FF, FFF, and ...

...  an NS.

No, despite what the title of this post might suggest, I haven't gone completely nutty, I just liked all the alliteration.  So the title could have read Finally Finished (quilt), Finally Finished (flimsy) and a New Start, all of which I thought I'd show you now.

 So, first up is my Finally Finished quilt

     

I started this quilt in June 2011 and made it during our Christmas Quiltalong days that year. It is based on the pattern Over and Under from Scrap Basket Sensations by Kim Brackett .  I did not achieve my aim of having it ready for Christmas of 2011 and nor was it ready by Christmas 2012 or even Christmas 2013.  Why?  Well, first let me explain that I have an interesting approach to tidying up the house when I need to. What I do is I gather up things that need to be put away, and walk around and open up a cupboard as I pass, (almost any cupboard will do,) and as long as the "thing" fits in fairly easily, that's where I put it.  That means that I don't always find things easily later on of course, but that's another matter altogether.  Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I opened a cupboard, took a couple of things out, and there, in front of me, was this quilt, which I had completely forgotten about.  I pulled it out and discovered that all I needed to do to finish it was hand sew two sides of the binding down and bury all the ends.  So that's what I have done during the past few evenings.  I have renamed it Red Wreaths and it is adorning a chair in the living room now.

Next is my Finally Finished Flimsy

 This is my version of the Big Stars quilt that Missouri Star Quilt Company designed and showed as a tutorial on YouTube, here.  I started this quilt last year during the summer, before I went on holiday.  When I came home again, I had the pattern for Heartfire and a bundle of fabrics which were calling (shouting actually) to me, so I started that quilt instead.  I must say that before I pulled out Big Stars again last week, I decided I didn't like it so I was just going to use some of the blocks and make a throw instead of a king sized bed quilt.  However I changed my mind when I found that I had already made ten of the twelve stars I needed, so I got on with them, added the sashing, and finished it.  The photo is not very good cos I put it on the bed but couldn't really get far enough back to get the whole thing in the picture.  I am very glad I finished it though, and now it's in the box with Heartfire, Country Charmer and several other flimsies all waiting till I get Big Bertha out to work her quilting magic on them, and that may happen after ...

My New Start

becomes an FFF.

Yesterday I had a lovely day with my friend Scrappy.  She came over for the day, and brought a couple of dies to use on my Go! cutter, so she spent a lot of time cutting out leaves, pumpkins and acorns.  I had also shown her my Heartfire and she loved the hexie blocks, so she has now ordered the pattern for that, and then we also saw a bag pattern that we both liked, so that's on order too.  She also brought some yummy flapjack with her and a delicious lemon cake, and I am ashamed to say that we were so busy having fun that I did not take one single photo!

Heartfire ...

... is now a finished flimsy.

I decided to just go with one border, in the red tone on tone, as you can see, but I was worried that the red might be a bit overpowering, so I thought it'd be a good idea to put another, smaller hexagon block in each corner.  

When I had that bright idea, I didn't think it through very well.  How do you turn a 5" hexagon into a 6" square?  (The answer is :with difficulty and quite a bit of waste of fabric by the way.)  After several false attempts, I did it by adding oversized 60 degree triangles to four sides, then cutting them down to a 6" width and adding strips to the other two sides.  It may have taken me a whole day, and a lot of fabric to do it, but I think it was well worth it.  

Now all I have to do is decide how to quilt it.  Any suggestions anyone?

She's already a star ....

.... but soon she's going to be an even bigger star.  Who?  Why Lovely Lynn from Sew'n Wild Oaks of course.

Lynn is going to be appearing on The Quilt Show talking about her Patchwork Math system. If you haven't heard of it, Lynn has produced a reference manual, called Patchwork Math,

which contains all the basic equations for making various components (ie HST's, square in a square, etc) and also for changing sizes so you could design your own blocks easily.

She taught this class for the first time at the Quilting in the Garden show last summer and Alex Anderson got to hear about it.  Lynn was teaching this class again last Saturday and Alex Anderson herself sat in to see how it could fit into a segment of the show.  I rather think Lynn had butterflies (or flying geese as Naughty Nancy said) but she obviously did a great job cos it's now official and the news can be shared - pheww, keeping this secret has not been easy.  Lynn will be filmed in June of this year, but the show won't go out until 2015.  That gives you plenty of time to make sure your subscription to the show is up to date so you don't miss Lynn becoming a great big STAR.
Congratulations Lynn, this is a well-deserved recognition, and I couldn't be happier for you.

Ha, flipping Ha ...

... it was my birthday the other day and I got 2 cards I thought I'd share with you

The first one, from my father, but chosen by my daughter said

You know you're getting older when

• Your shoes get more and more sensible
• You don't tick the first age group box in questionnaires
•  You'll pay anything for a pot of anti-wrinkle cream
• Your mirror refuses to lie
• Your natural hair colour is only available in a bottle
• You can put weight on just thinking about chocolate
• Hangovers last 3 days
• By the time you're ready to go out, it's time to come home again 

Thanks Dad, and Mrs Nomad.

The second card was from my son and said

Mum had just read so much about the terrible effects of both chocolate and alcohol that she immediately decided to give up reading.

Thanks Son.

 I share my birthday with Chatterbox, so on Sunday we all went out for lunch.  I had asked the restaurant to arrange a birthday cake, which they did.  At the appropriate moment, ALL the waiting staff processed through, with one of the waiters carrying a cake with a huge sparkler and they were all singing Happy Birthday and then almost all the diners joined in too.  How to embarrass a 12 year old.

Sorry Chatterbox.

My clever friend ...

... previously referred to on here as Mrs Flummery, but known to Amazon regulars as a reviewer called Ignite, has just had her first book published. Here's what Amazon have to say about her

Kath Middleton is no stranger to the writing world, having had several of her short stories published in anthologies and many of her drabbles published online and in 'Beyond 100 Drabbles', a collaborative book alongside author Jonathan Hill. 'Ravenfold' is Kath's first foray into longer fiction, a book which she describes as mediaeval noir. Her many hobbies and interests include reading, gardening, geology, archaeology, patchwork and quilting, and keeping chickens. And, of course, she continues to write. Watch this space!

(Confession:  I copied this picture from Amazon without their permission.  Hope they don't mind.)

I haven't read it yet, as I am reliably informed by someone who knows (ie the author herself) that it probably isn't my sort of thing, but you can click here if you would like to know more.

Disclaimer:  I've not been paid to write nice things about Kath, or her book, but it's never too late Kath!

My New Year's resolution should be ...

... to listen to myself.

Why do I say that?

Well, do you remember these

which then became these

Well, yesterday they became these

and today they are becoming these

In other words, when I started adding the connecting triangles I did worry that the fabric was too busy. After joining the whole top together, something was not right. The blocks weren't standing out the way they did when I had them on the design wall.  

Christmas was coming though, so the whole thing got put away and then a couple of nights ago I had a Eureka moment when I realised what the problem was.  When the blocks were sitting on the design wall looking beautiful, they were on a plain white background, and using a print as I then did, was completely wrong for me.  

So I then spent 24 hours or so wondering if I was going to leave well alone, or if I was going to take the whole thing apart and start again with a different background.  

Now I know me well enough to know that if I was not happy but went ahead and finished the quilt, I would then bury it at the back of a cupboard and never use it, which would have been such a shame when I loved the design so much.  So, out came the stitch ripper, and I set to and unsewed the whole thing.  I am now starting to put it all together again with my favourite Kona Snow, which I love for backgrounds, and I am a very happy person again. So maybe, just maybe, next time I am doubtful about something, I will listen to myself before going too far?  

Hmm, maybe, but then again .....

PS Any one have any bright ideas about what to do with about eighty 60degree triangles?

To all my friends ...

Happy Christmas ...

 . . . to all my friends

Now, the party's over ...

.... and I guess that today is the wrap-up post for the 2013 Christmas Quiltalong and Challenge.  Boohoo.

Happy Hazel and Jolly Jo have been the most wonderful hostesses this year, and have given us lots of fun each month as they invited us to join them.  There have been games, party foods, drinks and even some competitions and I'm sure you would like to join me in saying thank you to them both as we put away our party hats and streamers.

Thanks too, to everyone who joined in the challenge I set this year.  I have enjoyed seeing the quilts that people came up with.  and if anyone missed them, you can go here to see the entries.  As I promised, I asked Mr Random to select a winner from among the entries and he chose

and number 8 is .............

Sunny

Congratulations Sunny, and thank you all again for taking part in the challenge.

Music ...

Here's some traditional Christmas music to listen to while you are browsing through the great Christmas Challenge entries, which you can find here.

Just in case "traditional" isn't your favourite, here's a very new Christmas song, that will bring back memories to those of us who were either kids in the 80s (I wish) or parents of the kids of the 80s.

Christmas QAL & Challenge

It's here.  It's now.  What is it?  It's the Grand Parade of Christmas Challenge quilts we've all been working on this year.  You know, that easy-peasy challenge that someone dreamed up to make a small Christmas quilt without using red or green. Well, today's the day to show the world your creations by simply linking up  here:


You can link your entry up to the end of Monday 16 December, and on Tuesday I will use Mr Random Generator to choose an entry to win a prize.  It's easy to do this.  Just write a post about your quilt, you know, things like how you made it, where the idea came from, etc, and put your blog address in the link so we can all come and visit and admire your quilt.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go out as I am due to stand outside one of our large supermarkets for a few hours, with a collection tin in my hand.  I'm hoping the festive shoppers will feel generous and put lots of money in to help our local hospice.  I'll be back at lunch time, and will link up my own entry then.

Scrappy's Christmas Challenge

This is my friend Scrappy's entry into the Christmas Challenge.  I'm posting it on my blog, as she does not yet have a blog of her own.

Anyway, as soon as she heard the details of the Challenge, an idea popped into her head, and this is the result.  Her vision was a gift box bursting open with all sorts of sewing items flying out, and who wouldn't love a Christmas box just like this one?

This is a completely original design idea, with Google helping her to find a picture of a box that she could base her design on, and the gifts are all applique, embroidery, etc, all embellished with buttons.  Here are a couple of close ups - I have to say, I love the books.  Wonder why?

I can't remember the exact dimensions of the quilt, but I was there when Scrappy cut the background fabric, so I can assure you that it is well within the size restrictions somebody set for this challenge.

I think this is a brilliant entry.

Challenge entry no. 2 by Bilbo and I

... or Kinky Boots, as we call this quilt!

On the same visit, Bilbo and I then started to get carried away (or do I mean we "should have been" carried away?)

We were talking about the Challenge and started thinking about Christmas songs, and there was one we both liked was "When Santa Got Stuck Up the Chimney".  We then applied some lateral thinking to it (and no, we hadn't started on the red wine at that point), and we thought how funny it would be if Santa was wearing his very best gold high-heeled boots at the time, so, here is our version

This little quilt did a few miles up and down the motorway between us as we each did parts of it. It measures 18" x 20" to the lowest point of the snow.  

Challenge entry no. 1 by Bilbo & I

Ok, well, as the person who set the challenge, it was only right that I entered too wasn't it?  So here is my version of a Christmas tree

The idea behind this was that I really wanted to have a go at shadow trapunto, where you trap wadding under voile, sew round the shape you want, trim away the excess wadding, then lay that all on a background fabric and sandwich and quilt it in the normal way.  The tree itself was adapted from a design by Ann Lauer, which I found in a book called quilting for Christmas  

I started this when I was visiting my friend Bilbo, and I had lots of fun playing in her stash to find exactly the right background fabric.  All went really well until I decided to free motion quilt it.  FMQ is definitely NOT my thing, and some of you may remember me whining and whinging about not being able to do it a couple of months ago.  In the end, dear Bilbo took pity on me and rang and just said "send it to me, I'll do it".  I didn't need telling twice, it was in an envelope and winging it's way to her in a very short space of time.  She did a great job of the quilting, as you can see here

with big stipples round the outside and some tiny pebbles inside thee branches, which has really made them pop.  Thank you very much Bilbo for doing that for me. Although I have not shown a uler against it, this measures 16"  x 22".

To Link up your entry, you need to go to this post, here.

Do you remember ...

...  me telling you about the lovely present I was given by Lynn's grand-daughters before I came home?  Here we are just after they had almst reduced me to tears by giving me this

Well, I have now had it framed, but Mr Fixit hasn't quite got round to hanging it yet for me, but I thought I'd show you what it will look like on this wall.  Isn't it great?  It's a very special memory to me of a very special holiday.  Thank you again for this.

Oh, and after I'd taken the picture, I looked to one side of the sofa to see .....

this scary bear who came home with me as a gift from Naughty Notorious Nancy and her husband. He even wrote me a note to explain that he was practicing roaring in a British accent so no-one would notice that he had come over to the British Isles!  What a clever bear.

Christmas QAL ...

... while QuiltSue's decorating the blog ready for Christmas, we thought we'd just pop in to remind you that next weekend is the final Christmas QAL party for 2013.

We think Quilt Sue is going to be making some of our favourite biscuits.

We think there might be some music.

We think she might share some interesting snippetts about Christmas

We absolutely know there's going to be lots of eye-candy.  How do we know that last bit?  Cos she told us it's going to be the Linky party for the very easy Christmas challenge she issued at the beginning of the year.

So, if you've been working on the challenge, don't forget to get your photos taken and your blog post all ready to link next week but if you don't have a blog, just send them to us and we'll post them on here for you.  We'd love to see all your quilts, even if they're not yet finished (and there's even going to be a giveaway for the entrants).  Oh, and don't forget you can go here to get all the background information about this very easy challenge.

QuiltSue said she's putting the Linky up next Saturday, and we'll make sure she doesn't forget.  We don't think she will though, cos she's already got out the Christmas music CD's and will be decorating the house this week ready for everyone to come and join us.

Can anybody help ...

... my father has been sitting thinking about meals he used to have when he was young. This time he has a craving for matzo balls.  I can remember having them too, with chicken soup of course, every time we went to see my grandmother and I also loved them.  The problem is that Dad wants some and I don't have a recipe.  I've found several online and tried them, but, although some have been close, none of them are quite right.  Dad's family are from Russia and Poland, so I'm wondering if there are any special recipes from that part of Europe? Is any one able to help? Please?

(Clip art licensed from the clip art gallery at DiscoverySchool.com)

By the way, why are they spelled Matzo and pronounce Motza, or is that just my family?

Confessions ...

... of a Country Charmer addict.

I loved this block so much, I made another quilt.  Actually, this was all Naughty Notorious Nancy's fault, as I'll explain.  Just after the quilt-along started, NNN (as I'll call her cos it's quicker than saying Naughty Notorious Nancy all the time,) and I were having one of our email conversations one day and she said wouldn't it be fun to make a second smaller version in Christmas colours.  I agreed that it would, never dreaming what was coming next.  Am I naive sometimes, or what?  Yep, she issued a challenge to me to make another one and she would too.  Well, I'm not one to ignore a dare like this, so I agreed.  We thought it'd be fun to keep it secret from Lynn until today, and reveal our "Mission Impossibles" during the Grand Parade, so here, without further ado is my secret challenge version

As you can see, I decided to make a Christmas topper this time with just 5 blocks, and to set them on point.  My friend Bilbo had joined in when this QAL started cos she loved the quilt too, but she had not been able to keep up due to demands of her garden, etc. Then one day, I showed her my drawing of this version, and she loved it, so she decided to get going again and make a similar version, which you can see on her blog.  

So, as you can see, NNN has a lot to answer for, and now I'm waiting to see if she managed to take up her own challenge, when she finally gets up.

Now here's another photo, this time being beautifully modeled by my little gingerbread friends. Yes, I should have smoothed the borders out properly before I took this photo, but it was late, I was tired, etc, etc ....

Remember, be warned, if you're talking to her, NNN is obviously the one who always got all her friends into trouble when  she was at school!

Country Charmer ...

... Woohoo, it's today, it's today.  Can you tell I'm excited?  Today is the day when we get to see some of the beautiful Country Charmer quilts that have been made this year.

Before I show mine, I'll give a little background.  Lynn from Sew'n Wild Oaks designed this quilt last year, and I fell in love with it as soon as I saw the design.  I was determined that I was going to make my own version one day and then I had an email from Lesley, the Cuddle Quilter, saying that she was thinking of running a quiltalong this year to make it.  Well, that was all I needed, so I was immediately on board.  Lesley's idea was that she wanted it to be a very easy going affair where we could all work at our own pace and report once a month by joining the Linky-parties she held. So Lesley,our Laissez-faire Leader set us all on the road to completing a beautiful quilt.  Lovely Lynn, the designer had written wonderful instructions and even provided block layout sheets to make it easy for a scatterbrain like me to keep all 53 pieces required for one block under control.  Lynn has also been with us every step of the way, and posting handy tips and hints for us all on her blog.  Thanks to both these wonderful ladies, I now have a quilt (top) that I love.

I have asked Santa if I could have an early Christmas present of some 48 hour days, so that I could get this quilted, but I obviously haven't been good enough this year, cos that hasn't happened.  Now I'll just stop chattering and show you my version of it.

As you can see, I decided to go "off-piste with my outer border and do a controlled scrappy piano key version.  I did that to use up some of the small scraps I had left from the quilt, and I am a bit scared that might be a sign that I could be turning into a scrappy quilter!

Here's another photo, just because this is my blog, so I can!

I love this quilt, and can't wait to get it finished.  Thanks Lesley and Lynn for running this for us, it's been fun.  Now I'm off here, to see all the other quilts in the parade.

Happy Thanksgiving ...

Oops, important update.  The Country Charmer parade is on Saturday, 30 November, and not tomorrow.  That gives you all time to do your Black Friday shopping then.

... Macy's may have their Thanksgiving Parade today, but did you know there's another important parade happening tomorrow?

Yes, its the final parade of our Country Charmer quilts.  Lesley the Cuddle Quilter has led a quilt-along this year, for people making the quilt which was designed by Lynn.  It has been a very easy going quilt-along, where we all worked at our own pace and where Lynn was giving us great tips along the way about such things as fabric choices, etc.  To see all the great quilts that people around the world have been making, just go to Lesley's place tomorrow and follow the Linkies.  I promise there will be some great quilts to look at.  By the way, not all the quilts will be completely finished, ie mine isn't, but at least I did get the top completed in time.

Finally, Happy Thanksgiving Day to all my American friends