Purple Patchwork

Today I have cut all the purple fabrics that were bought for Carol's sister's quilt.  No particular planning went into the cutting, but I have cut 5" squares to make pin wheels (that will come up as 6.5 inch blocks) and I have cut  2.5 inch strips to make 9 patch blocks at 6.5 inches.  I have also cut some 6.5 inch squares, and the rest is cut into assorted, random narrow strips that will also make 6.5 inch blocks.

Then I will assemble them all into larger 9 patch blocks (generally using the plain squares as the + centres) and then cut the whole lot up again into vanishing 9 patch blocks - and hopefully there will be a good number to make a quilt!

I dont usually link up to other blogger's blogs, but Lynne at Lily's Quilts has posted more details about the Siblings Together Charity, and the quilts being made for them - you can read all about them [here], so I thought I would re show the two that I made and sent off to them.

I really love how these came out, and hope they keep two siblings warm and cosy and help create fantastic memories for them to look back on

If you want to help, you could make a quilt, donate fabric, or hand over some cold hard cash!

Holiday Happenings (part 1)

We've had the May half term break in England this week, which is all very bizarre as it was in June, not May, and we longer have three school terms (where this break would be half way through term 3, hence its name of half term holidays) but we now have 6 terms, so this is just a break between terms 5 and 6 - go figure, answers on a postcard please!

Anyway, whatever we call it, and whenever it is, I have managed some sewing, in amongst everything else I've tried to squeeze in!

This I spy quilt has been made for baby Amelie, and I'm trying to get her name embroidered before I go and see Grandma this afternoon

These two 'Endless Ribbon' quilts have been finished for the Siblings Together Charity, and need a final 'haircut' before being sent off

This has been finished for Laura's 18th . . .

and I actually remembered to add a label too

Apart from that I have taught the final Windsor A to Z class (these are the blocks that have either been finished, or were snapped under construction)

Had a lovely (albeit wet) day with Lisa in London (!)

and I have thoroughly enjoyed all the pomp and ceremony that celebrated the Diamond Jubilee.

To follow: a felting day with Jacqui and Sarah, a kid's activity afternoon at Chertsey Museum, creating junk weaving wall art, Crafty Church afternoon, socialising with two groups of friends, and a day with mum . . . followed by going back to work for a rest!!!

Binding and Boats

(Last time I blogged about binding, when I used the word bondage in my post, I got more hits than ever before - what are people like?)

Anyway today, in the cold and the rain, and that amazing Diamond Jubilee pageant, I was curled up on my sofa, hand sewing binding

 

 onto not one . . .

 (love, love LOVE this newspaper print fabric, 

brought it back from Amsterdam years ago, 

and knew it was prefect for this binding)

not two . . .

 

but three quilts :-)

Number 4 didn't get started as the cat looked far too cosy!

Hope you had a good weekeknd

Birthdays and Bondage

So - how many of you are here for the title? 

Bondage is defined as the practice of being bound . . . and the current tense of bound is bind . . . and that's what I've been doing! [smirk]

The binding still needs to be hand stitched to the front of the quilts, but that can wait until slightly cooler weather.

I have pieced, basted, quilted and machine bound Laura's Black and White and Green Quilt . . .

and what is being called the Green Twin Sibling Quilt  . . .

And the Blue Twin Sibling Quilt

 (The spotty  fabric behind the twins is the yummy fleece backing for Laura's quilt)



 And the birthday . . .   Well, somehow this gorgeous newborn baby . . .

 

  became this amazing adult

Mistakes don't matter

Do you remember the quilt I made where I embroidered Henry instead of Harry?  Well I made a replacement for Harry, but still had a Henry quilt that was more or less homeless.  There have been several comments since when I have embroidered a name on anything, and to be fair they were justified, but I am very happy to say that  a really good friend of mine became a grandma yesterday - and the baby is being named after grandad . . . and while we all call grandad 'Harry', he is really Henry, as is the baby, so the quilt now has a home to go to!

I spent most of the weekend getting stressed about my impending Adult Education OFSTED inspection (which didn't happen today, grrrr) but I did manage a bit of therapeutic sewing.

One of the Sibling Twins has been quilted

And the quilt for Niki's friend Laura's 18th had been assembled and quilted (my QAYG method) onto this seriously yummy green-and-white-spot fleece

And I was delighted to see this quilt in my issue of Popular Patchwork which came out today. 

I tell the students that mistakes don't matter, and this shows that even professionals make mistakes

The square outlined in yellow is twisted the wrong way!

Jelly Roll Race (Racing Green)

After my failed attempt to make a quick quilt top, I decided to try a new technique - a Jelly Roll Race.

I used this post as my basis, but I joined my strips at 45 degrees rather than at 90 degrees.  Apparently joining the strips results in one strip 1600 inches long - it certainly look up loads of space on the sewing table.  This part took about 35 minutes

I chopped 20 inches from one end, and then picked up the two ends and started sewing them together.  That took about 15 minutes, but was wonderfully monotonous as I didn't have to think about anything.  When I got to the end I cut the fold to make one piece - long and thin.

And then I picked up the two ends and started sewing them together . . . then cut the fold, then pick up the two ends . . . five times altogether  . . . and this, after just over an hour, is the result

Next step is ironing, basting and quilting, but I think this will make a good boy quilt for the Siblings Together (number 2, Hadley!)

Sewing for Siblings

I had a fun day today - I finished piecing and quilting (with chevrons, or zig zags) a square quilt from extra blocks from block lotto, and made a dozen scrappy log cabin blocks, all destined for the Siblings Together charity

Giving something back

Like many other quilters, I make (or certainly start) more quilts than I can find homes for. My mum, my children, my nephews and nieces all have at least two, and there are a fair number on a shelf in my sewing room waiting for a good home.  They aren't easy to sell for a price that even covers the cost of the fabric, let alone the hours of work.

So I have been looking for a charity that clicked with me. There are many that ask for quilts, and I have donated a fair few, but until yesterday I hadn't found one that felt right. Lily, at Lily's Quilts, introduced me to a charity in the UK called Siblings Together - an initiative dedicated towards promoting positive contact between siblings separated by care.

The charity arranges holiday camps for 40-50 children at a time - all siblings separated by the care system. The siblings get time to play and just be together which is so important for their short and long term well being. The organisers would love to be able to give something to these kids - something to comfort them, keep them warm, take away from camp as a reminder of the time they've had with their siblings, something homemade, just for them, to keep. Children moved from pillar to post in the care system often won't have something special like that, homemade just for them, to bring them warmth and a little comfort and maybe a few happy memories. [click here for Lily's post]

I think this is the charity for my spare quilts. As childminders we worked with a foster carer, trying to keep family groups together, we wanted to be foster carers ourselves, and both our nephew and friends have been through the red tape that is the adoption system.