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

Ahead of Schedule!

What with all the secret sewing going on around here, I'll show you what I did at the weekend!

No, not that!  (though I am particularly chuffed that my 'Couch to 5K' training is up to 2.6k after only 3 weeks!).

This is the next block installment in Brit Bee R4.  Designed by Di and made for Ange!

The block isn't due until next month, but I knew AMH feathers can be a bit challenging.  I decided to foundation piece mine, and it worked a treat!

I also got a couple of Churn Dash blocks made for Bee Blessed.  They are collecting these in until 14th February, so still plenty of time if you fancy making one or two!

Happy Thursday!

Jude xo

The Other Side!

Well, that's it for another year! We made it through to the other side of Christmas, relatively unscathed (if several pounds heavier)!

I hope you got some time to relax and have fun too!

When all my work-sewing commitments settled down, I was able to catch up on the next Brit Bee block:

This block was designed by Jo and will soon be on its way to Sarah, made in her choice of colours.

It is quite an involved block, and I was disappointed to lose a point here and there, but overall I'm pleased with it and I think it looks really pretty!

And speaking of blocks, I made these blocks for Bee Blessed earlier in the month but forgot to blog about them!

These blocks will be destined for a 'Man' quilt, and there's still time to make one or two for the lovely ladies at Bee Blessed.  You can get the tutorial here.

And the final bit of December sewing to show you was a box of treats I sent over to the 'Fab Five' in my daughter's uni flat!

'Stocking' door decorations and cornets filled with chocolates!

Key fobs and recycled denim coasters!

The box also contained candy canes,  fun beer mat masks & homemade peppermint creams!  Needless to say it went down a treat!

Happy Holidays!

Jude xo

Brit Bee Round 4!

We are off and running!

Brit Bee Round 4 is a go, and it's just as well we have a super-complicated clever table to keep us on the straight and narrow!

Said table was designed by the equally clever Hadley, who I just happen to be making for this month!!

Here's the science bit...

This block was designed by Susan, made by me, for Hadley!! (next month I will make Jo's block for Sarah! Savvy?)

You see, we have each designed a 15" x 30" block, so over the course of the year, we will make each other's blocks, in the colour/fabric preferences of the next person in the table!  At the end of 12 months, we will each have received 12 blocks (made by others) in addition to our own 15" x 30" and 15" square starter blocks, to make up the quilts as we please.

I'm so glad I'm in a bee with really smart & talented people!!

Jude xo

Blackberries and Maples!

You may be surprised to know that I was quite the domestic goddess today! (even I'm surprised!)

I made soup from homegrown tomatoes, basil, tarragon & celery; YUM

Made a fruit crumble from homegrown apples, white currants & 2 raspberries (and no shop bought crumble mix either! Oh no!  I made my own cinnamon crumble!); DOUBLE YUM

And .... (hold on to your hats) made a Victoria sponge, from scratch, with homemade plum jam (made by my friend!)!

I even took my youngest blackberry picking!!

I'm in danger of growing my hair long, dying it black, and considerably upsizing my hips!!

And there was some sewing too!

Pears & Mini Maple leaf blocks from Farm Girl Vintage

This is my block in Brit Bee Round 4.

This year we are each designing a block to make up 1 quilt design. At the end of our year(ish) we will all have the same quilt design, but made with a block from each of the other 11 members to go with our own block.  Clear as mud?!

We also make a 15" centre block to get started.  Because of the Farm Girl Vintage vibe going on round here, I thought I'd use the baby chick block I'd previously made from the book, bringing it up to size with Low Volume borders.

Thank you everyone for your lovely comments about being Cover Girl for Sewing World this month!

I heard today I made a double entry in October issue of Quilt Now!  Woohoo!  When I get to see a copy I'll post some pics here of what I made!

Have a fab weekend!

Jude xo