Wonky is the new Straight!

Tonight saw the finish of a summer Wonky Star Cushion class.

It is so lovely to see everyone finish their cushions, and for some, putting in concealed zippers for the first time.

Well done ladies! 

And I've been doing a bit of wonking of my own this week (no not the wallpapering in my daughter's room, which most definitely qualifies as wonky!)

This is my wonky corners block for Fi in Hipbees, who sent us some lovely Amy Butler to work with.  This is the final month of year 1 in Hipbees.  The bee is continuing on, however I've made the difficult decision to step down.  I know that I will continue some long lasting friendships through this group, and I wish the new members as much fun as I had!

Another bee coming to an end for me is Modern Irish Bee.



Geraldine, whose month completes the end of year 1, very kindly sent us pre-cut triangles and a definite design to make. 

My month in MIB was July, and this week I got the last of my blocks in -wanna see?

Isn't it great!  Not all sewn together yet, and definitely one of the most modern designs I've ever gone for, but I love it!!  Thanks MIB ladies!

And last, but by no means least, my late Brit Bee blocks for Jennie.

Not as wonky along that bottom edge in reality - promise!

These Seminole style blocks were a real head scratcher, especially for someone as mathematically challenged as I am! Jennie sent us a selection of solids and a picture of an inspiration quilt and let us get on with it!

I hope these will pass, even though one block is larger than the other! (As striking as they are, I don't see more Seminole blocks in my future any time soon!!)

Well that's me all up to date! 

A shed load of class samples awaits my attention, which I'm hoping to get to when the kids are back into school on Monday!

Jxo

Solid Tumblers!

I'm always a little late to the party when it comes to trends!

I tell my kids not to jump on every band wagon going, just because everyone else does!

When solids became fashionable in the quilting world I didn't like them.  I love pattern and scrappy, and the quilts I saw being made in solids just didn't do it for me!

But now that I've got used to seeing them around blogland (and I hugely admire the talent and creativity that folks use in designing around solids), I'm growing to like them more!

I recently bought some half metres of Klona in my LQS and just loved how they all looked together.  They were randomly chosen colours, but I got to thinking they would work for my month as Queen Bee in the Modern Irish Bee (June/July).

So out came my trusty Sizzix, and this time the 4.5" Tumbler die, and I whizzed those solids through!  Sizzix was smokin'!

There are 11 piles each with 22 tumblers. I'm hoping my bee buddies will each make me 2 of these blocks:



The 12th tumbler in each block is to be patterned and from the makers' own stash!  A little bit of them in each block!

To finish, the blocks are bordered in navy, so I don't have to sash them all!!  Tee hee!!

I just have to get a wee treat to pop in each package and these babies are ready to be posted out all over Ireland!

Jxo

P.S. thanks everyone for your great suggestions on how to solve my ironing board cover dilemma.  A smaller bodkin was supplied from my trusty quilty friend, and the cover finished in 2 shakes of a lamb's tail!!

A Month of Triangles!

There's been a distinctive Triangular theme to this month's bee blocks!

Anneliese (Modern Irish Bee) wanted her equilateral triangles sewn into rows of 10.  I had a bit of trouble with these naughty boys, but clipping their wings with this handy tool soon sorted them out!

Anneliese also asked for a donation Trip-along block to make into a charity quilt. This one took no time at all to make (I promise it isn't as wonky in real life as it looks here!)



In Brit Bee this month, Jo sent us some yummy low and high volume Liberty prints, already cut into triangles.



She asked for 2/3rds low volume and 1/3rd high volume, in any shape we liked.  I'm calling this huge block my 'Liberty Love Triangle'!!

Finally, Sarah (Hipbees) sent us some red & cream prints and gave us free reign to choose any block we liked!  And guess what I chose - NOT TRIANGLES! LOL!



This is the Antique Tile block, and it is one of my new favourite blocks to make.  I've seen it made up in many different types of fabric and I've yet to be disappointed with how it looks.

I also got a Bee Blessed block made.  This month we are making super easy 16 patch blocks.



And after trimming 40 Bee Blessed blocks this month too, I think I'm all blocked out now!

Happy Friday everyone!

Seeing Stars!

This month in the Modern Irish Bee, queenie Cindy has got us all starry eyed!

With the most scrummy fabrics to work with and sumptuous Kona Teal as the background, I think these blocks are really striking!  They were fiddly and time consuming to make, but I'm sure, like me, you can envisage a stunning quilt when Cindy has all her blocks in!

Someone in class this week told me that 'perfection' is simply a word in the dictionary!  I hope Cindy bears this in mind when she gets these blocks because I managed to lose a point here and there!!

And just look at this big fella who's been visiting our garden!

Isn't he cute! And huge!

He pitched up Monday evening.  We found out in the wee hours of the night when our dog Poppy started going nuts!  He disappeared and we thought that was it, but this evening he came back.  And Poppy went nuts again!!

There was nothing else for it but to bring him in, get some expert advice, and then take him on a short drive to our nearest park for despatch! 

I'm just sorry 2 of my girls were already in bed when this all happened - they would have loved seeing such a big hedgehog this close!

And the other morning hubby saw a fox in our front garden!  I wonder what other city wild life we'll get this week!

More Wonky Houses!

Agnes is our Queen bee this month in the Modern Irish Bee.

She sent us the most wonderfully bright fabrics to work with and wasn't fussy at all about what dimensions the blocks turned out!

I had no more of Agnes's solid blue left to finish the sky, so I've asked her to add another strip to the top.

We were also allowed to throw in a few of our own fabrics too, so I added some daisies and the bird in the first block, and a few more girly pink squares to the 2nd block.

There are some really funky and wonky houses popping up in the group - you can see them here.

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You might be pleased to know that Martha now has 3 legs, albeit one of them wooden! 

Now she stands upright in my sewing room, and frightens the life out of me everytime I turn round and think someone has crept up on me!  She's got a naughty side that one!

July Bee Blocks

I go away on holiday next week, so I wanted to make sure I was on top of my July bee blocks!

First up - Sew Bee Happy.

Nicky is making an inspirational wallhanging for her sewing room and asked us to make improv word blocks from a list of words she had chosen. 

I've done improv blocks before, but not lettering.  I thought it was going to take longer than it did, but this one was done in half an hour!!

I can't wait to see Nicky's finished wallhanging!

Next up - Brit Bee:

Fiona sent us out the most amazing wee pack of fabrics. She is making a low volume quilt with some of her most special fabrics. For example, some hand made lace, her Grandmother's table cloth, vintage sheets - and more wee bits and pieces that hold particular memories for her.

But within each low volume block, Fiona wanted mini hits of high volume traditional blocks, made with more modern, loud fabrics.

I went for churn dash and trusty log cabin.  It was a joy and a privilege Fi to work with your most special fabrics.  Thank you!

And finally, Modern Irish Bee:

This is the first month of MIB, and Sarah asked us to make one of my favourite modern blocks.

Mod Mosaic Block

The requirements were, 1 small block in low volume fabrics, 1 larger block in high volume fabrics.

I love the improv style piecing of this design by Elizabeth Haartman, and it's a great way to use up scraps.  I may even get my Brit bee ladies to do this for me when it's my turn to be queen bee!

So that's me up-to-date with my bee commitments.

Tomorrow I have an Adult/Child workshop, which is my last work-day before holidays!

We are all heading over to England next week for a family wedding, which I am still not kitted out for!  There have been several rounds of sickness through the house the past 2 weeks, which means I've got a little behind. Better get my skates on or at this rate I'll be going dressed like Sandy Shaw!

Happy Friday!

There's life Jim, but not as we know it!

I must be bonkers!  Well I think most of you already know that and are just too polite to say!

Anyway!  My brain really must live in an alternative universe most of the time, because despite being ridiculously busy, I've only gone and signed up to 3 new online ventures!!

The first one is Brit Quilt Swap round 3:

My Inspiration Mosaic for my secret partner.

I loved taking part in round 1 last year, which was my first experience of being in a swap. I opted out of round 2 (a pillow swap) because I was too busy!  It would seem that not much has changed, so I just decided to not let being busy spoil the fun of being involved with a great bunch of talented folks (just don't tell my husband! He has to live with 'The Grumpy Head' whenever I get too tired!).

This year I've decided to hone in on more of my 'loves' in P&Q - free motion sketching and paper/foundation piecing, as reflected in my mosaic.  But I'm really not that fussy, and have always been delighted with whatever I receive through swaps. The fact that someone has made something with me in mind just tickles me!

Sign ups don't close until 24th June, so if you are interested, pop on over to the Flickr group and sign up.

The 2nd thing I have signed up to is another Bee! 

When the call went out from the Modern Quilt Guild of Ireland (run by the lovely Cindy & Sarah) earlier this year, I initially said that I would be interested in a reserve capacity i.e. only if they didn't get 12 names. Well guess what?  They didn't and I was offered the place.

This was a group I particularly wanted to join in with, but again felt I was too busy at the time to commit (are you bored yet with the repeating record?).

The funny thing is I won the competition on naming the bee - Modern Irish Bee.  So it feels good to be a part of something I've been involved in naming (I wonder does the Queen ever feel like that -'I name this bee ....').

The bee kicks off in July, so plenty of time yet to panic get ready!

And the final thing I've signed up to? Well I can't actually tell you about that yet!  I will keep you posted though!

So there you have it! Life on planet Judith is definitely warped!  Do the complete opposite of what common sense and a really tired body tells you to and you'll fit right in!

Hope you had a great Father's Day weekend.

Say it with Flowers

We have a fund raiser for Bee Blessed coming up in June, and we are busy making items to sell at our craft table.

So far all I've managed to make are some crocheted brooches.

In my experience of selling at craft fairs, it's the smaller items that usually sell well.

I really like these myself!  But I probably won't get time to make myself one!  I'll just have to buy one back on the day!!!

But something came in the post yesterday just for me!

Cotton wadding and 4 poplin fqs!

These are my winnings from PippaBlue, who was sponsoring the Modern Quilt Guild of Ireland's new Bee naming competition.

My suggestion won, wait for it .................

Original or what!

Sadly, I'm already too over committed to other things to join the Bee this round, but there's always next year!

Hope you are having a great end to the week!