I enjoy sewing with others particularily in a team effort but don’t get many chances sadly. But a friend who had seen my quilts asked whether I taught patchwork classes. Cue hysterical laughter. I could teach every short cut going and how not to do it but the quilt police can rest easy, I’ve no plans to teach quilting. Anyway I offered to show her the ropes if she was happy to help me make a quilt for Grenfell.

I knew Kasia was going to be a very quick learner. She’s done some dressmaking in her past, enjoyed the sort of crafts like decoupage where dexterity is important and sure enough she got on famously. She was as satisfied as getting the reverse side neat as much as the front!!  Something that has eluded me

I’d got these fabrics to hand….

Not frankly my colour way but I bought them for a young girl I know but who in the end wanted full on pink not this more variable colour range. I’ve always thought they’d make a gentle quilt for a young girl  or woman. I had fun thinking of a design that would be reasonably quick and give Kasia some broad experience. I decided on an Irish chain quilt as it’s a nine patch from a strip set so she got plenty of experience of sewing and cutting. Best of all by the end of a long afternoon we had a quilt top.

Kasia’s a cat lover and they spent virtually all the time with her, supervising of course

After the challenges and demands of my latest quilt, it was lovely to sit back and watch someone else sew with me as ironing and cutting fairy. It was also good to have another to help with basting and then the quilting. Again to keep it simple we or rather Kasia just did straight line quilting on the diagonal to emphasise the lattice effect.

I certainly needed a change of pace  and this simplest and quickest of designs is beautiful. Funnily enough after we made enough for the first two rows I just couldn’t see the diagonal  chains. But once together it looks lovely. This may be another scrap project for me as my neutral scrap jars are filled to overflowing.

Oh and the quilting world has another quilter. Kasia is a natural.

This is a finish on my Q3 FAL list first blogged here

linking up to Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts and Kelly at My Quilt Infatuation.