Wish it could be Christmas everyday!

At the ripe old age of 17, I had my appendix removed. While I tried to downplay the pain and other symptoms in a bid to avoid surgery, my dad was berating the surgeon who was suggesting the appendix be left to 'grumble' in the way that they liked (notwithstanding the risk of bursting and causing peritonitis....... I never understood that logic).

"Where the heck is she going with this and what does it have to do with Christmas?" I hear you ask. Well, I had to abandon plans for Christmas gifts in the week before the big day because I have a grumbling sewing machine. It only does it when there's fabric going through it (ie not when winding the bobbin or pulling the bobbin thread through) so I'm guessing it's something to do with the foot. It clearly needs a trip to the chiropodist!

I've noticed today two blogging friends talking about Cherry Christmas and one of my abandoned projects was a simple 10" square quilt for one of my sisters and her two children. It pieced ok, but the quilting made it look like the Himalayas!

So it had to be unpicked, which then lead to a tear and a tear or two of frustration! Luckily, it's near the edge so I can hopefully quite simply unpick it and replace the torn square. I've decided that as I replaced the quilt with DVD at Christmas, I have all year to get it finished, and so I'm going to hand quilt it.

I've got a couple of other Christmas gifts that need finishing by this weekend though, and so I'm hoping my machine will just get those done before it goes for a service. Think I might need to invest in a spare!

November, already.....

Well, October was some month!  It started with a two-week holiday in Cornwall where I spent a good percentage of the time looking out of rainy windows while I stitched away at various projects, and it's ended with some major steps towards life changes for us. Phew, busy times!

Anyway, your positive thoughts and crossed fingers did a brilliant job earlier in the week, I am now less stressed and hopefully taking big strides to a happier life. So thank you for your lovely, friendly support.  But more on that another time...

So, in October, I got this lot done

Not quite as much off my 100 day hustle list as I'd have liked, but a few bits and pieces.  Seems like I'm going to have to roll my sewing sleeves up now and get stuck in before it's too late.  Christmas is galloping towards me and i'll have less free time now, so will have to make the most of every spare second.  

Linking up with Lily's quilts and 

Honey, I'm home!

Awww, quilting world, how I missed you..... The effort of trying to post via mobile proved just too traumatic, and my signal in not-sunny-at-all Cornwall was erratic at best so I have heaps to tell you and to catch up on!

I have finally figured out how all these amazing super-achievers get things done so quickly - they do absolutely nothing else..... I'm kidding of course, I know all you wonder-quilters have jobs and children to take care of really... or so you say!  With two weeks off, I got one quilt finished, another completely done and a significant amount of work done on a Christmas project.  I also initiated my friend Hilary into the joys of quilting, as we started work on Santa sacks and other Christmas goodies for her.  

In between sewing sessions I did a lot of dog walking - Hilary and I have 4 spaniels between us, so we did beach, woodland and sand dune walks to keep them all quiet enough for us to have the sewing sessions.  There were also quite a few afternoon teas, sticky cakes and yummy lunches consumed, so the diet starts now!

However it did rain, nearly every day, and on Thursday we got caught, whilst on a circular walk, by the worst rain storm I can remember.  I have never been so wet in clothes in my life - trust me, everything was soaked.  The irony was that it was sunny when we set off, so we left waterproof trousers in the car.  When we got back we ended up having to strip out of sodden jeans and wear the waterproofs instead so as not to soak the car.  Later that day, the area's website reported flash flooding...

Anyway, enough about my holiday, you want to see the work, right?

Well, I posted that I'd finished the raw edge applique circles quilt.  I finally decided to bind it with orange magic beans, as I found any solid binding just over-emphasised that colour within the quilt top.  The busier binding blended in really well, I think, and I'm really happy with this, it kind of disappears. I'm looking forward to being able to snuggle up under this on the sofa over the winter, with the bright colours really cheering me up on the dull days.  Alison's original tutorial on Cluck Cluck Sew can be found here.





Mind you, it's already been claimed by a certain member of the household, who actually kicked bags off the top of it last night so he could curl up on it.  Think I might have a wrestling match on my hands!


I also got Megan's Double A-side finished, and I have to say I love it!  It's the first time I've ever felt slightly sad that I don't have a daughter to give it to! I hope she likes it, otherwise I'm reclaiming it.  I finished it slightly differently, as the quilt already had the borders around the edge, and I couldn't think of a binding that I liked that would go with both sides.  So it is not bound - I just sewed the edges together almost all the way round and then turned it right side out and hand stitched the opening, and then top stitched all the way round.   

 As doing it this way meant it wasn't going to possible to quilt both sides and as both sides were very different layouts anyway,  I decided to just tie it using variegated DMC embroidery thread.  As I'd used cotton / bamboo mix wadding, this is now a beautifully soft quilt, and I am really happy with my first attempt at a quilt without using a pattern.

I might not be making anything pink for a while though.....

Yesterday I had a great time helping Annie from The Village Haberdashery on her stall at the Knitting and Stitching show in Alexandra Palace.  I'm sure Annie's blog will tell more about this, but it was great to see other quilters there - I spotted a few faces from retreat 2012 - but my favourite part was the number of handmade bags being sported by visitors, along with some fantastic handmade coats and jackets.  Quilters are a colourful bunch!

Sitting in the morning sun...

I decided to make the most of the dappled morning sunshine to take a couple of snaps of the baby quilt that I finished last night.  We've been having such lovely early weather lately, although it's sadly usually clouded over by lunch!

Anyway, here it is, backed with yellow magic beans from FairyTale Friends by American Jane, and bound with a scrappy Kona solids mix, in I've no idea what official colours!

Linked up with Canoe Ridge Creations Sew Modern Monday, because although I blogged it today, I did finish it last night, honest guv!

Hushaby baby

Today I finally got chance to tidy the sewing room - believe me it needed it!  (A couple of weeks ago as I was getting ready for the latest LMQG meeting I remembered I was meant to be taking some 5" charms to swap and I had a charm pack in mind to pull them from  - but could I find it???  I found it today behind some other fabric having fallen down the back of the shelving!)

Anyway, I digress.....

About 6 haircuts ago, I changed hairdresser.  As we were discussing at Aneela's embroidery class yesterday, I'm frightened of hairdressers.  I confessed this at my first consultation with Brett, and he made it his mission to make me not worry any more.  Since he started cutting it, I've had more compliments about my hair than I've ever had, so when he and his partner had their first daughter, about 9 weeks ago now, I decided I would make a little something.  

I had a charm pack of Freebird by MoMo and another of Chrysalis by Sanae, both for Moda, both with butterflies and flowers and similar colours.  As they are such lovely bright colours, I thought they'd be perfect for a baby quilt.  So this afternoon I got a simple patchwork top pieced, and made a scrappy solids binding in the main quilt colours.  I'm going to back it with yellow magic beans, I think.

Then I just have to hope they went with modern funky colours and not traditional pink!

(I also realised I seriously need a new camera, and can't keep taking blog shots with my mobile phone!)

I will survive......

Thanks to everyone for your messages, get well cards and even gifts of fabric to make sure I keep myself entertained and away from work whilst recovery goes on.  I'm happy to say that less than a week after the surgery, I'm off pain meds, well enough to take the dogs for a short walk yesterday and today have been to the pub for lunch.  I'm still taking it easy the rest of the time, but am hoping to go back to work for a few hours on Thursday - strictly desk duties only!  If only I felt fit to drive, I'd head off to meet the rest of the LMQG this evening who are lucky enough to be having dinner with Tula Pink!  However, as I said, less than a week..... 

Charlotte and Amy came to see me on Sunday so my other half could have a break from the onerous task of nursing me (?!?).  We didn't even pretend we were going to do any sewing, and just sat around stroking the dogs and gossiping!  Amy made us some lovely leek and potato soup - with 'homemade potatoes'.  And a fantastic lemon cake, which was delicious.  

Charlotte brought me gifts picked up from the Festival of Quilts - a glorious brown batik, my love for which is well known (not!) with the challenge to make something beautiful from it, and a more lovely gift of tape measures and spotty fabrics.  I can't wait till the other half actually puts the ironing board up for me, like I've been asking for 2 days, so I can get on with some sewing.  I have an idea of what to do with that batik......

A little charm goes a long way....

Yesterday I was in need of distraction thanks to some unnecessary and unwarranted stress following my pre-op assessment at the hospital.  So I had a bit of a tidy up in the sewing room.  I always find that so soothing, although it never stays tidy long - I'm such a messy worker!

Anyway, amongst the piles of fabric to be sorted and returned to their rightful places was a Sew Stitchy charm pack.  This is Aneela Hoey's new line, and I was lucky enough to have been given some bits of the fabric for my birthday from which I fashioned a sewing kit and so I thought what better use for the charm pack than a sewing machine cover.

My Janome has a very utilitarian white plastic cover, and I thought a pretty colourful quilted number would be just the ticket.

I took the easy route, I admit, and made a very simple patchwork design out of 28 of the squares - choosing which 28 was the hardest part!

(As you can see from the pictures, I have another soothing evening ahead of me as I clean up yet again...)

The colours of this line work so well together, and as the designs are all pretty much multi-directional, anything goes.

I used simple white twill ribbon for the ties, as I love it when the fabric comes tied up in bundles with that ribbon, and it seemed to be a good extension of the Stitchy theme. 

However, once I'd whipped up the front, I got a bit stuck with the lining.  Should I go Aneela a-go-go and line it with girl on a tree swing, or use some fantastic Tula Pink fabric I recently found skulking away in a rather odd fabric shop, or go totally bland and line it with Moda white.....  I pondered this for several minutes while staring into space.... then I drank a coffee and ate almost a whole packet of fig rolls....  then I had a mini-row with the hospital (possibly not a good move, am now hoping I won't end up with anaesthetist's equivalent of waitresses spitting in your food... I'm kidding!  We don't do that.... really, we don't) then I went back to staring..... and then I realised what I was staring at....  

Now, admit it, who doesn't do the biggest amount of sewing at Christmas? All those last minute gifts, and seasonal decorations?  So what could be a better lining than a Cherry Christmas scrappy affair?  My little spaniel helped me pick the fabric and sort the layout - she kind of lay on bits of it which meant no more changes to that bit!  I had to add a white border too as the scraps I had didn't quite match the Sew Stitchy front.

I quilted it all really simply, using the Sew Stitchy side, I quilted in the ditch around the charm squares and then did a further two lines either side of that row.  I like the way it shows through on the scrappy side too. 

And it might well be true that a bad workman blames his tools, but let me tell you when a bad workwoman gets the right tools, all kinds of miracles are possible.  Look at this beautiful unpuckered quilting,all thanks to my lovely friend Kelly and the walking foot she very generously gave me on Sunday.

And I think that turquoise hexy fabric is my favourite from the whole line.  oh, with the exception of the panel... You have heard about the panel, haven't you?

Learn to embroider with Aneela Hoey

At the Fat Quarterly Retreat in June, I was lucky enough to get a place on Aneela Hoey's embroidery class, and a great time was had by all there!  So, after much deliberation,  Aneela has decided to run another class, scheduled for 15th September.

The details are up on her blog, along with the opportunity to book one of the 10 spaces on a first come first served basis.

The class fee includes a signed copy of her fab new book (I've had a sneaky peak, and trust me, it is FANTASTIC) along with a proper lovely catered lunch and the best chocolate brownies in the universe.

Of course, the best bit is probably the 5 hours or so of one-to-one attention and guidance from an embroidery whizz, and the chance to learn new skills and stitches.

So, please hurry on over to Aneela's blog now and book your place.

Look forward to seeing you there......

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!

and now for some Nina Simone...

'.... and I'm feeling gooooood!  Dummmm, de-dummmmm, de-dummm, de-dum, de-dum-di-de dummmmm.....'


On Wednesday, my machine and I went for a little trip, coffee, chat, sewing, and I was somewhat stunned to realise when I went to get my machine for this sojourn that it was still in it's carry bag where it had been since retreat!  A whole month without using my sewing machine.  I knew I'd been off my game, but that shocked me, even so.  


This weekend has seen me battling to finish a project I was doing for someone else, and then late last night, after singing along to 'Mamma Mia', in an effort to avoid the second half of the football, I decided it was time to get on with some fun sewing.

So out came this, a project I last worked on back in March on our Cornish holiday.  It's taken from this tutorial and I had completely forgotten how much I love it and the colours are so cheerful.  Last night I managed to get all the pieces laid out, and realised that I needed at least another 14 'blocks' made up, so I'm now going through all my fabrics trying to find about 20 more that I can make up into squares and circles, and then start rearranging the main part of the quilt I've already done to incorporate the new pieces so they're properly spread out.
Then I just have to keep them in the right order while I start sewing them altogether - think many photos will be necessary!  But hey, it feels great to be back!

Wait a minute Mr Postman....

I'm really busy today - got 3 events to get finalised for next week, and my desk is piled high with paperwork....

But look what just came in the post!  I am so excited, a) because I've never had a parcel from Japan before and b) because I only ordered this on Sunday evening! It's hard enough to get a first class letter within the UK in that time, let alone a bundle of gorgeousness from Japan.


So, yep that envelope was pretty exciting, but it's contents had me dancing about the office - don't worry there's no photos of that cos it's not a pretty sight....

However, this was a very pretty sight - some gorgeous Heather Ross fabrics to go with my Sherbet Pips, Walk in the Woods and other bits and pieces for a quilt I'm going to be making for our niece's 3rd birthday.  At the moment, I'm thinking Bloom for the front with an additional design element in the corners, and Heather Ross pieces for the back. I've got a couple of other fabrics I want to get for it, one of which I'm stalking an Etsy shop for, just in case there's any more destashing going on.... 


(Mind you, I very luuuurve the Sleeping Beauty print, so Miss Megan will consider herself very lucky indeed if it makes it to her quilt....)

Rapunzel, Roses, Sleeping Beauty

A little sewing kit

Remember these Sew Stitchy fabric pieces that Aneela kindly gave me for my birthday back in April?  Well, just before the FQ Retreat I decided I needed a sewing kit. Blogland was covered with Zakka style kits all made with greige linen (sorry, I know this is heresy, but it really doesn't do it for me and it was everywhere!) So I decided in my contrary way, to look for an alternative.

Firstly, the tutorial, and I found this one by Amy at Lots of Pink Here.  It seemed to have all the necessary and desirable bits of a sewing kit, and so I decided to cut into my Heather Ross campers fabric and make one up to take to retreat.  After about an hour I was looking for something on the top shelf in my sewing room, when an envelope fell down and hit me on the head.

Talk about a eureka moment!  This was the envelope of fabric I'd placed there for safe keeping, as I was saving the Sew Stitchy to make myself a sewing machine cover in due course. It's kamikaze leap from the shelf and assault of me between the eyes seemed to be a sign however, and with a blinding flash I realised that was just the fabric from which to make a sewing kit!  Quick aren't I??? 

So I started with the pins for the outside cover, and quilted with a lime green thread in random lines to match the random pin placement. I really enjoyed that bit - the freedom of just sewing wherever I wanted!

I then chose the chain stitch for the lining and the turquoise robins for the pockets.  The lime green french knots then offered the perfect binding.  I decided not to add the strip for thread spools, mainly because to be honest I was running out of time!  But I did add the scissors pocket and the needle book.  I used a scrap of wadding for the needls as for the life of me I couldn't find the white felt I was sure I had!

Last was the bit to make to tie it closed.  I could have made it from some of the fabric, but I realised there was something far more perfect.... 

One of the things I love about buying fabric on the internet is when it arrives tied up in a bundle with white twill tape - like a little present.  For some reason I'm sure I can't understand I seem to have quite a few of these parcels (!) and I thought if I used some of the tape it would be like opening a present every time I use the kit.  

Here's the finished article, and it did the trick a treat at Retreat, as well as causing quite a few envious glances!

I've got a couple of other bits of the fabric too, and I have two particular projects in mind for when the full line is released.  One is the afore-mentioned sewing machine cover, which I want to use the super-cute hexagon print for, and the other is a quilt for my niece's 3rd birthday....  But I can't tell you more about that yet, as that's going to be using a very special fabric in the range and I think that is still a secret at the moment.  I can't wait!

A lovely afternoon....

After a very busy month, the only time I've had for sewing has been after a stressful or long and tiring day.  I've been working on a 12" mini for the LMQG challenge, and I just haven't been able to get it right, because I've been tired, and so have taken short cuts or made mistakes with proportions when my brain's not working!

So today I sought professional help!  I took my brain-curdling efforts over to Aneela, with the plan to have a cuppa and chat while we did some sewing. Once again, there was too much chat for us to be able to concentrate on stitching!  I got some advice - mainly don't sweat it - on the mini, we talked about upcoming projects, brain stormed an idea for a new tv show (yes, really, we have a great plan!) and then I had a truly breathtaking glimpse into her fabric stores.  Oh my, I hope I didn't get too much drool on them!

There was obviously the full range of Aneela's own designs, and some other ranges I recognised, but the most exciting of all was the stack of beautiful Heather Ross fabrics, that previously I've only read about. There were aliens, cats, dogs, camper vans and ice cream trucks.  And then there were the supermodels of the fabric world - the unicorns and Princess & the Pea of Far, Far Away, and the truly beautiful Mendocino.  I have a fresh understanding of why they have been so sought after.... and a huge regret that I didn't start quilting longer ago, so that I might have bought some myself.

Next time, it'll be my turn to host, although I doubt there is anything in my little range of fabrics that would even compare with the contents of Aneela's sewing room.  I might have to resort to chocolate brownies in recompense!

Oh, and that photo at the top?  They're now mine, all mine.......

Busy, busy, busy!

Where does the time go!  This last week has been so busy, with my day job seriously impacting on sewing and blogging time. We've been to exhibit at a wedding fair today, and all I could tihink about was how much it was wasting good sewing time! Over the coming weeks we have some big birthday celebrations for the OH as he reaches 40, and then wedding season kicks in and so it's work, work, work.

In the meantime, I thought I'd show you my little bag that I made. 


I decided the night before the last LMQG meeting that I needed a bag to carry my stuff in and so at 9.30pm, I set to.  Needless to say, in spite of a very late night, and an equally early morning, I didn't get it finished.


I used a layer cake of Hometown by Sweetwater, and was really pleasantly surprised that the fabric I'd struggled with when trying to lay out for a quilt top, was transformed when used for this.  I went from indifferent to loving it.


The pattern called for a contrasting fabric for the lining and handles, but I thought I might as well get full use out of the layer cake and so I pieced them.  

The contrasting strips and binding round the top are Moda Bella Solids in Snow. (nestling in the bottom is my Sew Stitchy still hidden in it's envelope!)


It's a really generously sized tote bag, and the pattern also has instructions for adding pockets inside and a tab closure with magnetic clasp, but I decided to forego those options - I wanted something big enough to carry my cutting mat, without anything to get in the way.


So, I'm really looking forward to showing it off at the next meeting!   It's just the right size for the myriad parcels of fabric I seem to bring home every time...... 

Feeling 'sew stitchy' this week.....

So, when I posted about my lovely birthday on Sunday, there was one thing I left out.  The excitement levels made me think this little piece of news deserved it's very own post.

I got a little gift.....


..... from Aneela.....

I was beyond excited, although I might not have shown it too much at the time as I was driving!! 

These are pieces from Aneela's new collection Sew Stitchy, which for those of you who haven't seen them on her blog are themed around sewing.  The gorgeous pieces here include pins, embroidery and chain stitch.

I have the perfect project lined up for them.

I had a lovely new Janome for Christmas from a very generous Santa, and thought it does come with it's own uninspiring white plastic hard cover, it mostly spends its time sitting on my sewing table stark naked!


What better use for a sewing themed fabric than a funky sewing machine cover....

 

So, I have a couple of other things to get out of the way, not least 9 pairs of curtains (!), but once they're done I'll be getting started.

Huge thanks to Aneela, and I just hope I'll do her gift justice!

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!

Covet of the week

It has to be said, with one thing and another, I've not had a lot of time for covetting this week!  Work has been frantic, I've been a day behind myself all week and nearly missed 2 meetings and a birthday, and then to top it all, I think the tangerine has seeped into my brain and turned it to orange juice!

Last night, in a frantic burst of catch up energy I made my March LMQG challenge thingy.  However I proudly incorporated my first attempt at machine quilting..... and now I'm thinking I wasn't meant to finish the thing, just make a block 'top'!

Ah well, I have cakes to take, along with something really exciting, so hopefully they'll forgive me for getting it wrong - as my old dad always used to say -'read the question'!

On the covet front, just been having a browse and came across this on Pink Castle fabrics website.  It's Sea Garden in Summer - Salt by Cosmo Cricket for Moda, and I love the flowing shapes as well as the combination of colours. 

It makes me want to go and sit in the garden and sew, instead of get out on the drive and clean the car, which is what I have to do instead.....

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!