Baby Quilts x 2

I can now show you all the two baby quilts I've been busy with lately! They're almost identical with the exception of the top panel, which have different animals. The 'elephant' one is for my nephew Jonathan and his wife Hafsa, who made me a Great Aunt on 2nd December with the birth of their gorgeous little boy, Mika (pronounced Mee-ka).

Isn't he just beautiful?

The 'bunnies' one is now in Perth, Australia, which I made for Ross & Amy - Ross is my nephew's cousin and he also grew up calling me Auntie. He married an Australian girl a couple of years ago and is now settled over there. Their baby is actually due tomorrow and we don't know what they're having yet (and neither do they!)

I designed the quilts myself and then managed to source a gorgeous selection of fabrics - they're mostly vintage/retro child/nursery themed designs. It's not a true rainbow of colours, but I chose 3 different fabrics in each of 7 colours. I knew exactly how I wanted the quilts to look and I have been chuffed to bits to be honest with how they've turned out. I didn't have a clue what size to make them though and 'Googling' didn't really help, as I ended up with a variety of sizes!! In the end, I opted for 'on the larger size' because they will actually be big enough for a child's first bed. 

They're both labelled on the back in the hope they might be kept and treasured and become family heirlooms - that's if they survive the baby treatment!! LOL

I hope you like them!

Summertime Delight!

Just a little peak at my next creation ........ I'm half-way there! But can you work out what it is yet! 

and as well as that, Today I've also made a start on (and nearly finished) the first block in a Block of the Month (BOM) that I've joined. This pattern is called 'Dresden Plate' and I'm really pleased with how its turned out - such lovely sunshine colours!

The quilt is called 'Summertime Delight' - bought from Totally Patched. This is the first quilt I've started in about 4 years; and the first time I've ever done a BOM, but I couldn't resist and it's very reasonably priced. The real 'hook' was that all the pieces come pre-cut! And as all patchworkers/quilters know, it's the cutting out that takes the time. When on earth I think I'm going to find the time to do this as well as my bears, I just don't know, but I just love it!! 

This is a picture of the finished quilt - it's a bit fuzzy, but I hope you get the idea!

Thanks for popping by.

Say hello to …….

Humphrey the Elephant!

Humphrey was a very popular greetings card character a few years ago – not seen so much now, but I used to buy lots of ‘Humphrey’ cards. This is one of the sketches they used to use:-

I made him from a kit I bought from ‘Create & Craft’ on the Freeview Shopping channel on TV – I just had to have him when I saw Debbie Shore making him, although I didn’t realise just how many separate parts there were ……. 25 individual sections to cut out and sew together! The fur is beautifully soft, although that made it difficult to work, but thankfully he still worked out quite well. 

The dungarees didn't come as part of the kit, so I had to make those up myself – really pleased with my bargain too – yellow corduroy for £1 a metre – and I only used half of it, so 50 pence they cost to make ……. Not bad eh? I had no plans for Humphrey when I ordered the kit, and I was going to keep him for myself, but while I was making him, I heard from an old neighbour that their little 3-year old girl has just been diagnosed with leukaemia, which is heart-breaking, so I think I know where Humphrey will be heading off to – I hope he manages to raise a small smile when he’s received!

My next finish is this wall hanging. 

It’s from a pattern called ‘Pleasantly Primitive’ by Kim Diehl from her ‘Simple Blessings’ book, The fabric is a random selection, but based on a similar colour palette used by Kim Diehl. I love it, and it’s now hanging on my dining room wall. The patchwork is by machine and the quilting is by hand for a more rustic/primitive look.

So pleased I managed to get something posted – it’s been a while!

My new bag

Like my new bag?!! This is the front

I bought the pattern and fabric when I was the Malvern Quilt Show the other week and decided to set to work on it straight away. The sheep is my own adaptation, as the pattern called for an applique angel, but I'm not particularly in to angels too much and preferred a sheepy! 

...... and this is the back, including a large pocket!

and the finishing touch - a metal charm dangly thing!

You like - I just love the colours of the fabric?

Born to Quilt Gus Pincushion

This is Gus the snowman pincushion – isn’t he cute?!! He was designed by Veronique of Born to Quilt and I bought the kit from Veronique at the NEC Festival of Quilts last month. The next picture shows a picture of the pattern front and I think you have to admit that my version is pretty close to the original, though his hat is a different colour.


Making Gus last night was a reward to myself for having finally finished this beach hut themed cushion for my lovely cousin, Pauline.



I love Pauline dearly, but I did not enjoy making the cushion. Originally, I was trying to make up my own design, but after 2 failed attempts, Pauline made a suggestion and showed me a picture of a cushion she had seen in a magazine and liked, so in the end I worked with that ..... even then, I struggled to find the right fabrics –ooooh, I really didn’t enjoy making it – have you guessed??!!! Now if I tell you that this is a present for lovely cousin’s 60th birthday, and then tell you that she will be 62 in November, you may just begin to see how bad the struggle was. Still it’s done now – I just need to get it into the post – or maybe I might deliver it personally – that would be a nice weekend wouldn’t it and it’s only about 1¾ hours from where I live – I think I might just do that!!

Till next time!

Expecting ........

No, not me - that would be a miracle!!!! But I do know several expectant mums at the moment, so couldn’t resist making this lovely cushion for the nursery! It has a double-sided pattern. One side to slumber to with Mr Moon:



And the other side to wake up to with Mr Sunshine:



It comes from this lovely new book called ‘Quilt a Gift’ by Barri Sue Gaudet, which I bought recently when I went to buy fabric .... NOT another book – resistance was futile though, so I didn’t bother trying!!! The cushion went together quite easily using scraps of fabric from my stash and felt for the appliqué.



I’m not saying which expectant mum the cushion is for though yet just in case she happens to be sneaking a peek!!!

Autumn ... again!!

I love Autumn .... OK, so that’s not a secret!! But I’ve been itching to make a wall hanging/banner in celebration of this beautiful season. So, I found some clipart of a tree, designed the wall hanging around that and then took a trip to my LFS, where I bought just fat quarters of some lovely ‘Autumn’ colours ..... and this is what I’ve come up with. I’m reasonably pleased with it; although I’m sure I could come up with something much better one day when I’ve learned more sewing/stitching techniques to make use of all these lovely colours. To the left of the wall hanging, by the spider plant, is a beautiful stained glass leaf hanging ornament (Autumn colours, of course!), which I recently purchased through ‘Folksy’ from Amy McCarthy. She has a website where you can see her work, (I particularly like her ‘nautical’ pieces). This was bought to add to the ‘Autumn’ display I’m planning.

In this picture (if you look closely), I’ve highlighted the tree that can be seen in my neighbour’s garden, which shows just one of the glorious shades which I drool over at this time of year. I’ve watched this tree, day by day; go through every shade of Autumn ....... the jewels of nature you could say!!

Be back soon!!