I have been excitedly planning this blog page for some time now, but I had a particular day in mind that I wanted to launch, and now, finally, today is that day! The 24th of May is a special day for me, because it was my beautiful Mum's birthday, and she too loved to make pretty things. Although I can't share my quilts and sewing projects with her, I can share her special day, and remember her love and legacy, so there simply couldn't have been a better name for my blog than Love and Legacy Quilts!

So that's where the name came from, and it also just seems to sum up how I feel about a quilt. So much planning and time goes into creating a quilt, and it really is a labour of love. I've been to a number of old houses and museums, (and even some original preserved outlaw cabins in the USA last year) and I absolutely love when there are quilts on show that belonged to the original owners. Imagine the stories they could tell! Jane Austen's house is only a short drive from where we live, and she certainly left us all an enjoyable legacy in her books, but that's not all the legacy she left... If you go and visit you can actually find a patchwork bed cover that Jane and her sister made. (you can read all about it on the museum website here: https://janeaustens.house/object/patchwork-coverlet/ ) How amazing that over 200 years on, a quilt that was made and snuggled under by one of my favourite authors, can still be enjoyed today! I have made lots of quilts for family and friends, and I don't suppose that any of them will be on show in 200 years, but as long as the recipient enjoys the quilt here and now, that's enough for me :-)

I have to admit, I have a number of quilt projects on the go, and I was planning to have them all finished before today, ready to 'show and tell' in a 'look what I've been doing this Spring' kind of post. However, I must also admit that since we were all sent into lock down at the end of March, I have done very little sewing. I only have one almost finished quilt, (the one in the top photo, which just needs the binding sewn on and some tying off of ends) and the others are still waiting in the wings in various stages of completion. It looks like everyone will be at home until September now, so I am really going to have to figure out how to make sure I schedule much more time in my sewing room, in between supervising 'school', trying to keep the kids spirits up and the endless mealtimes that feel like they roll around every 10 minutes! I guess it's down to me to just kick myself into gear and get on with it, so watch this space... :-)