How one Angel became three

Some months ago - many months ago probably - one of our members suggested we use a discarded Block of the Month pack which another member no longer wanted to make. It was suggested we each take a block and turn it into a Premature Baby quilt for our local hospital.
Time went on and everyone was busy with more urgent projects but when eventually people started to look at the Block pattern they had we discovered all the blocks were a different size, significantly different. Mine was very narrow with the Angel flying sideways and I couldn’t think how to expand it to make a quilt 15” x 20”. Then (obviously I wasn’t thinking straight that day!) I thought if I made two more I could have three Angels flying one above the other, the original Angel in the centre, the other two made in matching fabrics and flying in the opposite direction to the Original Angel. So I painstakingly made two more blocks. THEN I started to arrange them together and realised I hadn’t worked out the Maths correctly and three Angels would make the quilt far too long, so, back to the drawing board.

Starting with the Original Angel I added rows of 2” squares and rows of appliqué hearts and created this little quilt.

Then I used the same method to make two more little quilts:

All hand appliqué with blanket stitch and hand quilted with a pale cream Perle thread.

As if by magic......... One Angel became Three.

Of course with the Covid19 lockdown these quilts will not be delivered anytime soon. Perhaps not even this year?

UFO, finished Down Under!

Still in full swing using up scraps here Down Under in NZ.

This time, a pair of almost finished placemats. Why didn't I finish them? No idea, but they have been languishing in my NZ stash for years!

Now finished and ready to be gifted. One of my Patchwork Group friends, Jennie, is having a stall at the next Quilt Show in May. She raises money to help a school in the Gambia.  I thought perhaps someone might fancy these appliqued placemats - every dollar helps.

In the pipeline

I have had a busy week sewing - really enjoyable and productive.

I know of three babies due: one in August, one in September and one in October. None of the mums-to-be want to find out whether the baby will be a boy or girl so I am hedging my bets by building up a stash of baby quilts!  I have two "Boy" quilts already stashed away so I am in the process of making three "Girl" quilts and another "Boy" one if I have time.

I was recently given a copy of the Lynne Edward's Book "Scrap quilts to use it up" and a pattern in there prompted me to make this baby girl quilt.

I have given the top a deep top border as I will applique the name of the baby on there, like I did with my last finished quilt for Harry.

I also have two more quilts in the process of being made. One is ready to sandwich and the other has 34 out of 48 Wonky Wishes stars made.

On Thursday a few of my Patchwork Group delivered the 2 Group quilts to our friend Win who is now in a nursing home.  She was so delighted, she was absolutely speechless and almost in tears! 

Here's a close up of part of the appliqued quilt we made for Win's daughter who is also in an nursing home.

 

Everyone in the group made at least two of the blocks, each one is different. It is such a colourful quilt and we know it will brighten up Eileen's room.  Both quilts were hand quilted, each of us doing some of the quilting.

 

So lovely to know quilts you have made are appreciated. This morning I had a free pedicure from Jo (I made Harry's quilt for her to gift to her friend's baby) as an extra Thank you.  Jo really was delighted with the quilt so it was smiles all round.

Animal Parade quilt

 

This is a much better photograph of the quilt I made for baby Harry.

Taken in the garden, my lovely husband holding it up for me.

The colours are very true to the actual quilt colours - the indoor photos in my previous post are not bright enough.

Baby Harry's quilt

I was commissioned by my friend Jo to make a baby quilt for her friend's baby. They knew the baby would be a boy and Jo wanted a quilt in a similar style to one I had made for her baby James.

This was James's quilt which I called "Hello World":

 

Jo asked if I could include some elephant fabric. I didn't have any of the yellow or grey little elephants fabric left but I did have another one with elephants on a turquoise background so included it. I liked the addition of the pop of turquoise, it seemed to make the greens and yellows of the quilt stand out more.

I made the quilt a few weeks ago, leaving the name strip blank and hand quilted as far as the top area.  Baby Harry was born on 21st June.  His Mummy and Daddy took a few days to decide on his name but I have now completed the quilt adding his name and a star either side.

 

 

Harry's Quilt which I have entitled "Animal Parade".

 

 

I hope to see Jo on Wednesday so I can hand over the quilt.  Hope she likes it!

 

 

A close up of the name panel:

 

 

 

 

WIP finished! Hoorah!

I had given myself a deadline to finish the WIP Baby Quilt by yesterday. Last night we had neighbours over for dinner, then as soon as they left I hand sewed the binding.  This afternoon I started to hand embroider the label, sitting on the deck in the sunshine.  Super!

After a little while there were two earthquake tremors! Really strong, the strongest we have experienced to date in 11 years of having our house. A shaking from side to side which I thought was my husband moving the dining table ( although I couldn't imagine why!) and then real big staggers through the floor of , hard on its heels, another exactly the same pattern. Apparently a 6.2 tremor about 60 miles from here, but 52 km underground.  No one hurt nearer the epicentre, just a few supermarket shelves shaken and items thrown to the floor.  But it was felt pretty much through both islands.

So, drama over, back to the embroidery!  Label finished, sewn onto the back of Max's quilt and off I set down the slope to our neighbours to deliver the quilt for their Grandson.  How about this for serendipity, they were on a Skype call to their son and I was able to see baby Max sitting in his little chair, smiling away when he heard my voice!  Wonderful.

Tomorrow is Anzac Day so we are off to the Dawn Service, starting at 6.30am. We need to leave at least by 6am so it's off to bed for me.

Let  me leave you with photos of my quilt - our neighbours were thrilled!

And here's the backing, which I love!  Great colour match!

 

A great backing fabric that I would have missed if a lovely Spotlight assistant hadn't shown it to me! Perfect colour and perfect for the parents who own four dogs.

 

Such a good colour match for the front of the quilt.

So, off to bed early so we can be wide awake for the Dawn Service,

 

WIP that has to be finished ASAP

I am making a baby quilt for my NZ neighbours' latest grandson, Max. We are returning to the UK in just over two weeks so, as they say, time is of the essence!

I bought the fabric almost two months ago, from two Quilt shops: Cushla's in Mapua and Quilter's Barn in Renwick and the backing was a bargain end of roll from Spotlight.

I didn't make the quilt straight away as I wanted to make the String Quilt I finished a few days ago.
And then of course there were two trips away, to Sydney and the Bay of Islands, which all meant that starting the baby quilt got pushed onto the back burner.

But earlier this week  I started the quilt.  I had drafted out the design way back when I bought the fabric so it was just a case of cut and sew.  I sandwiched it yesterday and started the hand quilting so I now feel my target to finish by next Thursday is achievable.

How it looks at the moment:

 

 

As you can see the Perle cotton and scissors are ready to be picked up as soon as I have a minute to put in s few more stitches.

 

 

I have made lots of baby quilts over the years but this is a "first" in many respects:

 

• I bought every bit of fabric for this quilt just for this quilt.  I have lots of fabric stashed away(what quilter hasn't?) but 90% of  my stash is back in the UK.. I only keep a small stash here in NZ and I really had nothing suitable for this quilt.  Hence the shopping spree.  It was lovely to buy everything for one project and there is enough left over to make another baby quilt and have scraps for my ever-growing Scraps Stash! Just got to decide whether the left-overs stay here or travel back to the UK with me on 2nd May. What do you think?

 

• I have made a few Coin Quilts before but never combined that design with a band across the top with baby's name appliqued on it.  This is an idea I got from an English quilting friend of mine, Sarah.  So, another "first".

 

• This quilt will be going to South Africa (taken by NZ Granny when she visits in July) and I have never had one of my quilts end up in SA. Lots in the UK, Canada, NZ, The Netherlands and Germany, but this is the first one destined to live in South Africa.

 

I am very pleased with how the quilt is progressing, the bright colours really sing and the novelty prints are very apt, I think.  Dad is a Kiwi so sheep and tractors are good ( Granddad has a tractor). Dad and Granddad are keen bikers so the bike fabric is good too.  Orange for the South African link and a few hearts to show how much this baby is loved. The backing has a pattern of dogs on it, again suitable as Mum and Dad have two large dogs.

 

Off to do my housework and cooking so I can get back to hand quilting!

 

A quilt that I forgot

Last week we were visiting friends in Sydney.  The first few days of our trip we stayed in their new house, a farm out in the country, nearest town is Goulburn.  We were shown into the guest room and on the wall was a quilt.  Of course I commented on it and our host laughed and reminded me that I had made it as a gift when we stayed at their previous home, an apartment overlooking the beach at Cronulla!  She said that now she lived in the country she thought the quilt was just right for the Guest Room as it had a "country theme".

When I looked at it again I did remember making it: it was from a pattern in a book I have back in England.  As I always label my quilts I was able to find out that it was a gift I made them for Christmas 2004. I know that I made another little quilt from the same book, in similar colours, which I gave to my sister.  She used to display it on her kitchen wall but now they have a new kitchen it doesn't "go" with the more modern décor. Probably hidden away in a drawer, but it will have been kept, as my sister keeps everything I make her.

Here it is, my long-forgotten Australian Country Quilt:

                                        

 

 

I was really pleased to see it again.  Not my usual choice of colours but ones suggested in the book and ones I thought were right for this particular quilt.  All hand blanket-stitched applique and hand quilted.  I am still amazed that I had forgotten all about making and gifting it!

 

I had a good look at it and was pleased with the sewing.  Here's a couple of close ups of  the applique:

 

I agreed with our friend, it is very suitable, especially as they have a mob of red kangaroos that come around their property.  Sadly we didn't see them.  We have been to Australia several times and I have never seen a kangaroo in the wild.  I did see a wombat though!


When I get back to the UK I shall have to find the book and perhaps make something else from it.

 

 

There is no such thing as a mistake

A remark Bonnie Hunter made in her last Quilt Cam rang a few bells in my head.  She said that she wasn't too precious about points meeting and being perfect and would fudge if she could.  This is my way of thinking too - life is too short to agonise over perfect points and I am not concerned about the Quilt Police!

Many years ago I had the good fortune to attend a lecture by British quilter Dorothy Stapleton.  She has a wonderfully quirky style of quilting, some of them almost cartoons. She uses a lot of free motion machine writing on her quilts and makes scenes using small Log cabin blocks.  I bought her book called "Log Cabin Landscapes" and made the following wallhanging:

 

A French house set in a garden.

 

There are some great ideas in her books - I recommend them to you.

 

One of the things I remember Dorothy saying in her lecture was that "There is no such thing as a mistake - it's just a design opportunity".

 

I have never forgotten that sentence and have put it into practise so many times over the last few years.

If points don't meet ( for instance in pinwheels) cover "the mistake" with a button or an appliqued heart or flower or whatever fits in with the theme of the quilt.

 

Back in 1999 I made five single bed quilts for the 5 great nieces and nephews that I had then (lots more since!)

 

As I was quilting one of them I discovered my seam stitching had come apart in a couple of places. What to do?  The quilt contained various ladybird novelty prints so I fussy cut and fusible webbed a few ladybirds and dotted them around the quilt top, making sure two of them covered my poor seams. Then I hand blanket stitched them and my "mistakes" became attractive "design opportunities"!

The quilt has stood up to years of wear and tear and washing so the appliqued ladybirds did their job.

 

Another design opportunity came when I made a very colourful Log Cabin quilt for a friend's birthday.  Again, at the last moment I discovered a couple of shonky seams when I was hand quilting.  This time I appliqued hearts made from red fabrics and bound the whole quilt in the same red fabric.  Worked a treat and looked as though that had been my design from the very beginning.

 

Thinking about quilts I made years ago reminded me of a quilt I made back in June 2004. 

The Patchwork Group I have belonged to since 1997 had a challenge.  We  all made the same block in yellow and green fabrics of our choice (so long ago I can't remember how many blocks we made and swapped) but eventually we put them together with cream sashing.  I chose a cream background with gold Chinese looking writing.  A long time before text prints were invented.

 

I decided to add appliqued ivy leaves, creating the leaf templates by drawing round ivy leaves from my garden .  I also added large olive green buttons which came from my husband's aunt's sewing box.  She had died two years before so they were a reminder of her.

 

I called the quilt "Ties that Bind" which I felt was very apt at the time, as the quilt blocks bound together the members of the Patchwork Group along with memories of Aunty. Since then two of the ladies in my Patchwork Group have died, one quite recently, so the quilt is even more poignant.

 

Here it is:

 

And a close up of the hand quilting, ivy leaves and buttons:

 

 

Quilts are an amazing vehicle for memories and therefore very precious.

 

First Quilt finish for 2015

I have just finished hand sewing the binding on a baby quilt.
My first Quilt finish for 2015.

My daughter asked me to make a quilt for a friend who is expecting a baby in about a month's time.  The parents know it is a boy and my daughter loves Overall Bills so they had to be part of the design. DD hand blanket stitched a few of the blocks but the design, fabric choices etc were my ideas.  The parents lived in Australia for some years so as I had a small piece of Koala bear fabric I included that as the centre block.  My intention was to have Overall Bills walking in different directions throughout the quilt as if they were seeking the koalas.

Finding Koalas

 

The quilt is vibrant, much brighter colours than in my photograph.

I pieced the backing, using some of the fabrics used in the quilt front.

The pieced backing:

  

 

The Overall Bills were hand blanket stitched and I echo quilted with Perle cotton around each appliqued figure.  Otherwise the quilt was machine quilted.

I used two of the Pearl bracelet fabrics I won last year in a Giveaway - almost nothing of those two pieces are left!  Lots of small scraps were used to make the Overall Bills.  Everything in this quilt came from my stash......... nothing extra was bought at all.  Just how I like it!

Passing it on to my DD this weekend, so she has it ready for when baby puts in an appearance.

 

Hello World baby quilt finished

I have been making a baby quilt for a baby boy expected mid November.
I decided on a more modern design, using an idea my friend Sarah uses in many of her lovely baby quilts which incorporates the baby's name, appliqued at the top of the quilt.

I put the top together some weeks ago as the Mum-to-be knew she was expecting a boy.  I hand quilted the majority of the quilt using Perle cotton, leaving the top section for the name to be appliqued and the quilting and binding to be done when baby arrived.  Little rascal came a few days early but I finished the quilt quite quickly and passed it along (via another friend) yesterday.

I love the cool colours of this quilt and I think they will match baby's room décor and his Mum's style. Hope so, anyway.  As long as it is used, that's all I want.

The front:

 

A sneaky peek of the cool green and white striped backing fabric:

And a Close up of the appliqued name:

 

 

I hope baby James enjoys his quilt.  It measures 30" x 40" so it can be used in a variety of ways:

as a playmat and for 'tummy time', snuggling with Mummy or Daddy, wrapped around in his pushchair, Moses basket or car seat and, a little later on as a cot quilt.

 

Welcome to the world!

Poppies for Remembrance

Yesterday was a very important day in our country's calendar. 
6th June 2014 was the 70th Anniversary of the Normandy Landings, also known as D-Day, when the Allied invasion of Normandy during WWII began.  This eventually lead to the end of the war and meant that my generation was able to grow up in a peaceful Britain.  We owe everything we hold dear to those gallant men who fought and, in many cases, died that we could be free.

 

My newly planted pot by our front porch was appropriately flowering yesterday, in time for those celebrations.

 

On the sewing front there has been a little hand blanket stitching taking place during our few days away in Kent.  Whilst we were resting before dinner I managed to do a few more stitches and completed almost three of the seventeen Sunbonnet Sue blocks I need for the baby quilt I am currently making.

 

Here they are:

 

I love hand sewing so this is not a chore, although I do need to get a move on with these blocks now and start to put the top together.  I will be hand quilting it too so lots to do and the baby this is intended for is due this month. No pressure there then!

I have been continuing to admire Alison's QAYG quilts for her Soy Amado Project.
Each one is completely different and she has now finished 35 quilts!  Alison turns these quilts out so rapidly it just amazes me.  If you haven't seen her quilts, do take a look at her blog: littleislandquilting.blogspot.co.uk

I have 5 blocks ready to send and one more I want to complete before I post them to Alison.

Off to do more blanket stitching!

 

Gifting a baby quilt and starting de-cluttering

So far there hasn't been too much sewing happening here for a variety of reasons.

At the end of March we returned from our 3 months in New Zealand and there was lots to do - house, garden, catching up with family and friends etc.  We also had a short trip to Holland to visit friends over Easter and in addition I had two unexpected trips to A & E, one in Amsterdam and one back home.

However I have managed to embroider and sew on a label for my Peter Rabbit Quilt and this was handed over to my next door neighbour this morning.  Her daughter had a baby girl a few days ago so this is for Eadie.

 

I made the quilt top a couple of years ago and then it was put away in the cupboard.

Last year, as part of my finishing UFOs campaign it was finished.  Definitely a quilt for a baby girl I think, with so much pink included. 

So, I hope baby Eadie enjoys it as a playmat and as a quilt for cuddling.

 

Eadie's baby cousin Freya was born only three weeks before so both of the baby quilts I have gifted so far this year have gone to the same family.

 

Our Dutch friends were so kind and looked after us so well whilst we were staying with them. We met again their elder daughter and her two little children, Nolan-Jay and Eden-Rose. Eden-Rose is a delightful 3 year old and typically "into pink".  She also loves her cuddly toys and dollies and her favourite pastime is tucking them up and taking them for a walk in her dolly pram.  So, as part of a "Thank you" to our hosts I am making a very pink Doll's Quilt for Eden-Rose.

 

Lots of hearts which have been attached with fusible webbing but I am now hand blanket stitching round them with matching embroidery floss.  I love blanket stitching so this is a very enjoyable part of the quilt making for me.  I will add two borders and perhaps even a little pink ric rac for extra embellishment.

De-cluttering is uppermost in my mind at present.  As I was unpacking from New Zealand I decided it was time to go through every cupboard and drawer in the house and throw out as much as I could.

Last week I started on my wardrobe and so far have taken three bags of clothes to the Charity Shop, a paperback I finished reading since I came home and returned lots of unused medicines and dressings to the chemist's for disposal.

I have really got the bug now and am determined to be ruthless and give away anything I have not worn/used for a long time.  This morning I made another visit to the Charity Shop, taking 5 T shirts and a pretty skirt that I have not worn for probably ten years.  I doubt I would now fit into it and it is definitely too young a style for me.  However, each time I had sorted through the wardrobe, back the skirt went because I thought the fabric was so lovely I should make some cushions from it.  Well, that has never happened, so out it went this morning.

My aim is to sort through a cupboard or a few drawers each week until the job is DONE!

Has the Spring cleaning and de-cluttering bug got you too?

 

A little gift for a friend

It's one of my Patchwork friend's birthday just before Christmas so on Saturday I made her a little patchwork needlebook to go with some other sewing goodies.

I have made a few of these needlebooks for other friends and my sister and all have been well received.  The pattern is from a tutorial I saw ages ago on nanacompany's blog.

I have a Needlebook "Project Pack" to hand with my sewing supplies which contains everything I need for these needlebooks: suitable scraps of fabric, narrow ribbon, 1.5" squares, red and green fabrics for the strawberry, matching embroidery floss, instructions, strawberry template, white felt for the 'Pages' etc.  Scraps of batting are also in a handy pile.

So when I want to make one as a little gift I can just grab the pack and get started.

I like to use Perle cotton for the hand stitching and I have a large sweet jar full of them.  A few years ago I passed a sweet shop which was giving away the empty sweet jars so I took one.  Ideal for my Perle cottons and as its made from clear plastic I can see inside to check if I have the colours I need.

So here's the one I made for my dear friend:

An appliqued strawberry on the front and the back is made from a patchwork of 1.5" squares.

Now a little visit to a re-opened sewing supplies shop in town so I can choose some useful goodies to go with it!


I

Favourite Quilts - Linking with Mary at Molly Flanders

A few days ago I read Mary's post on her blog Molly Flanders where she had been considering which of her own quilts were her personal favourites.  She asked readers to decide on their own favourite quilts ( ones they had made themselves, not other people's that they admired).

That made me think back over the many, many quilts I have made myself over the past 16 years. 
Five immediately came to mind as absolute favourites and several more as ones I really loved.

So, here are my Top Five Favourites and reasons why I love them so much.

1.  RAINBOW STRING QUILT

 

This was the first String quilt I had made although I had wanted to make one for a while.

I had a very personal reason for wanting to make a Rainbow Quilt, in memory of my dear son, but had struggled to think of how I could interpret the "Rainbow Theme".  Suddenly the idea for this quilt came to me.  It combined my love of colour, scraps and strings into one quilt which I felt spoke Christopher's name.

 

If you look closely you will see that I incorporated the ROYGBIV colours into the solid strips creating the diamond pattern within the String Quilt.  As there are 9 blocks I had to repeat the Red and Yellow solids in the corners which I felt balanced the quilt nicely.

 

The coloured strings are all made from scraps that I had in my stash and I restricted my colours choices to ROYGBIV colours.

 

I gave it to our daughter in memory of her brother and she hung it on the wall of her new baby's room along with some family photos including some of Christopher. Our little granddaughter loved this quilt from when she was just months old and loved looking at its brightness.  Later on she was able to look for colours and play I Spy too.

 

Since then I have made several String Quilts, one very similar to this original one but several scrappy ones including a couple made in the QAYG style. 

 

2.  SUGAR AND SPICE COT QUILT

A very special one as it was made for my Granddaughter. Our daughter didn't know whether she was expecting a boy or a girl but she wanted a quilt starring Sunbonnet Sues and Overall Bills as she had always loved these motifs on other quilts I had made.
So I made the Sugar and Spice Cot Quilt, very pink and girly with lots of Sunbonnet Sues and also another "Boy Quilt" which had Overall Bills.  As baby Annalise came along, Sugar and Spice Quilt was the quilt gifted to her.  It was used so much, washed over and over again and now lives on Annalise's bed at our house.

Two close ups of this quilt:

 

 

3.  WATERMELON STARS COT QUILT


This quilt was inspired by Gwen Marston's book Liberated Quilts. 
I loved Gwen's work and was lucky enough to attend a one day workshop that she gave at our Quilt Group in New Zealand.  It was a marvellous day, everyone had a wonderful time, free from the idea of being perfect and just enjoying colours and putting scraps together. 

The Quilt we made that day was a Liberated String Quilt and I have done several of these since as it remains a favourite pattern. But then of course I went on to try out lots of Gwen's Liberated blocks and made this Star quilt.
I called it Watermelon Stars because it featured a watermelon fabric which had languished in my stash for some time.  The quilt eventually was gifted to a baby born in New Zealand so it was apt that it went to the country where I first made a Gwen Marston inspired quilt.

4.  BRIGHT STARS COT QUILT

Again Gwen Marston Stars, this time in girly pinks and lilacs and gifted to my very good friend's granddaughter who was born a few months after our granddaughter.

5.  WHERE'S ELMER?

 

I originally made this Cot Quilt for another baby but loved it so much I couldn't part with it!  Another quilt was made for that particular baby!
So this quilt lives at our house and covers the doll's house when it is not in use. Annalise plays with it and when she was first learning to count she regularly counted the elephants and found the pairs with matching blankets on their backs.

It's still one of my favourite quilts for all sorts of reasons. 
It was the first quilt where I had set blocks on point.  Thinking about it I haven't made another quilt since using blocks set on point.  I shall have to rectify that!  I love elephants and these little elephants with their embroidered tails and 3D tassels appealed to me. AND it was a lot of work! Sometimes when you gift quilts the recipients aren't always aware of how much time and effort has gone into the gift and I felt this particular quilt should live here, where it was truly appreciated!

I have loved thinking back over the quilts I have made and have had great fun looking through my Flickr Photostream, deciding which ones to write about in this blog.

Like everyone else who quilts, each quilt is loved and each one has a story to tell. It has been great wandering down memory Lane.

Looking at my quilts and deciding on my favourites has pinpointed once again how much I love colour, scraps, strings, applique, and Gwen Marston -style Wonky, Liberated Quilts.

Thank you Mary ( Molly Flanders blog) for suggesting this exercise!

YEH! WIP finished

I am so pleased to announce my First WIP finish for 2013!  My Siblings Together Charity Quilt using fat quarters won in a Giveaway that Katy of Imagingermonkey fame hosted last year.

The winner had to make a quilt at least 50" square for the Siblings Together Charity to give to children who had been separated from their siblings and were meeting up at a summer camp.

The fat quarters were called Savannah Bop, a children's novelty-style design.  I found them pretty but not enough contrast in colours for me and a couple of the designs did not lend themselves to being cut up into patchwork pieces. So, I really had to think how to use them.  I love Gwen Marston quilts and her liberated style so I decided to make a Medallion Quilt in her style, using the giraffe print for the centre square.  Then I used some strong coloured fabric from my stash to add ZING!  An orange with white polka dot, a bright egg-yolk yellow stripe and a bright lime green Kona cotton.

I used the idea from Emily Cier's book of circles to showcase the fat quarter designs appliqued onto the lime green Kona cotton background as another border.

The final border was made from squares of the fat quarters interspersed with piano keys of the scraps.

The Giveaway asked for a quilt measuring a minimum of 50" square.  My quilt finished at 56" square.  Result!

Now for the backing.  Because of the size I was into piecing the backing and really didn't have anything suitable but I did have a vintage sheet used originally on my son's bed in the 1980s.  Just the colours and surprisingly, a patchwork design of hexagons.  To add more interest I added appliqued circles of the fabrics used in the quilt:

I did a combination of hand quilting:  Perle cotton to outline stars, giraffes etc and to outline the piano keys. I used ordinary quilting cotton to quilt in the ditch between the borders.

Then the binding was made from three different yellow fabrics I had, including one I had used in the Wonky Stars borders of the quilt.

So, here at last is the finished quilt:

I am really pleased with it.  It is bright, cheerful and has lots of things for a child to look at and discuss.  I used a good quality batting and, along with the soft sheet backing it gives a lovely feel to the quilt.

I am sorry it took so long to make but I hope it will make one child feel loved and wanted.  I will be posting it next week to Delma Hughes, the Siblings Together Group's organiser.

Butterfly cushion

So pleased to report that I have finished the butterfly cushion for baby Willow.  This was made to match the Gwen Marston style quilt I made for my daughter to gift when Willow was born on Valentine's Day.


This is the quilt:

And here is the cushion.  I decided the butterfly wings needed to be made from scrappy strips. The background is Moda Essential dots, the fabric I used in the Owl quilt, that way keeping down the costs.

I felt the lime green plain fabric on the top left wing stuck out like a sore thumb, so I embroidered little flowers on it to soften it.

So, here's the whole package I shall be handing over on Friday afternoon:

I'm pleased with everything so I hope Mum  Nina is too!  Always a worry when someone asks you to make a particular thing!