Believe it or not - and I'm having trouble, to be honest - CakeStand Quilts will be ten this summer. It's been so interesting to dip into old notebooks and records, blog and Instagram posts to see how things have changed (or stayed just the same) over the past decade.
I hope you'll forgive me for reminiscing over the next few months and I'm starting with your favourite quilt patterns - listed in traditional reverse order - from the 150+ that I've created in the past decade...
10: Northern Lights (2024)
When I designed last years block of the month I did wonder if its theme was a little too 'left field'. Did my fellow quilters really dream about seeing the northern lights as much as I did? I'm delighted to say that you did (which is why I love you so much) because our wildest dreams do really need to be pieced and quilted to make them real!
9: Twelve Days of Christmas (2021)
This block of the month quilt sat in my sketchbook for the longest time as I struggled with the setting, elusive blocks - leaping lords, I'm looking at you - and finding the right fabric (which, ironically, couldn't be too Christmassy). The result was a joy to share with you, especially with Andrea, who simply LOVES Christmas.
8: Primrose Hill (2021)
Honestly, it was the honour of my quilting life to be commissioned to design this block of the month project for Today's Quilter. Primrose Hill has gone on to be a favourite for shops to teach and quilters to share with with newly quilting friends. Which is what I always hoped for, really.
I actually made my Primrose Hill and Twelve Days of Christmas blocks back-to-back during one very busy September. And then I had a lie down.
7: Jolly Brollies (2015)
My first love and the quilt that started it all. I first shared my Jolly Brollies blocks on Instagram and was encouraged to write a pattern. If you haven't made one yet, it's my January PDF Pattern of the Month :-)
6: Raining Cats & Dogs (2022)
I am so thrilled to see these blocks make the top ten, as they were designed for the happiest collaboration with my British Sew-a-Row chums, Jo, Lou, Sonia and Yasmeen. We created this project for the late Queen's Platinum Jubilee, following it up with the Country Garden Sampler the next year. We've had a year off, but have something equally delightful planned for later this summer!
5: Hearth & Home (2018)
This was my first large commission for Today's Quilter and has gone on to be a favourite with you, mainly (I think) because it's a classic design with a twist which looks lovely in every fabric I've seen it in. Having wrecked mine in the wash - never choose a dark red backing fabric, friends - I'm itching to remake it.
4: Wise Owl (2017)
Ah, this little owl was an instant hit when I designed him back in 2017. We have a pair of Tawny Owls in our garden this winter, the female likes to sit on the gable above our bedroom window and have a good screech (she actually woke me up the other night).
OK, we've reached your Top Three!
3: Sailing By (2018)
I created a couple of these blocks as tutorials for the Sewing Quarter: I'm not sure I'm cut out for live TV, but it was quite the adventure! It's a theme that has my heart, so it was the best fun creating a quiltful of seaside blocks and their graphic setting inspired by the iconic Cornishware.
2: Spellbound Sampler (2017)
My first sampler quilt, when I discovered that working within a theme - and creating lots of individual 'finishes' within one quilt - was so incredibly enjoyable. My aim was to make a gentle, garden-inspired and, I suppose, more European take on a Halloween quilt, that reflected our rich history of folklore. The fact that you took it to your heart really encouraged me to keep designing in those early days.
Now, a little drumroll for your favourite...
1: London Town (2022)
This quilt - another block of the month - was already in the top three, but has bounded into first place thanks to Pat Sloan's wonderful You Tube sewalong. Pat has been sewing with a mixture of Liberty and Tilda (a match made in heaven) and sharing her progress most weeks. She's just over halfway, so there's still lots of time to join in if London Town has been on your bucket list.
Hovering just outside the top ten are the Dawn Chorus blocks (2023), my Dalarna Christmas quilt and Paradise (both 2020). Did your favourite make the top ten?
Putting that list together was so interesting and I'm pleased to see a spread of projects from across the years. The majority are sampler quilts and as a quilt maker I really enjoy the variety of sewing sampler blocks. As a designer I enjoy the challenge of working with a theme: telling a story or evoking a special place or moment in time. Although I'd be lying if I didn't sometimes wish - halfway through writing up a sampler project - that I'd stuck to quilts with just a couple of different blocks in them!
But that's quite enough reminiscing for now: there are new blocks to make and new stories to tell...
with love from the studio,
