Sunny Snippets...

Well would you believe it, a Saturday warm enough for the first time to do this in 2013...

The grass got cut, and dear son returned from his first-timers Cub camp; very tired but loved every second; and it appears they spent every second awake.

This is the 'before' shot; after was not so 'compact'.

The girls went off to a Harry Potter birthday party...

Professor McGonagall and Luna Lovegood!

I got all the cleaning, washing, shopping and sorting out the way and spent a lovely couple of hours soaking up some rays, leafing through my Liberty Love and Patchwork Please! and planning a little fusion.

Hoping the dry and fine weather continues into tomorrow, because, even though I now have a pile of ironing that is making me wince, a day out somewhere 'historic' is on the cards, taking advantage of this offer.

Hope your day has turned out as nicely, and if not, there's always tomorrow xxx

Giveaway WInner...

Thank you all so much for entering my giveaway.  The karma gods were looking in when I closed it this evening.  Actually I did have a pang of 'they'll think it's a fix!' when I saw who the random number belonged to!  But Mr Random has chosen, and who am I to disagree?

Come on down Number 70...

Birthday Girl Trudi!!!

I will get it wrapped and sent to you soon my friend!

Thank you all for sharing your favourite makes, I might love the pin cushion as much as my kids, but guessing you really would prefer the Liberty Trudi!?

Afraid I have nothing for my non-UK friends this evening, but if you are at a loose end this weekend here in Blighty, it's free-entry time at the National Trust, so download yourself a voucher and go have some fun!  xxx

Random Geography!

Well I am afraid I am a bit lacking in the Random department this week; try as I might, the girls were not really up for list writing for the sake of your entertainment, but I'll keep working on them!

I did discover a random coincidence (?) with this week's fabric splurge though! 

Keen to join in with Krista and Nicole's Give Me Liberty sew-along, I thought a bit of bolstering of my Lifestyle supplies was in order, and so headed for Eclectic Maker as I knew they still had my favourite print in stock.

Anyhoo, maybe some other things fell in the basket, but imagine my surprise/joy and bank-balance flinching, on seeing the return address today...

I had just got home from work in Worthing!  Who knew I was so close to this awesome fabric dealer!?  Not me, until now, (must have ripped off the previous wrapping too quick to notice!).  OK, so they are not currently a bricks and mortar shop, but keeping it local has to be good, as is not so local, and darn right international... hmm.

So I am all set to make myself some lovelies, which will no doubt accompany me to FQ Retreat.  I sent through my class options this afternoon too - so I'm starting to get excited again!

And just because it was there, and I know what you are really after...

Playdoh Earth, cross-section and labels.  Don't say you never learn anything here!

Linking with Cindy's Randomeers because it's Thursday.

Don't forget, you have about 24hrs left to enter my Liberty pincushion giveaway.

Please tease me oh yeah, like I teased you!

I think I am right in saying that I am the last one to post my Stitch Tease blocks.  So in theory, you could have worked out what I made already!

Just in case you haven't been ticking off all the blocks on the tour, here are the ones I made for my fellow Stitch Teasers...

Firstly, for Katy; you can read about her quilt here...

This was fun, although my raw edge appliqué is a little more raw than I would have liked! 

Then Annabella's NYB; you can read about her quilt here...

I loved making this.

For Diane, I really pushed the boat out;  you can read about her quilt here...

These were made using Penny's awesome paper-pieced templates; they drove me a little crazy and came at a really hard time for my family and I, but I am so glad I persevered.  Hard to photograph, Di's pics are way better!

For Susan I was back on familiar territory; you can read about her quilt here...

I had to sneak in a non-white star in my 'signature' fabric, the Cloud 9 herons, which appear somewhere or other in all the blocks I made.

Danny's block meant I had to think!  You can read about her quilt here...

If you are going to make some flying geese, you might as well make hundreds eh!?

Helen's block was another fun one; you can read about her quilt here...

I embraced my inner wonk!

Finally I had to make the last block for Dianne's quilt top and then piece the bugger together!  You can read about her quilt here...

All the blocks were slightly different sizes, I worked a little jiggery-pokery to get it all to fit together, and I am really pleased with how it turned out.  My block is the one bottom-right - I was so keen to mail this off I didn't hang about for great photos!

So that's my lot!  Round 2, a more traditional Bee format kicks off soon, and I can't wait to see what ideas we all come up with.

Apologies again for prolonging the Stitch Teasing, but I had a little giveaway to post about yesterday, I hope you saw!!

Grazie Mille!

Do you see what I see?

How the heck I have managed to get to one thousand posts is completely beyond me.

OK, so to some it may feel like it's way more already, but to each and every one of you who has taken the time to pop by, read my ramblings, once, twice, maybe 1000 times, you make my day brighter, thank you so, so much!

To show my appreciation, it's only fair to have a little follower GIVEAWAY don't you think!?

On Sunday I instagrammed and posted this sneaky peak...

Which turned into this...

I think it is possibly the most beautiful thing I have ever made!!  I love it, I really would love to keep it, and I think that's why I should give it away.  Giving away something that I don't really want, isn't quite the point is it?

Just in case you missed my Le Challenge post; this is made using the Liberty charm off-cuts from my Marcelle Medallion quilt, and is another gorgeous pattern from Alexia's beautiful book.  It is a substantial 6" square, made of Liberty lawn and a little Lifestyle, pieced with Aurifil 50wt 2021 and backed with natural Essex Linen.  I even did ric-rac, and it worked!  It is looking a little less luminous than it is in real life - it was so sunny, so no complaining!

So what do you need to do, other than not being a No-Reply Blogger?  (Well, OK, you can be, as long as you put your email address in your comment, please!).

One comment only, (extras will be deleted), no hoops, simply tell me:

What is the most beautiful item you have ever made?

I will use Random.org to pick a winner at 8pm British Summer Time on Friday 19th April; open internationally and as ever with giveaways, I probably won't be responding to individual comments, sorry.

Good luck and thank you, my wonderful friends xxx

*** The Giveaway is now closed ***

Stitch Tease - Mystery Revealed!

Queen Bee, Strip Mama, our fearless leader Di got the ball rolling yesterday with her grand reveal; which is only right, as she was the mastermind behind the last 12 months, but today you will notice posts popping up by the rest of the worker Bees.



It seems like a very long time ago that this merry band of stitchers started pondering what we wanted from this twisted Bee; Di's post goes over the whole whos and hows, so I won't repeat that again now.

Suffice to say, my initial request went something like this...

I do not want wonky,
I would like a combo of squares and rectangles of various sizes,
I would like as many different prints as you can muster within the strip, or rather, as few repeats as possible within a row, but some repeats between rows, if you spot a print someone else has used will help the quilt be more cohesive,
Like Susan, I like the idea of negative space, so within the strip I would like about half a dozen random white squares of various sizes, as long as they are white I do not mind if they are Moda Bella, Kona or Klona, just proper white!
Colours:
Mostly Teal, Aqua, Orange, Green, Blue, Grey with touches of other colours within prints is fine, like the Dis (plural) fabric selections, but no big chunks of red or primary colours thank you.
Prints & Fabrics:
I think a mixture of big and smaller scale prints will work really well; a strip of all large, or all teeny won't look so good. No solids thank you.
I HATE batiks, please don't try to sneak any in, they make me sad, also anything that has that smudgy look, or like little bubbles, you know the sort.
I love bolder more graphic prints, think Amy Butler, Momo and Joel Dewberry but ANY Heather Ross is more than welcome.
No comedy, or kiddie prints!

I don't ask for much. 

... and my inspiration mosaic looked like this...

My inital block was made and then sent on to Katy for the duration...

Twelve secretive months went by, and without further ado, (as if you haven't scrolled down to look already!), this is the wonderful quilt top that I received back...

I. Love. It!

I unwrapped mine first, and it was soooooooooooo hard to not gloat and flash it all about whilst all the others were still waiting; but it did mean it could get the full photo-shoot treatment!

I can tell who's blocks are whose by our tell-tale signature fabrics, and love it so much for all the prints that have been pulled with me in mind; it has turned out more beautiful than I imagined it could...

When you see all the finished tops you would be forgiven for thinking that mine was the simple relation of the group, but trust me, it is entirely what I wanted, and 10"x 60" blocks are not as simple to piece as they look!

I love all the blocks I made for the rest of the Bee, and I promise I will give you a run-down of all my contributions later in the week. 

This quilt is already on my FAL Q2 list, backing and batting are ready and waiting, so it shouldn't be too long before I have it finished.

I have said it before, (oh you should see the number of emails that have gone on during this first year!!), but I will say it again, for the record, thank you all, Di, Katy, Susan, Annabella, Dianne, Helen and Danny for my smashing quilt and a super year of stitching.  Love, love, love xxx

Oooh Le Challenge!

Entries into this month's Le Challenge have been popping up today, and I have been pondering what to enter, because, looking back over the past month, pretty much all my makes have been of a geometric persuasion! 

I think my Orbit quilt is a prime example of all things square; my beach bag is hexagon heaven, and my first few Marcelle Medallion borders have incorporated more equilateral triangles than I had ever attempted before.  Today though, I made what has to be my most favourite, instantly gratifying, mini project, ever!

Now I can only, well, will only, be showing you this in progress photo for today, but it is finished, I promise you, (I have been smiling and squidging it since lunchtime).  I am leaving the grand reveal until Tuesday, before 10am so as not to fall foul of those strict Le Challenge rules, so you might want to come back for that one, just saying!

I love a (non-wonky) log cabin, and a Liberty one to boot?  Well it doesn't get much better than that does it?!!

Whilst I was cutting all those Medallion pieces yesterday, I couldn't stop thinking about using all those charm off-cuts, and before I had even got showered this morning, I was pulling the prints and planning this little beauty.

With a little diversion of the park and Tesco variety, and then lunch, I was all done by 2pm; just in time to have a sit outside in the sun... until an inevitable rain-shower!

***Edited to add - if you click here you can see it in its full beauty and maybe even win it!!!***

Lucy and Nat's joint online baby is looking like it will grow into a smashing credit to them both; have you linked up this month?  I'm looking forward to next month's challenge already.

So that's the Easter holidays over and done with too; a pretty miserable fortnight really, but that seems to have been the same for most of the UK, so we'll just put it down the never-ending winter of 2013 and move on!

Tomorrow I will be posting my Stitch Tease reveal; I don't want to giveaway what I am up to on Tuesday, but please keep coming back, it's going to be a busy week xxx

Summer holiday hexies...

Without 10 days of guaranteed wonderful sunshine to look forward to, I think I would go barmy.  So thinking ahead, I decided to turn my hexies into a great big beach bag.

It's a whopping 21" from top to bottom, plenty of room to fit in all the towels, lotions, goggles and biscuits for a day at the beach...

It's going to make me happy to keep looking at it until we head off to sunnier climes!

I quilted the hexies onto some fusible fleece and used most of the remainder of my parent's curtains, so another bargain make, and my second FAL finish too.  I promise, as soon as I go back to work on Monday, and-slash-or, the sun ever comes out again, my output is going to plummet, significantly!

This rainy afternoon though was spent cutting tiny pieces of Liberty and the rest of the fabrics for my Marcelle Medallion; a horrible job, but no-one else was going to do it for me.  But now I am free to piece to my heart's content.  Happy days xxx

Aeroplane Bag - I did it my way!

As soon as I saw Sara's Aeroplane Bags, I knew that I would be having a go sooner or later. 

I had expressed an interest in making a Weekender when they were all the pre-Sewing Summit craze; but to be honest, all the 'oh yes it is', 'oh no it isn't' complexity-chatter kind of got on my nerves, and for the time and aggro, perceived or real, my heart wasn't really in it.

Then in waltzes Sara with a big old holdall, which held endless possibilities in my head!

So here is how I made mine, just in case you are interested; what I will say before you decide, is that this came entirely from my stash except for the 99p zipper.  If I was going to mess it up, I didn't want it to have cost a small fortune, and if the more casual finish of mine is not to your taste, that is purely me and not the pattern!

I bought 2 meters of Amy Butler wide home dec on sale for about £5 about 3 years ago; having realised pretty quickly this was not going to make a cosy quilt backing, it sat in the bottom of my fabric box, neglected waiting... until last week!

Front and back.

The pattern calls for all sorts of interfacing and things of which I have no knowledge.  I am sure they, or suitable substitutes, are all available in the UK, but I decided to get on and simply use cotton wadding offcuts and an extra layer of thick cotton, the excess from some of my parent's curtains; kind of a linen feel, which frays like a bugger, but easily zig-zagged.

I cut panels slighter larger than required in the pattern, layered the home dec, wadding and curtain fabric, quilted parallel lines c.1" apart, and then cut out the pattern pieces. 

Not the best photo, but shows the quilting on the panels quite well.

In the original pattern the bottom section is cut straight, and once the corners are boxed the bag tapers in; I wanted mine to go straight, and because I did not decide this until after I had cut and quilted, I reduced the top section by an inch (well 2, as it is cut on the fold),  and then extended the angle of the top section down across the bottom panel.  If you have the pattern, this will make more sense, I hope.

I also decided, in an ode to the Weekender, that piping would be a nice touch, especially as I was using one fabric for both the top and bottom panels, and because I had a pink zip and orange fabric, I wanted something to unite it all.

Thinking that a pocket between the two handles would also be a good idea, I used this to practice my piping skills, because I basically had none.  I found a tutorial online that suggested using bindaweb, you know the trouser hem stuff, to seal the folded fabric and squeeze the piping against the edge with your iron, but I can't for the life of me find it again, sorry.  I then trimmed the flat edge, and used Lisa Lam's tute.

It worked at treat.

So I added piping between the main panels; some AMH flannel, which matched perfectly.

My 16 layers were literally only where my bottom panel, piping, top panel, pocket and handles met; so for all those who envisaged a nightmare of sewing, honestly, it may have busted a needle, because I was going too fast, but it was fine when the thickness was not a surprise!

I didn't measure the placement of my handles, I think they have come out slightly closer together than the pattern, but somebody didn't think of that when they made the pocket!

I only inserted one internal zipper, part laziness, part balance with the one outside pocket, and Sara's method is excellent and turned out perfectly.

I didn't add interfacing to the lining; I didn't have enough.

Luckily for me, the main zip I bought was for a jacket, and therefore it unzipped and separated into two, like they do, which made inserting it onto both side panels really easy.  My second needle catastrophe happened when joining the two panels and all my own fault!

The only areas for improvement are my top stitching along the zip where it crosses over the darts, as I should have trimmed them better, so the second side faired better, and the zip ends are not perfect.  I managed to hand stitch up to the zip far more neatly and snugly than I could with the sewing machine.

Although it might look like I made lots of changes to Sara's pattern, they really are superficial, and I followed her clear and logical instructions step by step, and I was able to just pop in my taste and fancy at the appropriate places.  I would definitely not have been able to make it without Sara's guidance.

That's my 72" Scrappy Trip Along in there for scale.

I love it!  This is the large version, and easily big enough for a weekend away... oooh like Fat Quarterly Retreat!

If you haven't bought the pattern, I can highly recommend it.  And as you may have noticed, it didn't take long at all.  I was originally tempted to use quilt-as-you-go to make the panels, but that would have taken me days and days of indecisiveness, which I didn't have the patience for, and as it goes, I really like the effect of using the same print for the whole bag.

I would definitely make another one, and probably use the same construction, because I am cheap frugal like that!

Bonus: whilst people are still linking up their FAL plans for Q2, I have my first tick!!  And I got another today, but I'll show you that tomorrow!

Big Screen Random...

Despite it being the school holidays, I was seriously lacking in the Random department until today, but I think I can just about hold my own.

5 tenuous facts relating to going to the cinema...

1. If you plan going out for an indoor activity, the sun is bound to come out, it is the law!

2. If you tell the kids they can choose some sweets to eat during the film, they may be a little over-optimistic!

3. If you pop into The Eternal Maker, before going into the cinema, because it is coincidentally conveniently next door, you will never just come out with the reel of Aurifil 2021 you went in for, especially if you have been dreaming of little fussy cuts since receiving your copy of Patchwork Please!

4. If you go and see an animated kids film, with only one name you recognise, it is bound to be a bit rubbish, so why are you surprised?

5. If you pop into John Lewis at Home after the film just for sewing machine needles, and you promise all those left in the car that you will only be a minute, you will bump into a really nice old lady who will give you lots of needle advice in trade for picking your brains about her new walking foot.

I am prepared!

It's not all popcorn you know!

Linking with Cindy's randomness and then getting on with finishing my Aeroplane Bag; I've just got the turning gap in the lining to hand stitch closed and I am ready to jet off somewhere!  xxx

Flight Delayed...

I was making such headway with my Aeroplane Bag today, I even thought a full on finish was on the cards, but it was not meant to be.

My first needle shattered into 4 pieces (one of which I think is still embedded in the seam allowance somewhere!).  I was going to save all the 'how I did it' details for my reveal post, but let's just say at this particular point there were 16 layers including 4 of batting!!  I thought there were 14, but on a re-count it went up to 16, so I guess it was no surprise.

The second needle objected to the end of the zipper getting in the way; like they do.

 But I have gone on to handstitch and neaten up both ends of the zip, because they were looking a bit roapy, and that took a good couple of hours; and once I get some more needles, I only have to box the corners and sew the lining closed.

Before I sorted the zip ends.

Hubby is off work for the rest of the week, moral support for the end of the Easter holidays, so we will be out and about, but I hope to get the bag finished tomorrow; you didn't think I could stomach having 5 WiPs for long did you!?

Heading for Take Off...

Well considering I spent, what feels like, most of the day watching The Hobbit on DVD, I do actually have a little something to show you...

Having 5 things on my FAL list is not a good feeling, so I decided to get on with my Aeroplane Bag and go with the Amy Butler; in fact I am making this entirely from stash, off-cuts and things I have laying around.  I am trying to be good like that!

I've decided to add an outside pocket, and just because I had some cord, and wanted to make the rose pink zip work with the orange fabric a little more, I've made some piping!  Get me!  I used some AMH flannel with just the right orange and pink in, and my trial/pocket worked out pretty well...

Since taking those pics I have also gone on and quilted the outside panels, and am all ready for cutting everything to size tomorrow, unless the sunshine reappears and we venture out and about.

Right, I've got my cup of tea and The Great British Sewing Bee, so see you later xxx

FAL Q2 2013 The List

I thought I was going to have to scrape 3 potential finishes together for this coming quarter of the awesome Finishalong, but turns out I have 5 things already on the go; how did that happen!?

So without further ado, here's what I am linking with Leanne and all the other FALers...

1.  Marcelle Medallion...

It's coming on a treat, and now I can see why everyone else's seemed to come together so speedily - it's addictive!

2.  Stitch Tease Quilt...

I have received my wonderful top back; we are awaiting delivery of all the tops with their rightful owners before blogging, but getting this finished shouldn't be too difficult.

3.  Siblings Together Quilt...

I have all the fabric, the batting and a plan, so no excuses!

4. Hexie Bag

Again, the hexie panel is sewn, the bag fabric is ready for cutting; I have been pondering leather handles or not... probably not, but that's my slacking excuse.

5.  Aeroplane Bag

I've already got the big zip, printed out the pattern pieces and decided to quilt-as-I-go, although I stumbled on some Amy Butler home dec in the bottom of my stash which may get used instead... time, as they say, will tell.

So that's my 5.  Do-able?  I hope so! 

I am not going to mention all the other things that will be started and hopefully finished in the next 3 months too, such as Retreat swapsies, pay-it-forwards and the Patchwork Please makealong, because, well, that would just make me panic!!

Have you set yourself up declared your intentions yet?

Liberty Belle...

(OK, I watched National Treasure again, for the millionth time recently, so blame Nicolas Cage for that one!).

Anyway, I have been threatening to show you my Marcelle Medallion progress for ages, so here you go...

For anyone who doesn't already have the book,  Liberty Love is so full of beautiful things, and the Marcelle Medallion is only the tip of the iceberg.  I loved seeing all the beautiful quilts appearing on instagram, and knew I would start as soon as my Orbit and Brit Bee quilts were complete.  I am nothing, if not, a sheep!

I already had some old skool Liberty scraps and F8ths from Jo and Ali, and some Lifestyle yardage more recently from Pink Castle, but really wanted to supplement these with lots and lots more!  So I hit eBay and discovered my dream charm shop!

Frey is one of those sellers who likes to email you straight away to say they will be mailing tomorrow, thanks you for your business, pops a couple of extra charms in and packages up your treasures like super pretty birthday presents...

Yes, including some Grayson Perry!

I am so impressed, if you want a really lovely selection of prints, be quick, because in the few days since I ordered, loads have sold; and I am not surprised, with such great service and prices they will be gone.  Oh and once you have bought 10 packs, you can trade in your 'thank you cards' for a free pack!!  Please know I am saying all this purely as a satisfied customer and for the warm and fuzzies of sharing the love.

Edited to add:  If you go to Frey's etsyshop, and send a Convo (contatc) mentioning that you are one of my blog followers, you will be sent a discount code;  now you have no excuse!

So having spent a disproportionate part of yesterday evening playing with said charms, I have now whittled down my fabric selections and cut many many small prices, not all mind, but enough to make a start, and it is making me smile, a lot!

This evening I started on my triangle border,  and two are now sewn together.  These are going to be slow-going, requiring thought and accuracy which I usually forego in the name of speed!  But not this time folks, I am going to try and do justice to the fabrics!  One for the FAL for sure.

Talking of good ones, today was another sunny, fine and fun one.

Sadly hubby retired to bed for the day, so I took the kids out to Pulborough Brooks, an RSPB reserve up the road.  We took a 2 mile stroll, saw an adder coiled in the sun, completed a nature quiz, (how come there is 3G access in the middle of nowhere and none at home?  I couldn't remember what animal lives in a holt and had to find out, for the kids' sake, honest!).  We had lunch in the sun and then I just sat back and relaxed whilst they ran about for a couple of hours in the adventure playground...

So here endeth a great weekend, which is a bit of a shame really.  Not holding out hopes of a sunny second week of the holidays, but more sewing time is looking likely, so not all bad.

Right, getting the rest of my Q2 FAL list out into the public domain is next on the cards.