Something old, something new

Well, my New Year's resolution is to keep doing things I've started, and to make 2009 the year of FINISHING things that are overdue. I'm not just talking about quilting, but it goes for that too. I've got much better at finishing quilt UFOs, and I will keep that up, I hope.

I hope I will also keep up posting to this blog, because I didn't manage much in 2008. Anyway, today, I have finally scanned in a picture of a quilt I made for my mother about 3 years ago. She is a piano teacher, hence the musical theme. You can also see that the quilt is a part of my hexagon fad.

The other picture is the hand sewn UFO I dug out the other day. Thanks for the advice about quilting it - I have taken that advice, and changed it appropriately. So I used the sliver of soap trick to mark out a simple pattern, based on my 60degree diamond template, which just happened to be the right size.


I've then used big stitches, using Gutermann silk threads, and resisting the temptation to add anything more. Consequently, this is now on the wall! Yippee.

Hand-sewn UFOs

Well, I've been giving some thought as to how to find essential therapy whilst my sewing machine is broken (credit crunch delay ensues...). Karol-Ann's shining example has led me to pull out my UFOs, and I have found some likely candidates for finishing and here are some photos. Suggestions as to how to finish these off would be welcome!


Firstly we have a sideways view of my favourite UFO. This was started in one of my (many) hexagon phases, and was intended to make the most of a small quantity of Dutch wax print strips that I purchased at a show. They were only 2 1/2 inches wide at the most, so there wasn't much flexibility. However, they are all used up, and this is all I managed. I am planning to fold the backing to the front, to create a border all round, but I don't know what to do about quilting, if I am hand-quilting it. I'm not very good at delicate hand-quilting - what do others suggest? This is a wall-hanging rather than anything else...Secondly, this is an octagon/squares quilt, inspired by Lucy Bolton's piano quilt. The rather garish black and white unit is going to be replaced. However, this one has stalled because I have run out of the rather lovely white background material. It was a heavy cotton jacquard weave skirt that I wore in the 1980s. I hope you can see from the close-up what it looks like, and why I have a dilemma. I shall have to haunt the second-hand shops to find anything suitable.

Thirdly (and finally for now, although I have many more, I didn't dig them out today), I have another hexagon/diamond effort. This is as big as I'm going to make it, and I'm thinking another border provided by folding the backing to the front. However, I could add along the zig zaggy ends to make it longer. At the moment, it is good for nothing except a cot quilt.