wzorów, które mi się podobają albo wymyślam własne, ale właściwie każda kołderka jest inna i pewnie w każdej można znaleźć wiele elementów, które się już gdzieś widziało.
Frankly, I'm not sure it does. If you look at my finished quilts you'll see I don't have my own, unique style. I either use patterns I like or I design my own, but each quilt is different and I guess in each you can find many elements already present in works of other quilters.

Dlaczego szyję? Why do I sew?

Bo lubię to bardzo. Podoba mi się tworzenie czegoś, co może komuś sprawić radość i co będzie nie tylko do ozdoby ale i do użytku. W dalszym ciągu (po 4 latach prawie) cieszy mnie, że coś, co kiedyś było dla mnie czarną magią okazało się całkiem możliwe do przyswojenia.
Najbardziej chyba podoba mi się tworzenie kołderki od początku do końca -  od wymyślenia wzoru aż do pikowania i przyszycia lamówki, ale kuszą mnie też istniejące wzory.
No i domyślam się, że szyję z wielkim entuzjazmem również dlatego, że nie muszę.
Because I like it very much. I like creating something that can bring someone joy, that can be not only nice but also useful. And after almost 4 years I'm still happy that something I thought I'd never grasp proved to be quite possible to learn.
I think my favourite bit is to create a quilt all by myself - from the design to the quilting and binding, but I'm also tempted by existing patterns.
And I guess I also sew so enthusiastically because I don't have to.

Jak wygląda mój proces? How does my creating process work?

Zacznijmy od tego, że zwykle szyję kołderkę dla kogoś, w związku z tym dużo zależy od tego, czy ktoś ma jakieś preferencje jeśli chodzi o kolory i wzory. Przy każdej kołderce proces wygląda więc nieco inaczej, ale bardzo uogólniając:
Let's start with the fact, that I mostly sew for somebody, so a lot depends on the person's colour and pattern preference. With every quilt the process is a bit different, but in very general terms:
- często zaczynam od narysowania wzoru w EQ7 i sprawdzenia wersji kolorystycznych i mniej więcej tego ile jakich materiałów będzie mi potrzebne,
I often start with drafting the pattern in EQ7, checking the colour versions and rough fabric requirements there,
- oczywiście równie często się zdarza, że szyję coś zupełnie innego niż pierwotnie planowałam, jak np. przy kołderce dla Babci - zaczęłam od takiego projektu:
naturally, equally often I end up sewing something completely different from the initial plan, like it was e.g. with my Grandma's quilt. I started with this design:

a kołderka ostatecznie wygląda tak:
and the finished quilt looks like this:

- potem najczęściej kupuję materiały, chyba że mam wolną rekę w kwestii doboru kolorów i akurat tyle materiałów, żeby wyszła kołderka, co przyznam rzadko się zdarza, bo mój zbiór bardzo duży nie jest;
then I usually buy fabric, unless the choice of colour combination is left to me and I happen to have enough fabric for a quilt. This second option does not happen very often as my stash is not too big
- w międzyczasie i tak zwykle rysuję wzór w zeszycie w kratkę - bardzo ogólnie, głównie po to, żeby móc łatwo kontrolować ile jakich bloków już uszyłam (czasem wydruk z EQ7 się tu sprawdza). Jeśli kołderka ma co najmniej kilka różnych bloków składających się z wielu elementów różnej wielkości, często rozpisuję sobie ile jakich kawałków materiału będzie mi potrzebne, np. tak:
in the meantime I usually draw the patten on graph paper - just a general outline, mainly to better check the block count (sometimes I use a printout from EQ7 for this). If the quilt has several different blocks made of lots of elements of various sizes I usually calculate how many pieces of what size I'd need, e.g. like this:

Ćśś, nawet ten etap sprawia mi przyjemność, ale równie wielką radość sprawia mi szycie "na oko", jak np. przy tej kołderce:
shh, even this stage makes me happy, but I also love improv blocks, like in this case:

Tutaj jedynym założeniem było, że końcowe bloki (z szarą lub czarną obwódką) miały mieć określoną wielkość, ale przy samych doniczkach i roślinkach musiałam zwracać uwagę tylko na to, żeby nie były za duże.
The only assumption here was that the final blocks (with blue or almost black sashing) were to be one size, otherwise I just had to be careful not to make the pots and plants too big.

- Jeśli kołderka ma bardziej regularne elementy, to zwykle najpierw wszystkie wycinam, a potem zszywam, ale jeśli bloków jest bardzo dużo częściej na przemian wycinam i zszywam, żeby mi się to wycinanie za bardzo nie znudziło.
If a quilt has more regular elements, I usually cut all of them first and then sew, but if there are many blocks I tend to alternate between cutting and sewing, to avoid being bored. 

- Dalej wiadomo, jak już mam i przód i tył kołderki i odpowiednią ilość ociepliny, następuje pora na spięcie warstw. Mogę się ostatecznie przyznać, że to chyba jedyny etap, który delikatnie mówiąc średnio lubię, ale perspektywa pikowania oraz audiobooki bardzo pomagają.
Then of course, with the quilt top and backing ready and the right amount of batting (wadding) on hand, I baste. I can admit it's the only stage of quilt making I'm not too keen on, but the perspective of quilting and a good audiobook help.
 
- Następnie - pikowanie. Odkąd mam maszynę, która nie buntuje się przeciwko pikowanym bazgrołom stopką do cerowania, to jest sposób, który najbardziej lubię. Oczywiście cały czas się uczę, bo na razie to długość ściegu hasa sobie jak chce, ale z tego kawałka np. jestem bardzo dumna:
Next - quilting. Since I got the machine which doesn't rebel against FMQ, this is the type of quilting I like best. Of course I'm still learning and the length of my stitches is all over the place, but I'm quite happy with this bit:

- I na koniec przyszywanie lamówki. Zdarzyło mi się parę razy, że przyszywałam ją w całości maszynowo, ale jednak najbardziej lubię przyszyć ją masznowo tylko z jednej strony, a potem kończyć ręcznie - bardzo relaksujące zajęcie i w przypadku kołderek, które idą w świat to taki trochę czas pożegnania.
And finally binding. I did machine stitch the binding a few time, but my favourite way is to hand stitch it. It's very relaxing and if I give the quilts away, it's a good time to say goodbye. 

Uff, chyba będę podziwiać wszystkich, którzy dobrnęli do końca. Może powinnam wymyślić jakąś nagrodę?
Phew, if you read this through till the end, I'm impressed. Maybe I should think of a reward? 

Do dalszej zabawy zapraszam wszystkich, którzy mieliby ochotę trochę poopowiadać o swojej pasji.
I extend the invitation to the Around the World Blog Hop to all who feel like sharing some thoughts about their passion.

2014-10-12

here we go again

I don't seem to have many WIPs, and there are some things I haven't even started yet, like a certain cushion I'm looking forward to making before Christmas or possibly, possibly a quilt for myself, but there are a few things I can put on the last Finish Along list of the year:

1. The blue quilt (not a very imaginative name, I know, can you think of a better one?)


It's going to have 112 6" blocks (finished size) so it's going to take quite a long time cutting and sewing but I'm enjoying the process.
2. Fingerless gloves for a friend.


I'm basically using the same ravelry pattern (Ghislaine Gloves) as for the red gloves, only with edges worked in seed stitch.

3. The denim skirt yet again - hopefully for the last time.


4. The medallion quilt does not really want to be a quilt, so I might give up and try to make it into a cushion, or at least bring it to cushion size and then decide. Don't worry, my friend is still going to get a quilt, just not this one.


5. And a bit of lace knitting - from a ravelry pattern called seascape stole.


I'm linking this up to Katy's Finish Along of course.

Finish Along 2014

2014-10-05

the last one...

...as in the last finish I managed to squeeze in before the end of the quarter, but also the last one from the list and the last one I would imagine I might finish in time.
Remember this ugly thing?

Well, I'm not saying it's perfect now, but definitely wearable:



I really should have taken notes because it was quite an improvisation and I can't remember now what exactly I did to save it. I certainly unstitched most of the seams, cut a bit from the sides, added the centre front piece, took out the elastic and added a zip at the back (probably made a new back altogether). It turned out a bit short so I didn't hem it, just zigzag stitched it and I quite like the slightly messy look.

So that's it. And to sum up all the Q3 makes against the list:
1. The quilt for my godfather - done
 
2. A hopefully-still-surprise quilt (well, not a surprise anymore but a wedding gift) - done

3. Mittens for my friend Malwinka - done

4. The denim skirt you've already seen - nope, I guess you'll be seeing it next quarter again
5. The medallion quilt for my friend - not much progress I'm afraid, just a few stitches and an idea for another round, but I'm still thinking
6. The corduroy skirt - done.

Now let's check your finishes. I haven't been around the blogs much lately, so I'm looking forward to finally catching up.
Finish Along 2014

not quite traditional

There were two quilts on my Q3 FAL list (yes, yes, I'm boring like that) and I'm happy to say I finished the second one too.
This one had to be ready mid September as it was to be taken overseas as a wedding gift. The wedding was 9 days ago and I've heard that my cousin and her husband liked the quilt (I do hope they really did), so now I can reveal it.


I'm not sure if this really is a traditional block and if so what it's called (if anyone knows please let me know too). Anyway, I was going for a traditional look with a modern twist. And I wanted to give it the crinkly look, so I quilted it in doodle hearts - each heart with an echo.


 I didn't want the quilt to be too serious, so I went a bit wild with the back:


If you look closely, you'll see three potted sprouts.

knitting {on the train}

As most of you know, I commute to work at least four days a week and my train journey takes slightly less than 50 minutes if everything goes well.
So if I catch the right train, i.e. if there is a seat available, preferably next to the window, I usually do something. And if I don't have any small sewing projects or a book I simply cannot put down, I knit.
(Sometimes I knit and read, but let's face it, this means I knit even slower than usual.)
This way I finally managed to finish the fingerless gloves for my friend (can you guess they're also another finish from my Q3 FAL list?)


They are made with soft alpaca yarn and I might just need ones too (still thinking about the colour though and in the meantime I'm knitting black ones which will also be a gift).

Now I just have to give these to my friend before it gets cold. 

2014-10-04

time

Time flies. On a rocket engine plane possibly, or maybe something faster. At least it does for me.
So I still can't believe it's already October and that I haven't written a word here since July.
But in the meantime I managed to finish a few things, so let me show them to you, starting with:


the sprouts quilt for my godfather.
It was a bit tricky to photograph, as our bed is not wide enough, but I'm very happy to report that I not was not only able to hand it in (with birthday hugs and kisses only a week late) but I already know that it fits his sofa just right. 

The idea for this quilt started with a cushion for Susan. (I was sure that I'd blogged about our private swap, but apparently not. And I was so happy Susan liked the cushion and I received the most amazing one from her, and the loveliest lavender bag embroidered with lavender flowers -  the one on the left here, not to mention some very nice chocolate.) 


When we talked about the details of the swap we were both waiting for the spring and so I thought I would try to add some spring to the cushion - hence the sprouts. And then I also wanted to put all my favourite fabrics there while trying not to make it too "crowded" so that's how the tiny squares were added. And the two-colour background was something I wanted to try for some time and I thought it fitted quite well with the idea of the cushion.

Susan's warm reaction to the cushion encouraged me to go further with the idea and try something similar with a big quilt. But since figuring out how to cut the background although fun was quite tricky too, I decided to make the quilt a bit more easy to piece by dividing it into equal blocks. Of course each block would be a bit different, with improv pieced sprouts (in a pot this time) on a texty or dotted background and brought to the block size with pieces of grey fabric. 



So that's what I did and it worked.

I'm also quite proud with the quilting - swirls around the pots and something I think quite close to pebbles on the grey and almost black background.


Hope you like it, too.
Incidentally, this is also no 1. from my Q3 FAL list.

2014-07-11

new quarter - new list

So, what I'd like to finish this quarter? Let's see:

1. The quilt for my godfather, rolled over from Q2 - it only needs binding and thread burying.
I can't wait to see it finished, I'm quite proud of it even now.


2. A hopefully-still-surprise quilt - this I really need to finish as soon as possible. Both the top and the back are ready and I even have an idea about the quilting.


3. Mittens for my friend Malwinka


4. The denim skirt you've already seen - not a must, but it would be nice to finish it


5. The medallion quilt for my friend - even if I won't finish it this quarter I'd still like to work on it a bit, at least.


6. The corduroy skirt - more as a reminder than a real hope to finish, but I do hope to discover a way to make it wearable.

I'm sure there will be other projects in the meantime, I can already think of at least two more, but let's stop here, to make the list even partly realistic.
Of course this list is for:
Finish Along 2014


2014-07-06

Is it a pass?

Time to sum up my Q2 makes:

1. Euro siblings together quilt - done.


2. A quilt for my godfather - almost there, but it still needs binding and thread burying, so it's moving to the next quarter.

3. A potential skirt disaster - done, although it finished as a top not a skirt.



4. A denim skirt - not done, I haven't even touched it, maybe next quarter.


5. Gilbert's scarf  for my brother-in-law - done.


6. Anne's sweater for me - done.


7. In-fashion-again medallion quilt for my friend - not done, fortunately my friend is very patient.


8. Corduroy skirt - not done, I haven't touched it and I still have no clue how to make something wearable from it.

4 out of 8 - not brilliant, but better than Q1, so I'm quite happy.
Are you happy with your Q2 finishes, too?

catching up - knitting time too

The last finish (from the list) that I can show you this quarter is again a knitting project - this time a scarf for my brother-in-law.

It took me a bit long to knit it, as I did it on the train only and I'm a slow knitter, but the pattern is super easy and relaxing and still makes an interesting texture.

right side  --------------------------------------------------------wrong side
And to add some colour, I couldn't resist to take a photo against my beautiful cushion from Susan.

catching up - sewing time

My sewing hopes from the Q2 FAL list have been fulfilled in 1/3 only, and required a certain twist.
If you remember, I was going to finish a skirt, although I was afraid I wouldn't look good in it.
As it was half sewn already:
I kept trying it on, but no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't see myself wearing it even at home. The pattern, lovely as it is to sew, was completely not me in this fabric colour and weight, and I was beginning to feel I would just use the cotton for quilting, when inspiration struck.
So I measure things a bit, pulled out a certain pattern I used once already, pulled a bit more fabric so that the pattern pieces would fit and made a pieced:
 Wiksten tank top

I didn't have enough fabric to make bias tape for the armholes and the neck, so I lined it instead.
The lining part was fun, because I was sure there was a way to do it so that all the seams were hidden between the lining and the outer fabric, but despite watching and reading several tutorials, I just couldn't get my head around the trick. You can picture me doubled up with laughter after the fifth time I turned everything inside out through one opening only to get a strange one armed garment with half of the fabric hidden somewhere between the layers... I couldn't even get frustrated because it was so funny. In the end I gave up and just stitched the top seams normally.
Still it's finished and I even wear it to work (OK, with a cardi, it is cut a bit low).

I hope it still can be counted as a proper FAL finish, even if I started with a skirt and finished with a top, so I'm linking it to the Finish Along party.