Red Sprinkles anyone?

If you remember, a week ago I had a lovely day playing with red fabrics

 to make these blocks

Well, just before I show you what I have done with the blocks, just look at my unforced error (sorry, but it is Wimbledon fortnight, which I'm watching as I write this).  Really, wouldn't you think I'd been making quilts for long enough to not make silly mistakes like this?

Anyway, here is what those blocks have become.  I'm thinking the quilting needs to be fairly small circles on this one, unless anyone out there in Blogland has any better ideas?

A lovely day ...

... that's what last Sunday was.

I went to a sit-and-sew day with a relatively new and informal group called the Yorkshire Modern Quilt Guild.  This is only a small group of like-minded people who have been gathered together by my friend QuiltHaze and another friend of hers (called Janet, but I don't know if she has a blog or not.)  Anyway, this was only the 3rd meeting of the group, and at the previous one some people decided it would be fun to make scrappy Trip Around the World quilts and swap strips for it - don't worry, I decided that was a step to far for me, so I worked on something else.  If you would like to see some of the blocks, and other quilts from the show and tell time, then just go to the YMQG blog, here.

I was quite brave, by my standards, and cut some of these

and came home with a pile of these

and hopefully will have a finished top to show you in the next few days.

Oh, and this

shows why they say you should always measure twice and cut once!

It was a fun and friendly day, and I am already looking forward to the next meeting, thanks everyone.

Christmas QAL, post 3

Well it's now Sunday afternoon and I've been auditioning fabrics for my challenge quilt.

It's either going to be this one

  or this one.

Decisions, decisions.

I've also done some shopping (I love the internet), so hopefully I'll be ready in a few days to start creating.

I do hope everyone else is enjoying the challenge - I know it's tricky, but then, that's why it's called a challenge.  Remember, there's plenty of time for anyone to join in, just look at the separate Christmas QAL page that our two hostesses, Jolly Jo and Happy Hazel and I have on our blogs for the challenge details. 

Don't forget, the Christmas QAL is now spread over the whole weekend, so there's still time to hop over to Joanna's and join in the fun.  Yesterday she showed us 2 great blocks and a wonderful, diet-busting recipe, who knows what might be in store for us today? 

Christmas QAL, post 2.

I have a confession to make.  Today we have had wall-to-wall sunshine all day, so I haven't done any sewing at all.  I have done some housework, some washing, some weeding, some cooking, some eating, and lots of thinking.

I think I have come up with an idea for the challenge quilt.  It means I need to order a couple of things so I won't be able to start it this weekend, but I'm sure I'll be back at the party tomorrow to do something a bit more constructive in the way of sewing.

In the meantime, thank you Jolly Jo for having us all over at your place for this weekend. I'll see you all tomorrow.

Woohoo ...

... it's Christmas.

Well no, it's not really, but it's the next best thing cos today sees the start of the 2013 Christmas Quiltalong and Challenge.

Between now and December, the 2nd weekend of each month will be party weekends either at Jolly Jo's or Happy Haze's.  These two wonderful people will be taking it in turns to be our hostesses, and this month we're all invited to Joanna's place, Needle, Thread, Happiness.

We all have a separate page on our blogs called something really original like Christmas Quiltalong and Challenge which explains more about everything, and that is also where you need to go to either join the Linky party or just to see who has joined and go visit them. (Just look at the top of our blogs, below the header to find the pages, and click on the tab you want.)  In fact I've just been over to Joanna's and see that she has decorated the place specially for us so it looks very festive, and I also see that Hazel has beaten me to it, so I'm not going to be the first to arrive!

Now, I devised this challenge so wouldn't you think I'd have some ideas of what I'm going to do?  Nope, not a bit of it, so I'm going to take some books and a stripey coffee out and sit on the deck in the beautiful sunshine, and start planning.

I'll be back in a while.

Full Circle ...

... just about 2 years ago, my friend J started to make her very first quilt. Yesterday, she and F came over for the day, and here is J putting the very last stitch in her quilt.

and here it is, finished

and just so you can see the quilting, which was all done by hand by the way

I called this quilt Full Circle, cos when all the blocks were made, they were first laid out altogether in my conservatory, and that is where the photos were taken yesterday.

I think this is a stunning quilt.  Well done J.

Country Charmer update ...

. oops, I'm late again!  How does that keep happening when I don't go out to work, I don't have kids to look after, yet I am always late?  Well anyway, I'm here now to link up with all the other Charming Girls around the world.  It's really a good job that this quiltalong is so laid back, cos my progress recently has been pretty slow, but I am happy to say that I have now finished all the blocks.

Aren't they pretty?  All (all, she said, ha, ha!) I have to do now is decide on the sashing and 9-patch fabrics, and I'll be well on the way to having a finished top.

This lovely pattern was designed by Lynn from Sew'n Wild Oaks, and the quiltalong is being coordinated by Lesley, the Cuddle quilter.  If you pop over to Lesley's now, you can see some other wonderful Country Charmer quilts. Thanks Lynn and thanks Lesley for getting me to climb out of my little box and work outside my usual comfort zone.

Christmas Quiltalong ...

... is coming back.

I am thrilled to say that the Christmas QAL is starting up again, in a new, bigger and better version.  Your hostesses will be Jolly Jo (aka Joanna) from Needle, Thread, Happiness and Happy Haze (aka Hazel) from Hazel's Quilts.

You may have noticed our new button, on my sidebar, please do copy it and put it on your blog to spread the word.

The first QAL will be next weekend, (8 June), and the format will be different this year, but I'll leave it up to the two of them to tell you more.  All I will say is that it's going to be different, and it's going to be exciting.

Did someone ...

... say it's only 211 days until Christmas?

Aaaggghhhh.

Vote NOW ...

The voting is now open at the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  To visit all the categories and vote for your favourites, just go here.  While you're browsing around and ooh-ing and ahh-ing over all the wonderful entries, don't forget that you can also nominate one quilt for the Viewers' Choice award. Don't forget, there's prizes too, just for voting!

 

Bloggers' Quilt Festival, part two.

Here I am again, this time with my entry for the bed quilts category of Amy's quilt festival.

This quilt started as a mystery quilt from a shop in the UK.  I am sorry, I can't remember the name of the designer, but it may have been Debbie Caffrey.

When I had finished the centre I really, really did not like this quilt. So, it got put away, and it languished at the back of a cupboard for about 5 years, unloved, and unwanted.  Then one day, it jumped out of the cupboard, yelling "Look at me.  Look at me"  So I looked.  Then I fell in love with it and had to finish it.

Once I had finished making the blocks for the centre, I knew I wanted it to be a bigger quilt than it was originally meant to be, but that gave me a problem.  I did not have any fabric left over from the blocks to make any more, so I was going to have to add borders.  Another problem - I had bought the fabrics a long time ago, and they were no longer available.  So, off I went to the LQS, blocks in hand, to see if I could find anything similar.  How lucky was I?  Look, I found some tone-on-tone fabrics that were almost a perfect mix, so I put borders on and finished the quilt.

Here's a close-up of the quilting, which also helps to show off the close match of the border fabrics.

I used a plain fabric on the back, which I usually do as that means I have 2 quilts for the price of one, the backing looking just like a wholecloth quilt.

I love this side of the quilt too.

Quilt Stats:

• quilt size: king size
• quilted using a pale yellow thread with a 4-leaf clover all over pattern with the help of Big Bertha and my robotic LA system.

To see the other quilts in the Bed quilts category, and to choose your favourite for the Viewers' Choice quilt, just go here.

OK, I couldn't resist ...

... Amy from AmysCreativeSide.com is currently holding the 5th Bloggers' Quilt Festival, which is a great event with loads of chances to look at some wonderful quilts and maybe win some wonderful prizes too.  You don't even have to have a quilt entered in the show in order to win - how good is that?

This year you can enter two quilts, in different categories, so, of course, I just had to enter one in the throw and one in the bed quilt categories.

My entry for a throw is my Crazy Christmas Trees quilt. 

Of course, I wouldn't be me if I didn't alter the pattern a bit, and with this one I decided to add borders, which the original did not have.  Doing that meant that I didn't have enough backing fabric, and so I decided to really step out of my comfort zone, and make a pieced backing.  I then thought I'd make it even more difficult for myself and settled on inserting a pieced strip diagonally.  

Once January had come to an end, I reluctantly decided that my Crazy Christmas Trees had to be put away  but couldn't decide what to replace it with.  Then I realised that February is Valentine month, so I really should have a red quilt.  So what did I do?  Turned Crazy Christmas Trees over!  Simple.  I have a reversible quilt that I am very happy with.  Mind you, it had been like this for several days before Mr Fixit looked at it one evening and said "when did you make that quilt?"  It's good to have someone so observant around!

 and here is a close up of a couple of the blocks, so you can see the quilting. 

Quilt facts

• Quilt measures 64" x 82" approx - almost a single bed size I guess
• More than 30 FQ's were used in the making of this quilt!
• LA quilted by me (with the help of Big Bertha, my robotic LA system)
• Quilting pattern is called Square Spirals

This quilt is everything I thought I didn't like, ie quite scrappy and with a pieced backing.  Well, you know what?  I was wrong, I don't just like this quilt, I LOVE it!

Now if you go here, you can see all the other entries in the Throw quilts category, and don't forget to start deciding on which ones you would like to nominate for the Viewer's Choice quilts in each category.

My face ...

... must have been a picture.  "Why?" I hear you asking.  Well I'll tell you.

Today Mr Fixit and I went to a carvery for lunch.

I had roast pork, and with it came a piece of crackling.  Yummy, I love crackling.  Anyway, I saved it till the end, but was really disappointed to find that I could not break it with my knife and fork, and it was too big to eat all in one piece.  So Mr Fixit said "put it on my plate then" when I whinged about it.  Thinking what a chivalrous gentleman he was to break it up for me, I did just that.  Guess what he did?  He ate it!!!!  I could not believe it.

So that's why I said my face must have been a picture.

If you're going to San Francisco ....

.... Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair"  says the 1960's song.  Well, I'm going to have to go and buy some flowers cos I AM going to San Francisco (actually a few miles outside it) in September.

I am going to visit the Lovely Lynn, who blogs over at Sew'n Wild Oaks Quilting.  Woohoo.

I have wanted to visit California for ever I think - certainly since Mr Fixit went on business a few times in the late 70's and Lynn has invited me to visit several times, so I have decided that now the time is right. Yippee.

Lynn and I have never met in person, but have become good friends thanks to the internet - you know how sometimes you "talk" to someone, and just know that they are going to become close friends.  Well that's just how it was for us (well it was for me, I shouldn't speak for Lynn should I?)  We have some fun things planned while I am there, including going to the Quilting in the Garden quilt show. I bet there's going to be lots of talking and laughing too.  Whoopie.

Yesterday I booked and paid for my air tickets, so now it's really, really real.

I am so excited, but I don't suppose you can really tell, can you?

Quilting slump no more ....

I hope ....

For the last month or so I've been in a complete quilting slump.  I just didn't want to quilt   I couldn't go near my sewing machine. My mojo had just completely disappeared.  This was made worse by guilty feelings about all the WIPs I have at the moment.

Yesterday I went to my friend J's for the day, and the plan was to sew our little fingers to the bones.  (Don't worry, there was also going to be gossip and food involved!)  I decided I'd quilt a table topper the day before so I could hand sew the binding down while I was there, since I knew that J would want to work on a special quilt she's making.

Anyway, over the coffee and choccie biccies that are an essential start to our days, we started talking, and it turns out that J was feeling rather the same.

That's when we had a light-bulb moment.

We both had the same problem - we were feeling completely overwhelmed by the number of projects that we had on the go at the same time.

So we came up with a solution - we were not going to start anything new until we had actually finished a few things.

So J got out her first ever quilt, which only needed binding, and she cut and sewed binding strips together and then sewed them onto the quilt.  Now she will sew the binding down on the back, and that will be a finished quilt. (There will be photos in a couple of weeks, when it's finished - it's a stunning quilt.)  I sewed the binding on my table topper, then I took it all off cos I had not done it carefully enough, so I had cut off every single point.  This morning I sewed it back on, and now it just needs sewing down.  (I've just pinned it to the back for now so I could take a photo to prove to J that I had done it!)

So now I'll move on to something else, which will probably be my Country Charmer quilt, but may be my Diamond Drops, or I may finish another couple of table toppers.  I don't know yet, but what I do know is that all of a sudden I want to sew again.

Honey I'm home ...

Hello everyone.  Did you miss me?

We had a great holiday, with lots of these

  

loads of views like these

and plenty of views like this (except the plate was not on it's side - thanks Blogger!)

Now all the washing and ironing is done and I'm back to having to cook meals, make the bed, etc.

So now it's confession time.  Today is this month's Linky party for the Country Charmer QAL, where we are all making a quilt designed by Lynn, over here and I know that before I went on holiday I did at least one more block, but do you think I could find it today to take its photo?  Nope.  So no photo, sorry.  However, to have a look at what other people have been up to, then just go to see Lesley, our hostess, over at The Cuddle Quilter, here.

Woohoo ....

Okay, am I the only one? ...

I've cleaned the house from top to bottom, all the washing and ironing is done, I've changed all the bedding and there are clean towels everywhere,

What's going on?

Well, we're off on a steam train holiday tomorrow, and I always worry that any burglars who broke in might think I'm a really bad housewife if I didn't leave the house looking good.

Handy Household Hints 2 & 3....

.... here is the next in my series (well OK, I have written one before) of Handy Household Hints.

Handy Hint 1
If you are planning to pour some disinfectant down the drainpipe in your shower room, do not leave a dark red bath mat right in the firing line, otherwise you will end up with a two-tone mat like this:

Handy Hint 2

Do not simply turn the mat over and then do the same thing again, 

Bloglovin vs Feedly - part 2

A couple of weeks ago, I told you I couldn't decide if I wanted to use Bloglovin or Feedly to help me keep up with what everyone's up to out there in the big wide bloggyworld, so I said I was going to run with both of them for a while and then make a decision.

I have decided.  I have found that for me, Bloglovin is more convenient for various reasons and here are my conclusions:

Bloglovin

•  It was very easy to transfer the information from Google Reader, but I did lose the groups I had things sorted into although it was very easy to put things back into the groups I had used before
• I liked that I could click on a post and comment on it from within Bloglovin, rather than having to go to the actual blog to leave a comment
• When I had read a post it was greyed out, which made it very easy to see my list and see what I had/had not read
• It was easy to mark an individual post or a complete blog as read
• I found the whole site easy to navigate
• I love the option to have a daily email showing the new posts

Feedly

• It was easy to transfer the information and it kept the groups
• I did not find the site so easy to navigate, although once I worked it out I liked the layout options

So there you have it.  I promised several people that I would post my thoughts (only about these 2 sites, nothing else!)   Now for the small print:  These are only my thoughts and conclusions, someone else might think completely differently about the whole subject.

So, having made my decision, I have now put one of Bloglovin's cute little buttons at the top of my sidebar to make it really easy for anyone who wants to, to follow me this way.  It looks like this,

and all you have to do is click on it,  so go on, you know you want to!

There has also been some confusion about whether you will loose your blog if you don't sign up to one of these readers.  As far as I know, that won't happen, although I am now seeing vague suggestions that our follower lists might disappear, which is why I have put this button on the blog.  I am not sure if my followers will disappear into thin air or not, but I would hate to lose someone, so I thought this might help.

Oh my word ...

... it's already 1 April, which means it's time for the Country Charmer quilt update.

If you remember, the Country Charmer quilt was designed by Lovely Lynn, over at Sew'n Wild Oaks, and this do-it-at-your own-pace quiltalong is being hosted by Laissez-faire Lesley the Cuddle Quilter.

So, what I have been up to this month?  Well previously, I was cutting the pieces for one block, then sewing it together before cutting for the next block as this seemed to work best for me as a non-scrappy quilter.  Then I had a brainwave.  Why not cut one set of pieces from each fabric I planned to use, then use the layout sheet to mix and match them up for a block and put the block in a bag, then repeat for another block and carry on until I had all the blocks I needed.  This is when I had another light-bulb moment.  I remembered that Mr Fixit had made me a cutting table of sorts a couple of years ago which I had not been using cos I'd forgotten about it.  I knew that my back would just not put up with the sort of cutting marathon my plan was going to involve so I asked him to set it up for me, then off I went, wielding my rotary cutter at the speed of light and ending up with this:

which soon became this

then all those little piles went into their own bags.  Now all I have to do when I want to work on the quilt is pick up one bag, and I'm ready to start sewing.  While the table was up by the way I also cut out another quilt and several smaller projects, which is my way of trying to explain why I have not made much progress on the blocks this month.  This is where I am so far though, and I still love the quilt.

Our hostess, Lesley is having a Linky party today, so to see more Country Charmer quilts in progress, just hop over to here.