Welcome to my Blog, such a short sentence but its been a long time coming and I’ll be honest it feels scary!  Finally fingers have been pulled out and I’m entering the 21st century.  The blogs published will be collections of my experiences and ramblings.

They will be a journey, a voyage of discovery, so bear with me if the direction is not obvious.

My quilting journey and fabric passion began in 2009.  We had moved to Somerset from surbaban Hampshire and life took on a whole new and relaxed pace!  I had worked for the NHS as a Radiographer for 20 years and the move was like a breath of fresh air!  Rural Somerset offered no local large hospital to continue my first career and frankly I was ready for a change.  Since the birth of our eldest daughter I had worked part time and by the time our second daughter was born I was down to one day a week.  Priorities had changed and I had retrained as Garden Designer, a far more flexible career option!  I loved the creative process, designing  very geometric outdoor spaces for many a local Microsoft employee!  I love gardens but I adored the drawing board stage more than the planting process.  The move to our new home in rural Somerset took me away from the wholesale nurseries I had used and I threw myself into the beautiful surroundings and artist groups prevalent in the area.  Somerset arts week opened my eyes to everyday people creating work and ‘getting it out there’!

The town of Frome started the journey off for me and i gave many a craft a go, wire sculpture, ceramics and a number of textile courses.  I had never sewn by hand or using a machine (except an unfinished year 3 school skirt project).  A course at a fabulous shop called Millie Moon in Frome started the fabric affair!

After a 6 or 8 week course I had a quilt to give to my daughter, I had been obsessed with the process and was at the machine in any spare moment.  It grew at a rapid rate and as it neared its end I was dreading not having it in my life any more….

So followed quilts and cushions for all my relatives, whether they wanted one or not!  I needed to change what I was creating though because I ran out of people needing quilts and they are expensive to make with no known home to go to.

Another downside was that those asking for quilts did not necessarily choose fabrics I liked and I quickly realised that I needed to love the colours and patterns I was working with to create my best pieces.

So, in the search for smaller projects that harked back to my original love of painting I stumbled on a course at the friendliest most supportive Quilting shop in my life,  Midsomer Quilting. Flicking through their course brochure an image by Effie Gallety jumped out of the page.  I booked myself on and have never looked back!