I have been sewing all my life. My first project was knitting a scarf for my teddy bear, with only a very little help from my mum when I was about 8 years old. But knitting was not my calling. I did a GCSE in Textiles when I was 16 and I have been doing cross stich for many years, as well as sewing and other creative pursuits such as scrapbooking and baking.
The desire to create things is strong within me, it's part of who I am, and making quilts is what I love to do most of all.
It all started when I saw my very dear friend's mum making quilts for her City and Guilds Diploma in Patchwork and Quilting. I just knew that quilting was something that I wanted to do. I loved it before I had even made my first quilt. But the time wasn't right. I was working full time as a teacher, and as any teacher knows, in term time there is very little time for anything else, let alone embarking on new and time consuming hobbies.
But then I took a career break. I was heavily pregnant with my first child, and a small window of maternity leave before she arrived allowed for some creative pursuits.
What would be the perfect gift of love and warmth and beauty for my brand new baby girl? A quilt. Of course. So I used a ruler and a pencil to cut out squares and sewed them together without the first idea of rotary cutters, cutting mats, acrylic rulers or 1/4 inch seams, and made my very first, beautiful but not so perfect quilt. She is now three and a half years old and the quilt has pride of place in her bedroom; it's a reminder to me of how much I have learnt and how far I have come.
Within a short time I had embarked on a City and Guilds Course, the Level 3 Certificate in Patchwork and Quilting, which is the prerequisite to the Diploma. This is something I am still working towards today and it's wonderful to learn about the history of quilting and many traditional techniques that are rarely used in modern quilting as we know it today. If you would like to know more about my studies, you can read all about it on my blog www.sarahashford.blogspot.com
This year my son William was born. So of course he needed a quilt too, to mark his arrival, and the joy that he brings us every day. This time I had the equipment, the knowledge and the confidence. I even hand quilted every panel and I hope that it is something he will treasure, cherish and even pass on to his own children.
I just loved making the quilts for my own children as special an important reminder of their coming into the world and my way to show them how much I love them. No one else has a quilt like the ones they have; they are precious and unique, just like they are.
So that's how it all began. The idea of 'Quilt Candy' was born.
Sarah x
What would be the perfect gift of love and warmth and beauty for my brand new baby girl? A quilt. Of course. So I used a ruler and a pencil to cut out squares and sewed them together without the first idea of rotary cutters, cutting mats, acrylic rulers or 1/4 inch seams, and made my very first, beautiful but not so perfect quilt. She is now three and a half years old and the quilt has pride of place in her bedroom; it's a reminder to me of how much I have learnt and how far I have come.
Within a short time I had embarked on a City and Guilds Course, the Level 3 Certificate in Patchwork and Quilting, which is the prerequisite to the Diploma. This is something I am still working towards today and it's wonderful to learn about the history of quilting and many traditional techniques that are rarely used in modern quilting as we know it today. If you would like to know more about my studies, you can read all about it on my blog www.sarahashford.blogspot.com
This year my son William was born. So of course he needed a quilt too, to mark his arrival, and the joy that he brings us every day. This time I had the equipment, the knowledge and the confidence. I even hand quilted every panel and I hope that it is something he will treasure, cherish and even pass on to his own children.
I just loved making the quilts for my own children as special an important reminder of their coming into the world and my way to show them how much I love them. No one else has a quilt like the ones they have; they are precious and unique, just like they are.
So that's how it all began. The idea of 'Quilt Candy' was born.
Sarah x
No comments:
Post a Comment
Hello, thank you so much for taking the time to comment. I love to hear from you and will reply soon!