End of year round up

December 2010


They say that time flies and it certainly does when you have something like the quilt project to focus on.

It’s almost impossible to believe that it’s more than four months since we lost dad and going on for six months since we started work on the quilts for St Clare Hospice. 

Actually we are going great guns.

The second of the Blue quilts is now finished and looks fantastic…….I can’t wait until they are all done and I can see them in the flesh, so to speak.

2nd Blue Quilt - Motifs stitched by the ladies in Holland (one motif and the logo stitched by me)

The first Brown quilt was finished too but unfortunately something went very wrong with it and now we plan to start again from scratch with that one. 
I’ve been out and brought the new threads and Aida that’s needed and am about to post that little lot off to Marg in Holland because she’s offered to stich the squares again for us and I was also lucky enough to find a single quilt cover in the same fabric as the rest, which I will be sending to Nicki.  It’s such a shame after everyone’s hard work but hopefully Nicki will be able to find a use for the one we we'll not be using now.

As far as my own stitching goes, I've finished all the squares I was down to do and they will be on their way to Nicki with the material for the Brown quilt. 

This is the Green on I was doing.

Apart from that I've not done any other stitching for some time because of my eye. 
After having the detached retina repaired at the end of last year a cataract is growing, as they said it would and the sight in my Right eye is not good at all, so I find it a bit of a strain if I stitch for too long.
The good news is that they are going to operate in the new year, February to be precise, so hopefully after that I should start getting back to normal.

More Quilt squares finished

October  2010



Yes, I’ve been ploughing my way though these and I’ve now finished all the squares for one of the Pink quilts.

and I’ve made a start on the Brown one.

Nicki has been busy with her sewing machine too because she’s sent me some photos of the first finished quilt……..how amazing does this look!

Nicki also tells me that she’s received the first twenty squares from  Holland  for the Brown and other Blue quilts, so I’m thinking that Marge and Marie-Therese must have been stitching all hours of the night and day to get them finished so quickly………..Thanks girls!

A host of golden daffodils;

October  2010

I don’t think I’ve made many stitched cards over the years which is a bit surprising when you consider that my other hobbies are card making and scrapbooking. 

You can see my cards if you click on the link to Sue’s Krafty Kards on the side bar and if you go to Family Footprints in the Sands of Time you can see the heritage scrapbook pages I’m doing for my family tree.

Anyway, as I said, I don’t stitch many card but here’s one I did do this month. 

It’s a pretty bowl of Spring Daffodils.

Sad News and an update on the Hospice Quilt Project

September  2010



Well it’s been a tough few months as you can imagine and the sad news is that my dear dad finally lost his fight against cancer on the 6^th of August.

It’s also been hard carrying on with the stitching for the quilt project too.
For a while I wasn't able to pick it up but the thing that has kept me going is the pride that dad had in me for what I and my special friends were doing.

I say ‘friends’ because when I started the project in June it was just going to be me doing the cross stitching and Nicki doing the sewing, but since then our numbers have grown to five.

Firstly, when we realised just how long it was going to take me to stitch the  80 squares needed, Nicki suggested that there were two ladies that live in Holland who also stitch for the  The Kid’s Company Cushion Project  who might like to help out.   She was finding it hard to keep up with their prolific stitching and thought the distraction of the hospice quilts might slow them down a bit, Lol.

Nicki asked them if they would be interested and they were only too pleased to lend a hand, so it was agreed that Marg and Marie-Therese would stitch all the squares for four of the sets.

Another very special friend Sharon has also offered her help and we’ve decided to make an extra quilt and cushion for the central seating area in the hospice.  This one will be different from the others, being Yellow in colour and  having Gerbera’s as the theme of the motifs on the squares instead of the geometric designs of the others.

I myself have now finished stitching the first set of Blue squares and they will go in the post to Nicki in the next day or two together with a logo panel to go on the back.

I’ve also put together a parcel to send out to Marg and Marie-Therese containing all the threads, material and charts they will need for their sets and also, because I’m sentimental and wanted a piece of my own stitching on each quilt,  I’ve stitched one square and the logo for each of them.

Devastating news but a wonderful project

June  2010

Back at the end of April I received the awful news that my dad of 87 was suffering from stomach cancer and that all they could offer him was palliative care.

Naturally I’ve been taking care of him so there’s not much stitching been going on………. up until now that is.

I’ve started on a wonderful project that’s going to keep me busy for some time to come.


The idea for this project actually came from dad himself, because as part of his treatment he’s being cared for by the fantastic staff at St Clare Hospice in Hastingswood, Essex, where they have a day care facility and also an in-patent unit.

It was whiles dad was staying there for a few days having treatment , he was sitting in a recliner chair looking out over the lovely gardens.  He said that he could really do with the quilt that my friend Nicki sent him from Switzerland back in May.  Although there were thin fleecy type blankets there he thought the quilt would be more snuggly.

Now, by the end of the day we had hatched a plan.

If I could get Nicki to help me by doing all the machining, then I would stitch enough squares to make a quilt for each of the eight rooms and may be a cushion to match.

So, a quick phone call to Nicki and we had ourselves one humongous project to keep us busy for who knows how long.

The planning gave me quite a lot to think about, colours, designs and materials all had to be thought about quite carefully as the finished quilts would need to be unisex in the design and obviously quick and easy to wash.

Nicki suggested that bedding fabric would be a good choice for the quilts and that if I could find double duvet covers in a sale somewhere she would have enough fabric in each one to make two quilts and the cushions.

Luckily I have a Linen's Direct quite close by where I found almost exactly what I was looking for. 
I didn’t particularly want Pink but as they only do the quilt covers in these four colours I'll have to go with it. 
I kind of like the idea that all eight quilts will be the same, but different. 

Dad loves the colours too and has offered to pay for them…….……..his way of doing something to the project.

The designs were a little trickier to find but eventually I came across some geometric designs on line, which I tweaked a bit to make them large enough for the squares.


Next up was the White Aida and DMC plain dyed and variations threads which I ordered from my favourite on line needlework shop Sew and So

I’ve already made a start on the first Blue quilt, stitching while sitting keeping dad company at the hospice and will soon have all the squares for it ready to pack up and sent out to Nicki.

Toy Corner

March 2010

As part of the on-going  Kids Company  project Sharing Colour and Comfort  Nicki was asked to make some cushions for a toy corner at Riverley Primary School.

We were thinking soft and snuggly was the way to go and because the Big Cushion   that I stitched using the donated Afghan fabric turned out to be exactly that, we decided that I would stitch some more squares on it to make a matching set.

I stitched six in all.

Panel #37

Panel #38

Panel #39

Panel #40

Panel #41

Panel #42

The Bare Necessities

March 2010

After stitching Tha and Kaa from The Jungle Book last month it would have been a crime not to have stitched Baloo the Sloth Bear too, wouldn’t it, so here he is.

Panel #31

Then there was a special request from a little girl who wanted a dog on her cushion and it had to be Pink

Panel #32

And the rest are just a selection of designs that Nicki will match up to the kids as best she can.

Panel #33

Panel #34

Panel #35

Panel #36