WIP learning how to.....

So, I'm home alone today, the other half and the dogs have gone fishing for the day, and I decided I would get started on basting my raw circles quilt and working out how to quilt it.

As any regular readers will know I had surgery a week ago.... I'm supposed to be taking it easy.... I'm also a stubborn, independent and today unsupervised individual, who has just discovered the batting piece she had put aside for the raw circles is short in one corner by a 12 x 6" strip.....

Bother, I thought.... well actually it was another word beginning with B but am trying to keep this civil....

so today I am mostly learning a) how to be a good girl, ignore the screaming car keys and possibility of a short drive to my nearest LQS for a replacement piece of batting which will fit nicely and b) how to best join the batting - whether to add a small strip in the corner, or cut the piece down the middle and rejoin it with one piece turned through 90 degrees so it fits better.  

Anyone..... ??? 



Linking up with Freshly Pieced.

Is it just me....

...or has this now become a quilt of two halves?  I made this little beauty a bit bigger, which meant adding in some new blocks made with fabrics I didn't have when I made the first lot.  


So of course that meant weaving them into those already laid out and doing some significant rearranging. then I decided I didn't actually like some of the new 'filler' fabrics, so I took those out.... 


then I decided I'd made it a row too long, so I took that off.....


then I decided I'd tried to make it too matchy when the first part went out of it's way to have every quarter block different colours and patterns. So I did some more rearranging.  


And this is what I have now, along with an absolutely stonking headache!

probably should have moved the ironing from behind the door BEFORE taking the photo!

It just feels to me that the top part which is laid out on a piece of wadding and so lying nicely with no gaps, looks like it has stronger warmer colours than the bottom part, which isn't on wadding and so not sitting so well together.  Could it just be because the bottom is nearer the window and so in brighter light which makes the colours look lighter?

I've put some of the stronger reds back in before taking this photo which did make the balance better, but does it look balanced to you, much more experienced quilters?

Let me know, 'cos I really want to start stitching it together!

As promised, more on the FQ Retreat

So I promised to tell you more about the weekend, and the best place to start seems to be with the brilliant name badge made for me by Kelly who is one of my fellow LMQG members. 

As anyone who reads this blog may have noticed I'm a big fan of American Jane's Pezzy Print, and Kelly came up trumps.  There was a great selection on the front, funky tube map fabric for the lanyard and wonderful Melody Millar viewfinders for the backing.

It was perfect and exactly what I would have made (if I'd had the fabric!) and I love it!  I am getting some funny looks wearing it all the time, mind.....

On arrival at the retreat we had to pick a raffle ticket and we were given a goody bag.  Now, I never win at raffles... actually I never win anything - raffles, giveaways, lottery tickets, bets on the horses... - so I nearly didn't even bother leaving the bar for the draw!  I'm so glad I did in the end as I won a jelly roll.

Cosmo Cricket's Salt Air is about to be one of my covet's of the week (yep, it's being dangerously reinstated, so my favourite fabric shop can start stalking my choices and stocking them in time for me to purchase!)so to be able to choose the circa 1934 roll was great.  I can't wait to make something with this, but it's going to be a winter project, and I have a potential recipient in mind for it....

I'll tell you more about the goody bag later - don't want you getting overloaded with jealousy! 

I took 4 classes altogether, and they were all fantastic.  Two were trying something I'd never done before - one of which I really loved and the other I will probably not be trying again.

I made this little pin cushion in the freezer paper piecing class.  It was hand sewn in my beloved pezzy, although it did have a slightly psychedelic effect.  This wasn't my favourite technique to be honest.

In the afternoon however, Aneela had the pleasure of trying to teach me and 34 more competant people, the delights of embroidery.  Reader, I loved it!  I'm so proud of my little robin, and loved the packet of flosses which Cosmo were generous enough to send to Aneela for her willing pupils.  Here's my attempt.... 

Aneela laughed when I told her I intended to make this the central square of a wonky or crazy log cabin cushion with her gorgeous Cherry Christmas range which is featured on her blog today - go and have a look, it's scrummy - Santa's laundry, snowglobes and snowman teapots, roll on July! 

Anyway, it's bedtime now, so Sunday's excitement will have to wait until tomorrow....

What a day!

So, yesterday was my birthday and I wasn't exactly looking forward to the arrival of 45!  However, once I realised it co-incided with the next LMQG meeting and that it was possible the lovely and talented Aneela Hoey might be coming, all of a sudden it seemed like it might be quite a good day after all!

Aneela and I travelled into London together, and were so busy chatting about everything under the sun, the poor sat-nav woman had a job telling us where to go, and it's fair to say we got a bit lost and were a bit late!  Still, I'd gone armed, not only with Aneela, but also the best chocolate brownies in the universe, so I was sure of a warm, if belated welcome.  The rest of the group didn't know Aneela was coming, and their faces were a picture!

However, my day wasn't complete yet.... the lovely Charlotte had made me a pretty little iced fairy cake for my birthday.  I've also got into an expensive habit of ordering a few bits and pieces from the Village Haberdashery for Annie (our group president) to deliver at the meeting so she handed over a very, very, very exciting bag with not just one of my weekly covets, but two!



I'd also ordered a stack of Magical Lands and some lovely embroidery cottons for me to have a play with.


To say I was a happy girl would be an understatement!


We got on with the meeting, including talking about the Siblings Together project.    Judith (Needles & Lemons) has offered to collate some blocks and make them up into a quilt.  I handed over 6 simple log cabin blocks made with Pezzy Print (which I forgot to photo! you can now see on Judith's blog here) so I'm looking forward to seeing them appear in one or more of the final quilts.  If you want to get involved then go over to the Flickr group (linked to above)and sign up.

Our challenge for March had been to make a wonky log cabin or crazy block using the scraps we 'won' in the swap at the beginning of the month. It was incredible to see how, even in a small group of 20, we all had such differing tastes as so many of us commented on how we'd found the received scraps hard to work with as they weren't our style or colours!  I confessed I had shamelessly cheated, as I'd been dying to make something with the Pezzy Prints, and so I used the smallest of one of my scraps and then made up the rest with lovely Pezzy!  I thought it worked really well with the geometric design.




Once the meeting part was done,  the important part of fabric buying started!  So Michael and I trotted through to the back of the shop where I indulged with a few stash boosters - some that will go with existing stock and some that are just too-much-fun-to-leave-on-the-shelf-and-will-come-in-handy-at-some-point!


The afternoon was rounded off  back at Charlotte's lovely house, with a fashion parade of her amazing quilts, a very envious ferret through her drawers (oo-er!) in her quilting shed and a lovely cup of coffee!

Oh dear.....

have dyed my hair......






let's just say electric tangerine is NOT the colour I was aiming for!

Covet of the week

So I've looked everywhere for these - Pezzy Print by American Jane.  I can find the single colour fabrics, and I can buy those by accident thinking these multi-colourways were included...

I can try and buy these from Pink Castle Fabrics, but their system was forcing me to buy two of each which I didn't want and they haven't replied to my email asking why...

So if anyone knows of anywhere else I can get these brilliantly colourful fabrics, do please let me know - I have a pezzy-shaped hole in my stash box!