A nephew's birthday present

These letters originally arrived in stamped envelopes with glossy, printed photos (remember those days!). To protect our writers' privacy, we've typed up their notes with minor details changed. We also scanned and brightened the original photos so you can see the quilts in their best light.

Pam from NSW, Australia shares her scrappy Stargazey quilt, complete with 250 freehand quilted stars.

Dear Jan,

Please find enclosed photos of my Stargazey quilt that I completed within five weeks of participating in your course. It was sooooo enjoyable to make - in between work and looking after my family, I just had to do it!!!! I scrounged fabrics from my school fabric stash and scraps from my family, so it is a real scrap quilt, but I am delighted with the end result, as is my nephew to whom I gave it as a gift. I made it to fit his bed.

I also got carried away with the quilting - some 250 freehand quilted stars later, I decided that with some stitch-in-the-ditch quilting around the black inner border and center large stars, I had probably done enough.

Now I am making another scrap quilt for my niece using all my pink and cream fabrics from my stash to make another quilt using the Drunkards Path design. I am using your method of freehand cutting the patches, and it is so easy and producing some interesting designs.

Once again, thank you for such an interesting workshop.

A close up of a quilt in a scanned photograph. Brightly coloured stars with a black border

Pam's wonderfully scrappy and colorful quilt was inspired by Jan's Starz and Stripez pattern which is included in her book, Cut-Loose Quilts. The book explores how to stack, slice, switch and sew your way through a series of quilt projects that are approachable even for beginners.