Quilted tales

A few weeks ago, some lovely readers noticed this quilt in the background of one of my pictures - here to be precise.  Not only that -  but the artist herself came across the post too, and left a comment - how cool was that? And so, with no chance now of anyone thinking that, perhaps I had made it myself ( lol) -  I thought I would devote a whole post to it, and other quilts in my life.

Most of the renovations to the house are now complete, and we are on to the accessorizing  part.  I am still really trying to find a style that suits a 1970s bungalow, but also incorporates that modern country look that I like.   We brought all the pictures from our old house and while one or two of them fit in nicely somewhere, most just don't quite work.  We had a large expanse of wall above the couch which was begging to be filled with a piece of art, so we decided we would look at the work of artists from the island.
A very pleasant but difficult task. There are so many talented people working here on Lewis, and we have seen a fair few exhibitions already, but nothing really called to us.
Remember the day we went to look at the cows for the first time? Well, we stopped in at the Morvern Gallery on the way, for a most excellent coffee and utterly fabulous Vicky sponge. Of course, there is no point in being inside an art gallery and not looking at the art is there?  And there were a lot of beautiful pieces there, to be sure.  I had noticed the quilt in the passing, as I browsed about, but my head was fixated on looking for a painting.  Sitting down to my latte and giant wedge of cake,  John, who had been wandering around with James, asked what I had thought of it.  Hmmm - what did I think?  I went back and had a proper look and something shifted in my mind.  There was something very familiar about that scene.

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Reader, I bought it.

The quilt is called Abandoned House, Loch Roag, and was created by the immensely talented Effie Galletly, who has produced some stunning work.  You can view her collections on her website at
Netherfield Gallery.

The quilt depicts the house as if looking towards the Stones, where it appears rooted in the land, but our normal view of it is surrounded by water - almost on an islet. What attracted John to the piece is that the land surrounding the old house is a patchwork of greens yellow and brown - symbolic of what we are trying to achieve on our own croft. I so love that.   We also discovered that the last inhabitant of the house shared our surname.  Synchronicity or what?  I love having it in that space and I can lie on the couch meditating on all those colours and shapes - it makes me very happy.

The second quilt is one which I came across, unfinished, in a box of my Mother's sewing stuff. I am not sure if it was to be a table runner or a wall hanging, but it is very beautiful.  She was quite a talent herself, in her day.  I decided to attempt to finish it, as only the corners needed binding.  I actually thought I had made not a bad job of it, until I see this picture - oh dear - maybe a good pressing will help straighten in out!  Anyway, I have decided it will look fine as a wall hanging in our bedroom, which, coincidentally (once I have made the blinds) will be pinky purpley with subtle splashes of yellow.  Synchronicity again - thanks Mum!

The third quilt was made by my daughter, Karen, during her recent holiday here.  Isn't it gorgeous?  Isn't Erin just the sweetest babe in the world?

I was so pleased when Karen said she had started quilting, because I had just been thinking of getting to know that craft - you know, for something to do in my spare time.  She had picked up the basics from the "look inside" feature of this book, and had hand quilted and embroidered the front. We had great fun playing  around, finishing it off when she was here, not to mention planning other sewing projects. I was so inspired. 

And so - can you handle another quilt?  Last one for today - promise. OK, here is my first real attempt at quilting - even if it is a bit cheaty using panels of fabric instead of sewing strips together. I made a mess of the first binding, and fell out of love with the material I was using, so had to started again with this gold satin ribbon, which I like much better.

It is a quilt for our nephew and wife's first baby which I must get finished very very soon, because it's  intended recipient - is now HERE!  Dylan James - all 10lbs of him, was born last night at around 10pm - welcome to the world sweet boy.

The proud grandparents can be seen in my previous post, smiling bravely through the Edinburgh downpour. And I am now a Great-Aunt!  How dignified and grand does that sound? 

More quilting may appear in future posts - it's what we Great-Aunts do isn't it? 

* photo credit to daughter Kristine.