Author: charlottenewland

Lilly's little memory quilt is finished. It came together pretty quickly in the end, once all the interfacing and fussy cutting was done. Blimey, sewing knits to regular woven cotton is tricky. Even with the stabilising influence of the interfacing there was still a fair bit of stretching and wriggling going on. I have never been more thankful for my walking foot!The quilting is really simple squares, stitched in the ditch. It's quite heavy and I wanted it to stay as cuddly and soft as possible. I broke a bit of a personal rule and machine finished the binding for a change. I figured that it would be getting a lot of use, and if I waited until I had time to hand finish it then Lilly [Read more...]

My lovely friend Siobhian asked me about a gazillion years ago if I could make a quilt out of her daughter's baby clothes, and last week a bagful of the most adorable sleepsuits arrived in the post. We decided on a simple design of five-inch squares, supplemented with bits of a Walk in the Woods charm pack.I've never sewn with knit fabrics before (at least, not since a really badly failed attempt at a jersey top in my teens. Boy, was that a disaster!) so fused everything to woven interfacing before cutting the squares.  It makes things quite heavy, but at least it won't go wibbly when I stitch it together.I love the details on some of the pieces - little pockets and embroidered [Read more...]

I've been brewing up some ideas for the Brit Quilt Swap. At first I thought cathedral windows, but then I decided I didn't like the finish (not that quilty and no binding) so have settled on an orange peel pattern instead. The effect is similar, but has the advantage of using more feature fabrics. That means extra rainbowy goodness. Excellent.it's just slapped on the design wall right now, which explains the wonkinessThere's a little bit of needle turn applique involved, but I don't mind too much. I say that now, but ask me again when it's finished.I'm looking forward to getting my stitch on this weekend.

I've met some lovely people through the London Modern Quilt Guild. It's incredible how quickly you can bond with people when you have something in common. Even though the group has been going for just seven months I have made some fantastic friends. Pennie has tried to steal my innocent crush mini on several occasions, which is hilarious (and pretty flattering). Last week she asked me if I could make her a little quilt with a jelly roll that she had managed to find on Etsy. It's funny, because before she asked me I had spent a couple of weeks unsuccessfully trying to find a layer cake so that I could surprise her with a leeetle something.The love emblem pattern needs bigger pieces than [Read more...]

Taking a photo of this quilt in its entirety, that is. This is the best I can do, although to be fair all you are really missing is a good view of the mahoosiveness. The wonderful thing about this pattern is that you don't lose any of the actual design in the bits that hang over the edge of the bed. That Aneela is a genius!just so you get some idea of scale, those are *my* feet, not one of the kidsI am so happy with how this turned out. I spent literally every waking hour this weekend stitching - my hands ache in an "I achieved something" kind of way. It feels good. Now if only I had some scaffolding or something that I could hang the bugger off I would show you the quilting from the [Read more...]