Granny Squares Quilt

It always takes me a while to get round to these popular quilts that are quilt-a-longs etc. 

I've loved the Granny Square quilts from afar for a while now (especially the one Lynz made which was part of our Scottish Modern Quilt Exhibition last year) but never got round to making a whole quilt - until now!

Have you met Hector? He's our six month old Tonkinese kitten, and he is a big bag of trouble!! So of course the minute I finished binding this quilt and put it down he was all over it!

So I guess it gets Hector's seal of approval...
It was my friend and colleague Barbara's special birthday this week so I made her this quilt!

I did have some help. I was first up with our Edinburgh Modern Quilt Guild's Bee a couple of months back. We are a big group of 18 quilters so we have divided the Bee into two groups, the Jelly Rolls and the Layer Cakes, except no one can ever remember which group they are in!!

I'm in the Layer Cakes and 8 of the blocks here were made by the rest of the group, I contributed the other 12. Speaking of the EMQG, do you like our new logo? It's over there on the left near the top... My husband designed it for us and I think it's wonderful! And luckily so do the rest of the group :)

I've now got myself an extension table on my Pfaff so I can tackle big FMQ patterns like this. I got the inspiration for this pattern from one of the quilts at FOQ ( sorry no idea who made it, I just go around collecting ideas like a magpie!). But I love how it turned out and will use it again for sure!

It's backed with an Amy Butler fabric (or is it AMH?? God I am getting very menopausal at the moment and my brain has turned to mush!).

It's not a huge quilt (of course I didn't even measure it so have no idea really!), but a good lap quilt/throw size.

Anyway Barbara loves it and there were tears when I gave it to her (which I now expect, so remember that friends and family). It was especially nice because, as she's been working in the shop for the last few years and coming along to lots of classes too, she knows most of the quilters who made blocks for the quilt.

And that's another quilt ticked off the bucket list for me!!

Doll quilts sent and received!

Amongst all the chaos of my recent life, I did actually manage (just) to get my DQS11 finished and in the mail by the deadline! And here it is, all 14 inches of it. You can read more about this quilt here, including a wee tutorial on English Paper Piecing.

Here is the back, I used the Riley Blake FQ I have been hoarding for months. As you will see, if you look to your left and right, it is the backdrop to this blog!

Once I had chosen the back it was easy to work out which fabric I should use for the binding. I am pleased with how this lime dotty fabric worked out.

Here is the finished top. Each of the diamonds is just over 1" in length. I began by tacking the papers, but after a suggestion from Dolores I started using a glue stick - much quicker! But you can't re-use all the papers as they don't always come off the fabric whole.

There is so much going on in this little quilt that I decided it needed a very simple hand quilting. I quilted round the smallest hexagons which made the stars 'puff-out', which I quite like.

After a tip off on a DQS discussion thread I bought this doll bed from Ikea (£13). I plan to paint it and make a mattress, pillows etc. (it came with that blue pad). After admiring the little quilt on the doll bed I packed it all up with these extras...

 ... popped it in the post and eagerly awaited the doll quilt I would receive!

 In the meantime, Simon made himself comfortable on the waiting doll bed.

And then on Thursday the mailman brought me a package from The Garden City, Michigan.
Look at all this lovely loot!! Thank you so much Laurie (Ladmquilter)!
Not only did I get the most gorgeous doll quilt but she was very generous with her extras - all that pretty fabric (can any of you tell me who makes this?), embroidery silks, and I very sweet handmade origami needle case pouch!


I love this quilt! When I saw it in the group pool I had commented that it was 'so ME!'. And it is! Laurie said she wanted to make something that would fit in with my mosaic, and it totally does. The colour palette is my absolute favourite and I love the appliqued circles inside the pinwheels.
And I especially love the hand quilting with silks. Thank you Laurie, you made me the perfect doll quilt!!

And how amazing does it look on my doll bed?! In the absence of an actual doll (on the 'to-do' list along with mattress, pillows, etc.), Panda has been helping me model the quilt. 

Despite the fact I have not had quite as much time as I would have liked to devote to this round of the DQS, I have still really enjoyed making and (even more so!) receiving my doll quilts. Thanks to all the Mamas who make it all possible and roll on round 12!!!

Royal Wedding giveaway results!

But first let's look at this cute baby bunny! Our field and garden are full of these tiny, furry things at the moment, and Jonathan managed to capture this sweetie perfectly!

And now on to the important stuff...

And the winner is number 2!!
Congratulations Jo! The Royal Weding loot will be on it's way to you tomorrow. I will email you separately for your address.
Thank you all so much for entering and helping me to celebrate the Royal Wedding. Wasn't it wonderful? I really enjoyed the whole thing and I hope you did too.

I have nothing crafty to show you, but I do have some lovely photos of my cats, who have just started to venture outside (under supervision).
Here is Lola, stalking something by the looks of it. When I had Lynz over a few weeks back she was VERY taken with little Lola and has even asked for the name of her breeder. Lynz couldn't get a very good photo of Lola for her blog (you have to be very patient, like Jonathan), so I thought I would post a few here.

 Here is Lola with Simon. They are both chocolate tabby seal point Siamese. Or possibly Simon is and Lola doesn't have the chocolate bit. We have forgotton! Even though they aren't very old, Simon is around 3 and Lola 2.

Simon is at the back in this photo. He is the original 'scaredy cat' and is still a bit nervous outside, hence this 'keeping myself as low to the ground as possible' pose. Lola is braver, she likes to eat bees (and then sick them back up in the house) and bring pine cones home for us as if they are an offering of mice. She has never seen a mouse and I guess a pine cone is the next best thing!
Well I hope you have enjoyed this brief introduction to my cats. Thank you Jonathan for letting me use your photos!
Normal craft service will resume later in the week!