I am a very lucky girl...

I am so happy!

After I posted yesterday about the gorgeous brown mystery I had received, I went straight out to Tesco for that joyous load-up that is the school lunches, last minute supplies and weekly shop nightmare with accompanying tantrums, customary at the end of the holidays.  Joy of joys.

Getting home hours later another parcel awaited...written in the same handwriting as the brownie.

The everso lovely Emily was my Brit Quilt Swap partner all along - well done to those who guessed along with me!

I didn't hang about as I knew what was inside...

I love love love it, all that Hope Valley and a MM typewriter!!  The extras are extra beautiful too...

I am a very lucky girl; I am so in love with my mini and I know the nightmare that Emily had making, not for me, (I am so easy to please, ha ha), but with her four-legged accomplice, so it makes it even more special.  Thank you again Emily xxx

This has been a great swap; the summer made it kind of a quiet one on flickr, but it was a nice gentle pace and has given me a high, before the low that will ensue from returning to work later this week; probably time for another swap soon then eh?; so my thanks to the BQS Mamas for keeping it all going.

This time tomorrow I will have had the first day to myself in over 6 weeks - only 6 peaceful hours, but it will be wonderful; Thursday however will be back to the horror of the day job, how long is it until Christmas?

BQS Summer...

Summer is here at long long last, we have just had our first BBQ of the year and I have finished my BQS - a great day!

Now I don't generally name my quilts, other than with the pattern name and maybe, if I am feeling a little adventurous, a colour or fact to make it a bit more special, Brit Bee Constellation, Rainbow Cherry Star for example; but whilst making my Brit Quilt Swap mini, two images kept coming to mind, from the iconic Clockwork Orange film and the Pink Floyd record cover.

Although Clockwork Frog did seem quite amusing, to the young and innocent, it conjured up something more Harry Potter than I wanted, or at the other extreme, would perhaps give my partner nightmares, what with those googly eyes, scissors n'all!

And so was born, The Dark Side of The Pond!

If you had asked me to embroider a label a couple of months ago, I would have laughed my socks off.  I loved stitching this - it's not perfect, but that's more due to my handwriting, but I think it is a nice finishing touch.

The mini measures up at 19.5" square.  I quilted using my walking foot as the guide and then hand finished the binding and label.

Is it wrong to love your own makes?  I am pleased with every step of this, from the Y-seams to the embroidery, now I just hope my partner feels the same way.

Right, I'm off to soak up some rays before someone realises we have stolen their great weather and asks for it back, and a quick final reminder for the giveaway xxx

BQS3 - Y not!?

I have made the central block for my Brit Quilt Swap 3.

To say that I am chuffed to bits with the result would be a complete and utter understatement.

Now being the good partner that I am, I had a long old ponder on my secret partner's mosaic, and pulled a load of fabric which fitted the bill then toyed with replicating one of the blocks in said mosaic.

Then I had a flick through my 99 Modern Blocks, just to be sure.

One jumped right out, the Arrowhead by Wendy Hill. 

You cannot fail to see that the sample block is, quite frankly, a brown horror!  If you ever want to see the epitome of 'bad brown', sorry Wendy, but this is it.  But I saw through it, I have selective vision.

My idea was to use 4 of the 6" blocks to make a larger triangle.

Initial feedback from flickr was so great, I just set right to it!

It is a Y-seam dream/nightmare depending on the way you swing.  Having previously only sewn a few, and not perfectly, it has to be said, I followed the block instructions, making a small tailor's tack on each piece where the pattern calls for a 'mark'.  I think using a vanishing pen would not have worked so well as the way the seams are pressed you would have lost the 'point' many times over.

It worked like a bloody miracle!

Gratuitous shots of my Y-fronts, and backs!

Now I am not going to say if my partner has already commented or not, but I am hoping they love the finished block as much as I do.

Finally, a Happy 4th July to my friends of the US persuasion x