Christmas Crafts 2

Patchworking is a favourite of mine when it comes to sewing. The main reason is that its really quite easy, whilst also being very prolific (once you have all the materials.) I have been steadily building my patchworking resources over this year, almost entirely from charity shops. Old skirts and shirts, curtains, sheets, remnants – its amazing how a bunch of very discordant patterns come together once carefully arranged and coordinated. Whilst i’m all about mixing it up, i have generally found that too many different textures and types of material generally don’t work, due to the variety of tensions they create in a row of sewn squares, so i now stick mostly to cotton.

I made these single quilts as gifts for Lucia and Isla, my two cheeky little nieces. Both are backed using salvaged thermal curtain lining, making them fairly heavyweight and cosy. I have previously experimented with patterned or decorative borders, but having done so i resolutely conclude that a plain edging brings out the best of the main patchwork area.

Giving everyone a patchwork quilt wasn’t really a feasible option this Christmas, nor any other Christmas for that matter, so i made these smaller cushion projects for my sister-in-law x2 (can’t seem to work out the plural). With less expanse to work with, selecting the fabrics takes a bit more thought. I used some Sanderson prints and a bit of good old Cath Kidston to make sure they were pretty enough! And finally, to step the whole thing up a notch, i got these woven labels made up to personalise my work.