Time Off (Part One)

Yet again I have to apologise for the delay in posting but I have had a few well earned weeks off from work. The past year has been difficult, as last September my job changed dramatically with very little warning. I suddenly found myself with twice the workload in an unfamiliar area. The past 12 months has been a very steep learning curve. Just before I went on leave I had my annual appraisal meeting with my line manager. This allowed me to reflect on things. I wouldn't have been able to get through the last 12 months without the support of my colleagues, friends and of course OH!

I haven't been idle during my time off. The first few days was spent at home catching up with a few things and trying to relax. One of my goals was to finish a quilt. I made the quilt top several years ago. It was based on a pattern by Kaffe Fassett - Mossy Radiation from 'Quilt Road'.

The 'Mossy Radiation' quilt designed by Kaffe Fassett
 

We needed a summer weight quilt for our bed, so I raided my modest fabric stash. The triangles are strip-pieced so it was a good opportunity to use up all of my scraps. I decided to use blues, greens and pinks. I spent a happy two weeks sewing the centre of my quilt and then I suddenly lost confidence in what I was trying achieve. Also, at 80 inches square it is the biggest quilt I have ever made. I had decided to machine quilt it to make it more robust and the thought of trying to maipulate such a huge quilt on my machine daunted me. Disheartened, I folded up the unfinished top and put it away.

Three weeks ago, while sorting through some things in our spare room I came across the quilt top. I laid it out on the floor in our living room and had a really hard look at it. Coming to it afresh I realised that it was actually quite attractive. I just needed to add the final two borders and then quilt it.

I took a deep breath and set up my sewing machine. Two weeks later I am very proud of the result.

We have been sleeping under it for the past few nights and I am very pleased with it. Basting it on a small dining table was a challenge. I also found that quilting it on my sewing machine was not as difficult as I had envisaged. I took my time and did it a section at a time, starting at the centre. I used a blended batting - 80% cotton and 20% polyester by 'Warm and Natural'.  I normally use 100% cotton wadding, but as this is going to be a 'working' quilt rather than just decorative, I chose the blended version so that I could wash it more easily and the lines of quilting could be up to 6 inches apart.

This is my ninth quilt (I have given four away to friends and family) and my favourite so far. I am already planning my next quilt but this time I will be making a smaller lap quilt!

More about my adventures over the last two weeks in my next post.