The start of the Summer holidays and the start of a new project.

First off, do you remember my 'Hope Sews' quilt from a few days ago?

'Hope Sews' - have you 'liked' their Facebook page yet to spread the word?
https://www.facebook.com/wonkypatchwork?ref=ts&fref=ts#!/pages/Hope-Sews/102588516501725?fref=ts

When I wrote about it I couldn't find a link to a tutorial on the particular method I'd used to make it. But here it is now, found at last:
http://pinterest.com/pin/65654107040970272/
It's quite a different way of making a quilt with squares so worth a look.

We didn't have the best start to the holidays yesterday, Sam was sick in the night so the friends coming round and the camp out had to be abandoned. But a quiet day at home meant I got to make a bit of a start on my next project. Here's where I'm up to so far:



Another make with vintage sheets.

  Not very far yet, but aren't the colours lovely? I'm really looking forward to getting a bit further with this. I'm going to make something with half square triangles. These can be very versatile in quilts and there are lots of good tutorials out there about them. Try here, for example, to see how to make 8 in one go!
http://www.sewmamasew.com/2013/01/half-square-triangles-hsts-8-at-a-time/

And Theo, Venetia and I did get to take a little walk through the woods to the river this evening for a late swim, so it did feel a bit Summer holidayish to 3 of us at least. It was a lovely, still evening, the water was beautifully warm and we were incredibly lucky to see a deer and her fawn crossing the river and stopping for a drink just a few metres up stream from us. A wonderful end to the day.


I'm afraid we were all 3 of us swimming when the deer came past, so I didn't get a shot of them, only of Theo! But sometimes moments don't need to be caught on camera to be remembered, sometimes it's enough just to have had the moment at all.


Hope you're having a great weekend too. Back Monday, Sally.

Hope Sews

A good friend of mine, Emma, set up a Facebook page, Hope Sews, at the start of the year, to make quilts for orphans in Romania through the Humanitas Charity. Emma has a personal connection with this charity, having spent quite some time in Romania a few years ago, giving the children there the love and attention they need. She has a strong social conscience and is very much someone who gets things done rather than just talking or thinking about it, combine this with a love of sewing and quilts - and you have 'Hope Sews'!

Emma's latest quilt for Hope Sews

She also found a lovely book a while back, 'Quilting for Peace', which I'm sure inspired her as well. She lent it to me recently and it's a very moving book, full of stories of how individuals and groups have used quilting to reach out to people, whether by trying to help with grieving, change outlooks, show love or simply provide warmth to those who need it. It's here on Amazon if you're interested:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Quilting-Peace-World-Better-Stitch/dp/1584798041/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374580797&sr=8-1&keywords=quilting+for+peace

If you can, please take a minute to have a look at her Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hope-Sews/102588516501725?fref=ts
And even if you're not in a position to make a quilt for them please still feel free to give them a 'like' and that way it'll spread the word further! If you do feel like making a quilt, either for Hope Sews or another cause, then even better. A few of my friends have made their first ever quilt for 'Hope Sews', it's a lovely way to get into quilting, especially as they're only looking for smallish quilts which is always easier.

And there's really no need to go out and buy expensive supplies to get started on a project for this as my latest 'Hope Sews' quilt shows:

This quilt is made from an old white sheet, one skirt that was being thrown out by a friend, and an ancient coat for the binding. The middle is a very lightweight, old wool blanket, the knitted kind with holes in - not sure what they're called. Since the sheet and the skirt material are both very fine materials it's given the quilt a lovely light feel all round, but hopefully the layers, with the holey wool in the middle trapping some air, will give it warmth too - this is what my boys tell me from their science lessons on the principles of insulation!

I made this quilt in a slightly different way - I'm sure I had a tutorial on Pinterest but can I find it now? No! Watch this space and I'll try and find it again for you because it's quite a clever method.

I have to say that I really didn't enjoy making it much though! It was quite tedious just sticking to the checker board pattern and not even having any variation in colours to work into it. I played around with the back a bit just to give myself a bit of interest in it really, and that was much more fun:

Just a randomly pieced heart and a few leftover squares too.

It's been really hot round here for the last few weeks (hot by our usual standards anyway!) and making quilts has felt just a little bit wrong! But this quilt has a lovely, light Summery feel to it for me so it was good to finish it. And I think I might have another very Summery quilt for you tomorrow. But for now I've got to get ready to go and see Bruce Springsteen in concert in Cardiff- wahoo!

Back tomorrow, probably tired! Sally.
PS Don't forget to go and 'like' Hope Sews!