Crayola washable felt pens.

I have tried all sorts of things to mark my quilting fabrics and found advantages and disadvantages to them all.

This is a review of Crayola Supertips Washable markers. I got mine in WHSmith for £5.99. Other cheaper brands are available, but I can't comment on how washable they really are, and compared to the price of fabric, it's a bargain.

I like that these come in plenty of colours, so will stand out on almost any colour or pattern. I like that because it is a felt pen, it marks the fabric easily and accurately, but the line is quite thick. 

I used these pens to mark the quilting lines on C and R's quilt. The markings were in place for several months before I put the quilt through a cold wash after it was finished. All the marks washed out perfectly.

Here I have marked a piece of white 100% cotton.

Here is the back to prove I didn't use a light touch with the pens.

The instructions on the pack say to use a hot wash, but that isn't realistic for most quilting projects. I put this sample in at 40C with my normal laundry. This very unexciting photo shows that all the markings washed out completely.

World Textile Day Wales 2015

I have just returned from a lovely day out with my Mum to World Textile Day Wales.

This is an annual event in Llanidloes. There is a morning and an afternoon lecture session, and a nice break in the middle to get some lunch and do some shopping. There is a lot to tempt me on an occasional visit to Llani. even without the added bonus of the amazing stalls at the textile event.
I really enjoyed the lectures, but there was an awful lot to take in, so sorry the labels for my pictures are a bit vague.

Sashiko samples by Susan Briscoe. She gave one of the talks.

Chinese applique from 1930s. Imported by Slow Loris.

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Beautiful reverse applique quilt from Southern Pakistan.

Close up of embroidery on another Pakistani Kantha quilt.

Can you guess what this is? We couldn't!

 

It's to decorate your camel for a wedding ceremony. The hump goes through the slit in the middle.

African textile.

And finally my goodies. I think I was very restrained.

Bye bye winter blues

I didn't publicly make any New Year's resolutions this year, but I had a few goals in mind. Two months in, its time to review progress.

Goal number one- finish more projects than I start.

I think this goal is achievable, even though on current statistics it doesn't look good. I have two finishes so far this year, and I have three new WIPs. One is very nearly finished, so that will bring me back to even Stevens. 

Goal number two - reduce fabric stash to one box.

This is definitely not going so well. My shopping ability still far outpaces my sewing ability. The owner of my local fabric shop is so friendly and helpful, that I pop in all the time for advice. I would feel bad just taking the advice for free, and its very hard not to look around while I'm there. I do like to support local businesses, so really I am just being a responsible citizen and contributing to my local economy, and... Okay, I have no willpower. I have come to the conclusion that reducing my stash by buying less fabric is probably not going to work. The better way might be to sew more projects and reduce it that way. This would tie in nicely with Goal number one.

So, as a recap to myself on current position for 2015.

At the start of the year this was my list of projects in progress:
Scarf
Cardi for fox - abandoned.
Pink elephant
Sunshine waves blanket- finished and given away - gold star to me.
Minnie mouse bag
This blog - ongoing

New projects started:
Summer dress
Crochet doily project
Party dress

So, the goals for March are to finish at least one more project and not start any more. I will check back in to update on progress later.