Jungle Path quilt using a Layer Cake

Some of my besties in Australia went and had a baby. I love it when that happens, but was so sad I couldn't be there with them. Guess what I decided to make them? Aye, no prizes for that one... I made them a quilt.

I loved this Jungle Path baby quilt designed by Jessica Kelly. The fabric is Moda's Jungle Bungle by Tim and Beck. It's a great tutorial by Jess, and I was pretty keen to make one for my pals' baby.

Problem? I'm on a tight, tight budget!  A jellyroll and a charm pack were going to set me back a few quid. I mean, my friends are worth it- but with wadding and postage... I needed an inexpensive way of making the same quilt. I decided a layer cake would offer me better value for money. I bought a layer cake- that's 42 x 10 inch squares, for just under £26 all in. That's 62 pence per square! Bargain!

So here's my offering to the quilting world: an easy way to recreate Jessica's Jungle Path quilt using a Layer Cake. Please excuse my low-fi drawing below. I chopped up the each 10 inch square like this:

This gave me a 4 inch square for the block centres, and the remaining fabric in each layer can be cut into the strips needed. I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of doing this- but I wanted to share my discovery.

For the backing, I went for a rummage in the sale bolts at Mandors Edinburgh, and got a lovely colourful piece of fabric (it had bumble bees and rainbows on it).

To quilt I used a squiggly free motion embroidery stiple, I love the texture it gives, though it does take a wee while.

I was well chuffed with the result!

Luckily, I now have HEAPS of leftover fabric- 26 x 10 inch squares left over in fact, enough to make a bigger quilt for my son (I really love the colours and the design!). So using a layer cake is not a bad way to get such a variety of fabric on a budget. I'll be working on it for the next couple of weeks, I'll let you know how I get on with it.

And the final total is....

In the lead up to the raffle for the When the Rains Come quilt that I made with lovely Rachel, our quilt went on a wee tour of Scotland. On it's journey it raised loads of money for the Malawi Underprivileged Mothers charity, and we are truly grateful and humbled by all the support, kind words, and book sales it made along the way.

Our quilt went to Linlithgow, the Scottish Borders, Stirling, Lower Largo, Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival, it was part of Alzheimer Scotland's Stitching the Pitch on Hampden Park (organised by Ann Hill who gave us excellent advice and donated the wadding for the quilt when we met her for lunch- what a gal) and was even exhibited at the Scottish Parliament!

 

Quilts on Hampden Park, Glasgow, "Stitching the Pitch"

Linda, MUMs charity founder, and Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond (at Scottish Parliament)

The quilt was also part of Avery Homestore's Scottish Modern Quilt Exhibition, which was run as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Guess what? Visitors to the exhibition voted for their favourite quilt, and ours won third prize!!! This makes me happier than a seagull with a hot chip.

I love prizes, such a thrill. Six fat quarters donated by deeroo designs, I can't wait to share them with Rachel.

I'll need to think of a new project to use them for...

While I was at Avery Homestore I had a rummage and got these gorgeous fat quarters for my stash (bargain at £2 each). I possibly love bargains more than prizes! It was lovely to meet Jo while I was there and talk about our When the Rains Come quilt and the positive feedback it received in her shop.

Alas, I digress. Back to the MUMs Ladies Lunch- where the quilt raffle was drawn. Rachel and I met so many lovely people who praised us for our When the Rains Come quilt. Again I must say- Malika Favre's artwork was a pleasure and honour to work with- it was what inspired us to make the quilt in the first place. 

Blipper SpeckledCoast to this great photo of Rachel and I with the quilt we had spent so much time with and may never see again!

At the MUMs Ladies Lunch (at Norton House Hotel no less!) we met Tom Pow, who was the author of When the Rains Come. What a lovely, lovely man. I'm so pleased I got to meet him. Rachel and I were called up on stage before the raffle draw (wasn't expecting that!), blushed when Tom said much too kind things about us, and I got to give a little speech (definitely wasn't expecting that!). The crux of my few words were that if you take something that gives you joy doing, you can put it to good use and hopefully help people along the way. So why not try? Tom drew the winner of the raffle- who was my Dad!! At which point everyone laughed and I got him to redraw (didn't seem right that one of my kids would end up with the quilt after the journey it had been on!).

In the end, our little project raised a staggering £2,810. Yes, you read that right! That's a lot of raffle tickets, a lot of support from a lot of people. All from doing something that we enjoy, in our small, Edinburgh flats- something we're not even particularly brilliant at. This is enough to:

feed 400 children in Malawi

5 nutritious meals a week

for 7 months

 and this makes me exceptionally happy

Thank you thank you thank you if you bought a raffle ticket or book, it means the world to a lot of children. xx