Hurray, it's finished!

[Totally Scrambled]

Hi everyone,
I have just finished this quilt and thought I'd share it with you.
It's going to be displayed along with 80 other quilts at our charity quilt show in Maidstone on Friday and Saturday to raise funds for the Heart of Kent Hospice.
I've called it "All at Sea", quite appropriate for our house half the time!

Ali

[kate egg]

WOW WOW WOW that is amazing well done

[madmum]

Wow thats lovley I adore handmade quilts and have several in various stages of finished all over the place I may get round to finishing them eventually

[Lilo-Lil]

Wow, that is really impressive! It`s years I did any quilting and I always did it by hand as I have never used a sewing machine. The ship motif is really eye-catching.

Out of interest, did you use a sewing machine to quilt it? And what weight wadding did you use? I am in the process of designing a project for Yr 9 to do on the sewing machines. We are thinking of wall hangings, with a central panel which has an appliqued motif, and then quilted on the machines using 2oz wadding. Then Log Cabin around the edges I thought.

May have bitten off more than we can chew as my machine skills are naff to say the least! Need to get practising!

[Meanqueen]

That's fabulous, must have taken many hours, well done.

Ilona

[wendy]

Isn't that lovely. How clever are you. Well done.
Wendy

[lancashire lass]

you are clever, I wish I had the time and inclination to do something like that. It's absolutely beautiful, well done.

[misty]

That is lovely! My friend does quilting and has quite a social life through it.
When we were in a great little town called Picton in Canada and they had a really large quilting shop with huge quilts hanging from the walls. Even my OH was impressed and we got my friend a quilting book.
Good luck with the show.

[Totally Scrambled]

Hi everyone,
Many thanks for all your kind comments.
I am actually feeling quite pleased with myself as I have finished two quilts in the last fortnight, I'll post a picture of the other one that I have made for my Dad later.
Lilo-Lil, this quilt was machine pieced and quilted, I use cotton wadding for machine quilting as the three layers hold together better and don't shift or pucker under the machine. Your idea for the wallhangings sound great, I'm sure you will be amazed by the ideas your students come up with. A tip for kids using sewing machines (I have two girls aged 12 and 14), to help them sew a straight seam stick a small stack of post it notes on the machine bed at the width you need the seam to be, it gives them a guide to butt the fabric against. I have tons of quilting magazines, books, fabric scraps etc and if there is anything you are looking for PM me and I'll try to help.
I machine piece most of my quilts but do love to hand quilt but I have to machine quilt some, as I wouldn't get as many finished and the stack of UFO's (unfinished objects) would just grow!
Off to sew hanging sleeves on the quilts now.
Speak to you all later
Ali

[Totally Scrambled]

As promised here is a picture of the quilt I made for my dad

Ali

[stace]

Gorgeous !

I have been hunting for one of those for months

Saw some in the states when we went to Lancaster(Amish Country)
should have bought some home , but didnt

Very clever well done

Stace

[Totally Scrambled]

Hi Stace,
Thank you for your kind comments.
I do take commissions occasionally!
My daughters and I are off to help set up the Quilt Show shortly, this will be our fourth one and we usually raise about £2000 for the local hospice, a cause close to my heart as my Mum died there earlier this year.
We just hope the weather manages to hold for us.
Ali

[Effie]

Fantastic work TS, I would love to do some quilting - did some by hand years ago at school.

No more hobbies, bad girl Effie, stop it

[redd_angel55]

That's an amazing piece of work TS
I wish I could do something like this! Wouldn't know where to start

[Totally Scrambled]

Everyone has heard of Golfing Widows but no one ever hears of us Quilting Widowers. You never hear us complaining, but that's usually because we can't be heard over the sewing machine.
Wives disappear to quilt groups at least twice a week, then there's the quilt shows, workshops and assorted quilt group outings, not to mention the hours spent in the sewing room.
Even on holiday there's no rest, as trips to every quilt shop within a 50 mile radius is visited, the internet having been consulted before departure. I've been to quilting shops all over Britain, Canada and the USA. To us poor blokes one bit of fabric looks much like another and cotton doesn't appear to serve a useful function as it's too thin to tie up bean poles etc.
Quilts are made for all and sundry or just because the look nice or are a challenge. The wife's parents each got one, my mum got one, both our daughters got one and have I got my long ago promised patchwork underpants. NO!
So spare a thought for us QWs with our aching backs from holding up quilts while they are checked for things we don't understand and the screams of "don't bring that in here" "mind my quilt" and "come quick and get this dog off"
We are an oppressed bunch and badly need your support.
Dom
ps It's OK she won't see this for hours as she's setting up for the Quilt Show.