WIP Wednesday No. 2

My English paper pieces are all packed up ready to get on the train to The Festival of Quilts. Hopefully I will be buying some solids using the 10% discount voucher I just printed off over at Lilys Quilts so I can start putting these together into hexagons.

I sashed my Strawberry patch quilt. 

There is a 4" border of the background fabric to go on still but I've noticed a bit of a boo boo. The background fabric is so pale that it is hard to tell the difference between the front and the back.

This square in the corner of the anvil is actually pieced in upside down. That's the wrong side of the fabric on the top. I'm going to have to do some tactical unpicking to swap it round.

I have a new challenge. A friend of my mother's has this heirloom quilt. It's entirely hand-quilted on silk with a pale mint colour on the top and a mustard colour on the back. It was given to her by the best friend of her mother and is at least 70 years old.

You may be able to make out some spots of discolouration in the centre of the quilt. Her husband left a pen on it and the ink leaked all over. When she tried to clean it off she's lost some of the colour. There are also some patches of wear where the batting is showing through. 

The plan is to use some of the ivory silk left over from the wedding quilt to make a Dresden plate for the centre and some appliqué shapes to cover the worn bits. Hopefully we can keep this beautiful quilt going a little longer.

Why not pop over to Freshly pieced to see what everyone else is up to this Wednesday?

And the whole world goes mad

It's been a busy weekend. My friends came from all over the country to celebrate my turning 30 and we had a fantastic night (I'm in the middle hugging my big sister).

Unfortunately, while we were out partying the country went mad. There are riots all over London, Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool. I feel a little strange sitting in my little room sewing away while buildings are being burnt, shops are being looted and the police are fighting battles in the street. Not sure what else to do though so sewing it is!

I've been working on basting my spotty diamonds. The good thing about hand sewing these is that I can do it while watching the news and they're so pretty they make me feel a little bit more light hearted. I also found a use for all the empty Ferrero Rocher boxes.

They're as snug as a bug in a rug. I hope things calm down soon. I have a lot of friends in London and I can't sleep for worry.

I've finally succumbed to the beautiful hexagon craze. I don't know whether I'll have the patience to do it all by myself so I'm joining in with Lily's Quilt's HEX-A-LONG.

I don't know which fabrics I'll use yet. I have this palette of Kaffe Fassett spots that I'm tempted to crack open.

I think I'll need some solids to go with them though otherwise it will be pretty migraine-tastic and that's the last thing I need at the moment! Hope you join in, the more the merrier.