Beauty and The Beast!

A few weeks back I was offered an industrial Singer Sewing machine!

She was originally a factory girl, retired long ago!

I call her 'The Beast'!

She weighs an absolute tonne (it took 3 men to carry her upstairs!) and sounds like a jumbo jet taking off (I hope the neighbours don't mind)!

But boy can she sew, through super thick layers like denim!  And she's fast too, so I'd better keep my fingers well out of the way!

And the latest Brit Bee block I've been working on, was a complete Beast to make (!) but turns out is a Beauty for who I was making it for.

30" x 15"

This block was designed by our Brit Bee Mama Laura Jane (who has just recently become a mama herself!!) and took a lot of patience, unpicking and even more patience! It is by far the most involved block we have made in Brit Bee so far and my attempt is perfectly imperfect!

Love these wee doggies!

I was making for Fiona, in her choice of colours, and I've had the thumbs up from Fi (phew!).

So it looks like my 'beasts' have inner beauty after all!!

Jude xo

Garden Shed Tidy!

Despite the chill factor, the sunny skies we've been having recently mean it is gardening weather once again!

Have you got your summer seeds ready yet?  I've already planted some beetroot and sunflowers, and am trying purple carrots for the first time this year!

So here's a wee project for all you keen gardeners (& sewers) out there!

Photo courtesy of Pretty Patches

This is my Garden Shed Tidy, in the May issue of Pretty Patches.

Handy see through pockets mean you can easily keep an eye on all those seed packets and smaller knick-knacks!  Don't worry, sewing with pvc isn't as tricky as you might think!

And you can keep your scissors and string handy on the clip-on key fobs!

You could easily adapt this tidy to suit a bathroom or bedroom, or even keeping stray envelopes and stamps in order!

Whatever you decide to tidy, enjoy the process and the results!

Happy gardening!

Jude xo

Light And Leaves!

We had the most gloriously sunny day today!

I tried to capture the light on the limited features in my small garden.

Isn't light so inspiring, and seems to make everyone feel much more positive! One of my daughter's names means 'bringer of light' and she does just that, every day!

And here are a few more leaves to tell you about!

Photo courtesy of Sewing World Magazine

This is my Applique Leaves Cushion in the current (May) issue of Sewing World, out now!

Applique can be a little intimidating for novices, especially when thinking of satin or blanket stitching the edges. 

'Raw edge applique' is a great way to introduce new shapes and pictures to your quilting.

This pattern uses bondaweb to fix the stem and leaves in place, and simple top stitching close to the raw edges completes the picture. No special foot needed, no changing the stitch settings on your machine.  Simple, fun and quick!

So if you've never tried applique yet, why not have a go at raw edge applique!  The possibilities are endless!

Happy sewing!

Jude xo

Siblings Together Quilted Blocks

Since I started blogging over 5 years ago, I quickly became part of a wonderfully giving and generous community of quilters.

I have made friends with folks around the world, we have laughed and cried together, shared our achievements, disasters, tips and tricks!

And now and again I get to meet some of these wonderful people in the flesh!

This is an old pic of me and Marie, who comes to Belfast each year, all the way from Oz!
I'm so privileged to call Marie a friend, she is a talented quilter and a truly generous and inspirational person. Today we met again for coffee, and our short time together always goes too quickly!

And she ALWAYS has a gift for me!

Thank you Marie for my pretty roses, and your smiling and passionate heart!

Another way to be a part of this amazing online quilting community is to donate blocks.

Over on the Siblings Together blog, they have put out the call for quilted 20.5" blocks, following this tutorial.

These are super quick and easy to make, and if you want to practise your patchwork and especially your quilting, then what better way than on these 'mini quilts'.

The tutorial says you can either 'quilt in the ditch' (see my tips on ditch quilting here) or quilt them another way.

Here are some examples:

Echo quilting the seams (sewing at least 1/4" either side of the seams) ...

Diagonal lines (mark these out first with chalk or non-permanent fabric marker) ...

Free motion squiggles (you need to drop your feed dogs and attach a darning foot to do this).

Whatever way you decide to make your blocks, have fun with them, and know they will be made up into a quilt for a sibling separated by the care system.

Happy quilting!

Jude xo

Spring Rain Quilt!

Spring rain is something we get lots of here in N.Ireland!!  In fact we also get lots of Summer, Autumn and Winter rain too!

But I'm hoping you could live with this kind of spring rain all year round!!

63" x 63"

This is my 'Spring Rain' quilt, as seen in the April issue of Pretty Patches.

Pretty Patches very kindly sent me the cutest bundle of fabrics called 'Spring Walk' by Little Cube.

While spring can inspire many images, I immediately thought of raindrops (I wonder why!!) and showcased the fabrics in raindrop shaped portholes.

I really enjoyed making this quilt and it was such a lovely bonus to see it on the front cover!

One of the many things I love about spring is that it is the season of growth!  I have been doing a lot of personal growing lately, getting fitter physically and mentally.

And all the new growth in my little garden is a lovely reminder that no matter what is going on in our lives, there are always new opportunities to grow!

Happy growing!

Jude xo

Mama Hen Quilt Complete!

The drive to make 100 quilts for Siblings Together summer camps 2016 continues.

The lovely ladies in the Siblings Together Bee 2 have been helping me put together a quilt full of hens!

11 Mama Hens flew back to Belfast to join my blue Mama Hen!

Aren't they sweet!  And the backing was donated by Sarah (love this generous quilting community).

So that's my ST quilt all labelled and ready to be posted.

The siblings who receive these quilts have been separated by the care system, and get to spend 2 weeks together each summer. The feedback from the charity is that these quilts mean so much to the children who receive them, especially when they realise they get to keep them!

You can read more here about Siblings Together and the stories behind the quilts.

And I'll have another post later this week on how you can help with the ST quilt drive in a super easy and quick way!

Happy Sewing!

Jude xo

Dog Gone Cute!

This month in Siblings Together Bee 2 we were making doggie blocks.

18" x 14"

This is the large block pattern by Sew Fresh Quilts, as chosen by Sally.

Sally gave us free reign regarding colour, as long as the background was bright! I really love how these blocks turn out, but be warned, they are stitch-ripper friendly!!

In other bee news, Bee Blessed are asking for Modified Bento Blocks this month, untrimmed and unquartered:

At this stage the blocks are 16" square, but the talented ladies at Bee Blessed will work their magic on them to turn them into something like this.

If you would like to make a small dent in your scraps box, and contribute to a very worthy charity group, Bee Blessed would love to receive a few blocks.  You can get all the details and tutorial here.

And before I go, I'll leave you with a few pics of my own cute doggy, Poppy.

Happy sewing!

Jude xo

'Nicey Jane' Birthday Quilt

On 3rd April 2015, I photographed this flimsy:

I had acquired some 'Nicey Jane' squares by Heather Bailey, an old line which has long since been discontinued.

I sewed the squares together, with no purpose in mind.  Then folded it away, out of sight, out of mind!

But I'm happy to say, exactly 1 year later (spookey eh?) I finished the binding and it now looks like this:

A friend very kindly quilted this for me on her domestic frame, which enabled me to get it bound, finished and posted to my 'pink loving' niece for her 18th birthday!

I love how pretty these fabrics are.  And did you know that 'Nicey Jane' has been reprinted and is currently available in The Fat Quarter Shop!

I guess if you hold on to something long enough it all comes around again!

Happy hoarding!

Jude xo

Another Runner!

In Sewing World this month, I submitted my Half Hexie Table Runner!

Photo courtesy of Sewing World Magazine

If you have a cute charm pack and 2 long quarter metres you can have this runner top made in no time!

Don't worry, there are no tricky 'Y' seams in this pattern. I used the 5" half hexie ruler to chop up my charm squares (Marmalade, by Bonnie and Camille). (Sizzix also sell a 5" half hexie cutting die).

I love this runner and it sits proudly on my dining room table now!

And if you like your hexies a little bigger, try the 10" half hexie ruler and you can make a quilt using the same construction method.

April issue of Sewing World is in the shops now!

Happy 'running'!

Jude xo

Back In The Saddle!

(Message for Rosemary/Nellieduclos: I'm unable to reply to you directly as your email address doesn't register with your comment.  The tutorial you are looking for is here on my Tutorials page.)

We've had some beautiful sunny days here this week!  And March seemed to go out like a lamb yesterday!  A perfect end to the Easter holidays.

But the Lion seemed to come back today! Boo!

Nevermind, it's a new month, which means new seasons to come! Yay!

Here is my round up mosaic for March:

I also got these bee blocks done for Siblings Together Bee 2 ...

...and some scrappy rail-fence blocks for Bee Blessed.

Bee Blessed is back at the production wheel tomorrow!  You can keep up to date with all our progress and monthly block requests over on the Bee Blessed Blog!  And check out the 2 quilts Bee Blessed are donating to Siblings Together this year!

Happy sewing!

Jude xo