Melony Patch

Quilt Spot May 2021

“Enjoy each moment as it will go by in a flash”, so I was told when I became a mum. And it’s something I’ve really taken to heart. Children do grow up quickly; and once they’re grown, they’re grown!

So the moments I get to spend time with my kids, I treasure. A month or so ago, during the summer half-term, my youngest and I sat down together to watch a movie, as the weather was a bit grim and we didn’t have any plans for the day. We don’t usually do this during daytime as there are always so many other things to do! Anyhow, we decided on ‘Paddington’ – a movie we have both seen a number of times.

It is a completely charming story and you can’t help fall in love with the little bear with a huge heart. His foster family, the Browns, are just as charming too, living in a charming house, in charming part of (an idealised) charming London.

Paddington’s room is in the attic and there on his bed is an equally charming quilt! Of course, a charming room can’t be without a charming quilt! And this one is made of string quilt blocks, featuring fabrics in a range of colours and patterns.

‘Paddington’ was quickly followed by ‘Paddington 2’, where, interestingly, I spotted a different quilt on his bed – what a lucky bear!! I couldn’t make out what type of quilt it was, but it definitely was different to the first one pictured as you can see by the different pattern of the patches and the colour of the fabrics featured.

A lovely way to spend a lovely afternoon with my youngest.

Have you spotted any quilts in movies or on the telly? I’d love to know. Drop me a line and share your ‘spots’ with me.

Till next time,

Mel x

Click here for an A-Z list of my quilt spots.

Quilt Spot April 2021

I was really not expecting to see a quilt in ‘Psycho’, the classic black and white 1960 psychological horror by Alfred Hitchcock. This is a movie I’ve seen HUNDREDS of times as I’ve always loved Hitchcock. I think telly-wise, my teenage years were defined by watching Hitchcock movies and the TV series with my brother and sister in the 1980s. Happy days.

My husband is also a fan and now that our youngest is 10, we thought it would be time to introduce her to the wonders of Hitchcock, especially as she would like to be a movie director when she’s older. So what better place to start?

‘Psycho’ is one of those movies I never tire of; even knowing what the plot is or what the twist is, it still has me on the edge of the sofa… and I still enjoy trying to ‘find’ Hitchcock’s cameo appearances!

The quilt appears in what would have been Norman Bates’s childhood room. The room has a small bed set against a wall, and a number of toys, but the decor is so grim and sad… even the toy rabbit seems to have a frown. The quilt is crumpled carelessly on the bed and features stars, possibly eight-point stars, though it’s hard to tell. The prints are ditsy and the fabric looks like it could be cotton, as there’s no sheen to it, and it is hand-quilted. (Perhaps it was Mrs Bates who made the quilt for a young Norman…!)

Quilt Spot – Psycho – Norman Bates’s childhood room, complete with quilt and sad bunny.

Quilt Spot – Psycho – Why so sad little bunny?

It was a surprise ‘find’ in a movie I’ve seen so many times. Thankfully, my family are on board with my ‘quilt spots’ and my cries to ‘pause the movie!’ when one appears on screen. Happy days.

Have you spotted any quilts in movies or on the telly? I’d love to know. Drop me a line and share your ‘spots’ with me.

Till next time,

Mel x

Click here for an A-Z list of my quilt spots.

Quilt Spot March 2021

Following no ‘spots’ in February, two came along in March. The first was ‘Witness’, the 1985 movie, staring Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis, about a young Amish boy who witnesses the murder of an undercover police officer. Given that this movie was made over 30 years ago, I can safely say that I’ve seen it numerous times before, but this was first time since writing my ‘quilt spots’, and I knew, given that it is set in the Amish community, that there would be a few quilts to spot.

And the movie does not disappoint! One scene I particularly like is of a group of women quilting whilst the men build a new barn. The quilt features lovely hearts and flowers, appliqued against a white background.

I liked seeing this quilt as I always tend to think of Amish quilts as featuring solid darks colours in large geometrical blocks (which I also love!), like the one pictured below, hanging on a washing line in another scene of the movie.

And then there was another quilt I spotted, draped around Harrison Ford. The colours are dark and sombre, and the block pattern seems to be courthouse steps, but the fabric appears to have a slight sheen to it, so I wasn’t sure if this one was quite accurate.

Quit Spot: ‘Witness’ – Harrison Ford wrapped in a quilt… no doubt a treat for some!

I think I have more reading to do on the subject of Amish quilts. After a quick ‘google’ search I came across the following blog post which is quite interesting: The History of Amish Quilt Making | Amish Outlet Store.

I’ve always liked the idea that Amish quilters used to deliberately put in mistakes in their creations to pay homage to God, as ‘only God is perfect’, but this is in fact considered a myth. However, I do like the notion of it – it does resonate with me, and if I end up with a ‘mistake’ in a quilt, I tend to think, “well, I’m not perfect!”

The other spots were in ‘Hillbilly Elegy’, staring Glen Close and Amy Adams, based on the memoir of JD Vance. It’s a difficult movie to watch, flitting between scenes of JD’s chaotic upbringing, and when he’s a young man studying law at Yale.

There were two quilts I spotted. One draped over the sofa in JD’s grandmother’s (Mamaw) house, and the other in a flashback scene when JD’s mother, Bev, was a little girl. Bev and her sister are hiding in a closet as their mum (Mamaw) and dad argue violently… following which Mamaw sets him alight (!) as he lies passed-out drunk on the sofa… When Mamaw leaves the room, Bev rushes out, grabs a quilt that’s on the sofa and puts out the fire with it…

It’s hard-hitting stuff… However, what I loved about the movie is how it shows JD’s strength of character. He is proud of where he comes from, especially when others seem to sneer at him for it. One quote will stay with me: “Where we come from is who we are, but we choose every day who we become.” So true.

Have you spotted any quilts in movies or on the telly? I’d love to know! Drop me a line and share your ‘spots’ with me.

Till next time,

Mel x

Click here for an A-Z list of my quilt spots.

Quilt Spot January 2021

The year got off to a great start… at least in terms of ‘quilt spots’! When it comes to the rest, well… we still seem to be in a similar position to last year, with the pandemic still raging and another lockdown in the UK affecting all aspects of life, including work, education and socialising.

Although there WILL be light at the end of the tunnel, the current situation is still a little bleak. Just like the first movie featured in this month’s quilt spot. ‘The Devil All the Time’ is a brilliantly acted movie, but – dear me – is it hard-hitting! Even the main character is hard to like, resorting to physical violence to resolve all problems. With corrupt police officers, an abusive preacher and a serial killer, it’s not an easy-going movie.

There are, however, plenty of quilt spots. There was one I particularly liked, which was draped over the back of a sofa; it was a small lap-sized quilt and was made up of rectangular patches, alternating between single-cloth rectangles in dark blue with a ditsy print, and rectangles made up of what looked like strips from shirt fabric in predominantly lighter tones.

Quilt Spot: The Devil All the Time

Another quilt I spotted was on a bed. Although I couldn’t see it clearly, it looked like a friendship star quilt, with the stars in a dark red fabric set against a cream background. There were other quilts too and altogether they made the movie more enjoyable!

Quilt Spot: The Devil All the Time

Following that was Season 2 of Netflix’s ‘Virgin River’, which I really enjoyed first time round, and which I enjoyed again, mainly for the stunning scenery! How I would like to visit where it’s filmed – Vancouver, Canada (although the series itself is set in California!).

There are plenty of quilts on offer: a lovely crazy quilt on the bed of the main character – also called Mel! – and in the house of the mayor (and local town gossip) Hope. Although I find Hope a bit tiresome (as she’s constantly meddling in other people’s business) her house is a DREAM! And there are quilts EVERYWHERE! In terms of quilts, though, my favourite room, is her bedroom, where she has two quilts on display (YAY!) – a round-the-world quilt over the bed, and then draped across the bottom, a quilt made up of large squares set on the diagonal.

Quilt Spot: Virgin River

And finally, ‘War Horse’, which I’ve seen before but never noticed the quilt which appears towards the beginning of the movie, and is on the bed in the main bedroom in the house of the farm where Joey (the horse) comes to live and work. The quilt is only on screen for a brief second or so, so it’s hard to make out what it is, but it looks like a hexie quilt. This is another great movie, almost a love story between the main character the horse and his owner the young Albert, and shows how even in the darkest moments, people on opposite sides still have things in common and can come together.

Quilt Spot: War Horse

Have you spotted on any quilts in movies or on the telly? I’d love to know! Drop me a line and share your ‘spots’ with me!

Till next time!

Mel x

Click here for an A-Z list of my quilt spots.

Block of the Month 2020

During 2020, every month I published details of simple patchwork blocks with guidelines illustrating how to piece it together, as well as ideas on how to create a variety of different layouts for patchwork quilts using the block. I also provided a number of ‘colouring-in’ sheets for the various layouts so that you can try your own colouring-in and try out different colour schemes to suit you.

All the blocks can be found here, but below is a month-by-month guide should you wish to give these a go:

January 2020

February 2020

March 2020

April 2020

May 2020

June 2020

July 2020

August 2020

September 2020

October 2020

November 2020

December 2020

You can also enjoy my other free patterns on my blog:

Happiness quilt

Pirate quilt and Small patchwork bag charm.

Christmas tree mini-quilt decoration and Small bag charm with Suffolk Puff centre.

2020 review…

At the end of 2019 I wrote that I was looking forward to 2020, saying it sounded ‘pretty cool already’!! Dear me, I couldn’t have been more wrong! What a trying and difficult year it has been… However, despite this, there have been a number of positives from 2020.

I loved home-schooling; I loved having the kids with me all the time; I loved spending more time in nature with the family and on my own, enjoying the wonderful weather we had in spring and summer and taking pleasure in taking notice of the wildlife around us – birds, wildflowers, butterflies…; I loved the fact that I could still work and provide a service to those struggling with mental health issues; I loved rediscovering the joys of cycling – so much so that I’m looking to buy a new bike (before buying the new sewing machine I had in mind!). There are things I missed of course, like meeting up face-to-face with my family and friends, and my sewing club, book club and choir sessions, all of which continued over Zoom.

I had thought that I would get more ‘quilting’ done during lockdown and over the months that followed, but in reality I didn’t get much done at all, and have also been relatively quiet on my blog. I’m hoping 2021 will be a more ‘normal’ year, but I fear it won’t be until the vaccination programme is well underway and a large proportion of the country is immunised.

So although 2021 is a BIG year for me as I’m celebrating a BIG birthday, I have decided not to make plans. Years ago I had thought of organising a number of celebrations to mark this year. But I feel everything is still uncertain and it’s hard to make plans. What’s more, if there is one lesson that has been reaffirmed to me, is that we need to be grateful for what we have in the moment and take each day as it comes. So this is how I’m entering 2021. I hope it’s a good one for you and yours.

Mel x

2020 BLOG POSTS

Fabric design

My new fabrics have arrived!
Peace Love Joy – introducing my very own Christmas mini-bunting panel

General life and sewing

Label done, quilt washed… and now ready to use…

(‘Happiness’ quilt – click here for free instructions to make this quilt)

Slowly adjusting to the current situation… whilst making progress on the wellbeing quilt
Keeping busy during lockdown
Busy making laundry bags for nursing staff
The joys of having a large stash…
‘Best home-school teacher ever’

Quilt Spots 2020

‘Anne with an E’, series – January 2020
‘Groundhog Day’ – July 2020
‘Harriet’ – April 2020
‘Heartstrings’ Netflix series – May 2020
‘Housesitter’ – May 2020
‘Mercury Rising’ – May 2020
‘Mudbound’ – March 2020
‘Oliver!’ – January 2020
‘Rebecca’ – December 2020
‘The Half of It’ – May 2020
‘The Parent Trap’ – February 2020
‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, PS I Still Love You – February 2020
‘Togo’ – September 2020
‘Traitors’ – November 2020
‘Virgin River’ Season 1, Netflix – January 2020, February 2020

Click here for an A-Z list of all of my quilt spots throughout the years.

2020 Block of the Month

Check out Block of the Month posts with downloadable colouring-in sheets.

Quilt Spot December 2020

The only ‘spots’ of the month came on the last day of the year, when we were looking for a movie to watch after our New Year’s Eve meal that would finish just before midnight after which our plan was to nip outside into the garden and greet the New Year by toasting marshmallows on the fire and making wishes for 2021. (I had hoped to watch many ‘Christmas’ movies over the festive period, which I was sure would feature lots of quilts in them. I was told Holidate had a nice quilt, but we never got round to watching it! And we watched ‘The Holiday’ again, but alas… no quilts!)

The movie we watched was the new adaptation of ‘Rebecca’ – the gothic novel by Daphne Du Maurier. I remember seeing the original 1940 movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock when in my teens, and the new version, I feel, is just a good. I described it to my daughters as a psychological ghost story but without a ghost. It makes for uncomfortable viewing at times, as many of the characters are very cruel to the lead character and narrator, the new Mrs De Winter, played by Lily James, who is always living in the shadow of the first Mrs De Winter, Rebecca. As the story progresses, the true nature of the main characters are revealed. It’s a great movie and well worth watching.

I spotted two quilts in the movie – both appeared in ‘servants’ quarters. The first was when the new Mrs de Winter, was working (before her marriage) as a ‘companion’ to a rich American lady; the quilt was on the bed in the little servants room within the large and grandiose hotel suite occupied by her employer. In close up shots you can clearly see the stitching. In one scene it looks like a cream coloured wholecloth quilt, but in another scene in the same room, the quilt appears to be duo tone, pink and grey. The other quilt is in the housekeeper’s room in the De Winter’s house Manderley. Again, this appears to be a wholecloth quilt.

Have you spotted any quilts in movies or on the telly? I’d love to know, drop me a line and share your spots with me!

Till next time,

Mel x

Click here for an A-Z list of my quilt spots.

Quilt Spot November 2020

Quilt spots this year seem to be slow in coming… and it’s not because I’m not watching anything on the telly. This year has been one of ‘binge-watching’, so I’m probably watching plenty, but it seems the series we’ve been choosing to watch have been absent of quilts.

The year started off with the swords-and-fighting series ‘Last Kingdom’ followed by ‘Vikings’ and then ‘Knightfall’, all of which occasionally featured sumptuous bed coverings but no quilted or patchwork covers… Then there was ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ and ‘The Crown’… no quilts there either (does the Queen not own a quilt??!).

The only ‘quilt spot’ joy came in the form of a lovely hexie quilt in the series ‘Traitors’, an espionage drama set following the end of World War II, and first shown on Channel 4 in February 2019. And that’s as riveting as the series got for me…

I’m hoping I’ll see more spots over Christmas – especially as I consider patchwork quilts OBLIGATORY in ANY festive movie, and I’m planning on watching many of these. I have it on good authority that ‘Holidate’ has a nice quilt in it. Am I ready for Christmas? You bet! Bring it on!

Have you spotted any quilts in movies or in series? I’d love to know. Drop me a line and share your ‘spots’ with me!

Till next time!

Mel x

Click here for an A-Z list of my quilt spots.

Block of the Month – December 2020

The final block, Block L – December 2020, features a central row of three 1″ squares flanked, at the top and bottom, by double strips. As with the other blocks in this series, the feature pieces (ie the squares ad strips) can be cut from the same fabric or you can choose different fabrics and colours for each piece. All background pieces are to be cut from the same fabric, but different to the ones used for the squares and strips and preferably from a fabric that will make the squares and strips stand out.

You can use the colour-in sheets at the end of this blog post to try out different ideas.

Click here for all the ‘Block of the Month’ blocks published so far.

Materials:

All measurements below include a seam allowance of 0.25″.

For the patterned/solid squares (pieces A):

A – 3 x (1.5″ x 1.5″)

For the strips:

D – 4 x (1″ x 5.5″)

For the background (pieces B, C, E, F), ALL cut from the same fabric, ideally from a contrasting fabric to the squares and strips:

B – 2 x (1.5″ x 1.5″) for the squares
C – 4 x (1″ x 5.5″)
E – 2 x (1″ x 5.5″)
F – 2 x (6.5″ x 1″)

The finished block should measure 6.5″ square including seam allowances.

Piecing:

Sew your cut pieces as indicated below, sewing right sides together and pressing seams to one side as you go.

Quilt layouts

Below are some ideas of quilts you can make using this simple block and also combining it with blocks from previous months. You can play around with your colour/fabric choices to achieve some stunning effects.

The designs featured below are based on 5 x 5 and 6 x 6 grids, which would result in quilts with a finished size (not including binding) of 30″ x 30″ and 36″ x 36″ respectively.

Whatever size you go for, when you come to piecing the quilt, first sew together the blocks in each row. Press seams in each row in alternating directions, and then sew the rows together. Create a quilt sandwich with wadding and backing fabric, then quilt as desired, bind and add a label to complete it.

Colouring-in sheets

Try out different colour schemes with the colouring-in sheets below. To print the sheets, right click on the image and select ‘open image in new tab’. Then you can print the page – make sure your print settings are set to what you want. My preference is to fit the image to the page so I get a full sheet with the picture.

You can also enjoy my other free patterns on my blog:

Happiness quilt and Pirate quilt.

Small patchwork bag charm and Small bag charm with Suffolk Puff centre.

Block of the Month – November 2020

Block K – November 2020 features a series of seven narrow strips flanked by long strips on either side. As with the other blocks in this series, the feature pieces (ie the strips) can be cut from the same fabric or you can choose different fabrics and colours for each piece. All background pieces are to be cut from the same fabric, but different to the ones used for the strips and preferably from a fabric that will make the strips stand out.

You can use the colour-in sheets at the end of this blog post to try out different ideas.

Click here for all the ‘Block of the Month’ blocks published so far.

Materials:

All measurements below include a seam allowance of 0.25″.

For the series of short strips from patterned/solid fabric (pieces A):

A –7 x (3.5″ x 1″)

For the long strips:

D – 2 x (1″ x 5.5″)

For the background (pieces B, C, D, E), ALL cut from the same fabric, ideally from a contrasting fabric to the squares and strips:

B – 6 x (3.5″ x 0.75″) for the short strips
C – 4 x (1″ x 5.5″)
E – 2 x (6.5″ x 1″)

The finished block should measure 6.5″ square including seam allowances.

Piecing:

Sew your cut pieces as indicated below, sewing right sides together and pressing seams to one side as you go.

Quilt layouts

The designs featured below are based on a 6 x 6 grid, which would result in a quilt with a finished size (not including binding) of 36″ x 36″.

Colouring-in sheets

You can also enjoy my other free patterns on my blog:

Happiness quilt and Pirate quilt.

Small patchwork bag charm and Small bag charm with Suffolk Puff centre.