Monday 28 February 2011

More Doll Quilt Swap 10 progress

Today I've been working on my Doll Quilt Swap again. After much umming and ahhing I've decided to quilt like this:

The square spiral is my lazy way of getting out of having to practice true circular spirals :) I then decided to echo the the pieced circle in the squares. I think it will look quite effective when it's all finished. Well, I shan't be unpicking it anyway so it had better look effective!!

Sunday 27 February 2011

Liebster Blog award

I've seen these awards around blogland for some time and am now very honoured to announce we have been tagged in two blogs for this award :) Thanks to Judith and Catherine for the great compliment.

Here are the rules for the award:

Rules:
1) If you are tagged, and you want to accept, then create a post on your blog and add the leibster blog pic.2) Link back to the person who gave you the award and say if you accept. 3) Choose 3-5 of your favourite blogs to tag, link these in your post too and tell the lucky people they have been tagged.The aim of this award is to bring unknown good blogs to light, (less than 50 Followers is ideal), therefore, please don't tag somebody with 3000 followers!
So being a good girl and following the rules here are some of the lesser known blogs that I enjoy reading regularly :)
My flickr pal Jan writes here http://isisjem.blogspot.com/ about her crafty goodness and other daily insights.
Another flickr pal writes here http://scissorsandthread.blogspot.com/ also about crafty goodness... suprise, suprise :)
My last blog choice has rather more followers since a certain debut on Moda Bake Shop but it is a fabulous read so I hope you won't think it is cheating http://lilysquilts.blogspot.com/

Single Girl update

This weekend has been rather slow on the creative front but I have finally finished my practice block for the Single Girl Quilt. This block is going to become a rather large cushion but I will definitely revisit this pattern later in the year to make a quilt :)

This rather dodgy photo shows the finished pattern really well.

This equally dodgy photo shows the colours of the Soul Blossoms fabrics much more clearly. I must learn to take photographs properly!!

Wednesday 23 February 2011

Doll Quilt Swap progress

Today I thought I'd better get on and do some more to the circle doll quilt I'm making for my Doll Quilt Swap partner. As much as I am enjoying making this one the fabric is rather hard on the eyes when sewing, I think it has something to do with the stripes.

Anyway, I have finished the top now and it's ready for quilting :) I'm thinking that I might do some spiral quilting and maybe a bit of straight line too but I am still undecided. Any suggestions welcomed :)

Tuesday 22 February 2011

Swaps

At the beginning of the year I overloaded myself with swaps and was ever so slightly scared that I might not be able to keep up with all the commitments but as the end of February approaches I'm amazed that I've kept up with all of them :)
This week's project has been a pincushion for my Scrappy Pincushion Swap partner. I've had this pieced star constructed for a while and have just been waiting for inspiration of what to do with it. Inspiration struck yesterday!! Today I put the finishing touches to my circular pincushion. I have warned you before that I've got a circle obsession thing going on.

I've backed the pincushion with some of Amy Butler's Soul Blossoms.

It finished up at 8" diameter and 1" deep so I hope my partner doesn't mind slightly large pincushions. I might have to make one for myself.

Another of the flickr swaps I'm in has just finished and I can now break my silence on what I made. My Favourite Little Quilt Swap hosted by Kendra is a blind swap. You make a quilt and submit photos to Kendra who adds them to the group, votes are then cast and partners are decided after voting closes. It is such a fun swap although I do angst over whether anyone will like my entry but that's just my competitive and neurotic tendencies coming out.

This time around I went with patchwork and quilting rather than applique like last time. I named this mini 'Charlotte Sometimes Scribbles'. I used the pattern 'Charlotte Sometimes' from the book Material Obessions 2 as my inspiration. The scribbles refers to the quilting design I used. I pieced the back with scraps left over from the front. I used Kaffe Fassett, Amy Butler and Oz fabrics with a Kona grey cotton. Hopefully my partner will be happy when he/she receives it :)

Sunday 20 February 2011

Precious

Today our precious daughter, Jess, has turned 14! I can't quite believe how quickly time has passed. When I look at our gorgeous girl and see the woman that she is becoming I just can't help but be proud. She is beautiful inside and out!
It's been a relatively quiet day for a birthday but that suits us :) I've had a bit of free time to do some sewing this afternoon so I took the opportunity to try the Single Girl pattern that has been sitting on my sewing table for a few weeks now. I joined the Single Girl Support group over on flickr, hosted by Katy, Megan and Nova, so I can benefit from tips from those who are well practiced at this block. I'm hoping to make Jess a quilt using this pattern so I thought I'd practice first. I used a charm pack of Soul Blossoms by Amy Butler and coupled it with linen.

One block down and a second one waiting for it's outer frame. It has been amazingly easy and as is usual with these things the cutting out of pieces takes longer than the sewing.

Friday 18 February 2011

Amy Butler's Style Stitches Sew Along with Bree- The Reversible Everyday Shopper

I officially love this month's Amy Butler's Style Stitches Sew Along project The Reversible Everyday Shopper. It took longer to cut the pieces out than to sew the actual bag up. I can't believe how quickly this one went together and the obvious bonus is that it's reversible so I actuallly have 2 new bags :) Amazingly the fussy teenager likes this bag and was more than happy to venture outside for photos in the dusk.

I am so pleased with how these Ruby Star Rising fabrics work with the plain black Ikea cotton.

I will add more photos of this bag to my sewalong flickr album when the light is better but I couldn't resist posting these now :) I might even have to make more of these bags as they are great and would be fab gifts for friends.

Thursday 17 February 2011

So excited!

I've been stalking the postman for what seems like forever (actually only about a week) and today I've been rewarded! Ever since I saw this on Heather's blog in December I have been scouring the internet for a supply of the fabulous Ruby Star Rising range by Melody Miller. As I love it so much I wanted lots of it and I wasn't prepared to risk the customs charges so I had to wait for it to get to the UK. Finally I found it here last week, woohoo! OK, so the echino sunglasses and Heather Ross roses aren't part of the range but they are fabulous too and I couldn't resist them :)

Anyway, to prove how excited I am about this range you can see I've already started to put them to good use. I've decided to use some of them for this month's project in the Amy Butler's Style Stitches Sew Along with Bree. The lighting as usual is rubbish but I think you'll be able to see where this is going.

It will be a Reversible shopper when I've finished it :) I'm happy to report that this has been a much easier project than the Cosmo bag which drove me to distraction!

The only downside to having a lovely new shopping bag is that I might have to venture to the shops which is nowhere near as much fun as online shopping!

Tuesday 15 February 2011

Urban home goods swap progress

I decided to bite the bullet and complete the Dream on/Nicey jane quilt for my Urban Home Goods partner. I figured that even if it wasn't a specific favourite of my partner that she would at least appreciate the work involved and find it pretty anyway. I am rather reluctant to let it go but hope that it will bring a touch of spring to my partner's home.

As the fabrics are rather busy I opted for a simple straight line quilting design about a quarter inch from the edge inside each square and rectangle. It took a few hours but I love the way it looks and feels now. This picture doesn't really do it justice but this is how the back looks.

I love stripes and flowers together so I used a Nicey Jane stripe to bind the finished quilt.

It is my firm belief that patchwork and quilting is an extreme sport as I am forever injuring myself for 'my art'. Thankfully I noticed the gaping flap of skin on my thumb before it bled on the fabric!!! It has somewhat hampered my sewing today though :( Poor me, do you hear the violin playing?

Whilst letting the cut heal I have been tackling a rather important project that I really can't put off any longer for fear of alienating my teenage daughter. Eeek! Her birthday is Sunday and I'm hoping my online purchases will be here in time or else I shall be in the dog house!

Sunday 13 February 2011

Lily's Quilts is having a giveaway!

As much as I don't want anyone else to have a chance to win this fabulous giveaway, I can't help myself but share the details with you :)

To celebrate her debut on Moda Bake Shop Lynne is giving away a 'rare as rocking-horse poo' layer cake of Sherbet Pips by Aneela Hoey! The quilt design that Lynne has created is fabulous and for those of us unlucky enough not to win the layer cake, April can't come fast enough!

Thursday 10 February 2011

More progress

I've suprised myself this week by managing to keep up with my commitment to Don't Call Me Betsy's Sliced Coin Quilt Along. I'm so glad that I stuck with it because I now have a fabulous completed quilt top!! I love the way this design shows off the Innocent Crush fabrics.

The downside is that I am somewhat dreading quilting this mammoth quilt on my machine. I'm sure it will be fine with some patience and planning though. Any hints and tips will be gratefully received :)

In other news, I finally started on my Doll Quilt Swap 10 mini and am hoping that my partner will approve. I've definitely got a circles bug going on at the moment. These colours and patterns are out of comfort zone but I love how they are working in this design.

I'm currently mulling over ideas for my Urban Home Goods partner too. Do you remember this quilt top I made a while ago?

I'm thinking I might complete this for my partner as she said she likes colour. I'm not entirely sure yet though. If I go for it I will be backing it with this blue Dream On fabric that arrived today from the Simply Solids online sale!!

Hopefully I'll have more finished projects to show you soon :)

Saturday 5 February 2011

Drum roll please. We have a winner!

Thank you so much to everyone that took part in our first ever giveaway! It has been such fun reading all the posts. I have been reminded of more of my own fashion faux pas and on reflection my perm was probably the least of my problems :)

Well it's that time! I've used the Random Integer Generator to pick a winner for us and I'm not all techie so don't know how to screen capture the details so I've just copy and pasted them here:


Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers: 20
Timestamp: 2011-02-05 17:51:58 UTC


Drum roll please.....and the winner is:


Lynne (Lily's Quilts) said...
And I follow you two because you are hilarious
2 February 2011 15:21


Congratulations Lynne! I'll get the goodies in the post to you as soon as possible in the week :)

We had such fun with this giveaway that I'm sure it won't be the last. It doesn't seem right to have a post without a photo so I'll leave you with the offending perm and the disclaimer that I no longer look anything like this!!! (In my defence we were nursing the original Nellie in her final days when this was taken.)

Thursday 3 February 2011

Don't Call Me Betsy's Sliced Coin Quilt Along Progress

I had hoped to get much more done today than I actually have....story of my life! I got off to a flying start. I trialled this layout yesterday and was pleased with how it looked...

...so following Elizabeth's instructions I piled the coins neatly, ready for piecing.

I made a start last night on piecing the coins and hoped to fly through more today. Well, I got as far as joining another column before my body reminded me that it doesn't function as well as my mind would like. Three hours on the settee later and I recovered enough oomph to join the 2 complete rows together. I think it's going to look great. Fingers crossed for more progress tomorrow!!

If you're looking for the giveaway it's still open until Saturday 5th February 5.00pm(GMT).

Tuesday 1 February 2011

Our first ever giveaway!!!

Well we did promise you a giveaway at the start of the new year, so rather tardily it's a new month giveaway :) I'll cut to the chase and show you the loot!

I've had a bit of thing for circles after doing these blocks for Krista in the Fresh Modern Bee 2 . So I thought I'd incorporate circles into my giveaway item. I used my new Go!Baby to cut the 1" circles that are dotted around the central circle. I was amazed how easy it was to use and I'm looking forward to using it again very soon :) The base fabric is a warm natural linen, the centre circle is Kaffe Fassett and the surrounding circles are Amy Butler, Denyse Schmidt and Patty Young. I kept with the circle theme and quilted the cushion front with a free motion pebble effect (my first attempt at this so be gentle with me). The back of the cushion is a plain linen envelope back with a brown button fastening.

Yvonne has been very generous and cut into her extensive stash of Liberty lawn fabrics. There are 50, 3" squares up for grabs, they'd be perfect for hexies. Yvonne has made a very cute bag in Liberty fabric to hold these lovelies. You'll see evidence of her fancy new machine at work in the label "Taking Liberty" :) Don't they look tempting?

So now for the details of the giveaway. One lucky winner will win all the loot! The giveaway will run until Saturday 5th February 5.00pm (GMT). You can have 2 chances to win!!

For one chance to win share with us your worst fashion faux pas.

For me this was hair related, a very tragic poodle perm. What makes this even sadder is that I can't blame the 80s, it was about 5 years ago, oh the shame!

Yvonne's faux pas is also hair related (we are so alike, we chose these independent of each other, I guess it's true like mother like daughter!) although, personally, I think the faux pas was my Dad's not hers. After spending hours at the hairdresser having her hair scrunch dried, Dad asked when she was having her hair done. When she told him that she had he suggested she go and ask for a refund! Not a happy Mummy!

For the second chance to win, if you're a follower already leave a comment to say that you are and if you're not please feel free to become a follower and leave a comment to say hello :)

So there you have it, our first giveaway. I think these goodies look rather lovely together. I wonder if it would be wrong to leave a message on my own blog for a chance to win ;) Just kidding you, I promise to let these goodies go just as soon as the random winner generator gadget thing decides who the winner is. I'd better investigate how that works before Saturday :)

Good luck to you all! Please make sure you leave a way for me to contact you if you win as I will have to redraw the winner if I can't get in touch with you and that would be a shame, right?

Note to self, don't be too disappointed if noone enters, the goodies are cute enough to keep all to yourself ;)