Lost Connections

 The start of a new month and it's time for another Endeavourers  reveal and the theme for this quarter is Memories. As ever the problem is pinning down a project for the theme from the multitude of ideas floating around in my head :)

 

 During my deliberations I kept coming back to Alzheimer's devastating effect on my Dad's memory in the last couple of years of his life. Lost Connections above is my attempt at representing some of the confusion and frustration that he, and we, felt as the disease took an ever stronger grip on him.

 

 I started by creating a collage of family photos which were then printed on to fabric by Print me Pretty 

 

Then I pulled fabrics from my stash to represent the layers of confusion behind which my Dad's memories were hidden.

 

I decided to use the same technique for this quilt that I had used for my Tucked Away Treehouse for the Endeavourers Improv Challenge, so these fabrics were layered up over the background photo squares for 6 of the 9 blocks. 

Then using the techiques from Ann Small's Layered Cloth, the fabrics were stitched together and the layers then slashed. As you can see I used a mixture of parallel lines, squares and concentric circles for the stitching and slashing. 

Two of the remaining 3 blocks, my parents' wedding photo and a photo of my Mum, were backed and outline quilted.

 The final block, a photo of my Dad, was also backed and outline quilted but it was covered with two layers of organza before being edged with a zig-zag stitch. 

These three blocks portray the strongest recollections my Dad had during this time. I suspect that if he had lived longer it may not have remained the case, but throughout his illness he did not lose the knowledge of who and what my Mum was to him. 

The strength of that connection is also portrayed in the thick, multi-coloured thread joining the two photo blocks.

I used this Newspaper Yarn (from Oliver Twist) to connect the blocks vertically and when one of the lengths snapped as I was stitching I decided to leave it in place as an apt accompaniment for the fraying blocks. 

Once again this Endeavourers Challenge has been a really interesting and thought provoking project to work on. Each step of the process makes me question and ultimately justify my choices of technique and materials to best represent my chosen theme. Needless to say there are always things that I might do differently were I to repeat the project. Unusually though, this Lost Connections quilt is pretty close to the idea I had in my head at the start of the process so I can't ask for better than that! 

As always my thanks go to Catherine and Janine for hosting the Endeavourers Group and organising these challenges so well. Head on over to the Endeavourers blog to find out how my fellow Endeavourers responded to this theme.

 

You win some, you lose some

 Sewing clothes for my grandsons is definitely testing my abilities and not just my ability to stitch a straight line! I have been making more tops for the boys, and matching patterns has again been a challenge.

First up a Snowman top for the littler grandson

and a win! A Snowman the right way up :)

Next up, a much more ambitious Octopus Hoodie for the older grandson. Some wins here too

Check out the pattern matching on that front pocket! I confess to being a little bit thrilled when I saw that :)

Sadly the joy did not last, unbeknownst to me there was a disaster waiting in the wings!

 

 I hadn't realised until I put it together that I had cut the hood pieces out upside down because what I thought would be the top of the hood when it was sewn was actually going to be the bottom. So those octopi and boats you see above are all going to be upside down when the hood is worn up! Naturally when I realised that I also discovered that I didn't have enough material left to cut out another two hood pieces :( 

Rather than ditch the hood altogether ( I was tempted!) I decided to soldier on and hope that my grandson wouldn't even notice.

Fortunately he didn't and neither did his parents until I told them!

This snuggly Bear top for the littler grandson restored my faith though.

A perfectly placed hedgehog made me so happy :) 

Then just for a change a double-sleeved Fair Isle t-shirt for his big brother. I have actually had this fabric since the recipient was a baby so it was really good to finally get around to making something for him with it. 

You can no doubt imagine the happy dance that ensued when I saw these stripes :) Fortunately there was no patterns to match up or make sure they were the right way up with my last makes for them.

Given the length of the queues outside our local Post Office before Christmas, these outfits were made up into several parcels that would fit in the letterbox at the end of our road to be sent off. I am happy to report that they all arrived safely and the recipients were pleased to receive them. The little chocolate gifts inside each parcel might have had something to do with that too though :)

You've got to pick a placket or two!

 Over the summer,as you know, I had great fun making clothes for the gorgeous grandsons. Once I had made them (more than) a few t-shirts I decided to branch out and have a go at polo shirts! 

My, by now, well-thumbed Ottobre magazine had a pattern for a polo shirt so nothing ventured, nothing gained. 

 

Well the nothing gained bit was right! I struggled with getting my head around the instructions for getting the placement of the cut for the placket so my first attempt was definitely a bit off centre! Fortunately, I had (just) enough fabric to cut out another front piece and have another go.

Very considered cutting later I had my very first placket and in the right place to boot!

Well, I couldn't make for one grandson and not the other so emboldened by my success I stitched up this one too.

I am not by any means a dressmaker so the finishing touches on some of the Ottobre patterns are often a surprise to me, like this bound neckline, but they are always worth the little bit of extra effort (and at times, some head-scratching!).

I am currently working up the courage to make a couple of showerproof jackets for the grandsons, fingers crossed they do not turn out to be a step too far :) If nothing else, it will keep me busy in this new lockdown!