Look what I found!

Well, I didn't exactly "find" it but I did unearth it from hiding. I've been making this quilt for probably around 15 years now, maybe longer. I can't recall exactly when I started it, but some of the fabrics in it are at least 30 years old. Every single stitch has been done by hand. All the hexagons were hand cut, sewn onto backing paper and stitched together in rosettes before being made into a complete quilt. I'd started to stitch it to a backing fabric but it wasn't working out and had been "retired to a craft bin in my closet. Anyway, after a weekend in Grundy with Susan's family a couple of weeks ago, and a meeting with Susan's Aunt Patsy who is a fabulous quilter, I've been feeling inspired to think about finishing it properly. So, I pulled it out today, ripped off the backing fabric (which was barely started) and laid it on the bed just to see exactly how much work still needs doing.


It's lying on our queen size bed and as you can see it's definitely long enough. Not wide enough though, it needs at least two (maybe three) more rows of rosettes. I've got some fabric I can use that will make this our quilt--an old cotton shirt of Susan's, a pelmet from Izzy's bedroom linens that she no longer needs, an embroidered tablecloth that is too small for us to use. If I can get the size of the quilt right then I can think about getting it backed. Patsy tells me that I could probably pay for someone to finish it for me, and whilst that is tempting (and may happen) I can't help but feel that it's bottling out a bit and that I should finish it myself. We'll see though, I'm still a long way from that.

It's raining here today, definitely another day for pyjamas and knitting. I've almost finished Hannah's scarf, just got a couple more rows and some beads to stitch on. I hope she'll like it.


Not much else to say at this point in the day. It's one of those days.