In The Garden Again

The garden is where we should all have been this week, sitting in it enjoying the sun of course - not working - and avoiding the thunderstorms.  I managed to find plants to colour co-ordinate with most of my blocks so far however the black block was a bit of a challenge.....the only thing in our garden that's black is the compost bin!  Fortunately it has a lovely fragrant honeysuckle growing over and around it.



The Compost Bin - this one is full
 




The Purple Hanging Basket

Enough about quilting and gardens.  The real reason for this blog is of course the fundraising I hope to do for Marie Curie Cancer Care.  I spoke to a very helpful gentleman who is based at the hospice in Glasgow and takes care of the fundraising for the Glasgow and Lanarkshire area.  He has given me some ideas of how my quilting projects could be used to help fund more nurses to care for terminally ill patients who wish to stay at home.  I am keen for some of the money I raise to be used to help cancer sufferers in our own area and this seems to be possible.  

Social media sites and 'just giving' appear to be the way to go, however I will of course be guided by my techies and advisors on this and will let you know how I progress.  

 

That's all for now folks I am off to put some yummy icing on a newly baked lemon sponge.

 

Three New Blocks

Rather than show my new blocks lying on the cutting mat I thought I could add a little interest by photographing them in the garden.  I am not the photographer in the family I usually leave that to my second son.  So no doubt I will get criticism for not composing the image or having the lighting all wrong.  This however is a blog to showcase my quilting not something that takes up too much time and prevents me from quilting!



A shade loving hosta

One of my favourite acers

Strawberries in flower
 

Now I am off to make a few more blocks.

The First Block

Quilting experts will tell you that you should plan your quilt carefully.  Yes indeed you should but in this case I just want to get myself in gear and get going.  I've been away from sewing too long.  Sometimes it's good to think ahead and have a vision of the end product but sometimes it's good to go with the flow and forget the rules. This is what I'm doing with this quilt.

If there are any quilt police out there reading this - please stop! - please don't go any further, quilting in my eyes is for fun.  Everyone has to start somewhere on their sewing journey and I would not want to put anyone off by saying 'that's not the correct way to do it'.  We all find our own way of doing things in life and quilting is no different.  I always said to my boys as they were growing up that they should listen to advice from others, you may not agree wholeheartedly with what they are saying now, but someday it may be of use to you.  Yes there are rules, but in my view rules can be bent to suit the circumstances, as long as no one gets hurt.  I am all for sharing tips and ideas and am happy to do so, if you have any questions, just ask and I will try to give you an answer, or point you in the right direction. In life we all learn by our mistakes and yes we do all make mistakes. Quilting is no exception, you will make a few slips along the way but the fun part is covering them up and creating something else, having artistic licence or just adapting the pattern to suit.  Nothing is set in stone!

The first of my baskets contains, red, orange and pink scraps so that's where I started.  Keep it as a muddle or separate them?  Ok I separated the colours again and settled in front of my machine.  I am lucky enough to have my cutting board on my left side of my table next to my machine and a pressing board and iron on a table on my right. Squaring, trimming and pressing being essential to producing sharp blocks.  Press every seam as you go and square and trim up each time.  



In the garden

Hey presto this is the first block!    It measured up to 13 x 14.5 inches approx and I trimmed it down to 12.5 inches square - only because any bigger the blocks get clumsy in my view, but mainly because I have a 12.5" square ruler ideal for squaring blocks!  What do you all think?

The Scrap Bin

The scrap bin has been full and overflowing for months.  Lots of bits left over from my previous quilts.  Every so often I make a quilt from some of the leftovers.  I never actually get to use them all up, and of course would never dream of throwing any away.  The last scrappy one was a 'string block' lap quilt which started out as a tutorial at our quilting class and was last seen on the pitch at Hampden Park.  Back to the bin..........as you can see the bits were all bundled together in no particular order, colour or size.  

Full and overflowing!

Half an hour pressing and sorting later there was hardly a dent in the contents of the bin - three half hour stints with the iron over the last couple of days and this was the result.  Five baskets of colour sorted scraps and lots of memories of the quilts made from all the bits of fabrics, and of course an empty bin.  I have taken the first step towards making the quilt.  Lots of ideas milling around in my head at the moment but one thing I am sure of is that I'm going to keep this one simple.

This blog post has taken me longer to write and get the photos in place than sorting out the scraps!  I did say I wasn't technical.  As the old adage goes - practice makes perfect - well maybe I will be just a little bit better next time.

PIECING IT ALL TOGETHER

PIECING IT ALL TOGETHER ...... grew from an idea during my Mum's illness.  Mum died at the end of June having been diagnosed 5 months earlier with pancreatic cancer.  For the last month she had been cared for by a wonderful team of nurses at home where she wanted to be.  It has been a very difficult time for the family and without the help of the attentive District Nurses who attended to her during the day, and the caring Marie Curie nurses at night we would not have been able to fulfil Mum's wish to stay at home and in her own bed.

Many of us know about the wonderful work the cancer charities do but I had not actually realised how they helped families of sufferers and the terminally ill.  The Macmillan nurse was always there for us as a family - answering our questions and supporting us all along the tough journey.  However the true heroines for me are the nurses of Marie Curie Cancer Care.  This charity and the 'hands on' nurses who do a fantastic job are at the top of my list.  These ladies for the last month cared for Mum (and supported Dad) each night arriving at 10.00pm and leaving at 7am the next morning.  This allowed my brother and  I time to be with our own families and to get some rest, giving us peace of mind knowing our parents were in caring, loving and safe hands.  No words can describe the gratitude we feel towards each and every one of them.

Mum was a great needle woman, and passed many of her talents down through the family.  Making Christmas party dresses and Halloween costumes when we were in school, she even made my wedding dress, lovingly and time consumingly  hand sewing on each tiny  piece of lace around the bodice and my veil.  Mum knitted cardigans and jumpers for the whole family especially when the grandchildren came along.  Latterly a lot of her time when not doing the household chores, cooking meals or in  her garden, she was to be found under the daylight lamp and magnifying glass doing cross stitch or knitting walking socks with four pins.

Now the real reason for the blog.......  I have dabbled in most needle crafts too over the years.   Dressmaking, knitting, tapestry, cross stitch and my passion for the last 5 years or so - quilting.  Most of my quilts are now donated to charitable organisations.  Project Linus for children in trauma.  Alzheimer Scotland Hampden Park  project (more later), and most recently some of my quilts have been given to help the flood victims in Alberta, Canada.

As you may have now guessed I intend making quilts to help raise funds for Marie Curie Cancer Care to enable the charity to continue their work caring for and helping ordinary families like ours care for their loved ones, especially those wishing to stay at home.

During the last few months I have found it very difficult to find not only the time or energy, but any inspiration to sit at my sewing machine and quilt.  Many evenings would pass and I would go to the dining room where I normally sew, I would move a few pieces of fabric around and walk back out again unable to summon any enthusiasm.  NO LONGER!!  I have an aim and my drive is back I hope.  Today I picked up my bin of scraps - this will be the  piecing it all together, the first quilt I hope of many, watch this space.

I hope to try and blog regularly about the progress I'm making,  but this is all a very new concept so please keep coming back and drop me a comment if you can spare a minute.  I might just need some encouragement along the way.