William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens have shaped our lives - their plays and books have been around since before we were born and there is no doubt will still be revered long after we have left this earth. No celebration of Britain is complete without them so here is my tribute to William and Charles to thank them for their beautiful words.

When you print out your motifs make sure your printer is set to print same size and not ‘fit to media’ as this will distort the final size of the block. Now we have finalised our quilt layout the blocks will be 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 ins, cut them 10 ins square to protect the edges. Sharpen your iron-on transfer pencil and draw over the design, place it design side down to the calico and iron. Iron some interfacing to the back and stitch away. Alternatively use a light box or tape your design to a window and trace with a fine pencil onto the fabric, if you use this technique use the non reversed version of the pattern.