Welcome to Saturday Quilting Bring & Share. Use the links below to find your way into the wonderful worldwide community of patchwork-quilters. To encourage the blog writers and expand the conversations do leave a message in the comments box of blogs you visit ๐
Earlier this week I had a bit of a tidy in my sewing room – all the cutting and piecing for the BIG Double Irish Chain patchwork had created a lot of dust and lots of frayed fabric threads that were getting spread all over the house! Sorting through a little pile of loose fabrics I was amazed to find a quilt top! I had completely forgotten I’d made this one!
I had to trawl through the SD card in my camera to find images of it. Funnily enough the date on the photo I found was 1st April, 2025! At that time I was deep in the muddle and stress of caring for my parents. I can remember looking for a simple patchwork pattern to just do some mindless (mindful?) stitching. The pattern is ‘Pandora’s Box by Pam & Nicky Lintott. I remember picking through my stash of 2ยฝ” strips and squares to make a blue version which I did actually finish.
I must have made the black & white blocks straight afterwards but then we learned our family from far away were coming for a couple of weeks so all sewing stopped and was tidied away as we prepared for their stay. I think the blue quilt went the way of most of my unclaimed quilts: I needed to shift the pile of quilts quickly and had the idea of offering them to my friends with the request that in exchange they’d donate a sum of cash to their local hospice (note for non-UK readers: unlike our publicly funded NHS hospitals, hospices which also provide free care at the point of need only receive around 30% of their running costs from the NHS, the rest comes from donations and fund-raising).
I have a piece of fleece to back the black & white flimsy, I may add a narrow border before moving on to quilt it.
First of all though is the quilting of the BIG ONE! My machine and tables are set up to do this so I’d better just get on with it!
Here are your links into the Worldwide Quilting Community. Enjoy!
There’s just time to join Jo Westfoot’s FREE taster class. The heart shaped mug rug (or choose a circle if hearts don’t appeal) online class is available until 15th February.
In last weeks Saturday Quilting Bring & Share post I shared several links to quilts made from fabric strings. Well! Here’s another one! This time a quilt created with a colourful collection of wonky Log Cabin blocks made by Cathy.
Like me, Katie found some forgotten treasures when she was tidying her sewing room. I wonder what she will make with these collections of blocks? I’m betting she’ll have finished whatever she decides before I finish my re-discovered project!
Melva has produced some wonderful series of posts based on the historical accounts of women living ‘ordinary’ lives. I’ve joined in some of the quilt alongs Melva has organised alongside the historical accounts. This year her inspiration are Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books. One of my favourite series of books! I wasn’t going to join in the QAL, just enjoy reading Melva’s reflections on Laura’s accounts, BUT the first block, a maple leaf framed in a Log Cabin has me reaching for my remaining Civil War repro style fabrics… So, count me in on the Little House Sew Along 2026
Sonia Spence at Fabric & Flowers has been escaping from the bleak world news and dreary UK weather by making small quick projects, contacting friends, doing a few sprucing up jobs around the home and cooking tasty meals for her family. Every month she has one of her patterns on sale. Through February it’s the ‘Flexi Tote’ a small bag with lots of options including adding a zipper, making a patchwork version or converting it into an insulated bag.
Happy Stitching!
Allison ๐
PS. I am making steady progress setting up The Patchwork Hub at Home. I just need to gain a bit more confidence with the tech… I’m adding content and will be letting email subscribers know when the doors open within the next week. Please do use the buttons on the side or bottom of this page to subscribe to my emails (they are not spammy and often contain helpful patchwork-quilting tips or useful links ๐).
Pandoraโs Box by Pam & Nicky Lintott makes a great scrap quilt, Allison. I might have to put this one on my to-do list! Thanks for all of the links to check out! ๐
You are very welcome Laura. I hope you find some things of interest when you click on the links ๐ The Pandora’s Box pattern is in the book
‘Jelly Roll Quilts’ by Pam & Nicky Lintott.
Isn’t it fun to “discover” something you’d completely forgotten about? A whole quilt top, in your case. That’s amazing! Your black and white “Pandora’s Box” is very nice. I hang my completed tops on hangers in the guest room closet. When two or more are there, it’s time to get to quilting. I hope you enjoy quilting your big quilt. My tip is to focus only on what you’re quilting, and don’t let your mind wander to the bigger sections remaining to quilt. You’ll get through this, and it will be fantastic when it’s done.
Hi! Linda. Thanks for your encouraging message. I shall follow your lead in future, putting completed quilt tops in a specific known place! I am quilting the BIG ONE with just one line of stitching in my mind at a time. It’s a satisfying way to do it – using little snatches of time to stitch a row or two.