The ladies are progressing slowly. They are getting dressed in all their finery and jewels. They might even be ready to face the world soon. At least, this aqua beauty is.

I started this top in a Jan Mullen Class at Quilt symposium 2007. I loved the shapes and colours of the original Dressez quilt. The collection was based around some dainty florals I found at Fabric Barn, while it was still in Porrirua. I could just imagine them as sweet frocks for taking tea in, so Frocks it is.

The boarders are finished and the ladies are discussing their backs as ladies do To keep the simplicity, I'm heading towards a bagged quilt with simple knots and silhouettes. The back is to be either cotton aqua print and flannel lining, or mint green blanket. What do you think?

One of my passions is china. Some would call it a weakness. Upon seeing laden china cabinets I occasionally have to admit it is a vice. Another vice of mine would have to be fabric and so to combine the two is sublime.

When a friend asked me to make some tea cosies for her store I jumped at the challenge. After pouring over the fabric combinations and thinking about what went with my china this emerged:

Taking a break so to speak and reminding me of the Spanish proverb “How beautiful it is to do nothing and rest afterward”.

I have been busy sewing this week, working on a quilt of dress blocks. While it is not yet finished, I will just mention it in passing, say at this stage it could be more blue than the pink it started as and save the unveiling for later.

Welcome to Seven Stitches.

To mark the beginning of a new blog, I'm starting with the beginning of my quilting journey. I had always been aware of quilting. I have memories of my mother quilting when I was a child and always saw her set of fabric drawers as an infinite source of colours and textures. I had even dabbled in a quilted cushion at the age of 13 (to this day incomplete and lost) and hand quilting an abandoned quilt of my Mother's. While journeys never really begin or even end I guess the most suitable starting place is the first quilt I started and finished.

My first quilt was started and completed in 2003. I had always wanted to try quilting. For months I had been eying up the quilt store at my bus stop in Remuera and in July 2003, I finally enrolled in a beginners class.

This lovely is a little faded, but still loved. I chose the colours based on a piece of sprightly green fabric the I had been given. While there were next to no bright, clear greens available I managed to put together these colours in a slightly more muted palette.

In December 2003, this was given to my Gran as a Christmas present. Gran's memories were loosing touch with each other and like me, she could remember her daughter, my mother, quilting. As a consequence, this darling was shown off proudly as a piece by her own daughter. A slip of memory that I will hereby consider to be a highest compliment. After some time the quilt was returned to me carefully name tagged so that I will always remember that is was once my Gran's and good enough to be made by my Mum.