New beginnings....

It might only be February 22 but today is a beautiful spring day....

There is a beautiful clear blue sky, warm air, spring flowers and new growth on the shrubs.

Things have been a bit rough here for the last few months, but today feels like a great day for new beginnings and a fresh start.
So today I'm beginning a big clear out in the house, and tomorrow I'm starting up my sewing machine for the first time in a month.
It's time to come out of hibernation.....

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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....

Silly billy.....

We have some friends, let's call them Toby & Jane Oakley* who live in Cornwall.  Back in March, we were lucky enough to have a lovely week in thier holiday home, and in exchange I promised to make them some new curtains.  Jane* and I went shopping for the fabric, lining etc, measurements were taken, one pair were made, although not without many mistakes, during the holiday and I came back home to finish the other 8 pairs and pelmets. 

And here I have to confess, I've been a rubbish friend, and I haven't yet finished them. 

Earlier this year, I applied to join a quilting bee for the first time, and was excitingly accepted.  Half way through April the fabric and instructions arrived and they've been sitting on my sewing desk looking at me accusingly (I think the sweet chocolate bee that came with them was doing more looking than the fabrics to be honest) while I have failed to start the block.  It's a wonky square in square block, I've made them before, no reason not to just get stuck in.

This morning I had a coffee and a good girly chat with a quilting friend.  We got quite carried away (ok, I got carried away!) discussing a secret project, and I was really touched when said friend said she would only want people to help who she could trust to sew things to a really good standard.  Judging by the to do list I've come away with, it seems I am to be trusted to do that.

So, 'what the heck is she going on about', I hear you ask?  (If you're Charlotte or Kelly, that word's probably not 'heck'....) what's the connection?  Am I about to not do another thing for someone?

Nope, far from it.  What this morning made me realise was that I've been having a bit of a crisis of confidence, and not trusting my ability to make things for other people.  Having been less than well since March hasn't helped - I've had little energy and a serious issue with brain fog and lack of ability to concentrate.  Anything I've done for myself has been fraught with mistakes, unpicking, stupidity.  And so I just haven't had the faith in my abilities to do things for other people.  I've blamed it on work pressure, family commitments etc, but cards on the table, heart on sleeve, the fact is I didn't trust myself to do them right, and I was scared to ruin them.  But if I'm trusted to get involved with the secret project , then I need to stop being a silly billy and just get on with the curtains first!

Today, I've tested myself and made the bee block.  I'm not convinced it's what the bee member wanted - I think it might be too sedate, but I managed to make it.  I've sent a photo, and if they don't like it, I will make another one.

But more importantly, here & now, I'm not only apologising to our lovely friends Toby & Jane* for my total muppetness and rubbish-friend-ness, I'm making a promise that I will get them finished before the bank holiday weekend, whatever it takes.  You're all my witnesses - all 13 of you that read this blog! - and you have the right to nag me as much as you like to make sure I get them done.


* names have been changed to protect the innocent

What to do.....

So, I have the evening to myself with the dogs.  Time for a quick poll....

do I:

a) curl up on the sofa with TV / book, a lovely cuppa, piece of OH's homemade cake and 2 tired, wet spaniels for company

b) go and make the Plan Bee 2012 wonky log cabin block I need to finish before the end of May

c) make another 241 tote

d) have a play with one of these high-falutin' pic software thingies and redesign the blog image

e) go through my sewing room pulling out stuff I need for the retreat before trying to work out where everything else is going to come from.....

Answers on a postcard to..... (or alternatively in the comments box below.)  Lines will close at 8pm, votes made after that time may not be counted and you may still be charged......

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...... 

Primary school art

I wasn't sure I was going to blog this, but here we go..... honest opinions only please - even if it's not great! Let's face it, taking criticism is all part of the learning process.


On your marks, get set, go......

Disorganised chaos

First job for the long weekend.... find the work table!

Second job, sort out the stash boxes, especially as there's now tonnes of new fabric to somehow fit in there!

Did I say 'job'?  Both sound like a great excuse to while away some hours stroking fabric..... 

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.....

Check me out.....

Following an email from a well-known quilter and designer, I've decided to amend my last post, and this time, even add a photo!  


so here goes....


"I've dyed my hair......




....Tangerine Tango (Pantone colour of 2012) was SO the look I was going for!"

Now this photo doesn't do justice to the full electric glow that it has in real life - which the LMQG ladies will be able to enjoy in all it's glory on Sunday!


It might be wise to bring sunglasses.....

Oh dear.....

have dyed my hair......






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

Fat Quarterly Retreat name badge

I'm gutted that I missed out on the Fat Quarterly name badge swap on Flickr and so I'll just have to get on and make one for myself. But......


How???


I am possibly being a little lazy asking this here, but if anyone can point me in the right direction of what we're supposed to be producing, I'll make a start.  


I also keep seeing all sorts of mentions of swaps and things, but I can't find more info about what the agenda is or what will be happening at the retreat in general.  I've never been to anything like it before, so am a little out of my comfort zone!  I like to know what's going on and what to expect!  

I'm back!

Did you miss me?  Or more to the point, did you not even realise I was gone??  We've been on a little sojourn to Cornwall with the dogs, staying in a lovely mobile home, courtesy of our friends, Tony and June just outside Newquay.

The OH has spent the almost-week fishing, while I met up with friends, walked the dogs (I think Daisy's face kind of says it all about how mcuh we enjoyed ourselves!) ate yummy cornish food, bartered for our holiday accommodation with the promise and commencement of making some curtains for our friends' own home, and of course did a bit of my own sewing. 


Now, lovely as our mobile home was, I discovered they are not the best locations for laying out quilt tops!  Having sewn all my circles onto squares, I cut them into quarters, frustratingly stupidly messing up the first one, so I have to make another one now I'm home to replace it. 

I sorted them into colour piles and started trying to put them back into reassembled circles - harder than it sounds!  I managed to find enough off-the-ground space to lay out 3 rows in total, but here's some of them so far - they might change as I get further on, and need to swap out colours or patterns.

It'll be interesting to see how it develops, but I have realised a piece of fleece or wadding hooked up on the sewing room wall is going to be a necessity to get this one finished!  I love the fact that our 3rd bedroom has become a much more glamorous 'sewing room', but can't quite bring myself to call a blanket on the wall a 'design wall' yet!


In other news, I have a new super-hero to worship in the form of Annie from The Village Haberdashery, who not only has a bundle of my original Covet of the Week, but has also tracked down a small supply of my second Covet of the Week!  I'm clearly going to have to try harder with my fabric choice for this week's Covet, or I'll be buying fabric every week!  Then again.....

And lastly, while out buying fabric for June's new curtains, I bought some of this to make curtains for the sewing room so that whenever I'm in there I can look up and be reminded of Cornish holidays.

Ooh, and I have some really exciting news for next Sunday's LMQG meeting....

 

Look what I found....

Look what I just found - last week's Covet of the Week, the beautiful Melody Millar typewriter fabric is featuring in a giveaway by Canadian Abroad - how excited am I?  So, I've done all the things to enter, but I've also found out I can buy the fabric stack if all entries fail.  Am saving my pennies......

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!

WIP's

OK, so please excuse the quality of the photgraphy, but this was at 11.30 last night with my mobile and an enery saving light bulb!  On Friday, having admired the gorgeous raw edge circle quilt on Cluck Cluck Sew for some time, I decided to take the plunge and started cutting! By bed time last night, even with a busy day of chores yesterday, I'd got this far:



So I've got 56 squares matched up with 56 circles and now all I have to do is start sewing them together.  The tutorial is great, and so straight forward.

I've also got a quilt started for my OH's parents, made with a Maison de Garance layer cake - the centre of the top is sewn, it's just awaiting borders and then quilting.  I just need a bigger house to find the space to lay the bigger quilt tops out!

Hope everyone's had a lovely sewing-filled weekend

Thou shalt not covet...

OK, so coveting - is it bad in general, or just when it refers to your neighbour's wife?

I'm hoping a little bit of fabric coveting won't break any commandments, as I thought I'd do a Covet of the Week post.

Today I'm starting with a fabric I spotted in The Village Haberdashery's online shop, and which I can't seem to get away from on Flickr - it's like it's stalking me.... which is fine, actually, because it's my new love!

It's Melody Miller, Ruby Star Shining, Typewriters, for Kokka, and while my favourite colour is this pink and gold number, it does come in lots of other combinations.  


I'm currently saving my pocket money for a metre of this little beauty, but if anyone else has their cash at the ready, you can find it at www.thevillagehaberdashery.co.uk