Back to London

After many years away, the call of London proved too strong and at the start of October we found ourselves picking up our sticks and moving back to the big smoke. I had a wonderful three years in Bristol, and will always love Bristol as my first home-across-the-pond, but when the right opportunities presented themselves we decided it was time for us to do London again.

It's a very strange feeling to leave somewhere that feels like home and return to another place that was once home. This move was both a departure and a homecoming.

In the spirit of London life which is as hustling, bustling and busy as I remember it, I'm posting an efficiently quick and easy update to the blog. Now I know instagram photos do not a blog post make, but I thought it would be a nice and easy way to catch up on things to share what I've been up to and encourage readers to follow me on instagram.

Just a few shots from my first month back in town.

Judging the Knitted Textile Awards at work today!

A photo posted by Chris Webb (@chrismakesthings) on Oct 10, 2014 at 3:13am PDT

Loving autumn in Islington. Saturday morning walk & shop. #autumnisbest #cardiganseason

A photo posted by Chris Webb (@chrismakesthings) on Oct 10, 2014 at 3:19am PDT

2nd in the queue for the @ally_capellino sample sale. Not too shabby.

A photo posted by Chris Webb (@chrismakesthings) on Oct 10, 2014 at 1:12am PDT

Cake is a good reward for four weeks completed in the new job!

A photo posted by Chris Webb (@chrismakesthings) on Oct 10, 2014 at 10:09am PDT

In reality, not much has changed in London. It's still the same place and it still excites and exhausts me in the same old ways... the one thing that's changed in the six years I've been away is the rise of apps and their impact on the efficiency of urban life. We can document our lives through apps, find places to eat, find things to do, book taxis and generally explore the city with more efficiency and less need to speak to the people around us than ever - how strange and (and in odd way) wonderfully London.

More updates to come soon, with lots of new things to share and changes coming to my world of crafternoons.

more secret crafting

When this project started out I didn't know if it would all come together, but I knew exactly who I'd finish it for if it ever did. I was impressed by several map-inspired quilts that I'd come across online and in exhibitions including this stylized interpretation of the tokyo subway map and these much more literal (for lack of a better work) interpretations of maps as quilts showing terrain and landmarks.

I set out the challenge for myself to create a patchwork based on the London Underground. Using my trusty grid-paper notebook I drew out a scaled version of the map, and slowly built up a patchwork using nine-patches made up of 1-inch squares, which I then used as blocks to create nine-patches of 3-inch squares, and built the patchwork up so forth and so forth.

For a more varied effect (and perhaps to give my patience just a little bit of a break) I also worked in 2"x 1" rectangles and 2" by 2" squares into the map. I started out with a trial 'nine-patch of nine-patches' and by the time I finished my first one I was hooked and determined to continue.

In the end I had roughly 35 'nine-patches of nine-patches' plus more large scale ones to finish out the quilt. As I approached the outside and border of the map, I expanded the size of the pieces and blocks and faded into some purple and grey shades to frame it.

This was a very fun and rewarding project for me, and working with 9" blocks made up of smaller blocks, meant that it was a project I could work on at my leisure; putting it away and shelving it at times when I wanted a break, as well as pulling out small pieces to work on without ending up knee deep in fabrics and notions. To organise myself, I kept a "master box" with all the fabric scraps I was working from, as well as tray full of pre-cut 1 1/2" and 2 1/2" strips I was cutting from. I only needed the tray to prepare each nine-patch, and only needed to go back to the "master box" when it was time to replenish my tray.

It was really nice to make a gift for someone without the pressure of a specific birthday or special event in mind (although timing meant it worked well as a birthday/christmas gift).

Sometimes it's just really nice to make for the sake of making and give for the sake of giving, and as I worked on the project I became more and more pleased and inspired by the fact that I knew it would be a gift for a person who loves and appreciates London more than anyone else I know.

smoke rings remain...

Since leaving life in the big smoke, it seems that London seems to be constantly on my mind... not necessarily in the sense that I miss it, but I think the city became such a big part of my life, that every new experience I have in Manchester is seen through a comparative 'London Lens'.

Of course, living in London is not just a part of life - Living in London becomes your life... its an amazing beast of a city that sweeps you off your feet and carries you away with its fast pace and pulsating life... so its only natural that now that I have left it, I still notice the imprint its left on my mind.

Leaving London didn't just mean leaving the city behind, it also marked leaving an amazing friend and flatmate - and a turning point in both our lives. I moved north to begin my new studies, and she took that giant leap into property ownership... so what better way to celebrate her new digs, and commemorate the end of our London life than to make her a housewarming gift.

As I become increasingly obsessed with paper and textiles, I was inpsired by some art I saw at the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair where one of the artists took a long sheet of what looked like postal wrapping paper, and painted and stiched designs of a skyline into it... I took that idea in a different direction and created a little piece inspired by the view from our former Battersea abode.



Ah yes, I spent many a day knee deep in craft supplies looking out over the inconic Battersea Power station recovering the energy I spent in London while expelling the creativity that the city inspired within me.

The craft is made of a combination of papers and threads, all handstiched together and layered to represent a number of inconic pieces of the London Skyline - can you recognize them?