Taigh Loch an Eathair- the house on the Boat Loch quilt

This Harris tweed quilt is a Christmas present for my eldest son who has returned from his travels finally  to the cold of Glasgow. The greys and the blue of the loch are so calming. The blue tweed is from Norman Mackenzie in Carloway, Lewis. It has flecks of green and purple in it.

We will take the quilt out to Loch Lomond at the weekend and photograph it in the natural light before it goes to its new owner and warms his frosty bedroom.











I added the little boat at the end as I felt the loch was too empty without it. The triple border frames the quilt well. 

Harris tweed cushions

These beautiful Summer heather tweed cushions have zipped closings and plain tweed backings. 

The 16" cushion cover - £30.

The 18" cushion cover - £35.   

I pad cases and lap tops

A padded I-pad case with vintage button and velcro fastening,

lined with contrasting cotton- £25. A smart covering for your I-pad.  

 

A very elegant lap-top case, lined and padded with vintage button and velcro fastening- £30. Request your own choice of colour and Tweed 

A pack of Stanley dogs

These pocket sized dogs are perfect for stocking fillers for any dog lovers. 

More Christmas makes- not Tweed but still fun.

A little Christmas Angel to watch over you 

This cheerful polar bear will brighten up anyone's gloomy winter day. 

These sleepy pair will settle quietly on your pillow and give you sweet dreams. 

Colourwash quilt - Nov 12

Have just completed this double bed Colourwash quilt inspired by the excellent book by Eleanor Burns and under the  outstanding guidance of Maggie Milne at Mandors sewing centre in Glasgow.  The colours are so beautiful. I used a lot of batik fabric in this one and it really is excellent to sew with as it holds its shape and the patterns are fantastic. 

An Clò Mòr na Bainnse (the wedding tweed).

This quilt is being given as a wedding present this weekend to a wonderful
couple . I wanted to combine strong colours and merging tones to represent the
union of two great people who work so well as a team but also bring their own flashes
of brilliance and ways of looking at the world to their union.The waterfall is at the Falls of
Falloch near Loch Lomond

The quilt really comes to life in the Highland landscape.

We had fun finding suitable branches to hang the quilt from.

Christmas makes

Red and green Harris Tweed heart wreath with vintage buttons - £10.50

 Cream and red Harris Tweed cushion, 16" with zipped opening - £30

Shades of brown and Lilac and purple cushions , 16" with zipped openings - £30.
Lavender hearts- small £4.50, large £5.50

Colourwash quilt- step by step

This double bed quilt is from Eleanor Burn's excellent book 'Quick Trip Quilts'. 

The first step is to choose 18 different fabrics which blend well together. I chose my favourite colours - teals, greens and lilacs.

These batik fabrics are so beautiful- there is such a depth of colour in them. 

Then cut the fabric into 4 x 4" strips and sew the strips together blending the colours well. Label the seperate strups from 1- 18  

Then cut the fabric into varying  strips of 31/2, 2 1/4 and 2 " and sew together  with the colours descending each time. this is the tricky part when you need to be sure that each strip is numbered  and that you cut in the correct place. 

Strarting to quilt up , the dozens of safety pins needed to hold the layers together are just visible. 

Glossop Bodhran Case Sept 12

This bodhran case was needed for a beautiful wide bodhran that was given to my son by a very generous soul in Glossop in the summer. We decided to go for a patchwork theme. It has a front pocket for his beaters and a smaller pocket for his allan key. It looks very autumnal and hopefully will protect the bodhran for many more seasons to come. 

Summer heather cushion Aug 12

This six-pieced cushion was inspired by the flowering heather on our most recent Munro-bagging trip ( Benn A Chroinn and Ann- Casteil , near Crianlarich). It measures 18" x18" and  has a rich purple tweed backing with a duck feather filling. You can find an example at the Blue Pig Studio, Carloway, Isle of Lewis or contact me if you would like to order one.  

Tolsta chaolais quilt August 12

This is the first Harris Tweed quilt I made for our good friends on the Isle of Lewis using a bag of patchwork pieces from the Harris Tweed Mill at Tarbet, Harris. It is edged with teal tweed from Norman Mackenzie's weaving shed in Carloway. We displayed it on the new  elegant stone wall hand-built by Keith from stones he found on his croft. It was whilst sewing this quilt that I fell in love with working with Harris Tweed.

Uig beach quilt August '12

This new quilt  was inspired by the blues of the sea waters on the Isle of Lewis.  This beautiful pieced quilt was completed in our new flat in Glasgow in early August and then we took it up to Lewis and photographed it on the beach at Uig on a windy day. This is the same beach where the charmingly detailed Lewis chessmen were found. The Harris tweed comes either from Norman Mackenzie's weaving shed in Carloway or from the Harris Tweed mill at Tarbet.
 It measures 42" x 50" and has 100% cotton wadding and a pale blue cotton backing. It is the start of my collection of items for sale to the public.

Sky,loch and sea quilt May 2012

This quilt was inspired  by a holiday to Oban, Easter 2012. I wanted to express the journey of water from the mountain loch down through  the high hills, then the heather and the green fertile fields into the blue river and then the deep,dark sea. It meant that I could use a greater range of colours. To express the flow of the water, each layer of fabric had a curved edge like a wave which gave a softer appearance. The quilt was commissioned as a  birthday present  to a dear friend's daughter who is studying in St Andrew's. Hopefully, it will brighten up the dark winter days and gave her comfort through her years of study there.

Doreen's beautiful hand sewing machine

I borrowed my dear friend Doreen Elliott's sewing machine to take this picture with one of my quilts. Its been in her family forever. It has the original spools, the long thin ones which remind me of my Mum's sewing machine. Doreen still sews with it and it's in perfect condition.She says that it doesn't go too fast so you get a nice stitch.It's a real treasure.

Bucket Bag

March 2012. I made this lovely purple tweed  bag for my sister's recent visit to the North -East. It has a lining of shot green silk recycled from a long evening skirt that I picked up in Oxfam.The purple tweed came from the Harris Tweed shop in Tarbet. The wooden handles contrast well with tweed.

Purple Tweed I-Pad case

I made this neat I-Pad case in purple tweed for my son's girlfriend after Christmas. It's padded and the I-Pad fits in snugly.The hard wearing tweed will protect her new favourite accessory. She chose a vintage green button from my Grandma's button box to fasten it. I think that tweed would be excellent for lap-top and Kindle covers too.

Liberty bird in the bush summer quilt

I made this small quilt in the middle of summer using scraps of dressmaking fabrics, cottons and satins to add texture. I was drawn to the teal and lilac colours in the Liberty fabric and thought that the green polka dot pattern complemented it well. I haven't found a home for this quilt yet . Let me know if you have a place for it.

Nine Squared Birthday Quilt

My eldest son's girlfriend turned 21 in July 2011 and he commissioned me to make her a quilt as he was leaving for a year abroad in sunny climes whilst she was facing a long cold Northern  winter in her student flat without him. I wanted to make something dramatic so chose the combination of royal blue and red chevron tweed with plain teal . All the tweed came from Norman Mackenzie's weaving shed  in Carloway on Lewis. I backed it with a bright red lining.As someone once said a quilt is a 're-usable hug', it was a great present for a very special person.

Fifty Golden Pieces Quilt

I made this in October for a very dear friend who turned 50 this year. He is passionate about the Highlands of Scotland and mountain climbing and had set himself the goal of climbing 50 mountains in his 50th year. However, family circumstances intervened and he had to concede the challenge for the time being. In the meantime I put together fifty pieces of Highlands & Islands beauty for him, in the shape of a quilt comprising 50 golden patches of Harris Tweed. I laid the pieces out in the imbricate or overlapping pattern of pebbles in a highland stream, then overlocked each piece. I  used a lovely cotton wadding which made the machine quilting very easy. It is light but the tweed adds the warmth. Our friend now uses it to keep snug on these winter evenings.

Floral 50th Birthday Quilt.

It was my eldest sister's birthday in June- her fiftieth so I needed something special for her. She had told me that she was re-decorating a room in greys and blues. I had a piece of blue floral furnishing fabric, in fact I think that she had given it to me last year. I decided to make a quilt using the flowers as the panels and alternating the front and back of the fabric for the seperate rectangles. I used a beautiful blue moleskin cotton for the strips and for the edging, a co-ordinating silver and blue curtain fabric. I couldn't wait for her to see it. We gathered at Arley Hall on a sweltering hot day and she unwrapped it as we ate a delicious picnic.
Now it's my second eldest sister's 50th  birthday this summer and she has hinted that she wants a quilt too!

Brian Boru Bodhran Case

A Christmas present for one of my sons, this dark green padded case comfortably carries his large bodhran . The Harris tweed will be hard wearing to withstand all his travelling around the country to different gigs and his busking around the cities of the North- East. I added a pocket for his beaters and another smaller one for the allen key. He was very pleased with the outcome.  Note: Brian Boru was the High King of Ireland.

New Year's Whistle Case

A very talented young whistle player came to the house to celebrate the New Year with us. In return for his tunes I designed and created a four-compartment padded whistle case for his beautiful Chieftain whistles. Started and completed 1st January 2012, whilst the rest of the house nursed the collective hangover. The tweed is a deep blue pinstripe woven by Norman McKenzie at Carloway, Isle of Lewis. I attached the Centenary Harris Tweed label to the front as we were just one day into the new year.