Eggs-hausted!

My classes finished this week for the Easter holidays!

That means I'm officially off work until next Wednesday - Yippee!

Here's a little mosaic of some of the finished and almost finished value quilts that were made by my Thursday class.

My camera doesn't do justice to the wonderful array of colours in these beautiful quilts.

Aren't they amazing!  Well done ladies, and enjoy your beautiful quilts and wallhangings.

Apologies to my Friday class for not taking pictures of the wonderful placemats and coasters they were making!  I didn't quite have my brain in gear yesterday (you can tell I'm ready for a wee holiday!).

Anyways, I did manage a finish of my own this week:

Based on this tutorial.

This is a cushion for my 14 year old niece, whose bedroom is pale pink.

I just went with stippling on the back, and gave my button-holes a bit more practise! 

The auto button hole settings on my Pfaff don't give me a large enough button hole, so I have to combine manual and auto settings, which is a bit of a fiddle, but worth it in the end.

I hope my niece isn't too old yet to still enjoy a cuddle!

Well I'm going 'dark' for a few days now.  Mr Pfaff & my laptop will be getting a much needed rest as me and my family enjoy 3 days of playing board games, watching dvds & reading at the coast.

Have a wonderful Easter break everyone.  Don't eat too much chocolate (oh go on then!)

Make Mine a Skinny!

Skinny sashing that is!

I couldn't delay my niece's cushion any longer, so I just had a go with the pink scraps I already have, rather than buying new (thanks everyone for your brill suggestions - I was druleing over all the beautiful collections and links you gave me!). 

I've been wanting to try Elizabeth Hartman's Mod Mosaic pattern for ages, and this gave me the opportunity.

Some of these pinks are recyled items, curtains etc., the gingham I've had for approx. 100 years! and the rest are mostly leftovers from other projects.  And despite there being quite a few different shades of pink here, I think they kinda work together, and meet the criteria of 'pale pink'!

I was going to put a button holed envelope back on the back (my button holes need the practise, or rather I need to practise my button holes lol!) and buy some delicious girly pink buttons.  Jury is still out on that one, mainly because time is running out & I have a new complication in my week (see below)!

I've also decided to stay 'skinny' with the sashing on my Stained quilt (now more appropriately named 'Stained Blue' - thanks Nicky!  Hadley's suggestion is unprintable!) and will make the outer border larger instead.

Well, today was the first day of the Easter school holidays, and guess what happened?

My footie mad daughter had day 1 of her much loved annual footie camp, but ended up in the Minor Injuries Unit with a very badly sprained ankle.  No footie (or anything else for that matter!) for 2 weeks!  To make matters worse, she had been invited to County level football trials tomorrow night!  Bummer! 

So our Easter break looks a little different now, with the daughter who can't sit still having to sit still for 2 weeks!

I wonder will I have any hair left by the time they go back to school!!

Spring Greens (& other colours)!

I've decided I'm going to enjoy today!

The week has been stressful up to now, and it is robbing my joy of this beautiful weather and season.

So I'm taking the morning off from 'work' (I even had a lie-in, on a school morning - gasp!) and am going to slowly potter the day away.  Just what my (self-diagnosing) doctor ordered!

I've already been out in the garden, enjoying the new bursts of spring colour:

And talking of bursts of colour, I have some pics to show you of our progress in Bee Blessed:

First up, another sampler quilt in green and orange:

Doesn't this one just shout 'Spring'?  Just the back to get pieced for this one and it's ready for quilting.

And Sarah has been beavering away with the orphan blocks (the ones leftover from earlier projects), making up the cutest pram blankets:

The dino quilt was a panel kindly donated by River Fabrics, which has quilted up brilliantly into a cot bed sized boy quilt.

There are a few more still being worked on, and we meet again on Saturday, so I'll have another progress update for you then.

Also, I'll be posting the details of April's block at the end of this week - watch this space!

And now I need your help!

I would like to make my niece a cushion for her 14th birthday next month, using the Mod Mosaic pattern by Elizabeth Hartman.

But my niece's bedroom is pale pink and white, and my pale pinks are sadly lacking.

What collection would you recommend I choose from that fits my criteria, of not being too babyish, but suitable for a girly 14 year old?

All suggestions gratefully received!

Have a great one!