Bee A Brit Stingy

I have been having a bit of a tidy up of my blog today. You will notice a new Autumn banner and also a new button down on the right hand side. 

Yes, I am in a new sewing Bee. It called Bee a Brit Stingy. It is being run by Sheila and Nicky  and they are being ably assisted by Archie and Helen. 

Now Sheila and Nicky are from Scotland and are therefore canny lasses. This bee is going to be run on a shoestring with second class postage and the expectation that all blocks will be made from scraps and stashes. We are going to try our best to please our fellow Bees with their colour preferences but we are not allowed to buy (gasp!) fabric nor send out fabric when our time comes to be Queen bee. This will be very interesting and I wonder if some bee member will attempt to break the stingy rule. I think that Archie being the superior dog that he is, will be tracking down any rule breakers so I for one have taken the 'Bee a Brit Stingy' pledge and hope that my stash will be able to come up with some suitable fabric for the tasks each Queen bee will be giving us.

We are not going to start the bee until January but we are going to have a little bee swap to break us in gently. The task is to make a pincushion for a fellow bee. I am going to be making for my fellow hipBee and Bee a Brit Stingy friend, Catherine. 

I think that, despite missing out on the Mouthy Stitches Round 2, I have ended up with as many swaps as I can manage at the moment. I am going to have to put my thinking cap on now…

Di xo

Our own version of...

Our nation has been gripped by the spectacle of the Olympics followed by Paralympics. The Paralympics used to run alongside the main games (hence it's name).

My late night bloggy friend, Amy of [Amy's] Crafty Shenanigans (Amy nearly always blogs late in the evening and I am normally just having a little browse on blogger before I turn in for the night) have decided to have our own private version of Mouthy Stitches 2. 

This is because both of us missed out on a place in the main event, so when commiserating with each other we decided that we too could do our own small version of the swap. We are going to make the same tote bags that the Mouthy Stitches  crowd are making, but we are going to just swap with each other. I think that we are both really thrilled that we too can be part of the swap. 

Amy has named the swap the 'Paramouthy Stitches' . It could be because we are a 'Pair-of-mouthy-stitchers' but you would be completely wrong. It is because like the the Paralympics, we will be running this little swap alongside the main Mouthy Stitches event. I have just peaked at Amy's mosaic here. It looks like there are many complicated snail like blocks within it. I reckon that Amy is trying to go for Gold and want to leave me with silver.

My mosaic is below

Paramouthy Stitches swap mosaic

[Credits are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/66784064@N08/7979009364/]

I have met some lovely bloggy friends through my ramblings about my sewing and one of these friends emailed me to say that she was sorry that I had missed out on the MS2 swap. She offered to make me a tote bag too. This kind and generous bloggy friend is Liz. I was so bowled over by her offer that I obviously said, very quicky, YES please. So now I have two entries in the side swap stakes. I have that warm fussy feeling inside. Thank you to both my lovely bloggy friends.

Di x

Indian summer

Our schools went back this past week and the weather is glorious. It seems such a shame that the children have to be in school. As we spent much of our last weekend culling a tree, I was promised a trip to the seaside as recompense! I have to say that it is my favourite day out. Saturday didn't disappoint either as we had blue skies and warm sunshine.

A Norfolk beach

Unfortunately, due to our grand day out, I missed the sign up for the Mouthy Stitches Round Two. I was rather sad about this but I will just watch everyone else's makes from the sidelines.

I have not been completely idle on the sewing front. I have hand quilted each of the blocks on my Golden Quilt. I cannot get a really good photo to show you the results but I think that it has made me like the quilt a little! My goal for this week is to get the binding and label done. I will feel so much better when this quilt is ready for giving to my parents.

Golden quilt

Recently I was alerted by Susan that Spoonflower were having a promotion. Susan kindly gave me a code that enabled me to buy a fat quarter with a huge discount on postage. I ended up buying this FQ for a princely sum of $2. 

Spoonflower FQ

I love the soft colours and would seriously consider buying a little more of this fabric so that I could make a quilt for my bedroom.

Di x

HipBee blocks

In the hipBee our Queenie for September is Jude and she has asked for a Wonky Friendship Braid block based on this tutorial by  Tall Grass Prairie Studio.

We are a conscientious bunch, as several blocks have already appeared on our hipBee Flickr group and it is only the first week in September! We have all been given different colours to work with. Mine colour is yellow. I tried to incorporate the bathing beauty and her tent in my block. It will remind Jude of the summer!

September hipBee block for Jude

 This block is really easy and quick to make. They are a little addictive too. So much so that I had to make a second, inner section for Judith. 

Second September hipBee block

This block, in all the different colours, is going to make a really fun and colourful quilt.

Di x

Blocks and parcels

Today a large parcel dropped through the letterbox. The best thing was that it had my name on it. 

This is what was inside...

Vintage Modern hexies hand-pieced by Yvonne

A beautiful mini quilt made by Yvonne of Nellie's Niceties. It is made with tiny hand pieced hexagons. It must have taken Yvonne a long time to make this quilt and it is full of detail. So how did I get to have this beauty? Well, Reene and Yvonne had a giveaway over at their blog to celebrate their 2 years of blogging. My number was picked which was such a surprise. I think that it is absolutely beautiful and I was delighted that it came my way. See some of the detail in the photos below

Tiny hexies hand-pieced and machine quilted

Lovely label with my name on it!

Thank you to Yvonne (and Reene) for such a beautiful giveaway.

Last week before the tree felling incident I did manage to do a little sewing and a lot of socialising. I met up with Trudi and we had a day of chatting, eating and a little sewing. Trudi showed the blocks that we did together (with her stash) on her blog. It was fun to sew with a friend.  The blocks are for Bee Blessed. 

Bee Blessed blocks (Front 2 made with Trudi)

 The following evening I met up with Tanya. Tanya made us a scrummy supper and we  also chatted and ate! So much so, that we didn't actually get round to any sewing. Fortunately I had got the 'Bee Blessed bug' that afternoon so I had already made two more blocks.

Bee Blessed blocks

Finally, another package dropped through my letterbox on Saturday. It was my swap mini from the BQS3. I was so excited to see who had sent me my mini, and also to find out which one is was, from all the ones posted on the Flickr group.

Mine had been made by Jenny

BQS3 Mini quilt made by Jenny

Porthole label

I am so delighted with it. Thank you Jenny. You have incorporated my favourite colours and I think that the label is lovely. The seat in the garden is full of details such as  tiny flowers and a little blackbird.There is also a lot of clever piecing incorporated in it too. It must have taken a lot of time to make. 

Detail on the BQS3 mini quilt 

I really enjoyed taking part in the Brit Quilt Swap and it was both fun to make for someone else as well as receive such a beautiful quilt. I will definitely be putting my name down for round 4!

Di x

Tree business, scary business

For three days this past week our family have been in the tree reduction business. I don't think that I have ever been so scared as when I saw my husband near the top of a 15m tree, chopping the branches above him, down. 

Tree felling in progress

After two days work we ended up with this massive pile of wood that now requires chopping into logs, so that we can use them in our log burning stove this winter. I think that there will be plenty to keep us warm. 

Bonfire supper

The upside was that we have had bonfire suppers each night. The downside…every part of me aches and there is another tree to tackle - crown reduction this time… time, I think, to send my husband back to his day job where he will be safe in his office.

Di xo

Fresh Sewing Day (August 2012)

I am linking up with Fresh Sewing Day at Lily's Quilts for a round up of August 2012 in the sewing department. For me, August was about completing projects and not starting anything new. I finished three quilt tops and have pressed on with quilting one, so that I can give it to my parents as a golden wedding anniversary present. The only other things that I made were a pouch for my partner in the BQS3 and my first block for the hipBees. Our queen bee (Reene) asked for house blocks and supplied us all with some very nice Summersville fabric.

August 2012 - round up

The middle bottom photo is just to remind me that part of the fun of blogging is to meet up with bloggy friends too. I had the pleasure of spending a fun day with Sarah & Catherine during the month.

So as the summer draws to a close, with schools returning this week, perhaps I will be able to fit in a little more sewing into the rhythm of life.

Di xo