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Aspen Frost - Quilted

26/11/2025

Whoop whoop - look what I collected from the longarm quilter Daisy May Quilting today! Back in September I pieced this gorgeous quilt top together whilst I was away on a quilting retreat - the pattern is called McGuffy, and is from the book Schnibble Times Two by Carrie Nelson. Each pattern in the book is shown in 2 sizes - a small quilt made with 2 Charm packs, and a larger quilt made with 2 Layer Cakes. The fabrics I used had been in my stash for a while - the Layer Cakes - Aspen frost by Basic Grey for Moda had been purchased from the Festival of Quilts way back in 2012, and the inner border is a Grunge Spot, also by Basic Grey. This was a leftover piece of fabric from when I'd had another festive quilt longrm quilted a couple of years ago, and I'll use the same fabric for this binding. I am absolutely thrilled to bits with this quilt, and hopefully I'll get the binding stitched on over the weekend. Even my grandson gave it his approval today, as he asked if we could snuggle up under it while we watched TV!

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Winter Playground - The Borders

13/11/2025

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I'm definately on the home straight now, with my Winter Playground quilt, designed by Lynette Anderson Designs. Finally it's time for the borders to be made - and this involves lots of cutting and stitching tiny squares together, for three "inserts" for the borders. Although I'd originally purchased a starter pack of fabrics when I bought the set patterns back in 2018, I've added lots of my own "Lynette" fabrics that I've accumulated over several years. to give it a better variety...

...these pieced borders give a bit more interest to the quilt than just using one fabric, and they're inserted on just three sides of the quilt. The fabric for the plain part of the border is a pretty star print, that is also one of Lynette's fabrics...

...there are a few wool appliqued starts on the original pattern, but I'm going to stitch these star shaped buttons on instead. These were purchased online from Minerva and will be sdtitched in place once the quilting is finished - I've just laid them in place for the photoshoot...

...and here's the quilt top, layered up with wadding and backing fabric. The fabric is a feature print from Lynette's Winter Playground collection, and the wadding is a bamboo and cotton mix. The layers have been spray basted with 505 spray. I've been deliberating over the quilting ever since I started this project, and finally decided to machine quilt it. Hopefully I'll manage to get this completed before Christmas, so I can have it on display, along with my other festive wall hangings.

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Another Zoo Train Cushion Set

10/11/2025

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A few weeks ago I made a set of these "Zoo Train" cushions for my grandson Rory. Obviously his little brother Alfie needed a set too, so I delved into my box of brightly coloured batiks, and Rory picked out these ones for his brother's cushions. I've used the same background fabric, a Makower basics, with cream starts on a pale grey background, purchased from Poppy Patch - a fabulous quilt shop in Northamptonshire. The applique shapes have been traced onto Lite Steam-a-Seam 2, and machine appliqued into place using a selection of 40wt Aurifil threads in matching colours...

...Rory chose all the fabrics for these cushions, and was adamant that his borther's name was made with this green spotty batik! I've used the same black and white striped fabric for the binding - this was purchased online from Fabric Love - and a cute little Made by Nanny label, from Little Rosy Cheeks which is also a UK company...

...and just like the previous set of cushions, these have a hidden zipper on the back, so the covers can be removed and easily laundered. I hope Alfie will like these as much as his brother likes his! Rory has got his in his "reding corner" in his bedroom, and this set will be in Alfie's bedroom. Goodness only knows what Rory will ask me to stitch for him next!

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Winter Playground - Block 6 - Renard And Friends

8/11/2025

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The final block of the Winter Playground quilt is called "Renard and Friends" and features yet another fox, along with a snowman. The snowman is wearing a very cosy looking jumper, and a very smart hat...

...a sweet little bird is skating along, and a string of bunting is held betwen the two friends. As with the other blocks, all of the hand embroidery has been stitched using a selection of hand-dyed variegated Valdani stranded embroidery threads. The letters on the bunting were a little bit fiddly to stitch! The appliqued shapes have all been completed using the Apliquick method of applique...

...Reynard the fox is well wrapped up in his "knitted" scarf - I love the attention to detail that Lynette has put into these designs...

...and here's the completed block - adorned with a scattering of hand embroidered snowflakes. These variegated Valdani stranded embroidery threads are really lovely, and the variegation is very subtle...

...once the two blocks had been stitched together, the seam was pressed open, and I traced the remaining part of the "string" between these two snowmen. This was then covered with a neat backstitch...

...now it's ready to join to all of the other blocks. I'm going to add a couple of "star" buttons to these blocks, rather than the wool appliqued stars that are in the original design...

...now all the blocks have been joined together, I just need to prepare the outer borders - there are lots more tiny squares for the outer borders, so I'll be very busy, choosing fabrics, and cutting out squares , and stitching them all back together again!

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Winter Playground - Block 5 - Dorothea Can Skate

5/11/2025

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The penultimate block of this Winter Playground qult is called "Dorothea Can Skate" and features another cosy knitted scarf, wrapped around a very handsome snowman...

...his mate is wearing a pair of cosy ear muffs to keep him warm, and they're both tucked into a very smart sleigh. Dorothea is wearing a pretty lace-trimmed dress, with a rather nice white wool felt collar...

...lots of hand embroidered snowflakes have been scattered across the block, and as with the rest of this quilt, the hand embroidery has been stitched using a selection of hand-dyed variegated Valdani stranded embroidery threads. This just needs a final press, then I can start photographing the final block, which I'd already prepared a few days ago.

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Winter Playground - Block 4 - Let's Skate

4/11/2025

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Block 4 - Let's Skate - of the Winter Playground quilt, designed by Lynette Anderson, is such a pretty block, with lots of little birds out skating. Ther's even a cute little chick in her pram! The hand embroidery has all been stitched using a selection of variegated Valdani stranded embroidery threads, and I've used the Apliquick method for the applique...

...the birds don't seem to be bothered at all by Mr Fox - who does look very fancy wearing his snow goggles! And there's even a very jolly snowman joining in with the fun...

...there was lots of cutting and stitching for the next part, and I've used a large selection of fabrics, all designed by Lynette, for these narrow borders. These are stitched to both the top and bottom edge of this pretty block...

...I couldn't resist getting it stitched onto the larger piece that I'd already constructed, and I'm really peased with how it looks so far! I've given it a final press, and now I can get on with finishing the next two blocks!

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Aspen Frost - Quilted

Winter Playground - The Borders

Another Zoo Train Cushion Set

Winter Playground - Block 6 - Renard And Friends

Winter Playground - Block 5 - Dorothea Can Skate

Winter Playground - Block 4 - Let's Skate

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