Journal quilt, November, the street where I live

I'm racing to a finish on the contemporary quilt group challenge now, having lost momentum in September. A real benefit of doing the design course at Morley is learning to resist the urge to plunge straight in to the mounds of fabric, and start designing at the sewing machine but instead to get some initial ideas sketched out on paper, or ideally of course in a sketchbook.  For once therefore, I can show the sketchbook and the stitched journal piece.

Raw edge applique, bonded applique, machine quilting, couched edge.  This was my first experience of using Heat 'n' Bond which gave a much finer finish than Bondaweb.

Very close to home. I have lived in the same street for 20 years. My children went to the school at the bottom of the road, my neighbours are great and it will take a lot to make me move. Our door is the only one with stained glass, designed by my sister's partner and installed by one of our neighbours.

This is straighter than it looks, but it was tricky to get a photo without a shadow.  Critiquinq this now, I think the 'doors" should have been longer and the "road" down the middle narrower.  Thank goodness it is only 8 x 12 inches.  

I was going to quilt in several of the requests that have come up during those 20 years, such as “ Can you sew my pantomime cow costume?” and “ Can you check my hair for nits” and “ Do you have a pie plate? ” but decided the space available didn't do them justice.