My finished quilt-as-you-go project

Way back in the summer I began what, for me, was a very ambitious project – a new patchwork quilt for my bed.  I am a very careless cutter and my spatial reasoning is, to be perfectly honest, rubbish (guess who can never choose the right sized saucepan lid from out of the cupboard!?) so I knew that creating a beautiful complex design (and my online research showed me some truly wonderful quilts) would be totally beyond me.  So I settled for a simple patchwork quilt created from 30 blocks of 9 squares with white sashing between for a fresh, modern look. 

But I do love colour and adore choosing different combinations.  For my quilt I used some of “Across the Pond” from Michelle Engel Bencsko, a little Lotta Jansdotter, some vintage fabrics, and other pieces that I simply don’t know where I got them or what they are.  Oh .. and there’s some by Stof, Robert Kaufman and other current designers too.  This was the most fun bit of my quilt … then I had to cut all the squares and carefully join them into blocks.  

Although I was as careful as I could be, I am sorry to say that some squaring off was required.  (oops!)  I joined the blocks into strips of six, (can you see the 1950’s horse in the centre of this block?) and joined the strips using the quilt as you go method.  I did this as I knew I would so totally be unable to quilt it in one piece.  There are some wonderful videos of this technique on YouTube and I watched a large variety – a big “thank you” to all you lovely quilters who very generously share your expertise – I am so in awe of you!

As well as colour, I wanted the fabrics I had chosen to reflect the natural world all around me.  And when I came to quilt my strips, I decided to continue this idea into the quilting.  I randomly stippled the blocks, and quilted the sashing  in straight lines – reflecting our fields, coast and woodlands all defined by the neat boundaries of roads and fields.    Then, when I’d joined the strips at the front of the quilt, I spent several evenings slip stitching the back seams and the reverse of the binding.  But finally it was finished and I put it on my bed on Christmas Eve ….

And I felt proud!  I know it’s not perfect – very far from it – and not a work of art like some of those wonderful quilts I found online – but it’s the biggest quilting project I’ve ever attempted and I DID IT ALL BY MYSELF!!  

But I’m glad I finished it before Daisy arrived!  She is a little canine ball of energy and is wearing us all out – but as she’s so loveable we don’t mind one bit.