Time for a change

This month my website has decided to go off sick. Bits are feeling poorly and other bits seem to be having a month away.... it has gone off to bed with the duvet over it's head, will not get up in the mornings and it has no intention of being helpful when I try to fix it!! Grrr, so now I have to become a web designer, which is a slow and painful process for me..... 

Green Star Quilts

Once I started thinking about a new website though, I quickly got enthusiastic, thanks to my lovely son-in-law who helped me with lots of ideas. Now it is just a question of finding the photos I need for each page and there I have to confess to woefully inadequent filing, indeed, no filing system at all for digital prints.... You know what it like when you think 'One rainy day I will sit at the computer and label, sort and file all my photos so I can find them easily but right now I'd rather be quilting' ? Well that's the problem, and now my chickens are throughly home to roost with that one!! Anyway, it will be sorted eventually and then I will have a shiny new up to date site with loads of pictures and some new text.

In the meantime I can still be contacted through the website contact page, and here is the link:   www.greenstarquilts.com/page9.htm

Daughter is home from Norway with her Viking and has ideas for making picture hangings. They will have a Northern theme and will all be A4 size. It is such fun designing something so small and the Bond-a-Web sticky web stuff you iron on has been in full use. This is where we have got to so far.....

Green Star Quilts

I am delighted with the Northern Lights fabric which is designed by Timeless Treasures. Next will be a sledge and a husky dog with more Northern lights. It is a lovely project and it will use all sorts of scraps up. It is also something we can do at a distance as she will be back in north Norway for the winter, training sled dogs. Where she is working is so so beautiful, my fabric pictures can't do it justice. You can see it here and no that is not her Viking! Goodness I miss her so much but she is very happy there.

That's all for this week, our garden is strewn with twigs and even a few branches from the huge gales here, I am amazed that some of our trees are still standing, but the sun is shining and I must go out with a rake. It is cold in the evenings now and we are lighting the log burner although I am still wildly hoping for an Indian summer. It's not quite time for woolly tights yet!

I hope you have a lovely week dear readers, thank you for visiting,

Kind regards,

Sue 

  

Returning to quilt making

Without realising what was happening, I seem to have taken the summer off from the sewing room. Commissions for quilts have been completed, then no more appeared so I sat in the garden, well actually I did quite a lot of gardening too. I read books and took a watercolour painting course. We decorated two rooms in the house and visited people we hadn't seen for ages. We went to a wedding and also sat at the bedside of a dying friend and wept. It has been a strange time and one for many considerations and the counting of blessings. Then Google sent me a message to ask if I still wanted to carry on with the blog and it made me realise how long it has been since I wrote a new post or made a new quilt. 
So here I am again and here is my first quilt of the autumn. It has been made for our own personal small petrol head who hero worships Lightning Mcqueen from the Disney films....

Race Car Quilt by Green Star Quilts

I quilted it in a straight grid 2.5 inches wide. There are a few wobbles, it is ages since I used the walking foot and guide and I need to practice! Looking at this photo makes me think it needs more lines of quilting as it looks a bit saggy. The backing fabric is a upcycled duvet cover with his favourite character in larger than life and full colour:

Race Car Quilt by Green Star Quilts

At the top of the quilt I have added a vintage fabric badge I found in my sewing box, I can't remember where it can from but it was just the right thing. I stitched it on with machine double blanket stitch which helped to cover up a few marks on the edges.... 

Race Car Quilt by Green Star Quilts

The edges are bound with a plain navy fabric. I know the quilt will be on his bed within minutes of him seeing it!

Race Car Quilt by Green Star Quilts

This winter I want to make more quilts from fabrics in the sewing room. Some will be for a charity like Project Linus UK which donates quilts to children in need of an extra cuddle. Others will be for sale on the website initially and I am thinking of opening an Etsy shop too. If you have experience of this please leave a comment, I would love to hear from you. Has it worked for you? Please let me know.
Today I am linking with Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts, I'm so glad she is back after the summer holiday. Thank you for reading this, I hope you are still visiting me even after such a long break,

Kindest regards,

Sue 

A Memory Quilt

I can't believe my last post was in March. The weeks have slipped by and I had very good intentions  which never quite made it to the computing stage. Really it has been nice to have a break, but I hope you are all still there! I have made quilts though, and this is Gemma's memory quilt made from her little son's outgrown clothes. It has been a joy to make, handling soft baby clothes is so nice, little designs, logos and buttons and the 'I remember' feeling when seeing similar navy and white dungarees to those worn by my youngest who refused a dress until sixteen years old! Here it is:

Memory quilt by Green Star Quilts

It is a single bed size with pockets, buttons, a fluffy dog, straps, rabbit ears and two appliqued stars from a baby hat fabric.

Memory quilt by Green Star Quilts

A tip for adding tiny pockets.... if the fabric the pocket is sewn to on the garment is too small a size for the quilt block, cut the right size from the back of the garment and applique the pocket piece onto it before completing the block. You can just see one I have done in the left bottom corner above with a machine blanket stitch and in the centre of the photo below. 

Memory quilt by Green Star Quilts

I do get asked if I use a stablizer for stretch fabrics and I don't as it would be so fiddlely and expensive. I find that using a simple design for the blocks works best so there is no difficult piecing. I cut all the seams off the clothing and iron everything with steam before cutting the pieces with a rotary cutter. I handle them very carefully and use a walking foot to the stitch pieces together with pins horizontal to the seams. I press seams flat with steam and baking parchment, be careful of polester threads and rubbery pictures on clothes too. Yes, seams can be a wonky sometimes but this doesn't seem to spoilt the cuddle comfort levels of the quilts.These are not the flatest quilts but they are very loved! 

Memory quilt by Green Star Quilts

This month I have sadly decided to stand down as a Project Linus UK co-ordinator. I am doing more to help our family, the garden needs attention and I need a quieter life. I have loved volunteering for Project Linus UK and have met many amazing people. In 11 years I have given 63 talks and raised hundreds of pounds to buy fabric for the quilts. We have given out 3325 quilts to children in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire and I am very proud of that achievement. Now it is time for some new ideas and I so hope that someone will step forward and enjoy being a co-ordinator for Lincolnshire as I have so much. 

And I will have time to make some Project Linus UK quilts myself, so here is the one I have made for Dylan, a very brave little boy........

Spiderman Quilt for Project Linus UK

Here is the back:

Spiderman Quilt for Project Linus UK

I am just catching the last link up this spring, run by Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts. I am so grateful to her for running this, it shapes the quilting week for me and I am sure many of you too. 

Happy quilting and summer is nearly here I hope, thanks for visiting,

Kind regards,

Sue  

Sailing By Quilt

While it has been so cold and snowy there has been far too much attention to the crossword here. Lots of coffee drunk, thrillers read, the Sudoko completed (with difficulty most days) and even more faffing about. I have baked with and watched dvds with our little ones and generally there has not been much sewing I have to confess.... 

Quilt by Green Star Quilts

But now the snow has gone and the garden is beginning to look spring pretty. I am more inspired to sew and have been finishing quilts. Here is my Sailing By quilt. It is a first bed size, and the designs of the boats were drawn by husband in case I didn't get the sails right!

Sailing By Quilt by Green Star Quilts

The boats are appliqued on to quilter's calico which is so soft. The nine patch blocks have centres with star constellations on them for the boats to steer by... 

Sailing By Quilt by Green Star Quilts

There is the odd seagull, the moon and the sun, but I haven't added too much detail as I wanted the quilt to look uncluttered....

Sailing By Quilt by Green Star Quilts

The backing is my usual fabric in mid blue with white polka dots....

Sailing By Quilt by Green Star Quilts

The binding is cream with blue squiggles and is designed by Janet Clare. The fish on the red squares remind me of sardines in a tin! I have quilted a net of diagonal lines over them so the fishermen on the boats get a good catch! 

The quilt is for sale on the Buy Now page of the website if you fancy becoming the new owner of lots of fish and four old fashioned boats. It would make a lovely sofa throw as well as a small bed quilt. It could even be used on a boat....

Sailing By Quilt by Green Star Quilts

It has been great to finish projects from the sewing room and use fabric I have been hoarding and stroking for a while..... We all do have that you know....

Next week I am back to making commissions and a happy memories quilt. I hope the snow is disappearing where you are, the daffodils beginning to show, and your spirits are lifting too,

Happy Easter everyone,

Kind regards,

Sue

PS. I am linking up with Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish up Fridays

A Peter Rabbit and Friends Quilt

I had an enormous panic today when the picture editing programme stopped working. Nothing would resize, cropping wouldn't respond and even though the mouse clicked, the new edits stubbornly refused to load. I am not calm when things change or or go wrong with computing. I know this is because my skills look good but are really very superficial indeed! There are so many things I don't understand and boxes I daren't click as I have no idea what they do or even mean! Metatags anyone?? But I feel a sense of major triumph now because I remembered that our keyboard is wire free and therefore Must Have A Battery!!! So after fiddling around with a tiny triangular cover thing at the side of it and making sure that I kept the batteries I got out of a very small hole in the correct order, I have put in new ones and Bingo!!! Now the editing programme is responding to my full powered keyboard and I am in celebration mode!! Time for a glass of wine and two slices of ginger cake.....

So here are the fully edited photos of my quilt which features Peter Rabbit and friends.....

Beatrix Potter story quilt by Green Star Quilts

I loved these stories when I was little and now I read them to our little ones too. I have had these character pictures for a while, but wasn't sure what to do with them. I decided to add log cabin blocks to them and then my usual corner stars. The colours are soft pinks, blues and creams in checks, dots or flowers.

Beatrix Potter story quilt by Green Star Quilts

The backing fabric is white with Peter Rabbit and tiny flowers....

Beatrix Potter story quilt by Green Star Quilts

The binding is pale blue with little raddishes from Mr MacGreggor's garden.

The quilting is in straight lines in the ditch and through the middle of some of the bigger logs....

 

Beatrix Potter story quilt by Green Star Quilts

 The quilt is a cot size and is for sale on the Buy Now page of the website.

Beatrix Potter story quilt by Green Star Quilts

I am so pleased with this cot quilt, the colours are so soft and spring like. The weather is inproving although still very wet. I have hung up my spring wall quilt to encourage myself and we have crocus out in the garden in the last few days.

Spring colours quilt by Green Star Quilts

I hope your computer keyboard behaves itself this week, when in doubt check your batteries and I hope you have a lovely week sewing,

Happy Mothering Sunday

Kind regards,

Sue 

Free Range Happy Hens Quilt

This week I have finished the hens, eggs and feathers quilt. I love this fabric range from Makower and have been thinking about a name for the quilt as I have been making it. It has been a calm quilt to make, relaxing and such soft colours. I don't often get time to make quilts which are not commissioned, but January has been a quiet month at Green Star Quilts and really I am grateful for that. So here is my Free Range Happy Hens quilt..... 

Free Range Happy Hens Quilt by Green Star Quilts

I am delighted that it has given me a chance to dust off Cyril the Cockerel who lives on the top of the dresser in the dining room too..... he was given to me by my sister in law Helen and is a great treasure.... I love to hand him to the children saying he is very heavy, he looks like a stone statue, but he is light as a feather and made of paper mache!

Free Range Happy Hens Quilt by Green Star Quilts

I love the way the hens flounce across the quilt, with little Bantums in the blue and taupe squares too, all milling  about.... free range eggs in all sizes and colours and feather floating about the paler squares....

Free Range Happy Hens Quilt by Green Star Quilts

The backing fabric is a lovely soft red with tiny flowers woven in to it and the wadding is 100% cotton which gives a super drape. I have washed the wadding before I used it so it would not shrink too.

Free Range Happy Hens Quilt by Green Star Quilts

Free Range Happy Hens Quilt by Green Star Quilts

This quilt is the size for a generous sofa throw and would look very much at home in a country kitchen. The binding is a chicken wire print, to go around the field..... There was not quite enough fabric to complete the binding and I was so sad not to use such a perfect print, but then I remembered that the chicken field at home always had holes in the fence so I added another fabric to create a gap on each side, so the hens can get out to look for better worms! The quilt is for sale on the Buy Now page of the website.

Free Range Happy Hens Quilt by Green Star Quilts

My Hyacinth bulbs have gone into overdrive this week! They suddenly grew enormous and flopped over the bowl despite me trying to prop them up with twigs from the garden. 

Can you see Cyril on top of the dresser? What have I done wrong with the bulbs?? Other people seem to grow Hyacinths which stay very disciplined and grow straight and neat with no flopping! I must confess that I forgot to plant them in December and these are bought from the market and then potted up into the bowl so I can pretend to be a super organised person who never forgets to plant ahead for flowers after Christmas. Oh I do wish I was that person! 

 

I walked round the garden on the one sunny day last week and found to my delight that the Witch Hazel tree was in flower though. It is still a very small tree, even after several years but the flowers are so welcome in such cold weather....

I hope you had had a good week, did you see the super moon which was wonderful here but not red ? This week I am making another charity quilt and it is not going well..... I'll show you next time to see what you think!

Thanks for visiting, do come again,

Kind regards,

Sue

PS. I'm linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts on Friday.

Winter Chicken Quilt

Today it is snowing in Lincolnshire, soft and wet stuff that does not settle but will make the roads freeze and dangerous tonight. It is a day to stay inside and eat cake. Hibernation seems a good idea and it was hard to get up this morning from a warm bed. So I want to tell you about this lovely book, a just right book for a day like today.....

Making Winter by Emma Mitchell, quilt by Green Star Quilts

I will just say that I am not under the quilt, the bed is made and I am dressed in many layers and jumpers, woolly tights and a big scarf...... Emma's book is all about the way we feel in winter and how to comfort and encourage ourselves to get outside and make the most of all things wintery.

 

Making Winter by Emma Mitchell, quilt by Green Star Quilts

It is a beautiful book, with lovely photos, so carefully composed. There are things to make, recipes to try, and lots of good advice, a book to dip into when eating that cake and drinking hot coffee and a book which opens your eyes and makes you look around on a winter walk or in your garden. 

I bought it from my local book shop and Emma also has a blog with beautiful photos too. 

Making winter by Emma Mitchell, quilt by Green Star Quilts

The next thing to tell you is about is my  chicken quilt. I am making this from fabrics I have been saving in a box specially and at last I have time to start it. Here is the top so far, up on the design wall, a grand name for a flannel sheet on the wall!

Chicken quilt by Green Star Quilts

I love the way the chickens flounce across the quilt, this way and that....

Chicken quilt by Green Star Quilts

The egg, stripes and red fabrics are part of the same collection by Makower....

Chicken quilt by Green Star Quilts

It is a very simple pattern but the random placing of the small squares gives the scrappy look I love. I hope to quilt it next week and then it will be for sale on my website.

Last of all is my Project Linus UK quilt for January. Jan and I are trying to make one each month this year to donate to children in need of an extra cuddle.

Project Linus UK quilt by Green Star Quilts

I made the colour blocks from scrapes left over from another quilt and just made them into random log cabin style squares...

Project Linus UK quilt by Green Star Quilts

Each block is a little different...

Project Linus UK quilt by Green Star Quilts

The backing is bright colours to match the front and the quilting is in straight, well fairly straight lines....

Project Linus UK quilt by Green Star Quilts

Now we are going to bundle off in the car for Sunday lunch with our little ones and their parents. I have the chocolate cake ready to take too.... This is apparently a 'Random Act of Kindness' my little grand daughter informs me, as taught at Sunday school. Last week she brought me her last two chocolate pennies from her stocking as a 'R.A.K'  but was rather surprised that we ate them without sharing! Life can be so hard to understand when you are little!!

The snow is hanging in tiny pearls from the bare branches of our beech tree, I'm just admiring winter beauty, we have snowdrops coming up though so soon it will be spring,

This is the week for hand sewing quilt bindings, nothing like a nice warm quilt over the knees,

 Happy quilting week,

Kind regards,

Sue