So what have I been up to lately?

Last weekend I started the second year of my City & Guilds Certificate in Patchwork and Quilting so it was lovely to catch up with all my fellow students and meet some new ones. The course at Craven College Skipton is going from strength to strength with 13 new enrolments this year for both embroidery and patchwork. So I think that makes over 15 patchwork students altogether which is great.

I know that I still have some of my first year work to post up but I also promise to try and keep you up to date with this years progress.



Basically the first year consists of 5 modules, line, colour, texture, form and shape. Each one consists of lots of artwork and samples.

The second year consists of making 5 pieces - a quilt, wallhanging, box, accessory and item of interior decor. I have decided to start with the most time consuming two - the quilt and the wallhanging. My wallhanging will be on the theme of cupcakes (!) and the quilt will be a medallion quilt with a modern twist using vintage Laura Ashley fabrics.



Anyway now an update on two quilts I have been working on over the summer. This first one is a hexagon quilt made from vintage fabrics - but only from the 1970s and 1980s. A few years ago our group made a charity quilt to be raffled for Barnsley Hospice and there was an article in the local paper. I received a phone call from a lady who wanted to give me a quilt that her elderly aunt had been making before she had sadly passed away. When it arrived it turned out to be two partially completed hexagon quilts! Aunt Bertha had been adding on the hexagons in such a way that the quilts were more of a diamond shape than a rectangle. So I took one of them apart and used the pieces to add to the other to make one large rectangle. The top is now completed and measures 72inches x 92 inches. Some of the original sewing is a bit rough but I have left it as I feel that it is an integral part of the quilt. I found a vintage sheet in a charity shop which is an exact match of one of the fabrics so that is what I am going to use as a backing. It is large enough as it is a double - and it cost me all of 50p! Of course the great thing about these hexagon quilts are the papers which help us to date them. Bertha had used lots of bank statements on hers so I know her full name and address and most seem to be dated between 1979 and 1984. I am just in the process of removing them and will be storing them safely with the quilt when it is finished.

Progress is bound to be slow on this quilt but as Maisy decided to nest in it the other day I decided to take a photo to share with you. It is not a very attractive quilt but I love the fact that it is at least 20 years old and the fabrics are very much of that era! I will post some better photos of it later.

The Halloween quilt is now all joined with sashings and corner posts and has turned out quite well. Borders are next - I will be using the striped pumpkin fabric first and then some more black. Striped fabric is not the easiest to use for borders so I am thinking about how I can do it - perhaps I will add some central squares to each side to break it up.

Finally a shot of all four of my cats enjoying a tuna supper - their favourite!

Maisy who is the mother of the other three is bottom right - she is also the smallest of the four of them! Please excuse my grotty garden shoes!