Awww, quilting world, how I missed you..... The effort of trying to post via mobile proved just too traumatic, and my signal in not-sunny-at-all Cornwall was erratic at best so I have heaps to tell you and to catch up on!
I have finally figured out how all these amazing super-achievers get things done so quickly - they do absolutely nothing else..... I'm kidding of course, I know all you wonder-quilters have jobs and children to take care of really... or so you say! With two weeks off, I got one quilt finished, another completely done and a significant amount of work done on a Christmas project. I also initiated my friend Hilary into the joys of quilting, as we started work on Santa sacks and other Christmas goodies for her.
In between sewing sessions I did a lot of dog walking - Hilary and I have 4 spaniels between us, so we did beach, woodland and sand dune walks to keep them all quiet enough for us to have the sewing sessions. There were also quite a few afternoon teas, sticky cakes and yummy lunches consumed, so the diet starts now!
However it did rain, nearly every day, and on Thursday we got caught, whilst on a circular walk, by the worst rain storm I can remember. I have never been so wet in clothes in my life - trust me, everything was soaked. The irony was that it was sunny when we set off, so we left waterproof trousers in the car. When we got back we ended up having to strip out of sodden jeans and wear the waterproofs instead so as not to soak the car. Later that day, the area's website reported flash flooding...
Anyway, enough about my holiday, you want to see the work, right?
Well, I posted that I'd finished the raw edge applique circles quilt. I finally decided to bind it with orange magic beans, as I found any solid binding just over-emphasised that colour within the quilt top. The busier binding blended in really well, I think, and I'm really happy with this, it kind of disappears. I'm looking forward to being able to snuggle up under this on the sofa over the winter, with the bright colours really cheering me up on the dull days. Alison's original tutorial on Cluck Cluck Sew can be found here.
Mind you, it's already been claimed by a certain member of the household, who actually kicked bags off the top of it last night so he could curl up on it. Think I might have a wrestling match on my hands!
I also got Megan's Double A-side finished, and I have to say I love it! It's the first time I've ever felt slightly sad that I don't have a daughter to give it to! I hope she likes it, otherwise I'm reclaiming it. I finished it slightly differently, as the quilt already had the borders around the edge, and I couldn't think of a binding that I liked that would go with both sides. So it is not bound - I just sewed the edges together almost all the way round and then turned it right side out and hand stitched the opening, and then top stitched all the way round.
As doing it this way meant it wasn't going to possible to quilt both sides and as both sides were very different layouts anyway, I decided to just tie it using variegated DMC embroidery thread. As I'd used cotton / bamboo mix wadding, this is now a beautifully soft quilt, and I am really happy with my first attempt at a quilt without using a pattern.
I might not be making anything pink for a while though.....
Yesterday I had a great time helping Annie from The Village Haberdashery on her stall at the Knitting and Stitching show in Alexandra Palace. I'm sure Annie's blog will tell more about this, but it was great to see other quilters there - I spotted a few faces from retreat 2012 - but my favourite part was the number of handmade bags being sported by visitors, along with some fantastic handmade coats and jackets. Quilters are a colourful bunch!
