Quilts

This is a log cabin quilt made from Kansas Troubles wild flower serenade fabric, for my Sister Maureen's 60th Birthday.

Music and Quotes :

"I pay no attention to anyone's praise or blame.  I simply follow my own feelings".

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

The wonderful Katherine Jenkins singing Mozart's Laudate Dominum, a piece of music to lift your spirit up to heaven.

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1995 Eurovision Winner from Norway - Secret Garden, Nocturne.  Exquisite.

"To the outside world we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other's hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. We live outside the touch of time."  Clara Ortega

Bird song from Wren in Winter

Craft Fair

I took a table at our Spring Craft Fair in my local Church.  In the background is the Sunshine Quilt I made for my daughter Audrey and on the right of the photo a gold and green log cabin quilt which I made for my sister Maureen's 60th birthday.

Teacosies, aprons and jars of sweets 

Some pretty little hearts and peg bags and pvc shopping bags 

- very popular with the parishioners - thank goodness.

Different teacosies, coasters, placemats and basket liners and little scottie dogs. 

Baby Quilts

This little baby quilt was made from a panel which I quilted with teddy bears and straight lines.  I made it for my daughter's friend Belinda who had a baby girl 'Lily' on 19 March 2013.   I hope she liked it. 

A baby quilt made for a friend's baby boy "Gavin" born on 12 March 2013.

Baby quilt made for Alana, born on 8 August 2012

My First Quilt

I had always promised myself that when I eventually gave up working I would take up sewing crafts and making patchwork quilts. According to Joseph Campbell if you "Follow your Bliss, doors will open where there were only walls".   The title of my blog - because when I decided to leave my job and began in ernest to do more of the things that I wanted to do, things that bring me joy and satisfaction. Spending time with nice people, like-minded people who shared my passions. Suddenly, call it what you will, serendipity or chance, things started to change around me.  New people and circumstances appeared from nowhere, my first was a chance encounter with a lady called Suki in Clonakilty, then other strangers, like a new neighbour who had just moved into the house across the road from us. A knock on our front door one Sunday evening, to introduce herself and her husband. I invited them in and she commented on the fabric I had out on the kitchen table. I explained that I was trying to teach myself how to appliqué.  She told me that her Aunt was taking classes locally. She passed on the name of her Aunt's teacher and I began my new hobby the following term.

"When the student is ready, the teacher appears" 

Suddenly, people, books, circumstances etc began to flow into my life. I can only describe it as magic!  I love sewing and always have, but now I am doing it for real.   My three passions singing, sewing and cleaning (not necessarily in that order), I inherited from my Mother who had a beautiful soprano voice and with the house in order, was at her sewing machine making our clothes, most days when we came home from primary school. Apologies while I digress - I will never forget the hats she made for my sister and I, they were copied from a picture she had seen in an advertisement for Switzer's, in the newspaper. My mother made them for wearing to mass on Sundays.  They were lovely hats tan with a navy trim.  Mine was a bit loose and when my hair was freshly washed, used to fall off my head sometimes when receiving holy communion, I remember I used to feel so embarrassed.

I began to enjoy sewing and remember making clothes for my dolls on a little pink toy sewing machine which Santa brought me when I was 8 years.

Back to the subject, I was well able to do hand sewing when repairing things like hems etc. but I had a lot to learn about patchwork quilting.  My first quilt was very challenging, as I had never used a real sewing machine except in class at school.

The quilt was called a sampler (see pic above) and I had to learn the skills and techniques required to make a quilt. I found it very challenging with my limited knowledge of sewing, but eventually all the pieces of the craft (pardon the pun) started to make sense.  I learned wonderful new skills and a bank of knowledge about sewing.   Thank you Terri, my talented teacher.   I hope to rejoin Terri's class for the Sept-Dec 2013 term to make one of her lovely designed quilts.

In the meantime, I have a lot of crafts to make from a beautiful book entitled Pretty Patchwork Gifts by Helen Phillips which my Daughter Audrey bought me for Mothers Day this year, and a few patchwork quilts for myself.

Thank you for visiting.

All the best for now.

S.