Earlier this year I was commissioned to make a cot quilt, and yesterday I received some wonderful pics via email:
Isn't he a cutie? Joshua was born earlier this year, but the quilt was made before he was born.
His mum has told me that he loves looking at the Farmyard pictures and playing on his quilt. It was such a treat to receive these lovely photos, and to see my quilt being loved and enjoyed.
Also this week I received some items I'd ordered to help me hatch a plan!
My Dad will be 70 in February, he is a creative person (it was his mum who started me on her old Singer Treadle machine) and has always appreciated my quilts.
But aren't men so hard to make for?
The old grey matter has been working over time, and I've come up with an idea! Because my dad has always been interested in military history, particularly the American Civil war, I thought for the front of the quilt I'd make some blocks from this book:
This book is similar to the Farmer's Wife Book, where actual diary extracts are included alongside blocks, by women who experienced first hand both sides of the civil war in the 1860's.
And for the back of the quilt, I'm going to ask all my siblings, their partners and children to write messages with fabric pens, which I will sew together & make into the quilt back.
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| Need to post some of these to the English relatives! |
My only problem is sourcing some civil war type fabric - which of course is readily available in the States, but not so much here.
I'm after some muted reds, blues, tans and creams but don't want to get slammed extra for customs, so any advice anyone can give me here would be gratefully appreciated.
Hope you've all had a relaxing weekend so far!
What a cutie indeed! And such wonderful quilt too! Lovely Judith :) The Fat Quarter Shop (US) great for fabrics, will e-mail the details :)
ReplyDeleteVery cute! Lovely quilt J.! Fi
ReplyDeleteHave you tried ebay? I've actually seen some in a UK online shop recently but as I was looking for something else I passed on by. If I remember where I saw it I'll let you know.
ReplyDeleteLooks like fun. Here is a flickr group that has been working on civil war quilts http://www.flickr.com/groups/civilwarquilts2011/
ReplyDeleteAlso Barbara Brackman http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/ and others have been doing reproduction civil war prints for Moda for a long time so you should be able to get nice reproduction fabrics from any of the shops which carry moda fabrics. Ms. Brackman also did some wonderful William Morris reproduction prints that probably would work too.
I don't know if UK shoppers have similar experiences to those of us in Canada...but I have found that *most* of the time I can have purchases from US-based retailers sent by USPS (regular postal service, as opposed to the courier services, like UPS or Fed Ex) without any customs or duty problems. So even with shipping costs, shopping from US sellers has been *very* worthwhile. One source I particularly like is Fabric Shack, where they have 1/2 price USPS shipping, even for those of us who need international mailing. I hope this helps!
ReplyDeleteLovely quilt!
ReplyDeleteI know its an old line but the Minick & Simpson Wiscasset fabric is red, navy and tan, maybe one of their newer lines are similar?
Good luck finding something, love the plan of family writing messages! :)
As of Tuesday the customs levy is on goods over £15 (c. $23US) so anything more than this might get charged Import VAT, which isn't too bad in itself, it the Post Office fee that is the stinger! Gifts of £40 are allowed if you know anyone who could send you some xxx Good luck.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info Hadley - I was going to say I usually keep my US purchases down to about £25 incl. shipping and so far haven't been charged but the new rule is quite prohibitive isn't it!
ReplyDeleteAww, that quilt looks like it's getting very well used :o)
ReplyDeleteAs for the cunning plan, try http://www.cottonpatch.co.uk/acatalog/Thimbleberries.html The lady at my local fabric shop told me that Thimbleberries was a civil war type print (my last swap partner was adamant she didn't want any, and I had no idea what it was!)
Given that the import allowance just seems to have gone down again, I wonder whether my latest US fabric order will scrape through in time!
A good friend of mine has a great range of Civil War fabrics this is the link http://www.thehomespunloft.co.uk/store/WsDefault.asp?Cat=CivilWarfabrics
ReplyDeleteShe is lovely, very helpful and I know she will help you if she can.
oh my goodness that little guy is the cutest thing I've seen in ages. What a great model he makes for your quilt ;)
ReplyDeleteJudith, they have some wovens in the colours you are talking about at Bramble Patch - https://thebramblepatch.co.uk/BramblePatchSection.aspx?SID=461&SectionCode=461&SectionName=Woven Favorites
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid I can't help but it looks like you've got some good leads from other readers and I hope you find what you're looking for, it's such a thoughtful present for your dad!
ReplyDeleteAdorable quilt! What a cuite! I love your ideas for your Dad's quilt too :)
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