Farewell to January 2014

 

I am linking up with Lily's quilts fresh sewing day. I haven't done this for a month or two several months, but I did get a few finishes in January. January isn't my favourite month but to be fair it is getting lighter in the evenings, and whilst it is cold and dull, it is good for sewing output.

So what have I been up to…

                                                  Well there were bee blocks

The top right one is my chosen one that the hipBees will be making me in February.

I have also been finishing projects. 

I finally turned these cushion tops into finished cushions. My husband has commandeered the economy square cushion.

I also pulled out last year's hipBee quilt and finished the top by making many, many flying geese. 

My aim is to start quilting this quilt in the coming week. I think that I have a plan for this...

I have finished three secret projects that hopefully I can reveal to you all in February.

I know that my list isn't long but it feels good to have moved some projects on and completed a couple too.

So what did you make in January?

Di x

Talented Bee Buddies

Have you got the new issue of Love Patchwork and Quilting yet? 

 No? 

Well may I suggest that you do as it is packed full of lovely projects such as this one..

 By my Bee a Brit Stingy bee mate Karen…

And this project...

 By my Brit Bee buddy Hadley…

And this project...

 By another Brit Bee buddy, Susan…

And this project...

By Laura Jane, also from Brit Bee…
And this project…

by Fiona another member of Brit Bee.

Bet you didn't know what a talented lot of bees that I rub shoulders with!
Congratulations to all my bee buddies with their publications. 

Di x

Edited to add: Look on page 89 and see who has quilted Katy's quilt - yes another Brit Bee my good friend Trudi. What a talented bunch of friends I have!

The Geese Have Landed

I thought that I would show you how my 2013 hipBees quilt has turned out. I spent most of last week piecing flying geese for the sashing.

 I had a big dilemma about the outside border as I really didn't want to make anymore geese. The feedback on IG was to continue the sashing into the border. I spent an evening debating this with myself, knowing that it was the way to go. The next day when I got down to it, I realised that I didn't have enough background fabric to do this. I then had to rethink this all over again. I procrastinated for a day and then decided that what geese I could make, I would put into the border. I also chose a busy print for the border, so that the juncture between the sashing geese and the border wasn't too stark.

I know that I am not completely happy with that border but it is the best compromise that I could come up with. The background is actually a self patterned fabric and is no longer available so buying more wasn't an option.

Now for the full quilt..

As you can see it was windy, and just as I had coerced my men to come outside to hold the quilt top for me, it started to rain heavily and then thunder. These are the best shots that I could come up with. I will try again, when the weather is better and the men are free.

My next problem is how to quilt this one. Do you have any ideas? I would really like some help on this.

Di x

Flying in

Today I have been making flying geese - lots of flying geese blocks.

It is a tedious job but hopefully it will be worth it. They are going to be the sashing in my 2013 HipBee quilt. The blocks have been languishing waiting for these geese to be made.

I have been needing cups of tea throughout the day to get me through these. 

Sewing for pleasure - finishes

The first couple of projects that I wanted to finish on my 'sewing for pleasure' bandwagon were two cushions.

I had a great sewing day on Thursday. I completed both cushions by putting a zipped back on both. I sewed down the binding of both cushions sitting in front of the fire that evening. 

Yesterday I went to see Trudi and her new machine. This long arm is massive and I think that Trudi is going to have a ball using it. So if you want a quilt quilted for you then you know who to ask!

Trudi with her Long Arm

Today I have been doing more secret sewing but I can't let the cat out of the bag just yet!

Have a good weekend.

Di x

Sewing for pleasure

I have seen many people in blogland making resolutions about what they want to sew in 2014. For me, I am going to resolve to sew more for pleasure. I have bee commitments, but beyond them, my sewing time is going to be more for what I would like to do rather than what I think I should do. 

This means not getting on the latest sewing bandwagon i.e the economy block craze on Instagram, making the latest quilt or even thinking that I should be making these things. I enjoy making small items and although quilts are great to make, I am in three bees so I will end up with three quilts this year. I also need to think about making a quilt in 2014 for my younger son's 18th birthday in November. I have quilts that also need to be completed so I have plenty of quilt projects on the go.

My first sewing for pleasure project is to finish a couple of cushions. Do you remember these?

Economy block cushion top

Spring Carnival EEP class at Fat Quarterly 2013 Retreat

This morning I have been making cushion backs and binding.

Hopefully I will have binding attached and ready to sew down in front of the fire this evening.

I have also been making another Sew it Together Bag - I really like making bags. This time I challenged myself to use red, as it is a colour that I never use, and also do a little hand sewing on the outside.

Another Sew it Together Bag

This bag has been posted this morning as it was made for a friend's birthday.

So come back soon and see how my 'sewing for pleasure' campaign is going!

Di x

New Year sewing

I have been doing a lot of sewing recently and I have been having a lot of fun pottering around with fabric and ideas. The downside is that some of the sewing is secret so I can't show you all of what I have been doing just yet.

I have been doing my bee blocks…

These beautiful butterfly blocks are for Lucy in the Bee a Brit Stingy. Lucy gave us an easy block to do and also a more difficult blockm if we wanted to do it. I chickened out and did two of the easier blocks.

Lucy is going to make a butterfly quilt for her middle daughter. I think that it will be the perfect quilt for a little girl.

In the HipBees, Collette has sent us fabric to make an off centre log cabin block. I sewed this up as enders and leaders whilst sewing a secret project this afternoon. It was a quick way to do two projects at once!

One little project that I can show you, is a book cover that I made for my niece as part of her Christmas present. I forgot to show you this at the time.

Once I have my secret sewing completed and in the post I will reveal all.

Di x