Quilting Mum’s Patchwork Quilt

Hello there, thanks for popping by…

I can’t tell you how much fun I’m having with this Quilt! I written about it on the blog before, maybe once or twice, but after nearly 7 years in the making, I can finally see the ‘Home Straight’.

To begin with, it was easy, I was doing the bits I loved, tacking (or basting) the different fabrics over the hexagon templates that I’d cut out, and then sewing those hexagons into rosettes..

Soon I was sewing those rosettes together and it got bigger and bigger…

Eventually I had a piece of fabric big enough to cover most of our double bed. It should have been plain sailing from here… You would think so? Ah, well, no… You see, when you don’t follow a pattern and just work with what’s in your head as I do, sometimes things go slightly awry.. in this case, my rectangle Quilt was looking decidedly non-rectangle-ly! I can’t even describe the shape.. the closest description would be a parallelogram I think!

To say I was slightly ‘miffed’ would be an understatement! My eldest son helpfully suggested (with sweeping hand motion) that I could just ‘cut it down’ … Six weeks of work!

So, Mum’s Quilt sat in a bag in the naughty corner for nearly a year until enough time had gone by that I didn’t need to sit down and put my head between my knees at the thought of cutting off precious work! 😂

In March this year, I did what was suggested in the first place, and cut the piece of fabric to the shape I needed… I wish I’d done it sooner!

Within the day, the Quilt sandwich was made (backing fabric, wadding and then the Quilt top) it was all pinned together and the quilting could begin.

And so, here we are, nearing the end, and I’ve learnt so much, particularly about persevering when it’s hard… (the quilting took me an age to get into a proper rhythm, I got sore fingers until I learned which thimbles to use on which hand to stop the pain, and I kept going, doing a little every day until suddenly I knew, I was in my stride, I’d got there! Now, I wish I could hand quilt all day, but of course I can’t, there’s family life to live! I’m so pleased with the results, and I’m really glad I’ve got another two Quilts to quilt on after this… would you like a quick peek?

There’s also my Magus Opus to finish quilting, which I started in 2007! It’s quite close to the finish though, so hopefully, I should have 3 completed Quilts by the end of the year…

For now though. whatever you’re doing, I hope you find time for a little Crafting, take care…

Until the next time,

Debbie.

Taking my courage in both hands.

Hello there, thanks for popping by…

I wanted to talk today about the different kinds of courage I’ve found in the course of my life.. Nothing too heavy, so don’t worry!

I was thinking particularly about the kind of courage it takes to put yourself out there, tell the ‘World’ ( Well, OK, my little corner of the Internet, anyway! 😂) that you’re ‘branching out’… that’s what I called it because any other way of putting it scared me half to death!

Words, like, ‘selling’ just tangled on my tongue, and made me feel slightly clammy! 😂 But the truth is, I’ve been selling some of the things I’ve made for a while, but only really to family and friends and ( deep breath here) I want to go further, I want ‘more’… there, I’ve said it, ‘I want more.’

Why does such an admission make me feel like I’m asking for more than I should? It’s funny, because I’ve been ‘training’ for this moment for a long time, years in fact! Practicing and learning, day in and out, hours of time and mistakes made and learnt from.. so why do I feel like I need to whisper my desire into the ‘ether’ and not shout it out with trumpets and fanfares as was seen at yesterday’s Coronation?😂

So I think this is where a certain type of courage comes in to play… I need to do it anyway! In spite of the fear and that annoying inner Critic we all have inside of us.. How will I know what will happen if I never take the opportunities offered to me? I will continue to sew and knit anyway, regardless, so there really is nothing to lose, except my courage, and I won’t do that! 😊

So, with that in mind, I’m going to take another deep breath, and say, that if you’d like to take a look at the things I’ve made to sell, you can find them on my Facebook Page here,

http://www.facebook.com/Happyjustcrafting-1669122293338039/

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this little ‘Missive’, I feel like I can breathe now -)

How about some photos to end?

Until the next time, whatever you’re doing, I hope you find the time to do a little crafting, whatever that might be.

Debbie. x