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4 In Blog post/ Blog Tour/ Quiltalong

Social Isolation, Quiltalongs and Hampton Garden.

Is anyone else sick of the words “strange and unprecedented times”? I know I am. Some days it is so hard to believe we are living through one of the defining moments of our lives and I find I vacillate wildly between extreme bursts of energy and hours upon hours of napping. We have been home now in social isolation for around a month, maybe longer. I have chosen to let go of dates in my quest for sanity lol. For the most part we manage really well as we are used to this lifestyle more than most so although there are moments I feel I am going crazy we are doing ok, in fact I don’t think we had realised just how exhausted we were heading into this. Life sure gets busy when you have teens.

Now for the first month I didnt have much time to sew. I was crazy with organising kids and house. I did manage to redo my lounge room using these amazing prints from Jess Hutchison that I had been coveting. How gorgeous are Archie and Ollie! Our front room was a mess and I am so glad I finally have a lovely space to sit in with the kids and watch hours upon hours of movies while playing card games – who knew we could get so strategic with Skipbo. As you can see Daisy has settled in to her new space well – she was not giving up her corner of the couch for anyone! There are more photos on my Instagram feed for anyone interested.

Now I was lucky to have this gorgeous fat quarter bundle of Hampton Garden by Lila Tueller staring at me for the past few weeks and I had planned all manner of projects in my head for it, from table runners to iPad cases. And then Alyce from Blossom Heart Quilts started a Quiltalong. It was a mystery block one so we had no idea what the end project would look like. I was intrigued and then when people started guessing layouts I was HOOKED and just had to join in. I worked like a crazy thing to get caught up and then begged Alyce for the final layout a couple of days early so I could finish my top in time for the post.

And here she is in all her glory.

Being in isolation means photography spots are limited but luckily this little lady is so pretty the backdrop doesn’t matter. The finished quilt for the Quiltalong was 50″ square but I wanted to make mine larger and use that stunning main floral print as a feature. I will add my extra dimensions shortly for anyone else who wants to do the same.

Gah! That floral is just insanely beautiful isn’t it. This is going to be a very special Christmas present for a lady who has been a very important part of my life for over 13 years. I am excited because I know she will love it.

For those of you wanting to make this yourself it is a lovely simple pattern and quick to assemble. I has my blocks done in a couple of days. I used a fat quarter bundle of the range and no plan whatsoever. I just cut and sewed which was very freeing for me considering my love of colouring in guides and strategic placement lol. For the borders I had a 1/2 yard of the teal print and a full yard of the main floral. I used a solid white but am thoroughly regretting the fact I don’t have a lovely scrappy collection of low volume prints as that would have been amazing. I will bind using one of the stripe prints from the range too.

If you would like to join in you can find all the details here on Alyce’s blog. Extra help and inspiration always can be found in her wonderful Facebook group too. I am super grateful she allowed me to beg for the final layout because I was so right in that it was fabric kismet lol.

Now to make the borders I did the following:

I wanted the pattern to float so edged in white first using 1 1/2″ strips. I cut 6 x WOF.

The teal inner border used 2 1/2″ strips – I used 7 x WOF of those.

The outer floral border was 5 1/2″ strops and I used 7 x WOF of those again.

This means my finished quilt top is around 66″ –  a lovely size to gift.

And there you go – one pretty quilt, one Christmas present, one creative burst of energy and some beautiful fabric – was better than strange and unprecedented times.

xxx Sarah

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4 Comments

  • Reply
    Deonn Stott
    24/04/2020 at 1:44 am

    LOVE these fabrics! Your quilt will be filled with memories when you gift it to your special friend.

    • Reply
      sarah scott
      26/04/2020 at 11:03 am

      I hope it will. She has been such a lovely stable presence in my life for so many years.

  • Reply
    Cheryl
    24/04/2020 at 3:41 am

    Gorgeous fabric and I love the way you added the borders!

    • Reply
      sarah scott
      26/04/2020 at 10:57 am

      It is beautiful fabric – so happy and filled with thoughts of Spring 🙂

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