Give a Block Away!

A really non-demanding and satisfying way to make a helpful contribution to a great cause is to make a block and donate it.

Ayumi (Pink Penguin) is asking for contributors to the Partnership Quilts which get exhibited at the Tokyo Quilt Festival in Jan'12.

Partnership Quilts are made from donated blocks from people like you and me.  After being exhibited, they are then auctioned off and the proceeds this time are going to help the victims of the recent earthquake disaster.

The theme this year is 'triangles and squares' and you can find lots more information about this project here.

The deadline for getting your block posted to Tokyo is 31st August '11, and you will even be able to see your block in the finished quilt.

Go on, make a creative contribution!

Mixing Old and New

This week I was given two very lovely things:

1. The most pungent-ly, gorgeous smelling lilies from my Oasis Class!  I adore fresh flowers - thank you ladies.

2. Some vintage, flowery curtains - aren't they fab!!

I make no apologies for getting excited about such a gift, and the lovely lady who rescued them from being donated to a charity shop, just for me, knew I would be ecstatic to receive them!

I would love to try my hand at making a skirt for myself, and this vintage fabric is spurring me on! 

I don't know why I love recycling fabrics so much, but I thought I'd have another rummage through my stock pile for inspiration for some lounge cushions.

You see, I used to have lots of lovely cushions and throws over my cold, leather sofas - until we got a dog!!!!

Then this happened .....

We make lots of excuses for her because she was a rescue dog, needing lots of training and TLC!  But one by one she nibbled her way through the lot.  My sofas are NAKED!  

But I have a plan!

I have put in a special request for a particular item for my birthday this year (can let you know if I get it or not in a couple of weeks) which will mean soft furnishings and Poppy can co-exist in the lounge. 

So here's my starting point:

Not v.inspiring I hear you cry!  

But I took inspiration from my love of log cabin, previous cushions I've made & this book ....

which has a lovely textured cushion featured.  

I particularly liked the corduroy element, and as I have lots of that gathered up (in the shape of trousers & skirts) that is going to be a common design feature running through the different cushions.

Here's what I've done so far:

Love the vintage-ness of this one.

Will have more to show you soon. 

A Discontented Quilter!

Please bear with me!

I know yesterday I said my mini Brit Quilt Swap was completed ..... but .............

I wasn't happy with it and it niggled away at me.  There wasn't enough background quilting which made it look at wee bit baggy when hanging, so I did some fmq in the background. 

I didn't want the fmq to stand out too much so used white thread on a white background to keep it subtle.

My struggle with this mini quilt has been less about perfection (I'm a rehabilitated perfectionist!) and more about cohesion and balance.  Sometimes you just don't 'feel' right about a thing, and I'm the sort of person who can't give that 'thing' away until I'm happy with it myself.

Well I'm now happy with this mini quilt (at long last), so I'll be able to post it with smiles and a happy heart!

Thank you for your patience!

Brit Quilt Swap Completed

Well partner, all done!

It's not really bent!  Just draped over my sofa!

I went for a darker green binding in the end, to frame the picture (binding is slightly wider than standard too!).

I'm not totally in love with this, probably because it's not something I'd usually make. 

When I asked my daughter what she thought of it she said 'Mmmm, it's not really you!' which is probably the best thing she could have said, because this mini quilt is meant to say more about my partner than me.

This doesn't need to be posted to my partner until the end of June - still time to think about how on earth I'm going to post it!

Crazy Daughter Quilt Take 2!

Okay, so the last one wasn't big enough!

I've added another row and widened it with 2" lilac & 2" white borders - will this be big enough?

Measures 51" x 70"

It gets the thumbs up from my daughter - hooray!

But now I have to quilt it, groan!

Before sewing version 1 altogether, I had contemplated doing a technique called 'Quilt as you go' (quilting each block or row separately, and then cleverly joining each row already quilted), but decided against it because I thought I wouldn't be doing intricate quilting and it wasn't that big (then!).

Now that it is even bigger I wish I had gone with my original strategy!  This is going to be tricky!

I'm going to ponder for a while over the best way to quilt this - I really don't have the patience for rotating a large quilt many times under a small needle space, so any 'easy but stunning' quilting suggestions you may have would be v.welcome!

Poor Birdie!

We were walking home from church on Sunday and came across a very sad thing:

This wee birdie was lying dead on the foot path, probably having fallen out of the very tall tree above where it was lying.

The kids were fascinated at seeing the bird so close up.  We brought her home, respectfully wrapped her up, and buried her in a wee box in the front garden (where the dog can't dig her up and eat her!).

On a less morbid note, I thought I'd have a go at iddy-biddy crazy patchwork, using the tiny leftovers from my daughter's crazy blocks.

Pincushion!

only 4" square!

I've decided it will be a present for one of the many birthday-ers we have this month!

Have a great Tuesday!

Kaleidoscope Quilt Along

There have been several Quilt Alongs advertised recently in Blogland, which I've been very tempted to join.

I tried being strict with myself by saying 'Judith, you have plenty on the go already at the moment, be sensible!"

Well my 'sense' lasted about a week and I have completely caved!

After reading my friend, Leanne's, post today, my resolve folded and I signed up to the Don't Call Me Betsy Kaleidoscope QAL!

I know, I know ..................... but it's such a lovely pattern, and I was inspired by Jo's recent take on this pattern in the Brit Quilt Swap, that I couldn't resist any longer!

Jo's mini kaleidoscope quilt!  Love this!

As always there is a Flickr group already up and running, with fun discussion threads and lots of pics of yummy fabrics folks are picking out for their quilts.

If you've never joined a QAL before, I would highly recomment it.  It's great fun getting to know other quilters/bloggers around the world, sharing ideas, encouraging one another and generally having a laugh at life and all its imperfections.

There's still time to join if you're interested.  Just click here to find out more.

Now down to the business side of things - what fabrics will I choose?

I'm going for the lap quilt size and was hoping to use my gorgeous stash of charm squares:

I won these from Lesly at Pickle Dish!

But at 5" each, they're not quite big enough for all the shapes that make up the Kaleidoscope block.  As these fabrics are too yummy to cut into and waste, I might just make a simple quilt out of them, and keep them intact.

So, it looks like I'm going to get a chance to use my winnings from Jo sooner than I thought!

Kind of appropriate too, as Jo was the one who ignited my passion for this pattern!  Thanks again Jo!