This hexagon meadow patchwork was started at least two years ago. I didn’t plan it properly, like Alice it grew out of control and then I ran out of the background fabric. Last autumn I took it apart and was left with a more manageable central panel and four borders. This month I re-planned it as a smaller quilt, altered the side panels slightly and stitched the top and bottom ones back in place. But, because I decided to be slightly slapdash, the edging didn’t quite line up. Four hexagons jutted out from the main pattern into the border. They are at the corners and will slightly overhang the bed so I’m probably the only person who will notice but eventually it annoyed me too much and the side panels were unpicked, again. I have now re-positioned everything properly and am finally happy with it (and it has been quality-checked by Matilda). It just needed to be edged and quilted.

In the interests of economy I decided to back it with fabric I already had. Looking through the cupboard and baskets I realised I had lots of stripey fabric – old shirts, old sheets and a lot of offcuts I was given years ago from a posh shirt maker in Jermyn Street. So I am now making a double-sided quilt with flowery hexagons on one side and rectangular stripes and checks on the other. This means the whole thing will take even longer to finish and that I’ll have to do the quilting super-neatly but it’s been at least two years, what difference will a few more weeks make?

This photo should have shown the correctly-sized quilt in situ but I obviously couldn’t move Matilda.

Jane