Tiles

I've been admiring Lynne's graphic drawings ever since she started playing with Touch Draw. I bought the Touch Draw app a little while ago and frankly didn't understand why Lynne thought it was so easy to use! I could not get to grips with it at all. Part of that is probably my inability to read instructions before trying things out! Anyway when Lynne promised to do some tutorials on her blog I figured it was worth following them to see if I could grasp the concept well enough to make it use of it myself. I'm happy to report that it appears I'm not totally inept after all!! Here's my first quilt design using Touch Draw!

 When we were house hunting on Friday one of the houses had this fantastic Victorian tiled hallway! "Ooo that'd make a great quilt, take a photo!" I said to hubby. I see more blocks coming from this inspiration photo but I think for a first go with Touch Draw it's not bad!

I'm planning on using feature fabrics in the centre of each block for a bit interest so it should be fun to put together. I might even post a little tutorial for the block construction if anyone's interested!
Catch you soon x

Did I mention Fat Quarterly?

OK, I know I mentioned Fat Quarterly but I'm still super excited to have been included in this issue! Please bear with me :) Here's another peek at the Nightshade Quilt I designed.

Nightshade rocks!

I wanted to see how it would look with other fabrics so I went right ahead and made a little quilt for my gorgeous nephew, Mackinlay! Dr Seuss teamed with some nice bright solids, whoop! Now that's a fun quilt in anyone's book :)

Mackinlay's Dr Seuss quilt

I backed with this fab print from It's a hoot by Momo which is just perfect even if I say so myself. 

Here's the proof, if you need it, that this quilt is fun with a capital F. Mackinlay totally loves it :) 

Catch you soon x

Freebird

First things first, I want to thank you all for the lovely supportive comments you left in response to yesterday's post! You put a big smile on my otherwise frowning face ;-) I've seen the full issue of Fat Quarterly 9 now and it's a real stunner! In other news, I've almost finished the first of the Freebird quilts for Siblings Together. Every time I say Freebird I can't help chuckling to myself like the ageing rock chick that I am :) I used the Half Time Quilt pattern, as I mentioned previously, and the result is fairly cheerful even if I say so myself.

Front of Freebird quilt

 All that remains to be done is the binding. The Ikea fabric that Wendy sent is just perfect for the backing, check out those funky birds.

Rear of Freebird quilt

I've already got the blocks for the second Freebird quilt ready to roll so it should be another quick finish...fingers crossed! Hubby and I are venturing north on Friday for a day of house-hunting so that might slow my sewing progress slightly but it will hopefully be worth it! Catch you soon x

Just saying

I'm so excited to finally be able to blab to you all!! I've had the very great honour of playing with Tula Pink's soon to be released Nightshade. I can't even begin to tell you how over-the-top excited I have been and it's fair near killed me not being able to shout it from the roof-tops. Regular readers will probably know how much I love Tula Pink's style, so to get my mitts on this before the crowds has been epic!! Let me just tell you that it is as fabulous in real life as I hoped it would be from the pictures I'd seen online. Tula has an amazing gift for design and I just love searching her prints for all the hidden details.  

Nightshade by Tula Pink!!

So, you're probably wondering how I got so lucky and the answer is even more exciting for me! I have had the very great privilege of designing a quilt to appear in Fat Quarterly. I still can't quite believe it! Here's a little glimpse of the Not-so-deadly Nightshade quilt :)

Extreme close-up of my Not-so-deadly Nightshade quilt.

Those of you that already subscribe to Fat Quarterly will get to see it in its entirety. I think I'll be able to show the rest of you the finished quilt at some point. I'll love to hear what you think of it! There's also another little project of mine in Fat Quarterly but I'll gush about that one another day :)  So now I've blabbed I can go and chill out. Catch you soon x

Piles

I thought I'd better put in an appearance this weekend to prove I've not dropped off the face of the planet. It's been fairly hectic around here as we're contemplating a big house move but I have managed to sneak in a bit of sewing time. A couple of weeks ago I received this package from Wendy to make a quilt  for Siblings Together! 

Freebird jelly roll and Ikea bird fabric plus treats for me from Wendy!

Wendy included 4 metres of backing fabric so I figured I'd throw in a solid jelly roll so that I can make 2 quilts from the Freebird jelly roll.

I'm using the Half Time Quilt pattern for these quilts as it's quick and I obviously know how to make the blocks in my sleep ;-)  This time around I'm reversing the placement of print and solids so it will be more child friendly with less white.

Piles

 I've lost track of how many blocks I'd made at this point but there were lots!

More piles

 I'm really happy to find that my instructions are accurate for the fabric requirements as I had enough strips to complete the final block, phew!

Yet more piles

 Now for the tedious trimming of 144 blocks.

Piles of trimmings

I'm hoping to get cracking on the construction this week if I don't have to hide them away so they don't show up in the Estate Agents photos. For some reason unbeknownst to me it appears that not everyone loves fabric!! Go figure! Hope you've all had a good weekend. Catch you soon x

Hip, Pip, Hooray!

Sorry, I couldn't resist the Hip, Pip, Hooray! The Pips quilt is finished. I'm so pleased to have crossed this project off my WIP list. I managed to sneak a shot of it on the line in between torrential downpours.

I love the wholecloth backing and the way it shows off the quilting design. Thanks again to Claire of Patch Fabrics for her generosity in donating it to me :)

Here's a close-up of the quilting. I used a nice bright red Aurifil thread to add a bit of zing in the grey areas.

I used the square dot print from Pips for the binding and I'm cussing myself for not buying more of it. I'll have to see if I can find some more elsewhere!

The finished Pips quilt has now joined the Dr Seuss quilt and once I've finished the others they'll go off to Siblings Together headquarters, until then they'll be in a happy pile in my sewing room :)

Catch you soon x

Generosity

I'll start today's post by saying hello to the numerous visitors that have been unexpectedly heading our way thanks to Quilting Board. I hope you'll find something here that'll make you come back :)

The generosity of our quilting community never ceases to amaze me! Today I received a package from the very lovely Claire of Patch Fabrics. Inside were all these gorgeous fabrics :) Claire very kindly donated these fabrics for Lynne's Siblings Together Quilt Project. The red solid is extra wide and I'll be backing the Pips quilt with it, so no pieced backing for me...hooray!

Claire also donated the grey/black fabrics for a teenage boy quilt which I'll be making on her behalf. I'm looking to forward to doing a striking design with these monochrome prints :)

I was so excited to be able to get on with the Pips quilt that I got carried away and didn't stop until the quilting was finished. Tomorrow I'm hoping to bind it ready for it's recipient. Here's a grim night-time shot of the quilting.

I promise that it looks much prettier in real life! So thanks to Claire's generosity another quilt is nearer to completion and another will be started and finished before too long, which means another two smiley children this Summer :) Catch you soon x

Sweeties

Following on from yesterday's sweet-fest I thought I'd better find some slightly less waist-expanding alternatives to add a smile to my face. In the first instance I've pulled together a collection of Aurifil threads for Lynne and Mr Aurifil's Designer Collection Contest. With my sweet tooth in mind I've named the collection Licorice Allsorts. I know I'm safe on all fronts with this lot as I would never eat Licorice...shudder... and I'd have to be desperate to eat thread! You can find the other entrants here.

I've also added more to my Flea Market Fancy/Hope Valley strings. I'm pleased with progress so far. It's my intention to make a quilt out of these blocks but needless to say that will be another long term project!

Hope you're week is going well so far. Catch you soon x

Yum

After a particularly crappy start to the day I was cheered up considerably by 2 things. Flea Market Fancy...

...and creme eggs. Yummy! 48 should keep me going for a few days ;) Thanks Hubby x

Catch you soon x

Folded

There is something very satisfying about a folded quilt! I don't know what it is, maybe it's just that it signals the end of the construction, either way it makes me happy. One Dr Seuss quilt folded and awaiting the company of friends for despatch to Siblings Together headquarters.

I found a solid blue cotton from Ikea that I used as backing and thought I'd liven things up a bit more and quilted with red thread.

I bound with strips of the prints I used in the quilt for a nice co-ordinated but scrappy effect.

This is not a quilt for the shy!

Only another 4 to go...Catch you soon x

No Wallflower

Well, the latest quilt top I've made for Lynne's Siblings Together is no wallflower! I've used some of the fabulous Dr Seuss range coupled with an extremely bright yellow to make what I hope will be an "acceptable to boys" quilt. Those blocks on the strip are for another quilt that I won't be able to show for a while ;)

I went for a quick and easy charm quilt for instant gratification. I'm hoping to get it quilted today too....This photo doesn't really show just how bright the colours are but let's just say when I hung it on the line to take the photo a few bees landed on the yellow dots and were trying to do their pollination thing! D'uh it's a quilt!