Ramblings about blogs and quilts

Happy New Year Blogland!

It is 7 months since my last post and I have thought of loads of things I could be blogging about, but have instead been reading more and more blogs. They are all sewing related (I can't think why).
I first began to follow the clever, funny, and seemingly very gentle Florence on Flossie Teacakes (I know I have mentioned this before) and always look forward to a post. She has a wealth of excellent links, recommendations, superb tutorials and adverts for useful shops. My first ever quilt was made using the tutorial on this blog

 Here it is 3 years later looking well loved and bearing up fairly well.(I gave it to my friends daughter- the gorgeous girl pictured here)

I also follow 'I'm a Ginger Monkey', Katy Jones,  it was her who inspired me to have a go at my first large scale quilt, using the 'scrappy trip along' this time last year.

Once again it was Florence from Flossie Teacakes who inspired me in my current major project by talking about English Paper Piecing. I had seen this described before (in the Liberty Book of Home Sewing)

and thought 'no way!' This was also my thought when reading her descriptions of the process, despite claiming it was highly portable, which I now understand it is, and the beautiful results she achieves, which I never will! However, gradually I persuaded myself I needed a longer term project, and somehow talked myself into this being the one.

I have been working away at it almost every day for several months now, I'm not sure exactly when I started it, I am just about to start piecing it together into one large quilt top. That will be several weeks work- there is more than pictured here.

Then of course i will need to put the quilt sandwich together and then quilt it! (To hand or machine quilt?)

I keep asking myself 'what is the rush to finish?' After all I wanted this to be a long term project. The thing is, it always exciting to see what the next stage is going to look like. There is also the fact that I have ordered the fabric for my next big quilt.

 
The first I will have made out of purpose bought fabric rather than scraps. I am happily researching designs that I can use for that. I think I know how I will make it now. But I am not sure what I will do with all of these quilts!

The trouble is, because quilts are expensive to make and because I most enjoy working at the edge of my capabilities and learning new things, so they are never exactly perfect, I can't sell them or even give them to people really. So instead our house will be filling up with more quilts during 2014.  And I will continue to enjoy the process of planning, learning, buying, more learning and making.


Oh, and here are a few of the mini quilts that I have been able to give away or sell...

And of course there are still bags, applique pictures, a commission for 28 meters of bunting, clothing and more plans, and not enough hours in the day!