Shattered

Hello, Hazel here. My new quilt's name seems appropriate as the New Year has started with some very sad news about a dear friend who had a sudden bereavement last week. I'm thinking of her constantly and send her my love.

I actually started this new quilt before Christmas but then got sidetracked with making other gifts, but have managed to finish the quilt top in the last week. It's from the 'Quilting Modern' book and uses the insert a strip technique to make very large blocks. This measures about 50 by 60 inches and was great fun to do. I used a plain white fabric which I dyed using Dylon machine dye in black. I just added a small amount of the dye and it worked well although it was a little more blue than I would have liked. Perhaps I didn't stir up the dye packet enough. The dark fabric is from the 'Scraffito' range from P and B fabrics which I love.

Because I had to piece the backing and was a bit short of the plain black I planned to use I decided to make a feature of the backing. I'd seen a photo of a quilt on Pinterest which inspired me but I just can't find it again to give you the link - sorry! Anyway here is my version:

I now have to layer this up ready to quilt but can't face crawling around on the floor so I'm going to take it to one of my classes and stay late to layer it on the large tables there. I can't wait to get started on the quilting.

What have you been working on recently? If you'd like to share it with us how about doing a guest blog with a photo or two? Let me know in a comment if you'd like to have a go.

I'll be back soon with more details for the next sit and sew day but to get the ball rolling we'd like to set a challenge: make a quilt (any size) which includes pieced letters in the style of the book 'Word Play Quilts' by Tonya Ricucci. Click Here for photos on Flickr. Here's a link to step by step instructions for all the letters of the alphabet: http://patcherymenagerie.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/red-letter
 If you want to join in please bring your challenge piece to the next SASD on February 16th.

Happy Stitching

Hazel