Saturday catchup

I have been trying to get some of the panels of my weekender bag quilted all ready for the East Midlands Modern Quilt Guild meeting next week. As a group we are going to make these bags together but I want to be able to walk away after the meeting with it nearly completed so I need to get these panels completed this week. It seems to be taking ages to do and it tedious doing the QAYG. I am nearly half way through so I just need to push on with this one.

Quilted panels for the Amy Butler Weekender Bag

 I have also been having fun making some small cushions. We have had a pair of little cushions for over 15yrs but they don't really look good in our present home. I have been meaning to make them new covers for ages but it has never happened.

Old cushion cover looking out of place on the sofa

Last week I broke into a little mini charm pack of 'marmalade' and got started. After making one cushion I realised that it needed a matching one so I cut up some 2 1/2" squares in similar colours and made a second one.

Small Cushions

They look much better nestled with my 'Ruby' cushions.

There was also a secondary purpose to making these little cushions as I made piping for the edging. I have never done this before and it was super easy. This is something I have to do on the weekender bag so I am glad to have had a practise run at it.

Have a good weekend and I hope the sun is shining with you.

Di x

FAL- Q2 Aims or wishful thinking?

At last…I have beaten the boys to the computer so that I can finally post about my projects that I want to add to the Finish A Long being hosted by Leanne over at She Can Quilt.  The FAL is to provide motivation  to finish any Un-Finished Objects!

The first two are rollovers from Q1.

The first one is my Echo Quilt. This was nearly a finish in Q1. It is about 75% quilted so it should be an early finish. I am pretty optimistic that it will be finish in this quarter.

Echo Quilt

Second on the list is my Union Jack quilt. Some concentrated sewing is required to get this quilt together and then to start the quilting. I like quilting, but I find it intimidating too. I guess my skills in the quilting department let me down and I always feel disappointed with what I have done. This quilt will stretch me when I actually get to this stage.

UJ Quilt

I am also going to add a couple of new projects. The 'biggie' is to complete a weekender bag. It is all cut out and some QAYG has started. I have been building up to this project since last December. I have been choosing fabric, ordering piping and practicing skills that I will need by doing some smaller projects along the way (perfect tote and triple zippy purse). I have been catapulted out into the open to share this with you as it has also been picked as our first project for the next meeting of the East Midlands Modern Quilt Guild.

Weekender bag in progress

This has to be a finish as I would like to use it in May as we are going away to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary! So this may be the first project that I will complete. 

Finally, I am going to add my hipBee quilt. I would dearly like to finish this one before the Fat Quarterly Retreat but I may be being a little unrealistic here! I will do my best to get it together, at the very least,  as I would like to show it to my bee mates. The blocks have finally all arrived so now I need to make a lot of flying geese to get this one done!

HipBee Block for me

I think that this list is a little unrealistic, but I will give it my best to get at least some of these finishes done. I am going to link this post up with the FAL over at Leanne's.

Di x

Finish A Long - First Quarter

Well it is time to confess up and see how well I did with the first Quarter of the FAL with Leanne.

I only had four items on my list but somehow I seem to have mixed results.

First up was the outstanding bag for Liz.  This was how it looked at the beginning of the FAL.

And it was completed - hurray!

Bag for Liz

Second on my list was a quilt for my son as he was turning 18yrs old. This had to be a finish too. I was really pleased with how it turned out.

Birthday quilt

The third item was a quilt that has been in the making for nearly a year now. I fell in love with the prints all over again and it was so nearly finished except I got sick and somehow missed two weeks of life. This is a fail but it won't really take long to finish in the next quarter.

Not there yet!

The final item on my list was the UJ flag quilt. Let's just say that I managed one seam and then put it down! This is a definite fail! I have the three UJs made. They just need to be put together!

Work in progress

All in all, that is 2 out of 4. I really thought that it would be 3 out of 4 but illness got in the way. Time always seems to be in short supply!

I will be back tomorrow with my list for the second quarter. 

Di x

Re-entry

Re-entry is exactly what life feels like. After 15 days of feeling really ill, I am definitely better and nearly well again. We went out to lunch with friends yesterday, and it was so nice to see other people and join in the chat. I am so grateful to be feeling better.

I am not going to link up with Lily's Quilts Fresh Sewing Day as I have only had a fortnight sewing in March, and my sewing seems to have been comprised of bee blocks and zippy pouches.

Today, I must have been back on form, as I have been sewing and having a lovely afternoon pottering with fabric and thread. First up, I made a cover for my iPad. I have been using a cover that has seen better days so I have gone ahead and made a fabric cover. I used my stash of Summersville to make it. I followed this pattern and it came together really easily. I like the fact that the sun was out and there is shadow in the photo!

iPad cover

I then decided that my wonder clips, which are a recent 'buy,' needed  dedicated storage as they will get mislaid if left on my desk.

Wonder clips

I whipped up a little 5" x 5 1/2" zippy pouch, using one of my charity shop zips, and had a play at free motion writing.

A bag for everything

All in all it has been a very pleasant way to spend the afternoon.

Tomorrow, my hubby and I are going up to London for a night away, leaving the teenage sons 'home alone'. I just love this part of having teenagers. I will obviously be taking my iPad in it's smart cover!

Di x

Stiff upper lip

Illness has been lingering on here. My sneezing viral infection has lead into a sore throat, enlarged glands and loss of voice viral infection!! It feels as if I haven't felt 'normal' for over a week now. My sons have stepped up to the mark on the home front, but then I  cannot shout at them, let alone speak in more than a whisper.

I have been feeling miserable, but yesterday I got my sewing machine set up in the dining room and over the course of the day, made a couple of blocks. I am Queen Bee in Bee a Brit Stingy in April and I felt that I should be posting what I want my bees to be making, as April is less than a week away.

I have actually found it really difficult to decide on a block. Our bee is a scrappy one, so this needs to be taken into account when choosing a block. 

We have already made feathers for Lucy

Feather for Lucy

Emily asked for + and x blocks. Check out how awesome her finished quilt is.

+ and x for Emily

Jan had us make these blocks 

 "Road to Tennessee"

Over the last week, I have trawled through Flickr looking for a block that would work well in a scrappy bee sort of way. I came across a block called Scrappy Sprouts and knew that it was 'the' block for me. The leaves will be made in different rainbow colours by my lovely bees.

Scrappy Sprouts

I don't quite know how this quilt will turn out, but as part of the plan I thought that I might put some flower heads on some of the stalks. I don't think I have the final plan sorted yet but there is still some time to tweak my ideas.

Di x

From my sick bed

This week was going to be such a good week for me. It started off well as I had meetings all day Monday and then drove over to Sibsey, near Boston, for the Cross Country Road Quilters group on Tuesday. I really like a trip out to the east coast as the countryside is so different to what I'm used to. It is flat, very agricultural, with dykes and windmills. I always return thinking that I have had a taste of Holland!

Sibsey windmill

I was supposed to go northwards to spend some time with my parents for the rest of this week, but finally I succumbed to the flu type bug that is prevalent around these parts. I have watched each of my men succumb to the deadly virus and was feeling very smug that I had escaped. Unfortunately my smugness caught up with me, along with the virus! I have spend the last two days in my sick bed feeling poorly. Today I woke up and the sneezing has diminished, my ear is still sore, as is my poor nose, but I am feeling better… Just in time to do the course that I am booked onto tomorrow. There is always an upside to every down.

My world...

It is amazing how time, paracetamol and fluids can improve the situation.

Di x

Happy news

I took my ill sewing machine over to the Sewing Machine Fixer Man yesterday afternoon. I was driving in sleet and fog. The weather really doesn't know that it is March, and Spring, not winter!

The good news is that he has fixed my machine. He did enquire whether I used it a lot as he had only serviced it last October. I was laughing in my head as I said 'nearly every day'. Poor man just thought that I was a little weird! I am very grateful to him for fixing the problem so quickly and if you live in Lincolnshire I would highly recommend him. 

I am picking my sewing machine up from his caravan tomorrow morning before I head over to Boston for the Country Roads Quilters meeting. Hopefully the kettle will still be on when I get to the Quilting group as it is a bit of a trek across the Lincolnshire countryside. So tomorrow I will be back to this... I am so nearly there with the quilting. 

Finish is in sight

Thanks for all the advice about my machine and to Trudi for the generous offer of a loan of her machine. You are all so kind.

I am trying hard to get my FALs completed. I don't think that I will get all of them done but 3 out of 4 would be good. Watch this space…

Di x