A sea, sun and sand quilt

kite flying on the beach by Green Star Quilts

Here in Lincolnshire we have the most wonderful safe and sandy beaches and in the summer they make a great place to visit with children. Our seaside towns are very traditional, lots of shops selling buckets and spades, whirly windmills in bright colours and every sort of ice cream possible. The donkey rides are a huge attraction and because the landscape is flat, the sun seems so high in our big skies. Fish and chips for lunch, a walk along the seafront, lots of dogs swimming in the sea and such enormous happiness from burying your feet in the sand..... it all makes a very special day out.

children on the beach

 So even though the weather is still chilly and the snowdrops are only just out, I have been making a seaside inspired quilt. Here is the first block:

star block for seaside quilt

It is a picture quilt with lots to look at and retro camper vans for the trip to the beach.... I fussy cut the campers from a printed fabric:

camper vans at the beach

The shell were inspired by these I saw in a shop window:

Amonites in a shop window

The colours of the quilt are bright and sunny, using lots of different fabrics from all the tiny pieces saved in the sewing room. I save every tiny scrap with Bondaweb on it from other projects and they are so useful for things like tiny strings of bunting....

beach huts by Green Star Quilts

The local people on the coast are very friendly and make every effort welcome people and their dogs...

The quilt top is nearly finished now and ready to be quilted:

Seaside quilt top by Green Star Quilts

Boats, fish, swimmers, bikes are there and daffodils, a Welsh flag and The White Rose of York to show the family history of Emily who will own this quilt soon. I am just about to quilt the top now and will show you the finished quilt next time.

So in this pale spring sunshine, I hope you have felt a little warmer for a few minutes reading the blog,

Happy quilting this week,

Kind regards,

Sue

PS. I so enjoy reading your comments, they make a happy part of my day, so thank you for saying hello, I will answer them all on the comments bit and visit your blogs if possible too.

Peaches and cream fabrics for a cot quilt

Amy is expecting her second baby in May. She is decorating the nursery in peach, white and cream colours and has asked me to make her a matching cot quilt. We have found some Moda fabrics called Storyline, these designs are so sweet, castles, balloons, stars and tiny birds, all in peach, pale yellow and turquoise colours. We have decided to use the taupe, peach and yellow colours ways and add some extra plain fabrics too. 

Storybook fabrics by Moda

I bought a charm pack from The Cotton Patch so we would have lots of choice with the patterns in the range. We trialed some other fabrics and Amy decided which ones she would like..... 

peach fabrics

I decided to divide some of the squares into four to add interest with the smaller squares. Here is the finished quilt:

Cot quilt by Green Star Quilts

This quilt measures 106 x 118cm ( 41.5 x 46.5 inches)

I took the quilt up to our nursery here for the extra photos..... we are expecting another baby in our own family soon too and I am so excited! Being a granny is the best job! Our antique wicker cot has been waiting so long for another baby to fill it.... No pressure though daughters....!

peach coloured quilt in antique wicker cot

Our house is early Victorian and just right for these photo shoots which are one of my favourite bits of blogging and taking photos.... I renovated every inch of that fireplace myself!

peach quilt with wicker cot

The back of the quilt and the binding is the softest American unbleached calico.

wicker cot with sheepskin and cot quilt

The Aconites are out in the garden, the birds are getting really interested in the nest boxes, new babies there too soon, it feels as though spring is just around the corner. 

Husband has felt the need to turn the compose heap, a sure sign that Things Are Starting in the gardening calendar. This is my signal that large amounts of Gardener's Cake is required too! 

Lots of you still have snow so armchairs and seed catalogues call, but I hope you have lots of time for quilting this week,

 Kind regards,

Sue

 

A memory quilt for Sarah

Sarah has been storing baby clothes for a long time. Her boys are big boys now, a long way on from babyhood and yet still the little clothes are in the bag, too precious to give away.... But recently she asked me to make them into a quilt, just for her. So many memories, happy, sad, tough times, wonderful times, laughter and tears, they are all in that bag. So here is the block I chose, a simple one as lots of the fabrics are t shirt materal:

simple block for a memory quilt

The quilt grew really quickly and soon the blocks were all made. I trialed blue for the sashing strips , these helped to keep the blocks a stable shape...

memory quilt blocks all laid out

Here is the finshed quilt which measures 54 x 69 inches:

Memory quilt by Green Star Quilts

In the corners are appliques of favourite toys, Bunny and Teddy, both much loved. As I took this photo, a pale wintery sun sent a ray across the quilt. There is snow here and it is so cold, so I left this photo with it's sunshine rather than waiting for a more matt photo finish, as it cheered me up.

On the quilt label, Sarah has chosen to add a quotation from Dr Suess:

'Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory'

And that's what memory quilts are for really.

detail from a memory quilt

Now, this week I also need some advice from you. This quilt is quite heavy and I have developed a really achy shoulder and neck. It has been coming on for some time and of course I ignored it as you do! Now I am wondering if I should change my work table. It is an old kitchen one so my machine is quite high up. That's good if you want your nose near the stitching for applique, but not so good for the shoulders when quilting, which feel as though they are near my ears most of the day!

The quilting table

Do any of you use a Sewezi Table? Are they worth the cost? Do you have any good tips for sore shoulders? I have four big quilts to make over the next two months, so please help with advice,

Just going off to do some shoulder exercises now, drink coffee and eat a comforting choccy biscuit ( or three) with more aspirin,

Kind regards,

Sue