I agree that just picking ip something non-taxing is successful. With me, it us scraps or selvedge sewing.

How lovely!

I love hour house quilt. Scrap genius!

Your scrap makes are super. I think you are joining the scrap addicts!

Thanks Maggie. I spent August using up my scraps and have made 5 tops and one almost finished but could probably make another 5-6 tops before running out of scraps. They just multiply!

I’m possibly and anti-snob. I have a 19th century singer treadle which was passed to me when I was 7. What more do you need to quilt ? . I did recently splash out £60 on a 1930s handcrank so I could piece in the garden on nice days. If I need zigzag, I borrow my mums Janome. I’m with you with the brand snobbery, it feels unattainable for those with limited incomes. You only need needle, thread and fabric after all.

Interesting. I’m definitely not a machine hoarder by this account. I have one that does all my every day work (Husqvarna), an overlocker and lastly the “wee beastie”. The latter is a 1950’s Singer 20lk and to describe it as a workhorse doesn’t do it justice. Nothing it can’t sew through and will no doubt outlast my modern machines. Can’t beat some of those vintage machines and I also FMQ on it

Well done you! You learned it all in your own way and I applaud that. Having a teacher has great advantages, yes, but trial and error does too! For a start, it never teaches you not to try, and what you learn, you know from experience not from hearsay.

I have been known to spray it through the gap in interfacing I was intending to patch, rather than actually on the interfacing itself….

I find this happens too. My remedy 2 fold:
* get out my scraps and sort into colours-that really gets my creatives going
* if it hasn’t worked, sew crumbs if fabric together relatively randomly. I take bits out of the bag until one “ goes”, sew it to the last one and so on. No rhyme or reason, but….I am enthused!
If nothing else I can trim up lovely crumb squares ready for the next time!

Great blog Ami …great to meet you…I’ve yet to make those snowballs x

It was really lovely to meet you and thank you for making my bag lighter going home

Haha…good question

There is no cure known to any avid quilter or their partner. Tell Christmas visitors you are doing panto and re-enacting the Princess and the Pea fairy story by making them climb onto a fabulous bed layered with quilts! I love your “Explore the Unknown” quilt for made for Quilts for Care Leavers … Fabulous by the way xxx

Oy Ami, you and me both. I just love the whole process, from purchasing fabrics to handsewing the final binding stitch. I have a massive pile too. And it’s growing. What to do with them all is a constant question. I need to find my habit, but selling doesn’t seem an option. I have no answers …..

Have fun!

Like you, I am largely self-taught in quilting. And, like you, I feel the urge to point out every flaw. But we are all learners, and so I am going to try to accept the joy of the recipient while holding back the criticisms as part of my desire for improvement and development !

It sounds sad, but I have actually nominated a “stash executor” in my will. I don’t want my machines, books and material ending up in a skip or a black binbag to the charity shop. She is cool with that, and I know it will then be used in C4CL (Quilts for Care Leavers) ongoing efforts either for fundraising or quilts.

I must admit I used to love going to the stitching and textile shows in the USA when I was a professional Cross Stitch Designer. I even taught classes at the one I went to in Riverside California, and went twice to Des Moines in Iowa, and a stitching show in New York. All these shows had an element of Quilting too, but that wasn’t my main focus then, so although I enjoyed looking at all the Quilts and booths with supplies, I did not bring suitcases of material back with me. In the UK I used to exhibit at Harrogate, Alexandra Palace, Manchester, Birmingham and Olympia to sell my Cross Stitch Kits and Patterns. My focus is now Quilting, but mobility issues make going to shows difficult both from the point of getting there and also being able to get round the halls, but I still enjoy going to Quilting shops and fabric stores when away on holiday.

Love it Ami

I agree with your ethic – if you are gifting then that’s fine, but they are gifting at your expense then that’s altogether different. In the least they should pay for the materials and a contribution to your time, or if not the time make a gesture!

I’m with you all the way. If you’re asked to make a quilt by someone then you charge. Family member/friend or customer you charge.

I agree Ami, I have made double quilts & baby mats for family, including my parents, step daughters and grand-children. I have also made for my personal friends having children or new grandchildren as a totally surprise gift. As a purely surprise gift I was then under no pressure, as there was no expectation & if I chose to spend my money & my fabric & time that was my choice. I have on a few occasions made quilts for other incoming babies of friends of friends on request, and a sensible discussion about actual costs & timescales has always happened first. They have always been delighted, and often paid far more than actually requested, more often as a personal gift of lunch out, plants for the garden, or a nice bottle of wine in appreciation. I am now making quilts for the Quilts for Care Leavers project, again totally my choice if I want donate my materials and time.

I think you have done well to stand firm on this, and let family and friends know why. I wonder if they even realised that what they were doing was the same as asking you to buy a present (the value of your labour) to give to someone you didn’t know. I personally don’t sell quilts, or even take money for materials, but then I have decided I will not make to someone else’s requirements. I make what I want to make, from fabric that has come from my “hobby budget”, and as I end up with surplus quilts there will be some unexpected lucky recipients or charities.

This happens to my students a lot – they make something for themselves, then get an approach along the lines of “you enjoy this, why not make something for my second cousin’s third wife’s stepson” with no offer of payment. They usually have the common-sense to say no, or at least to ask my advice, at which point they get given a standard “costs” document. Mostly, at this point the requester gets the idea that this is not a favour one should ask quite so freely..
A full bed quilt, from new fabrics, can cost upwards of £600 in materials alone, plus hundreds of hours of work. Yes, I give quilts, quite often to complete strangers, but they are my quilts, in my style, and at my leisure.. So, don’t do it, folks, you will hate the colours, they will buy nasty cheap fabric, you will lose sleep…

Very soft and subtle Ami.

Lovely soft colours, looks great

Very pretty bag, ideal for summer time.

Smashing bag in such delightful fabric.

So quick..well done

What a great quick make – the fabric looks great.