Yes, it's been too long since I've checked in. Sorry. But the creativity bug has bit me once again, and I'd like to show you some of what I've been up to.
First, I made this yesterday afternoon:
Gigantic tote bag made from an up-cycled burlap coffee sack. I love this print! Fortunately I have a couple more sacks, some with the same farm woman print, so I will try to stay on the creative train and get them made up. The bag is seriously big - roomy enough for your groceries and your laptop and perhaps a small pet all at once!
Also, over the summer I took on a more labor intensive project. Being a consignment & vintage store owner, I come across loads of things that are not up to my selling standards, and I usually just say "no." But one thing I have been chronically unable to pass up is damaged cashmere sweaters. I just knew that one day I would have the time and inspiration to make something wonderful. And I finally did.
Behold, some rough photos of The Cashmere Quilt:
Of course, I fully intended to photograph my process, but that just didn't happen. So here's how it went:
I decided on the color palette of blue & gray, and selected sweaters that had varied color and knit texture. Then I got to work taking them apart at the seams. Yes, I could have simply cut them, but I have plans to harvest as much of the leftover yarn as I can for future projects so I wanted to keep as much of the integrity of the knit pieces as I could. The pattern I made was a simple 6.5 inch square. Lots of cutting to make the eventual 12 x 10 square quilt. Ten sweaters - 9 in the squares and one pale tan for the border. Once I had all the pieces sewn together, I decided that it looked too "neat" so I added little patch squares to break up the pattern. It just felt right. There's no batting because I wanted it to be lightweight, and I used a blue polished cotton bed sheet for the backing. It was really simple to sew. Straight stitch for all the piecing and straight lines for the minimal quilting. The perfect throw blanket, and a lovely birthday gift for an imortant friend (you know who you are.)
Ah ha! I wondered where you'd got to! I love your fabulous tote bag. It's inspired! And you must have the patience of an angel to make a quilt. I've never seen one made from cashmere sweaters. Brilliant! It looks incredibly cosy and warm. Roll on winter!!! :-)
Posted by: Catwalk Creative Vintage | October 04, 2011 at 01:41 AM
lovely quilt you've got there
Posted by: sarah | October 24, 2011 at 10:45 PM