What is Joz making- April
Hi everyone! I haven’t done one of these updates for AGES (I also haven’t done a lot of quilting) but felt inspired to write another post about what I’m working on and to answer some of the most commonly asked questions that I get so let’s get into it! As per usual, I’ve also included some recent favourite books I’ve been ready and listening to :-)
What quilts I’m thinking about/ planning
I want to make (another) Little flowers quilt maybe with a darker background- I just need to pick my fabrics!
I’d also like to make another block based quilt with some printed fabrics- I haven’t used prints in ages- but as you can tell this is not a very well thought out quilt so far :-)
What I need to quilt but haven’t decided how yet
I made a Dashing Daisies quilt (my next pattern) which I’m planning to make into a floor cushion a little while back but I just haven’t figured out how to quilt it yet! I always struggle with blue background fabric quilts for some reason- the white zig zag machine quilting looks weird but I’m not sure if I want to hand quilt it- and my straight line quilting is never neat enough to hide when it’s in a contrasting colour :-)
What I’m hand quilting
I’ve just finished hand quilting my two Little Flowers quilts (see below for more details) so now it’s time to get back to my other two Dashing Daisies quilts-here is the Euro cushion
And here is the throw quilt in chocolate brown (a very contentious decision on instagram!)
What’s on pause
My stripy quilt- (forever on pause) I used the backing (pictured below) for another quilt so need to buy some more. But I also need to figure out how to quilt this one. I don’t want to hand quilt it but not sure how to machine quilt it!
What I’ve finished
My throw size Little Flowers quilt (pattern available here). I was inspired by Dee from Scribbly Gum Quilt Co who has quilted a few quilts recently using the Baptist fan pattern and I think it’s my new favourite type of hand quilting! I used a template that I made from cardboard but you can also buy proper templates if you want to be a little less DIY :-) You can find a video showing how I used the template here and I have a tutorial on hand quilting which you can find here.
And my other Little Flowers quilt (also with the same hand quilting), which is also for sale here.
Book Club
In 2024 I read 150 books so set myself a goal for 2025 to read 151 books which… I am VERY behind on. I feel like I went through a patch where I was just reading really average books but fortunately I had a bunch of 5 star reads in a row. Here are some of my recent reads (both 5 stars and not 5 stars)
Recent books I’ve listened to:
A Beginner’s Guide to Breaking and Entering by Andrew Hunter Murray- 3.75/5 - this was my bookclub book. It was light and enjoyable and interesting enough to get me through :-)
Strictly Between Us by Jane Fallon- 3.5/5- I really like Jane Fallon (and did you know she is married to Ricky Gervais? I only found this out recently) but this was not one of my faves of hers. I really didn’t like the main character and it just dragged a little.
Good Material by Dolly Alderton- 4.75/5. This was a great listen! Interesting, kept me entertained the whole way through and just overly quite enjoyable
These Tangled Vines by Julianne MacLean- 4.75/5 I only recently found Julianne MacLean but have read a LOT of her books recently and enjoyed all of them! This one was my fave. Julianne Maclean is on both Everand and Kindle Unlimited so is also a great option :-)
What I’ve been reading
A Song in the Daylight by Paullina Simons- 5/5. This book is LONG. Some bits are boring. But it really is a great book. Paullina Simons also wrote the Bronze Horseman Trilogy and the first one is definitely in my Top 5 favourite books!
The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty 4/5. This was a really enjoyable listen, made even better by the fact it was set on fictional (but excellently named) Scribbly Gum Island :-)
And that’s it! Let me know if you found this interesting :-)