anyone fancy a quilting bee?

I had a go making some placemats and coaters as a housewarming present and was very pleased with how they came out. Putting the binding on the coasters was extremly fiddly however - I am not sure I will be doing that again!


I also made a little bag as the wrapping for a birthday present. No lining, just a sewn square cut with crimping scissors to stop fraying.
Finally a question - anyone fancy a quilting bee? The two I have been in have pretty much come to an end. I thought I would ask here on the blog first before throwing it open to Flickr. I have a few ideas - do any out of the following list appeal?

• 2011 quilt - each month we make a block for another member of the bee using the month we are in as inspiration and using our own stash.
• Build a quilt - using our own stash we make a block for one other member each month following guidelines from them (colour, general style etc)
• Classic bee - one person posts out fabric each month for everyone else to make blocks.
• Improvtastic - some sort of bee based on improv blocks.

I think my preference is for something that involves bee members using their own stash and making one block a month for someone else. In traditional bees you might have to wait months before it is your go to have pretty blocks arriving in the post, but this way you would get something arriving each month! Let me know if you are interested. It would be open to people worldwide by the way and beginners, so if you have never done a bee before don't be shy!

shopping!

I made myself a bag the other day:

To take with me to the festival of quilts and fill with fabric of course!

Also, without wanting to give too much away for those of you yet to visit the F of Q may I warn you that the famous rabbit and bee quilt from last year has a new rival. You will know it when you see it. Oh yes.
I have also had a few lovely breaks away recently to Yorkshire, Devon and Wales so I am terribly behind on blog reading and replying to your comments. Apart from the occasional day trip we are now home for the rest of the summer break giving me the chance for some gardening, sewing and generally messing about with the children. What bliss!

2010

Happy New Year to you all! I hope it proves to be a good one for everyone. I had an eventful Christmas break with many excitements and changes. My youngest son took his first steps and is now the proud owner of his first pair of shoes! He also had his final feed from me. He had got down to a morning snuggle and nurse a couple of weeks ago and just before new year he decided that he didn't need my milk any more. As those of you who have nursed babies know, it is a really bittersweet moment. Pride at seeing him moving on and growing up, satisfaction at a job well done and a twinge of sadness that he will never need me in quilte the same way again. I must admit I am looking forward to wearing something other than feeding bras again however - they are not the most attractive of contraptions! Maybe Thimbleanna could help me out - I seem to remember she had a few spare a while back!
The other big excitemet was the arrival of a lovely shiny new sewing machine. My mother in law upgraded her machine and asked me if I wanted the old one. I couldn't believe it when she turned up with an Elna 6200 for me! I am very lucky to have such a lovely mother in law who shares my passion for all things sewing as well. The thing I like best is that we are both very different - she likes more traditional fabric and designs and does a lot of hand quilting and applique. I get to see a very different side to sewing via her work.

The best thing about my new baby is that I will be able to try free motion quilting - something beyond the abilities of my old singer. I have ordered a darning foot and cannot wait to have a go - oh the possibilities!

I have managed to have a few goes on my new machine and I made a dolls quilt and pillow and my first ever soft toy, known as the purple thing. Purple is the colour of the moment for me as I also made a purple square for this bee.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and thank you so much for stopping by my little blog!

mini projects in progress

I have had very little time for sewing over the last few weeks. I have loads of quilts I would like to make but cannot seem to get started on them. Instead I decided to have a go making a couple of smaller things, so have been doing a couple of mini projects on and off in odd ten minutes here and there. My first will become a furoshiki once it is backed. I plan to use it for taking my lunch to work.

Secondly I have been experimenting with bleach painting again and plan to turn this into a chair cover.

The above photos were taken outside on a wet and windy evening in Warwickshire. Here are a couple of shots of the sky just as I was finishing - the colours are amazing!

nearly there...

My newest quilt is so close to being finished. I just have to complete the quilting and do the binding. Here is the quilt top - it is not a great photo but you can get the idea - lots of pink, red, purple and turquoise - lovely! It is from a tutorial over at Oh, Fransson!



I have also just finished a dolls quilt and pillowcase for a birthday gift. I am very impressed with myself as the birthday is not until the end of June - usually I am finishing things at the last minute!



I am really pleased to be able to take part in the second half of Spring To Finish hosted by Tallgrass Prairie Studio. The idea was to see how many projects you could complete in May. I didn't manage to complete anything in time for the first deadline so am very glad to have made it this time round.

My completed list is:

The boys orange spot quilt
Lots of taggie blankets
Two dolls quilts
Raggedy hearts and tutorial for the Sew Mama Sew giveaway

Not bad at all considering I have been planting up my allotment and looking after a 6 month old at the same time!

party time

Well my boys have a better social life than I do. They are always at one party or another or having playdates! However it does mean that I have been able to express my girlie side recently by making a couple of simple doll quilts and pillows for the girls birthday celebrations they have been to.

This fabric is so pretty - the little girl in question said her favourite colours were red and pink so this fits perfectly!


The back was red with white dots but I forgot to take a picture of it.


Here is my other recent effort. I like the random line quilting - I think I will do this on my big quilts. I have not had any luck yet with free motion quilting - it has always gone horribly wrong.


It is a bit wonkey but I am sure the little girl who recieved it won't mind!