Hello and welcome to The Compost Bin. I'm Compostwoman and I live with my family in rural Herefordshire. We have nearly four acres of garden and woodland, all managed organically and to Permaculture principles, which we share with Chickens, Cats and assorted wildlife. We also grow a lot of our own food, run courses in all sorts of things and make a lot of compost!

I am a Master Composter and have spent more than a decade as a volunteer Community Compost adviser with Garden Organic and my local Council.
I'm a self employed Environmental Educator so I run workshops and events where I talk about compost, veg growing, chicken keeping, cooking, preserving and sustainable living. I also run crafts workshops and Forest School/outdoor play sessions in our wood.

We try to live a more self sufficient lifestyle here, as best we can, while still having a comfortable life and lots of fun.


To learn more about us click on the About Compostwoman tab and remember to click on the photos to make them full size!


Monday 7 January 2013

Well...Quilting?

I have just used some of my 2012 saving coin stash to buy various extra items I want to use for crafting - a rotary cutter and a larger cutting mat  - I only have an A3 one and need a bigger one! I was very frugal, though, and only spent £30, including a few other craft supplies. I can re use various stuff I already have but I did want a bigger cutting mat and a rotary cutter (as my wrists are not very good now.

I have been gathering fabric for many years - especially saving some  treasured clothes from Compostgirls past outfits and I finally am ready to " have a go" at a quilt.

I have a number of really helpful Quilting books ( mainly got from charity shops or given to me by friends) plus advice from lovely quilting experienced friends.

So...I will soon be embarking on The Quilting Experience.

Any tips? Hints? Suggestions?

I have never done any quilting, so am open to any ideas :-)

4 comments:

  1. Frugal Queen has some no nonsense tips on quilting. Rotary cutters are great and so is a bigger mat. My downfall was using batting that was too thick. There's plenty of information on YouTube for quilting. I have just started and am keeping to straight forward squares for now. Another tip is to look up how to bind a quilt as there are some very ingenious ways.
    Love from Mum
    xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. quilting is addictive. It is a great hobby.I sometimes use fleece on the back of quilts, cheaper than wadding and you do not need backing fabric then. It is great for kids quilts because you can wash them easily and they dry quickly. Jan

    ReplyDelete
  3. You are going to have such a lot of fun! If it's the patchwork aspect you prefer or if your machine can't manage quilting you can use the tie method. I quite often do it. You arrange your top, wadding and backing as normal but then tie little knots at intervals to hold it all together. That's the thing I wish someone had told me at the beginning.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you for the lovely comments!

    I have made a few very simple quilts before - with blanket backing and no wadding. I have not tried the tiny bits of fabric quilts though - yet!

    I think I will make a cushion for Compostgirl , as the fabrics are her old clothes it seems suitable!

    ReplyDelete

Hello! Thank you for reading my blog and for commenting. I try to reply as quickly as I can and I really appreciate your interest in my life and doings here in The Compost Bin.

UA-40361266-1