Hexagons of Hope . . .

. . . is a lovely idea started by a blogger in Australia who is passionate about hexagons in patchwork. Since I am quite keen on these myself, I came across this while doing some research about hexagon piecing on the Internet. For anyone interested, here is the link for this great helping hand for the sewing and craft ladies who have been victims of the Victorian bushfires in Australia. Imagine having a houseful of treasured quilts and handicraft that you have spent years sewing, collecting etc., only to have it all destroyed by fire! Heartbreaking in the extreme - we can only guess at the distress the whole event has caused. Hexagons of Hope is a way of showing these ladies that other people are thinking of them, holding out a small helping hand and doing so with love. If you are a quilter/patchworker a few of these will take very little of your time and will really help someone to carry on. Click here for more info.

Cat blanket anyone?

One of my great pleasures in life has been sewing of all sorts, but in particular, patchwork. It has been in and out of fashion with me since the seventies when I started my first patchwork quilt, a huge kingsize bedspread - talk about starting with a small project, definitely got that wrong! This 'little' starter project took me five years and could nearly have put me off patchwork for life I think! However, the mish-mash hexagon centre eventually took on a life of its own and evolved into a passable bedspread, which was finally finished during my son's baby months when I couldn't go out much. Shame eh?! We've all been there I'm sure - baby years I mean not patchworking!

I digress. From there I moved on to cross stitch, smaller projects for a start, though sometimes they seemed to take as long and once again I started with a fairly complex piece - a mother cheetah and her cubs, which hangs on the wall today. I love wildlife - especially cats (big and small) and spent many years happily sewing and creating pictures until I eventually ran out of wall space. And when I moved and had more wall space I had also bought more pictures!

So it was back to the patchwork for a while, a bedspread for a friend's marriage, one for my son, another wallhanging that was sold and went to Canada and several other small cushions and bags along the way. As well as visits to shows etc. to maintain the interest and gain inspriation from the wonderful creations of others.

Eventually 'life' took over and all things crafty paused for a while. I do think you have to be in a certain mental place to be able to create such things. Well I travelled back to that place lately and have begun once again to 'piece' as the hand sewing version of patchwork is called. Again hexagons - my favourite shape I think - but this time connected to the new addition in our lives, Sonny the cat! At least not specifically for him, but my friends' cats.

I decided last summer to make a dear friend a small patchwork blanket for one of her cats, the first of four (as she had four cats!) as an ongoing birthday come Christmas present. Seemed like a good idea at the time ! One thing led to another and now I spend a lot of time making cat blankets, or cat mats for short. If you are interested in any more photos etc. please visit http://www.cat-mats.com/.

Even for those who love cats - and I know we can be an obsessive breed - this is a bit off the wall. Patchwork blankets for cats?! But then again, why not? I am sure I am not the first to make the connection. They are quick to make, easy to wash and can be placed anywhere around the house to save on the furniture. They are also so personal and unique to the cat and its 'staff' (!), that I have discovered they become quite a talking point, especially when you get into the history of the material used, if secondhand. And a lot of patchwork is made from the scrap ends of other projects or clothes. This beautiful Rag Doll puss called Oliver certainly took to his pretty quickly!

So, anybody else out there with similar stories? Til the next time.