I thought I’d add a new type of post to these pages, to record the small things and the passing of days. You may find it interesting, or you may not but please leave a comment either way. I’d love your feedback. Monday 17 January My birthday was celebrated by the sun emerging after a […]
Ups and downs quilt
As soon as I saw a photograph of Sarah Fielke’s Ups and Downs quilt, I knew I wanted to make my own version. It looked simple to piece by machine and I immediately knew I wanted to hand quilt it. Then I remembered that Sarah makes ENORMOUS quilts and I don’t. How she does it, […]
Welcome to the summer solstice
I was asleep at 2.58 am this morning, when the Earth’s tilt placed us closest to the Sun. Funny how natural events like these don’t take any notice of what we insignificant humans are doing at the time, isn’t it? Celebrated by pagans as Litha, the summer solstice is a day to contemplate light and […]
Listening to my quilts
The challenge was to make a quilt that measured 50 inches square. Sounds straightforward, right? No such luck – my quilt had other ideas. It simply did not want to be that size and fought me all the way. Spoiler: the quilt won. It has always been difficult for me to make a quilt to […]
Indigo Tiles
When I make a quilt, I rarely have a firm idea of how the design will turn out. For pieced quilts, I usually start with a block that attracts me or fabric I want to use. For my Indigo Tiles quilt, I wanted to use some of the vast collection of blue prints in my […]
Recycled rainbows
Scrap quilts are often the most interesting to make. This small quilt (24cm x 29cm) was fun to stitch. As usual, there’s a story behind it. For many years, my friend Lisa Walton has been selling her hand-dyed fabrics, both in separate pieces and in kits. She often has scraps left over from cutting these […]
Sewing small
A great way to try out a new quilt idea on a quilt is to work small. I’ve experimented with making A4-size quilts in the past. They are easy to finish, which always gives me a feeling of accomplishment! This is my Limeade quilt, named for the colours I’ve used. Each square is an inch […]
Passionflower quilt
I’m not overly fond of quilt challenges. Usually my quilt ends up too big or too small, rectangular when it should be square, or in breach of one of the other challenge conditions. But this challenge was different. We were each given a bundle of hand-dyed pink fabrics and had to include some of each […]
Fun with name badges
Making your own textile name badge, ready for gatherings, is so much better than using a felt pen to write your name on a sticky label. It’s fun to make and shows your individuality. I made this one some years ago, using several different techniques. I used a piece of my hand dyed orange/red fabric […]
Sewing with selvedges
Back in 2007, I started to collect the selvedges of fabric I purchased. I wasn’t sure what to do with them but I knew their coloured edges could feature in some future projects. Soon, friends started passing their selvedges on to me and my collection grew. It was time to start using them! At the […]