Quilting

I was reminded last week that one of my resolutions or intentions for 2018 was to finish off all those half finished or just started projects I have lurking around... and there are a lot of them which I'm not sure says much for my attention span!

Long time readers will know that I'm not really a patchwork and quilter although I'm often irresistibly drawn to beautiful piles of fabric and lured into believing that I will be able to make something fabulous with them. This was the case a few years ago at the Festival of Quilts when I bought these gorgeous shot cottons from Oakshott Fabrics.

My intention was to make a table runner with some place mats but I forged ahead without much of a plan and cut out lots of rectangular pieces to make log cabin blocks and at the time I may have even made up a couple of the blocks. And then it was all put into a bag and put away in a drawer while I plunged myself with enthusiasm into the next thing to grab my interest. Occasionally it would come out again and I would have to remind myself of the process all over again and try to remember if I had a plan for the end result but I never got very far until this week.

I finished all the blocks, twenty one in total and it was time to decide how to put them together. It was then I realised if I wanted a runner plus place mats I probably should have had more of a plan before cutting out the fabric in the first place. So instead I just stitched them all together and decided to see what I ended up with. To be honest I was just happy that things lined up and corners more or less came together.. for an ex-mathematician my accuracy in cutting and sewing up leaves a lot to be desired!

And so here it is... possibly the wrong proportions for a table runner (without mats unless I invest in more fabric), certainly too small to be a quilt but maybe it will end up as a wall hanging? All suggestions most gratefully received! Of course, there is still the small matter of quilting, lining and binding so I'm nowhere near having finished this project but possibly a little closer than I was.

And talking of quilts does lead me very nicely into what I really need to tell you and that is I will be back at the Festival of Quilts this summer teaching two one hour workshops for Husqvarna on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th August. We will be making little needle cases decorated with free machine embroidery - everything is supplied, you just need to show up!

And what is more... I have a free ticket for the show to give away. If you would like a chance to win the ticket then please leave a comment and I will pick a name at random this time next week. Leave me a comment even if you don't want a ticket... I need ideas of what to do with that log cabin patchwork!

And while you are about it please remind me that I do not need to buy any more fabric at the Festival of Quilts this year!

Not All About Me!

I'm going to start this post with a story....

 Recently six of us were having dinner at the home of some close friends. We had all started the evening with some pre-dinner Prosecco and by the time dinner was served the others had all moved on to regular red or white wine, whereas I still finishing off my Prosecco. (I know, not like me to be taking my time!) As we sat at the table our host was topping everyone else’s glasses up and asked me would I like some more Prosecco. Now, I was really looking forward to changing to a glass of white wine and probably should have said “No Thank you, but I’d love a glass of that Sauvignon Blanc please”. Instead, having noticed that he had emptied the previous bottle of Prosecco I said “Oh no, don’t open another bottle just for me”, to which our host replied “It’s not all about you, you know Gina, other people might want some.” And that was me put in my place!

To be fair, I don’t think he meant anything by it and was (I hope) just jesting, and I probably wouldn’t have even mentioned it except it leads me neatly to the point of this post.  And that is not all my sixty by sixty challenges are all about me having exciting new experiences or going to new places etc. but they also include doing things for other people. The whole idea of setting myself this challenge was not so much a "Bucket List" but was more about seizing the moment so that instead of  all those times I would say “I’d like to do that one day” or “I’ll get around to that soon” I would actually do things. Because the older I get the more I realise that there is no time like the present and there is no point putting things off because let’s face it… life is short and none of us know what is in store for our future.

Something I’ve often thought I would like to do is make a patchwork quilt. Now I have tried… I've got the books and I have started at least two which are still languishing in my workroom somewhere but somehow I never seem to get around to finishing them. I get bored stitching all those pieces of fabric together, then I lose concentration and the pieces end up wonky or not aligned properly and my corners never match, I get frustrated and the project gets abandoned. I've completed some table mats and even some cushions but never a big quilt... actually not entirely true as I did this huge memory quilt but it didn't involve any accurate piecing so I don't feel it counts!

Of course the sensible thing would be to finish off those half finished quilts but I thought I might have more success if I started from scratch and made a quilt for someone else so when I heard about Project Linus a charity that provide quilts and blankets for sick, disabled and disadvantaged children, I knew this would give me the incentive to make and finish a quilt.

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I used some fabrics I bought in a charity sale at our Embroiderers’ Guild branch plus some bits and pieces I already had. I dug out my rotary cutter and walking foot... (see, I've got all the gear!)

And hey presto...three weeks later I have a quilt! There are wonky bits and corners that don’t match (below) … but there are also some corners that are really good (above)! And although I’m not terribly sure I liked the colours  (they've grown on me) and wished I’d been a bit more adventurous with the design I’m quite pleased with the way it’s turned out

It's soft and warm...

And pretty!

And I've ticked off another sixty by sixty challenge to make a quilt for Project Linus

And even though I did get a bit bored stitching all those squares together I think I'd like to make another one and be a bit more adventerous with the design and colours... so with that in mind I bought some fabrics when I was at the Knitting and Stitching show yesterday only to find my colour palette is pretty much the same as the last one! Oh well... perhaps I should just aim to get all the corners matching next time.

But at the end of the day it’s not all about me and I’m hoping that there is a little person somewhere who will come to love their very own quilt… because it was certainly made with lots of love. And what's more,  I enjoyed myself in the process.