24 Leaves

I kept being asked how many leaves I was going to appliqué for this quilt. It turned out to be 24. No hidden symbolism in the total number, nor in the number of leaves in a particular fabric, nor in the directions the leaves are pointing. It’s quilt design by whim.

Size: 42x42 inches

Cotton fabrics, cotton/wool wadding.

Machine washable on a gentle, cool cycle.

Available from Inchmore Gallery.

Sunbonnet Sue on Skye

Sunbonnet Sue is a traditional quilt block design that can be traced back to the early 1900s, to illustrations in an American school primer by Bertha Corbett. I’d been admiring Sunbonnet Sue quilts made by other Skye Quilters and wanted to try my own. I got thinking about what Sunbonnet Sue might be doing were she living on the Isle of Skye, and so my quilt has her checking on the sheep and cows, making breakfast for B&B guests, and hanging out the never-ending laundry.

39x47 inches

Mostly cotton fabrics, polyester wadding.

Machine washable on a gentle, cool cycle.

For sale direct £175

Tree Hearts

This quilt mixes modern and traditional, raw-edge appliqué trees alongside pieced hearts. One friend suggested it featured lollipops rather than trees, and another who was obviously greatly influenced by the books of Dr Suess, suggested green eggs in frying pans. It seems to me that, like modern art, what you see depends on who’s looking. And, like modern art, opinion remains divided as to whether raw-edge appliqué is real quilting or done simply because the maker doesn’t know how to quilt it “properly”.

Size: 34x45” inches

Cotton fabrics, wool wadding.

Machine washable on a gentle, cool cycle.

For sale direct £120

Tarentaal Not in a Pear Tree

The fabric at the top of the sky has tarentaal (guinea fowl) in it.

Size: 67x130cm
Mixed fabrics. Wool wadding.

Machine pieced and quilted.

Available from Inchmore Gallery.