Irish chain quilt reveal

 

It's been awhile hasn't it?

Well here's a shed load of photographs

 of my Irish chain quilt...

hope this makes up for my absence.

xxx

 

 

 The nitty gritties

My inspiration for this quilt came from a film or a tv program

(wish I could remember)

I've really fallen for this quilt as I've been snapping away,

however I've decided this will be a surprise for my Mum....

kinda hoping she won't like it!

The pink scraps are a random selection, some new some vintage,

one batik from Canada a gift from my Mum

one from my friend Mary in the US

even some from Devon.

The backing and binding are a vintage sheet and are of the softest buttery texture!

The squares measure 3 inches

which means the quilt measures 72' x 60' which covers 3/4 of a double bed.

I've hand quilted (in the hoop) Dresden flowers in the pink spaces

and leaves in the green.

The thread is an anchor perle cotton 8

in shades of cream and pinks.

Wadding as usual is Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 cotton blend.

And finally the name....there was label on the vintage sheet backing

that named it as 'spring maid'

The fact that the quilt was put together in spring, plus the spring green

and the Irish connection I thought it seemed appropriate!

Oh and in case you'd forgotten who the quilter was

see below!

 Thanks for stopping by

Clare

xxx

The Complete Quilter ~ a book review!

Well here's a bolt from the blue!

My friend Jessica Alexandrakis has written another book,

who knew?

Not just another book but another beautiful book!

 What I like about her new book is that it's not filled with lots of big projects

that you just wont make.

No, this book is all about making blocks 

and fitting them together to make 

simple but beautiful quilts.

Okay so if you are an experienced quilter

you may find it a little simplistic.

However, I love that the blocks are all sewn

with different techniques

giving you the chance to pick up new skills

as well as giving you a refresher of old ones.

I've tried to give you an idea below,

of course there are many more beautiful ideas,

but I must leave some surprises for your perusal!

 Funnily enough I've been wanting to try a quilt made using this applique technique.

Might have to try this one.

There are approx 22 tecniques ranging from 

curved piecing,

 foundation paper piecing,

needle turn applique,

improvisational string piecing,

to no waste flying geese.

 As well as teaching you all these new tricks

there's all the usual 'how tos'

from fabric choices to quilt assembly.

There are five highly ageeable/usable projects including the sampler quilt above.

When it makes it into book shops I highly recommend 

having a flick through, it's a lovely read,

especially if you're new to quilting books.

*

If you can't wait until then it will is available via Amazon

 The release date for The Complete Quilter in the UK is today!!

The expected release date for the US and Canada

is late July.

For more information contact Jessica aka LifeUnderQuilts

Also available Quilting on the Go.

An 'all you need to know' guide to English paper piecing.

Star of Wonder quilt reveal.

 I can now say I have a Christmas quilt!

Take a good look and then try and forget it

until December!!

I can also now tick off Red and White quilt

from my list of 'must makes'

I knew exactly the look I was going for with this quilt,

everything had to be simple.

I began with some Kona cotton 'lipstick'

purchased from Simply Solids.

Thankfully I did a prewash as this colour has a tendency to bleed

and boy did it!

The white fabric is a new vintage sheet that apparently 

 belonged to my Nan.

I've used my favourite 60 degree diamond template

to create the stars using the English Paper piecing method.

I matched the red thread for the stars

therefore you cannot see any whipstitches at all.

The diamonds measure 2.5 inches per side.

The quilt measures approx 50 x 70 inches

which is a great size for a sofa quilt.

The wadding is Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 cotton blend

purchased from The Cotton Patch.

The backing and binding came from a Kirstie Allsopp bedding range.

I hand quilted the entire quilt with simply lines about an inch apart.

I used Anchor perle 8 cotton

purchased from Sew and So.

I finished with a label naming my quilt

Star of Wonder

which is a nod toward Christmas.

It took me approximately 15 weeks to stitch,

I think the simplicity of the colour definitely helped

 and the need to complete it in plenty of time 

so I could hide it away 

for a long period before bringing it out in December!

spring!

xxx

I thank you

Just a quickie to thank you all for your thoughts and feelings.

I've been learning a lot about myself

and I'm okay with having the odd rubbish day.

I have grown to like my own company over the years,

which isn't bad...

I have learnt that by not confronting your fears

instead of making yourself feel better

you just exasperate the problem.

I hope by talking about these issues

I am able to help some of you come out of the dark.

I wouldn't say I'm giving up blogging

because I do love to share my quilt reveals with you all,

I may be a little intermittent.

As you can see I have reached the point of no return with this quilt!!

Hopefully I shall blog next week 

fingers crossed for sun.

I really do appreciate the time you take to comment,

Clare xxx

Is there life in this old blog yet?

When you've been blogging so long that you cannot remember

how long you've been blogging,

I think its fair to have unblogged moments...

The blip in my blogging has coincided with a blip in my mental health.

Although I am gathering myself together

I am realising that living my life online has consequences

that lead me away from reality

making me less inclined to leave the house.

I understand that we dip in and out of this world,

I've just spent far too long dipping in...

I know that I can't be alone with this issue

I also know that its not healthy for me.

I'm not really sure where I will go from here.

I am active still on Instagram

 (apologies again for those that aren't)

Quilting is keeping me sane....I think?!

That and meditation and breathing exercises

which I'm discovering via the free app destressify.

If you've been suffering with anything

be it mental or otherwise

I really recommend giving this a go...

its changing the way I think.

I'll leave you with my current sewing efforts xx

 My flowers for Eleni x

Thanks for listening and take care of yourselves xxx

dreams and wip for 2015

 Well now before January has totally slipped by

thought I should share my hopes for this year.

My list of 'want to make' is somewhat short especially as I already have one 

under the belt!

However projects like the one below

just creep on in.

 This flying geese project is just a few hours old.

Flying geese are very much on my radar for 2015

they are such a joy to make,

and when kind friends send you beautiful fabrics

its so easy to set off on a new journey!

 I'm quite in love with the idea of marrying up 

the vintage sheets from AdaBea with the beautiful *Molly Hatch fabric

that Mary sent me.

*Ask Mary aka MollyFlanders for availability.

2015 projects

1 flying geese curtains for my sewing room (above)

2 epp red and white star Christmas quilt

3 plaid and denim flying geese quilt

WIP

1 Irish chain (top completed last week!)

2 Orphan block 

3 Liberty clamshell

Quite a neat little list really,

though I'm sure there will be more added!

On a personal front I'm hoping for a less anxiety filled year,

for this I am learning to run

which I have found wonderful for my mind

and for positive thinking!

Looking forward now to cracking on with it all

Thanks for your enduring generosity.

Clare xxx