Round and About in Paris

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Round and About in Paris

The brief was, Paris themed with pale green/turquoise.   The fabrics were easy to select.  I chose the backing first.  This may seem a little unusual, but the more quilts I make, the more I am sure that the backing is a key piece of the jigsaw.   Beautiful and bold backings really make the whole project just fantastic and in this case, allowed me to set the Paris theme and the colour way.

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The Nantucket Quilt

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The Nantucket Quilt

I have never been to Nantucket.   It is a long way from Yorkshire.    Would I like to go?   You bet - it looks like a heavenly place and      who doesn't love the seaside and quaint streets and little boats and beautiful houses.  I have been lucky enough to visit Newport, Rhode Island, so I guess I have had a taste of what it might be like, but since working on this project, it is definitely on my bucket list.   For now though, this quilt will have to suffice and it is not hard to be happy when you see it.  Camille Roskelley of ' Thimbleblossoms' designed this quilt pattern after a visit to the island and it is every bit as lovely, as I imagine Nantucket to be.

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Vintage Linen Revival Quilt - Block 4

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Vintage Linen Revival Quilt - Block 4

April brings another chance to get back to my 'Vintage Linen Revival Quilt Project'. It is rapidly becoming one of those deliciously theraputic projects.... no rules....no pattern....no specified fabrics.....just a box of old vintage linens that are falling apart and desperately in need of a new and exciting life.Block 4 has turned out way different to how I imagined when I started out.

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Quick Shop Update!

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Quick Shop Update!

Just interrupting the usual sewing chit chat, to say that there are some pretty new things in the shop this week to tempt you into Spring thoughts.

First up, 'On the Garden Fence' Kits are now available.  They come in Ruby's very own lovely little boxes and there is everything you need in there except, the cushion pad, of course.  Even the wool for the tassels is in there!.  The pattern is for a standard 16" cushion pad and is fun to do, with some fabric weaving and some simple embroidery.

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Vintage Linen Revival Quilt 2017 - Block 2

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Vintage Linen Revival Quilt 2017 - Block 2

Having had a large box of old linens stashed in my cupboard for a long time, I am finally recycling and repairing and cutting and embroidering and attempting to make a new quilt old of old and very beautifully worked pieces of needlework. After being rather pleased with my first block, this next block is a different challenge. I have no plan for any of this, so I literally just pulled a piece out of box randomly and then thought about what to do. This time, it is a very lovely, very fine cushion cover that has a large tear in the middle of it. I have absolutely no idea where this came from or who might have made it originally, but I think it must have been an enormous amount of work.

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This one is for us!

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This one is for us!

This has been an epic project and last week it was finished! As always, with a big quilt project, it feels like it has been a long and colourful and exhilarating journey and once it is done, you feel a little bereft. It is worse when the quilt is for someone else, but let's be clear - THIS ONE IS NOT GOING ANYWHERE - it is for me and my gorgeous new Chaise Long (Christmas pressie from my Sweetheart!) and my books. What could be more wonderful than languishing on this, under this with a good read on a chilly winter Sunday afternoon?!

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Vintage Linen Revival Quilt 2017 - Block 1

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Vintage Linen Revival Quilt 2017 - Block 1

'JANUARY IS FULL OF POSSIBILITIES' - at least that is what is says on the opening page of my 'Simple Things' mag this month and I like that idea. I am so excited to begin this project and as I have absolutely no plan at all, it will be winding and colourful journey.

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2017 VINTAGE LINEN REVIVAL PROJECT

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2017 VINTAGE LINEN REVIVAL PROJECT

SOOOooooo with the new year upon us, I decided that it might be fun to do a month on month project to make a 'revival quilt' out of all these wonderful textiles. It will be a total adventure in needlework and I am already imagining that I will have to find innovative ways to rescue some of these textiles and enhance others. I have a feeling that I when I actually start to look really closely at this handiwork, I will be absolutely in awe of the needlewomen who made these things. They are from a lost time really and I don't want them to be lost anymore.

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Ruby's first Mini Quilt Kit and a reorganisation in the SewingRoom!

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Ruby's first Mini Quilt Kit and a reorganisation in the SewingRoom!

I'm up early this morning, so thought I would blog away with all my news.   First of all, I have had a bit of a reorganisation in the sewing room to accommodate all my plans.    Like most quilters and fabric junkies, I seemed to have endless ikea trays and boxes full of bits and pieces, odd fat quarters, offcuts and precuts, fabrics that have been given to me along the way and fabrics that I have bought with plans in mind, that somehow have never quite come to fruition.  Being organised seems like a small thing, but I know from friends, that quilters are notoriously not so good at this.  Hoarding, stashing and making a mess are bywords for our species.  Trying to start a small business though means addressing this and a little more order is called for. Time to get to grips with this addiction and I have to say...it is totally liberating!!!  

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