A Good Day

Yesterday was a good day. Trudi came over and we spent the day talking patchwork and quilting, showing each other what we have made (Trudi makes quilts and I have little makes!) and eating a delicious lunch. If only all Mondays could be as good!

Today, I  have caught up on the food shopping, cleaning and cooking. To make the chores go better I also fitted in a little sewing. The Bee a Brit Stingy girls are making scrappy Trip Along blocks for Siblings Together - you can read about this charity here. Our Bee Mama, Nicky, has suggested we do a boys quilt using a red, white, blue and grey colour scheme. 

Boy fabrics

This has proved challenging for me as I really have very little blue or red in my stash. It required a little fabric shopping for four FQs of 'boy' fabric.

Here are my efforts

Scrappy Trip Along blocks

The first one went really smoothly but then I over-thought the second one and opened incorrect seams and pressed a row the wrong way. It was a relief to leave them to go and make soup! After this cooking interlude, all was well and I ended up with two 'boy' scrappy trip blocks. Phew!

Di x

Home again...

Our week of holiday has passed by. We have been very fortunate with the weather as the sun shone most of the week and it did NOT rain! It is not often that you can say that when holidaying in Cumbria in February! Last Tuesday afternoon my sister-in-law and I walked up Scout Scar, near Kendal, and at the top we sat and admired the view across the entire southern lakes whilst bathing in the warm sun. It was glorious.

I also did a bit of stitching whilst I was away. I pieced together the lining for Liz's tote bag and then managed to finish it. Here it is in the Cumbrian sunshine!

Liz's perfect tote bag

Pocket details

If you look on Liz's blog you will also see this bag at the other end of the country but still in sunshine.

I also made a start on some of the many flying geese that need to be made for my hipBee quilt. I will post a photo when I get myself organised.

When I arrived home there was a small but exciting package waiting for me. It was my winnings from Indianna Dreams giveaway.

Beautiful Liberty 10" squares

All in all, we have had a lovely week away from the hustle and bustle of life. I will leave you of a view from my bedroom at the cottage. It is a stark contrast to living in exile here in Lincolnshire!

The hills!

Di x

Bee Blocks

I am Queenie of the hipBees this month and I asked the group to make me this block.

Wild geese block

The geese are have already started flying home and the blocks are going to make a great quilt.

I also belong to Bee a Brit Stingy which is a stash bee. Emily has asked for + and x blocks this month. My aim was to complete these blocks before the half term break. I finally managed to finish them today and got them in the post before our PO shut at midday.  Once I got into these blocks I found them really addictive. I can see me makingmore of these blocks in the future.

I still have one more outstanding 'make' to complete. This is the tote for Liz. The panels are made but now the inside needs to constructed and the bag put together. 

Perfect tote front panel in progress

All the cutting out is done and the interfacing attached, so it is already to be taken away on holiday with me. This will be finished before the end of half term as Liz has been more than patient! I will show you what I have done once I return next weekend.

Di x

Ransomed geese and winners

Imagine my shock when I read this ransom note.

A ransom note posted!

My Ruby geese have been ransomed for chocolate, This naughty woman just won't give them back! What should I do? Hold out or send chocolate? I decided that I really wanted those geese to fly home across the Irish Sea so yesterday I posted a package.

Yes, the ransom has been paid but will my geese be released? Watch this space or this space!

Yesterday I was out and about, so imagine my surprise when in the evening, after lighting the fire and settling down on the sofa to read my emails and blogs etc. I opened an email from Helen at Indianna Dreams to say that I had won her Liberty Love giveaway of Liberty 10" squares. I was so surprised and delighted. Thank you so much Helen. I love Liberty fabrics.

Lovely Liberty Squares (Photo taken from Indianna Dreams blogsite

They say that what goes around, comes around so I think that my Blog anniversary giveaway winner should be announced. I have made a triple zippy bag out of some postal themed fabrics. 

Front of triple zippy bag

Back of triple zippy bag

So who is the winner?

Mr Random Generator has spoken…. 

The winner is number 4 who is Sarah aka that naughty woman I cannot believe it! It has taken all my sense of fairness not to generate another number! The cheek of the woman! Hijack my geese and then win my giveaway!

Sarah6 February 2013 20:00

I guess I've known you a little over a year since you were leaving kind comments on my blog before you took the plunge yourself. Been a lovely journey with you. Here's to loads more stitchy sharing, laughs and parenting advice from one who's wearing the t-shirt ahead of me! Happy Blogiversary and Happy Birthday for tomorrow too!

Congratulations Sarah. This triple zippy pouch will be winging its way to you once the geese arrive at mine!!!!!!!!! 

Di x

Celebrations

This past weekend we have been celebrating Elder Son's 18th birthday. I cooked all day Friday as we had a lunch party at home on Saturday, with family and friends who came from far and wide. Elder son's birthday was actually on Sunday so he didn't open his presents from us until that morning.

At last I can reveal the quilt that I have been working on during January for Elder Son. The last piece of binding was finally stitched on at 01.15am last Monday morning!

Elder Son's 18th birthday quilt

Another shot

This is a close up of the quilting. I machine quilted 1/4" on the inner sides of the grey sashing and 3/4" from the sashing on the blocks.

Quilting detail

I have always thought that this quilt was being made for me to feel that I'm a 'good' mother rather than my son liking it. I really didn't think that he would be too bothered. Other bloggers assured me that he would, but I didn't believe them. Well I was proved wrong. He loves it and was really overwhelmed that I had made it for him. It now resides on his bed. That is a result, as his bedroom has one massive 'floordrobe' and piles of books around his bed (never in the bookcase)! 

 Here is one last gratuitous shot…

Birthday quilt for ES

The details

Plain fabric from Fluffy Sheep Quilting shop

Patterned fabric from my stash

Binding fabric curtesy of Trudi's fabric pantry

P.S. Don't forget to come back tomorrow for Giveaway result!

Di x

1st Year Blogging Anniversary and Giveaway

Today marks the end of my first year of blogging. I have been blogging for a whole year! 

It took me about 5 months to pluck up the courage to start a blog. I thought of many barriers to commencing one.... I don't sew fast enough, my sewing is not good enough, what will I say.... but I really wanted to do it. What pushed me into it was the thought that I didn't want to be a year older and still not be blogging so I took a deep breath and wrote my first post the day before my birthday. 

Well a year on and I am so glad that I took the plunge.

I have enjoyed every moment of being part of the blogging community.

I have documented my sewing journey and I know that I am so much better at sewing than I was a year ago.

I attended the Fat Quarterly Retreat which was just a brilliant experience. I enjoyed the classes but enjoyed meeting other bloggers more.

The girls I did the sample swap with last year at the FQR
Teresa, Elisabeth, Nicky and Emily

I wanted to be part of a bee so set up the hipBees. I value this bunch of ladies a lot and the fun that we have together. 

I was invited to join the Bee A Brit Stingy Bee and have met up with another great group of women.

I have met bloggy friends in person 

Tanya

Sarah and Judith

Sarah and Catherine

And others who weren't captured on film...

Trudi

Moira

Susan

                                                                     To name a few...

My life is richer for blogging and I appreciate the support that I get from other bloggers if I get stuck or need help with sewing dilemmas.

This year should be celebrated, so I want to do a giveaway for my lovely followers. There are no hoops to jump through. Just be a follower and leave a comment below. That is it. Simple.

And the giveaway….

A triple zippy bag made with these fabrics 

along with some of these 'treasure finds' zips.

The giveaway will be drawn next Wednesday (13th) so you have a week to have a go.

Di x

Catching up.. a post of randomness

I had a really nice weekend this past weekend. On Saturday I was up early and caught the train up to London as I was meeting Catherine.

We had a lovely day. We went to the V&A for coffee and then we looked at the jewellery exhibition. We were both astounded at the jewellery on view and the size of some of the jewels. There are only so many things that you can absorb in a single visit so once we had reached saturation point we headed up to the centre of town and went for a very long lunch. This was followed by another tea stop interspersed with a trip to Liberty and John Lewis fabric departments!

Below is the only photo of the day taken at one of our tea stops!

Shamelessly nicked photo from Catherine's blog!

My menfolk were away for the weekend so Sunday was definitely a sewing day. I cannot show you anything yet but let us just say that quilting was completed and binding attached with the last stitch done at 01.15hrs. I was rather bog eyed at the end of my sewing marathon but it was well worth the sense of relief!

It is my turn of being Queenie of the hipBees this month. The fabric was sent out last Tuesday by second class post and in the post yesterday a lovely block was returned. Thank you Karen. 

HipBee block by Karen

Yesterday I had a sewing friend over and we had a morning of chatting, coffee and sewing. In my family there are a lot of birthdays this month, so I decided to sew an apron for my Dad's present. I just need to add a pocket and then it is completed.

Apron for my Dad

I also managed to complete my mat that was the sewing item we tackled when the Stitching it Together group met last month at Tanya's. It is made entirely out of scraps that I had been given by Trudi.

Mat

I also want to show you my haul of treasure that I found in a charity shop last week. There are lots of zips here and they were bought for the princely sum of £2.99! Some I don't see a use for, but many are very useable so I am rather pleased with my find.

Zips Galore

And finally just a little hint -  my 1st blogging anniversary is tomorrow so there just might be a giveaway for my lovely followers.

Di x

Triple Zippy Success

After my struggle with the first triple zippy purse/pouch I decided that I would enter the  Triple Zipper Pouch Quilt Along and make another. I really enjoyed piecing my Perfect Tote bag and with some of the small leftover pieces of fabric I decided to make a patchwork triple zipper pouch, following the same techniques used in the pattern for the tote bag.

I really enjoyed putting this one together and I also decided to make it slightly bigger so that my diary and pencils could go neatly in the bigger pocket. 

Front of Triple zippy purse/pouch

Back of Triple zippy purse/pouch

Sometimes when you make something you feel that there is an aspect that could be improved on. It is very rare for me not to feel as if I could of done better. This is one of those rare occasions. I love everything about this purse/pouch, from the colours, the patchwork and the way the zips went in so perfectly. I am rather proud of this creation.

Just to check that I can really do triple zipper pouches I have done a third one, again using QAYG to showpiece those lovely typewriters.

Typewriter Triple zippy purse/pouch (Front)

Typewriter Triple zippy purse/pouch (Back)

As it is also the first of the month I am linking up with Fresh Sewing Day over at Lily's Quilts. I hope that you all have a good weekend. Tomorrow, I am off to London to meet up with my bloggy friend and fellow hipBee, Catherine.

Di x