I’ve been really lucky to attend both the Spring Knitting & Stitching Show as well as the Spring Country Living Fair in the last week. There was so much lovely inspiration and a fair few fabric purchases too. Grandmother’s Flower Garden doll quilt Lately I’ve been spending my precious free time making hexagons the EPP way. I just love the whole process, from making paper templates, to choosing fabrics and basting my hexagons. Somehow I’ve ended up with 4 patchwork projects on the go, all in various stages of completion. My current favourite is my doll size version of a…
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I’ve been working on a couple of patchwork projects lately. As well as a Union Jack cot quilt, I’m also making some patchwork doll quilts for my daughter. I was really keen to get my hands on hand quilted with love by Sarah Fielke. The book is subtitled patchwork projects inspired by a passion for quilting and it’s a beautiful book. I think of myself as a pretty competent maker of patchwork, I’m not so confident at quilting. In Hand Quilted with Love Sarah Fielke encourages and inspires you to step outside of your comfort zone! The book includes 16…
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I’ve had a long standing relationship with patchwork. I made my first patchwork quilt when I was 16 using the traditional method known as English paper piecing. There’s something really satisfying about cutting out paper templates, choosing fabrics and watching it all come together. I’ve started lots of patchwork projects since then but I haven’t finished many! These medium sized hexagons look great when sewn together. I love making these smaller hexagons but they are so time consuming! They look good made into pincushions too. I was thinking of sewing my patchwork pieces into some kind of crawling blanket for…
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I signed up to the Summer 2011 Handmade Gift Exchange and exchanged a couple of emails with my partner who seems to have similar interests to me. I’ve been meaning to make something from Scandinavian Stitches for a while, the book is full of amazing projects, and I put my own spin on the birds mini art quilt. I got to use my favourite bondaweb for the bird applique (which I finally feel I’ve mastered) although missed out the quilting as I didn’t want to ruin the quilt top! I also got to try some freehand machine stitching on my…
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I joined the Dear Baby Jane project and here is my first effort. I have also ordered the book, so I’ll plenty to inspire me along the way. I’m off to Manchester with work today so I’ve packed some fabrics to sew into hexagons on the train. There’s nothing like crafting on work time!
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I recently participated in a doll quilt swap on swapbot. This was a good opportunity for me to make a dolls quilt which so many people have blogged about recently. Here is the one I made for my partner. I used lots of vintage fabrics which gave it an autumnal feel (I hope). The pattern is from Little Quilts All Through The House and called Celebration Flag, I love the little house block. I had completely forgot that I would be receiving a quilt too so was pleasantly surprised when this was waiting for me this week. The colours are…
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In between a hectic few days I have been busily working on the doll quilt. I think my swap partner might be surprised by the fabrics I am using but I have gone for an autumnal feel with lots of browns and greens. In between sewing I have been catching up with friends; a newly engaged friend on friday night, and friends with new babies yesterday and today. I wish I could say that this coming week was going to be quiet but it’s not. I have a huge deadline on friday but I’m hoping that come 5pm on the…
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I have finally chosen the pattern I am going to make for the doll quilt swap. After my previous disastrous attempt I knew I wasn’t capable of making one without a little bit of help. So I bought a copy of Little Quilts which everyone seems to recommend and have chosen a lovely quilt which I hope my partner will like. We have spent all weekend doing little jobs around the house. Sometimes it feels like we live in a leaky ship. If you open a window a door will often slam shut somewhere else! So we have draught-proofed the…
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It’s been a strange week since we’ve returned from our holiday. I’ve had to spend three days at home as we’ve had a garden makeover this week. So I’ve read more and crafted more. Today I made my first doll quilt and it was so much harder than I thought it would be! Don’t look too closely at the picture or else you’ll see all the mistakes. I used some of the vintage fabrics I picked up on holiday, as well as some favourite Cath Kidston ones. I think I need to be a bit more adventurous with my choice…