Some finishes

Since I have no patience at all, I like to have lots of different projects on the go at the same time. There is always some piecing, some quilting, some layering up and some applique going on at the same time, so I can pick up whatever I feel in the mood for. So this week I have felt in the mood for finishing.

These hexagon blocks were joined together in the start of a quilt and then donated to Project Lnus. I rearranged some of the blocks to make the quilt into a rectangle, bravely cut through the edges to straighten them, bordered, layered and quilted. The fabrics are a bit 60s, but I think it makes a pretty Linus quilt.

Roll, roll, cotton boll has all its borders on, and since DD kindly took the papers out of the string blocks, I'm ready to layer it up. One of the best thing about this quilt is that I didn't have to buy a single piece of fabric to make it! All the fabric came out of my stash! How good is that! I have always liked Bonnie Hunter's designs, but I'm getting to like them more and more, and have started making leaders and enders to use up my scraps, which is very satisfying!

This quilt was made using other people's scraps. I was given a bag with lots of toning scraps in lime green (it looks yellow in this photo), black and white from the 'Authentic' range. I was able to use the scraps to make 9-patches, which have been alternated with black to make this very sophisticated Linus top. Now for some layering up!

Two finishes

Hooray! I have completely finished the hexagon quilt which had been driving me crazy with boredom. I can't abide waste, and wanted to make up some of these rosettes for Project Linus. I've decided never again to do hexagons and managed to find the rest of them a good home with Kathie (I'm so glad she wanted them!).

Here is the completed quilt, looking quite sweet and fresh.

And I've also finished the stitchery from Caroline's blog. Once I had looked properly at the pattern, I realsied that she had clothes on, after all! Caroline will be posting another block soon, so make sure you check it out.

So, on to the next project. Andrea shocked me by saying she had a lot of scraps which she was going to throw away! I immediately volunteered to have them for Linus, and she gave me a carrier bag full of bits. Other people's scraps are always so enticing, don't you think? I'm part way through making something from them, so wait and see!

Failed (and succeeded!)

I set myself a challenge to finish five of the current projects I'm working on by the end of February, and have failed dismally! I'm not unduly upset, as I always think it's good to set up a challenge - I wouldn't have got any of them done if I hadn't!

So what did I achieve?

Two Mile a Minute Linus quilts completed. (One only needed the binding slip stitching, but never mind, it's a finish!)

One top completed, layered and mostly quilted. I'm aiming to buy some dark purple thread today to quilt the border, so it'll be done soon.

One hexagon top completed and ready to layer. The backing and waddng are ready and waiting.

As to the rest of the projects, they're all still as they were. So, it's just two out of five for me. Not a wonderful score, but better than nought!

And the success? I've found a loving home for the rest of the hexagons! I have decided to send them to Kathie over at Inspired by Antique Quilts, as I'm sure she will be able to appreciate their charm, and have the fabrics to compliment them. If you send me your snailmail, Kathie, I'll be delighted to get rid of them - sorry, speed them on their way!

Never again!

I know it was part of my self-imposed challenge, but these hexagons are driving me bananas! I seem to have spent ages and ages working on them, and still the blinking top doesn't seem big enough to use as a handkerchief!

I'd also forgotten how hexagons make a very uneven shape, and you have to fill in the edges if you want a square or rectangular quilt!

I got so fed up with it yesterday that I decided to zigzag the remaining few shapes just to get it done. I'm not altogether happy with this solution, as if you do small zigzags, they make a dense edge to the join, but if they're bigger, I'm not confident that they'll hold. Ah well, I only had a few to do, and it got it into a manageable shape.

After a couple of borders, it looks quite pretty. (Just look how the yellow and blue borders have brought the yellow and blue nicely to the fore and pulled it together quite satisfactorily.)

But, I am heartily sick of these hexagons, which were given to me by the daughter of a lady who made them in the 1960s and 70s. She wanted them to go to a good home, and if you feel like you could give them the respect and love they deserve, please contact me and I'll gladly send you the whole blooming lot!

Another old quilt

On Saturday I went to Rocheberie Quilters in Rugby. The members of this group are a very generous bunch, and make lots of Linus quilts for me, buy items from my rummage box of unwanted stuff and bring lots of surplus sewing-related things to keep the aforementioned rummage box in good health. Saturday was no exception. The rummage box donations dish had £19.75 in it at the end of the day, some unsold pieces from the sales table were added to the box, I had two Linus quilts to take home and someone gave me a partly completed hexagon quilt to use for Linus. I am always pleased to receive donations of any kind for Linus, and felt sure that I could cut the good part of the top about to make a suitable quilt.




Here is the quilt, displayed on my lounge carpet! Unremarkable hexagons, with the papers still on the back. I decided to take the papers out, wash it and complete the bit that was missing, as it was quite a good size and wouldn't take much work. When I turned it over, I had quite a shock, as the papers had been cut from old letters, and the writing looked to be copperplate and not very modern at all. Some of the papers had writing going across and then down, on top of one another. This was done to save postage and paper, in the Victorian era.

Then I found papers which had presumably been cut from envelopes, with postmarks on them!

This one is a handstamp from Warrington 92, which must be 1892

and this one Bathearton (?) Dec 91 which must be 1991! This proves that the papers are nearly 120 years old, and the fabric must be at least that.

The fabrics don't seem to be remarkable, but this puts me in a quandry. What do I do with it? I am loathe to give it to a museum, where it will end up in a box, and would rather finish the quilt (with reproduction fabrics) and make it into a quilt or coverlet, as the maker intended. Did I ought to try to contact the person who gave it to me (sorry, I didn't take note of who it was!) and give it back? Or can I finish it, put a donation into Linus and keep it myself? All suggestions gratefully received.