Hexie-gone!

Well, hexie-done, but that doesn't sound as good.

It was listed on both my Winter Stitching Plans, then my first and second quarter FAL lists and now I am so pleased to tick this one off!

I loved having some hand sewing to pass the time during all those winter ballet lessons, however I stalled at the cushion-making stage for way too long, which is ridiculous, as it only took me a couple of hours to make up.

But it is finished, I am really happy and so is the twin who seems to have adopted it already, (the poorly one who I had to pick up from school just after I got to work this morning!)...

I used the lovely Jade Klona for the borders and binding, adding a couple of laps of stitching round the edge for fun; I love how the jade hexies make the panel dissolve into the background...

... and I used some the left-overs from my Mum's Rose Parade/Summer House D9P for backing; it goes really well with the Pips; see, I really am trying to use up my stash.

So one more for the Winter Stitching finale this weekend, and 3 out of 5 FAL projects completed for the second quarter already - nothing like a little pressure to get me going!

As I mentioned yesterday, my hopes of a mega productive day off disappeared into surfing the net, drinking tea and making a bit of a mess...

... and receiving goodies...

Thank you Ella for these great H notecards and notebook, and also this fantastic boxy pouch...

When I spotted her moustachioed pouch during Mouthy Stitches, I mentioned that I knew a man who would love one of those... lo and behold Ella made my husband his own - and love it, he does!

... oh and there was a bit of prize winning to distract me too!!  Thrilled?  Completely!

I did eventually manage to get all the decorative 'bits' for my Retreat Treats cut and ready to sew though; so these should be quick coming together now... maybe I'll get some sewing in whilst Little Miss Slapped Cheek rests her rosy face!

That was the month that was...

Hurray, I love June!  It's my favourite month, not just because I have a birthday at the end or anything like that, but have a sneaky peak at what I am not allowed to play with for another few weeks...

Today I am linking up with Lily's Quilts Fresh Sewing Day - Hello World!  Last month I linked directly to the Happy Scrappy block post, but I achieved so much in May, I thought it merited a new post looking back at my best sewing month ever!

First, there were finishes...
Happy Scrappy Quilt - inspired by the Aneela Hoey crazy scrappy blocks.  My flickr pic of the top got added to Explore on 15th May and has had over 640 views; so many comments, so many 'favourites' - overwhelming - thank you everyone!!!!!!

Sherbet Pips Confetti Quilt - Fat Quarterly/Quilt Dad pattern...

There were completed tops...
Union Jack - based on a pattern from Mandy Shaw...

Brit Quilt Swap Skull - based on a Boo Davis design - the recipient is still a secret!

And the best of the rest...
Cushions...

Bracelets...

Toys for the boys...

...and three Mystery blocks...  PS. it's never too late to join in and learn by my mistakes!

I also linked up to Fairy Face Designs' Summer Sewing Plans; wrote a list of my top 20 To-Dos and have ticked off 7 so far!  Nothing like a good list to get you focussed!

If you've popped over from Lynne's, please come back and visit again soon; if you were here already but haven't been over to Lily's Quilts, go take a look there too, it's brilliant.

I hope you all had a great May, and here's to a June full of fun and fabric x

Confetti Pips - A Crinkly Finish!

Having finished the binding in record time, I nervously washed and tumbled the Pips last night, for my first foray into crinkledom.  Just before bed, I pulled out what I have been waiting for, for a long time - a quilt just for me!  Perfect crinkles too!

The Sherbet Pips are a muted version of some of my favourite colours, and the print is probably a little 'sweeter' than I would describe my usual tastes, but there is something so relaxing about the whole collection that made me want it!  And I love it, no excuses.

It measures up at 40"x 52".  If you want Quilt Dad's pattern too, it's in Issue 5 of Fat Quarterly.

Women, know your limits!

OK, so if I had thought about it for a second, I would have realised that I was never going to get the whole Pips bound in a couple of hours, so a broken promise and no finish to show you today, sorry. 

However I did get more than half way round and have mitred 3 of the corners already, so I will have no excuse for not finishing tonight!

So whilst these two stomped, clomped and pranced about at ballet...

I did some colouring!!

Partner if you are looking in, I hope you like the idea I am adapting from a Boo Davis pattern - it will no doubt alter more when I start selecting the fabric - scrappy graphic - but I am hoping this will get the thumbs up!

And finally, seeing as my giveaway luck is completely non-existent, I might as well tell you to pop on over to Kati at From the Blue Chair for the chance to win an extremely useful and beautiful Kona Color Card, because chances are, I won't be winning it eh!!

Here's to a cosy evening!

Quick before I get side-tracked by more blogs, flickr or emails...

I ordered that thread at about 2.30pm yesterday, and it was waiting for me when I got home from work today!!

So I got the remaining quilting finished and the binding attached before the school run and swimming lessons, and now I am going to settle down and finish the Pips.  I will get it washed, tumbled and crinkled tomorrow and then give you the big 'reveal'! 

I have been sketching (well copying!) and pondering my Brit Quilt Swap partner's fate too and will show you before the end of the week!

The agony of the long distance quilter!

I woke up thinking about the Pips... I cleaned the house as quickly and obviously thoroughly as possible and then armed with backing, wadding, top and spray, I got to basting on the deck.

OK, so it was a bit breezy (masking tape to the rescue), the sky was a bit grey (thankfully no rain), but I got everything 'stuck' together pretty easily and decided to get it quilted and the binding attached in time to hand finish it in front of the Eurovision Song Contest (I'm blaming Verity!).  Hmmm...

I got 27/40 of my horizontals finished, when disaster, a total 'non-calculation' of the thread I'd need, meant I ran out!!!  Cue emergency call to the local fabric shop, and a very odd conversation along the lines of:

Me: Can you see if you have any Gutermann thread number 732 - it's a very light pink?
Old lady:  Have I got any red what?
Me: No, thread...
Old lady:  Yes, what number?
Me: 732...
Old lady:  The lovely green?
Me: No, light pink...
Old lady: DMC or Anchor?
Me: No, Gutermann...
Old lady: Let me check.... No...

This look about 5 minutes!

So my quilt has stalled, and I wasn't about to make an hour round trip to town, so it will have to wait until Monday.  Poo!

But I managed to start something else that I will hopefully be able to show you tomorrow.

So in eager anticipation... Bonne nuit, Gute nacht, Dobra noc!

Fabric Galore!!

But fabric with a purpose, so I haven't fallen off the wagon just yet!

Firstly I received the rest of my Sherbet Pips for the Confetti backing, and because of an earlier mix up, I was also sent the cutest mini-Charm pack ever!  So I will use the minis in my plans to make something for the girls, (probably!).

I also received the bundle I selected for the Mystery Quiltalong!  My plan, to practice my (larger) HSTs with this first block before I make up my Bee Blocks (2 birds with one stone and all that!). 

So, as if by magic...

Block one completed, what a beauty, if I do say so myself!  OK so the magic was actually a lot of aggro; I tend to work in metric when left to my own devices, so trimming 6.5" and 7" squares involved masking tape, pencil marks and obligatory swearing!  Thank goodness the Bee HSTs are teeny and I do have a 4.5" square rule!

Before I go, more Giveaways,(I should get commission surely).  Judith, of Needles and Lemons, fellow Bee and soon to be star of Quilter in the Gap Rhonda's next interview, has brought back from her US travels, a fat quarter set of the entire new Denyse Schmidt range 'Picnic and Fairground' plus two coordinating solids!!

Lara at Sew Many Stitches Later is also offering some 'Picnic and Fairground', including some exclusive Australasian DS prints in her Giveaway.  So pop over to NZ and check out her lovely blog too.

Obviously all these giveaways are specifically aimed at me, as I made plenty of space during my tidying session on Friday night to accommodate them!

Happy Mother's Day (rest of the world!).

Who let the dogs out...woof woof, woof woof!

It's May already!!  Make sure you pop on over to Lily's Quilts to point everyone to your best bits from April.  

Thanks to the superb Fat Quarterly / Quilt Dad pattern, I have buckled down and in a couple of sessions ended up with this...

I am so pleased with it, and I for one am still in love with the Pips.  I am just frustrated now that I am still waiting for the grey swing yardage for the backing and that I was a bit slack in ordering some more batting.

But hey, it's not like I haven't got enough other things I can be getting on with whilst I'm waiting!

Pips away!

I got a lovely parcel today containing some of the Sherbet Pips that I pre-ordered from Prints to Polka Dots...

Having earlier succumbed to the new Fat Quarterly (Issue 5), all about pre-cuts and containing Lynne of Lily's Quilts' fantastic Dr Seuss pattern amongst others, I was set for the off.  Within the electronic pages, I'd had a 'eureka' moment, when I spied Quilt Dad's Confetti quilt made of Pips!  With the Royal Wedding looming, what a great omen!

So this evening I got on and joined trios of Pips and pressed them ready for cutting tomorrow. 

I am so happy to have found a quilt design that will enable me to confidently crack on and make something that is not going to stress me out nor require copious amounts of unpicking and is made for straight line quilting.  It will also look fantastic (well I hope!).  Thanks Dad!

I need to get some more batting and am still awaiting the backing fabric, but if I can get the top completed over the long weekend, along with maybe quilting and binding my Dresden and making a final decision on my scrappy quilt design, I will be very happy and then ready to concentrate my energy on Trudi's Bee blocks (the fabric is in the post!!), the mystery quiltalong and maybe join the Brit Swap! 

Oh lordy, seeing all that in black and white is a tad daunting!

I'm meant to be on holiday...

...but I have been working very hard!

Firstly I finished Stanley...

Then, as I had sorted out all my scraps on Sunday, in a timely fashion Aneela Hoey, oh lovely lady of the Sherbet Pips, posted about starting a crazy scrappy quiltalong - so I obviously had to sign up!

There's a linky somewhere on the left if you are interested.  The idea is to make 11" squares, but I am going to work with 6" ones, as many of my scraps are too teensy, and I am too eagar to to make lots of blocks, see...

Then I noticed that Prints to Polka Dots are doing a pre-order on Sherbet Pips, so I had to order some yardage to go with my charm packs; be quick people, the pre-order option is only open until Wednesday.

Then Lynne at Lily's Quilts posted the start of a tutorial for her Big Little George.

This is Lynne's 'example' so goodness know what sort of paper-pieced mess I am going to get into!

But up for a challenge, I got cutting and piecing and stitching and swearing and unpicking and re-stitching and eventually ended up with this...

OK, so the children were lucky to be fed, and dearest hubby feels like a total sewing-widow, but sometimes you have to go with the urge!

Good and not so good...

Well a bit of a disturbed night with poor son keeping a temperature, including being inconsolable that he had broken the Tardis, not his toy one, the real one, crashed it into a tree in the forest, apparently, at about 2am... the night didn't get much better!

The postman was able to put a smile on my face!  Firstly just seeing the package...

...and the contents, well, simply lovely!

This afternoon, after a long call with a telephone-nurse, we took the 20 mile round trip to the hospital for the first available out-of-hours doctor's appointment 2 hours later.  Running 20 minutes late, a 2 minute consultation just to diagnose a virus!  Not that I wanted more pain, suffering and prescriptions, but grrrrr! 

Still, dear husband has gone to get us a Chinese takeaway, and tonight I will be finishing this...