Stitches Galore

If someone had told me this time last year that I would not only sew but hand-quilt a quilt for a dog I would have laughed long and hard. So it is almost inevitable for me to report now that not only does Ruby have a corner of sofa for herself, she also has a quilt for herself. Fleece blankets are great for cover ups and quick washing and drying, but not so good when using a lint roller to remove stray springer hair! So I had the great idea to make a quilt, as the smooth cotton makes for easy maintenance between washings. After the complexities of the disappearing nine-patch quilt, I was determined to use simple piecing in a way that would result hopefully result in a pretty quilt. I chose the 'plus' layout - once I understood the principles of the layout (from Pinterest pictures!), the sewing was fairly straightforward. I decided to hand-quilt again, but this time with finer hand quilting cotton which works fine. It took a few evenings, but, again, I think it was w...

Four years ago I visited the fabric department at Liberty in London for the first time. I had heard so much about the beauty of the design of their Tana lawn fabric from my GCSE Textiles teacher, that it was somewhere I had always wanted to go to see them for myself. I indulged in a sample pack of fabric that included 12 different designs. I plotted and planned and researched the possibilities for using the fabrics - for a while I though of trying some English paper piecing, but was reluctant to cut up the fabric into tiny pieces and to lose so much in seam allowances (again, my love/hate relationship with patchwork!). Eventually I decided on the simplest possible design to make the most of the fabric. The detail in pattern is amazing - the quilt really showcases each as a work of art. Seaming the fabric in simple strips made for a single bed sized quilt. I completed it a year ago after machine quilting it in random straight lines across the width. Initially I was happy with i...

This quilt was started last Easter and I managed to piece it for quilting in August. It's my first full size, king size quilt and I'm really happy with it. The fabric is mainly Daysail, designed by Bonnie and Camille for Moda. The designs and colours are so clear and fresh - I really enjoyed working with such quality cotton. Knowing it would be impossible to quilt it on my own sewing machine, I had it long arm quilted and the quilter chose a super swirly design that works well as a contrast to the sharp angles in the piecing. I chose a red script design fabric for the binding to outline the edging and a plain white calico for the backing to try to offset the overall cost of the quilt. It's given me a great sense of achievement to complete this project - but now I am almost reluctant to use it! In many way this quilt epitomises the reasons why it took me so long to get into patchwork. You take a perfectly lovely fabric, cut it unto small pieces, sew the...

We first met Ruby in May last year when we visited our local Dog’s Trust. She was an unwanted pet, having been with her family since she was a puppy. While we really liked her, we knew it wasn’t the right time and decided that if she was still there in September she was meant for us. Over the summer she remained there – much to our surprise – and so began the adoption process. Ruby had a difficult summer; she arrived to the Dog’s Trust in season and with a nasty cyst on her leg. She then developed a phantom pregnancy – the prolonged treatment of this delayed her spay and the excision of the cyst on her leg which had been biopsied over the summer. She had been taken out by a family and returned the next day due to her snappy behaviour and this really affected her chances of adoption. The staff at the Dog’s Trust were very supportive of our adoption of Ruby. They were honest and transparent about her behavioural challenges and we worked out a strategy for visiting and w...