I’ve been making a few bags lately and thought I’d show you because there’s some newer patterns on the market if you fancy making one yourself! The ones at the top of this post are the Celosia crossbody bag by Blue Calla patterns. I made three simultaneously over the course of about 3 months. I cut out the pieces while doing a night class on Zoom (I was ahead of the class, it’s fine), then the pieces laid around for ages while I got hardware, lining and the courage together! For such a simple shaped bag, there’s quite a lot of pieces for the pockets and then there’s the foam which I ran out of ..read more

I recently played with using my paint by number quilt patterns in different ways. Firstly, I used the same methodology to create outlines which became some paintings… And then I took a Hank mini quilt template and turned it into outlines for embroidery, then used it for punch needle! It’s actually interesting how versatile these initial patterns can be, and I think 2021 will be the year I expand these patterns and not only provide the applique templates but also embroidery ..read more

I have a new pattern in my pattern shop for a new year, so I thought I would offer a big discount until January 10 to celebrate! You can get 50% off my new pattern Diaspyros or any other pattern until January 10 with discount code 2021! Diaspyros is an easy quilt designed for use with a jelly roll or a layer cake and is based on the jelly roll race technique. The name comes from the Persimmon genus, which was the name of the fabrics I used a few years ago to make this quilt. Enjoy ..read more

Hello, happy new year! It’s been a busy one for me and I don’t want to just throw everything into one post so there are a few posts coming up from me this week. I know, I know, I haven’t caught up on the posts about quilts I made literally over a year ago! Maybe I’ll revisit those when I feel inclined to do so. I wanted to firstly introduce you to my first foray into online teaching. I think a lot of us have recently reflected on how certain jobs are not guaranteed if they rely on being with groups of strangers. One thing that stopped early on was classroom teaching. I had a guild all lined u ..read more

Oh I have a bunch of quilts I have still not put here, why am I so bad at sharing my work? I do know the answer to that, it’s because I can just whack it on Instagram and call it done because I’m busy with a lot of other stuff. Maybe I’ll change that, but if I don’t that’s okay. Recently, I’ve had problems with tiredness and soreness and trapped nerves and stiffness and general blehness. A couple of months ago I decided to see what would happen if I ran my body off my own natural hormones instead of being artificially regulated by the pill and I honestly feel a whole lot better. I mean, I didn ..read more

I must have spent three weeks deliberating over how to fasten up my patchwork Grainline Tamarack jacket before I came up with this Gambeson-esque design. I didn’t think I wanted a zip, I was thinking of just putting bronze snaps on it, but then I got into conversation on Instagram with @rocketgirl50 and @beezersnana who told me I needed more of a statement fastener, BIG snaps or buttons. Initially I was going to put invisible mag snaps on the inside and big buttons on the top because I still wanted the snap action but it was really hard to find anything large enough as a snap. Then I remembere ..read more

Can you believe this was the first quilt I ever designed when I started learning to quilt and got EQ7? I think I designed this in 2012 but it took until October 2019 to actually make it! I thought the Drunkards Path blocks looked a bit like birds when arranged a certain way, add some applique eyes and beaks and there you go! The pattern is Fat Quarter friendly and was finally created for Quilter’s World, Spring 2020 issue. I had some fun with some FMQ stipple quilting as well as simple and quick straight lines. I tend to have to quilt quite quickly and get stuff done these days. QUILT STATS ..read more

I wish I had written this post earlier, that way I would remember what it was that inspired this quilt. The idea was that with the pattern, each interpretation would be different. You create your own rule in which to use the starburst style FPP block, but within that rule you work improvisationally. So for example, I had I think 7 different fabrics and each square had to have black or white and one piece of green or blue. Or maybe green and blue if there was room for it. I could cover anywhere between one section and four, no more than that. This is the result! It was published in British Pa ..read more

This quilt is simply called Square Dance for it’s appearance in Annie’s Twist & Turn Block Quilts. The Helsinki part was to do with the fabric line I first made it in. I made this in October 2019, using bright prints I had to hand and quilted it the same as I did the first time I made it in 2013, but with a lot fewer tucks on the back. It’s nice to see improvements and growth in things, and it’s easiest to see when you replicate a design. Not that I do that in general, usually one quilt is enough for me in each pattern! Size – 48″ x 62″ Number of blocks – 12x 16″ blocks Time to piece – 1 ..read more

Oops, didn’t mean to disappear for several months…. that’s the longest break since starting this blog TWELVE years ago. I am behind on showing my makes, and I am not sure why it’s such an effort but I have several more quilts, including my latest animal portrait. I’m still writing posts for other people, so I guess it’s a bit like – stereotype alert – cleaners have the messiest houses and gardeners have the worst gardens, if you already produce content for others, or you have marketing as your day job, you’re not going to want to do that for yourself in your down time. Another neglected platfo ..read more