For the year 2022 I have promised myself to finish off all those UFO projects in the ’roundtoit’ box! The best way to achieve this will be to alternate new projects with UFO’s. Let’s see how I get on.

When my sister and I visited the Caribbean in 2018 we took with us some hand sewing patchwork blocks to work on whilst the Cruise Ship travelled from one island to another.

I completed the quilt once we were home but that left some half-a-dozen ‘orphan’ blocks that I put away and promptly forgot all about!

I rediscovered the blocks around the 14^th January and found that some had already been put together in ‘quilt sandwiches’. Around 3 or 4 had been quilted but the remainder were just the plain blocks. I added some 80/20 polyester/cotton wadding and calico backing before spending a few hours quilting in the same designs.

I put 9 blocks together using the method of butting the blocks and then joining with strips of sashing cut to 1¼ inches wide. As the backing calico sheets were not all the same and the reverse of the quilting left a little to be desired, I covered that with a large rectangle of Taupe/white check fabric that was a remnant from a polyester cotton duvet cover used for a dressmaking project. I used the same fabric as the sashing to make a binding for the quilt. The finished size is 24½ inches square. Then I added a sleeve and is now a colourful wall hanging for our cloakroom.

I still had 4 ‘bird’ blocks left and these were combined to make the front of a cushion cover. I used echo quilting on the plain sections so that the ‘birds’ were more pronounced. The 6mm thick piping is covered with bias cut check fabric (the same as the backing for the wall hanging). Backing of the cushion cover is plain calico with a lapped zip inserted for the closure. The cover is approximately 16 inches square and filled with a feather pad that I have re-purposed.

Conclusion: I am very pleased with the end results and have been inspired to make more blocks with the Drunkards Path dies using my Sissix machine. Watch this space for the next patchwork project that has already been named ‘Chaos’!

Project #5 completed 17th January 2022

I had previously posted photographs of my quilted cushion covers and panels to my sister. As I was panning to visit her I decided that this technique would be a good project to show to Catherine that she would enjoy and also make some panels of her own over the coming Winter months.

I prepared a panel of natural Calico and drew on the 4 squares in anticipation of the quilting. I pinned wadding to the reverse and prepared the sewing machine – my Brother 550SE (commonly referred to a ‘baby Brother’) with Dark Blue thread in the top and the bobbin.

I stitched the first couple of squares to demonstrate to Catherine the method and then it was down to her to finish the panel.

Didn’t she do well?

Project #59 completed 8th September 2021

Inspired by the result of my ‘playing’ with changes to the starting point of the quilting lines on the previous cushion cover, I tried a new block outline. This was an unequal hexagon and by changing the starting points I produced some lovely curves.

Once I had completed the 4 blocks within the ‘hexagon’ I was left with 4 strange triangular shapes. I filled those with more straight line quilting so now I had a standard square shape that was outlined with 3 rows of border quilting.

To compliment this version of Navy threads on Natural Calico I decided to make yet another panel in the same design but with the colours reversed. So this time White thread on Navy Polycotton remnant from making Scrubs last year.

Project #60 #61 completed 11th September 2021

Way back in 2019 before the Pandemic I attended a Patchwork & Quilting class where we were shown how to quilt in straight lines to produce curves. This is a very simple method similar to those nail and string pictures that we used to make back in the 1960s. Now, nearly 2 years after that P&Q class, I have finally completed the original panel and converted it to a cushion cover.

I so enjoyed the project that I immediately set about completing another project that had been sitting in the ’roundtoit’ pile for a very long time!

Simple stitching can produce such a great result that I am sure there will be more straight line/curve quilted panels in the future.

Projects #56 & 57 completed 3^rd September 2021

Back in mid March 2020 one of the tutorials given was ‘Quilt as you Go’ patchwork. I completed a panel using a variety of Blue-toned scraps of cotton and poly/cotton and some cotton wadding. The finished size was approximately 18 inches.

Since that day oh so long ago the project has been in my ’roundtoit’ pile. One of my ‘resolutions’ was actually to get around to those projects! I have already completed the faux clamshell patchwork panel and I am pleased that I have now finished the second from the pile of cushion panels. There appears to be just one remaining but more of that later.

I used a remnant of polyester cotton sheeting for the reverse of the cushion cover plus a full width Aqua-coloured zip from my stash for the closure. Also in the stash was a new cushion pad that was just the correct size. Half an hour of stitching was all that was needed to complete the project of which I am absolutely delighted. Little things mean a lot!

Project 003 completed 11^th January 2021

Back in early March 2020 I gave a talk to the local Patchwork & Quilting group – Sprat & Winkle Quilters named after a local branch railway line. The subject was about Applique, Die cutting patchwork and Embroidery. I had many examples of work that I have completed over the years and at the end of the talk I gave everyone the chance to use my two die cutting machines. One of the dies used on the ‘Big SHot’ was ‘Drunkards Path’ which is a two-part die consisting of a 1/4 circle and an ‘arc’ which when sewn together with a 1/4 inch seam allowance will produce a block. The blocks can then be arranged in a variety of ways and I showed the faux clamshell arrangement.

Nine months later I have finally got around to quilting the sample and made up into a large 22 inch cushion. I am particularly pleased with the ‘echo’ quilting which was completed using a standard foot on my Brother 4000D machine. I simply used the edge of the foot as a guide to make quilting lines a generous 1/4 inch apart. The cushion now has pride of place on our Tan leather armchair.

Project # 76 completed 19th December 2020