Since I can't show you .......

........ what I am working on at the moment, I thought I'd show you a couple of small quilts I made in 2006 or thereabouts.

Tulips from Harrogate.
This was adapted from a pattern in a Fons and Porter magazine.  I foundation pieced it, and it was made as a shop sample to show a small project that could be made from a few charm squares.  It would make a lovely table runner, but I don't use it as one in case I spill something on it and spoil it!

Sunset over Yorkshire.
I was given the pattern for this by Mrs PennyPot.  It is by Jenny Rayment- she of the fabric twiddling fame.  Mrs PP went on a course being run by her, and brought this back for me.  I love it, but so did my father, so guess where it lives now?  I think I'm going to have to start calling him Mr QuiltFan.

I'll be back soon, with some more quilts and other ramblings - well, you know me, I can't keep quiet for too long.  Oh yes, and keep checking up on me, soon I'll be able to show you what I've been up to.

Excuses, excuses ...........

Dear Blogland Police

Please excuse QuiltSue for her absence from blogland recently.

This has been due to a combination of unavoidable domestic events.  Firstly, Mr Fixit has been in hospital for his gallbladder op, and secondly her laptop died, totally at the same time.

Mr Fixit is now home, minus his gallbladder, and really, you would not know he has ever had an operation and she has bought a new laptop, so hopefully life can now return to what passes for normal around her.

Thank you from

QuiltSue's Conscience

Bloggers' Quilt Festival

Amy's at it again - she's found a way for me to not do the housework today!  She's now hosting her third Bloggers' Quilt Festival.  To take part, you have to show one of your quilts and then share it's story, then post a link here.  That's also the link to go to to see over 420 (so far) quilts.

So, without further ado, here's my entry for this year.  I started this quilt a few years ago as a mystery quilt.  When I had finished the top, I decided I hated it, so it went in a cupboard and was ignored for some years.  When I got my long-arm machine
(aka Big Bertha), I needed "stuff" to practice on.   That's when this top saw the light of day again.  I spread it out on a bed to work out how I was going to quilt it, and guess what?  I loved it!  It's only trouble was that it wasn't big enough for a bed quilt.  Luckily, I managed to find some marble fabrics that were an almost exact match and I still had some of the original fabrics too, so 3 borders later, I had a quilt top that fitted our queen size bed, and I am really happy with it. The only thing is, it's just dawned on me that this is one of the few quilts I've made that doesn't have a name.  Any suggestions anyone?
Now I am off to look at some more quilts - perhaps I'll meet some of you there?

Wishing and hoping and hoping and praying ............

...... remember that song?  Yes, I know I'm showing my age here but hey you've only got to look at my photo to see I'm not 21 anymore.


What am I wishing for?  Well I probably shouldn't tell you this, but there are a few people who are giving me (yes, OK, and you) the chance to win a copy of EQ7.  How wonderful would that be? So I've entered the draws on these blogs: Quilt Whangarei, Mequilter, Highway Cottage  Cherry House Quilts,and Handcrafting with Love. (There were other blogs too, but they have finished their competitions.)

Just remember though, you musn't enter these giveaways as that will reduce my chances of winning!

It's coming ...............

.......... "What is", you're all wondering.

Electric Quilt 7

that's what.   Now I currently use another software package for wasting time designing quilts, but I've just been looking at the website and reading about EQ7, and I have to say

I want this programme.

The list of features it contains is just completely amazing, and would keep me playing on the computer even more than I do at the moment.  Apparently it's due out in mid-June, but my birthday isn't till January.  Hmm I'm going to have to think about this one............................. 

Look what happens when I go skiing .............

OK, hands up everyone who thought they were going to see a picture of me with a leg in plaster?  No, the sort of skiing I do is Spending the Kids' Inheritance!  (Why anyone should want to do the other sort, with all that horrid snow and falling over and so on is totally beyond me, but this sort is fun.)  As you all know, I collected my new frame from Martha who makes the New English Quilter (you can see it here ), last week.  I could not set it up straight away, but we put it up at the weekend, since when Bertha and I have done 3 quilts on it.

The beauty of this frame is that it is all handmade, and they will happily customise it to your own requirements.  Being tall, I wanted mine to be a bit higher than average.  Being downright fussy, I also wanted to be able to set it up at a length of 6ft, 8ft or 10ft.  Being awkward, I use a PCQuilter, so I needed very specific distances between the runners.  Being very flexible, they were happy to do all this for me.

Here's another view of it.  Doesn't Bertha look comfortable on her new perch?

A lovely day .....

.... today we went and collected my new quilt frame.  It's beautiful.  Tomorrow we'll put it together and then I'll take some pictures.

On the way home we stopped at a pub near Lincoln, and had a fantastic lunch - the steak and the gammon were probably about the best we've ever eaten.  It's a shame it's about 75 miles away, which is too far to go for lunch, although my father is now trying very hard to convince me it's almost like our local pub!

It's finished ........

When I was talking to Bilbo the other day, she pointed out that I had never shown any pictures of the back garden since you saw this, in December. Trust us to decide to have it all dug out in the wettest November and snowiest December for decades!

Anyway, after many delays because of the snow, it was finally finished, and a couple of weeks ago we bought a few plants, and here is what it looks like now.

Of course it still needs a lot of plants, but we'll take our time over that.  I've got some clematis on order and some summer flowering bulbs, but other that those, we haven't decided what else we want to put in yet.

Who knows, perhaps I'll post about some quilting next time?

Hello, is there anyone out there ....

...... who still comes to visit me?  I've been quiet for so long, you've probably all got bored and found new friends.

We had a lovely family Easter but can anyone tell me when your kids grow up?  How did Mrs Nomad end up with yoghurt all over her face, courtesy of her little brother Mr Teacher?  I only turned my back for a moment and that's what happened.

On Saturday we had a lovely dinner of lasagne followed by Lemon and Lime cheesecake, all made by Little Person - OK Mummy helped a bit. 

He also helped Mr Fixit to feed the birds:

In my last post I was struggling to make those rectangles.  I finally did it, BUT... I forgot what would happen when I joined them together - no nice sharp points.  I'm not doing that design now.  I am having dreadful trouble with precision in my piecing at the moment.  I blame my new glasses, but my father has another theory.  He reckons the new specs just mean I can see that my piecing is inaccurate now.  How cruel.  Just wait till he wants another quilt.

How many ........

......... attempts does it take to make one unit like this when you're trying to do it without having to make a template?

Answer?  Quite a lot. I got there in the end though. 

Mind you, I would rather not hear anyone saying they think it would have been quicker with a template.  I know it would, but my middle name is Stubborn.

Have a Happy .........

...... International Quilting Day.  I hope everyone manages to get some time with their fabrics and threads today.

International Quilting Day isn't celebrated much here in the UK, but I think it's quite big in the US and I'd love to hear what other people are doing to mark the day.

Poor(ly) me

Had you noticed how quiet I've been lately?  That's because I've got bronchitis and shingles.  To add to that, I've reacted badly to 2 different asthma inhalers recently, fingers crossed it'll be third time lucky, and I went for my annual eye check last week only to be told I'm developing cataracts in both eyes.  Just not my week/month/year so far is it?

Anyway, hopefully the antibiotics will sort out the bronchitis, paracetamol for the shingles, a new inhaler and carrots for the eyes will get everything sorted out.

Meanwhile, Happy St Patrick's Day.

and the moral of this story is ..............

First I'll set the scene for you.

I have had my Big Brother sewing machine for about 7 or 8 years now.  I do love it, but I have always wished it had a seam guide to help me sew a nice, straight 1/4" seam rather than having to eyeball it whilst keeping my fingers crossed, which I can tell you is not an easy way to feed the fabric.

A couple of days ago, I was looking through the instruction book to check something, and guess what I found?  A picture and some words about a seam guide.  What?  Have I got one of these?  So I start rootling through the bag of extra feet and accessories that came with Big Brother and guess what I found?  A lovely seam guide.  So now I'm a happy me.

The moral of this story?  Always read the instruction manual.

Shhhh, it's a secret ..........

...... so I can't tell you what I'm working on at the moment, so I thought I'd show you some pictures of a quilt I am especially proud of.  It is hand quilted and the design started from the Sanderson Star in the centre, and I just made it up as I went along from there on.  It's a queen size quilt and it took me about 6 months from start to finish in 2004 - 2005. It was difficult to get good photos, but I think you can see it fairly well in these pictures if you click on them to get a larger view.

 

 

Good news, bad news and an announcement.

The good news is that Mr Fixit has gallstones.  The bad news is that Mr Fixit has gallstones.  This is good news, as the suspicion was that it might have been cancer.  The bad news is that he now has to have 2 operations to firstly remove some which have escaped from his gall bladder, then he will have to have his gall bladder out.  It could have been so much worse though.

Now the announcement.  SewCalGal is having A Golden Quilter awards ceremony.  Here is what she says on her blog here:

Anyone can nominate a candidate who has made a difference in the world of quilting. Key awards will be given for the following categories for 2009 that are the most inspiring :

1) Designer:
2) Teacher/Instructor:
3) Author: Most inspirational
4) Quilt Store (physical)
5) Quilt Store (online)
6) Best Long Arm Quilter
7) Most Innovative new product (physical item)
8) Most Innovated new product (software item)
9) Most influential person in the world of quilting to-date, aka "Lifetime Achievement".

If you haven't yet submitted your nominations, you can submit via email or by posting a comment on this blog.  Visibility to all announcements will be made March lst, when votes for winners of the Golden Quilter Awards will be accepted...and entries to a March Golden Quilter Awards giveaway will also be accepted.
    
Do go and enter your nominations, you might even win a prize if you do.

Finished...........

...... well, almost.  I've still got to put the binding on.  This is the quilt that Dad claimed at the end of last year.  It was made from a jelly roll and a pattern from Kim Brackett's book "Scrap Basket Surprises" and I quilted it yesterday.

I used an allover design which was chosen by Professor, who happened to be here when I was trying to decide what pattern to use.  It is somewhat more dense quilting than I usually do but I am very happy with the result, and so was Big Bertha I think, cos she didn't skip any stitches at all!

Happy anniversary .........

........ yes, we were married 43 years ago on Valentine's Day. The date was chosen by Mr Fixit.  "Aah, how romantic" I can hear you saying.  Sadly, no, not romantic at all.  His reason was that if we got married on that day, he would never forget our anniversary.  Well guess what?  He forgot our first anniversary, until my mother reminded him!  I can promise you he's never done it again though!

Happy birthday to me - again..........

....... The postman came down my path yesterday with a huge box in his hands.  It was addressed to me and was from my bloggy friend Yuki.  I couldn't think what it was.  Well, when I opened it, just look at what was inside:  there was loads of gorgeous batik fabrics, some great patterns, a ruler set that will be really useful for doing triangle-rectangle thingies, some wonderful shower gel (which isn't in the picture cos it's already being used so is in the shower room) and some fun teabags.  Each bag has a funny joke or quote on the tag - things like "well-behaved women rarely make history" .  I love it all.  Thank you so much Yuki.

A mathematical puzzle ...............

........... so, here I am with 15 blocks in front of me.  8 of Block A and 7 of Block B, all with a directional print in the centre.  I want to turn these into 3 rows, 2 as block A, Block B, etc and 1 starting with Block B.  How many errors can I make when it's late and I'm suffering with a cold and a bad throat?  We tried to work it out last night, but when we got to something like 192 to the power of............. my eyes glazed over and my brain stopped working.  Actually I don't think it was working in the first place, which is why I made so many mistakes.

Have you seen..........

............ this fabric?

My friend Bilbo, a quilter with the biggest stash in the world, is in desperate need of a yard or two of this. 

You can read more about her desperate plea on her blog here.  She's searched Quiltshops.com, most of the big stores and even googled, all to no avail, so now she's appealing to her quilting buddies.  Obviously, she's happy to pay the current price for it, so if anyone has some lurking around their sewing area that they don't want, please would you consider liberating it and sending it to here?

Since I feel a bit responsible, cos it was a comment from me that had her dig out some unfinished blocks that use this fabric, I thought I'd better send out an SOS too.