Sorry ... neglected little blog :(

Hello and it's September already! How? Where have the last four months gone?!

I won't even try and make excuses - I'm just going to mention a few things I've been working on since my last post. My quilting - this wonderful hobby - continues to thrill me. It consumes a lot of my spare time but the results (mainly gifts for friends and family) are so worth it. I get to play with so many fabrics, make up my own patterns and follow others', make quilts on my own and also in groups. 

At the end of May, a birthday quilt for my niece - fabric all from my stash and a delightful Kaffe Fassett pattern:

June saw a dreadful tragedy in London - the burning of Grenfell Tower (a stone's throw from my work building) and, like many others, I felt compelled to make a quilt (pattern by Jeni B - In Color Order) for a family / first responder: 

In July, the 14 Chernobyl Children arrived from Belarus and Ukraine for a month's R&R in North Wales and my lovely international Instagram group #ccllnorthwalesquiltbee again volunteered their time and skill to make each child a handmade bag and table mat:

Their amazing / funny / beautifully crazy interpreter: 

August and I finished the top of a Christmas quilt which introduced me to a friendly group of quilters in Australia as we finished blocks each week. Organised by Anne - she kept us on track, bless her, in a very relaxed manner. Because we all chose different fabrics (mine were all from my stash apart from the Moda French General Indigo sashing fabric), they all turned out wonderfully different. Pattern #handmadewithlove by Camille Roskelley - can't wait to finish this: 

And a 'commissioned' quilt for my neighbour for her sister who was celebrating 40 years of marriage. This was challenging but I embraced the tests (embroidery / applique) - I loved making the scrappy back - she was thrilled:

Last week, I gave this quilt to my friend Gerrie, chair of our local Chernobyl Children's Lifeline, she chose the colours, I made up the pattern and 47 children and teachers signed patches which I sewed into the back. She cried when I gave it to her (so did I!!):

Each month, I've been making blocks for a different 'queen bee' as part of our Siblings Together quilt group. This was this month's:

And just tonight, I made these two squirrel blocks. I have had this pattern for ages and I can't tell you how happy I was to finally have found the perfect recipient to make it for. Pattern by Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts and it really was the easiest pattern to follow. Thanks Lorna: 

Linking up with Lorna's Let's Bee Social and Amanda Jean's Finish it up Friday.

Star Wars Quilt :)

April has been a lovely quilting month - have enjoyed, and made the most of, the extra Bank Holiday days off work, being at home and having more time to start, make and finish some quilts.

My niece's boyfriend was 21 last week and I had always planned a Star Wars themed quilt for him (he's a huge fan) but hadn't thought of any specific pattern until niece suggested a character he loves called Boba Fett. Boba who? No, I hadn't heard of him either :) Here he is:

I was able to quickly draw up a pattern and decided that 4.5" squares would make a good size quilt and be an economical cutting size. I love Makower Spraytime fabric and their colours were an exact match for what I wanted:

The cutting took a lot of time but from then on in, it came together very quickly, I made 16 square blocks as I went along and kept referring back to my drawing for accurate placement:

I have recently discovered Aurifil Thread and, whilst I still use Guterman too, I really like quilting with the Aurifil - no breakages and the bobbin seems to last forever. I stuck to my favoured meandering / stippling free motion quilting:

I had bought the Star Wars and Janet Clare fabric in America last year and added some of the Spraytime silver from the front. I do like a tidy quilt back:

Hubby decide on the quilt name and at the last minute I drew a Boba Fett shaped label in freezer paper - think it turned out well:

Ta da:

Just have to share some silly photos of hubby and brother in law (and his delightful boxer dog - Buster) ... The front:

The back:

The birthday boy (man!) was thrilled - and that's what it's all about; it's why we make our quilts unique and enjoy every stage of making them.

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict. 

The absolute joy of quilting ...

I opened my blog to tell you about a Star Wars character quilt I'm making as a 21st birthday gift when I remembered I hadn't post about the FOUR quilts I've made so far this year ... Oops!

It's why I love my hobby - you get to make such a variety of quilts, bags, table mats, etc etc. And the first two months of the year have been creatively perfect for me and busy!

I take my inspiration from all over but for this quilt, my god-daughter's Mum sent me a photo of her bedroom:

And instead of keeping it simple - which would have been fine - I drew a stag on graph paper and decided to surround him with improv / geometric blocks ... as you do! It took some time and a lot of Kona Solid greys and was a biggie (for me) to free motion quilt but I got there in the end:

One of my best friends from school is 50 this year and so she just had to have a quilt too. She loves the colour blue ... I had a Moda charm pack and thought about cutting each square in half to make it go further ... and found an image on Google which I thought would be perfect ... 

I used some blender yardage I had in my stash and a little bit of vintage fabric and added some hearts in the corners of the borders for a bit of interest. Was so lovely to hand it over in person:

And the back:

I know many quilters extol the virtues (and patience) of their husbands / partners ... mine really is a saint! AND he helps me baste my quilts ... he has been asking for a quilt of his own for a few of the 7 years I've been quilting and his patience finally paid off. Along the way, the blocks decorated my sewing room walls for a few months though: 

Made entirely from scraps, the rainbow blocks contained all his favourite colours. He arranged the layout and chose the colour of the sashing and I think you can tell he was happy to finally get it:

And finally a 'proper girly' quilt. Made for hubby's cousin in Miami, she chose the colours - pink, blue, lavender and I designed a pattern to fit:

Another biggie to free motion quilt but lots of fun to make:

And now I can carry on with Bobba Fett!

Loving my quilting at the moment - hope you are too X

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

13 ... unlucky for some?

13 - not an unlucky number for me as that is how many quilts I finished in 2016 (plus 3 WIP quilts in various stages to start me off in 2017!) 12 out of the 13 quilts, I gave away to friends, family and charities:

The 13th quilt is ALL MINE! As it should be ... I sewed my first two pieces of fabric together in January 2010 thanks to my dear friend Penny (an extremely accomplished quilter and crafter) and she supplied lots of green and pink fabric to keep me going. I just never got round to finishing it - shame on me - until this week and I'm so glad I did.

I have learnt LOADS since those first tentative stitches - the precision of a 1/4" seam, the accurate sizing of blocks, the use of colour, pinning those seams and, for this quilt, I attempted my first spiral quilting:

Just a snapshot of my year which, as well as still learning new quilting things, also included making some lovely new quilting friends - farewell 2016 ... it was a lot of fun and I am really looking forward to more quilting adventures in 2017.

Thanking Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts and Sarah @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict for keeping us on track all year with our Friday finishes. 

Wishing everyone a very happy and healthy New Year.

The joy of giving ...

I finished this quilt a couple of weeks ago and it arrived safely in Florida on Tuesday ... phew! I started it back in March but, for various reasons, I just didn't get around to finishing it for 8 months which isn't like me. I think it might have been because I wasn't working to a deadline ... the quilt was for hubby's darling cousin but it wasn't for a birthday, a wedding or a specific fixed date.

Looking back ... I might have also been a little busy making lots of other gifts too ...

I started making the blocks:

And then it was nephew's 21st:

There was a baby quilt:

Then a couple of Siblings Together charity quilts needed making:

And this very special quilt which went to Dallas (Quilts for Peace): 

I kept coming back to it:

Then came the Chernobyl Children's Lifeline raffle prize quilt: 

And finally the wedding quilt: 

And let's not even mention all the Pants Bags, cushions, tissue holders, zipped pouches, table mats that I have made and gifted since March ... oh, and the Siblings Together Quilting Bee and my other Bee and 3 other WIP quilts ... 

But finish it I finally did:

And these photos this week of cousin Natasha, as well as a beautiful message, cuddling her quilt make me so happy that I finally did finish it. Better late than never, hey? Look at that adorable face ... 

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