Look these lovely boys! Aren’t they the sweetest? For the last month, I’ve been spending more time than I ever have before, just sitting and watching. Watching this sweet little puppy, watching the too-long grass sway in the breeze, watching the rain fall or the clouds move through the sky or the girls dance their hearts out to the Aladdin soundtrack (gosh I’m sick of that music! But the girls’ dancing is pretty great!). Like many, this year has been the great unwinding for me. After years of overlapping deadlines and pressures, suddenly life was on pause. I’ve spent much of this year feeling uncomfortable. Like I wasn’t quite sure what to do with myself if there wasn’t a book to write to a club to run or a house to build. It’s pretty satisfying to be working towards something, to have a good way to fill all the crevices of time. And so I’ve been waiting. Waiting for the right next thing to grab me. I’ve been trying to set goals, make plans, keep track and adjust course, only recently, I’ve been terribly distracted by the lovely weather or a game of fetch. And I can feel the peace starting to take residence, despite myself.

It seems, after months of restless waiting, the answer was not to find the next big adventure to dive into, but to rest without one for a while.

I wasn’t intending, when I made this Tuppence Quilt, to let it become the next picnic quilt, but these Spirited Fabric by Sharon Holland just look so lovely with my green grass and blonde puppy. What better way to enjoy it than outside in spring? The hexie flowers are machine appliqued with a simple top stitch, and I machine quilted around each centre flower, so I felt better letting it be used for a good puppy rumble than many of my hand stitched quilts. Because I loved this green floral backing from the collection so much, I cut only the wadding/batting in line with the edge of the quilt, and then trimmed the backing edge 1” away from the top. I then folded the backing over and top stitched in place to become the backing. I love how it makes the quilt feel deliciously vintage. A plainer binding may have made it more fresh or modern, but I love it this way.

Tuppence is part of my Small Change Quilts collection, a trio of bucket list hexie quilts that are finished with applique onto squares and machine sewn into a quilt top. It’s a great way to get that beautiful hand stitched look for folks who are busy, or just want to spend more time watching and soaking up the change in the weather.

Get Small Change Quilts here!