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Sunday 31 August 2014

Summer standstill - not much happening around here!

We have had a few summer-like days this year, mostly cloudy, and unfortunately I was too lazy to get my passport renewed, so I was stuck, trapped and imprisoned here, though I believe the passport office was having difficulties issuing passports anyway, so it probably wouldn't have made any difference had I made the effort. Despite that, I still didn't bother much with miniatures.  Apart from the beginnings of a patchwork quilt, everything else was made a long time ago, but kept secret. Good job, I kept things aside for emergency blog content! :D  

I've seen a few people making patchwork recently, Ilona recently made one for a customer and kindly supplied a link for a very good  miniature patchwork tutorial here, which is by Gill of Make It Small. I used graph paper! I know Gill advised against this, but I am a rebel!! And yes.. it was fiddlier and more difficult to work with, but my fingers are quite good at tiny, fiddly manipulation and creasing, but I would definitely recommend her suggestion of magazine pages over my rebellious choice, the graph paper bends easily! :D I couldn't be bothered measuring and ruling! Also, because I am making this for myself and time taken is irrelevant, I opted for a 1cm square (I did consider 0.5cm........, then reconsidered back to 1cm). I thought 15cm by 15cm should be enough, so this one needs more squares.........................and the tacking is still in place which alters how it will look when finished.

This patchwork pattern is loosely based on an Amish design, Sunshine and Shadows.  The effect isn't quite as dramatic as a life size one due to the size of the squares, but I quite like it.  It looks a bit like a tile though doesn't it! :D 



When I started my patchwork quilt, I went off to the Little Trimmings website, only to find they were about to close the shop for the whole of August, how dare they, and there wasn't enough time to order anything, so I had to go with whatever I had in my fabric stash. Having no patience to wait until the end of August, the above fabric is all that I had to work with.  I had fully intended to provide links for each fabric, hence this photograph, but three were bought at miniatura, and I cannot find them online now. The second one down is possibly CF111 and the third is CF81 and both of those are from Little Trimmings.  Though I'm pretty sure I have seen the other ones at some point on the various online dollshouse shops and on ebay.



I also made some pillows, using cotton lawn (Batist) and filled with glass no hole beads. Rather than make a case to be turned inside out, I sewed the two pre-creased sides together, to get sharp corners.  I cut out a paper rectangle, (in scale, for a pillow) and folded the edge of the fabric over all sides, similar to the way the squares are made in the patchwork tutorial. This creates equal rectangles to then sew together.
 I intend to make little pillow cases for them, because I am mad and like the idea of removable pillowcases! Well, they have to be washable!

I also used a pair of hair straighteners in lieu of an Iron, for pressing down the creases. Much more convenient!



I made this bedspread sometime ago, with material and lace bought from Little Trimmings. The central and side panels are fine cotton lawn, the central cross is lace code CL2171W, the border is lace code CL184W/Iv/E and the side panel is lace code CL203W.  This is not true 1:12 scale due to the bed in situ size problem that I have. The bedroom is too small for a scaled down double bed, so I made it a bit smaller, now all bedding has to be made to fit THAT bed. Rather annoying really.

You can see it on the bed here.




This painting will not be to everybody's taste, but I have a forged smaller copy of it in real life, so I must have it in miniature. It is by a French artist called Jean Dubuffet, and is called Femme et Bébé. It also has copyright restrictions, that I can't make any sense of, so hopefully this photograph isn't against the law, I did manipulate the image slighty, so it could count as a derivative work, ie, removed the watermark :D Look, I really needed it!!. I, er.......stole borrowed it, resized it, printed it and then stuck it onto a piece of card. I am not very good at making squared frames so I made the card backing a bit bigger than the print, and stuck the frame sections directly onto the card.

I hope my blog is not removed, because of a tiny forgery! :D


P.s. I have been having problems with blogspot recently, frequently seeing an empty reading list and apparently not following any blogs, according to blogspot. Has anyone else been experiencing this? It used to happen the odd time when I logged in, but now it happens nearly everytime.

23 comments:

  1. I've had my reading list disappear most days. I don't even visit the Google help thingy anymore, I just pressume it's knackered and they'll get around to fixing it when the fancy takes them.
    Patchwork is so out of my abilities. The quilt looks fab even with tacking stitches. August must be close down time for mini people. The dollhouse bedding company have done the same...
    Cool artwork. I like abstract and will have to Google Jean. If you're imprisoned for forgery, I promise to visit and bring you a file cake =0D

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    1. Ever since I publicly mentioned it, it seems to have fixed itself. Do you know, you could just print a quilt, it would be a lot more convincing! :D Yes, I've noticed loads of us have disappeared over August, nevermind the shops. Looking forward to the file cake!! :D

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  2. El edredón es muy bonito, pero la colcha de encaje es preciosa.
    Yo de momento no tengo problemas con blogspot.

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  3. Your quilt looks like it will be beautiful when you are done! And the bedspread is Gorgeous! I like that you have stitched together different pieces of lace to get the pattern. You must have elves doing the stitches.... they seem invisible!!!
    I have been having trouble with blogger lately too... no reading list today apparently.... and photos take Ages to upload... even though I am doing it the same way I have for years.....! Hopefully they will get it figured out soon.
    I am a relatively new follower of yours and I think your projects are Awesome! The details are always incredible!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Daydreamer, no elves unfortunately, I wish I had some, I have plenty of work for them to do :D

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  4. La colcha de patchwork va encaminada a ser un diseño precioso y la de encaje es muy bonita y delicada!!!
    No,no he tenido ningún problema con blogger.
    Besos.

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  5. I love the materials you used for the quilt. The bedspread is exquisite. Great work!
    Hugs, Drora

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  6. Your patchwork quilt is awesome and the bedspread is full of charm and it looks beautiful on the bed. You're very good at sewing.
    Geneviève

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  7. I have experienced the same Blogger hickups as you described.
    I just fell in love with your quilt....the colours, the patterns, the size of the squares.... just love it!!
    The cushions & bedspread: well done, too!
    Glad you're back, I like reading your blog :)
    hugs,
    Gee

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Gee,Blogger seems to be working ok for me today, maybe because I mentioned it publicly :D
      Hope to see you back soon too :) xx

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  8. Hi Sarah! Oh my, this quilt is beautiful. I love the colors you've chosen, they are so well balanced and the fabrics have beautiful patterns! The pillows look so realistic, what a great way to sew them. But what is cotton 'lawn'? The translator works (as usual) lovely for me: it says it is grass ;0! Well, I don't think so, or my glasses is quite dirty :D! Please, can you explain for me this term 'cotton lawn' in words, please?
    The bedspread is a beauty made of lace, gorgeous and stylish! So many tiny stitches, what a lot of work, Sarah!
    I am not a big fan of this kind of modern art, but in miniature it looks great!
    I am just back from vacation and in this time I didn't blog, so I can't say anything about the blogger problems. I am sorry, but I do hope they will fix it soon.
    I wish you a great week. Hugs, Ilona

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    Replies
    1. Hi Ilona, and thank you! The bedspread looks like a lot more work than it was, thanks to the lace inserts! I was never that keen on this painting as a child, but I have grown to like it now! Left a comment on your blog regarding "cotton grass!", also added Batist into the blog to help anybody else translating :D

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  9. Sarah, once again you have displayed your mastery with miniatures! Your little quilt is Perfection. The fabric choices area lovely but the sharp corners in your squares are just Incredible!
    Such precision and control in your work. What a treat it is to visit with you here.

    elizabeth

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  10. Hello Sarah,
    Great work. the quilt and the lace bedspread are fantastic. I have had the same issues with blogger...For 2 days I was unable to read up on your blogs but it seems better now.
    Big hug,
    Giac

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  11. Just found your blog and I really like it! Will definately be coming back!

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  12. Your bedspread is soooo beautiful! =) And the patchwork looks great, I tried that once.. but I'm to lazy and sloppy.. It was not straight at all... So I'm very impressed =)
    Hannah

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  13. Привет Сара! Как я пропустила пост???? Невероятно! Может быть из-за проблем с блогом... Я всегда восхищаюсь вашей работой. Ваша работа невероятно изящная и тонкая. Мне очень нравится ваше одеяло. Я ленивая...:) :) :). Сделала квадраты 1,5 х 1,5.... Покрывало чудесное!!!
    Обнимаю
    Татьяна

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Thanks for your comment :)