Red Cross Quilt

I've forgotten to show you the treasure I picked up from the Vintage Bazaar last month in Devizes, this has to be the best piece I've picked up in the long time, you know that feeling when you HAVE to have something and you just KNOW it's meant to be yours and live at your house?! I nearly didn't ask how much it was, as vintage quilts are usually way out of my budget, so when it was £35, I didn't dare put it down, even though it meant borrowing money off my lovely Mum!

It's very worn in places but the seller told me all about it's history as it's a Canadian Red Cross quilt, apparently in the Second World War for the war effort, the Canadian Red Cross organised making and sending quilts over to London for the bombed out Londoners who had lost everything. Due to time constraints, some Canadians sent out heirloom quilts of their own to help and this quilt seems to be one of these as some of the fabrics are Thirties feedsack. 

The colours and hand quilting are beautiful and I can't quite fathom the generosity of strangers to send this to people in need, would this happen now?

It's lovely to snuggle under, so soft and warm and large, I'm definitely going to look after it but I'm also not going to hide it away, it needs to be admired and seen.

Sewtastic!

My knitting mojo has been lacking but my sewing one has resurfaced. 

I've been itching to do some more EPP and cracked open my new glue pen to use on my Liberty hexies and was very surprised to find how easy it was, with no mess. The glue was harder than I thought, it looks more like an eraser but that meant it wasn't wet and didn't seep through the fabric. I then decided that I needed a neutral linen to go with these though, I thought they were too busy to sew straight together, unfortunately that means they'll have to wait, I hope to find some at the NEC when we go to Sewing with Pleasure later this month.

I've also started cutting out for the next quilt, I saw this on display at last years Festival of Quilts and now I've got the extra fat quarter I needed, I'm back in business!

I ordered some solids for this and another charm pack I've got from Simply Solids, I was interested in the difference between the 'whites' as different suppliers have slightly different shades as their base colour in their charm packs.

The top is Kona White, which is very white and then the middle one is Kona Snow, which is off-white.

The bottom is what I bought from the NEC last year and I didn't label what it was but I bought it as an off-white but actually against the others it looks more cream! 

It shows how important it is to get it right if you're trying to match!

A quick project I rustled up last month was hand-warmers. My fingers are always cold and I'm usually wearing gloves all year round! So after seeing an easy tute on Pinterest, I whipped these up in a couple of hours. Quick and easy gratification :)

To finish, is a girls dress for the 3yo, using fabric I've had for ages and a new pattern in the new Simply Sewing mag, which I really enjoyed.

I've gone off pattern a bit, with the choice of fabric (the original is wool), I've removed the sleeves, done french seams on the skirt and tried to line the bodice, so it's taking a bit longer. I also got into a pickle as in small writing it mentions on the cutting diagram to add 2" to the back pieces - why this isn't just included in the pattern piece I don't know! I just sewed on the extra as I didn't want to cut out another, as it's a button band it doesn't look too weird. Oh and you also have to add the seam allowance.

Now I just need to catch up with The Great British Sewing Bee and it'll all be sewtastic!

Festival of Quilts 2012

ARGH!! I've just noticed in my post listing that this one never made it past the DRAFT stage!! I now know it's because I didn't get round to finishing off the captioning and now I can't find the original photos to find the numbering!

So apologies, some quilts are not attributed as I always strive to do, please let me know of any additions/amends I can make.

Another late posting but I had to post this one as a trip to the Festival of Quilts at the NEC is becoming a yearly ritual/treat!

It's taken a while to get round to crediting all the quilts but finally here we are.

I had another enjoyable time I'm happy to say, bought some lovely things, saw lots of lovely things and came away very tired!

As usual there's lots of types of quilts on show, to cater to all tastes, there seemed to my mind to be rather a lot of art quilts this year and some not up my street at all!

So here is my take on what was good at FoQ 2012....

Miniature Quilts

A Stitch in Time by Sue Bibby

Machine and hand embroidery, applique, reverse applique and stumpwork

M51 - Whirlpool Galaxy by  Dorian Walton

Machine pieced and quilted

2nd Prize Miniature Quilts Category

Hawthorn Sky by Roberta Le Poidevin

Hand and machine applique and machine quilting

2nd Prize Pictorial Quilts

Penny and Fletcher by Kerry Wilkinson

Modern pieced background with large piecework glued and appliqued

Britain What it Means to You by Laura Di Cear, Italy

Machine applique and free-motion embroidery

European Award Winner Quilters Guild Challenge

A Day at the Seaside by Julia Gahagan

Machine applique and quilting

Stargazing by Helen Moore

Hand patchwork with hand embroidery and machine quilting

A Miniature Cotswold Garden by Sue Dalrymple

English Paper Pieced and hand quilted

My Garden - I Wish by Karena Brand

Decorative Fans by Sheena Norquay

Jenny's Flower Garden Quilt by The Reiver Quilting Group

The Secret Garden by Fusion

Walls R Us by Off The Wall

A Cotswold Garden by Friday Fruitcakes

Lu Summers

Who Won by Caroline Wilkinson