Just right

Sometimes when you quilt you have to decide just how to put it together. It's a process of trial and error, placing and moving until it looks just right. This was yesterday's job with my current quilt. I then took a photo so if I mix up the pieces in some silly careless moment then I know how they should go back together.

Now it's just waiting to be sewn together.

Until next time
Gillian

Here it is- just right!

Why I make quilts

This is why I make quilts...

When someone is really tired and in need of snuggling up!

Freedom of expression- quilting style!

Quilting is not really about simply sewing for me- it's about expressing myself through my design choices. Sewing is just the process of putting it all together. Making a quilt is about so much more...

There are choices every step of the way. First I choose a selection of fabric, then the pattern. Sometimes I do this the other way round looking for fabric that goes with a pattern I like.

Then I choose which particular fabrics I will use for particular parts of the design. Favourite fabrics get to be feature parts of the design but it all has to look and feel right to me.

I may also decide to change the size or shape of the quilt and adjust accordingly.

I usually try to make a reverse design to go with the quilt front, using any leftover material from the top. This is always my own design piercing together what is available.

I then put the top/wadding/back layers together. I don't like binding so I sew reverse sides facing and then pull through to turn right sides out before hand sewing the gap closed. I always do a straight stitch about 10mm from the edge all the way round to give a lovely firm and tidy but soft edge.

My final choice is how to quilt; sometimes I follow the seaming, sometimes I use fancy stitches, sometimes I make concentric squares and recently I've tried free machine quilting producing random patterns. This is the part I and other quilters might notice but seemingly other people are less likely to see.

So you see how every quilt I make is an expression of me. No one else will make the same choices as me, and each choice is about what I think will look best.

Until next time
Gillian

This is how the front, border and reverse all must blend and fit together to make the quilt just right!

2012

I didn't make any resolutions this year but have some things I want to do more of this year...

Look for the good even when things are difficult

See the positives in life's events

Spread smiles, they are contagious and it will be wonderful to get more back

Be kind, considerate and willing to help others because that always feels good too


If I can do more of these things I think I will be a happier person...

So until next time
Gillian

Here's a smile to start the feel good smiles...

Happy New Year 2012

A new year has arrived and I'm torn between looking back and looking ahead.

2011 Is now over... We did so much last year...

Tom sat his A levels, got good grades and went to university...

Kieran sat his GSCEs, got good grades and is now doing his A levels...

Sean is now in year 5 and has hugely gained in confidence, performing in the school talent show (cup stacking) and reciting Christmas poems at the school carol concert in church (ytwas the night before Christmas)...

Sean is now eating lots more foods; we no longer cook separately for him and he willingly (most of the time) tries new foods...

John and me are both in the same jobs but feeling more positive following some recent changes (no more about work I promise!)...

We've all been pretty healthy thankfully though in truth I haven't exercised enough...

We've taken more steps towards giving our children freedom to develop as people, letting them make their own decisions and accept the consequences when they do- this is a tough one which is hard for a control freak like me...

Creatively I've ended the year with quite a few finished projects and I'm enjoying the positive feeling that has given me. The person who started loads of things but rarely completed them has finally turned a corner- I'm now someone who actually makes things. It's a big creative breakthrough for me! Definitely the way to go in the future...

So on to 2012... My outline plan is to basically work hard, have fun, be creative and spend quality time with my family... I'm looking forward to it!!!

So until next time
Gillian

Here is a photo of today's sunset... How beautiful the world is!

Starburst

I've enjoyed finishing some quilts this holiday. The most difficult one I've ever made was one that I thought looked like an exploding star but my kids named Starburst. I improvised the piecing a bit to get it to work the way I liked. This is typical of me- I rarely follow a pattern completely. I more use it as a kind of guidance ands add my own twist to it. It really makes my quilts feel quite different sometimes. That's the best thing about quilting- there will never ever be another quilt exactly the same so everything you make is unique. Just like we as people are all unique...

So until next time
Gillian

Busy finishing the impossible

I've had a double bed size quilt top sitting in my sewing box for a year. I didn't think I could quilt it so I just left it there afraid I would ruin it. Then about a month ago I decided I better start finishing my work in progress. So Christmas decorations were finished, my green William Morris inspired fabric quilt was finished and my exploding star quilt was finished.

But still my double quilt sat there- I convinced myself I didn't have room to put it together with the wadding and backing.

Yesterday I had one of those moments, the one where you think "oh blow it, just do it, it's just wasted as it is and you may as well risk doing it!!!!". So I've put it together and edged it (I don't like the way binding looks so I see the edge right sides together leaving a gap then pull it through and hand stitch it closed).

I'm now doing machine quilting and about to do something else new- freestyle machine quilting. It's my quilt and I think it will look great.

I've noticed recently that many handmade items in shops and even in published books are no better than mine. It's not that I'm saying they are no good- its more that my are pretty good too and every little imperfection I am soooo aware of are just about invisible to everyone else.

So I'm taking risks and getting things done and making beautiful unique quilts which will last a lifetime and hopefully be passed on to my descendants one day. Oh it's good to do the impossible!!!!

Until next time
Gillian