Winners!

Thank you so much to everyone who joined in our blogiversary giveaway! It's lovely to have 'met' some new people as well as seeing so many regulars :) Amazingly we have now had over 10,000 views of our blog during our first year, wow! Anyway I'll cut to the chase and tell you the winners :)

First number generated by Mr Random who will received the custom item is:

Congratulations Fiona! I'll send you an email shortly :)

Second winner generated by Mr Random is:

Congratulations Wendi! The Pips pillow will be heading your way when I have your mailing details. I'll email you shortly!

Last and by no means least Mr Random picked:

Congratulations Hadley! Funky fabrics ready to roll out to you soon. I've got your address :)

So there we are, all done for this time. Sorry to those who missed out this time, better luck next time....you know there will be a next time!!

Fresh Modern Bee 2 - My turn

I can't believe that it's my turn already on the Fresh Modern Bee 2. I joined last year in September and have had a blast making blocks for the other members.

I do still have to complete this month's block though. Bad girl! Anyway, today I've prepared the fabrics for my month. On the spur of the moment I decided to use my stash of Hope Valley by Denyse Schmidt. I actually felt quite excited at the prospect of cutting it up and sending it off to other people which is a relief! I had visions of palpitations and much tearing of hair but no it's fine! Typically I miscounted how many fabric stacks I would need so had to hastily cut another after taking this photo.

I'm asking the other bee members to make me their 'signature block'. A block that sums up their style! I will find this really hard as I don't think I have a set style yet. If you've noticed anything in things that I've made which makes them particular to me I'd love to know!!!

I've also asked them to send me their signature as a label so I can include it in the finished quilt. At this stage I'm planning to sash with grey and fill holes with Hope Valley scraps if there are any left :) I'm actually really looking forward to seeing what these talented bee members come up with!!! Final reminder about the giveaway which closes tomorrow morning!! Thanks to everyone who has entered up until now. I can't believe so many people want the chance to win :)

Another posh cloth

If you're looking for the giveaway it's here until Saturday. If you're not looking for the giveaway then you might be pleased to know that my angst-ing is finally over!! The parcel arrived at it's destination after all, hooray! Today it's been so hot and humid that it's been a struggle to get anything done, but I did manage to finish another posh table cloth top :) Again I've used some of the lovely large prints from Loulouthi mixed in with some Love and Opal Owl. I think I'll bind this one with grey as there is so much colour going on here.

I'll finish it off when the weather breaks. I'm definitely not fighting with the backing for it in the heat. I love patch-working but if I'm really honest I loathe the process of sandwiching up the layers ready for quilting. That's pretty much the reason you see lots of smaller projects here. The table cloths are nowhere near as stressful for me as I don't include any batting so I've only got 2 layers to do war with :)

Very strangely, as I was nodding off to sleep last night an idea for a seasonal table-cloth popped into my head. I guess I ought to make it while the idea is fresh but seriously it's July!! Why on earth am I sub-consciously thinking about December now? I'm hoping to nod off tonight without a repeat performance :) Catch you soon!

A little bit of this and a little bit of that

Today I have mainly been angst-ing! In an attempt to do something spontaneous and fun for someone else, the postal service, has given me grey hair! I've sent a parcel overseas and tracked it only to be informed that not only has it been delivered but it's apparently coming back to me very soon as it's back in the UK. What????!!! I'm desperately hoping that it's a glitch in the tracking service and that the unsuspecting recipient will actually receive their surprise. Not sure how long I'll be able to wait to find out, I'm desperately trying not to break my cover ;) So, in order to distract myself today I thought I'd make a start on the Doll quilt for my DQS11 partner. A little bit of this:

and a little bit of that:

I have the Chicken Song going on in my head but it's not relevant at all to what I'm creating :)

I do hope my partner will like the direction that this is heading in, as the first half of this double-sided project is complete.

So now that's under way I'm back to angst-ing again! Oh well hopefully things will remedy themselves satisfactorily...fingers crossed. Oh, and I probably should have mentioned this at the start of the post but if you're looking for the giveaway it's here until Saturday :)

Major Morgan and a finish!

On Saturday as I was compiling the giveaway post something amazing arrived in the mail for me! Regular readers will know I took part in the I heart the 80s swap over on flickr. I can't quite believe my luck this round as I received from the extremely fabulous Lyndsey (ochil_lynz)!! One of the questions that they asked in the group discussion was about 80s toys. I mentioned my childhood desire for a Major Morgan and let's just say Lynz took that idea and ran with it. Lynz posted this photo to the group and from that moment I lived in hope that Major Morgan would finally be coming to live with me :) Well that hope was rewarded yesterday!!! Woohoo!!! Just look at the package of goodies Lynz sent for me!

80s style sweeties, some funky shoelaces, a ghetto-blaster scent thingymajig, some fabulous hand-made pins and MAJOR MORGAN!!! Here's a close-up of the pac-man pins and the cheeky grin of the man himself.

And here is Major Morgan in all his glory! Lynz has done such an amazing job on him. The little selvedge card at the front is actually a needle card! I'm thinking you can probably tell by now just how chuffed I am to have received this package. Thank you so much Lynz. You totally rock!

Just to prove I haven't been lazy all weekend here's a shot of a finished quilt!!!!!! Finally, I finished the quilt I started in the Don't Call Me Betsy Sliced Coins Quilt Along. Here it is folded back on the bed. I used a text print from Ikea to back it and pieced a binding out of the left over scraps of Innocent Crush. To quilt, I very lazily stitched in the ditch as I couldn't bring myself to do anything that would detract from the prints. It's very lovely to finally have made a posh quilt for my own enjoyment (sorry, our enjoyment).

Just in case you missed the link to the giveaway we're having at the moment here it is again. Catch you again soon :)

Today our blog is one!

As promised, to celebrate our grand old age of one we're having a giveaway! This year has positively flown by and it's been so lovely to 'meet' so many lovely people around here. Yvonne and I have umm-ed and ahh-ed over the best way forward for this giveaway and have decided to offer 3 prizes! Three winners will be drawn by the random number generator on Saturday 30th July. So what's up for grabs?

The first winner will get to choose one item from this mosaic which I will custom make to their taste (colour-wise).

The second winner will get this fabulous Sherbet Pips hexagon cushion! This is exceptionally special as it has been hand-made by Yvonne on her sick-bed!! The hand-stitching is so tiny and neat..well you'll see if you win!

Here's a shot of the rear so you see the whole gorgeousness!

The third and final winner will receive these yummy fabrics! That's 3 fat quarters of Hope Valley by Denyse Schmidt along with a mini strip roll of fabrics by Tina Givens.

Here's a shot of the Tina Givens fabrics so you know what you could be getting :)

So now for the details of how to win:

1. Anyone can enter, even if you aren't a follower but want a chance to win that's fine just leave a comment.

2. If you're a follower old or new say so for an extra chance to win!

3. For a final chance to win tell us something to make us giggle...anything as long as you keep it clean-ish (Lynne!!)

Please make sure I can get hold of you. If I can't contact you and you're a winner I will have to re-draw and that would be a shame! The giveaway will close at 11am (BST) on Saturday 30th July.

Amy Butler Style Stitches Sew Along with Bree - Key Keeper Coin Purse

Having missed last month's Style Stitches Sew Along project I figured I'd better pull my finger out and complete this month's before Bree put me in detention ;) This month it's the Key Keeper Coin Purse. Super quick and easy!! Woohoo! Start to finish in less than 2 hours, including faffing around deciding which fabrics to use. True to form I've used Ruby Star Rising again lined with some Echino.

Yummy! I totally love this range. I think the brown linings look like little owls :)

I had a bit of a nightmare with the zip this time round. I somehow managed to sew the head into the seam. Not quite sure how but hurray for the quick unpick! And the end result....cute, even if I do say so myself :)

The interior shot is terrible as the opening is quite tight so it's difficult to get a decent shot.

All-in-all a very satisfying project. Next month is the turn of the "Fringed Hobo bag"....gulp! Now just in case I don't post again until the weekend here's a heads-up for you. Saturday is our one year blogiversary and there will be a giveaway with not one, or 2 but 3 prizes up for grabs!! Make sure you check back :)

I heart the 80s swap

Way back in April I joined the I heart the 80s swap over on flickr, well it's now time to mail! I got off to a very quick start and finished my first item in May.

I repurposed a denim jacket with some rainbow solids to create an iPad (other brands are available ;) ) case. I'm very pleased with how it has turned out and once again am wishing I could keep it for myself. I've shown the iPad next to the case but I'm clearly nowhere near generous enough to be including it for my partner!!

I've lined it with some nice soft cotton to protect the screen.

Today I got on and made the other item for partner; a hoop.

The silhouette should mean something to my partner along with the phrase that I've stitched around it. Hopefully she'll forgive the slightly mutant appearance of the silhouette!

The 80s were such fun but I'm so glad to be in 2011 with hair straighteners, internet and middle age ;)

More nesting!

I had so much fun finishing off the nesting chairs cushion yesterday that I thought I'd like to do another one. I've gone for the pieced dresdens again but I've done them in a straight line this time instead of a circle :) Excuse my shadow...again! I sashed the dresdens with some solid orange then straight line quilted on the orange with a jade coloured thread.

I backed the cushion with the same jade linen I used yesterday. The finished cushion is about 6"x 20". Not very practical but pretty nonetheless :)

Here's a shot of the 2 nesting chairs cushions together. They won't have long together as this little fellow will be off to a new home very soon :)

Hope you all have a good weekend. Catch you again soon :)

Nesting

Today Jess and I have been keeping an eye on some house guests of ours. I use the term "guest" loosely as they weren't actually invited. We have a new family of birds (possibly house martins) nesting under one of our roof tiles. We can see the parents flying in and out with food for their little ones who we can't see but can certainly hear!!!! Anyway this spot of ornithology led me to thinking about the nesting chairs circle I started in May. I've just taken delivery of some gorgeous linen in the exact shade of blue in the nesting chairs fabric and it was perfect to complete the cushion. So while Jess was nattering on the phone I finished the cushion :)

I've done my usual envelope closure but instead of a button-hole I added a ribbon tie to hook around the button.

Here's the obligatory shot of the completed cushion with its' new friends :)

It's getting very close to the stage where there will be no room on the sofa for people but that won't deter me from making more cushions!

Our posh table

Today I couldn't resist finishing off the table cloth that I started yesterday. Rather than sashing the cloth I bound it as I would a quilt. For now it means I have sticky-outy (definitely not a word but you get the idea) corners. I'm hoping once the cloth settles in place the corners will become softer...fingers crossed.

Here's a close-up of the binding. I just love this jade colour.

Just so you can see all the fabrics I used I've photographed it on the washing line :) So many lovelies there!

I will be making another of these very soon the fabrics are ironed and ready to go, I just need to get a swap and some bee blocks in the post. I have to admit it has been lovely to make something so pretty for our house rather than sending lovely things to other people. Don't get me wrong I love swaps but it's been nice for a change :)

Playing with pretty things

I've had a little spare time in between swap deadlines to make things for fun. I dug out a Wonderland charm pack and got busy with the rotary cutter. I'm thinking that these will become part of my pay it forward goodies so I hope that the potential recipients like the look of these :)

I'm not sure what they will be yet but whether they end up stuffed or quilted I think the fabrics are so pretty I can't really go wrong. I'm waiting for some bits and pieces to arrive to carry on with these so in the mean time I have been playing with some other pretty fabrics to bring some colour to our dining room. A while ago now I saw this and fell in love! Today I started my own interpretation and I'm loving it :)

What I love about this table cloth is that it provides the opportunity to showcase some of those large scale prints that I love and am too scared to cut up. The top is more or less complete now. I'm going to add a fabulous jade coloured sash around the top. I'm only going to use some muslin to back it and lightly quilt it so that it's got a bit more stability to it. I originally thought I'd make it reversible but actually decided to make 2 instead so I can use one and wash one :)

If you look closely you will see Loulouthi by Anna Maria Horner, Prince Charming by Tula Pink and Love by Amy Butler. Happy dance underway :) Catch you again soon x

And so it begins...

...the much anticipated affair with the Farmer :) Unfortunately after weeks of lusting and dreaming of the romantic romp in the hay what I actually got was more like a drunken fumble behind the bike sheds!! I blame myself, there was no way he was going to live up to all those expectations and frankly I am far too impatient. For a change I thought I'd start at the beginning of the book and work my way through in the mistaken belief things would start easy and get progressively more difficult! First mistake! #26 enter the extreme miniature triangle...or more accurately 48 of the little buggers. By the time I sewed them together they appeared to have shrunk beyond recognition and were way smaller than the square I was supposed to attach them to. So I abandoned them...

..true to form I made them slightly bigger to start with hoping to end up at the required size but these were way too big!! Cue the air turning blue....new larger squares were rapidly cut in different fabric and this is the result. Way too big and totally wrong in every aspect.

The fabrics don't have enough contrast to show off the mini half square triangles, the finished block is 2" too big and generally it just looks poo! Even on point it looks rubbish. Oh well, I might give him another chance when I've got over the inital disappointment.

Typically, even from her sick bed the Farmer's wife (aka Yvonne) has produced some fabulous blocks. Clearly hand-sewing is the way to go......huh,no chance!

I think I'm definitely destined to be the Farmer's occasional fling ;)