My Favourite Quilts

I started quilting 18 months ago. I had had a bad case of flu and was off work for a week and a half, and over the following week I had started doing a lot of crochet as I started to recover. Within a day or two I had a lot of pain down my left wrist and hand. Thinking it was 'crochet cramps' (holding the needle tightly can make your hand ache) I looked for something else to do. A new fabric shop had opened in Bodmin and so I visited, saw a pack of 5 inch squares of coordinating fabrics I really liked, bought them and started my first quilt. At that time I had not long since bought a sewing machine so it felt like a touch of destiny to find a new thing to use it for.

I learnt a lot making that first quilt, I kept visiting that shop where a lady would patiently show me what I had to do for each new step. I finished that quilt quickly, bought a couple of quilt design books and moved rapidly onto another quilt.

It wasn't long after that that I decided that I wanted to make my quilts double sided. I enjoyed piecing the fabric to make the patchwork fronts but realised I didn't particularly enjoy the actual quilting. My solution was to make two patchworks for each quilt. I also liked the idea of being able to change the look of a quilt by simply turning it over. It seemed such a good idea to me that I was shocked at the attitude I received when I asked around how I could do it. I was bluntly told that it wasn't done, proper quilting was done the way I was shown. To sum it up, there was supposedly only one right way to do quilting!

I didn't give up quilting, but I did start shopping for fabric elsewhere! I then met a lovely lady in Truro Fabrics who told me 'You do what you like. Rules are meant to be broken.' She gave me confidence to do as I pleased and I moved on to find my own way of doing things. And I've produced some pretty good double sided quilts since!!!

Here are a few of my favourites.

This one is mine. The colours and vibrancy just feel right...

My favourite quilt- its the colours that make it!

Reverse of my favourite

This one is a complete contrast, but I love it none the less. It is soothing and restful. Total elegance.

"Zen Garden" quilt - Gentle neutral blocks

Reverse of "Zen Garden"

This quilt is not reversible in the same way. The back is one patterned piece of fabric with just three alternate squares of contrasting fabric for interest.

"Strawberry Picnics" quilt

By the way, the 'crochet cramps' led to several months of physiotherapy and were latered identified as being linked to the flu virus lingering in one limb. How weird is that? My wrist had flu!

Until next time

Gillian