Some Sunny Day...

There was a little sunshine today; just enough to go to the park and afterwards sit out in the garden with my parents...

It was all going well until a collision between a small boy and a bollard, knees were patched, and he did get back on again later in the garden, so no long-term damage done.

The fresh air worked it's magic and sleep came super-quickly this evening, so I could get a little sewing done.

I owe Judith a couple of Bee Blessed blocks, the fashionable and simple 16-patches; please forgive the getting dark 8pm photos...

I am looking forward to handing these over in person next weekend. xxx

One more week until half-term, tonnes I want to do, tonnes I have to do.  Let's see which wins!

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Spring 2013

Well the Blogger's Quilt Festival snuck up on me this time around, and I was just a little unprepared!

Oh what to enter??

If you are not a regular follower of this little corner of the interweb, please don't look back at the last couple of days and judge me - I've been having a bit of a week; poorly husband and one child out of 3, extra-curricular school activities, a busy work schedule and an AWOL sewing mojo, which resulted in me venting my frustrations on a Staple Dress last night; angry-sewing never looks nice!

Anyway, back to business, I looked back over the last 6 month's makes, before plumping for the one I knew I would end up entering anyway!

I love this quilt; this is my Brit Bee II quilt, Diamond Nipples, (yes, nipples).  I am one of the lucky dozen who are part of the best bee in the world; I am also in the second best bee in the world too, as proven here by my friend Di.  I have just joined my third bee, which is shaping up to being the 3rd best bee in the world... go figure!

Brit Bee at last year's Fat Quarterly Retreat.

The block I chose for my month (January 2013) was Diamond Ripples by Lara Finlayson from 99 Modern Blocks; I super-sized my request up to 24" blocks.  OK, for the record, this is not a stash bee, I provided the fabric, and I also cut all the HSTs by Sizzix, so no trimming was required; as if I would exploit the goodwill of the group (again)!

The ladies did me proud, as I knew they would...

This quilt resides on our bed, it makes me smile, a lot; it will remind me of all those who made it forever.  There's a lot of deep 'n' meaningful sewn into this quilt.  The last year has been a hard one for me and all in the Bee, and the strength of friendship we have forged over the last two years cannot be beaten, so don't even try!

The deets for those that like that sort of thing...

Name: Diamond Nipples
Made by: Brit Bee
Side 1: 9 blocks in a mix of orange, pink and grey fabrics
Side 2: 3 blocks plus siggie block and AMH Loulouthi
Binding: Patty Young - Dandelion in Raspberry
Batting: Sew Simple 100% cotton
Quilted: Continuous spiral from the centre with variegated Aurifil 28 wt 4657 by me, at home on a little Janome QXL 605
Size: 72" x 72"

I am entering this into the Group/Bee category, so it can socialise with many other loved group quilts and be part of this wonderful and inspiring festival.

Now I have taken up enough of your time, so many quilts, so little time...thank you for having a look here, and enjoy the rest of the festival.  Time to get pinning!

Regulars, see you tomorrow xxx

Friday, on my mind!

I am all out of kilter this week, I think the man-flu, busy-busy and disco have taken their toll on my sense of time, and zapped my energy!

I didn't even link up with Cindy yesterday; I managed to catch up with a lot of blog reading, but commenting was a step too far.

My Inbox is fit to burst, so apologies if I owe you a reply, I will try to clear everything down over the weekend.

And now the Bloggers Quilt Festival has begun and I haven't even thought about what to enter!

This evening though I made a Staple Dress - well almost; the arm and neck facings are not finished, but as I made it from an old sheet, it basically looks like an old sheet; ('Are you dressing up as a Roman?' was my husband's reaction!), I might finish it, and give it to the kids for dressing up!

I made an XL, but a L would be better - I am not going to do the shirring, just belt it, it really is a super easy pattern.  I just think it needs a knitted fabric, and that is a little scary!

Anyway, I don't want to leave you picture-less, (my Staple Dress is not photogenic), so here's what is hidden under a little girl's pillow tonight, as her first tooth came out today...

I better go get my wings on; unfortunately, pound notes went out of circulation in 1984, so guess a coin will have to do!

There were crisps...

... lots of crisps, lots of kids and lots of noise...

I have a headache.  I need a lie-down xxx

Liberty, Liberty, Liberty!

Well I have had a Liberty-fuelled day.

Kids at school, hubby packed off to the office, (albeit he only made it until lunchtime), and I got down to it.

First I finished off my Marcelle Medallion quilt top.

I. Love. It!  Simple as.  I had a grand plan, lots of Liberty and not a lot of red, pure white or orange.   And it worked!

I took lots of photos...

Then I took some more...

Then the postman turned up with a couple of envelopes containing some more beautiful Liberty...

I knew Ali of Very Berry Handmade had the Eloise print I was after to finish my Retreat name tag, so I ordered what I needed, and maybe a little more fell into the basket, (well Ali does a mini-bundle deal on 3 pieces, so why buy 1 when you can buy 3, or something like that; and super lovely friend that she is, I also received an Only Ditzies Please! scrap bag, which I must say is a complete super bargain at £3, and with all those beautiful teeny prints, is perfect for smaller projects... I am thinking my Retreat goody-swap partners may be seeing these again!  Watch this space.

So with time to myself, I bound my partner's name tag, and made a blue Essex Linen lanyard; and then hand finished the back whilst catching up with a recorded EastEnders that I missed whilst on the Cub run!  (Hold a grudge, moi?).

I now have the dilemma of how to quilt my Marcelle Medallion, but I am surrounded by beautiful things, so I think I can cope with that!

Cross!

It's been a day and a half; hubby is still bed-bound, so on top of everything else, I had the joy of taking and collecting dear son and friends to and from Cubs this evening; in the cold, and rain, taking up precious sewing time.  I have only just got home.

So in an attempt to play catch up with emails and blogs, I will love you and leave you with my Marcelle Medallion crosses, because they are far prettier than my mood!

Until tomorrow xxx

Men!

The men in my life are conspiring against me!

Dear hubby was ill all weekend, and took today off work with a bout of Man Flu; then I got the call from school to come and collect a poorly-feeling son after lunch, and to top it all, the reminder pinged up on my phone for my brother-in-law's birthday in a weeks' time!

So not only did the weekend not yield as much me time as I would have liked, today, before I could get on with my Marcelle Medallion crosses, I had to make a gift, quick smart.

Some gent-flannel scraps left from the Christmas man-pouches and key fob hardware; Bob's your uncle...

One is for my Bro' in law and the other is for the poorly bloke upstairs; the notebook made me smile, and is perfect for the Kiwi recipient.

Sonny-boy went to bed feeling fine, hopefully hubby will sleep his off, and fingers crossed everyone will be back in their respective proper locations tomorrow, and I will be able to get back to the plan!

I've ordered some additional Eloise Liberty fabric (same as the spool) to bind my partner's Retreat name tag, and I am already sketching out my ideas for the sample swap.

Honestly, my To Do list does not have any more wiggle-room!

My Weekend

Well it was a wet and windy weekend here, with odd moments of sunshine, luckily coinciding with this...

But after the domestics were taken care of, there was a little time for some stitichery.

Yesterday I made a start on my partner's name tag for FQ Retreat...

I have embroidered the name and blog-name of my secret partner under those there virtual buttons.  The liberty patchwork has ended up with 1/2" squares.

I am undecided on what colour/fabric to bind and make the lanyard in - yep it'll be a lanyard (again); I do not like pins, and I expect my partner to tow that line too!

Today after the duck race, I settled down and pieced all the crosses for the next border of my Marcelle Medallion...

And because there was a rather large bunch of bananas turning blacker by the minute, I made another Moshi Monsters 'nana bread - yeah, I am almost fooling the kids that I can cook!

So that was my weekend; hope you managed to cram some good stuff into yours too!

Sew Mama Sew Winner!

The winner of my Sew Mama Sew Giveaway is...

Lindsey!!  I have sent you an email already my friend.

Thank you everyone for entering and telling me your favourite fabric combos.  It seems that I should be getting some more purple in my life! 

And to all of those who mentioned the 'B' word, you will be either shocked or pleased that I have been making plans for my F8ths of Echo, and there are many (good) browns in there!

Have a great Saturday everyone xxx

Siblings Together 2013 and beyond...

I promised you a finish and reveal, so a finish and reveal you shall have!

My contribution to this summer's Siblings Together camp is a collaboration with Amanda (Scissors & Thread), as she kindly offered some beautiful Tula Pink - Hushabye strips for the cause, which I snapped up at the point when she was eagerly awaiting the arrival of her baby; she is now a yummy-mummy to cutie-pie James, win-win!

After pondering too long, I added some Kona Snow to make a simple staggered-strip top...

I told you about my backing luck yesterday, unfortunately the bright sunshine today has bleached the pictures a little, but it truly is a very vintage girly quilt!

Before washing it measured 54" x 62", and it doesn't appear to have shrunk much, just enough for some lovely crinkles.  In the overall scale of quilts it isn't huge, but to snuggle under on the sofa, or to lay on your bed and look pretty, it fits the bill perfectly.

I quilted each side of the seams with 50wt Aurifil 2021, and bound it in the same fabric as the backing...

I just need to get the label on, and then this can be popped into my Aeroplane bag ready for Retreat.

And in anticipation of both Siblings Together 2014, and dare I even start mentioning, FQR14, I am now also part of the Siblings Together Quilting Bee, producing one quilt per month for a year.

If you are interested in joining a second group of UK-based ladies, there is a flickr thread here, and if you are in continental Europe, Dianne has also started a thread here.

If you have previously made a quilt for Siblings Together in solitude, then maybe a bit of camaraderie would be a refreshing change, or if you have always wanted to join a Bee and already have way too many quilts of your own (oh as if) then a charity Bee could be right up your alley.  Again I am sure any contributions of wadding and backing would be much appreciated by all involved.

So with a finish, reveal, good deeds, a tick off my FAL list and last call for my Sew Mama Sew Giveaway, I think I have all the bases covered this evening!

Bank Holiday Random...

I know, it was Monday, but things have been hectic here what with the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway, and Give Me Liberty link ups, but today I have a couple of random happenings for you.

Pretty unexpected really, for a Bank Holiday Monday, it was sunny!

So bright and relatively early we headed out to the village Boot Fair.  It's only a tiny one in the Library car park held on Bank Holidays, mostly old toys and tomato plants, but worthy of a pootle if the weather is fine.

Some Jacqueline Wilson books, a skipping rope and a bag of marbles later, we got to the Rotary Club trailer of old curtains and wot-not and to my utter surprise, lying there were some pillow cases, and, what turned out to be, a homemade duvet cover which were scooped up and mine quicker than you could say 'bargain'!  I have never managed any such finds in the past, ever.

So where's the random?  Well having made my Siblings Together top on Sunday, I had thrown my backing dilemma out to Instagram-land.  In the dark days of winter, I had pulled the IKEA house print, it had looked great; in the warmer light of the May Bank Holiday, it looked too heavy.  Feedback was kind, but the consensus was 'no'!

I already showed you a glimpse yesterday, but how damn perfect was this...

Sooooooo happy, and the quilt is now going round in the tumble dryer; let's hope the rain stops tomorrow so I can get you some scenic shots.

The second random; well, last summer one of the girls taught herself to ride a bike in the garden, much to big brother's disgust and proclamations that he couldn't do it, it wasn't fair etc etc, all winter.

So, after lunch on Monday we took the bikes to the park, and by the time we left, a couple of hours later, all three were speeding about!

We didn't exactly teach them, (more, gave a shove, let go and shouted 'just keep peddling!'), but it worked.

Hmmm.. I wonder if I tried to FMQ again I would just be able to do it!!?  If only everything was as simple as riding a bike!

Linking with the Random People gathering at Cindy's. xxx

This evening...

I will be stitching down the binding on this...

I basted and quilted my Siblings Together quilt today, and will hopefully be able to get it finished and through the wash tomorrow for an end-of-week reveal.

I will be packing this one up to be delivered at FQ Retreat in July; another reason to be excited. 

If you are going and have signed up for the Name Tag swap, have you flickr-mailed all your details to Trash yet?  She wants to match everyone one up this week, and I have done the maths and worked out that loads of people haven't spotted the thread yet - so hurry, hurry, I want to get making!

Give Me Liberty Please!

When Krista and Nicole threw down the Liberty-lined gauntlet to stitch up some Liberty last month, they didn't have to ask me twice.

As soon as I saw Ayumi's Embroidery Pouch in Patchwork Please! I knew I would be making one in advance of the sewalong - it's near the end of the book, so it'll be months before that one gets the treatment, so I started formulating a plan immediately.  A Liberty-Heather Ross plan. 

The sew-along booted my butt into gear!

I showed you the cover a while back, and I know I have already put the finished shots on instagram as I was so happy with it and couldn't wait to show off; but today I am linking up with Nicole's blog for all to see...

I am so in love with this pouch.  It finishes at 9.5" square, which is perfect for a nice sized hoop to fit inside.

As you were party to my vinyl dilemma, you may like to see a bit closer how I managed to incorporate one of those 50 pence pencil cases, zip 'n' all...

Instead of the second side pocket, I cut open the pencil case, unpicked the vinyl from the right-hand side of the zipper, (with the zip closed and pull at the top), and then trimmed to size; I amended the pattern slightly so that my pocket was lined was some Klona jade, and attached a strip of Liberty to that, and the other side to the edge of the zip sandwiched with the linen, the same way as you would sew the first side of a zippy purse.

Apart from not dividing the other vinyl pocket, this is my only real deviation from the published pattern.

Having a transparent pocket, or rather two, is so useful, and I am glad my gamble paid off.

Due to all the vinyl, I machine-stitched the binding to the inside first, then hand-stitched it down on the outside.

So there you have it!  Thank you Ayumi, your pattern is brilliant, so it really would have been difficult to make a duffer!  And a final thank you to Krista and Nicole for getting me to make this sooner rather than later.

I am over the moon with every inch of this pouch, it's another favourite thing ever!

***

Don't forget to pop over to yesterday's post if you haven't entered my Sew Mama Sew giveaway for the chance of winning your own bit of linen and Liberty. 
PS. No Reply Bloggers have been prevalent - if you discover you are of this ilk, email me before Friday, and should I pick you, I will be able to contact you - I know Blogger likes to randomly bump people!

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!

*** The Giveaway is now closed ***

Hello, hello, hello!

I am going to cut to the chase, you have so many places to go, so many giveaways to enter, I am not going to keep you here for too long; I know you just want to know the what, and the how eh!?

The what is a small (8" square-ish) zippy purse made of Liberty Lifestyle and Essex Linen, my current favourite combo...

There is also a key fob in matching Liberty; you can never have too many purses and keyrings nor too much Liberty in my humble opinion!

If this is your first time visiting, it would be nice if you came back again; I know today is all about the goodies, not going to kid myself about that one, but if you are liking my style, (stop sniggering at the back), please think about coming back and clicking the follow button.

So anyway, the how...

Leave me one comment, (any additionals will be deleted), telling me your current favourite combination of fabrics; things that were born to be together, or others that probably shouldn't work, but actually do; it would be nice to try something new.

The giveaway is open internationally; Random.org will be used to select the winner; and I will say it again, if you are a 'No Reply' blogger, please leave your email address in the body of your comment - if I cannot contact you, I will click the generate button again.  I will not be responding to individual comments, but may well give credit for fab combos in my Winner post.

I will close the giveaway as soon as I wake up on Saturday (11th May), because 5pm PST, or DST or whatever Friday, is the middle of the night in the UK, and I'd rather give you a couple of extra hours than disturb my beauty sleep.

Thank you Sew Mama Sew for the hosting, and thank you for stopping by.  Good luck everyone xxx

Sunday sorted...

This morning, bright and early, I tidied up my sewing edge; the side of the conservatory that holds all my fabric and associated gubbins.  It probably doesn't look too different to the other inhabitants around these here parts, but now everything is in its place and there is a place for everything.

It had all got in a bit of a mess pulling all sorts for my Marcelle Medallion; but as I am now on the home straight with that, and all fabric is either cut or put aside, the rest could be returned to the rightful container.

I bagged up my other WIPs, Siblings Together and Stitch Tease quilts, complete with backing, binding and wadding, and I have a pile of blocks and things ready for mailing.  My Sew Mama Sew Giveaway prize is all ready for blogging, as is my Give Me Liberty-Patchwork Please! pouch.

That done, and the weather looking and feeling fine, we packed up an impromptu picnic, and headed off to Southwater Country Park.

There were mad people paddling in the lake in their swimwear, but we were happy to just sit in the sun, and stitch, (well that was just me), whilst the kids ran off round the adventure playground.  We even managed our first outdoor ice creams of the season!

Back home and I have decided that before I get my Marcelle Medallion finished I will get my Siblings quilt top (at least) made up.

The extra Kona Snow been cut and added to Amanda's Hushabye strips, and I am ready to sew; it should be a pretty quick finish, nothing overly complicated, but pretty.

So that is where I am at.  And we have another day off, then one day at work before my regular day off!!  Life, as they say, can be pretty darn good!

The Force Is Strong..

Well it wouldn't be Star Wars Day without some corny pun or other!

Today I have achieved a few of the things I had to do, and a few that I wanted to do.  I had attached the binding to my embroidery pouch before breakfast, done the weekly shop before lunch and then when the plates were cleared away, I got on and made Jo's block for Brit Bee.

A mixture of mostly Liberty print and low volume triangles, and the instruction to arrange in any way we saw fit.  I immediately saw a hexagon.

I am still of the opinion that bias stretch is an urban myth, so my block came together really easily.  Some of my points are a little out, but I hope Jo is as forgiving as the fabric from arm's length!

Seeing as it was alternating between rain showers and gale force winds today, I had to resort to indoor shots...

May the Fourth be with you all xxx

Now to get that binding stitched down...

On top of it!

I felt like I had finally caught up with myself by lunchtime today, for the first time in ages.

Girls packed off to the Bluebell Railway on a school trip, (I was meant to be helping, hence my day-off swap, but too many volunteers and not wanting to pay an additional £9 on top of the £37 already paid, I got to stay home); hubby at work, dear son in school and the big yellow sun in the sky. 

The house got a wash and brush up, 3 loads of washing on the line and then I got to sit in the garden, clear down almost 200 emails and listen to Rhonda's new podcast, (honestly, barking as ever!).

I had some stitchery all planned out in my head; but it was so gorgeous outside, and the prospect of a not-quite-so-nice tomorrow, I just relaxed outside, got a bit pink, and enjoyed the silence! 

Oh, I may have purchased this pattern too, you know, for when I have nothing else to make!

This evening I have cracked on with my Patchwork Please! pouch, added a de-constructed pencil case or two, and now I just need to attach the binding tomorrow.

I do have something to show you though, my first blocks made for Stitch Tease II.  Di gave us the low-down on what she'd like here, and this is what I came up with...

I think Di's concept is really lovely, and the quilt will be a beauty.

I also have the latest Brit Bee fabric from Jo in da house, mostly Liberty prints, pre-cut into triangles, and with free reign, I have this sketched out already.

So on with the weekend; whatever you are doing, and whether or not you have a long one to look forward to (!),  make sure you make the most of it xxx

Lateral Random...

My MacBook is joining in with random fun a little too happily for my liking, but I got busy with a mini screwdriver, and it seems to be behaving for now.  So apologies for the backlog of emails I need to reply to, I will shortly, promise.

So back-tracking a few days and my request for ideas on the Patchwork Please! vinyl requirement. 

With a little lateral thinking, I plumped for either popping to a toystore and borrowing a patch from a bag containing ball-pit balls, or waiting for a rain day and giving a pushchair cover a bit more ventilation!

But no, it got me thinking about what I could really pillage from the kids, then I remembered that all those books I tend to buy for birthday party goodie-bags, they come in the same vinyl wallets.  Whilst explaining to my hubby what sort of thing I was after, I was about to show him the pencil case I use for my embroidery thread, and another that holds my latest EPP!  Doh!

Tesco, 50p each, and with zips that can either be re-used or incorporated!

Thank you so much for all your suggestions and kind offers; I think I am sorted for now, but will definitely know where to go for next time.

Linking the random and penny-pinching workings of my brain with Cindy as it is just about still Thursday xxx

April Showers!

That's show-ers, as in what I can show you, not rainy showers...ok, sorry, moving on...

Not the most productive of months at first glance, but there's my super-duper, can't wait to use it, Aeroplane Bag, and my Marcelle Medallion, although not completely pieced, it is all cut and waiting!

I have also made a few other blocks along the way, but they are not yet for the eyes of all you chaps.

Looking back over the month's photos, we went from snow to sunshine, cold to warm and back again, with lots of family outdoor time, and a little less sewing, but I really mustn't grumble...

Linking with Lynne and all the Fresh Sewers, as in people who sew, not where the toilets flow...

(Don't mind me, I have spent the afternoon in the sun, and it seems to have gone to my head xxx)

Making progress...

Here are a couple of pics of my Patchwork Please!/Give Me Liberty embroidery pouch as promised...

I have reached a bit of an impasse - the pattern calls for some transparent vinyl for the clear pocket, but where, oh where, do I get any of that??

In an attempt to use what I had on hand, I tried sticking sticky backed plastic to itself, but that is still too thin, and anything else I have, like document wallets and the like, just don't feel right.  I ordered a sample from a table covering type company, so we will see what that is like, but I am guessing more plastic bag than I need.

Does anyone know where I can get what is needed in the UK?  Should the sample turn out to be the biz, I will let you know, but any ideas please in the meantime.

Talking of meantime, Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day is less than a week away...

... just saying xxx

Here we go again...

Monday, again.

Not a lot to show, sorry, as it was back to the grind, followed by swimming and the usual domestics.

I have finished the cover of my embroidery pouch earlier this evening though, so pics tomorrow, and made a start on basting my little EPP project whilst at the pool...

Right, back to blog reading for me; seems like EVERYONE has something proper to show today, except me!