Liberty Love.

Until FQ Retreat, I have to admit that I didn't really get the fuss about Liberty fabrics.

I didn't dislike them, but they weren't top of my shopping list by any stretch of the imagination.

Along comes the Liberty Lifestyle lady and I had a good look at, and stroke of the soon to be released quilting weight cottons in all those lovely modern colours and teeny prints; it was love at first sight.

http://www.liberty.co.uk/lifestyle-fabrics/article/fcp-content Dorothy - even in brown!

So as soon as Jo offered a super discount for her Etsy shop last weekend, I was there.

I went for the greatest little scrap bag and a couple of F8th.  Jo was so sweet to include another F8th that I had mentioned was a favourite and now I have my own little Liberty stash at last.  I have even popped the lot into the Liberty drawstring bag I received in the swap.

Does that make me a grown up stitcher?

Summer Sewing Contest...

I have been 'umming and arrghing about what to enter into Jennifer's amazing Summer Sewing Contest...

Browsing back through my recent photos, it seemed a bit obvious really...

My paper-pieced Denyse Schmidt - Union Jack cushion, started in Lynne's class of Fat Quarterly Retreat on Jubilee weekend, the epitome of the British Summer (rain obligatory).

I love this cushion, it brings a smile to my otherwise grumpy face now that the Retreat glow has faded and the bunting is looking bedraggled from all the shocking weather we have had recently.

If you haven't checked out any of the other entries in the Home Decor category, please do, Lindsey has already entered the most beautiful cushion/pillow in the universe!

For anyone interested, a special Retreat edition of Fat Quarterly will be available to buy here which includes the templates for this cushion; and a load of other amazing stuff too.

Sorry to the regulars who have only just seen this, and welcome to anyone new in town coming over from Jennifer's for the first time.

Tomorrow, I promise something completely different... probably xxx

Sunny Sewing!

At last the sun shone, and I stayed in doors sewing!

Back in March I chopped up most of my Reunion layer cake into 5" charms, and added in a few other prints, then duly popped the lot in a box and chose to forget about them.  Now these were to be destined for a friends' twin boys due 'in the Summer'; well despite evidence bringing into doubt the existence of such a thing as 'Summer', time and babies wait for no-one, so today was the day to get on with it, as those chaps could come any time.

I was originally going to sew up a pair of simple patchwork quilts, but I had to go and make life a little more complicated; I am glad I did.

I sewed up 4-patch squares, then turned these into HSTs.  The squares though have one corner cut off in the process; however after the initial realisation and bit of swearing, I actually like the look it gives.

Since taking the pictures this afternoon, I have added strips of Kona Ash and more Reunion to turn them into 36"x 44" tops.

I was going to back with fleece blankets, but I have gone off that idea now, so will be doing a quick bit of pondering before finishing these off.

Hope those boys don't put in an appearance too soon x

Idle hands?

Not me!

Not only have I been passing time with embroidery since Retreat...

OK, it might have a puncture!

That's Aneela's little red bus to add to the collection, but I have also started on another mid-size project... a Katy Jones' Spring Carnival mega-mahusive hand-pieced cushion cover.

Using two charm packs of Domestic Bliss, and a FQ of Kaffe Fassett shot cotton, (yes Emily, that one!), I am still at the basting stage, but already loving it.  I know I could have Pritt-sticked them, but I like this bit too...

This should keep me out of trouble for a while; I was kind of hoping these would be my summer garden sewing projects, but they seem to work very nicely as sat on the sofa under a quilt projects too, which is lucky x

La La, Monday Monday...

It was a wet one, it was a miserable one, I wore my winter coat, but I've got that first day back at work under my belt, taken the kids to the dentist and have tea in the oven.  England are ahead  drawing 1-all in the football, and hopefully I will be able to get Annabella's Stitch Tease block finished this evening.

Sneaky peek anyone?

I've also got a couple of little embroideries to show for an evening in front of the TV, but I have forgotten to wash off the fabric marker, so will only show you one for now...

"hello?"

Hope you haven't been washed away, blown away or otherwise affected by the elements today; who'd of thought it was summer!  Can't stop, I can smell sausages xxx

Sunday again...

This week has gone way too quickly, half term has been a washout and I'll be back to work tomorrow and I'm not looking forward to that at all.

So onto the cheerier things that have been going on round here this weekend...

Mail...

My delivery from U-Handbag arrived quick as a flash, even arriving before Lisa offered 15% off until tomorrow, (so be quick); I think I am all set to receive my partner details from Nicky and her trusty sidekick Helen.

Today I pulled the fabrics for my next challenge in the Stitch Tease Bee; this time I am making 'curves' for Annabella, and as before, it's all top secret, but I'll give you a sneaky peak when I have this one stitched up.

And finally, especially for those feeling that there is a London-sized gap in their lives after last weekend, the kids made these for the Reception class's Little London that will be displayed at school next week...

Happy days xxx

Off to a Flying Start...

This morning, I was able to give my burn an airing; I know, small pleasure, but having a shower without cling film for the first time in a week - yes I even took a roll to Retreat, was wonderful!

So buoyed up and feeling fresh, although having those this time last week feelings, I got my sewing machine out for the first time since Monday.

Brit Bee - Year Two has kicked off in style, with Trudi giving us free reign on flying geese blocks.

I pulled out the ziplock of fabric she had thrust in my direction at Retreat and took a closer look - lots of BROWN! 

Deep breath, after all, I don't have to keep it!

Having conquered the circle of geese block as part of new-Brit Bee Katy's Foundation Paper Piecing For The Terrified series, I could conquer brown, so I printed some more templates from here, and got going on my twist for my first block.

I used two clockwise and two anticlockwise paper templates and took a risk that I think paid off, making the geese from Trudi's white-on-cream background fabric, and scrappy filling the background...

Not too brown, and I am chuffed to bits with my piecing.  I hope Trudi feels the same. 

Last year when we were set the Lynne-Bob Square Pants block as our first Bee experience, I thought that was complicated - this really does bring it home just how much I have learnt and am volunteering to make in such a short space of time!

The second block is way more inside my colour comfort zone!   More Valorie Wells, but in a lovely aqua.  I suspect this block has a proper name which I am not familiar with, I spotted it whilst trawling google images and did a quick bit of maths to get it to size...

I love this one too.

Both blocks finish at 12.5", (and they actually do!), and will be flying back to Trudi next week.

So there we are, some real quilty sewing; it's so good to be back! 

I've been framed...

She made me do it!

Nicky was so quick to set up a frame purse swap after our foray at Retreat, there was no way I was going to miss out!

I think sign ups may have closed already - there's a desperate select group of 30 swappers all eager to get busy with the glue.

Last night I put together my 'likes' mosaic...

Follow the link here to see the full details on flickr.

I may also have spent a little time and money at U-handbag to boost my supplies, although that may have been a dream - I'll see what the postman comes up with tomorrow!

Hoopla...

I have been taking it easy; sadly enforced, but my arm really does need rest, so embroidery to the rescue.

I didn't get round to attempting the second pattern at Retreat, I was talking, so thanks to Aneela, I got my mitts on her suggested stitches and spent a lovely evening stitching up the little stocking.  I also pulled out an old Mollie Makes and my first Mandy Shaw book and have already stitched up a couple of others...

I am totally smitten with embroidery.  I used to stitch little flowers on things when I was young, but backstitch was the most fancy stitch I mastered.   I am going to have to go back over all the magazines and books I own, and take a look at all those pages that I had previously just skipped over.

You know the simplest thing, getting the pattern to the fabric gave me a mental block and it's so damn easy and obvious, now there'll be no stopping me.

I have Aneela's London pattern ready and waiting; a red bus, phone box and more, which I think I will start this evening - I'm not going to let the weekend's London-love fade away just yet!

Swaps and Goodies...

This is my final Retreat round up, although there will definitely be a lot of harking back over the next few posts, I have already finished some more embroidery!

As you know I entered into the Sample Swap organised by the enthusiastic Trash.  I made little pouches based on the Zakka Style Pretty Little ones, I made those key fobs and x+ brooches as gifts too, along with a mini Constellation for Katy - it made her cry, I didn't think it was that bad!

In the Sample Swap, I was in a group with my crazy friend Kelly (a drawstring London Underground bag and zakka mini flying geese magnets), fellow Stitch-Teaser Di (a Moo card holder that can survive nuclear attack, apparently), Mandy-Mand-a-lin (a Japanese style drawstring bag, sweeties and pins) and another wonderful lady whose first name escapes me, but she was the lovely Mrs Richards with a vintage Liberty bag!

I am very happy with my haul!

I also received an awesome tote from the classy Liberty Lifestyle lady - sadly I managed to miss out on the Liberty fabric being given out in various classes, but having seen the new line I have become just a little bit smitten!

As well as swaps, I handed over parcels of Quilt Blocks and needle books to the Brit Bees in thanks for the second placed Constellation in the Festival of HSTs.  Other BBs made gifts too, a sweet tape measure bracelet from Ceri, lavender bag from Fiona and a super duper purse and keyring made by Judith and amazing little owls by her daughter...

Oh, and a very apt coaster from Terri, who is finally a certified blogger!

I also swapped brooches with Mary, who was responsible for my totally brilliant name tag that I sported all weekend.

The FQ swap organised by Miss Lolly of Pops was fun; I parted with some text, Anna Maria Horner and a couple of others and picked up 4 beauties in return; it wouldn't have been right to have not spent any money on fabric, so I splashed on a Summerville layer cake and a few FQs from Mandy at the last minute too...

In the raffle I was lucky enough to win a copy of the Fat Quarterly book - those with good memories know that I bought this pre-release, so keep 'em peeled, I suspect I may now have an extra to put towards a giveaway soon - 2 year blogiversary in a month, whodda thunk it!

I also bought a set of Carnival templates off Katy - everything made with these blocks look amazing, so I really need to get in on that action.

There was also the Goodie Bag - from such amazing sponsors as Aurifil, Oakshott, Robert Kaufman, Moda and more.  Those of us in Aneela's embroidery class also received some luscious Lecien threads.  All too generous for words.  Thank you to all.

I will leave you with photos (some borrowed from Leanne and Lynne), which for me, sum up all that is great about this stitching mularky, the joy of a group of people finally meeting for the first time after a full year of online friendship... Priceless.

Brit Bee l-r: Terri, Jo, Sarah, Me, Judith & Judith, Susan, Jennie, Ceri, Fiona, Laura and Trudi xxx

Thank you again to the Fat Quarterly super stars, I know I am not the only one looking forward to FQ Community Retreat 2013.  Bring. It. On.

xxx

Retreat Makes...

You would be forgiven for thinking that simply meeting, talking, smiling and hugging were the main pastimes at Retreat, but there was also a little making going on.

My first class on Saturday morning was Freezer paper-piecing with the mega-talented Kerry.  Looking at the examples she had bought with her, confirmed her position up there on Top of the PoPS (Piecer of Paper Sewist).

My head was so buzzing, I plumped for the easiest block first, under the naivety that I would be able to go at my normal pace and whiz through all the pin cushion patterns. 

I now know better.

Look, the back says 'Green's' 'cause I made it in Mrs Green's class!!!

I found it quite hard to concentrate and believe it was all actually happening at that point in the weekend, so there were silly mistakes and things not going quite as well as I would like, but that didn't matter one bit.  I was there and doing it!

When the patterns come out in the Fat Quarterly Retreat edition, I will be making the little house straight away.

Saturday afternoon was spent embroidering - it was calm, relaxing and the perfect antidote to the manic hours before.  Aneela is not really evil, she is amazing, and her enthusiasm is infectious - I think I see a lot of little embroidered pieces in my future, especially very near-future as, until my arm heals,  I think this is going to keep me sane.

Too excited - I haven't even got the water-soluble pen off yet!

I didn't get onto the stocking pattern we had prepared, it was just lovely to watch others work, chat and 'be there'.

Sunday started bright and early with Lynne's paper-piecing class.  From the minute I heard about Retreat, and knew it coincided with Jubilee, I knew I wanted to make a Union Jack.  Heck, I reckon the Jubilee was a big old publicity stunt and fuel for Mrs G's flag fetish!

I pulled some of my favourite and hoarded fabrics for this one.  Again, somehow time ran away with me and I only managed 2 quarter pieces in the 3 hours, but I learnt a lot more; (fold the next seam line and cut the seam allowance first to match the next piece - doh - brilliant!), and it was the good laugh I was expecting. 

So yesterday I finished my cushion!!  OK this is a cushion that is actually a pillow, but don't get me started...

I absolutely love it - it makes me so happy, and although I finished it at home, I had Twitter rolling up on my laptop at the same time, just so I was, in effect, still in the company of the Fat Quarterly crew, perfect.

Last but never least, on Sunday afternoon I made my first frame purse.  First, because I ordered some glue off eBay as soon as I got home, I already have more frames, I have fabric, I now have inspiration!

Despite fears that the weight of all my wealth would part the fabric from the frame in an instant, I think I will be proudly carrying my 56p around in this beauty forever...

Katy's class was brilliant, it was the shortest session I did, but I could have happily made frame purses with her and the lovely people I spent that time with for a whole weekend... maybe the glue has affected my judgement, but I doubt it!

I know we could only do four sessions, and I was so lucky to get the 4 I really really wanted to do, thank you so much ladies, but I would have loved to have done all the other sessions too.  I know I am definitely going to be pestering Lu for Porthole advice, as the samples everyone made were so amazing I want to make some too. 

So there you go - that's what I made - things I will look at forever and think of all the fun, amazing and talented people I made them with.  Sentimental, moi?  Oh yes, and I think these are the most perfect souvenirs of my weekend away.

Speaking of souvenirs, tomorrow I will show you all the other goodies that made their way home with me - I am feeling very lucky indeed.
xxx

Hi Honey, I'm home...

Yep, home from Retreat and still trying to get it all out of my buzzing head and into some sort of order!

Firstly, trying to blog from my phone over the weekend was a bit of a fat-finger struggle, and that was when I wasn't so engrossed and blogging was the last thing on my mind.  So apologies it wasn't more, and thank you now for your comments - they were even harder to access, but much appreciated.

Secondly, the District Nurse has been to see me this morning, (for those who don't know - I had a bit of a mishap with the kettle and my forearm on Friday afternoon, perfect timing eh?), it looks and feels really horrible now, going to take ages to heal, nice big scar, and without the Retreat adrenalin I am starting to feel a bit upset and sorry for myself, so thank you for caring xxx

Anyhow, there are lots of posts going up already about the most amazing sewing weekend we have just had, so I don't expect this will be the first, or last you will have read, so apologies if you are bored already, (because I will probably be able to string this out over the whole week if I try), but if you want to see more, here we go, my Retreat overview...

It all started when I met my new/old friend Nicky on the train up to London just after 7am; she only lives about 15 miles from me, but we had never met before; and as was to prove true all weekend, it really was just like meeting old friends you'd not seen in a long time, when in fact for most of us we had never met at all - really quite surreal.

We were joined by Fiona at Victoria Station and got a cosy cab to Baden Powell House, chatting all the time like the old mates we are.

Fat Quarterly Crew were there waiting - I will say now that they all, Lynne, Katy, Brioni, Tacha and John, along with Kerry, Aneela, Lucie, Claudia and any of the other teachers and organizers, are the most awesome and inspiring bunch that you are likely to meet, and I can't thank them enough for the Retreat itself or the camaraderie and friendships the Retreat has created.  There was definitely a lot of joy for the ones who were there and lots of mention of our friends around the world who couldn't make it - there should have been a lot of quilty ears burning this weekend!

After the most manic hour imaginable, think 100 women and 2 (poor) men, all shrieking and hugging and talking at once, classes began.

Now you may have noticed my camera-shyness, so I didn't put others through the pain of the 'enforced hurry-up-and-press-the-button smile', unlike some - you know who you are!, so most of my pictures were more crowd shots.  I didn't take that many, and many of those were blurry, but I am so glad that others are already sharing theirs, so I will be favouriting many of those on flickr over the coming days I hope.

So, I took freezer paper piecing with Kerry first - I loved it - not so sure my attempts did her skills and instruction justice; it should be noted that for all classes, what would normally take about half an hour at home took about three times as long - I just can't do sewing and chattering, and hey, I can sew alone any old time right?!

After an intense meet-shriek-and try-to-eat lunch hour, including the brilliant goodie swap, I had the joy of a refreshing few hours embroidering in Aneela's class.  Now Aneela is a quiet sort, but don't be fooled by her beautiful gentle designs and soft voice, she is in fact evil with her iPad and if she's not careful I don't think I will let her be my friend any more!

Now please remember that although there were moments of calm, much of the non-class time was spent, for me, and I suspect many others, flitting between groups of people, never really getting to sit for a long chat, trying not to miss a thing. 

There was an amazingly generous raffle, Iron Women, fugly swapping and goodie bags and so much more, topping off Day One with a Brit Bee & Friends dinner.  By which point I was so exhausted from my 5.30am start that my conversational skills were that of a 2 year old.

I had a comfortable night in my lovely hotel room, and Sunday started bright and early with Lynne's Paper-piecing class; I will sum that up as 'much hilarity' and the start of something lovely.

Lunch was a rather calmer affair, followed by a fantastic frame purse session with The Tattooed Quilter (as seen on Channel4 - we so wish), I loved this class, and it was the perfect finish to my 'formal' time.

There was more chatting, photocalls and giveaways, challenge judging and general milling about before we headed out into the rain and mayhem of 20 million Jubilee celebrators(?) just after 5pm.

Now I have deliberately not name-checked all the amazing people I was lucky enough to have spent time with this weekend - because you know who you are and I would be so embarrassed if I forgot to mention anyone, because everyone was great, and also I am now already thinking of the people who I intended to spend a bit of time with and completely didn't - doh!

Well this has already turned out way longer than I was expecting, so tomorrow I will show you the things I made, and Wednesday maybe the other things I came home with, if that's OK.

I will now be trying hard to catch up with everyone else's posts and photos too and maybe putting some of my new skills into practice.  I need to cram in a Jubilee street party and some family time over the long bank holiday and maybe some sleep at some point, because I definitely need some more of that!
xxx

Almost home, tired but happy!

Great weekend x

Iron women...

Frame purses with Katy

Paper piecing cushions with Lynne...

Good morning x

Dinner time...

Special guest...

Finished hoops...

Embroidery with Aneela

At retreat!

I hope this works!

Then I will be able to post from my mobile at Retreat xxx

Gone Sewin'!

It's June!

I love June.  My birthday is in June, so from Christmas onwards I always look forward to this month, summertime and all things happy.  But before I get older, there is the small matter of Fat Quarterly Retreat to attend to; have I mentioned that at all?

But before jumping ahead, as is customary, here is a little montage of my May - linking up with Lynne, (who I am going to meet tomorrow!) and Lily's Quilts' Fresh Sewing Day.  There were preparations and Bee blocks, the Blogger's Festival of Quilts and sunshine too...

So for the next couple of days things might be pretty quiet round here; my blogging will either consist of pictures and few words, or zilch, should that practice with my mobile phone go all Pete Tong.  But I promise there will be a full run down next week.

Whatever you are up to this weekend, especially if you are celebrating the Jubilee, have a fantastic time.

See you all soon and some of you tomorrow xxx