Scraps and shirttails

First of all - I'm not going to apologise for shamelessly pinching the title of Bonnie from Quiltville's recently published book to head this particular post.

It is actually rather apt as first of all she was the person who originally hit my blogging radar screen and ultimately inspired me to start blogging myself.

And secondly it's also quite appropriate as one particular quilt of hers - 'Blue Ridge Beauty' - is the inspiration for my latest creation - but more of that later on.........

First of all I'll give you a quick peek at the latest photo of my three taken on our recent visit to Stourhead.

Sarah, in the middle, is not impressed that her 'little' brother, who's overtaken her in height, suggested a photo taken in height order rather than chronological order. Mind you both of them are taller than me with the little one catching me up all too quickly. It would appear I'm destined to be the shrimp of the household.

And here are my parents on the same trip out - they have settled in so well down here it makes me wish we'd moved them years ago. What would it be like to have a back garden big enough to accomodate that seat! Sadly I'm not sure I could fit it into my pocket to sneak it home with me though.

So back to those shirttails.

Recently Jane has made a start on an applique quilt made from an assortment of plaids

I'm a great charity shop visitor and here in Taunton we have a Barnardos shop which sells all items of clothing for 99p each - much cheaper than the other shops in town where you can easily pay four times that for a cotton shirt. So I often pop in and pick up men's shirts to supplement my plaid collection.

With the variety of shirtings I had gathered together foremost in my mind, I offered to send a selection to Jane to help bolster the variety needed for her quilt.

She very kindly sent me some neutrals for backgrounds and contrasts in exchange - I seem to go through yards and yards of WOW, COC and all other sands, beiges and creams - it would seem this particular girl can never have too much neutral fabric so her contribution is most gratefully received.

Once I'd completed the Jewel Box in the last post I thought I'd have a go at another 4 Patch/HST confection as they grow so quickly using Bonnie's Leaders and Enders theory. This time, however, I thought I'd use different block placements and decided to make it solely from plaid/striped shirtings and neutrals. That way, when Nick heads off to University in a few years time, there will be a slightly more masculine quilt waiting for him to take if he wants one.

This of course is where the design for Bonnie's lovely quilt 'Blue Ridge Beauty' makes an entry.

I've become hooked on scrappy now in a big way - as you can see from this photo the variety of plaid and striped shirtings is pretty extensive and it really doesn't matter at all where they sit, they all play so nicely together.

And here we are with the centre 36 blocks assembled.

I'm having so much fun piecing and seeing the underlying pattern emerge that I can't see myself getting bored in the near future - bet you never thought you'd hear me say that!