New Journal Quilt

I've done another Journal quilt - A4 sized, this one was made for a challenge set by Leominster Quilters. the subject was 'A Country - real, not imagined', so I chose New Zealand, and it's a mixture of paint, applique and quilting.

Another Cushion

Another cushion made last week - quick bonded applique and machine quilting.

A quick project

This month I have made a couple of cushions for a friend's grand-daughters, complete with appliqued initials. The fabric is a Cath Kidston - an extra piece I gained after turning a king-size quilt cover into 2 single ones.

Busy Time

Had a busy couple of weeks. I completed a log cabin quilt, out of my stash. (Only had to buy the wadding.)

Also made a sign for my workroom door......

Why the hooks? Because I plan to make a Journal quilt every month, and hang it from the sign. I want to try new techniques (or develop existing ones) and a Journal quilt is a manageable size. 

However, the first one wasn't made this month - it was done on a trip to Cornwall in April, but I have only just finished it off.

Fabric was transfer printed using leaves as a mask, then machine quilted around the leaf shapes. I added a green sheer fabric on top, and hand and machine stitched the background. I'm pleased with it.

Baby quilt

Yesterday and today I have made this quilt for a friend's baby. She arrived last Thursday....

Playing with paint

Spent a happy few hours on Saturday playing with fabric paints along with members of the group. I think we all had fun!

Today, I have washed an antique quilt, which I bought at an auction a week ago. It's washed ok, but a few of the stitches have broken; however, I think they had probably already gone, or were ready to go. I think it's a Welsh strippy quilt - quite large, and the filling is a blanket, so it's heavy, even when dry! Photo to follow soon.

New challenge

I have just started a piece for a challenge set by Linda - to  make a small qult (18 inches max), taking inspiration from the local church. As it is renowned for it's decoration, there's lots of scope. I took lots of photos, and settled on using a detail from the font, which looks a lot like quilting.

However, I've designed something that has much more applique than quilting - so far!

Blast from the Past

Today, I have finished a quilt begun in 2006. A 'Round Robin' quilt, which was part of a group challenge inspired by an artist - I chose Gaudi after a visit to Barcelona. The other quilts are finished, as far as I know, only mine took longer than expected. I was very unsure as to how to quilt this one, but eventually made some decisions, and here it is.

Another quilt completed!

As promised, here's a photo of the other sampler quilt - Back to Basics 2. The centre block was a Quilters' Guild Mystery Quilt project a few years ago, and I was unsure what to do with it once I'd finished. When the challenge was issued at the group, I knew it's time had come!

The quilt measures 72" x 72", and is completely machine quilted. The blocks are pieced using both hand and machine techniques. I'm so pleased with it, I've entered it into the Festival of Quilts in August.

First Post

This is my first post on my blog. (The second post on any blog!) However, we all start somewhere!

I love to stitch - mostly patchwork and quilting - and increasingly find I want to try new ideas. I don't want to be stuck in a creative rut. So hopefully I will share some of my ideas and projects with anyone out there who might be interested.

To start with, here's a photo of a sampler quilt I completed last summer.
It was a challenge set by one of the members of a quilt group I belong to; to make a sampler quilt called 'Back to Basics', using 12 basic blocks - 4 Patch, 9 Patch etc. Within those categories, we could choose whatever design we liked, and this is the result.

(Can't turn the photo round - turn your head to the right!)

This one went together easily, so I made another, larger one, which I have nearly finished, and I'll post a picture of that one in a few weeks.