Finish-A-Long Q3 - Aims and expectations

We are moving onto the third quarter of the Finish-A-Long. So what am I going to aim to get done this quarter?

Well I guess I need to put down my existing finish failures…

1. Echo Quilt

An old favourite I am ashamed to say!!!

Echo quilt

2. My Union Jack quilt needs some TLC. I think that I need to get this one finished as it too has been hanging around for a long time now.

3. My hipBee quilt. This deserves some time and attention as my fellow hipBees have done their work on it for me.

Follow the geese quilt block

4. My gorgeous leaf quilt that my Bee a Brit Stingy bees worked on for me. This is a bit of a cheeky one as I am sure that it will be the first finished from this list. I am hoping that it will be at the Fat Quarterly Retreat with me in 2 weeks time. Yikes… better get going on this one.

My gorgeous Orla Kiely inspired leaf quilt.

That is my list complete. I have a sneaky feeling that I won't get all these quilts done, but I am going to give it my best!

Di x

A Side Swap

If you remember, I made this quilt with some of my winnings of HR Nursery Versery.

Nursery Versery Quilt

I didn't use any of the pink colour ways as the quilt was for a baby boy. Lynz commented that she would take them off my hands and offered to make me a cushion in return. These FQs are too nice just to be put in a cupboard so I immediately said 'yes' to Lynz.

Nursery Versery with the pink FQs

So last week a beautiful cushion dropped through the letterbox.

Beautiful cushion

It is so gorgeous and I love the colourway. It looks right at home on my sofa. I love the +&x block and I know that they take time to do. So thank you Lynz for such a beautiful cushion. The back is just as lovely and although Lynz was using an old sewing machine with no zipper or 1/4" foot, I think that she has done a stonkingly good job.

Beautiful cushion's back

Thank you Lynz. Now I want to see what you turn those pink FQs into.

Di x

Fat Quarterly Retreat - #fqrlondon 2013

Hi I am going to the Fat Quarterly Retreat next week and as part of the 'getting to know you' we have been asked to write a little bit about ourselves.

I am Di and I live in rural Lincolnshire with my husband, 2 teenage sons and a cat. 

Here is a photo of me so if you see me, make sure that you say hi.

Me!

I went to the Retreat last year and had a real blast. It was really full on, I met a lot of people and was able to put blog to face (so to speak). Out of meeting up with others the hipBees was born. 

I cannot wait for Retreat to start this year. I am so looking forward to meeting up with my bloggy friends and meeting new folk too.

I will be trying my sewing best at the Spring Carnival and Triangle City with Katy. I am also going to try my hand at Eraser Stamping (yikes!) and +&x Flexi Pouch with Tacha.

I will be wearing my beautiful name tag made for me by Ann Majgeard.

So make sure that you say 'hello' as I would love to meet you.

Di x

Finish A-Long 2nd Quarter

I feel rather embarrassed at showing you what I have achieved on my Q2 FAL List - which is here. The blog post was entitled Wishful Thinking? and how true that has been!

The first two projects 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 have been finished however it wasn't! I quilt on the dining room table as it is nice and slippy which means that I can move the quilt around easily. My table was taken over by my son for his A level studies and the quilting opportunity was lost! This will be on my Q3 list!!!

Echo quilt

The second item on my Q2 FAL list was my Union Jack quilt. Guess what? Yes really! - no further forward at all. In fact I did have a brief flirtation with moving this quilt on but couldn't find 2 of the flags and gave up for a newer, shiner project! (now found in a very safe place).

UJ Quilt

Third up was a weekender bag. Now this was a finish and I am so pleased with it. It came out really well and I am rather proud of myself in tackling this project so successfully! (well a girl needs to boost her confidence once in a while!).

Weekender bag

The final item on my Q2 list was my my hipBee quilt. Nothing was done on this either. I need to start making some more geese before this quilt becomes a reality.

Flying geese with no home!

So there you are…1 out of 4. Not a good score at all. I have done other projects along the way so I know that sewing has happened. Perhaps Q3 might bring a quilt or two to fruition!

Di x

Fat Quarterly Retreat name tag swap - part 2

Yesterday a little parcel popped through the letterbox. On opening it, I found it contained my FQR name tag! I was so excited….

It has both my name and blog name on it…..

My FQR name tag

It has been made by Ann Majaerd. I don't have Ann's Flickr address so I cannot thank her personally, so Ann if you are reading this, a big thank you for such a nice name tag.

I also received a second parcel but I will leave that piece of news for another blog post!

Di x

Fat Quarterly Retreat name tag swap - part 1

I heard today that the name tag I made for my swap partner has finally arrived with her. This name tag was returned when it was first posted, so I was relieved that it finally reached her. 

So who was it for? Well it was for May who blogs at Confessions of a Fabriholic

I showed you a very unhelpful photo of the name tag before it was sent...

FQR name tag for May

…now I can show you the front of it. May wanted her blog name and also Ey-ore on her tag. I have to say that Ey-ore was a bit of a challenge but I did enjoy making it.

FQR name tag for May

May sent me an email to say that she liked it so that means that I'm happy too!

Di x 

A Welcome Finish…Baby Quilt

Yesterday I finished the baby quilt that I was making. Despite the sewing machine misbehaving during the quilting of this quilt, it has been a quick and fun project to do.

I decided that as the quilt colours are so subtle that I would use a brighter orange irregular striped fabric for the border.

A reel of lovely binding

 Below is a photo showing how the binding picks up the orange on the wee mice. I like this fabric as the stripes aren't regular, but are a mixture of wider and smaller irregular lines.

Binding ready to go

 Please note that I used Susan's idea of storing the binding on a finished cotton reel. I quilted a 1/4" either side of the seams and I like the effect that this gives.

A finish!

I am really pleased with how this quilt turned out. It is not your usual blue boy baby quilt and that pleases me. I will now have to wait to see if E's parents also like it.

Baby quilt for E

Statistics

Size - 45" x 54"

Fabric - Heather Ross  Nursery Versery, Kona natural and a grey plain. 

Binding -  an orange strip

I thought that I would also show you what I saw out of my bedroom window at 9.30pm last night. I have seen the geese around but didn't realise how many goslings there were. This was taken with a long lens.

Di x