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

Patchwork Rucksack

I had been wanting to make a rucksack for daily use to work, I found this pattern and really liked it. I had some Lecien fabrics that would work wonderfully.  To make the bag a little waterproof I put in an extra layer of shower curtain between the top fabric and the batting. It makes a bit of a  crinkly noise but has worked well.

 I am not sure if it is how I have placed the handles or the design of the bag, but the balance isn't quite right, it always wants to topple forward when held by the handles

Patchwork Upholstery

I bought this sofa  before our conservatory was finished, it comes with a story about delivery but I shall not go into that just now.  It's a Multiyork sofa and purchased from a big auction site. I always intended to cover it and was delighted to see that it had fully removable covers, However, I was not brave enough to take this apart and make a pattern.

So when a friend started giving me scraps of fabric from her curtain making business I kept a few. The stash grew and I soon had enough to cover the sofa. I made loose covers, one for the back and one for the seat. I used my overlocker and just sewed pieces together.  Once a few were together to make a bigger piece I laid this against the sofa and made a pattern pretty much freehand. It has worked really well, and as you can see Indie like it too!

Part one: the back

 Part two: the whole thing 

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

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!

Red, White and Black

I have been sent some fabrics to make a small quilt, The lovely thing about taking on commissions is that I work with fabrics I would not normally pick.  The selection I have is a range in red, white and black, with a tonal white as the contrast

I chose a design that would show off all the fabrics and I wanted a strong geometric design. 
Here are some of the blocks on the design wall, I added another row to this.

At first I was only going to add the red boarder, but decided the white was needed

From all the fabrics I cut strips the width of the fabric 2 ½ " wide. I then sewed each coloured strip to a strip of the white tonal fabric and pressed the seam to the dark fabric. I lay another unit on top, matching the sewn seam but alternating the coloured fabric and white, so coloured was on top of white and white on top of coloured. I then sewed along each seam making a tube. Using the Creative Grids 90* strip ruler I cut the strips into triangles. Once opened up these made stripy squares.

The red boarder and black binding were made of all the different fabrics I had used in the quilt. 

The backing is made from pieced left over fabric.

One of the hardest things was trying to photograph this quilt outside. I had two problems, one it was windy, the other, 3 very curious chickens.

This method is quick and easy. I have quilted in the ditch to emphasise the geometric pattern.

With the  helpful Mabel, Isabel and Daphne hens

The Wedding Present

I was asked to make a quilt as a wedding present for my cousin. I wanted to make a scrappy design, however I thought it best to ask first if they had any colour preferences. Yes they did, green and white. So a two colour quilt it was.

I kept to my scrappy  theme and choose pin wheels and 4 patch. It is quilted simply, diagonally, therefore in the ditch on the pin wheels and corner to corner on the 4 patches.