30's Repro Quilt

I was really keen to get on and quilt my diamonds quilt, but as luck would have it the batting in my stash wasn't quite big enough!   I put in an online order for some of my favourite 100% cotton stuff which turned up today,  but in the meantime I found some Hobbs "Premium" 80/20 cotton/poly at my local Hobbycraft store.   Not being a fan of anything polyester I was a bit dubious but thought it worth a try as it seems to be popular.   I tried it out on the 30's top I made last year and it worked fine.  It's rather "puffier" than plain cotton and feels like it will be warmer, so I think this one will make a lovely sofa throw for snuggling under in the winter :)

Being a bit thicker and a fairly big quilt it was quite a job to do on my machine, but I managed in the end and feel pretty pleased with myself!

The thread was a variegated pink and green quilting one which adds a bit of interest.

Now I need to choose some fabric for the binding,  or maybe I'll get on and quilt my other one first?

Who knows, the other unfinished ones might get done while I'm in the mood!

xxx

Latest Quilt in the making

Hello, I hope you're enjoying this lovely sunshine.  It's a pity the nights are drawing in, but I'm looking forward to putting the fire on again soon.

Thank you for all your comments about my linen quilt.  It's on my bed at the moment and I'm looking very cosy.  

Here's a peek of my latest addiction!  I decided to try some diamond in the square blocks and loved them so much I got carried away and made enough for a decent size quilt.  My design wall comes in very handy and I spent yesterday playing around with the layout until I was happy. 

I used the measurements in this book to cut the squares. Very useful if your maths is rusty like me! All the blocks are 6" finished size so it's easy to try out a few and be able to design your own quilt.

Better get on and start sewing them together.

Bye for now.

xxx

Linen Quilt Ta-dah!

  

I got on with the binding yesterday and it didn't take too long in the end. I really love it now it's finished.  It's got that lovely soft vintage-y feel you get with old linens that have been well used, and the pretty bits of embroidery now get to be seen, rather than sit in a cupboard .

It wasn't the easiest thing to photograph, being very pale, but I think I captured the feel of it.

Here it's just finished and ironed nice and smooth!

After a wash and tumble it's lovely and crinkly, though I think it might be better ironed if it's used on a table.  Can't decide!

The back is an old white tablecloth, just the right size.  The quilting is quite minimal, just a couple of lines either side of each row as I didn't want to go over the embroidery.

Looks like we've seen the end of summer, there's a nip in the air today.  I'm off to dig out the winter duvet :)

xxx

September Sunshine

  Loving this beautiful late summer sunshine.  The garden seems to glow more intensely and the bees and butterflies seem to be on a mission to get everything done before autumn.  The patch of cosmos in the veg plot is bee heaven at the moment.

The sweet peas are keeping me busy every day.  I haven't tied them in much and they've got a bit out of hand, but I wouldn't be without them.

There seems to be cobwebs everywhere, and loads more flies than normal, though I haven't noticed any wasps this year oddly.

My linen quilt is still sat on my table waiting to be finished.  Hand sewing the binding on the back is taking forever as I can't do more than 10 minutes without getting bored and wandering off to do something else! 

 I've moved some of the shelves round and squeezed in an extra table to give me a bit more work space. (The sewing machine is just out of the picture on the left).  This gave me a big space above the desk for a design wall which I made with a piece of thin board covered with fleece.  It's resting on the desk and held on the wall with a couple of sticky velcro pads, so dead easy to do! I love the way fabric, even small quilts stick on there like "fuzzy felt".

The fabric piles also had a good tidy.  There's something very satisfying about organizing fabric, or is that just me?

While doing that, I pulled out some that I think look rather good together for my next quilt.  All quite pale and vintage-y looking.  I haven't decided on a design yet, but can't wait to get started.

But first, off to finish the other one!

Hope you have a good weekend

xxx