Patience is a virtue...

.. that I don't possess but thankfully Sarah does. About 6 months ago I held a giveaway over on Instagram and Sarah was the winner. The prize was a custom cushion made by yours truly. Sarah highlighted some of my designs that she liked and then left me to get on with it. Sarah was particularly fond of two of my quilts, Never Forgotten and Kaleidoscopic, so I figured I'd make something that included elements of both of them. What I forgot was that improv is not a speedy process for me, hence this cushion being 6 months in the making.

I started by making a Hexiestars block with fabrics left over from my Kaleidoscopic quilt and built random blocks out from there. I had to walk away from it at my first attempt as I just didn't know how I wanted it to develop. Yesterday I picked it back up after a long absence and once I got into my stride it didn't take long at all to finish it up. I crazy straight line quilted with a variegated green Aurifil thread which melted into the background beautifully.

I love the way it turned out and I'm hoping that once Sarah receives it she will think it was worth the wait. Catch you soon x

Sunday fun

Well I'm back and completely exhausted after a lovely Sunday at Quilt and Stitch Village with the girls :) I don't have the energy left for many words but here are some photos so you can get a flavour of the day :)

There was quite a bit of gossiping... 

Trudi unimpressed at being captured on camera, Kerry, Ange (and bubs) and Susan unaware :)

Susan, Wendy (sorry!) and Mary

some general quilt appreciation...

Kerry and her quilt

Susan and her quilt

I got this shot of Katy's quilt in her absence.

My Never Forgotten improv quilt stood out like a sore thumb but it was nice to see it hung amongst the other entries.

I can now show you the other quilt that I entered too :) I'll be back next week with better photos and more information on the Brit Print Girl Medallion (top of photo).

We had plenty of fabric stroking opportunities too at Justine and Lisa's Simply Solids stall and Natalie and Tracey's Pin it and Stitch to name just two. Hubby's going to be very pleased that I don't go out very often...we may not eat for a month or so ;) All in all a fab day! Catch you soon x

The week that was...

manic! Note to self: don't commit to submit 2 quilts to a quilt show within a 2 month time frame when you haven't started either of them! Improv takes me way longer than I could possibly have imagined and tiny precise piecing is time consuming and stressful. I'm breathing a sigh of relief this evening as I have finally finished both quilts for the Quilt and Stitch Village show just in time for them to be mailed tomorrow - the deadline is Monday! Talk about last minute panic.

Anyway, enough rambling, I'm sharing one finish with you today - The Never Forgotten improv quilt.

I have to say I'm really proud of this little beauty. It finished up around 40" square. Well, square in the loosest sense of the word. I tried squaring it up but it just kept on shrinking and for fear of having to submit it as a mug rug I gave up ;) Here are some of my favourite bits in my more detail:

The poppy wreath

The stamped centre of the poppy wreath - Never Forgotten

Crazy straight line quilting - tram lines

I used 5 different colours of Aurifil thread for the quilting because I wanted to echo the colours in the fabrics without any one colour overpowering things. This was easily the scariest part for me as I loved the way the top looked when it was finished and was worried that my quilting would ruin it.

Clearer close-up of quilting

In the end I am thrilled with the effect, it has made the quilt really tactile. So now it's all packaged up and ready for sending out. Quite what the judges will make of it is anybody's guess but to quote one of my favourite movie lines, "Frankly my dear I don't give a damn".
Catch you soon xx