Two months have passed since my last posting, and the friendship quilt is pieced together and ready for quilting! I am pleased with how it’s turning out. We’ve offset the blocks so they are not exactly in line. The quilt is entered into the Birmingham…

I joined a quilting group and everyone got four “quilt-along” blocks to work on, with the aim to make a large quilt for charity. It is my first time working on a project like this, and I didn’t want to let the group down. The…

Signs of spring abound despite the lingering winter weather. I saw my first daffodil in bloom which inspired me to finish a quilt. This is a 30 cm square piece on the theme Winter Garden. The binding is pulled around back and hand stitched, and…

I love the effect of a Bargello quilt. The technique involves sewing strips together, then cutting vertically and re-sewing together, only offset into a pattern. I’ve seen beautiful quilts with bright orange, looking like a flame, and others that have a lovely ripple effect. The…

The Art of Quilting Magazine publishes one square per issue, complete with fabric. I challenged myself to sew each square as described, plus two versions with my own fabric. This works well to help me with my basic sewing skills, plus understanding how colors work…

I took a class at the Galway Quilt Show from Eleanor Burns, of “Quilt in a Day” fame. I found her warm, fun, and very inspirational. It was a 3 hour class, and we had packets of pre-cut material to sew this Braid pattern. I…

My quilt “Suspended Jellies” appeared in the Irish International Quilt Show. It’s a whimsical piece inspired by jellyfish who seem to float in the water and Calder mobiles which have a similar floating quality. I used a wire coat hanger which I quilted, then I…

The Art of Quilting blocks did not include Log Cabins, and I felt ready for the challenge of Log Cabin blocks. So I designed this pinwheel variation of Log Cabin as my first hanging “art” quilt. I’m very happy with how it came out –…

These are probably the trickiest blocks I’ve ever made. I struggled with squares that have the diagonal, and as you can see, those turned out quite a bit smaller than the patch blocks. I ended up rearranging the two blocks with my own fabric so…

The Art of Quilting magazine includes fabrics to make a specific block, then gives very detailed instructions in constructing the block. The Fair and Square is from Issue 50. I’ve challenged myself to learn each block, using first their fabric, then 2 sets of my…