There is so much to catch you up on but you know what, I thought I would start with something more uplifting and share some finishes. In my true style there are not many finishes and then suddenly they all come along at once - hence why a week of finishes!
First up is actually quite unusual for me - a quilt started and finished this year ... It is the Feather SAL quilt. At the beginning of the year I signed up for the SAL with Alison Glass and was determined to keep up to date, even though it was a very relaxed SAL. The first couple of weeks were OK and then our life changed when my daughter came out of school to be home schooled for GCSEs. Needless to say I did not have much time or energy to sew whilst we adjusted to those changes.
Then it seemed I was so far behind that I was never going to catch up .... and I didn't, with the SAL schedule, but I plodded on with it when time and motivation allowed. I had originally planned to make the full quilt with 12 columns but in the end I just wanted a finish and I was not really enjoying the actual making. Isn't it funny how that happens sometimes? Maybe because it was associated with such a turbulent time.
Due to the time it took my studio seemed to be full of pieces so I had to keep it all together and having it somewhat organised did help in the making!
I attended a retreat in March with the Oxfordshire Modern Quilt Guild and I thought that would be a good place to get on with this project. It felt nice to be working on it with other people around - the real essence of a SAL! It helped that we were staying in the most awesome property with a great landing from which to hand your quilts!
However the real motivator for finishing it came when my neighbour came round and had a look in the studio. This quilt was on my design wall and she loved it and we were going to her 70th party at the end of July. Nothing like a deadline to get me focussed.
I had recently bought a new quilting design and thought it would look great on this quilt - luckily I was right!
Literally the last stitch was going in the binding on the morning of the party but it sure felt good to finish and gift .... especially knowing that she liked it. Well, liked it is an understatement! She absolutely loves it and had never been given a handmade gift like that before. Isn't that all you ask for when you gift something handmade?
I also had a few minutes to get some photos before I wrapped it up which was a bonus!
Quilt Information
Pattern: Feathers Quilt by Nydia Kehnle & Alison Glass
Started: 15 January 2022
Finished: 30 July 2022
Fabric: Alison Glass fabric that I had collected over the years - some bought, some kindly donated, some swapped
No new fabric bought for this quilt - it was quite a challenge getting the gradations of colour with just those colours in my stash
Background fabric is Dashwood Pop Solid in Carbon
Pieced: Janome 9450QCP
Wadding: 100% cotton
Quilted: Handi Quilter Amara with Pro-Stitcher
Quilting: Fusion digital design by Urban Elementz
Thread: Glide 60wt Sterling + Decobob 80wt Dove Grey in bobbin
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