A Love Re-Ignited

You know when life gets busy, children pop up.....decorating.....work.....stuff!!!!  And things that you once did become overlooked or even forgotten!!!

Well.......I've always loved quilts...they're very homey.  Once had a passion for making them and then life took over and I forgot!

Got into Pinterest and found myself drawn to quilts....so have a whole board dedicated to Quilty Delicious-ness!

Then I got chatting to Nicky (who I see every week but I hadn't realised she was a CraftSister like me!).....she showed me a lovely quilt and a gorgeous little pouch....

Do you like?  Lovely isn't it?  So very beautiful and clever...

So I carried on looking at quilts and I love this one.....

...called The Orange Quilt by the very talented (and unlike me!....colour-literate...) Allison Harris of Cluck Cluck Sew, one of my favourite blogs (check it out...it's amazing!)

That's when I discovered a box....full of fabric that was YEARS old!  Older, in fact, than my Teenage Daughter.

That was when I shared UFOs with you....and this very badly lit photograph....

....I had a thought of this becoming a quilt based on The Orange Quilt.

I then had a lovely visit to my CraftSister Nicky which she blogged about here.  What an inspiring day looking at Nicky's quilts, learning how to make pouches and cuddling her latest acquisition.....

...this B-E-A-Utiful cushion made for her by Helen of Archie the Wonder Dog blog, you can read about their swap here.

So.....for a couple of evenings, I've tucked myself away and.......

...well let me show you .....

I found this......

.....my first ever attempt at patchwork....made about 15 years ago for my Eldest Son (who will be 21 in October!)...I had COMPLETELY forgotten about it....and probably wouldn't have remembered I had made it....but I had signed it!

Then I discovered a half done apology for an attempt at patchwork!  Probably started at around the same time as the last one....yes 15 years!! 

I hadn't forgotten about this one because it kept coming back to haunt me!! Reminding me that I hadn't finished it!!  And I don't like not finishing (hence I hadn't had the heart to just dump it!!)

It had a patched top attached to wadding and a backing by eight buttons!!!!  I'd obviously got that far and then not known what to do!!!

So armed with my new info from Nicky (and a good deal of Close Up Examination of her quilts)......I decided to try a couple of rows of BIG stitch quilting...... and then trim the wadding and the backing and simply turn them in and stitched (did you call this bagging Nicky?)

Well......anyway, it turned out like this.....

Ta-Dah.............!!!!!!!!!!

My daughter is WELL impressed....and I have to say - now that it is finished I'm quite chuffed too! 

AND surprised that it didn't take much effort to finish.... AND a passing moment of slight irritation to think that I had left it all this time and done nothing when it WAS fairly easy and effortless to achieve and feel so good about!!

Moving on.......I found a cushion cover that had been given to me to finish (see.....I get all these waifs and just don't have the heart to dump them!!!)

It's not my thing but I looked at it in a whole new light and thought.........why don't I just run round it a few times to machine quilt it and see what happens!!

So I did....(it had arrived with wadding and backing attached and another piece of fabric which I have made into an envelope back)....and here it is......

Phew!!!

We're nearly there!

Next up.....a pouch!!

Teenage Daughter chose some fabric a while ago to make herself a Something...the Something never material-ised (excuse the pun!) so armed with a bit of plain fabric (onto which I appliqued her initial using some of her Something fabric, like this.....)

 

(Sorry about the shadow on the photo...and the muck....she had started using it before I could get a photo....not too annoyed as I'm pleased she LOVES it.)

....and a white zip,  I followed Nicky's pouch instructions and........

..........Ta-Dah........!!!! 

And here's the inside all nicely sewn onto the zip!   Now that's clever Nicky....THANKS!

My other activity over the last 2 days of gorgeous sunshine has been to change the garage door!!  (Yes Mrs DIY took up the kindness of our neighbours in giving us their old garage door which was in better condition than ours and swapped them....looks lovely now.)

This spurred on a bit of Gardening Activity with Teenage Daughter as we cleared the front step and pots of weeds, swept the drive, cleaned out the garage and began weeding the front garden!

It continued today (but I can't do anymore as our Gardening Bin is full!) and once the bin is emptied tomorrow (and subject to more sunshine).....it WILL be continued VERY soon.

Hubby decided to wash the small car today......look at his little helper........

Aaahhhh!  Thank you Lovely Girls....xx

Well that's all from this 'ere neck o' the woods....see you soon....

N xx