LP&Q :: Issue 5

I'm so delighted to have something in Issue 5 of Love Patchwork & Quilting magazine as, like all the issues that have gone before it, it's a goodie. If you don't subscribe, you can try to track it down by looking out for Karen's beautiful quilt, which is the cover star - I really adore quilts that play with triangles to create a sense of light and this does it perfectly.

Back in November, the editor, Jenny, asked if I'd like to contribute a make-up/washbag duo involving some English paper piecing.

This is what I came up with - it features hexagons, but with curved outer edges…which means it brings some curves into the piecing without the difficult bit of having to sew them together. It also presents the opportunity for some fussy-cutting, which you know I will jump upon at any opportunity. The fabric featured here is Bluebird Park by Kate & Birdie.

I love the way that Love Patchwork & Quilting have photographed the velvet zip pulls at jaunty angles to follow the stitch line that runs across the top of the page. Bonkersly lovely.

I thought you might like to see a few other incarnations of this using the same pattern pieces, but different fabrics and placements. I happened to have seen the Orla Kiely print, below, around the time I started drafting a pattern for this piece, so I started planning out something that reinterpreted it in English paper pieced form.

However, it was a colour scheme which was met with universal disapproval from my family, so I decided to abandon it, although I still really quite like it myself - if you fancy a little bit of self-made Orla in your life, you can use the same template pieces that are given in issue 5, to create something similar.

I gave this one, made from Liberty prints, as part of my grandmother's Christmas gift - I love seeing how different you can make things look by using very different styles of fabric (unfortunately, the light was so gloomy back in November that it was difficult to take any nice photos).

So anyway, there are so many other things that I think you'll love in issue 5 -

There's also this wonderful pixel sewing scissors quilt, created by Katy. I've slightly fallen in love with the idea of moving the chair to the right and then sitting my little boy on the chair, looking very serious, as though he is poised for a haircut. I think this quilt would be wonderful hung in a hallway, so that different people would sit there as they were putting their shoes on and off - I think I'd request a photograph of each person and then turn the series of photographs into a collage of subjects. If you look at this close-up in the magazine, the creamy areas have a delicious mother-of-pearl effect, as there are some mirrorball dots in there.

Anyway, Issue 5 of Love Patchwork & Quilting goes on sale tomorrow, Wednesday 5th February - do try and hunt one out - it's an issue full of new fabrics, interesting books, inspiring quilts and some fantastic features.

Florence x