Beeing...

This weekend I fulfilled my January Bee commitments.  I like that feeling of being up to date.

Firstly I made the next instalment of this year's Brit Bee quilt.  In December/January we were/are all making the block designed by Jo, and I was making for the lovely Jude.

This was a challenge of a block as you can see!  It, as with all the Brit Bee blocks, measures up at 15(.5)" x 30(.5)", and thankfully mine worked out that way.

As an aside, I have one of those appliqué flowers sitting awaiting completion for my My Small World, which has been sat neglected next to the sofa all Christmas; however I got all 6 of these stitched on Saturday afternoon!  I will finally get mine sewn tomorrow, that's my plan!

The brain-ache block finished, I set to Susan's blocks for Stitch Tease.  More of a challenge in the fabric pulling department, jewel-toned, tone-on-tone, no white, wonky log cabins with a navy 'log' in each block.  I think I managed it…

So that's me up to date with everyone.

Tomorrow, (daytime), I am going to shut myself off from the stresses of school re-organisation, work relocation and all the stuff and nonsense that has begun to fill my days, and try to crack on with some of my WIP sewing.  I'll hopefully get everything into some order to write a FAL post to keep me on track, (ahem).

Tomorrow evening I will back on the campaign trail, a meeting at dear son's school with the Council which has the makings of being rather lively!  So don't wait up xxx

Getting caught up...

I hope you all had a lovely weekend; we had a kid-free couple of hours on Saturday, which is always good, and managed to have our first BBQ of the summer yesterday, woo hoo.

I cut another 96 hexes for another Amitié Mystery BOM border, each from a different fabric…

I am planning on saving the two hexie borders for my holibobs, to appliqué on if/when the mood takes me, but I will baste these at my leisure and look forward to finishing them off.

I also finished the book I have not been reading since about September!  I have about a dozen books piled up ready to read, and I am loving being able to lounge in the sun and see what is in front of my face, so happy!

This evening I made my Stitch Tease Bee blocks for Di.  These, from an Ashley - Film In The Fridge tute were super easy and nice to make; thanks Di!

I now have to just get the Inbox under control, well you can't have everything!

New Year Sewing...

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have spotted these already this week, but I think it worth repeating that I have actually sewn some stuff this year!

At the school gate on Tuesday, I got my first glimpse of a friend's new baby boy, born a couple of days before Christmas.  So I came home, to an empty house, (woop-woop!), and made him a quilt, like you do.

A charm pack of Sweetwater Road 15 plus some IKEA fleece, and after a little bit of head-scratching, a few extra charms to make up the pattern, a sweet little Plus quilt was all stitched up…

Very pleased with the simplicity and effectiveness of one little charm pack, and the recipient, well his mummy at least, was totally thrilled.

I have also ticked off this month's Stitch Tease bee blocks for Di.  A pair of scrappy Trip Around The World blocks…

They were popped in the mail today, along with a magazine project, so I'd call that a good start.

Next on my To Do list is, well, the list.  My FAL plans need crystallising, after I have the buzzing of the first day back in the office, followed by a school cake sale, out of my head x

Mental Blocks...

So I finished those blocks today that had caused me to have to think!  Oh how very dare they!

They look good, and Annabella likes them, (always a bonus with Bee blocks!).

I am pleased to get these under by September belt.  The tutorial is here if you feel so inclined.

I did try to reduce the wastage, and that is what caused most of my angst, so attempt at your peril, fabric or sanity, you decide!

Working blues...

I put in my 5 hours today; cleared down my Inbox, well almost, and came home.

I had plans to make my Stitch Tease blocks for Annabella this afternoon, but an unscheduled stop at the park on the way home from school, meant not enough time to get further than piecing the strips that will go on to make a pair of shattered chevrons…

Now I love Annabella and I always try to do my best when making bee blocks, but I have to say, these are my worst nightmare.  They look simple, but involve thinking, with angled cutting (longer than my 12.5" rule) and create shedloads of waste if you are not careful.  Perfect bee block choice then!

There isn't as much variation in fabrics as I would have liked, but that is partly down to the construction, but shockingly, my stash of light to mid-tone blues is minimal.  It is not one of those colours I am drawn to; but I hope these will do the trick.

I hope to get them finished over the weekend.  This evening I am just going to close my eyes, to try and clear the headache that the first day back at work always induces xxx

Plastic, elastic, fantastic...

We were in Brighton at 10am, by 10.15 I had spent my Mother's Day voucher on a dress in Debenhams; I so rarely get that love-at-first-sight for clothing, especially when I have the money in my purse, so it's worth documenting!  No photo though, sorry.

Anyways, hubby had a replacement iPod, we had shopped the Lego store, Build a Bear, and the toy shop, grabbed a drink and a bun and got back in the car one minute before the 2 hour parking charge ticked over to another £!!!

I grabbed some interfacing on the way through the village, and spent this afternoon doing stuff!

There was a lot of elastic band action, and we all now have some of these...

And then I got to sew.  Proper 12" blocks.  Feels like ages since I stitched a pair; these are for Annabella's Stitch Tease quilt...

Love how they turned out, and I see a whole quilt of my own in the future, but more on that another day.

Tomorrow should see some gardening action, watching the London Marathon from the comfort of the sofa, and hopefully a bit more sewing.  I want to get on with my Sidekick tote, but I think I should clear a few more obligations before I do.  All good x

October Blocks...

You know me, I like to get my Bee commitments done and dusted as early as possible in the month, just in case any form of disaster strikes later on.

So in the last couple of days I have made these for Bee Blessed...

... full details here if you want to donate a block or two to this great cause.

I made Valerie's Stitch Tease block; 24 flying geese in raspberry pinks and golds on a low volume background, (sounds like the menu in a fancy restaurant to me)...

... and today I used the pre-school pick up hour to make the latest Siblings Together Bee block for Mary; paper-pieced strings...

Another 20" block, using Moda/Zen Chic's Barcelona.  A shout out as ever to our wonderful sponsors...

      

            

      

And in an almost-Bee, a Pop Up Bee, if you like, I have been stitching together rows of gorgeous Oakshott HSTs.  You may have seen these appearing all over the place, all will be revealed, in due course...

The 'you need to buy some yourself to see their real colour' photo effect working well tonight then!

Now I only have to get my Brit Bee block made and I am done; just the way I like it xxx

You say tomato...

I know Arkansas is pronounced Arrgh-cun-sore, but I read it in my head as Arrgh-can-zus (eh Toto); every time.  Admittedly it doesn't come up that much, but with this month's Stitch Tease block being the Arkansas Traveler, I have been correcting myself silly for the last couple of days; that, and wondering about the missing 'l'.

The blocks are for Jennifer, one of the Stitch Tease newbies, you will know her better as the ex-Hawaii-dwellling purveyor of fine fabrics at Knotted Thread.  She's got a lot of lovelies in her shop right now including AMH Hand Drawn, and Lush Uptown to name but a few.

Anyway, I digress.  Jennifer posted this picture to inspire our colour choices...

And these are what I came up with...

I followed Lee's excellent tutorial and everything went swimmingly until I spotted that I had sewn one quarter piece upside down, obviously after I had torn off all the papers...

Gah!!!!!!!!

Hey ho, I never get on with centre points with a gazillion pieces of fabric, and these were no exception, but I don't think any amount of unpicking would have made them any better.

So these will be flying off across the ocean by the end of the week, and my August commitments are done.

I've also been planning ahead for my turn as Queen Bee in September, and I am rather pleased with my plans; oh yes, tapping fingers together in a world-domination kind of way xxx

Jolly July...

Here we are again!

July was a bit hot and busy eh!?

End of work and school with the obligatory tonne of end of term activities and pièce de résistance Fat Quarterly Retreat.  I came home with these, which I fully intend to turn into things of beauty soon...

There was a lot of prep work, both fabric and psychological, for FQR, but I did manage to get a bit of stitching under my belt too.

Bee blocks...

... and also a few other bits and pieces, including the start of a covered notebook obsession and 40+ key fobs...

August has started hot and sunny; I have my Stitch Tease Bee block instructions for the month, and just finished my Siblings Together block already, and I am not really hoping for anything more than those, to be honest.

If the past week of the school holidays is anything to go by, I will achieve next to nothing except a sore throat and headache from shouting at the kids and banging my head against the proverbial.

Oh well, no change there then.

Linking up with Lynne and the other Fresh Sewists x

Shopping...

Well I can't quite believe that it is the last day of June already; it only seems like a few weeks ago that the electric blanket was a necessity, and the idea of falling asleep in the garden and waking up a little redder than you were expecting, was just wishful thinking!

So whilst I sit here, a little delicately, I'll show you my wares from yesterday.

First there was Liberty.  The lady in the fabric department told me that they will no longer be stocking the quilting cottons; they only had the two prints that I bought, and the brown (loads of brown!) left.  She was not even sure if they will be doing further collections just to be stocked elsewhere!!! 

Bit of a shocker of a picture, sorry - the sun was so bright, and now it is too late to move off the sofa!

I didn't buy any proper Liberty, as I hadn't really thought through what I would make, and how much I would need, and it is way too expensive just to buy a meter and then hope for the best!

I did buy an iron-on 'H', then a trip to the stationary department, and a tin of pencils had to come home with me.

We headed to Covent Garden as I wanted to take a look at a Fossil bracelet that I had spotted online; it was in the sale, so now it is mine too...

I love the London Transport Museum shop; and just because it would have niggled me not to, I got an anniversary mug; I am the same age as the Hammersmith & City line...

I got the tape measure on sale in Cath Kidston, as I have a bad habit of slicing off the stoppers so they retract right back inside, so now I am forearmed; and a last minute pick up of the US quilting magazine I also got passing through Victoria station last time, on the way home from Susan's.

I have to admit that it is a rare day that I have both the time and money and actually find things I really want.  Success!

So that's me; no sewing to show you, but I have plans; plans I have been really good about not getting on with until all my other 'To Do's were done.  I have 3 sets of Bee blocks to make in July, and the key fobs to finish for FQR, and then it's me time.  I have skipped this weeks Patchwork Please! project, as I have an idea for a moneybelt-apron, and I want to make it at my own pace, and with the makes for kids coming up, I will skipping those for the main part; so the pressure is off.

Apologies in advance, as there will be a bit of deja vu for the regulars over the next couple of days,  as I have my Fresh Sewing post, an FQR introduction and my second quarter FAL round up all to write this week, but I am sure I am not the only one; so no time to get into mischief, what with swimming x2, Cubs,  a recorder concert and the school fair to fit in around work too.

I wasn't going to mention Google Reader, as I never used it, but hey if you do/did, don't leave me hanging! 

Let the long week begin folks, deep breath xxx