Going. Going. Gone!!

Three of my favourite colleagues have retired this year. My Line Manager, Emma, went in April and she received my first finished quilt since breaking my shoulder last year. Simple but sweet:

Then in July my boss, Mike, retired after 37 years and he got my piece de resistance quilt:

And this week, my specialist adviser retired after 30 years so he just had to have a unique quilty gift too! I love to personalise my gifts and Ian was easy to plan for. I tried to pick out non-girly fabrics:

He loves photography and rugby, drinks lots of tea and enjoys the 'occasional' packet of McCoy's crisps with his lunch! Here's the appliqué blocks:

I wanted to try a new free motion quilting pattern (motivated by my friend Jasmine @ Quilt Kisses whose improvement in her FMQing is so inspiring) and got great advice from Angela Walters:

After a little practice (5 minutes!), I just went for it! The swirls were a little crazy to begin with and I went a little bit off with the tails:

Nell offered her advice:

And I just persevered ... the more I did, the easier it got:

Here's the quilting from the back and the label:

And on Tuesday, I handed it over and said goodbye to a dear colleague who will be irreplaceable :'( 

Goodbye, thank you and good luck, Ian:

Linking up with the lovely Lorna @ Sew Fresh Quilts and Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts and Sarah @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

A masterpiece?

I am not a brilliant maker of quilts; there are certain aspects of my hobby I really need to improve upon (and I will) but this finished quilt is one of my all-time favourites and I was immensely proud of my work when I handed it over to my boss this week.

 

When I was at the thinking stage, knowing Mike played the piano at home, I googled 'piano quilt' and found this image of a set of coasters: 

 

There was no pattern but I worked one up pretty easily with 5" squares, HSTs and the piano keys. I raided my stash and made a few purchases:

 

The image was a real help guiding me on the correct fabric placement. The piano keys took some time as I appliquéd the black onto the white first and then built the rest of the quilt in stages around them:

 

 

With lots of 5" squares came lots of pinning and chain piecing so I had to keep my book close by ... to avoid confusion, I gave each fabric a letter (A-Q ... so that's 17 different fabrics used):

 

 

The quilting was tricky, using different threads to FMQ the light and dark sections and I hand to hand quilt around the black keys; I think that part alone took me 8 hours but then I have never hand quilted before (and may never again!!) 

I FMQ'd a little musical note in each corner:
 

 

It finished at 60" x 70" (one of my biggest) and I estimate I spent around 100 hours selecting, ironing, cutting, sewing, appliqué-ing, pressing, pinning, piecing, basting, quilting, binding, labelling ... and it was worth every minute:
 

 

My boss was speechless (a first!) and after 37 years of service, it was lovely to present him with such a unique quilt - a memorable gift for a memorable boss, who's been hugely supportive of me and my work over the past 4 years - I will miss him. Happy retirement, Mike x


Linking up with Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts and Sarah @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Hitting the right note ...

Do you ever get that excited feeling? When you start making a new quilt and you just know it's going to be a good one? I have that feeling about my 'Piano Quilt' and I really can't wait to get at it again today.

My boss is retiring after 37 years and I wanted to make him a special quilt. I know he plays the piano and enjoys many a soirée at his home entertaining his guests, so I did a Google search for musical themed fabric. There wasn't a lot (in the UK) so I narrowed the search to 'piano quilt'.

And now I am so happy! It is perfect:

I couldn't find a pattern anywhere so have been working just from the image. I bought some new fabric (as you do!) but also used a lot from my stash: 

12 x 14 is a lot of squares to cut. I never clear up as I go along! Do you?

I made the piano keys first - figuring that once they were made, it would be easier to build around. They were fiddly and time-consuming and my fingers got very close to the iron! But the overall effect is worth it:

Just the rest of it to piece today then! You can check out my progress on Instagram (@glindaquilts) but I will blog about it too :)

Linking up with the lovely Lorna and Lee: