This week it’s my turn to blog in the 2017 New Quilt Bloggers hop, this programme has been such fun to do and I have learnt so much!
I belong to the Better Bloggers Hive and this is our fabulous button, designed by Vanda, from Quilt in Piece
Before I begin also don’t forget to stop by my fellow bloggers’ posts and share the love! And if you need an incentive, there are prizes up for grabs!
Sherry, Powered by Quilting
Diane of Cwilt
Liz of Savor Every Stitch
I wasn’t aware of much quilting going on in this little island of Ireland as I was growing up, so I sewed anything and everything else including eventually, my own wedding dress!
Quilting and I didn’t meet until my Mother spent some time in Australia. She came back with little quarters of jewel like fabrics and a contagious enthusiasm. The first quilt I made was this gorgeous paper pieced quilt! Ten years on and I still love it! The pattern is “Over by the Pond” by Erin Wilcoxon.
Fast forward a few years and I set up a company called ‘Mena and Me’ which sold personalised, bespoke cushions. I made hundreds of these! Each one was unique and tailored to the customer’s interests and tastes. I made cushions for Grannies to match their living room rugs, I made identical cushions for identical twins, I made cushions with dogs and dinosaurs, and cushions with buns and butterflies!
As my customers requested more and more complex things, the move into pattern design was a natural progression. I stopped offering the cushions and starting focusing exclusively on patterns. This was my very first design and I’ve been delighted at how well it has sold! My eldest daughter has retained the original and loves it dearly!
I am very drawn to applique and scrappy projects, like this Alphabet quilt. I love how using a range of different fabrics gives a lot of movement to a quilt. And, as all quilters know, depleting your stash, means you just have to buy more fabric. . .
I have more ideas than I have time to sew so I prefer quick (or quickish) projects. I love to combine linen with bright, clear cottons and whimsical designs.
If I had one tip to pass on, it would be spray starch! Not only is it great for needle-turn applique but spraying your fabrics before you press helps with accurate cutting and I find it reduces the need for stabiliser when machine appliqueing.
My worst habit when quilting is leaving little collections of cut off threads around the house which seem to get everywhere! What about you, what bad sewing habits do you have?
Finally, many thanks go to our kind hosts who have given so freely of their time and experience. Please take the time to check out their great blogs!
Beth, Cooking up Quilts
Leanne, She Can Quilt
Yvonne, Quilting Jet Girl
Sandra, great to get to know you more! How fun that your Mom brought the fabrics to you! Loved seeing your projects! The pillow with the girls holding hands is precious!
Thanks, Paige, my daughters and I enjoyed choosing the fabrics for all the little dresses!
Thanks, Paige, for all your kind words!
Morning Sandra – lovely to get to know you better in this wonderful post. What gorgeous things you have made, I am with you on leaving thread everywhere ….. my husband is even wondering if there isn’t a mat of some sort that could be at my studio door that would take them all off my feet!!
Morning, Abigail, a thread mat would be great! I dread to think how many times I’ve walked out of the house with a spider of threads stuck to my trousers!
Sandra, I can see why you still love your first quilt. It’s very pretty. I’ve enjoyed reading your post and how you came into quilting.
Thanks, Wendy, a couple of frogs have lost a button eye over the years but I’m so fond of it!
Your first quilt is just fantastic. Lovely to meet you on the hop. Great design on the bag too.
Thanks, Carole, and great to meet you too!
Hi Sandra! It’s amazing your first project was paper-piecing, it looks fabulous! Beautiful fabric is the reason I started quilting too, I couldn’t resist them. My worst habit of quilting … I never bother stitching in the ditch. I realize the benefits, but boy, I just don’t have that kind of patience!
Hi Liz, great to meet you! Quilting is my least favourite part of any project, by that stage, I just want it DONE! For a long time, I always just stitched in the ditch as it seemed the simplest option!
Threads do get everywhere! I have a habit of taking a lint roller to my front side and thinking I’m all good only to have strangers point out stray threads on my backside the rest of the day (blush)! Wow, I love knowing how quilters get started and starting with such a detailed paper piecing pattern seems hard to me, but that’s because it was years before I started paper piecing. Thank you so much for participating in and joining the blog hop!
Hi Yvonne, thanks for taking the time to comment. I guess I’d been dress-making for many, many years before I started quilting which gave me some confidence. Or possibly it was just total ignorance of what was involved!
Nice to get to know you on the hop! My bad habit is letting the rotary cutter open when I am cutting….bad!
Nice to meet you too, Kathleen! I tend to leave the rotary cutter open too, it’s a wonder my kids have any fingers left!
Very nice to get to know more about your quilting journey Sandra and I love all your amazing creations. I would absolutely love the pattern for that bag. My bad habit, I never keep track of my pins and they end up all over the place!
Thanks, Sola! I carry my pins about in a little tin which is always getting knocked over and spilt. Sadly, due to my husband’s magnetic feet, this does not always end well!
Wow your first quilt is fabulous! Thanks for sharing your journey, it’s very inspiring, I’d love to move towards pattern design someday.
Thanks, Rachel, I love what I do although I hadn’t anticipated that I’d spend more time in front of a computer than a sewing machine.
Your quilting designs are really wonderful. I love the pillow design with the girls in a circle . It’s too bad I don’t like to applique much because I would buy the pattern for sure if I thought I would actually do it. It’s been fun getting to know you a bit through the hop.
Great to meet you too, Lisa, thanks very much for your kind comments.
Hi Sandra, I enjoyed reading your post and getting to know more about you. I love your first quilt and how you started quilting. Like you, it was fabric. If I have a bad habit, it may be not putting away my fabric scraps until there’s a big pile up.
Hi Rose, thanks for taking the time to comment and for your kind words. My little daughters recently asked if they could sort out my scraps. I was delighted! They picked through the pile and arranged them into groups by colour so I shoved the bundles into large freezer bags and I find it so handy now they’re all organised. I’m determined to keep this system up!
Sandra, it’s been so great learning more about you. Your quilts are so adorable! My bad sewing habit… I don’t clean up each day after I sew. I wait until it’s unbearable and clean then the process starts all over again! Also so impressed with sewing your own wedding dress, that’s awesome!
Hi Sherry, thanks for your kind words! My studio is always messy also. I tend to have several projects on the go at any one time so there’s little piles of fabric on every available surface!
Very impressive frog quilt! I’ve only done a few paper pieced blocks and really do like it. My quilty bad habit is that I can’t leave a fabric store without buying some fabric and I buy usually more than I need. I gave up buying fat quarters and now buy no less than a yard, 2 yards if I’m using it for a project, and 3 yards if I really like it. My husband says that fabric stores love me. In my defense, I am just helping the local and national economy. So nice to meet you.
Hi Karen, great to meet you too. There’s so many times I find a perfect fabric in my stash only to find it’s a paltry fat quarter and not the amount I need. I think it’s time I adopted your impressive civic spirit and start purchasing by the yard!
This is a great post! What a journey you’ve been on! Look forward to seeing more of your work!
Thanks, Sue!
Your designs are so sweet and original–I just had to visit your Etsy shop. I’m so glad to see your Friendship Circle pillow and the Christmas Angel are both available as patterns. Great to meet you!
Thanks, Karen, I’m very new to Etsy and I know I’m somewhat late to the party! I’m glad you like the angel pattern, I have a bit of a thing about angels! I make a new angel every year for our Christmas tree so I have quite a collection now which the kids love!!
Hi Sandra! Your work is wonderful, it has such whimsy and personality! I can see why it is so popular.
I love spray starch too, what an awesome invention. It’s been great to meet you through the New quilt bloggers hop.
PS: We are planning a 2018 family trip to your island, so excited!
Hi Abbie, so nice to meet you too. And many thanks for your kind words! That’s great that you’re coming to Ireland, I hope the weather will be good to you!
Hi Sandra, its lovely to think that quilting found you! Wow, that first quilt you made is so detailed, its a fabulous achievement for a novice 🙂 I love your tip about spray starch for needle turn, especially for my Remy quilt, I haven’t tried this yet but I will. I love your designs, you’re certainly on a great journey.
Thanks, Diane, for your lovely, encouraging words. I hope you find spray starch as useful as I do! I adore your Remy quilt so far and I’m really looking forward to seeing it completed.
Spray starch! I am going to use that piece of advice! thank you Sandra. I am glad that you are here on the bloggersphere!
Hi Sarah, I’m glad to be of use! I hope you love it as much as I do!
Hello! It’s so great to know more about your story! My worst quilting habit is taking over every available space for quilting! If the dining room table is empty, I’ll start cutting or basting a quilt there. I’m just starting into pattern design, and hope it becomes a long-term journey. Thanks for sharing your work!
Hi Laura, thanks for stopping by! Best of luck on your design journey, I look forward to seeing where it takes you.
So nice to meet you! I’m Irish although I’ve never been to Ireland. Some day…. Your quilts are lovely! Your first quilt is especially cute, no wonder you love it. I really enjoyed hearing that your mom got you started. How much fun is that?
Hi Jennifer, great to meet you too! Thanks for your kind words, I hope you’ll make it over here one day!
Your quilts and projects are very cute! Lovely post!
Thanks, Danette, for your kind words!
I also have more ideas than time to sew. It makes sense to work through those ideas by making small projects but I love to make large-ish quilts, lol. If I have to name a bad habit I guess it would be that I don’t change my sewing needle enough.
Hi Sarah, great to meet you! Thanks for taking the time to comment. I’m not great with changing sewing needles either, especially when full of excitement over a new sewing project. And it’s best not to mention servicing sewing machines. . .
Nice to meet you, Sandra! I really love that alphabet quilt with the cute mice hanging out with some of the letters! My bad quilty habit is letting the clutter overtake my cutting table.
Great to meet you too, Emily! Thanks for taking the time to comment and for your kind words. My husband’s clutter takes over my cutting table – ahem!
Sandra, fun to read your quilting story! I love your your cushion of girls around the (citrus?!) world!
Hi Nancy, nice to meet you. It’s a flower that the girls are circling but the photo was taken on an overcast day! My middle daughter wanted a flower quilted in the centre to match the décor in her room!
I’m totally impressed your first quilt project was paper pieced – that would scare most people off! It looks like you have a lot of fun with your designs Sandra. I agree with your spray starch tip. I use it especially when working with small pieces. It helps with cutting so much!
Hi Beth, thanks for your kind words! Spray starch is fabulous, isn’t it? I get through bottles of the stuff!