Linus quilts

I was recently invited to Ashlawn School in Rugby to talk to a Year 9 group about quilting. Their course included a module on recycling and sutainability, and their lovely teacher, Shakira, thought that quilting would fit in nicely. The girls (it was all girls, sadly) were a lovely group and very much enjoyed seeing some of my quilts, and were astounded to handle some Dream Green wadding (made from plastic bottles, if you've not come acrosst) and find how soft it was. I suggested that they might like to make some simple blocks for a Linus quilt, and they were very enthusiastic.

This is the back of the block, which is just strings sewn to a piece of lightweight Vilene either by hand or machine. If you fancy a go, the Vilene was cut into 6.5" squares. It's a simple project for anyone who can do a running stitch.

And here are the completed blocks, arranged ready for sewing together. It was lucky that there were 25 pupils present on that day, so it has been easy to include every block. Some of the blocks weren't quite finished, so while I was adding some strips, I decided to make a few extra blocks using leaders and enders.

Chris had kindly given me a bag full of gorgeous hand dyed fabrics, many of which were brown (and some frankly sludgy!) and immediately made me think of gingerbreadmen!

Here they are, getting ready to dance! I'll be making more as I assemble the girls's quilt.