Quilts need quilting!

As FQ Retreat approaches here is one project I am keen to finish off!  It is also on my FAL list for this second quarter and if I finish it, it will save me the embarrassment of only finishing one project so far!

It is the Scrappy Trip quilt for Siblings Together that the Bee a Brit Stingy bee has contributed to!

I have received donated blocks from lots of fellow bee members and the border and backing fabric and blocks from the lovely Helen.

All I needed to do was collect them, lay them out, stitch them and add a few blocks myself, a border and hey presto one quilt ready to layer, baste and quilt!

So without further ado - tada!  Whatcha think bee mates?

Love how that beautiful blue Oakshott goes so well with the Scrappy Trip blocks - the perfect choice Helen!   This is so pretty I may have to make my own and all thanks to Bonnie Hunter and her wonderful tutorial, and Katy Jones who flaunted it right across blogland!  And she may still even be doing so!



Now this is not the only quilt top I have ready and waiting - there are two more on my FAL list 

This one

And this one - I should be finishing this one off for my soon-to-be-13 daughter as it's her birthday next week!

And then this one needs a bit of attention too

It is another group project which I'll be showing off on Sunday to the newbie quilters group in my church who helped put this beauty together!   It looks even better than I'd hoped!  We will be auctioning it off as part of our 200 year celebration!

And then the charmers quilt could easily be added to the pile....with a little bit of effort.

Guess I'll be quilting for a while then.....

Mr Not-so-Grim arrives in his new home!

Joining in with the nametag swap for Fat Quarterly Retreat is I think a great way to try out something new and to get to know one person at Retreat a little bit better!

Serious stalking is required - usually!   Unless you already know your partner ... as I did this year!  I was slighty freaking out at the mega awesomeness of this person!


I didn't go down the skull path without some thought or inkling that Her Awesomeness would like it!


After all not everyone wants to wake up looking at this - nicknamed Mr Grim

Nor even this!  Nicknamed Mr Not-so-Grim!

And for this special partner that is something she might be doing quite frequently - it is all in the blog name! 

For the back I thought a sombre tombstone look seemed appropriate!

I am relieved to tell you that she does seem to like it and it has arrived safely up North!  Well done all of you who guessed correctly where this was headed!

Are you looking for me?

Well I'm over here hanging out with Lynne!

Eek!

Jacob and his ladder!

We have made a bit more progress on this group project I am leading at my church!


We have three rows complete and a few partial rows and partial blocks!

Hoping to finish it soon so we can display it, to encourage people to come to our craft morning.  

But also so I can concentrate on my FQ samples and a couple of Siblings Together quilts I need to make!  Oops!

Goody, goody again!

Friends have been encouraging me......to make more little baby bear blocks! 


Thank you Catherine for the fabric triangles, and thank you Hadley for the means to make them into less wonky HSTs!

eek!  or should that be grrrrreat!?

Goody, goody!

As I work on finishing my partner's nametag I have received even more goodies through the post!

These Text charms have arrived from the swap I was in run by May - she is already planning another - a map layer cake swap this time!   If I were clever I would buy fabric and cut it up and hand it to her at FQR as she is coming over to London from Germany!

Anyway time for a quick gloat again!



And in addition I received these gorgeous star blocks from Julie! 

She loves a strip pieced quilt does Julie and she is a hard working nurse to boot!  She manages to work and churn out the most amazing quilts - I don't know how she does it??

I think I mentioned that I needed to make an orange quilt at some point and she sent these to me to start me off!  Thank you so much Julie!  My mind is ticking over with ideas already of all the different directions this could take!

I do love to plan something new!  

Now for some stitching...based upon the bell pepper coaster idea that we were all doing the other week as part of the new Zakka along I just had to play with some scraps and make another shape - an apple this time!

This one went off in a package to Jodi with her bee block - it could be a coaster, or somewhere to stick pins, needles in while sewing or ....what else could you use it for?


The front

The back

Anyway Jodi started me off as she has a thing about apples....but here are a few more I made.

The fronts

The backs

Why?  Because I can!

Lucky me!

Yes it must be time for a gloat as I reveal some lovely things that have dropped through my letter box

First is a gorgeous package of rainbow charms!  Now I know some things to do with them, I love charms and find I'm more likely to use them than yardage!

Huge thank you to the lovely Cindy for organising the FSQ Rainbow Charm Swap!   She cut up loads of fabric herself - including mine!  - any that was purchased from her shop!

Look at the loveliness and I have already used a few in moving that Jacob's ladder project on!

Next up is a sweet extra block from a sweet lady  - I got this block ages ago but haven't shown it here !   Sorry May !  

 Moomin is back with his mama!  And will be joining her on my international bookshelf hanging that I intend to make - just waiting on a couple more blocks I think?? 

I love these blocks and my moomin tote May made me in the MS2 swap!

May has done an excellent job of portraying all the Moomin characters!   Just love those oh so innocent wide eyes!



Next up I just have to tell you that I have received my nametag!  It is gorgeous !  The lovely Nikki made it for me and didn't she stalk me brilliantly (haha - how appropriate!) - you can also find her here.

 I love those umbellifers and the beads, the linen and the printing!   

I am so looking forward to learning to make some eraser stamps with Tacha at FQ Retreat and do a bit of printing myself.   I have done some lino cut printing on paper but never tried it on fabric - should have done I guess.

But in the meantime I can look at my lovely tag and if I am as gaga as I was last year forgetting my blog name I will have this beautiful reminder!   Or you can read it yourself ....

I will also be wearing my tag from Terri with my name on it!  I'm sure my star will go very well with these flowers!

And that is not all!  No indeedy!  After swooning over a particular little coin purse that Nikki made as an FQ Swap sample - I got one of those too!

Now I must go back to gloating a bit more - it needs to be done!

The new bee!

I may have mentioned that I've joined a new bee!  

You all thought me mad, Helen banged her head on the table but it is a good one and I hope you will agree - one I could not resist joining!

It is slightly different from all my other bee experience as it is not a stash bee.   I will need to cut and send out fabric to my bee mates - which is scaring me already!    I also have to choose fabric for everyone - not done that before either!

So before I freak out - I'm not Queen bee till the end so lots of worry time left - here is the first block for my June Queen bee Lynne!

We are using fabric from Moda, and other sponsors are donating fabric for the backing.  Here is the list of fantastic and generous sponsors

       

            

      

And best of all we are not strictly making quilts for each other - instead we are making them for the charity Siblings Together.

The charity runs holidays for children in care who, through no fault of their own, are living with a different family, separated from brothers and sisters.  

They get to spend a holiday with their siblings courtesy of this great charity and as a reminder they get to take a quilt home!

I think that is a great result!  I am so pleased to be supporting it in my small way!

baby bear is growing...

I recently showed you the baby bear blocks I had stitched from some 1.5" bonus HSTs.  Here is a reminder...

These are now sashed up and baby bear is ready to go a-wandering in search of some honey!

All the light seems to have disappeared - are we really calling this summer!?  I blinked and I think I missed it!  Again!

I have come to a standstill - run out of bonus triangles would you believe!  I might even have to make 1.5" HSTs - argh - if this quilt is to get any bigger! 

If I am aiming for 25 blocks, 16 HSTs per block = 400 1.5" HSTs!   Oh that doesn't bear thinking about!

200 years!

Our church is celebrating 200 years!  200 years of worship in the town of Horsham.  

Part of the celebration will be a couple of artistic exhibitions.  

The first is a textile exhibit called Gethsemane Garments created by Peter Privett, and they represent pain, suffering, renewal and hope.  Some photos seem to indicate they are made of a patchwork of different materials.

The second exhibit is a series of terracotta heads made by Jean Parker as a reflection of her own experience of cancer.   The heads represent different emotions.

I'll share some photos when the exhibits arrive in July!

My involvement in the week of celebration is at the beginning when we will be hosting a craft morning.  My part will be teaching people to do patchwork.  Eek!

It is all very well doing it but teaching it is a very different matter.

To prepare myself I decided I would start by teaching the ladies and one gent at church and we are aiming to make a quilt using the Jacob's Ladder block!  

I chose this block because I like it - it makes a great quilt!  

But also as a teaching project I thought it covered three elements - a plain square, a four patch and a half square triangle - which we all know can be used in so many different ways.  Our blocks are finishing at 12" so it is coming together quickly.

Anyway the ladies are skilled in other fields of stitching but not many in patchwork.  It is funny how talented dress makers think patchwork is going to be too difficult for them!  How did they get that idea??

They have been beavering away wanting extra homework and so we have got nine blocks completed already and other pieces are being stitched as sub units!   

And this is how it looks at the moment....I have been putting the blocks together and shh!  don't tell, getting things round the wrong way - so easy to do with this one but the pattern doesn't work if you do!  Grrr!

Love all the lines on the diagonal of this very traditional block with a biblical name and a very dramatic feel.

Hoping it is going to look gorgeous and lure more people into the world of patchwork....?  

We will be donating the quilt to charity - there is a group helping the local homeless based at our church so I am thinking of gifting it there - to give to someone or raise funds!

Charmed I'm sure!

In April I was Queen Bee in my Scrappy ?  Sew Bee It! bee and I chose this block for everyone to make. 

I even wrote a tutorial

It was quick and easy and I wanted fun bright, high contrast, low contrast blocks and my bee mates haven't disappointed I have to say!

I have received such lovely blocks and enjoyed making quite a few myself!

So yesterday I got around to stitching most of them together!  

I have at least one more row to make and waiting on a few last ones to arrive with a few in hand that I haven't yet stitched - if you were wondering where yours were??

I love this quilt - it is so colourful!  And I love the wonderful people who have sent me their part of it!  So thank you Jess, Lucy, May, Sana , Jeanne, Deborah, Annika, Janine, Jodi, Lisa, Carla  and Helen.  And I know Debra's are on their way!

My quilt top is so nearly finished!  How exciting is that??

Ooh wordless Wednesday!

They are out there....!!

Is it just me or do you start thinking space invaders...??

Ages ago - way back in October 2012 I think I discovered that Lucy and I were doing the same sized EPP Rose Star blocks - all Clare's fault!  

I suggested swapping a block and shortly thereafter a lovely then pregnant lady sent a gorgeous block to me!

I have only now got around to piecing one in return - I am a bad swapper!!

So as I hang my head in shame I thought I should at least offer some space invaders in recompense for the long wait.

Fortunately Lucy has had the gorgeous Lois to distract her and may not even have noticed my shameful behaviour ....???  

Or she is too busy tickling toes and the like to progress much and I can give her a little boost to the task of getting her Rose Star quilt finished!

Anyway here is the Rose Star block I have made Lucy....what??? It is about to be attacked by space invaders!!!!

Or maybe they are just returning to the mother ship....Who knew!??

A marvellous mini!

Not this 

Nor this

But this

My lovely Artist Trading card which arrived yesterday from Nati.   Nati is from Argentina but living in Luxembourg!  She is one crafty lady and takes beautiful photos for her blog - go have a look!


Back to the ATC this is Nati's artistic take on the japanese art of Sashiko!

Her stitching is tiny - I mean elf like!  But I don't think she is one!

Thank you so much Nati - I appreciate all the tiny stitches in this "Doodle Stitchery".  I'd have a go at this on the machine but doing it by hand?  I think I'll be leaving that to you!

Thanks also of course to Ali our verryberryhandmade swap mama!  If you fancy joining in next round - I would recommend it! - then keep an eye open.



And talk about joining in I made these for the Zakka along using the lovely Ayumi's book Patchwork Please ....

Hey you must have heard about this - unless you were asleep under a rock?  

Ok you were, but wake up and have a look here to see how some very clever people have used this pattern - so quick, so easy - thank you Ayumi you have not disappointed!

I was going to combine these with a few felt pages into a needlebook but you know what?   I am rather taken with them as they are!