The square spiral is my lazy way of getting out of having to practice true circular spirals :) I then decided to echo the the pieced circle in the squares. I think it will look quite effective when it's all finished. Well, I shan't be unpicking it anyway so it had better look effective!!
This equally dodgy photo shows the colours of the Soul Blossoms fabrics much more clearly. I must learn to take photographs properly!!
I've backed the pincushion with some of Amy Butler's Soul Blossoms.
It finished up at 8" diameter and 1" deep so I hope my partner doesn't mind slightly large pincushions. I might have to make one for myself.
Another of the flickr swaps I'm in has just finished and I can now break my silence on what I made. My Favourite Little Quilt Swap hosted by Kendra is a blind swap. You make a quilt and submit photos to Kendra who adds them to the group, votes are then cast and partners are decided after voting closes. It is such a fun swap although I do angst over whether anyone will like my entry but that's just my competitive and neurotic tendencies coming out.
This time around I went with patchwork and quilting rather than applique like last time. I named this mini 'Charlotte Sometimes Scribbles'. I used the pattern 'Charlotte Sometimes' from the book Material Obessions 2 as my inspiration. The scribbles refers to the quilting design I used. I pieced the back with scraps left over from the front. I used Kaffe Fassett, Amy Butler and Oz fabrics with a Kona grey cotton. Hopefully my partner will be happy when he/she receives it :)
One block down and a second one waiting for it's outer frame. It has been amazingly easy and as is usual with these things the cutting out of pieces takes longer than the sewing.
I am so pleased with how these Ruby Star Rising fabrics work with the plain black Ikea cotton.
Anyway, to prove how excited I am about this range you can see I've already started to put them to good use. I've decided to use some of them for this month's project in the Amy Butler's Style Stitches Sew Along with Bree. The lighting as usual is rubbish but I think you'll be able to see where this is going.
It will be a Reversible shopper when I've finished it :) I'm happy to report that this has been a much easier project than the Cosmo bag which drove me to distraction!
The only downside to having a lovely new shopping bag is that I might have to venture to the shops which is nowhere near as much fun as online shopping!
I love stripes and flowers together so I used a Nicey Jane stripe to bind the finished quilt.
It is my firm belief that patchwork and quilting is an extreme sport as I am forever injuring myself for 'my art'. Thankfully I noticed the gaping flap of skin on my thumb before it bled on the fabric!!! It has somewhat hampered my sewing today though :( Poor me, do you hear the violin playing?
Whilst letting the cut heal I have been tackling a rather important project that I really can't put off any longer for fear of alienating my teenage daughter. Eeek! Her birthday is Sunday and I'm hoping my online purchases will be here in time or else I shall be in the dog house!
The downside is that I am somewhat dreading quilting this mammoth quilt on my machine. I'm sure it will be fine with some patience and planning though. Any hints and tips will be gratefully received :)
In other news, I finally started on my Doll Quilt Swap 10 mini and am hoping that my partner will approve. I've definitely got a circles bug going on at the moment. These colours and patterns are out of comfort zone but I love how they are working in this design.
I'm currently mulling over ideas for my Urban Home Goods partner too. Do you remember this quilt top I made a while ago?
Hopefully I'll have more finished projects to show you soon :)
...so following Elizabeth's instructions I piled the coins neatly, ready for piecing.
I made a start last night on piecing the coins and hoped to fly through more today. Well, I got as far as joining another column before my body reminded me that it doesn't function as well as my mind would like. Three hours on the settee later and I recovered enough oomph to join the 2 complete rows together. I think it's going to look great. Fingers crossed for more progress tomorrow!!
If you're looking for the giveaway it's still open until Saturday 5th February 5.00pm(GMT).
Yvonne has been very generous and cut into her extensive stash of Liberty lawn fabrics. There are 50, 3" squares up for grabs, they'd be perfect for hexies. Yvonne has made a very cute bag in Liberty fabric to hold these lovelies. You'll see evidence of her fancy new machine at work in the label "Taking Liberty" :) Don't they look tempting?
So now for the details of the giveaway. One lucky winner will win all the loot! The giveaway will run until Saturday 5th February 5.00pm (GMT). You can have 2 chances to win!!
For one chance to win share with us your worst fashion faux pas.
For me this was hair related, a very tragic poodle perm. What makes this even sadder is that I can't blame the 80s, it was about 5 years ago, oh the shame!
Yvonne's faux pas is also hair related (we are so alike, we chose these independent of each other, I guess it's true like mother like daughter!) although, personally, I think the faux pas was my Dad's not hers. After spending hours at the hairdresser having her hair scrunch dried, Dad asked when she was having her hair done. When she told him that she had he suggested she go and ask for a refund! Not a happy Mummy!
For the second chance to win, if you're a follower already leave a comment to say that you are and if you're not please feel free to become a follower and leave a comment to say hello :)
So there you have it, our first giveaway. I think these goodies look rather lovely together. I wonder if it would be wrong to leave a message on my own blog for a chance to win ;) Just kidding you, I promise to let these goodies go just as soon as the random winner generator gadget thing decides who the winner is. I'd better investigate how that works before Saturday :)
Good luck to you all! Please make sure you leave a way for me to contact you if you win as I will have to redraw the winner if I can't get in touch with you and that would be a shame, right?
Note to self, don't be too disappointed if noone enters, the goodies are cute enough to keep all to yourself ;)
