Friday 14th January

I have finally finished hand quilting the applique quilt. Now all I have to do is cut the binding and sew it on. I used two wonderful varigated silk threads to outline the applique (pink/purple for the flowers and green for the leaves and stems). The background quilting is in a varigated pink thread.  I will post a photograph of the completed quilt when it is finished. I have not found a name for the quilt yet so the label will have to wait for a bit. It was made for the daughter of a friend who is in the middle of her A levels and will hopefully be going on to University. This is latest of a series of "Univerity" quilts that I have made for friends' children and friends of my son.

I have a huge amount of work to do in preparation for next week's teaching at a centre for people with mental health problems. I do all the cutting out of the pieces here and one of the girls arrived this week with a stash of new fabric for a quilt for her daughter. It all needs washing and ironing before I can start cutting. Also I have to draw quilting lines on a quilt that one of my students is hand quilting. They do all the stitching by hand, starting with a small cushion and then they get into quilts proper. The pattern they use for the cushion and sometimes for the quilt is Friendship Star in a 12" block. The construction is fairly simple and the patches are quite big which is helpful to those who find fine motor skills difficult. I usually sew on borders on my machine and a layer up the quilts as well. If they really can't do the quilting then I tend to bring the quilts home and machine quilt them. I also put on all the bindings. The class is very flexible but we often get up to six people at a time. I know that doesn't sound much but none of them can thread a needle so I am kept constantly busy!

Off to do some proper money-making work now and then to the DIY store to buy duck tape to temporarily sort out a leaking shower - what joy!