I mentioned in January that I want to return our home from its current shabby state back to a cosy, hopefully stylish, family home. This means new windows, some plastering, new flooring throughout and lots of decorating. All of which is quite an expense…and therefore is going to take some time! 😉
This is a good thing. It works nicely with my new ethos of slow, but also allows me to really ponder the style choices I’m going to make in each room. Work has already commenced with two ceilings being plastered last week. Some essential bathroom repairs are coming soon, and a new bathroom floor.
So far, so dreary! Basic stuff…not remotely exciting.
But! Once the bathroom is done, the next room on the list is The Boy’s, and then Button’s. And whilst we are gathering the resources to buy all the materials and furnishings we need, it seems sensible to make a start on the quilts.
This is much more fun.
First up…The Boy! He’s Union Flag mad! Every time we see one in a shop he dashes straight to it! So, the Union Flag is to be the leitmotif for his new Brit Boy room. And what better quilt to make for him than Busy Bee Quilt Design’s ‘Victory Garden’.
Obviously the colourway shown on the original isn’t going to work for my little chap, he’s camp, but not girly. However, Makower’s ‘London‘ is just the ticket.
This is a project that Ma is going to make. I’m not that fond of machine piecing and quilting, but she loves it. Who am I to spoil her fun? 😉
For Button, who is a huge Hello Kitty fan (I haven’t met a 5-year-old girl who isn’t), we are taking our inspiration from this spectacular quilt I spied on Pinterest.
Isn’t this just so stunning?????? It’s an original design by Q is for Quilter and I just couldn’t resist it. Button has to have this quilt.
There is no pattern, so I’m shamelessly plagiarizing reverse engineering and putting my own spin on it. To start, I’ve sourced a pile of Hello Kitty images from Google and printed them out. There are tons of them out there…just Google “Hello Kitty Colouring Pages”. I’ve then reduced them by 50% to get them to a good size to make a quilt block. Each block will be 6″ square when completed.
These are then going to be traced onto fabric and embroidered. The images have been delivered to Ma this morning…she’s been champing at the bit to start the tracing. I’ll be doing the embroidery. This is going to be a wonderful joint project with Ma, she’ll be doing the pieced squares, which are going to be cream/pink/duck-egg blue…which is pretty much the colour scheme for the room.
These quilts are going to be the centrepieces of some pretty cute new bedrooms for the kids. When I’ve told them about what we’ve got in store for them, there has been a huge amount of excitement, which makes these projects even more enjoyable for me (if that’s possible!). And at the end of it, they’ll have rooms that reflect their individual personalities and are a joy for them to spend time in.
Whether they’ll keep them tidy is another matter! 😉
Pendle Stitches 
Button’s quilt will be really special having her mum, and grandmother making it. It will be a real heirloom. I can imagine that you and your mum are as excited as the little ones.
We are bouncing…Ma’s been on the phone several times this morning discussing the tracing. I can’t wait to get them in my hands and start stitching.
They are going to be AMAZING! Can’t wait to see how they turn out.
Me too! Very excited!
What a fantastic idea- may have to pinch it for my own grandchildren :0)
Isn’t it just fab! And you could do it with any of their favourite characters. Genius! Wish I’d thought of it! 😉
They’re going to be so beautiful. I rather fancy the union flag one myself – trade you for a standard lamp?! Seriously, looking forward to seeing how they progress and good luck with the work on the house. It’s a bit grim when it’s going on but worth it at the end 🙂
It’s crappy doing big work on the house when you’re living with it, but it’s going to be spread over the whole year so less stressful.
And I can always relax with the stitching in the evenings 😉
Oh, I love both of these designs! How fun will that be… And you even have a partner-in-crime to do the bits you don’t like. How awesome! Looking forward to seeing the progress. 🙂
Aren’t they fab?!?! I spoke with Ma on the way to pick the kids up from nursery/school and she’s having the most fun doing the tracings…but then she likes frogging knitting too!
How cool is that? And how cool are you and your ma. Lucky Button and The Boy – I am not surprised they are exciiiiiiiiiited. Enjoy every minute of the mundane and the fun side of the decorating – its all good.
PS I need to google frogging knitting. It sounds painful …. :o)
I have to say I love decorating! Except perhaps sanding woodwork…that, not so much. But it’s going to be fun watching this come together. I’m hoping to start stitching this week…which makes me very happy!
Frogging is only painful if you have to do it. I’m lucky to have Ma!