Fourth finish (and a bonus!)

Just because I haven't posted recently doesn't mean I've been idle - the weather has been so dull and dreary that I didn't think any photos I took would be worth looking at! Well, the sun is shining today, so I've had my camera out.

Here is my fourth Linus top finished this month. Hooray! I think it was originally a strippy quilt in progress, but looks good enough with this bright pink binding, I think. I've just quilted it in the ditch to emphasise the design.

I've also been steadily working on the old hexagon quilt which was made by Emily Glass in the 1890s. I've made it up as a coverlet (no wadding), and just hand quilted round some of the lozenge and flower shapes to keep it all together. I was going to applique it to a border fabric, but in the end have folded the top and backing under, and sewn it edge to edge, as many of the old English quilts were finished.

The backing has been made up from white fabric and the pieces of fabric I printed the information I have found out about the quilt, as well as a photo of the quilt as it was when I inherited it. I am determined that the history of the quilt will go with it.

Here is a bit closer look at the back, and I have written the 1891 census record on with a Pigma pen.

The top and bottom are still in the pretty zig zag formation, but (after taking advice from knowledgeable quilty friends) I decided to fold the other edge over to make it straight. All the fabric is still there, but folded under, as so many of the old English quilts were finished. I'm so delighted that it's now in a state for people to enjoy, and if I hadn't taken the papers out, I would never have found out about the maker of the quilt!

I've also been seduced into more piecing by donations to the Linus fabric. This small bag 6"x8" had scraps presumably left over from the Bramble Patch challenge fabric 'Authentic'. It was a shame to scatter these bits into the mile a minute box, so I decided to have a go at making something from them.

There was just about enough to make Bonnie Hunter's 'I spy a 4-patch' design. Very sophisticated colours for a Linus quilt, but I'm sure a teenager would love this.

And here it is at the moment. I'm auditioning border fabric.

Shall I go for the black as a narrow border, then a wide green, or vice versa? What do you think?