Sunday Stash

Saffron Craig makes some wonderful hand printed fabrics. Although she has a new line of yardage coming out soon, and I can't wait for it - there are owls and parrots and dandelions. Last year I used one of her kits to make a baby quilt for the baby that I so desperately want to have. Well, there's still no baby in my belly - W thinks we have enough with the 2 monkeys. I live in hope....




There are more stashes over at Tam's place. Go check 'em out.

and more sewing

After making up the scrap bags for my shop I got to thinking 'what to do with the teeny bits?'. A bag - sewing hexagons always makes me happy. So I made the drawstring bag. What to use it for? A doll - seeing as I hadn't made one for ages. Since Christmas? I think it was. Cripes, that's an age ago. Was it really that long? This one has a linen face, rather than felt. She uses her bag as a bed when she's sleepy. Bless.
Anyway, she is also in the shop, if you're interested.

I have a week to get a quilt finished for my friend's daughter's birthday. I have started it, it's a coin quilt, so nice and simple. I can't post pics because she lurks about reading my blog, (don't you, Hannah?). I had probably get back to it, and stop sitting here avoiding the subject....

Old Barn Co. Quilt Along

All of my fabrics are cut out for the quilt along over at Old Red Barn Co.. Twelve different Liberty prints. It's going to be beautiful. Well, I think so, anyway!

But the leftovers from the cutting out meant I had more scraps, so I've put together a couple of scrap bags for the shop. Got to keep on de-stashing, right? EDIT; both bags have sold. Thank you!!! (more to come shortly though....)

an afternoon of OUCH!

I spent a couple of hours yesterday getting some more work done on my arm. Which I thought would finish it...but now I can see another space above the inside of my elbow that needs filling, it looks soooo empty (I'm sorry, Mum, but I do really like my tattoos, even though you hate them).
Fil (the tattoo man) says a tape measure, kind of wrapping and looping around the empty bits. Warren says the other gaps might look nice with tiny buttons. I have a feeling this tattoo will keep getting more bits added to it forever. It's very lovely though, isn't it? He's a very very clever man.

Just as we had finished Fil gave me a little finger tash, for Miss G. She thinks they're hilarious. W won't let me have my hands tattooed, he says it's crossing a line you can't come back from, but he was highly amused when I met up with him afterwards, wiggling my little finger tash at him. I might concede that bigger hand tattoos are not for me though, this little scribble hurt like hell.

names in the hat time and more de-stashing

Thank you for all your interest in my de-stash scraps giveaway!

Bag number 1 (the big one) will be finding it's way to Somerset to live with Anne and bag number 3 (the one with the tiny bits) is going to take a trip down under to live with Danielle. There were 2 takers for the wadding - so I shall split the bag in 2 and send you half each, Hannah and Jo, if that's ok with you?

And thank you for buying the bunting from my shop. There are still a few sets left, so if you have any parties coming up need some cheap and cheerful bunting, go and have a look.

EDIT - MORE destashing! I've been sorting out my Liberty prints, and have listed quite a few bits, some FQ size, some bigger.

whilst I de-stash

I've been whipping up a few sets of really simple bunting, to use up some of the bigger scraps I would use, but would prefer to make smaller (to save space, you see)

So, they are in the shop. There's some rocket rascals, some pirates, some cath kidston, and 2d zoo. And only $5 a set (for 2.5 metres) plus free shipping to the uk. I have no idea what $5 is in £ at the minute. Around £3? Cheap, that's for sure. ;)

Don't forget the de-stash giveaway. Just leave a comment on that post, and I'll add you to the hat.

de-stashing

My fabric cupboard is a mess. I really need to get some stuff cleared OUT so I can get IN. Is anyone else this way on a holiday weekend?

First to get the clear out treatment are my scraps. The bin of scraps has been living in the dining room for a while, since it got too full to put away. I've been ruthless, and this is what can go.

Any takers? Free to good homes...or homes that need filling with more stuff, anyway....

There are 3 lots.

First up is an ikea bag about half full of bits varying in size, but all very useful - nothing tiny. I can only post it to the UK, because it weighs a flipping ton.





Some batting scraps. Mostly pretty small/thin - like coaster width. Perfect for practise quilting or for making something small.



and some tiny bits. Perfect for little patchwork - some bits are teeny, there are strips, squares and little bits in here. Quite few Japanese ones, all very nice.



Shoot me an email or leave me a comment here, and I'll do a number in the hat thing if there are plenty of people interested after the weekend. I can mail the batting or the tiny bits overseas, but the big bag can only go to the uk. So let me know what you like the look of and we can go from there. Let me fill your house with stuff you don't need, and stop my husband looking at me like I am dirt.

whizzing through the WIPS

Stray cat - the cat that has decided she is now mine and lives in Ginger's wendy house is getting more and more friendly by the day. Here she is wrapping herself around my legs, and purring too. Poor little thing. She's beautiful, all white, except for the mucky bits. I want to have her in the house, but NooNoo is not a fan, and hasn't been himself since she showed up. No-one seems to know where she has come from, so it looks like I'll have to find a home for her. Well, I have found a home, actually. A crazy, old cat lady the other side of town lost a white cat, I phoned her and she said her cat had turned up again, but if this little lady needed a new home she would be more than happy to give her one. She seemed lovely, definitely a little eccentric, she's been re-homing strays and lost kitties for years.



I'm digressing...a cat can have that effect on me.

I wanted to show you this....




I spent last night quilting it, simply, just in the ditch. I trimmed it down, tidied it up....




and now I've sewn the binding on. Tonight's TV task will be stitching it on to the back. And trying not to sit at a funny angle, because my back is hurting from sewing the binding on to the rocket quilt.

And once that is done it's on to another WIP. My quilt blocks from the sewconnected2 quilting bee need to be turned into a quilt for my bedroom. I was going to sash them, but I rather like how they look all together. I have the border fabric sorted, and I think I've settled on the layout. Maybe 2 borders would be nice. I want it to be quite busy, so once I've sewn the blocks together I can decide which 2 fabrics for the border and corner stones. And then I'll send it off to Christine to quilt it. I might go all out and have it custom quilted rather than one all over design. We'll see. Christine is the wise one, I'll let her decide what looks best.





My sis in law has found out she's having a little baby girl, so it looks like the liberty prints will be turned into something quilty after all. Hooray.

WIPS and finishes

I had a 2 night marathon binding sewing session, whilst battling with the cats as to who was in control of the quilt, the thread and the needle, but I got Ginger's rocket quilt finished. This morning, at the crack of dawn, I washed and dried it, and it's now on his bed. Waiting for him to come home from nursery. And also because his friends, Elizabeth and Phoebe, are coming round later, with their mum (who happens to be my friend) and I want to show off. Heck, at least I'm honest. Cue manic bedroom tidying.

I think the wall above his bed looks bare though. I can't decide what to put there. Maybe 3 pictures. If anyone knows of any I should get, please let me know. Dinosaurs, rockets, animals, transport, spiderman (NO - NO, not spiderman, that was the ginger one talking). Maybe alphabet prints. Hmmm.....




And so we move on to WIP number 2. A lap quilt that has sat around for too long waiting to be finished up. I finally got the back pieced, and now I've basted it. Hubs is away tomorrow, so I can try and ban myself from the computer and get it quilted. Maybe if I do the binding today I'll be more inclined to finish it.
I love these fabrics, by Sandy Klop. This quilt is possibly going to be for a friend, when she has her baby. Possibly. But I love it so much I don't know if I can bear to part with it. That's just selfish, isn't it? I must try hard to give it away. I must.




Yesterday I had a lovely cuppa and sausage sandwich with Brioni. We spent a good 3 hours chinwagging and supping tea. Lovely. Hopefully she will want to do it again sooooooon? Oh, and Brioni - after our chat about Heather Bailey - I bought a load. Thanks for that ;)

Sunday Stash - on Saturday

I'll be busy tomorrow - I'm off for a cup of tea with Brioni, so Sunday Stash is a day early.

I bought these this week in the wilds of Derbyshire when I went to visit my friend, Apryl for a belated birthday magical mystery tour of the Derbyshire Dales (which are beautiful, and I have never visited before, despite only be an hour from mine), a spot of dairy free lunch (thank you Apryl), and some shopping.
I'd like to think the foundation piecing fabric would be used for it's true purpose, that I'd create a stunning grandmother's fan baby quilt...but the more I look at it the more I think it'd be great cut up into blocks and used with 'regular' fabric. Maybe the Jinzenji ones from a few weeks ago, and some linens in different shades of grey.

And speaking of Jinzenji, the date is set for the Festival of Quilts in Brum, Saturday August 22nd. I'll be heading down with Brioni, and meeting up with Trash and Wonderwoman. Will anyone else be joining us?

Quilt Around the World

This is my starter block for the quilt around the world bee. My idea is for a whole neighbourhood of houses, each block showing the personality of the person that made it for me.

The whole quilt should come together pretty quickly, there are 24 of us, and we each get a week to do our block before we mail the top so far on to the next person. I'm really excited to see how it turns out, and to see all of the other blocks people have made in the group. We all have different tastes and abilities, so it's a melting pot of creativity.

The block I made is from Nanette's blog, and was so simple to make. It took me about a half hour from start to finish, including pulling out fabrics and cutting.

Ginger's Rocket Quilt

I went and picked up the rocket quilt this morning, a little bit nervous, a little bit hesitant. What if I hated it? Well, I didn't, I was over the moon (get it?). Chris (the lovely quilter lady) even trimmed it up and stitched all the way round the outside which will make binding it a breeze. Bless her. And I got all the trimmings back too - so I can probably use them for a small cushion, or a seat pad for ginger's chair. Or maybe a laundry bag.



close up....



Summersadie's quilt around the world is up and running. I am trying to decide what block to start with, hopefully I can get it done tomorrow if I pull my finger out. I was thinking a cottage block, like the ones over at Nanette's. If I started with a cottage block, then maybe I'd get a whole neighbourhood of houses, maybe some trees or something like that. That's my plan, anyway. Plus it'd look perfect without sashing.

Whilst I'm here, do me a favour and say hello to my friend Brioni . She has just started a blog. We met right here on my blog. Isn't that lovely? She has two amazing quilt tops waiting at the quilters, I saw them today and it was somewhat of an effort for me not to swipe them both. Unfortunately Chris the quilter was watching. Darn it.

Sunday Stash

Liberty prints in babycord (top 2) and tana lawn (bottom 2). My sister in law and one of my close friends (who I don't see enough but I know is there when I need her, and vice versa - a true friend) are both pregnant, both due around the same time, and both going to find out which flavour baby they are getting. If one of them is a girl I think I'll make a liberty prints quilt in pinks and reds, and probably some linen. And probably a doll to match, and maybe some cushions....

Want to see more stashes? Head over to Tam's and she'll hook you up.

EDIT - the liberty babycord came from ebay, from this seller. I've bought a lot from her over time and she's always really friendly, really fast at mailing out, and reasonably priced too.

I'll be quick...

I'm feeling poorly, Ginger is poorly, we are snot machines (sorry). I have a banging headache, and it's one of those all in your eyes things, which isn't nice at all. The computer hurts my head, and I want to go and have a sit down.....yes, I am moaning, I do feel sorry for myself. I could have swine flu, you know, then you'd feel sorry for me, wouldn't you?

So Mr. Postman popped by today, as he does on a regular basis, with some parcels.....

This one was a complete surprise - I'd seen the bag on Lins' flickr page last week and thought to myself 'I should make a bag like that, it's so lovely'. Well, no need - it's MINE. And today the sun is shining, so it's perfect. My head feels better just looking at it.




He also brought a pin cushion/catch all box from Jean, who I was paired with in a pin cushion swap. It's got 2 packs of clover pins in there too - 2 packs! I am a sucker for clover pins, they might be pricey but they are VERY sharp. The box made me happy, I was very excited by it, but then to open it and find pins inside. The squeak that came out of my mouth was quite something.



I haven't been completely bed ridden. I made some coasters to go with my quilt for the doll quilt swap...




and I bought a doll bed for Ginger's dinosaurs and power rangers...but someone else seems to think it's his...

quilt around the world

Summersadie is organising a fantastic sounding quilting bee, where you start with a block, and end up with a quilt top.
I've signed up (well, you can't join too many quilting bees, can you?).

Won't you join me?

Plus a heads up - I have a few more books ready for destash part 2, including quilting for dummies, crochet patterns for dummies and a Denyse Schmidt quilts book. I'll list them after the school run on Wednesday morning, ok? Just in case anyone is interested.

Sunday Stash

Very, very precious stuff by Yoshiko Jinzenji, an amazing quilter from the home of all things wonderful - Japan.

I have never seen this fabric anywhere other than one place (which is sadly now closed), and when I saw it (and it was on sale) I snapped it up. I have 10 half yard cuts, enough to make a quilt.
She is apparently exhibiting this year at the Festival of Quilts, which always seems to fall on Miss G's birthday. But this year I am going, if only to be inspired and to decide what on Earth I can do with these fabrics to show them off in their simple glory.

EDIT - I was also wondering, does anyone fancy taking a trip to the festival of quilts on the Friday or Saturday? Should we arrange a trip out?