Feeling Old!

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon here:

My daughter was having a 4 hour interview at her first choice Uni for Sept '14. She did brilliantly well at holding her nerve and presenting herself & her amazing art work, while I spent 4 hours in the rather youthful cafeteria, reading this:



I'm half way through already (only started reading it at 1.30pm yesterday!) and am really enjoying it.

A short hop and a skip across the Irish sea and we were home again by 9pm!  I have everything crossed for Shannon, that she gets a place!

And just before I go and help unearth a friend from her under fabric stash, here are some gorgeous applique cushions my Monday evening class have been making.



Aren't they brilliant! These are all 20" cushions with a variety of closures in the back.  Well done everyone!  I've a feeling some Christmas pressies have already been made!

Jxo

Keep Calm and Drink Tea!!

I'm pleased to say I've got all my secret sewing projects completed.

2 of the projects will be revealed soon, I promise!

To more pressing matters, a birthday present for a 'fruit tea loving 12 year old' was required for tomorrow!

I know this particular young lady also loves the colour purple (a girl after my own heart!).  You can imagine the bother I had trying to wrap this one up!

I also managed to make a start on my Christmas present making by cutting out pjs for my 3 girls!

3 guesses who the camo is for!!!

And if anyone living in N.I. is stuck for a present idea, how about one of these?

Vouchers in different values are available.  To purchase a gift voucher, just drop me an email justjudedesigns@hotmail.co.uk.

Jxo

Quilt As You Go!

You may remember 2 mini pouches I made for our Bee Blessed craft fair.

Well they were made with the leftovers from this ....



I really enjoy the Quilt As You Go (QAYG) method of piecing and quilting all in one go!  It's so satisfying using up scraps and leftover jelly roll strips!  And let's face it, we are always generating more scraps!!

This shopper is of generous proportions, and has an inset zipper closure.  I will be teaching it in class next term, and I'm fairly sure folks will enjoy this technique as much as I do!!



I couldn't resist making a wee matching pouch to go with it! 

And in all the hustle and bustle of the pre-exhibition shenanigans, I completely forgot to tell you that I signed up for Rachael's Low Volume Charm swap!  Here are my submissions, which I got from this lovely lady!

Minimalista (Confetti Watermellon); Comma Nigella Multi

2 yards of loveliness all chopped up and delivered.  Now I just have to be patient and wait for a bundle of low volume goodness to make it's way back across Belfast to me!!

Jxo

QAYG Handbag Class (5 weeks) starting Wednesday 12th February, 7pm.

Hush, hush!

The sewing I've been doing lately has all been a bit hush, hush!

I've had to stockpile a few projects until after our exhibition, but now I can crack on with them.

Sorry, but I can only show you sneak peeks and let your imaginations do the rest!  However, I can tell you there is a Brit Bee theme to all of these!!

Taking a risk with this one!  Hope it pays off!

Let's hope the finished project looks better than this crude drawing!

So there you have it! A few 'in progress' shots.  All I need is some time to get them finished by month end!!  Wish me luck!

Jxo

Giant Stars!

I've enjoyed making 2 giant star quilts so far, based on this tutorial.

Well 13 more lovely ladies made their own giants today!



Aren't they fabulous!  I love seeing all the different fabrics, patterns, colours and backgrounds!

Well done ladies!  You are quilting giants!

Jxo

Cosy Toes!

I love socks!  I love the feeling of new socks!  And I especially love the feeling of cosy knitted socks!

The perfect fit!

These bright and beautiful (& oh so soft) rainbow socks arrived on Wednesday from my lovely Finnish friend, Teje!

I was actually so tired & cold Wednesday lunchtime, that I had popped my electric blanket on and got into bed to open my post and answer some emails!! Imagine my delight when I opened T's lovely package!

They have cheered me up no end!  Thank you T! You are a treasure!

Jxo

A Very Special Day!

Last Saturday was our annual Exhibition and Craft Fair/Fund Raiser, where my students get to exhibit all their wonderful makes as well as an opportunity for us to raise funds for Bee Blessed and Oasis Ladies Quilting Group through the craft fair and tea/coffee donations.

It takes a small army of dedicated and talented people to get all our stalls, props and exhibits from this .....

..... to this:

And if you want to make a wee cuppa and sit back and enjoy the highlights of our day, here is a slide show of the special day!



(If you are having difficulty viewing this, click on here and select Slide Show.)

I just want to take this opportunity to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who submitted their items, helped us on the Friday night, came along to visit and buy on Saturday and despite having very tired legs, help pack everything away again on Saturday!  And a special thank you to Gordon, our resident photographer for the day! You rock!

Over £1200 was raised across both charities!  How cool is that!

You are all amazing!  I'm so proud of my students, and I feel so blessed to be surrounded by such a wonderful team of friends.  You never cease to inspire and encourage me! 

Jxo

Poppy Day!

Today we remember those who gave their lives so that we can live today in freedom.

A hand knitted poppy, which I bought from the Oasis ladies at Saturday's craft fair

And 3 years ago, on remembrance Sunday, we met and adopted this cute street kid!

Our very own Poppy!

Her doggy bandana was made for the craft fair on Saturday by one of my ladies!  She loves it!  I hope to update you all soon on the fabulous day we had on Saturday!

Jxo

Modern Mauds

Handbag classes are always fun to teach, and the Modern Maud class finished on a high as we all got to enjoy each others completed (& nearly completed) bags!

What you can't see here are the clever zippered pockets in the linings, and the reinforced bases with cute little handbag feet!

I'm pleased to say that some of these will be going into the exhibition on Saturday!

Well done ladies!  And thank you for temporarily giving up your lovely bags!

The Modern Maud pattern is available here, and will be available to purchase on Saturday.

Jxo

2014!

NEW 'IN STITCHES' PROGRAMME OUT NOW!

Hi everyone, I'm delighted to tell you that my January - April 2014 programme of classes is out now, and you can get all the info here.

Irish Chain Quilt

I always enjoy putting a programme together - you wouldn't believe the logistics involved! 

But the big change to this programme is that I'm dropping down from 4 weekly classes to 3! I'm letting go of my Friday morning class for a while, to give myself a wee bit of ease in the hope I can redress the work/life balance a bit!  It was a really hard decision to make, and I hope my regular Friday girls will pop into some of my other classes.  Monthly Saturday workshops will continue.

I'll tell you all about some of the projects I'll be teaching next year, and the samples I've been working on soon.

In the meantime, here are 2 more contributions to the Bee Blessed craft table on Saturday.

Using up leftover QAYG pieces!

Cheerio!

Jxo

3 Score Years and 10!

Today was mum's 70th birthday!  Happy birthday mum!

We had a lovely evening at my sister's house, celebrating, eating, drinking and of course opening presents.

Mum loved her 'Overs and Unders' quilt and cushion set!  Unfortunately she wasn't allowed to keep it as I needed it back for the exhibition next Saturday!  Sorry mum!  I promise you can have it back after then!

And it wouldn't be a visit to my big sis' house without the usual round of silly pics!

We love each other really!

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

Jxo

54 Sleeps til Christmas!!

Yikes!  It's November!

As usual, the last month has whizzed by in a flurry of thread and wadding!

Here's (some) of what I made in October:

I haven't yet blogged about all of the items you see here, but I hope to tell you all about them soon.

And here are my contributions to the Bee Blessed craft sale table, happening Saturday 9th November:

I may or may not get a few more sale items made.  With only 1 week to go to our In Stitches Exhibition/Fund Raiser, there is still much to do!  Watch this space!

Linking up with Lily's Quilts Fresh Sewing Day!

And for all you Bee Blessed contributors, check out the block for November, over on Sarah's blog!

Jxo