More blue quilts

You will all think I must be going through a 'blue phase' at present because here are two more blue and white quilts.

I made these in the winter before last for my parents. They lived up in West Cumbria and were hit by severe power cuts because of flooding in Carlisle, about 40 miles away, where their main feed for the electricity national grid came from.

I found it very scary that they could be without power for days on end and were ending up going to bed to keep warm - in this day and age!

So, as I had a surfeit of blue fabric, I set to and made them each a lap quilt in it just in case it happened again - of course the law of sod denotes that it hasn't but hey the thought was there.

One of the main fabrics is a 'delft pottery' type print which came from an unlikely source. DH works for Clarks shoes - a famous shoe manufacturer here in the UK - one of the warehouses that distribute their goods around the London area also distribute Ralph Lauren goods. After problems with either smoke damage or flooding at one of their distribution centres they had a lot of very classy bedding going very very cheap - all of it 100% cotton. Bless him - DH, always being one with an eye for a bargain, brought me a couple of large boxes full of this home for the princely sum of about £10 total.

Some of it has been pressed into use around the house but the vast majority was for the continental market so was all odd shapes and sizes but ideal to cannibalise for quilting fabric. Probably you hand quilters out there are cringing as I write because the thread count in all the fabric is very high and pretty unsuitable for hand stitching but as I only machine quilt it matters not a jot to me :o) Treasure!!!

Actually these two quilts aren't really true quilts as they are only quilt tops stitched onto polar fleece throws which makes them quite light weight but lovely and warm and snuggly. You can see from the close up that they were quilted big and bold with vines of leaves in this case and lots and lots of doodled circles on the other.

Simple patterns and simple quilting made two quick and easy guardians against any more chilly spells. DH just happened to be travelling up there on business the following week so got to deliver them pronto too :o)

On the blue bullseye quilt I've stitched about twice as much again as you saw in the previous post and DD1 was heard to exclaim 'Ooh mum, I DO like that pattern' so it's already claimed which is nice as the rest of the house usually comment in a vague manner just to keep the 'old dear at the sewing machine' happy so a reaction like this is a real plus. The pattern in total with borders etc will take a total of 65 bullseyes before they're cut up so I've a bit to go yet but as she's already claimed it that will give me the impetus to keep going with it even if I get bored part way through - which is usually the case with me when I stitch repetitive blocks

Right time for me to go to bed as DD1 has decided we should go for an early morning swim at 6 in the morning when the pool first opens before DH goes off the work at 7.15 - after another swim this morning and an 8mile round trip bike ride yesterday afternoon this fitness lark will either kill or cure me - probably the first of the two :o(