I just have to show you the beautiful quilt that my Mum finished this weekend.

Jelly Roll Taupe Quilt

She made it for one of her sisters and I’m sure my Aunty will love it.  It didn’t take her too long to actually sew.  I think the hardest part was deciding what colours to put together first in the squares and then finding a suitable fabric for the outside border to pull the whole thing together.  The red outside edge was a last minute addition which finishes the whole thing off nicely.

The pattern came from this book: Jelly Roll Quilts: The Perfect Guide to Making the Most of the Latest Strip Rolls
by Pam and Nicky Lintott

In addition to the Amy Butler design roll, we’ve also got some new Kaffe Fassett design rolls too.

Kaffe Fassett Jelly Roll

This design roll (jelly roll) contains a selection of Kaffe Fassett fabrics cut in to 2.5″ strips.  They contrast very well with some of the other Kaffe Fassett fabrics we have in stock.

A “Design Roll” or “Jelly Roll” is collection of fabrics each precut into 2.5″ strips by the width of fabric, and rolled up into a neat little package.  They are useful for so many projects, not least making “Jelly Roll” quilt.

This brand new design roll contains 26 strips of Amy Butler fabric from her “Love” collection, cut in to 2.5″ strips and 44″ long.  It’s available from our shop for £21.

Amy Butler Design Roll from her Love Collection

If you’ve not made a quilt before but fancy trying it, then using a jelly roll would be a great way to start. Here are a couple of examples from a book called Jelly Roll Quilts: The Perfect Guide to Making the Most of the Latest Strip Rolls by Pam and Nicky Lintott.

Bars of Gold from Pam and Nicky Lintott’s Jelly Roll book

Sparkling Gem Stones

Thought you might like to see the quilted wall hanging made by my Mum this week.

House on the Hill - In the Country

It’s the “In the Country” quilt pattern from House on the Hill.  House on the Hill is the New Zealand based company who produce many beautiful patchwork and quilting patterns.  The designs are simple and easy to make from rustic country to quirky retro and vintage chic.  This wall hanging took my Mum 2 full days to make.

Our next idea for Christmas sewing projects is this little Santa Sack.

Little Santa Sack

For this bag we used the Classic Stripe and Classic Scroll Christmas fabrics.

It has an oval shaped base, which has been stiffened, so that the big will sit nicely. The sides of the bag were made by sandwiching a piece of thin wadding with the two pieces of fabric.  This was then quilted in a simple grid pattern.  It was attached to the base piece and sewn up the back to form the bag.

The top can be folded over to show the contrasting inner fabric.  The wadding was smaller than the actual fabric, so it actually stops 5 or 6 cm short of the top of the bag.  This means that the part you fold over isn’t padded and therefore folds over better.  We put a coordinating tie around it and fixed with a loop at the back, under the fold, so that it didn’t fall off.

If you try making your own “santa sakc” like this, do let us know.  We’d love to see your own version!

Large rainbow garden quilt

This quilt is the Rainbow Garden Quilt from the Kaffe Fassett book “Country Garden Quilts”.  Extra blocks were added to make a queen sized quilt approximately 95” wide by 82” long.  It looks so stunning;  we would never have thought of putting all these wonderful colours from Rowan’s Kaffe Fassett range into one quilt.

Kaffe Fassett quilt for sale

We made a second quilt the same size as in the book, i.e. 76” by 82” using the Rowan Bekah Green fabric for backing. This goes very well with all the colours, cooling them down a little and pretty enough to be able to turn the quilt over for a change.  The wadding used is the Quilters Dream Poly which is so soft, warm yet lightweight and of course practical as it is washable.  The pieces are joined together by machine and then the layers quilted using a variegated thread.  If you don’t have time to make your own, this one is available to buy on our website.
 
You don’t want to make a quilt … how about a cushion?  We will be posting some designs soon – do come back and check.

An interesting article about the health benefits of knitting or quilting:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7896441.stm