Sunday 22 June 2014

Marina's Bee Block and favourite quilt

Hello, I'm Marina and am very pleased to be part of this lovely new guild. I have always been a craft-loving person, and have tried my hand at many things (with varying degrees of success). I learned how to quilt with my mother when I was small, and have been at it on and off ever since. I love bright colours and big patterns, and fun, happy quilts! 

The block I have chosen for this month is a Domino block, nice and easy but hopefully fun. There's a good tutorial here, but let me know if you have any questions or issues. The finished block will be 12 inches, don't worry about trimming it up, I'll do that once I've got them all. It would be great if the middle squares could be grey (fine if it's a pattern, even with some other colours mixed in, so long as it reads as grey overall), and if you could use some teal elsewhere in the block. It can be as coordinated or as scrappy as you like, just keep a bit of definition between the different sets, but otherwise go for it and do what makes you happy. Here are pictures of the two blocks I've made, I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's! 



My favourite quilt for today is this log cabin:


Not the best photo, but the only one I have and you get the idea. This was made over the course of approximately two years, two continents, and two or three machines. It is my first full size bed quilt, log cabins are one of my favourite blocks, and now this one makes me smile and keeps me warm at night - what's not to like? I like the back just as much as the front, but sadly don't have a picture to show you just now.

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. 

  Christmas in March! For this month only i'm handing over the blog (mostly) to Mags Scammell. She is the host of tonight's ceremony...