Tuesday 10 June 2014

Anne's Bee block and biography

Hi, I'm Anne and I live in Edinburgh with my husband, 2 daughters and our King Charles spaniel. 

Sixteen years ago, when my two daughters were very young, a friend suggested that I join her at a papercraft workshop and my love of crafting began. 

Then last summer my sister and I spotted a list of quilting workshops in Jo's shop window in Edinburgh. Always keen to try something new, we signed up for a beginner's Log Cabin cot quilt class. Over ambitious as ever, I ended up making a full sized quilt instead, which is yet to be finished, of course - but we were hooked! 

Apart from starting a quilt for my eldest daughter two years ago (see story below), this is my first foray into the world of modern fabrics and quilting, as I'm generally a paper crafter and I love scrapbooking. I love the choice of fabrics available nowadays and am rapidly turning into a fabric hoarder ! 
 
 
I have chosen a house block for my block of the month. The cutting sizes (inc seam allowances) for each house area are shown below, along with a diagram for constructing the house. I chose aquas, pinks and whites as my colour scheme for everyone. The final block will be 12.5" square. I'm excited to see how everyone's blocks turn out. I shall probably add coloured sashing between each block, to make my finished quilt. 

Here's a photo of my sample block: 
 

And the cutting and assembly diagrams:
 

 
For my favourite quilt I would choose this one:
 
 
To be honest, it's my first and only completed full size quilt. Two years ago my eldest daughter was leaving to go to university and asked me to make her an heirloom to take with her! How could I refuse a request like that?  
I cut out the pieces in April 2012 but somehow it sat in my cupboard, untouched, til Feb 2014 (as she approached the end of her 2nd year) when a wave of guilt spurred me on to complete it. The free motion quilting was fun to start with but it's a very large quilt and after 24 hours of quilting, spread over a number of days, I felt the end would never come ! 
Now it's finished, I love the quilt - I love the modern fabrics and large areas of white. 

2 comments:

  1. Your quilt is lovely Anne! Looking forward to meeting you tonight.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Can't wait to see all the "house" blocks tonight! Your red and white quilt is so cheery and fresh. It has inspired me to hunt for red fabrics in my stash...see you soon!

    ReplyDelete

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