Postage Stamp Quilt

 Do you ever get that urge to sew, like I do? A feeling in the middle of you like something is crushing your insides and you just gottta create something?

Today, I am filled with inspiration. My sewing machine has been in its box for a full four weeks now (four! weeks!) and I can feel the urge getting louder and louder.

I've had a project in the back of my mind for a little while now, and it strikes me that this is the perfect time to begin it. It lives in this book, The Gentle Art Of Quilt-Making, by Jane Brocket. I love this book, because I have so many of the fabrics she uses in the quilts, it's as if she's inside my mind.

I adore the colours and textures of the projects she puts together, and the book itself is stunning. I used to pick it up and stroke it lovingly in the shops before I actually caved in and bought it. Tell me, have you ever seen a more lovely cover? (Ignore the glue stain, oops)

The pattern is called "Postage Stamp", and it puts all the squares on the diagonal, which brings a lot more movement into the quilt.

I've picked out sixteen fabrics from my stash, all in bluey-yellowy shades, and the weather has been so kind that I've been able to wash and dry them all.

I have a range of Joel Dewberry prints, Filigree Gallery, Michael Miller, Anna Maria Horner, Heather Bailey, and a couple of pieces I bought when I was in India a few years ago.

I'm really excited about beginning this project, it'll be my first quilt in a while. Can't talk, must start cutting 3 inch squares!

It's Tuesday and I can't wait to ....

It's Tuesday and I can't wait to ..... unleash this little beauty on the unsuspecting public!

Her name is Elly Fump.

On her right side she's made from Amy Butler upholstery print. On the reverse,
a Heather Bailey pattern.

Those legs? They're bits and pieces:

• an old maroon and gold-flecked paisley I once made cushions from- handmade, as in, I stitched every stitch by hand with a needle. This was in the days before I owned a sewing machine.
• a lovely terracotta polka dot
• a pink and brown oddment
• and the matching chocolate and white partner to the Heather Bailey print on the reverse side

She has lovely Alexander Henry inner ears, and on the outer of those flapping giants is a Michael Miller damask print I intended to make a skirt out of but never got around to.

Elly Fump's coming with me to the Shirt and Skirt Market this Sunday. It's meant to be a lovely day - 23 degrees and no rain until later in the afternoon. Hooray, because I hate it when it rains on market days!

And the best part about Elly Fump? I think it's that lovely pink pom-pom tail.