A Perfect Day...

Today was a perfect day... The sun was shining and it was warm. 

At church we had the privilege of having Adrianna Walker of Mercy Ministries talk to us. This woman is inspirational. Have a gleek at the website...

This afternoon we lazed around in the garden, had a BBQ,  read the paper and just chilled. 

I might have had a glass of this too...

I hope that your day was as mellow.

Di xo

Countdown to the London FQR

In 7 days I will be in London at the Fat Quarterly Retreat and I am so looking forward to it.

Today is the official Fat Quarterly London Sewing Retreat 2012 Linky Party. So follow the link to meet some of the other attendees.

It seems such a long time ago since I bought my ticket and booked my hotel. At the time I was really apprehensive about going. My husband really encouraged me to take the risk and book a place. The fact that I had my ticket bought, propelled me into starting my blog about my quilting progress and milestones. Blogging has given an extra dimension to my world and I have made so many ‘virtual’ friends. Recently I have met a couple of these friends in person (Tanya & Trudi) and it has been really fun to be able to chat to someone with a common interest. I know that the Retreat will be one big party! 

Saturday am I will be discovering what portholes are and how to make them

Saturday pm I am going to be making a Union Jack paper pieced pillow

Sunday am I will be machine piecing a placemat

Sunday pm I am going to make log cabins wonky.

I haven’t quite worked out how I will get my sewing machine, sewing clobber and a change of clothes, up to London on the train. I may end up looking like a packhorse! Hopefully I will look more like this 

and you will be able to identify me by this lovely name tag and my London bag. 

I know that some of my bloggy friends won't be able to be in London and it must be kind of nauseating to be constantly reminded of this. Just remember that I will truly miss not meeting up with you. You know who you are....

Di xo

Sample swaps

I have just finished my sample swap items for the FQR. I know that I left it a bit late, but the inspiration was lacking. I finally settled on making some little coin purses using springy hinge purse frames and using a tutorial posted by Rashida Coleman-Hale. I ordered the hinge frames from Hong Kong and they were with me within a week! 

I have used some of my prettiest buttons, linen and some of my favourite scraps.

I have then tried to FM 'write' on the back of the pouches to ensure that the recipient remembers the occasion. Some of the writing is wobbly but it is getting a little better!

I hope that the folk that I swap with, will like them.


Please don't forget that the 'Let's Get Acquainted' Blog hop continues and the blogs to hop to for today are 

Nik from Bold Goods

Alyssa from Pile O Fabric

I am now off to enjoy this wonderful sunshine! I hope that the sun is shining for you too.

Di xo

Getting acquainted

Today I have  two 'getting acquainted' to blog about...
The first is that the 'Let's Get Acquainted!' Blog Hop starts today.

First up are 

Kelsey from Kelsey Sews and Erin from Billy Button Designs. 

Go and check their blogs out and see what little project they have to share.

The second 'getting acquainted' is that I have spent a very pleasant sunny and WARM day with Trudi from Quilting Prolifically. We have chatted and admired each others handiwork, eaten and chatted some more! It will be really nice to know another person when I get to the FQ retreat in June. We have also put a date in the diary to meet up again in June. It is just great to have blogging friends turn into real life friends (so to speak!). 

I have no photo to share of any makes or works in progress, but the photo below is especially for Judith... I thought that I had better keep up with the crowd, as it is so nice here today! You can see that we have had a lot of rain as the grass is so long.

Summer is here as the nail polish is on!

Di xo

Desperation at work...

This past week has just flown by, but I did manage to fit in a little sewing this last weekend. I am acutely aware that I need to make some swap items for the FQ Retreat. Time is ticking away and I have absolutely no inspiration at all! Desperation has now taken over, so I got to work with some cutting and sewing.

I have chosen some bright colours...
I have also had a little go at writing on some linen... As you can see it isn't great. You will be pleased to know that I scrapped this one!

I think that I have done a little better with the one below. I don't think that I can hone the skill in time for the Retreat, so this is my best effort.

I  am going to try and finish this project  in the next couple of days. I will report back when I have a finish!

Di xo

The 'Let's Get Acquainted!' Blog Hop

This summer there is going to be a Quilty Blog Land hop through some new blogs that were started in either 2011 or 2012. It is called the Let's Get Acquainted! Blog Hop. The hop is being run by Beth of Plum and June Blog. Beth emailed me and asked if I would like to take part. 

The idea is that by hopping from blog to blog you might come across blogs new to you that are filled with creative inspiration and fun projects. The latter sentence fills me with fear, as I don't think that I am creative nor is my blog filled with fun projects. I think that I need to buck my ideas up before my turn on 3rd July! 

The Hop begins on May 22, 2012.  We are going to hop to 4 blogs a week (2 on Tuesdays and 2 on Thursdays). So if you want to discover new blogs, find out about the person behind the blog and perhaps try out a new tutorial, then hop on board! I will post the links to the blogs so all you have to do is press the link and hop!

Di xo

A bag for London

My journey into sewing started early last year by making a bag. I then made another and then another.

I was using a really cheap sewing machine from Aldi's. It did basic sewing and it was just fine for what I wanted it for. One day it jammed and was found to be beyond repair. I talked with my SIL about sewing machines, as she had just bought a new one. My lovely hubby encouraged me to get a 'good' one, so I ended up with a mid range sewing machine. Oh boy, it was just great to sew lovely straight lines and not feel as if I was fighting the machine. 

Lots of bags

I then decided that I could only make so many bags. One day I 'googled' patchwork quilt tutorials and this led me into the world of blogs, and sewing/quilting blogs, in particular. I lurked for many months as I really didn't know what the protocol of blogging was, and was very baffled by the acronyms, for example, QAL! Over the past year, I have really been bitten by the quilting bug. I have met people through blogging, that I would now consider to be my friends. 

Often things come full circle in life... I have just made another bag! I am looking forward to going to the FQ Retreat in London in a couple of weeks time and I thought that I really should have a themed bag for the occasion! I wanted one that was big enough to carry my junk around in, but not too big that it was a burden to lug around. I looked at various patterns on the net and in the end I used a reversible bag pattern by Amy Butler. I really didn't want a reversible bag so I decided that I would make the inner with a zipped pocket and an open pocket. I fussy cut around my fabric for the outside and picked up some lovely soft brushed 'linen' fabric for the inner.

 Houses of Parliament side

London Bus side

Inner zipper pocket

Open pocket

 I am so pleased with my zip, as it went in well and looks absolutely fine. I also added a magnetic press stud to close the bag with.  I am rather chuffed with how this bag has turned out. My sewing skills are definitely better than a year ago.  So, if you are going to London to the FQ Retreat, you will recognise me by my bag!

Di xo