The 2017 Finish-A-Long Q1 link up is now closed!
Throughout the year, FAL is going to introduce you to each of the crew of international hosts. Kicking us off is Nicky, who I've had the pleasure of meeting several times!
Hi! My name is Nicky Eglinton and I'm one of the global 2017 Finish-A-Along hosts. This is my second year as co-host so I should know what I'm doing. I live in the South of England but was born in bonnie Scotland and after a few years studying in Aberdeen and Glasgow, I came to London to get my first job! I loved the theatres, cinema, restaurants, walking across Waterloo Bridge and looking one way at the Houses of Parliament and the other way at St Paul's. Life was good!
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Houses of Parliament to the left, the dome of St. Paul's to the right |
Since then I have moved even further south and out of the hubbub of the City to the quiet more rural life of Sussex to raise a family with hubby. It has suited us well and we have three lovely children and a cat and a dog! Here are the pets in portrait and 'helping' me quilt!
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Saffy and Maddie
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In my childhood I learnt to stitch from my mother - first toys, and cross stitch, then clothes in my teens and twenties (back then it was actually cheaper to do that).
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Meet Dandelion - I still have him!
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Jumping forward a bit, to maintain my sanity after kid no 1, I went to an evening class about patchwork and quilting. My chance to talk with grown ups! I was completely in love with applique! It was all I did! And then I ended up on a course at The Quilt Room to make this quilt in 2005!
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Friendship's Garden Quilt by Alma Allen & Cherie Ralston |
The applique was easy for me but would you believe I was terrified of the HST border round each block and the quilt remained in pieces, and on several FAL lists.
Suddenly it became the time to finish that quilt! I even had to learn FMQ in order to do it !
And here it is! So all of you who have longterm WIPs/UFOs do not despair!
Since 2012 I have been keen to meet up with people, and join in the quilting community. I went to the Fat Quarterly Retreats in London and learnt about the Siblings Together charity. I have been making quilts for the charity since then - one or two to begin with, then I joined a bee to make more, helped others finish quilts and finally last year Maria and I were leading the campaign to make 100 quilts for the charity.
The charity helps children in the UK social care system retain bonds with their siblings at holiday camps. They are given a quilt to remind them of the fun times together.
We will be aiming to make another 100 quilts in 2017 with help from a generous community of quilters ! Would you like to join us? You can find more information here and here!
I love scraps and have been running a monthly link up, #Scraptastictuesday, on the second Tuesday of every month, with my co host Leanne (who also hosts FAL). We like to celebrate the origins of patchwork, though Leanne uses scraps in more of an improv way than I do but you will find all sorts of inspiration there!
I am a scrappy quilter for ecological and economical reasons! I like to hang onto those pounds and pence and keep my scraps out of the landfill sites! And I just love cramming as many different fabrics as possible into one quilt.
We would love you to join us with your scrappy projects (they don't need to be finished), plans, and storage systems.
I try to make a scrappy sampler quilt each year with tutorials showing you how to make your own! 2015 is finished and 2016 is basted ready for a finish this quarter I hope!
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Liberty Sampler 2015 & Karen Lewis Sampler 2016
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I seem to have made lots of quilts. I find the creative process both stimulating and therapeutic. I do tend to make up my own patterns though on occasion if I love something I will try to make my own version of it.
Here are some of my favourite quilt finishes
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And here is one I hope to finish this coming quarter! It is my take on the traditional Double Wedding Ring (my own variation) - a lot of it stitched by hand! I used acryllic templates made by Marti Michell to help with the cutting and designing of these blocks.
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Hoopla! Quilt
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My FAL list is always a long one (yes I am a member of Archie the Wonder Dog's #ridiculouslylongFAList ) as when I used to choose a few items for my list I always wanted to work on something else! Much easier to keep everything out in the open I found!
I hope you will join us on our journey to complete those listed projects and I look forward to seeing your finishes! Remember to cheer on the rest of the community - it really does make a difference!
