Rooster Quilt Finished

Unfortunately I don't have a very good photo of the whole finished quilt yet but there are some good detail photos. AND its FINISHED!

If you want to check back to the beginning of this project, they whys and wherefores, here is the link:
http://nana-jan.blogspot.com/2009/03/new-project.html

To see the progress photos, click on the rooster link in the label cloud on the right hand side of the page.

Something Creative to Show!

Well, I haven't been sewing so I haven't been blogging but this was fun! I took a 16 hr weekend workshop with Craig Winton and made myself a ring.You can see more of Craig's work here.

There are a number of processes to making a ring like this.
Choose your stone bearing in mind that larger is easier.
The Shank:
You need to determine the size of the ring, cut the silver shank to length using a little fret saw (it was already shaped thankfully), roughly shape it to bring the cut ends together. File the ends to make a nice tight join, solder the join using a blow torch, borax flux and 'hard' solder. Wash it. Pickle it. Wash it. File it, sand it. Shape it on a mandril with a leather mallet. Shape it on an anvil. Sand it again with the aim of hiding the join completely. File a flat piece for the stone to sit on. Put the shank aside and make the setting.
The Setting:
Measure the circumference of the stone. I chose a relatively small stone which made it harder to work with but it was circular which made it easier than some of the irregular shaped stones others chose. Measure the height of the stone to determine the height of the setting. Cut a piece of silver sheet to length and width. Shape it as well as you can to your stone's shape. Solder the join ('hard' solder). Wash, pickle, wash, file, sand.... You have now made the setting wall. Roughly cut a piece of sheet for the base of the setting. Solder the setting wall to the base ('hard' solder). Wash, pickle, wash. Cut the base close to the wall. File to exact fit. File, file, sand, sand, sand until you can't see the joins.
The Ring:
Solder setting to the ring shank on the flat area you filed on the shank (using 'easy' solder this time!) Wash, pickle, wash, file, then sand with 3 grades of sandpaper making it perfect, no visible joins, no visible nicks, no visible dents which will show as darker areas in the silver. Set the stone in the setting. Using a small wooden pusher, push the silver wall of the setting evenly over the stone. Using a small metal tool, gently tap the silver down evenly so there is no gap between the stone and the silver. Stamp the shank with a sterling silver mark. Polish the ring with two grades of polish on Craig's electric motor polisher.
All done!
Wear with pride!

Little by Little

Some more before and after pics of progress - which is slow because we have a guest living in the sewing room at the moment and I can only get in there when she is away tramping for a couple of days.

More on the Rooster

Back in March last year, before normal life was interupted, I started a new project. This may refresh your memory if you don't want to follow the links to my earlier posts:

 

I continued for a few more weeks but have done nothing on it since May 2009. I found other more urgent work to do when I had time for sewing.

However, now it is the urgent project as we have had word from France that the paintings for the doors are finished and the doors won't take very long to make. Aren't they fabulous?

 So I had better fulfill my part of the bargain and finish the quilt! Today I spent a couple of hours working on the tail feathers of the rooster. You can see a before and after comparison above.

Success!

Yes, I finished on time, just. Terry has written a blog post on our trip to Wellington and you might as well read his, as he is a better writer than I am. I am hoping that Chris will post his photos of the day on Flickr so that I can borrow one or two for you. I know he took one of Jessica's lovely wide eyed reaction to the quilt when it was first held up for her to see. Here is the finished quilt, front and back.