Double Irish Chain Patchwork Quilt Sewing Project

I made this massive quilt as a wedding present for a couple of friends.  The design is called a double Irish chain.  It's supposed to represent the couple's journey through life side by side.  It's a lovely sentiment and the fact that it's a super easy pattern that looks really complicated doesn't hurt lol. 

Tools and Notions:

Most of my sewing stash comes form the lovely people at Minerva Crafts.

I think I had this quilt in mind long before the couple actually got engaged.  I had a large amount of good quality red and black cotton in my stash.  Such big pieces of fabric needed to be used something special. 

I was going to crop out the adorable photo boomer . . .

But he's too cute to leave out lol.

Here's the notes I made in my Bullet Journal.  The small squares are 2.5" and the large blocks measure 10.5".  I used 1/4" seam allowances.  

I made a note to remind myself to always press the fabric towards one colour or another.  Being consistent makes the blocks easier to line up accurately later on.

I've used some more red for the border - I figured I might as well use all I had and I think it frames the quilt perfectly.

The binding is self made using the Quilt Binding Tutorial I blogged about previously.

I had a lot of fun quilting this one.  I've stitched in the ditch around each of the large blocks.  Then a small block either side.  I've quilted along the diagonal lines crated by the design and also diagonally though the centre of each large block.  

For the border I've quilted several straight lines around the edge.

I'm delighted with my efforts.  I do hope the bride and groom like it.

Trip to Halifax, Piece Hall

It was a beautiful day for a trip to the newly renovated Piece Hall in Halifax.

They had an Easter Egg hunt on.  It was £1 to join.  Little Miss had to find decorated eggs in the different shop windows.

It was a lovely way to have a wander round the shops.

Little Miss had a firm favourite - Totally Awesome.  She spent ages in there playing games, the staff were amazingly patient in showing her how.

She did some weaving in the The Piece Hall Story.

For Little Miss the highlight was definitely the fountains.

Little Pickle got in on the action too.  

Visit to Whitehall Park, Darwen, Lancashire

We popped along to the Easter Egg hunt at Whitehall Park in Darwen.  

The main entrance to the park is at the bottom of a fairly steep hill.  I'd have been better bringing a sling but had packed a picnic and so decided to take the pram instead.

We said hello to the ducks on our way up - there was just the one.

And Little Miss got her Easter Egg hunt sheet.  

There were little eggs to find all over the park.

It's a lovely way to explore and keep the kids entertained.

I'm so thankful we have an off-road pram.

The park has been left to nature's management more than others, so there's lots of woodland areas to explore.

Little Miss made an Easter Card.  It just cost a donation to the park supporters group.  

And played in the playground while we ate lunch.

It was a really nicely organised event, great fun for the smalls.  There were refreshments availible which I overheard were wonderfully cheap.  

I couldn't find details on their Facebook page but did get a leaflet with dates of future events:

Summer BBQ Saturday 22nd June 2019

Harvest and Charity Event Sunday 22nd September 2019

Halloween Saturday 26th October 2019

Christmas Event Saturday 14th December 2019

We'll definitely be coming back for some of these.  Presumably the detaisl will be availible on Facebook nearer the time - https://www.facebook.com/WhitehallParkDarwen/.

McCalls 6873 Sewing Pattern Review - Boys Waistcoat from an Old Suit

This pattern was a lot tougher than I expected.  

The imitation welt pockets were quite tricky to get neat, I had to be very accurate with the positioning - something I rarely bother with.  

The instructions didn't say to but I carefully trimmed all the corners so that the angles would be nice and sharp.

 

Tools and Materials:

Most of my sewing stash comes form the lovely people at Minerva Crafts.

If I make this again I'll be sure to carefully mark the welts, buttons, buttonholes and stitching line before the rest of the steps.

Apply interfacing.

Fold welts and stitch ends.

Clip corners. trim seams and turn.

Pin welts in place and sew along stitching line.

Trim seam and fold up welt.  Top stitch sides.

Reverse stitch to secure - not mentioned in the instructions but a lesson well learned.

Apply top welt in the same way.

Pin and sew centre back.

Pin and sew shoulder seams.

Pin and sew the centre back of the lining.

And the shoulder seams of the lining.

Pin the lining to the waistcoat.  

Sew around the arm holes and along the neck, fronts and bottom of the waistcoat.

Clip the curves.

Turn.

Sew front to back at side seams also sewing some of the lining in one seam.  

This was so tricky!!  The hole is tiny and it gets smaller as you sew.  But I managed it in the end.

Just the button holes and buttons to finish.  I re-used the buttons from the suit jacket.