Finished

I've finished a few projects this week. First up, I joined another bee, the Simply Solids: a modern Bee, and this is the first month I've had to make blocks for it. Patti asked for this winged square block, it was super quick to put together so I made 2.

 Then I got on and made this whirlygig for Karen's month in the HipBees.

So with my bee commitments out the way I got on and finished the Marcelle Medallion quilt! I think it is my most favourite quilt ever. I was all set to take some nice photos outside when the heaven's opened...grrr. Instead I just took some dodgy shots around the house.

On the sofa

 It's quite a big quilt, definitely a great size for snuggling under while scoffing chocolate :)

On the bannister

On the bed

 I machine quilted a few straight lines around the borders, enough to fix it in place and then set to it with some lime green perle thread.

 I bound it with a brush stroke print from Summersville and backed it with my go to favourite, Nummer, from Ikea.

 You can't beat a pretty folded quilt :)

I'm quite sad that this one is finished now, I think I might have to make another soon! Catch you soon x

You know where you are with rectangles

Progress on the Marcelle Medallion quilt has been good this week owing to my close friendship with rectangles and squares ;) You know where you are with them and not a flying goose in sight!

 Now that I'm over the stress that was induced by the triangles and flying geese I can look at the quilt without swearing. I think this one might actually be one of my all time favourites!

 I'm on the cross border now and I'm really enjoying it :) Look at all that yummy fabric!

 One row of crosses done... three more to go. I love the way the cross hatch from Lu's Summersville range contains all that riot of colour in the centre :)

I've had really irritating tinnitus since Wednesday so I gave myself a break from thinking and made a mindless Scrappy trip block in Shelburne Falls offcuts left over from making Katy's cushion. I really love this range, it's got something for everyone! Both Shelburne Falls and Chicopee are so much better in real life than they are the computer screen. If you haven't seen them for yourself you can take my word for it ;)

Talking of Katy's cushion, I've entered it in Rachel's Shelburne Falls Contest. There are some fabulous entries over there so make sure you take a look :) Entries are open until Sunday evening so there's still time to enter yourself! I hope all is good where you are. Catch you soon x

Cooo-eeee....

...I'm home. Apologies for the unexpectedly lengthy absence. We're finally installed in our new home! We moved in the week before Christmas and we've almost finished unpacking boxes...you can't rush these things ;-)  The internet and telephone were reconnected on Tuesday so I thought it was about time I started chatting here again. I've missed you all! I'm lucky enough to have a sewing room all to myself now. I'm not entirely sure how I want it to be set up yet but it's currently functional so I'm happy. Yay for sewing! I've started off gently with blocks for 2 lovely ladies in the HipBees.

First up was a block for Catherine. Catherine has patiently waited since November for my offering so I was determined it would be the first thing I made when the sewing room was functional. Catherine had asked us all to make a lynnebobsquarepants in Power Pop. I'd seen all the blocks being added to the group by the other Hipbees and couldn't wait to get started on my own. Here it is, such happy colours!

 

Next up, Collette is January's queen bee and she requested Disappearing 9-patch blocks using Field Study. I hadn't seen Field Study in person so I was really looking forward to this one being a fan of Anna Maria-Horner. It didn't disappoint me! 2 super quick blocks ready for Collette in no time.   

With my obligations fulfilled I managed to do a little bit of sewing of my own. Way back in August I was queen Hipbee and asked my fellow bees to make me house blocks using Summersville. They totally outdid themselves!

1. hipBee August 2012 block, 2. House Block for Reene, 3. Untitled, 4. hip bee, August house, 5. Hipbees August block, 6. HipBees August block, 7. No 38 - all complete, 8. DSC_0087, 9. Hipbees Aug house block, 10. hipBees Block - August 2012, 11. Hipbees August Block for Reene12. Not available

There are 2 that wouldn't show up in the mosaic but you can see them all here. I'm going to have lots of fun turning these gorgeous blocks into a quilt just for me! I've made a start already...

I love a bit of improv piecing :) This is going to be one happy quilt, thanks ladies! Catch you soon x

August and a giveaway

Well I can't believe August is over half way gone! In the post-Olympic period I've got very little done but here are a few things that I've been meaning to share for a while. I was lucky enough to take part in a Fat Quarterly design challenge this month using fabrics from the British Designer, Nel Whatmore. My project is on the Fat Quarterly blog today! Feel free to pop over and leave a comment over there so the Fat Quarterly guys and gals know you've been, make sure to come back though to find out about the giveaway ;)

Fireworks pillow

August is the first month that the HipBees have been sewing blocks and luckily they're for me!! I sent out packages of Summersville with co-ordinating solids and asked for house blocks in return.

HipBee packages

 I've already received quite few of house the blocks. You'll have to check out the HipBee group on flickr to see them as I won't be showing them here until I've got them all :) I also received this super cute Summersville ring pincushion from Tanya which was such a lovely surprise!!

Ring pincushion from Tanya 

Talking of surprises, I received this gorgeous package from Sarah as a 'hello' to the HipBees. A Zakka pencil case and check out the cute bee charm made by the very talented Shannon, Jude's daughter. What a great bee to be in!

Zakka Pencil case from Sarah with Bee charm by Shannon

 So now to get to the nitty gritty of the giveaway that I mentioned a while ago. This little old blog has been in existence for 2 years now! Wow, where does time go? As a thank you for all your support we're giving away this awesome mini quilt that was hand-pieced by Yvonne using Vintage Modern by Bonnie and Camille. Check out the photos in Yvonne's flickrstream for more close-up detail. It is beautiful!!

Vintage Modern hexies hand-pieced by Yvonne

I'm also going to dig into my stash for some fabric goodies too! I'm thinking a little bit of Tula Pink and Amy Butler might be up for grabs....
So there will be one lucky winner.
You get up to three chances to enter:
1.  Leave a comment letting us know your favourite craft blog of the moment. We're always on the lookout for new sources of inspiration :)
2.  If you're a follower old or new just say so in a comment.
3. Blog, tweet or shout from the rooftop about the giveaway then leave a comment to tell us you did for another shot.
That's it. The winner will be chosen by Mr Random Number Generator after the draw closes at midday(BST) on Saturday 25th August.
Catch you soon x

A twist on the tile

The day started well with deliveries of Summersville by Lucie Summers and...

Layer cake of Summersville!!

Tula Pink's book! I pre-ordered this book in December so was not impressed when I didn't receive it when it was released. I gave up waiting in the end and re-ordered it from elsewhere. I'm a happy bunny now :)

Tula Pink's book

After browsing through the book and petting the fabric I thought I'd tackle a Tile block. I've re-coloured the original block so that it corresponds with the fabrics I used.

Adaptation of the Tile block

It's a super easy block to make, hooray! I supersized this so the finished block will be turned into an 18" cushion. All you need is 9 - 6 1/2" squares and 6 - 4" squares.

Ruby Star and Echino :) 

I've used Ruby Star Rising, Ruby Star Shining and Echino to create this very funky cushion top. I think I'll hand quilt this one :)  I've taken a few process shots for Catherine and anyone else who might be interested in how I made the block up. The blocks represented by brown in the diagram are essentially flying geese blocks. I marked points half way along 3 sides then joined them up to create the lines to cut on.

I cut all the 4" squares into 2 right angled HSTs to make the flying geese. I'm sure there are more clever and accurate ways of doing this but this is what worked for me. I lined the long edge of the HST up with one of the angled edges of the brown block making sure I had little ears either side like below.

Don't forget the little dog ears :) 

 Sew a 1/4" inch seam then press open.

Repeat on the opposite side to complete the unit. I trimmed the finished blocks as necessary to 6 1/2" square.

Repeat to complete the unit. 

I pressed all the seams open to try and cut down on some the bulkiness. There are four units like this with different rotations as shown in the block diagram.

Finished geese unit

For the central unit the process is exactly the same except all four sides will have HSTs sewn to them to create the finished 6 1/2" unit.

Central block.

 The rest is self-explanatory really :) If you have any questions Catherine just drop me a line and I'll help if I can. I love, love, love the finished block!!! When I have more time I definitely see a quilt using this block in my future! Catch you soon x