Tumbler I Spy

With the addition of a new child in the family, an I Spy quilt had to be made. I used the Accuquilt Go 6½ tumbler die to create this. I cut several shapes at once especially for the small print fabrics - which I tend to buy more of now for this purpose, and also they are more economical when fusing cutting. 

The Accuquilt Go handled the bulk of up to 5 fabrics no problem. 

I just had to be careful here to make sure the fabric did not budge. I think if I had precut the fabrics to roughly the size I needed this would have been eliminated.

I need to get better at measuring my finished quilts before I give them away. This has to be 44" wide by  54" long. I think!

He loved it, so did Mum and Dad

Hearts and Flowers

This quilt was made as a Block of the Month quilt challenge at our local group. Each month we got another instalment and paid a £1 for the pattern. The money collected became the prize money for 1st, 2nd and 3rd voted for by fellow quilters - aka quilters choice, at the AGM. Sadly mine did not win, but all the quilts were amazingly different and gorgeous.

I choose very pretty colours - not my usual colour choice at all. I enjoyed working with this range though and it made me realise how much I like white/cream for backgrounds.

 You can see here  how I have adapted this pattern

The Start of Something New.

I will be teaching this quilt at our local fabric shop - Fabritastic, starting in April. I am looking forward to adapting the pattern a little, mostly the appliqué shapes. I am thinking about using birds and flowers?
You can see more of this original quilt here.
Block One






Here are some of the fabrics I will be using. The 2 main focus fabrics are from Moda - Regent Street Lawn. I am starting with 1.5 metres of cream and 1/2 a metre of these 5, I will add a few more colours from my stash.



The first session went well. All 8 ladies were lovely and seemed to enjoy it. The array of colourways is gorgeous and very different, I am looking forward to month 2 already

A couple more 'I Spy` Quilts

I have been busy making 'I Spy' quilts. Both use the same block - a quick easy yet effective block.
The first quilt I made was for my Mums volunteer driver's Grandson. As he does so much for my mum and helps keep her independent, I really did not mind making this one;

 It measures 48 x 77 inches and is the first to use my own label

The second one is for a friends baby girl.  This is much smaller at 44'' square.

Fun Cushions

Both my children  have large cushions they use on a daily basis, mostly for propping themselves up to watch tv or play kill'em quick games!

The first ones I made used Cat in the Hat fabric.  This is probably around 2005/2006, when the fabric in the UK was very hard to come by, and I stumbled upon a scrap pack at your local fabric warehouse.

 I added red and black and then wrote in chalk on the back Cat in the Hat. This was then quilted using thick white thread, and looked very effective.

Once No 1 son's cushion had been totally worn out I made another (any excuse), and I wanted to practice some curved piecing.  This was a little trickier than when I pieced the apple core quilt. I used 5 fabrics and stacked them on top of each other, all facing upward. Then I free hand rotary cut wobbly lines. Taking one strip from each fabric I pieced these together and then joined four blocks to make the front centre block. Borders were then added

The top was free motion quilted, but I did add a lizard outline. This was achieved by drawing a lizard onto freezer paper, cutting it out,  and gently pressing this into position on the finished back of the front of the cushion. I then carefully sewed around the lizard producing a wonderful effect using YLI Candlelight thread in the bobbin.

To compliment this I appliquéd a lizard on to the back of the cushion. 

Film On Five -a bucket list quilt

This quilt is on Lucie's blog. She has long armed quilted this beautiful quilt. The tutorial has been kindly posted by Wedding Dress Blue

Colourful scrappy cotton reefs, WIP

This is my first attempt at a true colour wash quilt. I planned my colours on EQ5 and then decided upon  the cotton reel block Each block is 6" finished

Using the same fabrics I designed a border to run alongside the colours in the main quilt. The cream is a very fine calico. I am currently quilting the cream and outlining all the reels. as you can see its a work in progress.

Started early 2012

Squared squares

I have been commissioned to make a quilt top. The fabric selection is a rich array of tonal fabrics which are so gorgeous.

I have decided (after consultation) with my client to make a square in a square quilt, quick easy and adorable!

Finished quit size 40’ by 50’

Basic instructions:

Finished block size 5 ½ by 5 ½ (total number of blocks = 80) Cut 1 ½ ‘ strips from all fabrics. For each block you must cut the following from the 1 ½ ‘ strips:

Central square 1 ½  ‘ square – cut 1

Middle frame 1 ½ by 1 ½ - cut 2

                          3 ½ by 1 ½ - cut 2

Outer frame 3 ½ by 1 ½ - cut 2

                       5 ½ by 1 ½ - cut 2

Assembly diagram.

In the next row the blocks will alternate with the previous row thus meaning that there are no seams to match.

All taken in the garden, and not a chicken in sight!