I’ve been planning this quilt since August 2021 – at least, that is the creation date of my design file. I’ve created this one from scratch, designing the pattern, working out the fabric requirements, editing it for different dimensions and then choosing the fabric. The quilt was finally commissioned as a sofa cover back in March 2023 and I completed it last week having worked on it on and off since the summer.
I‘m sad to report the demise of the quilted cover for the hall chair that has served well since January 2019. It was a comfy perch for the dogs and through repeated washings had deteriorated to the extent that the fabric tore several times and the binding was wearing out on the edges. It was no longer viable to repair and was sadly consigned to the bin.
But, hurrah! This meant I could justify making a new one! I raided my stash for a jelly roll, batting and backing and my trusty shelves for a pattern. I set to on Wednesday afternoon and by Friday lunchtime I had finished. Here it is, complete with Esther who jumped up and made herself comfy within seconds of it being put on the chair!
I have a chair in our hall that seems to have been designed specifically for the dogs to sleep on, clamber onto to see out of the hall window, and otherwise act as a dumping point for bags as one comes through the door. Thus, apparently, it needed a contemporary cover that looked smarter than the throw that routinely covers it. The suggested colour scheme matched some fabric I bought some time ago, and after a quick planning session, I set to with a quilted pattern of my own making…
I’m on a roll… or should that be a bolt (of fabric)? This table runner was surprisingly quick to make and quilt. I took a couple of gratuitous shortcuts, such as daring not to baste the quilt sandwich together and merely relying on a firm press with a hot iron to keep everything together. I got away with it.
The quilt itself is made up of numerous 60° triangles with intervening diamonds, all cut from strips of stripes. The finished runner is quite long at 84″ and is 13″ wide. It traverses the length of our dining table with a small overhang at each end. Quilting was quick and simple stitch-in-the-ditch along the diagonals emphasising the diamond shapes.
The fabric is by Northcott and was obtained in Canmore, Canda whilst we were on hols. The pattern was called Triangle Frenzy Swirl and purchased on our previous USA trip two years ago.
It’s not just photographs that can prompt reminiscences of a wonderful holiday… Following the success of my USA quilt, I decided on our recent holiday to visit any quilt shop within driving/walking distance of our location at the time, with the intention of buying a kit illustrating an aspect of the holiday. This is the first that I have finished of the two kits I bought. It prompts memories of a horse-drawn carriage tour of Stanley Park in Vancouver. We had a stop off at a collection of totem poles as part of the tour.
The kit is from Quilts with a Twist bought in the Rushin’ Tailor quilt shop in Skagway, Alaska and featured a laser-cut fusible applique totem of an eagle and a bear. It included all the fabric required for the 18″x 40″ wall hanging to be completed. It took just over a day to finish.
I found the laser cut applique easy to use. If it wasn’t for my laser cutter recently dying I’d be having a go with my own designs…
Eighteen months in the making, this is my completed ‘USA Memories’ quilt recalling our trip to New York and Boston for Christmas 2016.
Our first selfie together on Top of the Rock, looking across at the iconic Chrysler Building. The poignancy of One World Trade Center and our walk along Battery Park. Every town’s outlet mall had to be checked out for North Face bargains (none to be had). Trinity Church was right outside our hotel in Boston and had an amazing carol service late on Christmas Eve. Stowe, Vermont, was where the fabric came from and where there was still snow on the ground with more forecast (we were too late for the Fall leaves). Above the Bay at Thornton Adams was one of the B&Bs we stayed at – not the most bizarre, but we did have the house to ourselves for the whole evening, not seeing our host until the following morning. Vermont’s Finest, of course, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory tour featuring experimental ice cream flavour of white chocolate and coffee (oops, we were sworn to secrecy). And finally, the Mayflower at Plymouth – we didn’t see the ship, but the museum was fascinating. Fabric snapshots of a fabulous break.
When things go quiet on here, it usually means I am working on something I can’t share just then. This is another of those projects, a jungle friends themed quilt that I gifted a couple of weeks ago so I can now share it publicly!
It’s the first time I have quilted using printed polycotton, and I was quite disappointed with it fading on its very first wash. Hopefully, that is it for future washes. I’ll also give you a tip – always check the ironing instructions for unfamiliar fabrics. It turns out that setting the iron to the normal temperature and steam for cotton fabrics ends with the polycotton firmly adhering to the iron and shrinking somewhat.
And the pedant in me chafed all the way through the making that lions were not jungle creatures. And neither are giraffes as far as I am aware. Or indeed zebras. What about tortoises? Sheesh, what are we teaching our kids? Continue reading
I thought it would be interesting for you to see the final forever homes for my recent commissions for paintings of Welsh castles. I’ve also made two quilted wall hangings for the same room. Both installations are designed to help soften the acoustics of what was/is quite an echoey space. So, here are the castles and sail boats in situ:
I’ve completed two more panels for my appliqué memory quilt, recording our journeys in the USA over Christmas. These flank the first panel I made, completing the bottom row. I’ve started on the second row – the first row is the most tricky from a conceptual point of view, so I’m leaving that until last! I think my satin stitch has improved, and I’ve definitely got the hang of transferring my sketches to make fabric images.
Still to do: fabric interpretations of Trinity Church, Boston; The Chrysler Building, Rockefeller Center and World Trade One. All of those are going to take a bit of work to choose from the fabrics to get the best sense of depth with such a limited palette of colours. That said, I’m rather pleased with how the Mayflower turned out – the stripes on the side were part of the fabric, with careful positioning of the cutout of course…
No, you haven’t missed seven previous instalments – this is the first of nine blocks that I’ve tackled for a new memory quilt. I wanted to make a quilt as a ‘souvenir’ of our trip to the USA over Christmas – in addition to my travel journal which is yet to be finished…
We chose the fabric whilst away, in a lovely quilting shop, Stowe Fabric & Yarn, in Stowe, Vermont, and once I got home and had five minutes to myself, I started designing. It’s the first quilt I have made that uses appliqué techniques – and I’m going to need a bit more practice on my satin stitches I think. The quilt is going to feature nine appliqué panels, and here’s the first. No guesses as to which tourist venue this panel refers to…
