Rags to Bags

Dude! Where's My Quilt?

2012-02-28T08:20:00.000Z

So I've got my Surfer Dude quilt top finished, according to this tute.

Approx. 51" x 55"

Only problem is, my nephew is at least 6' 2", and this quilt will just about cover his ankles!!

So I'm thinking, border, leftover scraps, etc. to eek it out a bit bigger without having to buy more fabric (haven't a clue yet what's going on the back or for the binding).

Need to get the old squared paper and pencil out again to do a bit of maths (groan!!!!!!!!!)

Just as I was going outside this morning to take pics of the quilt, this poor wee sorry sight met me in the patio:

We take a lot of pleasure from the birds that visit our garden, my youngest daughter in particular. We even have some nesting in our boxes this year. We are just hoping this isn't the pregnant female we've been watching getting the box ready for her new family. So sad.

Somewhere Over The Rainbow!

2012-02-26T09:02:00.000Z

This is one of my favourite songs, especially the Eva Cassidy version.

But why am I talking about rainbows? Apart from being one of the most beautiful spectacles to behold in the sky they are also very popular in blogland at the minute (the patchwork version that is!).

For March in Sew Bee Happy, Kara has set us to work on a rainbow hexie block, based on this tute.

I don't consider myself v.good at achieving the 'right' rainbow balance, made even harder with prints rather than solids in my opinion.

But here is my attempt at a rainbow hexie block.

I'm hoping Kara will accept this rainbow, without the pot of gold!!

My other antics yesterday were making up a birthday present for my sister. She has already requested a replica of my Welcome Wallhanging, which hangs in my hallway. She even wants it done in the same colours!

So here it is:

The figure in the hanger is meant to be an angel - looks more like a planking Pilgrim Father to me!

I've also made her a ring out of a crocheted flower (she loves chunky rings!)

and no birthday package is complete with out a silicone spatula! (you don't want to know!).

Enjoy your Sunday!

Oh It's Me!!!

2012-02-24T20:14:00.000Z

Thank you everyone for such a positive and enthusiastic response to the Pippi Longstocking Tutorial.

I'm really excited that she will soon have a few more friends to keep her company!

I completely forgot that I was being featured yesterday on the new Modern Quilt Guild of Ireland blog. Oooops! If you want to have a wee nosey, click here.

And one more link to tell you about.

My daughter has now completely overtaken me in the popularity stakes, by posting her own fimo making tutorials on YouTube. She's only been doing it a few months and she already has over 200 followers!

Didn't she do well!!

Have a great weekend!

Pippi Longstocking Joins Bee Blessed!

2012-02-23T22:46:00.000Z

I told you the March block for Bee Blessed was going to be a fun one!

12.5" x 12.5" unfinished

I'm sure you've seen this 'pieced lady' block around blogland. In fact, a few of my Brit Bee gals made some of these blocks to put in our Project 51 quilt for Terri.

You can have a lot of creative fun with this design. I went for a daring red head with stripey legs, hence the name Pippi Longstocking.

If you would like to have a go at this block and donate it to Bee Blessed, then here is the tutorial:

Materials:

Mostly scraps!

20 x 2.5" squares for the border

White cotton for the background

Assume 1/4" seams throughout.

There is an element of improv piecing with this block, so for those of you who are comfortable with this method, please feel free to ditch this tute and go with the flow. All I ask is that you make the centre space 8" finished, bordered with 2" finished squares (20), leaving you with a 12.5" unfinished square block.

For those of you less at ease with improv piecing let me take you through this step by step.

1. Take a strip of white fabric, approx. 3.5" x 10" and lay a smaller piece on top. This will be the skirt.

2. Cut off the excess top and bottom. Then cut out the skirt shape, through both layers of fabric.

3. Remove the unwanted skirt fabric and underneath white fabric, and sew these 3 pieces together into one long strip. Trim the long edges to straighten the strip.

4. Next the arms. For these you will need a strip of fabric 5" x 1" and 2 x 1" squares for the hands. You will also need 2 strips of white fabric, 1" x 3". Join the pieces together to form one long strip.

5. Join the 2 strips together.

6. Next the legs! Take another strip of white fabric similar size to the last one. Choose your 'legs' fabric and sew a 1" strip of fabric along the bottom of it. This will eventually form the feet.

7. Lay this fabric on top of the white background and cut out the legs as you did with the skirt, cutting through all layers of fabric. The legs should be at least 1" wide as this will be only 0.5" finished! The first set of legs I did ended up way too skinny!

8. Again, straighten the long edges of the 'legs' strip before sewing this to the 'skirt' strip. (Don't worry about the strips not being the same length. We will be trimming the centre piece down at the end, just make sure it is more than 9" at this stage.)

9. Now for the head section. First take a piece of fabric that will eventually form the hair, approx. 2.5" x 5". Then place a 2.5" square of 'head' fabric in the middle of the hair fabric. As before, cut the head shape through all layers, and remove the unwanted sections.

10. Sew the sections together. Add one more piece of 'hair' to the top of the head.

11. Lay a piece of white fabric underneath the hair/head piece and cut out the shape of the hair, through all layers of fabric.

12. Remove the unwanted bits of fabric and sew the background pieces to the hair/head section. Straighten up the edges of this strip as before. Finally sew the strip onto the arms/legs piece.

13. Trim this piece to 8.5" square.

14. Sew 4 of the 2.5" border squares together, iron and attach to one side of the centre piece. Repeat for the other side.

15. Now sew the remaining 2 sets of 6 squares, press, and attach then to the top and bottom edges. Press the seams away from the centre and square off to 12.5".

Sorry for the long-winded tutorial, but really you just want to have fun with this block. Your girl can be anything you like, as long as the centre piece ends up 8.5" unfinished and the outer borders are made up of 2.5" squares, then anything goes (please keep the background white).

There are more examples on FLickr, but I can't seem to access it at the moment, so no links, sorry.

Looking forward to seeing your creations!

My 3 Number Ones!

2012-02-22T18:29:00.000Z

I've just realised there are several ways you could interpret that title!! Sorry *snigger*

The number 1's I'm referring to are my first Stained QAL blocks:

Sarah's instructions for this techincal pattern have been absolutely brilliant.

There are 11 fqs in total, all cut up into precise measurements. I'm using Kona Charcoal for my sashing, and apart from a momentary blip, when my brain stubbornly refused to keep up, I got number 1 blocks, a, b & c chain pieced without incident.

I really like how these fabrics are coming together. The remaining blocks will be different from these number 1s. No chance of getting bored!

I'll leave you with an embarrassing story.

Yesterday I had to tell my daughter's orthodontist that our dog is in fact a goat in disguise!! He seemed completely unphased at the news that our dog had eaten one of her retainers at the weekend (perhaps Poppy was trying it on for size!), especially when we were told it would be £47 to replace it!

What an expensive dog!! And there was me thinking she was a reformed character!

Come Dine With Me!

2012-02-21T14:33:00.000Z

I promised to show you more photos of the placemants and coasters I was making as class samples.

The classes start on Friday 9th March, and here's what folks will be making:

Finsihed size approx. 16" x 12"

This is a set of 6 placemats, each made slightly differently to give folks a range of creative options. For example, they can be quilted different ways:

Some are finished in the same way you would bind a quilt, or for those who haven't learnt that yet, they can be made with no binding. And they can be decorated with handstitching or ribbon/trim in any way you like.

All the placemats are made with heat resistant wadding, which makes them practical and slightly structured.

The coasters are simply mini versions of the placemats.

We will also be making this handy storage basket.

And why not finish the set with a cutlery storage basket.

There is a tutorial for this basket available here.

So there you have it. A set of 6 placemats and coasters. I think these would make a lovely house warming or Mother's Day gift!

Hope you are having a great Tuesday!

Tribute to a Closet Hippy!

2012-02-20T16:51:00.000Z

Well, Jennie (Miss February) most certainly set a Brit Bee challenge this month alright!

We had to come up with an art quilt of either our faces or something that represented ourselves.

My profile picture was my starting point:

Which got turned into this, with the help of the wonderful Jan (thank you!):

And after much thought, deliberation and a truck load of playing, I've ended up with this:

Finished size: 25" x 16"

Despite not being born in the 1960's (just) I'm convinced there's a hippy in me waiting to get out! So I've used my love of colour, mostly vintage scraps and flowers to release my inner hippy in this art quilt challenge.

The face was the most challenging part, and I'm not convinced I got it quite right, but at least my kids could recognise me in it!!

There is iron on interfacing on the back, which made the f.m.sketching a bit tricky, but I got through it.

All in all I'm really happy with this and wish I could have one of my own!!

I've no idea what Jennie is going to do with all our mugshots, but a big thank you to her for setting us this fab challenge.

Keep your eye on the Brit Bee flickr group as February finishes, for all the other amazing art quilts.

Peace maaaaan!

Busy Blessed Bees!

2012-02-19T13:50:00.000Z

I actually remembered to take pictures of our afternoon's creativity and productivity (thanks Janette for the prod!).

Here we all are working on a man quilt.

left to right: Marion, Janette, Ros, Tina, Sarah

Janette kindly precut lots of dark & light blue strips and made them up into Log Cabin kits, to put together with the red centres that Tina had pre-cut. Although we were a few members down this round, we still flew through the sewing of these blocks and have nearly 20 blocks already sewn up!

And here is one of the finished log cabin quilts which is being donated to the mum of one of our group. We hope it will come as a real blessing to her at this difficult time.

A few of our other quilts are now finished and ready to be donated too.

L-R: Pink Log Cabin Quilt (as seen in previous photo); Red/Green Log Cabin Quilt

L-R: Fun-shine Playmat; D9P Adult Quilt; Brown/Cream Log Cabin Quilt

Sorry about the washed out look on this last photo - the sun has actually been shining today!

The Blue Log Cabin Quilt is almost finished, so that will make 5 more ready to be handed over for donation to needy homes.

As mentioned above, the man quilt is coming on apace, and the modern sampler quilts are awaiting sashing fabric.

Thank you so much everyone for your donations of blocks and fabric, time and energy. These quilts couldn't be made without the help and support of so many talented people.

If you would still like to donate any of the blocks we have been making to date, then they will be gratefully received, and tutorials are available here. Next week I will post about the new block we are introducing for March - it's going to be fun!

You're Welcome!

2012-02-18T12:00:00.001Z

My Welcome Wallhanging class finished this week.

I love showing you what the talented ladies in my class have made!

There are 4 more amazing wallhangings not shown here. Some of these ladies were beginners - didn't they do well? I think the smiles say it all!

If you are interested in making this cute wallhanging for yourself or as a gift for someone else, the pattern is available in my Etsy shop.

Well, I gave up waiting on the bondaweb I ordered 10 days ago, and 'Carried on Regardless' with my Brit Bee Art Quilt. I'm really pleased with how it looks so far. Just need to do a wee bit of stitchery magic over the top and I'm finished.

And today I have an afternoon of fun and frolicks with my Bee Blessed buddies. I will be setting a new block for March, for any one who would still like to donate a block or two. It's going to be a fun one, so tune in next week to find out more.

Two of my (noisier) kids are away this weekend. I thought I would enjoy the peace & quiet but it just doesn't feel right. I want them home with me!!! What am I going to be like in a few years time when they actually start leaving home? Gulp!

Have a lovely weekend, whatever you get up to!

Spray Basting Tutorial

2012-02-17T16:10:00.000Z

Now that basting spray is all the rage, I thought I'd post a wee tute on how to spray baste a quilt.

I'm a complete convert of basting spray over hand basting (i.e. pinning & tacking).

For me, it's a huge time saver and also makes the quilting stage easier.

I know that not everyone likes this product or the methods in using it, but for those out there who want to have a go, you might find these tips and guidelines useful.

1. Find a large enough surface to lay out your wadding (already cut slightly wider than your quilt top).

I use my dining room table, however you could use the floor (if your floor is wooden/laminate/tiled, then you might need to stabilise the wadding with masking tape, to stop it slipping around too much).

2. Lay the wadding out first, followed by the quilt top (right side facing up). Make sure the quilt top fits inside the wadding, and smooth out any wrinkles.

3. Start rolling up the quilt from the bottom to the top, keeping it straight and even all the way.

When you get to the top, carefully lift it off the wadding and lay to one side.

4. This is where I turn my wadding round so that I can fit the full width onto the table. The excess wadding hanging over the edge is resting on some chairs.

5. Time to spray! I'm right handed, so I start spraying from the bottom right hand corner, working my way to the left hand corner, spraying approx. 12" in depth.

Hold the can approx. 12" above the wadding, spraying evenly along the wadding. Try not to have too much or too little adhesive in one place. Remember to spray right to the edges of your wadding.

6. Carefully position your rolled up quilt top onto the nearest edge of the wadding, placing it just inside the edges of the wadding. Start smoothing from the middle of the quilt out to both edges.

7. Roll the quilt a short distance and smooth over it, working from the middle out towards the edges.

Tip: Don't over-smooth the fabric or stretch it, just smooth it enough to get rid of air bubbles or wrinkles. If you make a mistake, or get a wrinkle don't worry. You can just peel the fabric back off the wadding and smooth it back down again. There's no need to re-spray.

Also, keep a check on how your seams are lying underneath. Feel with your hands to make sure that seams aren't flipping back the wrong way as they get stuck down. They will cause lumps & bumps otherwise, which isn't good for quilting!

8. Continue in this way until you've covered the first section that you sprayed. To find out where you need to start spraying the next section from, lift up the roll and it will stop at the edge of the first sprayed section.

9. Place the roll down on the stuck down section, and spray another 12" section across the width of the wadding, as before. Continue rolling, smoothing & spraying until the quilt top is completely stuck down.

Tip: To save my poor back from breaking during this process, I slide the quilt towards me with each new section that I spray and smooth, which means I don't have to over-reach.

10. Now flip the whole piece over, and repeat this process for the backing - laying it on top in position, rolling it up, and spraying & smoothing it on in 12" sections at a time.

11. Trim off the excess wadding/backing. Now you're ready to quilt!

You will notice in the picture above that you get a wrinkly look to a spray basted quilt. This is normal. If you think of it like a vacuum packed bag, when all the air is taken out of it, all the layers stick together and create a slightly textured look. This won't affect your quilting or the end look of your quilt. Provided there are no air pockets left in the quilt, the 3 layers will remain stable and won't move about.

Points to remember:

* The adhesive spray in no way harms your needle or machine during quilting.

* It comes in 2 sizes - the small tin (250ml) will easily cover 2 lapsize quilts. The large tin is 500ml.

* There is a slight smell to the adhesive (despite it being described as odourless on the can), so use it in a well ventilated room.

* You must wash the adhesive out of your quilt when it is made. However, for wallhangings and smaller projects I tend to leave it in as it gives a slightly more structured feel.

* You will need to wash down your table/surfaces after spraying, with hot soapy water.

* If using basting spray on smaller projects, keep an old shower curtain/sheet handy to spread out on your table when spraying. This will protect your surfaces and can then be thrown into the wash after several uses and reused when dry.
* I haven't tested how long basting spray remains adhesive i.e. when you've basted a quilt, but don't get around to quilting it for a while, however I spray basted a quilt over a month ago and the layers are still stuck together!

Personally, I will never return to pinning and tacking!

This adhesive spray has taken a lot of the angst out of basting and quilting for me and my students.

I hope you find this product as helpful as I have and enjoy this tutorial.

I Can Do Modern!

2012-02-16T16:38:00.001Z

Just a few blocks to show you today!

First up, a couple of Bee Blessed blocks for our modern sampler quilt (we're meeting up this Saturday):

Pattern from the 99 Modern Blocks Book

Tutorial for this block here.

Next I've done a couple of blocks to add to my slow-growing pile of red/pink/aqua blocks, which one day will become a quilt!

Don't tell anyone but this was supposed to be 'Quartrefoil', I just didn't read the instructions properly! Oops!

'Jacob's Ladder'

These are both traditional blocks, but I love the way they can be modernised with more contemporary fabrics & colours.

Jacob's Ladder is part of a series of biblical blocks that Colette is hosting from her blog. Join in with us if you fancy modifying some good ol' fashioned blocks.

And talking of blocks, all my Brit Bee blocks are now in! Yippee!

Poor Jo's blocks have had a dreadful time of it. The Royal Mail sorting machine decided it was lunchtime and tried to eat Jo's blocks, didn't fancy the taste of them so spat them out again and returned them to Jo minus her siggy! What a palava!

But they are safe and sound now in the January Brit Quilt family of blocks. I will take a pic when the sky ever changes from grey here! Just as soon as I get the 2 remaining siggys (hint, hint - you know who you are!!) I'll get to sewing up the front. I really love how this is looking so far - squeeee!

Quilt for Beginners

2012-02-15T14:02:00.000Z

Well I beavered away all day and got my Beginners Quilt finished last night.

Finished size approx. 58" x 68"

I used a colourful duvet cover for the back.

This simple design will provide my beginners with a safe introduction to quilt making, as well as having fun with colour placement.

I also managed to get the cushion made for Sarah's Sew Get Started Beginner series tutorials, and my fqs from The Fat Quarter Shop arrived so I got those cut up and I'm now ready to start piecing my nephew's quilt.

Interestingly, I ordered these fqs from USA on the same day I ordered bondaweb from the UK (Ebay). I'm still waiting on the bondaweb!! 'Nuff said!

Btw, I'm writing up some class notes on how to spray baste a quilt & am happy to put this up on my blog as a tutorial if anyone is interested?

Hope you are having a great half term week.

CUTS! CUTS! CUTS! (at least not the austerity ones!)

2012-02-13T18:29:00.000Z

I feel like all I've been doing in my sewing room lately is cutting!

As part of the lovely Sarah's Stained QAL, there are 11 fqs to cut up into a miriad of ways, before we start to put blocks together.

I've got 6 cut, 5 more to go!

This will be an 18th Birthday Quilt for my nephew!

I then started cutting up the fabric I got for my other nephew, who turns 18 in May.

These are mostly Surf Time by R.Kaufman with a little Swoon thrown in, kindly donated by another lovely Sarah.

I'm really liking how this is turning out, despite initial reservations about it being too floral! I'm waiting on 2 more fqs to come from The Fat Quarter Shop, and then I can start piecing .

I also cut up an entire Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 layer cake, pieced it and hastily fell out of love with it!

I'm experimenting with a simple quilt construction for my beginners class in May and thought working from a pre-cut would be a great place to start. But this particular collection definitely needs solid sashing to break it up! Live and learn!

So with no more money to ~~waste~~ spend on fabric, I started cutting 10" squares from the oodles of denim-esk fabric I have, with some of my charity shop finds and other stash fabrics.

Not the finished layout!

I'm liking this one much more, and can even see me finishing it off with some simple hand quilting in the solid squares.

And finally, I've cut out the pieces for my cushion tutorial which will be featured on Sarah's blog next month.

Phew! What a lot of cutting! (And what a lot of Sarah's!)

Just need to get sewing now!

Making Memories!

2012-02-12T22:21:00.000Z

The day was wonderful! Thank you all for your lovely well wishes!

I'll let the pics speak for themselves.

The Big Birthday Weekend!

2012-02-11T08:00:00.010Z

This is it!

The big birthday weekend in the Hollies' Household.

Today my dad turns 70, which we are celebrating tomorrow ....

Happy Birthday Dad!

... and tomorrow no.2 daughter turns 13, which we are celebrating today!

Butter wouldn't melt ...!

Happy birthday my lively one!

With me so far??

The young 'un has had friends sleeping (??) over last night, and then off to MacD's and the cinema later today!

Tomorrow, we all pile down to my sister's for a joint birthday party. I will be a quivering wreck by then as I will be handing over the Civil War quilt I made for dad, with contributions from all the family.

No one else in the family has seen the finished quilt yet, apart from my hubby and kids of course! So it will be a big reveal for all of the family gathered together.

Sadly my brother and his family won't be there as they live in England. But no doubt cameras will be snapping away and lots of pics downloaded and emailed.

I will bore you with pics of the special day after Sunday!

Have a great weekend!

My Brit Bee Blocks!

2012-02-09T09:27:00.000Z

My month was January in the Brit Bee.

Most of my blocks are in from the other 11 wonderful gals, and they look soooo goooood!

I'll show you them all laid out when I get the last ones in. But I remembered that I still have to make 2 blocks of my own to put with them!! Just because it was my month to crack the whip, doesn't mean I get to slack off making what the others are making!

So here are my 2 log cabin interpretations:

All 24 blocks will be bordered in this lightweight denim.

I have fallen in love with orange this past year, which is amazing because before that I would have said it was my least favourite colour!

Because of the generosity of my Brit bee-ers, I was able to make up this block entirely from their donated scraps! Thanks girls - your scraps are so much better than mine!

The 2nd block is traditional in design, but done in rainbow coloured scraps.

As for what I have to make for Miss February, I had great fun playing the other evening, but then ran out of bondaweb! So just as soon as I get more, I'll get my mugshot finished and sent back to Jennie.

Happy Thursday!

Something New!

2012-02-07T16:28:00.000Z

I'm currently working on class samples for up and coming projects, in both this term and next term's programmes.

I'm getting a little excited about some placemats I've designed for my Friday morning class, with matching coasters.

I'll reveal more when I get the full set finished.

I'm also working on a quilt for my new beginner's class, starting after Easter.

This will be a simple design, but will teach the key aspects of quilting making.

Again, this is still a work in progress, so can't show you much just yet!

Finally, one of my lovely followers, Di, has just set up her own blog, called Willowbeck Designs. Di's husband is from my neck of the woods, so we're practically related!!

Please hop on over to Di's blog and give her a great big blogland welcome! She makes wonderful creations AND she's in the Mouthy Stitches Swap!

Hope you're having a fab Tuesday!

Modern Quilt Guild of Ireland

2012-02-06T14:06:00.000Z

I'm not a member of my local Quilters' Guild here in N.Ireland (I don't actually think they'd let me in - too much of a rule breaker!).

But I'm excited to join the new Modern Quilt Guild of Ireland, launched last month by Sarah and Cindy.

If you live anywhere in Ireland, then please consider joining this new group.

Sarah and Cindy have set up a new blog and flickr group where you can get more information, browse and be inspired.

There is a growing number of Quilting bloggers in Ireland, both north and south, and I often thought it would be good to try and get more connected on a local level.

So if you fancy being part of a modern quilters' group, joining in swaps, projects, meeting up & more, then fill in the form on the MQGI blog.

A Day of Finishes!

2012-02-05T17:27:00.000Z

Yesterday was a productive day!

Firstly I got Kat's block done for the Sew Bee Happy monthly bee group:

Kat is putting together a rainbow reverse star picnic quilt, and we all got to choose a colour to do our own block in. I went with the pale aqua/duck egg blue category and pulled together all the scraps I could find.

These blocks are 17.5" unfinished, but really quick and easy to make. So this will be winging its way to Oz next week.

Secondly, I got my Mouthy Stitches Swap Pouch finished!

You may remember I started with this design:

which quickly turned into this heap of fail!

And the moral of the story is - don't try stepping out of your comfort zone late at night when you're tired!

So back to the drawing board. I can't explain too much behind the whys and wherefores of this design because it would completely give the game away as to who this pouch is for.

My photography skills aren't improving any!!!

Daughter no.1 made the cute owl zipper pull, and the bright, floral print is some original 1960's vintage fabric.

I have one more wee surprise to make, to go along with the pouch, and that will be me finished and ready to post to *&%$£!+* (you didn't actually think I would tell did you?).

Hope you've have a productive weekend!

A Little Retail Therapy!

2012-02-04T14:24:00.000Z

No.1 daughter needed more acrylic paint for her GCSE Art project, so off we trundled to our local Craft Shop!

I purposely don't go there very often because with the wonderful choice of buttons, ribbons, threads, yarn, art supplies and sooooooooooo much more, I inevitably spend money!

Well today was no different!

Shannon got her much need paint and I got these:

Some items are much more needed than others!

I thought I'd have a crack at making eyelets in purses and bags, but I'm darned if I can get that wee hole puncher thingy to punch a hole in the fabric. I mean, just hard do you need to hit it with the hammer? Any advice from experienced eyelet punchers?

I have a particular project in mind for the crochet trim, and one or two other bits, but the rest was pure indulgence I'm afraid! Believe me, this is a restrained purchase lot! I could have kept going all morning!

Anyway, this afternoon I want to get Kat's Sew Bee Happy Block done, and I might get a bit more done on my Mouthy Stitches Swap Pouch (first one didn't go so well - more on that another day!).

It's so dark and wet here, but I'm glad we didn't get the snow! I hope you guys over on the East coast of the UK are faring ok with all the white stuff!

Take care!

A Picture of Muggins!

2012-02-02T09:35:00.000Z

Well the challenge for February has been well and truly set!

This is the sort of thing our lovely Miss February (Jennie) wants us to make for her month in the Brit Bee!

Self Portrait by Luke Haynes

To say she's had quite an impact in the group is an understatement!

Personally, I'm quite excited at the idea (once I got my head out of the brown paper bag!).

I'm going to work from my Blog Profile Picture (see right). Unfortunately on my computer I don't have the means of applying a pop-art affect to it, so I'm just going to try it free hand.

But look what happened when I tried to print out the photo in black and white!

The ink in my printer is running out, but it gave this cool stripey effect, which has given me some ideas for how I might do my portrait (whether or not I stick to those ideas remains to be seen!).

Jennie very kindly sent us some prints and solids to work from, but as she wants these self portraits to be a true reflection of our personalities, she's asked us to use some of our own stash too.

Now I'm realising the advantage of the compulsory Art Module I had to do in my P&Q course!

So there we have it! A first for all of us! Can't wait to see what we all make!

A Month Gone Aleady!

2012-02-01T08:30:00.000Z

I can't quite believe February is here already!

But with some of these beauties on my window sill I'm sure looking forward to spring!

January is a busy month for me getting classes up and running again, and believe it or not, I'm even finalising next term's programme (April - July)!

There has been a lot of behind the scenes work going on, getting my Etsy Pattern shop up and running, filling in Self Assessment Tax Returns (eugghhh!) and preparing notes for classes.

But I did manage to whir up Mr Pfaff now and again!

My Brit Bee blocks are nearly all in, so I'll soon be able to show you the full set (they look fab!) and Miss February has already sent us her package - oh my! What a good one it will be! Can't wait to tell you more about that corker!

But that's all for today!

Linking up to Lily's Quilts First of the Month Fresh Sewing Day.

Have a lovely day!

Announcing ........!

2012-01-31T07:30:00.000Z

.... my new Etsy Pattern Shop!

This has been in the making since last September!

I'm not big into selling the actual items that I make, but I love providing people with the means to get creative and sew for themselves. So I thought that I may as well sell the patterns that I design for teaching in class, and it also gives me the opportunity to sell one or two other items if I feel like it e.g. handbags etc.

I don't mind if there isn't a huge take up rate for these patterns - but I know that even if only 1 sells now and again, then that is another person I've hopefully inspired and helped to make something they will love.

At the moment there are only a few patterns available, but I have a tonne more waiting to be written up, proof read and loaded up!

I'd love it if you would pop over even just to have a wee look and tell me what you think! I'm always open to suggestions on how to improve things. Oh, and feel free to spread the word! Just click on the Etsy button at the side and you will (hopefully) be taken to my shop!

Have fun!

P.s. Thank you to those of you who have proof read patterns and helped this 'techno numpty' make this possible! You know who you are! Jxo

For Ladies That Lunch!

2012-01-30T13:24:00.000Z

My brother's partner's birthday is coming up and I've been wanting to try out Ayumi's Bento Bag pattern for a while.

It only took me a couple of hours this morning, including piecing the front and back (thank you Fi for the gorgeous scraps).

The cover will have drawstrings, and underneath this there is more lining.

My brother and his partner run their own Estate Agency in England, so I was thinking this would make a great wee lunch bag to take into the office. And as Ayumi suggested, I made the inner lining from wipeable fabric, just in case of any spills.

I've just to get some cord now to make the drawstrings, and this pressie is ready to be posted across the Irish Sea!

Have a happy Monday!

A Feast of Colour!

2012-01-29T18:25:00.000Z

Yesterday, we had another great Bee Blessed afternoon.

As usual, I forgot to take lots of decent pics of our fun and frolicks (I get so engrossed in what we're doing!). But I do have one from the afternoon:

This is one of 4 log cabin quilts currently in production, affectionately known as the red & green one! We also have a blue one, a pink one and a brown/cream one. They are all at various stages of being quilted at the moment, so not too far away from a few more finished items to giveaway.

We are also responding to 2 recently highlighted needs, a quilt for a gentleman and a quilt for a family who are going through a rough time at the moment.

We've decided to make the gentleman a traditional log cabin quilt, but with a twist! For the family, we are going to use the accumulating sampler blocks which you have been so generous in donating, alongside those we have been making.

Here are some we have gathered together already.

And here are other more softer blocks, which I thought I'd lay out together to let you see. This may or may not grow into another quilt in its current form!

So you can see we are making progress in our ultimate aim of blessing those in need with quilts made with love. Thank you for being a part of that.

The War is Won!

2012-01-28T10:13:00.000Z

I'm excited to show you my finished Civil War Quilt!

This is a 70th Birthday present for my Dad, who is widely read in Military History, the American Civil War in particular.

On the back are personalised messages from all the members of his immediate family.

The decision to quilt it with condensed 3/4" lines wasn't so much a decision as an organic process. But I really like it and for me it echos the stripes in the American flag, symbolised by this block:

Each block represents a diary entry from the 'Diary of a Civil War Quilt' book, written by women who lived the civil war.

I love quilts that have a story to tell. And this quilt is a story for my dad and about my dad. This will be handed over on 12th February, and I can't wait!

So that's my big news for today!

This afternoon is Bee Blessed, so I'll hopefully have more pics on our progress for you tomorrow.

Have a wonderful weekend!

A New Class!

2012-01-25T13:54:00.000Z

Before I tell you about my new class, a wee update on Dad's Civil War Quilt.

My gorilla arms recovered enough today to get the quilting finished & the binding made.

The binding has been sewn onto the front, and I can now enjoy my favourite stage - hand sewing the binding down onto the back!

Tonight we are looking around my youngest daughter's prospective new school for September, so not sure if I'll get much more sewing done. But hopefully I'll have a finished quilt to reveal by the end of the week.

And now some news for my local readers!

Due to increasing interest from folks wanting to learn how to sew, I'm starting a new class after Easter.

'Machine Sewing For Beginners'

This a 6 week introductory course, aimed at anyone who wants to learn how to understand and use a sewing machine, or become reaquainted with some long lost sewing skills!

Here are the sorts of topics we'll be looking at:

* How to thread your machine & fill the bobbin

* Understanding the buttons and dials

* Understanding, measuring and cutting fabric

* Sewing & ironing 1/4" seams

* Essential equipment

* Making a simple cushion

For course dates and prices click here.

If you know of anyone who might be interested in this course please pass on these details, or email me to put your name down (places are limited).

Have a great Wednesday everyone!

Between the Lines!

2012-01-24T15:35:00.000Z

I've been doing nothing but quilting the past 2 days, and feel like my arms could rival a gorilla!

I went up to the sewing room yesterday morning, fully intending on just quilting a diagonal line through each block, both ways.

But never one to stick to the original plan, I thought the one-directional lines were more appealing, did a few more either side of each line, and then thought 'what the heck' and quilted the whole darn thing in condensed diagonal lines (it's all Hadley's fault!).

Most of them are straight-ish and 3/4" apart, but I found I achieved more accuracy chalking out the lines before hand, rather than using the quilting guide attachment for my machine.

I've just got the border to quilt now, then I can move on to the binding.

Wanna see another recycling tip? Here's one for you Crochet-ers & Knitters!

Turn one of these ....

You'd be forgiven for thinking that I use this stuff in my cooking!

...into one of these!

Enjoy your Tuesday!

Let the Stitching Begin!

2012-01-23T11:18:00.000Z

I love Monday's!

The sun is shining (ocassionally) and the house is quiet and all mine!

I found out on Saturday that

1. My Mouthy Stitches Swap Mama is the one and only Hadley (Flying Blind On A Rocket Cycle). Btw, Hadley's recently finished Constellation Quilt is definitely worth a look!

2. And my swap partner is ............................ I'm not allowed to tell you of course (being a secret swap an' all!).

But I'm chuffed with who I've been assigned to make for. I've been stalking and the old coggs have been whirring. This is what I've come up with so far:

At this stage I'm just playing around with shape, structure and construction. But I'm going to push myself a bit on this one, and maybe try some new things (isn't that what swaps are all about!).

I've also started quilting my Dad's Civil War quilt.

I just couldn't bring myself to fmq squiggles and stipples all over my precious geometric blocks! So I'm going to stick with something more subtle, in keeping with the geometric nature of the design.

I'm going to try and get this quilted today, start on the binding and be finished ahead of schedule! (famous last words!).

Enjoy your Monday, it's the last one for a whole week!

A Few Recycling Ideas!

2012-01-21T11:59:00.000Z

As I patiently wait to find out who my Mouthy Stitches swap partner will be (tonight's the night!) I thought I'd show you a couple of things I've recycled.

Baby daughter wants a doorstop, because her sisters each have one in their rooms, and at the grand old age of 10, she's wanting a bit more privacy!

So take an unwanted pair of gaudy orange Benetton trousers ....

no I didn't buy them, they were hand-me-downs!

.... some delicious scraps that totally represent the personality of this child, and follow Elizabeth Hartman's tutorial to get this:

Fill with 1.5kg of dried peas, and that's one happy child!

The other thing I've recycled is a shower curtain for when I'm spray basting smaller items.

I don't think I'll ever go back to pinning and tacking again, but spraying smaller items in ones sewing room inevitably leaves sticky residue on mats and surfaces.

So lay down a machine washable shower curtain on the floor, and spray til your heart's content!

After several uses, when the shower curtain becomes too sticky, simply throw in the washing machine, let it dry and then you're good to go again!

I also reuse clean shower curtains in the linings of wash bags and beach bags!!

So that's your recycling tips for today.

I'm all ready now for my all important flickr mail tonight, got me some of these ...

...and then the stalking begins!

Have a lovely weekend!

Spring (?) Cleaning!

2012-01-19T11:57:00.000Z

I'm very blessed to have a sewing room in my home. Yesterday, I took into it like a woman possessed!

I had several objectives in mind.

1. Hasta La Vista Jerry!

Yes, Mr Mouse has been having midnight rave parties in the walls of my bedroom, disturbing my much needed beauty sleep. His 'front door' is in my sewing room, so I pulled everything out to get the poison in! Goodnight Mr J!

2. I swapped around the 2 tables in my room so that I could set up my extendable table, ready for fmq my Dad's Civil War quilt (the table my machine was on previously is so badly bowed in the middle nothing sits straight on it!).

That's a Supreme Slider Mat for FMQ. Never used one before so I'll let you know how I get on!

3. I thought it was about time to have a rigorous clear out of material I just know I won't use anytime soon. Ready for something staggering? I filled 10 bin bags of stuff I no longer need, 6 of which went to the charity shop this morning.

These other 4 will go to the fabric recycling skip in the local dump.

We are talking about curtains, bedding and clothes that I've been ~~hoarding~~ collecting for some time now. In addition to this, I filled a ginormous suitcase of stuff I want to keep, but just not in my sewing room. It was soooo fat I couldn't zip it, and it took 2 of us to carry it into our walk-in-loft. There was also a blue IKEA bag full of stuff too which I'm keeping in the loft. So this is what the fabric section looks like now.

You have to imagine more cubed storage on top of these, all stuffed with fabric, and even more piled on top right up to the ceiling!

4. It's difficult to clean a room that is so full of stuff, so this was my opportunity to give the place a really good clean.

And this box was custom made for me by a very talented friend, to elevate my cutting mat and try and save the ol' back a bit longer!

So that was my day, from morning til evening!

I have muscles aching where I didn't even know I had places, but boy does it feel good!

Have a lovely day!

A Quilt Full of Memories!

2012-01-17T15:30:00.000Z

After some angst (don't ask!) I got the back of my dad's civil war quilt pieced.

These blocks have all been hand written, drawn and decorated by 17 members of my family: my mum, siblings, partners and all the grandchildren. An extra block was thrown in to round the number of blocks to 18.

Close up of one of the blocks

Now I have to baste this beast and quilt it (yikes!). Thanks everyone for your wonderfully creative quilty suggestions. I really liked Ceri's idea .....

... but I just don't feel confident enough to keep those fmq lines straight enough!

I'm gearing myself up for some large scale stippling all over the quilt, because I can't think of another quilting design that will suit both the front and the back, and one that I am confident enough to have a go at on this large scale.

So I guess now I just have to roll up my sleeves and get on with it!

If you don't hear from me for a while, you'll know I've been beaten by the beast!

Pins & Needles

2012-01-16T12:53:00.000Z

Thank you for all the wonderful suggestions on what to put into the Sewing Bits & Bobs pouch I made for my friend.

I decided to go with Nicky's suggestion - a matching pincushion and needlecase.

And here they are!

This is actually my first needlecase! It's only 3" square, but I love it!

And 'thank you' to Terri for sending me some gorgeous little scraps - they came in v.useful!

Now we have a matching set, ready to be wrapped up for the birthday girl on Saturday!

Happy Monday!

Sewing Bits & Bobs

2012-01-15T09:45:00.000Z

My 2 weekly classes started back this week.

There was lots of fun and laughter, as well as a little stress and nerves for those learning for the first time! I love the wonderful buzz of creativity and fresh ideas and inspiration that everyone brings, and most of all the warm and friendly atmosphere that my ladies create, making new folks feel especially welcome.

I don't have as much time to sew over these few days, but yesterday I managed to make a birthday pressie for one of my friends.

After I overdosed on cosmetic purses pre Christmas, I now seem to be having a run on more creative pouches!

These are such fun to make, and are limited only by one's imagination.

Got the idea for this picture from here

Now if you were getting this little pouch for your birthday, what would you like to find inside it - a few fqs? some sewing supplies? chocolate?

Hope you've had a great weekend so far!

Quiltus Giganticus!

2012-01-12T09:00:00.001Z

I been beavering away on my Dad's civil war quilt, and look what I've made:

Side view: 61" x75"

The first pic is of the quilt top spread out on my bed! Just to give you some sizing perspective, my bed is Super King size! This might not be the biggest quilt you've ever seen, but it's one of the biggest I've ever made!

But I LOVE it!

Colours still look a bit pale here, sorry! They are much warmer and deeper in reality.

I love the fabrics, the colours, the blocks, the story telling, and working with such quality material was a dream. I think that's why I managed to run this up so quickly (certainly wasn't down to the mathematical conversion skills I had to apply to each block!).

If anyone wants to know the Civil War names of all the blocks featured, just let me know (but I won't be expecting a run on email requests!).

The back will be made up of personalised message blocks from each member of our family, a type of memory quilt on the back. I'll bring you pics when the back is made.

And then comes the big question - How on earth do I quilt a Giganticus?

Bearing in mind the size of this beastie, my lack of significant biceps, and the back being as much a feature as the front - all suggestions will be gratefully received!

I have 1 month to go til my dad's 70th birthday! Plenty of time to panic!

Hope you are having a wonderful Thursday!

Mouthy Stitches Swap!

2012-01-11T08:00:00.000Z

What a name for a zippy pouch swap!

But then when you know whose organising it - Susan, Hadley & Cindy - 'nuff said!!

The terrific trio have been scheming & decided to jointly host a zippered pouch swap.

The requirements are simple - get mouthy! That is, if you decide to join in, then get stuck in and take a fully active part in commenting on flickr and encouraging folks in what they make.

I love these 3 gals 'cos they don't beat about the bush - straight talkers. We will be allocated secret swap partners, & they've even made sure that no-one gets overly anxious about the obligatory 'extras' that become expected in swaps. The extras for this swap must be no more than a fat quarter worth of scraps - how cool is that?!

There was never a question of me not joining in (I could never say no to 3 fellow bee members!).

So I would encourage you to join in too.

No need to be nervous about zippers either - a thread in flickr has already been started where lots of tutorials will be posted. You will be among friends who don't expect perfection but love encouraging others to try new things.

To give your secret partner an idea of your likes, you make a mosaic of any inspirational pictures you've found in flickr.

Here's mine!

Picture no. 8 likes to hide, but if you go here, you'll be able to see it.

Have fun!

The Winning Pouch!

2012-01-10T08:00:00.000Z

You may remember that last month I ran a giveaway to celebrate my 1 year blogiversary.

Nicky was the winner and got to choose one of my handbags, Martha May, and something bespoke made by me, in a colour of her choice.

Her colour of choice was Fushia, and because Nicky has now received her winnings, I can show you what I made.

A zippered pouch - front

I thought the deco weight grey went really well with the fushia colours in the deco weight paisley.

Back

Cambodian silk lining

Crocheted Rose

I hope you enjoy using this Nicky, as much as I enjoyed making it for you!

Sew Bee Happy!

2012-01-09T08:00:00.001Z

The lovely Cindy (Fluffy Sheep Quilting) recently invited me to join another online bee, called Sew Bee Happy!

I said yes straightaway, as this bee is all about scraps!!! Yippee!

I understand the group has been running for over a year, & January sees a new year of makes, with a new Mama (Cindy) and some new bee members.

Cindy is kicking off the year with her block choice (taken from the fabulous Modern Blocks book) & some Kona White to get us started:

The Stargazing Block from page 178

This wee section is only 3.5"!

The yellows are much more vibrant than you see here! It's my rubbish photography skills again!

These were fun to make, and I hope Cindy enjoys them too!

And check out Leanne's amazing take on this pattern over on her blog.

Have a wonderful start to the new week!

Bee-ing Busy!

2012-01-08T08:00:00.000Z

Yesterday was Bee Blessed day.

We were small in number, but no less busy.

Laying out the 'Mostly Greens' set

'Mostly browns' set

'Mostly Pinks' Set

There will also be a 'Mostly Blues' set, which has almost the required number of blocks, and then we can lay that one out too!

Almost ready for quilting!

Thank you lovely bloggers if you donated blocks. I hope you are able to see them in my rather blurry pics (except if you made blue ones! But rest assured, they are being used!).

Thank you also for the lovely sampler blocks which are starting to come in. They look amazing and we are already getting excited about the wonderful quilts they are going to make! Don't forget to post a pic of your block on our flickr group.

Until next time!

E is for ........

2012-01-07T08:00:00.006Z

1. Exciting post!

For my nephew's 18th Birthday Quilt

18th Birthday Quilt for another nephew!

A few bargains for my stash - I LOVE the aqua and orange floral!

2. Exceptional Service - I ordered these from the Fat Quarter shop on 29th December, they were posted on 30th December and I received them yesterday, 6th January! Hows about that for fab service? And no customs to pay either! Sweet!

3. Esther, a special little girl who is turning 10 years old this month.

This wee pouch will be filled with a crocheted hair band and some sweeties before being posted to England.

4. Exhausted! Back to early mornings again for me this week (boo!). I'm soooooo not a morning person.

But this afternoon I can look forward to joining my fellow Bee Blessed buddies, so I'll try to remember to take lots of pics!

Have a great weekend!

Sew Get Started!

2012-01-06T08:00:00.007Z

First of all, photographic evidence that the sun still exists this side of the equator!

Ahhhh! A warm spot at last!

My Christmas Poinsettia lit up by the sun! Beautiful!

It's been so dark around here lately, that I'd forgotten what the sun looked like! It was brief yesterday, but lovely nontheless.

And so down to business!

The very talented Sarah (Fairy Face Designs) has just started a series of Beginner's Sewing Tutorials, called Sew Get Started!

I would highly recommend this 3 month series if you are wanting to start sewing for the first time, develop your sewing skills, kick start a dormant attempt at sewing, or just try out some new patterns.

Sarah has lined up a wonderful list of guest bloggers to post tutorials on a wide range of projects. And I was privileged to be asked to contribute too! In March, I'll be posting a tutorial on how to insert a zipper into a cushion.

There is also a flickr group where you can post pics of what you make, and join in some helpful discussions, as well as a button for your blog (html code available on Sarah's blog).

So come and enjoy the fun! The wonderful thing about sewing is that there is always something new to learn, no matter how long you've been at it!

"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty". ~Henry Ford

Back to School!

2012-01-05T08:05:00.016Z

My 3 darling angels (?!) returned to school today! That means I now have the house to myself once again, and can start to ~~panic~~ think about all the things I need to be working on!

I haven't been totally lax over the holidays though! As you know I've been working on Dad's Civil War quilt. Here are another 3 blocks done.

'Games, Music & Knitting' aka Churn Dash

'Meeting General Lee'

'Mail Delivery' aka Dutchman's Puzzle

That's 8 out of 20 made so far.

And a wee peek on a little something for someone!

Full reveal when the recipient receives it!

There's also a much bigger project brewing for me, which I can't talk about yet, but I'm getting a little excited about! Perhaps in a few weeks I'll be able to let you in on it!!

So now I'm off to turn the music up full blast and dance around the house naked (no not really, just joking - the music won't be that loud!).

Have a wonderful Thursday!

More Civil War Blocks!

2012-01-03T08:00:00.000Z

I know I'm in danger of really boring you, but here are a few more Civil War blocks I've managed to sew over the past few days.

'Merchantable Goods' & 'Special Blessings'. Spot the ~~deliberate~~ mistake in the bottom block!

'Greenfield & Stockton' & 'Bitter Enemy'

I've also been beavering away on some more Log Cabin blocks for Bee Blessed. Our first get together of 2012 is this Saturday.

If you would like to make and donate a 12.5" block to our charity bee, have a wee look on our flickr group for inspiration and links to some great block tutes.

For the next few months we plan to make sampler quilts, so you are free to choose any block design & colour scheme you like! Or, you can make one of the blocks we've already done using the following tutorials:

Wonky Star Block: Tutorial at The SillyBooDilly

Disappearing 9 Patch Tutorial

Log Cabin Tutorial

Have a great Tuesday!

Play it Again, Sam!

2012-01-02T08:00:00.012Z

My daughter's flute comes in a hard case, with no handles or straps, which can make its journey to & through school ~~accident prone~~ eventful!

So before 2011 closed its eyes for good, I got this WIP finished:

Bethany really wanted a shoulder strap for transporting this to school, so I added some D-rings on each end, and sewed in a custom made strap.

Being someone who likes to recycle things, I had a red belt (from somewhere) that I thought would make good handles. However they didn't say the nicest things on them ............

......... and Bethany agreed that they were unsuitable for an angelic 10 year old to have on her lovely new flute case!

Now that she has given the finished case her seal of approval (bless her she was so chuffed with it, teary eye!) she can't wait to show her music teacher in the new year, but I've warned her that the tune on the front is completely random, so he needn't bother trying to work it out!

I'm afraid I don't know my crotchets from my quavers!

Crisp, anyone?

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T08:00:00.003Z

Happy New Year to everyone!

May 2012 be filled with blessings, good health and wondrous creativity for you all!

In true 'first day of the month' tradition with Lily's Quilts 'Fresh Sewing Day', here is my roundup mosaic of December makes (not quite everything, but you get the idea! It was Christmas afterall!).

Judith xo

Miss January (almost)!

2011-12-31T08:07:00.002Z

In the Brit Bee, it is my turn as Miss January to set the block requirements for my 11 Brit Bee Buddies.

It is quite a daunting task deciding on what to ask 11 other very talented ladies to make. Choosing the fabrics alone was mind boggling! I stewed over it for a long time, and finally budget restraints helped me to make my final decision!

SCRAPS!

I love scraps, and I love making things from scraps! So I raided and rummaged and gathered up 11 colour coded bundles of scraps and posted them at the end of December to the 4 corners of the UK (well to England and Scotland anyway!).

And you might well be asking 'And what did she ask them all to make with those scraps?'

Just take a wee look at these pics & more on this board on my Pinterest and see if you can guess!

That's right - log cabin blocks. I can't wait to see what the girls come up with!

Well it is January tomorrow (yikes!).

I hope you have enjoyed the good times in 2011, won out on some of the tough times, and have grown in your knowledge, understanding and appreciation of life and all it has had to offer you this past year.

Judith xo

The First Cut is the Deepest!

2011-12-30T08:00:00.001Z

I have finally made the first cut into the brand new civil war fabrics I bought for my dad's 70th birthday quilt!

I'm always nervous making the first cut into new fabrics, probably because it isn't that often that I get to work with brand new fabrics!

I'm working from the Civil War Diary Quilt book, but unfortunately it isn't a pattern book. So I'm scaling up the blocks to 12", working out the maths and selecting 20 out of the 121 in the book.

Here's the first one, it's called Conscript Law.

Fabrics from The Homespun Loft

Well, that's one down, 19 more to go!!

Judith xo

Sophie ... Meet Natasha!

2011-12-28T19:07:00.000Z

The long awaited Sophie Quilt recipient decided to enter the world this morning!

Welcome to the world Natasha Sarah Grace!

Your quilt is on its way to you sweet one!

Judith xo

Slowly But Surely!

2011-12-27T22:13:00.001Z

I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas weekend!

Mine was quiet, and although I'm struggling a bit with a yucky cold, it's been lovely chilling out with family, and living a slow pace through the day.

I haven't felt much like sewing, but my hands are too fidgety to remain motionless for long, so there's been a little bit of crochet.

More headbands

Lots of circles, which are meant to become squares for a cushion cover.

And I'll leave you with a sneak peak of a W.I.P. for my youngest!

Have a lovely day!

Judith xo

Brit Bee Secret Santa - Squeeeeee!

2011-12-24T10:00:00.000Z

Me and my lovely Brit Bee buddies decided to do Secret Santa for each other.

We were to make or send something small to our allocated buddy, disguise the writing on the parcel and put a fake return address on it! What fun!

Mine arrived from my mystery buddy last week and it didn't last long!

Choc chip cookies, peanut cookies, cranberry & white chocolate cookies, pretzel & peacan turtles and pretzel & smartie turtles - these vanished in minutes!

I couldn't believe the treats that had been made for me and my family! What a generous gift! And just look at these adorable decorations! No one was left out!

All of these are now on my Christmas tree!

Paper clip ice skates - too cute!

Thank you mystery partner - I think I know who you are, and you have blessed me and my hungry lot more than you could imagine. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

And if you want to know what I made & who it was for, you'll need to pop over here.

Well, this is my last post for a day or two (if I can stay away from the computer for that long!).

I would like to wish all my lovely bloggy friends a truly peaceful and special Christmas!

Emmanuel!

Judith xo

We have a winner!

2011-12-23T08:31:00.001Z

Thank you lovely readers for entering my blogiversary giveaway, all 38 of you!

My beautiful bloggy buddy, Ceri, inspired me to be more creative about choosing the winner of my blogiversary giveaway.

So out came the Uno and my trusty little helper. The first number drawn out from the 0-3 numbers was:

and then a quick shuffle of the 0-9 numbers to get

That means the winning number is 06 - NICKY!

Well done to Nicky! Martha May will soon be winging her way to you with something Fuscia inside (better get my thinking cap on!).

And want to hear something hilarious? Guess who was number 7? Only Golden Touch Hadley!! Phew! Talk about a close one!

And a final pic of a wee extra stocking filler for footie mad daughter no.2.

Ayumi's baskets - intended as desk tidies - well we live in hope!

Have a fab Friday!

Judith xo

Blanket of Love

2011-12-22T08:24:00.009Z

I've been wanting to try out Elizabeth Hartman's wonky cross block for ages.

And this week I got an opportunity.

Quick, easy and satisfying - my kind of block!

These blocks are 8.5" unfinished, and a 3x3 mini quilt is the perfect size to donate to Kat's Blankets of Love Charity.

So this has already been parcelled up with some backing and binding, ready to be posted to Oz!

And the UFO I was referring to yesterday?

This Kaleidoscope quilt was originally part of a QAL with Don't Call Me Betsy. I didn't finish it by the deadline (what's new)!

However, it is now basted and ready to be quilted (scratch head). No clue yet how to quilt it! It was originally for daughter no.3 who loves green. But she's not expecting this for Christmas, so I'm not putting the pressure on to get it done by Sunday.

If it happens, it happens. C'est la vie!

Judith xo

P.s. I plan to do the Blogiversary draw later today and will announce the winner tomorrow!

I've Made it!

2011-12-21T08:00:00.002Z

Firstly, thank you everyone for your lovely comments and congrats on my 1 year blogiversary post yesterday! I've had so much fun reading through your comments & choices. I completely forgot to say when I'd draw the winning number, so I'll wait until Thursday and do it then.

Good luck everyone (you'll need it 'cos Hadley has entered and she wins everything!).

********************************************************

I've made it to the end of my Handmade Christmas Present list. This will truly be a Handmade Christmas (Kirsty eat your heart out!).

Every member of my family will receive at least one handmade gift from me.

Including teachers' pressies, the totals are:

3 mugrug/hostess box sets

7 journal/diary covers

3 sets of change trays

6 Tea bag wallets

3 tissue pouches

6 make up bags

1 gift bag

2 cushions

1 Batbag/toy pouch

1 laptop sleeve

2 doll quilts/pillow sets

3 mini baskets

3 pairs of crochet fingerless gloves

1 crochet headband

1 cot quilt for a Christmas baby (still to arrive!)

and a partridge in a pear tree!

I mentioned above a crocheted headband. I got carried away making these cute flowers from a pattern Sarah gave me.

And I thought they would look lovely on crocheted headbands. My youngest always wears headbands to tame her magnificent thick, blonde locks, so this will be an extra wee stocking filler for her.

Modelled by Daughter no.1

And one last pic (or 2) of the diary cover my hubbie requested.

Of course, just because I've finished my list, doesn't mean I'll be sitting back on my laurels. Oh no!

The kids finish school today and tomorrow, which will mean a demand for Christmassey activities (hopefully not involving shops!) and I might even get a UFO from the summer finished (more on that tomorrow).

Hope you are getting organised and not getting stressed!

Judith xo

1 Year Blogiversary!

2011-12-20T08:12:00.002Z

It's exactly one year ago today that I wrote my first blog post.

My amazingly talented friend, Sarah, started blogging a few days before, and suggested I do the same! I went from never being the least bit interested in computers to needing a 'fix' every day!

It has been a wonderful year of learning, growing, being inspired by the astounding creativity out there in blogland and of course, making some wonderful new friends.

I would like to say a special 'thank you' to those of you who take the time and interest to pop over and read my nonsensical ramblings. I never would have expected anyone to be interested in this creative venture, let alone hang in there week after week. You rock!

To celebrate this special milestone I would like to make something bespoke for one of my regular readers, so I'm not doing a generic giveaway.

I would love it if you could tell me 1. your favourite colour in fabric, and also 2. choose one of the following handbags which I would be delighted to gift to you. One comment will do for both & I'll find some means of randomly selecting the winner (Archie could you please teach Poppy how to select winners?).

Martha May

Modern Maud

Boxy Bag

Thank you for celebrating with me, and I look forward to another year of blogging with you!

Judith xo

A Great Exchange!

2011-12-19T08:12:00.000Z

Before the visitors descended yesterday I managed to finish the last pair of crochet fingerless gloves for daughter no. 1 (as modelled by daughter no.3):

Sorry about the hideous nail polish!

And then the visitors arrived and I'm chuffed to say the presents exchange went down a treat!

Bat boy loved his Bat Bag:

And the older boys were surprisingly enthusiastic about their cushions:

The Rugby player (with stitches in his chin from a recent training session!)

And my 'daft but beautiful' sister loved getting her wee treats.

This is my sister who has been selling some of my handbags and makeup bags in her Hairdressing Salon. In total 5 Handbags and 20 makeup bags sold! Result!

And my BIL got some handmade change trays, which after opening them looked at me and said 'Explain?' said he would definitely be using them!

So a fun day was had by all!

Wishing you a great start to the new week (1 week to go .....eeeeeeeek!)

Judith xo

Saturday Sewing

2011-12-18T12:38:00.000Z

Well the present making fervour continued a pace yesterday.

Here's what I got done:

For my sister (to accompany a teabag wallet & tissue pouch):

For my mum (to accompany the mugrug/hostess box set):

A journal cover

Teeny tiny crochet heart by Attic 24

For my eldest daughter:

Journal Cover

Recycled crochet trim from lovely Terri

For my middle daughter (the footie fanatic):

Journal Cover

After seeing these book covers, my husband decided he would like a cover for his new 2012 diary, so I managed to get some pieces cut out from leftover Indigo Berries. Will show you more when I get it finished.

My sister & her family are visiting with us today, and I can't wait to give them all their hand made pressies! There is definitely more joy in the giving than the receiving!

Have a restful Sunday!

Judith xo

A Year's Work is Finished!

2011-12-16T19:25:00.000Z

Last night was my last ever class of 2011!

I completely forgot to take pictures, but be assured we enjoyed some warm mince pies and Mulled Wine (non-alcholic of course - we don't want to encourage wonky seams!).

It has been a wonderful end to a busy teaching year for me. In total I ran 17 projects, 1 Bag Day & a Beginners' Saturday School during the summer.

It has been such a privilege to teach and (hopefully) inspire so many lovely ladies who have come to my different projects throughout the year.

Thank you for making this a special year for me!

Here is a wee mosaic of some of the projects of 2011.

It occured to me last night that my one year bloggiversary is fast approaching! My first post went out on December 20th, and it was thanks to my lovely and talented friend Sarah, who got me started blogging!

So I'm putting together a wee plan on how my lovely bloggy readers can help me celebrate. Watch this space!

Wishing you all a lovely end to your week!

Judith xo

Sophie is Finished!

2011-12-15T12:03:00.000Z

The cot quilt I've been working on for my friend's baby (due next week!) is finished!

The back - Sarah inspired me to go with large quilted wiggles!

The colours look a bit washed out in these pics, but in reality they are bright and vibrant.

This isn't a big quilt, only 38" x 40" and I only used half the Sophie Layer cake. I hadn't enough pink for the backing, hence the strip down the middle made from the leftovers, and my leftover Kona Azure I used for the binding wasn't quite long enough either, so I added 2 strips from one of the remaining 10" squares to make it work.

All that remains is for little one to enter the world and then I can make the label and post it over to England. Wouldn't it be funny if they called her Sophie!!

And this morning I rustled up a few more change tray sets for my Dad and Brother in Law for Christmas.

Well the sun is shining, it's baltic outside, but warm inside - aaahhhh!

I'm off to have a bite of lunch before deliberating over what else to make Mum for Christmas!

See ya later!

Judith xo

A Few More Ticks!

2011-12-14T15:12:00.000Z

The ticks I'm referring to aren't the nervous kind of twitches (which I'm not a million miles away from developing!).

Amongst the endless (& continuing) saga of boiler repairs, over sensitive electrical trip switches (no kettle now!), getting an iron that actually works, and now a sick child, I somehow managed a few Christmas finishes this week!

These are for 2 of my nephews: First for the rugby player, made in his team colours:

Next the nephew who got the matching colour brick quilt from me in June this year:

Also, some mugrug sets (can't mention who they're for! Sssshhhh!):

I got my secret santa pressie finished for a lovely Brit Bee lady, but not allowed to show you that yet!

And talking of the Brit Bee, it's my turn next, as Miss January, to set the other 11 gals to work on a block of my choosing!

The parcels are all made up and ready to be posted!

So watch out girls for Mr Postie!

And I'll leave you with my amazing Oasis Ladies, who this term made a stunning sampler quilt and matching cushion, which will be raffled off to raise funds for the charity.

Well done girls!

Judith xo

I Don't Believe It!!

2011-12-12T21:37:00.000Z

If Victor Meldrew had been in my house, he would have projected this statement more than once today!

It's been one of those days!

The edited version is that Boiler Man no.4 will be coming tomorrow (sometime!) to ~~maybe~~ hopefully fix the boiler. I sent the kids down to a friends house this afternoon to get showered!

Sorting the boiler issues took up much of the day. When I finally snatched half an hour to sew in my ice-box sewing room, my iron kept throwing the electrical trip switch.

So after tea, I nipped down to church to pick up one of my other irons (that I store down there for classes), brought it back, plugged it in, and ..................

NOTHING!

It didn't work, at all! Aaaarggghhh!

What makes this even more frustrating is that I'm tantilisingly close to finishing Sophie! Baby is due any day now and I just need to get the binding ironed and attached and I'm done!

So tomorrow it will be off down to Tescos again to quickly get a new iron before the Boiler man decides to call/not call.

The only other thing I managed to get done today was a quick mugrug present for a male relative.

So I'm off now to wash in cold water, before filling my hot water bottle & layering up for bed (and a wee hot port might just make an appearance too!).

Hope you've had a more productive day!

Judith xo

Man Quilt Delivered

2011-12-11T21:07:00.001Z

Yesterday was the Christmas gathering of Bee Blessed!

I forgot to take photos of the hive of activity, as we sewed along to Neil Diamond's Christmas songs and ate mince pies!

But I can show you the finished man quilt.

Front

Back

I delivered this today to the family for whom it was made, and it was an emotional exchange! I said 'it's a small gift', in light of the situation the family are currently in, but the lady said this was no small thing - it was a huge blessing to them all, especially to her ill husband.

And that's just what Bee Blessed is about - small gifts with huge impact!

Some of you have been eager to know the next block we'll be doing in Bee Blessed. For the next few months, we've decided to make sampler quilts, which means all you lovely donators and supporters get to make a block of your choosing, in the colours/fabrics of your choosing! How cool is that! The only requirement is that the block should be 12.5" unfinished.

So do you fancy having a go?

There's a fab list of tutes available on Modify Tradition (see down right hand side of screen) but if you know of other great block tutes, I'm starting a thread in our flickr group where you can post the links of any great block tutes you've come across. This is a great way to share ideas, and I for one am really looking forward to trying out some new block patterns.

And just to keep you up-to-date, we now have approx. 60 log cabin blocks, so when we next get together in January we will be making up 3 quilt tops! Can't wait to show you!

One source of inspiration for block patterns is this:

My Christmas present to myself arrived last week and I have to say I wasn't disappointed! It's a really well laid out book, and most of the block designs are ones I would like to try. My personal view is that a chunk of the blocks would be a challenge for a beginner, but all in all I think it's a fabulous book.

And last but not least, I've taken the bull by the horns and bought my ticket for the Fat Quarterly Community Retreat in June.

This will be a special weekend for me, because I get to meet up with most of my amazing Brit Bee buddies! I even got to speak to the lovely Sarah on the phone! Surreal!! We are all so excited that we are getting on like giddy teenagers (what on earth will we be like when we finally meet in June!).

Well that's about it from me for this weekend.

Not as much sewing done as I'd like, but the boiler packing up this morning meant lots of snuggles under quilts, in front of a log fire, drinking homemade mulled wine and watching Nativity with the kids. So not all bad!

Judith xo

A Laptop Sleeve Conquered!

2011-12-08T16:14:00.000Z

Phew! is all I can say to this finish!

Front

Back

This is a laptop sleeve for my 17 year old nephew, for Christmas. Despite the 'simple' vision I had of this in my mind (I should have been worried right then!) this project turned into quite a challenge.

As mentioned previously, my foundation piecing with lined fabric made full use of the word 'wonky'!

I'm deliberately NOT showing a close up of the wonky bits!

Then came something that would have rivalled an episode of The Krypton Factor (I'm showing my age now!).

I know enough from bag making to know that there is a sequence when constructing a bag. As this laptop sleeve is essentially a bag (don't tell my nephew that!) I thought I'd be able to work it out!

Unfortunately for me, I don't have a degree in Construction Engineering or Quantum Physics (or anything else for that matter!) & I realised too late that I'd never made a gussetted/zippered/lined bag.

I couldn't for the life of me work out how to get the gussets, zips and linings together without any raw edges! World Wide Web - you were no help to me at all!!

When I finally, somehow, managed to get the thing together with no holes or raw edges, I couldn't get my husband's laptop (same model as nephew's) to fit in through the zipper opening!

Aaaaarrrggghhhh!

And my zipper ends were so lovely too!

So out came the stitch ripper (again!), off came the zip (again!).

Never mind, I battled on (I even dreamt about fixing it last night), persevered and I now have a satisfying finish & a very sore back!

Lovely Kona Ash on the inside!

I hope your week has been more productive and stress-free than mine!

Chat soon,

Judith xo

We will conquer!

2011-12-06T10:12:00.000Z

Yesterday my hubbie & I got the Christmas shopping done! Phew!

I loathe shopping, and especially Christmas shopping, but it was so nice having a few hours together.

Shopping tires me out, and I shouldn't really have attempted my nephew's laptop sleeve last night!

Trying to decide on which colour thread to quilt with!

I've used the 4 Twin Sisters pattern on numerous occasions before, but for some reason, it just wasn't behaving last night!

But the preverbial 'blind man on a galloping horse' won't notice the wonky seams (fingers crossed), and time limitations mean this will have to be acceptable!

I also got a crochet mat finished, as a wee pressie for a friend.

And because they're so quick to make, I ran up another 7 hexies last night, another pressie for a friend!

And one final pic which my lovely Brit Bee gals will appreciate!

How are your cupcakes Terri?

Happy Tuesday!

Judith xo

The F.U.N.C is coming to a city near you!

2011-12-04T15:45:00.000Z

Well in true blogger (over the top imagination) style, Rhonda's ugly needle case now has

a name: FUNC (Fugly Ugly Needle Case)

a blog page (Quilter in the Gap F.U.N.C) complete with a map of its travels around the world

and its own blog button!!

If you have had the privilege of receiving F.U.N.C. we would like you to display the button, and link back to Rhonda's blog so she can map its travels.

Including postcards from the various destinations F.U.N.C visits is entirely optional.

I wonder where F.U.N.C. will end up next????