The joy of quilting and giving :)

I have three quilts to share with you today - all finished in the past few weeks and one finished on Monday. I have been neglecting my blog (again) in favour of Instagram ... which is a shame and something I need to think about. 

I started making this quilt at the end of 2013/beginning of 2014. Inspired by the Help for Heroes colours, I had always intended it go to a serviceman and my friend Jennie @porchswingquilts had someone in mind for me in the USA. A simple design of 5.5" squares and half square triangles, it came together really well:

And then I broke my shoulder (ouch!) and it had to be put to one side. Fast forward 2+ years and I finally finished it:

With Jennie's blessing, this week the quilt arrived safely in Dallas and thanks to Lee @dallasmqg it will be given to a child of one of the police officers killed in July's shootings. 

Another safe arrival - this time in Maryland - is the wedding quilt I have made for my cousin Kenny who is marrying the lovely Kelly in 2 weeks time. Kenny's grandmother (my great-aunt) was a quilter and when we last visited USA in 2011, his Mom gifted me all of my great-aunt's fabric stash which I have made several quilts out of for the female family members. So, I just had to make Kenny and Kelly a quilt out of it too:

Hidden stars is a pattern in this book by Pam and Nicky Lintott, it came together like a dream. I added the white rose fabric and a couple of 'civil war' fat quarters but, in the main, all the fabric as from my great-aunt:

I even found a piece she had drawn on in blue biro:

How lovely that her grandson and his new wife will be able to cuddle under this quilt. And a first for me - I made an embroidered label:

And finally (phew, it's been a busy Summer!), remember the Chernobyl Children's Lifeline charity I supported at the beginning of the Summer, where we made the children a bag and mat (I will blog about this again!), I wanted to raise funds towards a day trip for when the children were over here. Look at their happy faces on of their trips out:

So I ran a 'guess the hours taken to make this quilt' competition at work. I raised £200 and the winner got to design a bespoke quilt with me. Tony asked for a vintage fabric inspired quilt for his little daughter. He and his wife chose the fabric - Lecien Flower Sugar and I bought 8 fat quarters and some white yardage:

I bought a Flying Geese bloc-loc ruler at the Festival of Quilts which helped me enormously when making the border:

I asked them for the words they would like on the label and tried my hand at embroidery again:

Here she is all pretty and finished:

I do love my hobby - I love making quilts but I love giving them away even more. Three quilts - 3 different patterns and fabrics, 3 different stories, 3 different recipients but all made with love and all, I am sure, will be loved.

Linking up with Amanda Jean (welcome back!) @crazymomquilts and Sarah @confessionsofafabricaddict