I thought I would share one of those sides of me I tend not to talk about very much, I know when I tell people about it, they seem surprised that I am interested in crafts.

I used to sew quite a lot, it was still a mandatory subject in the first 3 years at senior school when I was in my teens.  Despite the feminist revolution that began in the 1960s, even in the mid 1970s, the stereotypes still existed, and girls took needlework and domestic science, and the boys did metalwork and woodwork. There was no choice in which subject you followed, you simply were consigned to your designated gender roles. A small concession was to this, whereby the girls and boys once a year swapped for 6 weeks, so that we could understand more of each other's world.  By the time I got to the 4th year and was perusing my 10 O Level subjects, my parents deemed such things frivolous, and all the subjects I followed were academic.  The only concession to this was I was allowed to take a subject called Games Theory, which effectively equipped us to become qualified as a referee in our chosen sports. For me it was Hockey, Netball and Basketball. I also played in the school teams.

Secretly, I enjoyed sewing though, and despite not wanting to ruin my credibility as a 'Tom Boy' it wasn't uncommon for me to make things, including clothes for myself.   One of my first patchwork creations was in fact a dress, made from scraps that cost next to nothing, and just required a big investment in my time. It was a very 1970s dress in its style, very Laura Ashley inspired, and of its time. I suspect the only time you would wear such a garment now would be at a fancy dress party! I made this dress so that when the summer came around and I got to meet my previous year's 'holiday romance' ( it never went further than holding hands and a furtive kiss) I would look very trendy. Dominic (that was his name) was ultra cool in my eyes, and he knew so much about music. He came from Sutton Coldfield, and sported a brummy accent of sorts, although as his Mother said, a posh brummy accent!

Later, I made other things, and when my daughter was born, I loved to make little frocks and bloomers from Rose and Hubble or Liberty cotton lawn fabrics. Once she got a sense of fashion, she soon started to refuse to wear such creations, and insisted on jeans and sweaters instead.

For many years after that, I only really did the odd petit point, or tapestry, until my eyesight got to the point, that unless I did hand sewing in bright daylight on a sunny day, even with glasses, I couldn't see well enough to see what I was doing. This resulted in a lot of sore fingers and blood stained wools.

Anyway, I have been collecting scraps again, Liberty fabrics that sort of tone, in pinks, reds and blues primarily, and I have been piecing them together in 6 inch squares with the view to making a tablecloth or perhaps a small quilt. In years gone by I would have done postage stamp sized pieces or hexagons, and hand sewn them all with tiny neat stitches, but these days I can't see to do this, so everything is upscaled, and I use a sewing machine instead. I am quite liking the vibrancy of the colours, and the fact that because they are larger pieces of fabric, each patch bears investigation, as well as the quilt as a whole.  It's a work in progress, and the central area will be about 5 foot square. I will then add a couple of border panels in a single fabric, and by the time I have added the batting, and the back, it will be about 6 foot square.  A useful size for a cold evening sitting in the garden, or wrapped around your shoulders on a cold winter night by a roaring fire. We use rugs here a lot at the year  turns as it is an old house and desperately energy inefficient,  but I would rather live with the old iron framed windows, and a rug, than modern double glazing.

When I finish it, I'll show you.