Grow Old With Me - February Journal Quilt

I am not sure if I will get a bit of a telling off from my journal quilt partner J for this...but I've finished my February journal quilt!



Those who know me may not be terribly surprised to hear that romantic isn't really a word that figures in my vocabulary, but hey - it's February, month of a million yucky hallmark valentine's cards - why not do my take on it? And here it is: "Grow Old With Me". Let me explain.

The quilt represents what as I see as "true love". The woven central part makes a grid of 12, which is how many years I have been married. The materials used represent the mixture of elements making up a loving marriage - so we've got a bit of glitz and glamour (the silk and the brocade), then there's the process of ageing together (the rust dyed fabrics, lace and ricrac). Next up is the revealing of one's inner self (the strip of wadding included in the weaving - usually kept inside the quilt, but this time exposed). The tweed represents comfort and safety - not romantic but a vital ingredient in a loving partnership. Then there's the hearts, a universal symbol of romantic love. These particular hearts are showing some signs of distress (thanks to a heat gun!!) but are still held together by an interconnecting series of threads. Despite the wear and tear, they remain strong and together. For me, romance isn't about sugary sweet love but about growing old together, hence the name of the quilt and the label at the top (made from a piece of the colour catcher sheet I used when I washed the red squiggly fabric - it was just too pretty to throw away).

Oh, and the black jumbo ricrac? Where does that fit in? Erm, it's there because I like ricrac :-)

The Stitch Files - Running Stitch

Sharon has released part four of the Stitch Files - you can download them here.

One of the stitches this time was the humble running stitch and I have had fun with it. First off, I challenged myself to stitch with colours that do not normally form part of my palette (pastel, muted, pink - feminine!!) and made this little felted piece:



I actually quite like it, and so does DH, cos he has pinched it for a mat to put on top of one of his speakers!

Then I had a play with whipping and interlacing rows of running stitch, and I like the way they look too:



As well as working on my stitch files I have also been doing a bit of holiday related stitching. Some I can't reveal as the recipients may well see this blog first, but I can show you this, which is a little embellished and stitched piece I created to affix to a sketchbook for my much loved stepdad:



I think this is my favourite piece of embroidery so far, I especially love the effect of the chain stitch tree trunk. I was inspired to stitch this by some of the lovely brooches made by Kayla coo - check them out on her blog.

I am also busy making a mini (doll sized) quilt using some of my hexagon flowers. Waif has demanded a quilt for his soft toy guinea pig - the imaginatively named Guinea Baby - and apparently Guinea Baby insists on hexagons and a red/orange/yellow/brown colour scheme! I don't have time to piece a whole hexie quilt, even this size, so I am hand appliqueing the flowers to square blocks which I will then sew into a four patch. The first two are yellow and orange flowers on red backgrounds, the next two will be red/brown flowers on an orangey yellow background. I think it will look pretty nice :-). Let's hope Guinea Baby approves!