Sunglasses at the ready, please!

Are you ready for a lot of colour??  ......hopefully! I think this has to be the brightest and most colourful thing I have made so far.

This quilt was made for a little boy.  His mum certainly likes mixing things up, I don't think there's a single fabric in there (well, discounting the solids) from my original suggestion.  But that's what is so cool about commissions - making something that suits the person/people it is intended for.  What could be better?



I've learnt lots from making it.  Once I realised just how much colour we were aiming for I wanted to work out a quilt design that would work with it rather than become overwhelmed by it.  I hunted around for a little while and found this quilt on Film in the Fridge and it seemed an ideal style to go for.  Ashley has a tutorial for her quilt layout but I just used her general principle and adapted the design a little to fit my plans and final dimensions.

The quilt is approximately 100x100cm square and is backed in unbleached cotton flannel.  My customer wanted it to be snuggly so I sent her a few little samples of fabrics that could be used for the back - I'm so pleased she picked the flannel, it is very soft and cuddly and gives a great texture (it came from Eco Earth Fabrics).

I had always planned the deep wine red for the binding and, although I did test out a few other options just to be sure, its the one I settled on to help 'ground' all the other colours.  At least that's what I think!



John is away again until the end of this week and the kids and I had a lovely Saturday night and Sunday with my parents.  Lots of running around outside and a bit more chill-out time for me (plus mum cooked roast beef which was very yummy!) .

Dad kindly acted as my quilt model (and took to it like a pro - thanks, dad).  I wish I was always there for taking photos - they live in an amazing huge old house which has been split into several houses.  Theirs comes complete with a spiral staircase (actually our house has a stone spiral stair from the ground to first floors but it is rather less grand and a lot more rustic) and it is wonderful for the children to have access straight from the front door into a huge area of shared garden.

This is our last week of school before the children break up for the summer.  Afterwards Finn will be in P5, Angus P3 and Islay P1 - I'm becoming very conscious that these are my last few days with my little girl before she starts school.  She has had a few practice visits, we've bought a couple of school skirts and some socks (I plan to make her a couple of gingham pinafores - most of those I can see in the shops are synthetic, hopefully I can make something a little more comfy).  Its a bit scary thinking she'll be at school in a few weeks time.  She's amongst the very youngest in her year, in fact one of her friends is 50 weeks older than her - but I think (and hope!) she'll be just fine, especially since she will have a particularly good teacher.

I hope you're all having a good week.  It is dry and sunny here and we're planning another strawberry picking trip later in the week (the farm opened last week and when I told Islay we could go last Friday she announced that meant it was now summer time, she hasn't been convinced until then - I guess whether or not the strawberries are ripe is a pretty good gauge of the season).