Bees Being Busy!

The purpose of my recent jaunt over to Kent was 2 fold.

1. To have as much fun as I could fit into 24 hours with my Brit Bee buddies

Bottom left: Terri & I fighting over Laura Jane's (Brit Bee Mama) new book

The customary 'Show and Tell'

2. To make a start on some very special Brit Bee baby quilts.

We all took home some ticker tape blocks to finish off.  I was on green duty!

Mission accomplished I'd say!  You can read more about our antics here.

Can't wait for the next get together girls!! Sewing and laughter really is the best therapy!

Jude xo

Pippi's Back!

Well I'm back home from my whistle stop hop across the Irish Sea and back!

I will have pictures to show for it tomorrow, but in the meantime, it is MARCH! Which means a new block of the month for Bee Blessed.

Yes, Pippi Longstocking is making a return visit.  I designed this block 2 years ago and Bee Blessed members and contributors did a sterling job making Pippi and Wonky House blocks.  This quilt was gifted to a teenage girl struggling with M.E.

Sarah had the genius idea of alternating February's heart blocks with Pippi blocks, which I think will make one beautiful and special quilt.

I know some of you are a bit nervous about this block and having a go at improv piecing!  But all I would say is, have a go anyway and see what happens!  Nothing ventured, nothing gained!  Grasp the Nettle!  Carpe Diem!  etc. etc. !

You can find Sarah's instructions here and the link to the tutorial is here.  Thank you for getting your big girl pants on and having a go at Pippi!

Jude xo

Sneeze and you miss it!

I know February is a shorter month, but does anyone else feel like they just sneezed and missed it!

Too quick!

Here is my roundup for Fast Feb!

Next week I release my new programme of classes, so I'll have lots more to show you and talk about!

I'm not actually here today (yes I know some of you think I'm not 'here' most days!).  What I mean is I'm visiting some of the nuttiest, coolest, talented quilters I've had the privilege of knowing the past 3 years!

Some Brit Bee-ers!

Hopefully as you read this I'm stuffing my face, laughing and sewing for 12 hours straight!  Bliss!

Linking up with Lily's Quilts Fresh Sewing Day.

Have a great weekend.

Jude xo

Tweet Tweet!

I had a fairly quiet day of productive sewing yesterday!

I'm working on a birdie cushion for my sister's birthday ....

I found this free paper pieced pattern on McCall'sQuilting.com, and each bird currently stands at 5" x 6".

And I got a Pippi finished for Bee Blessed:

As well as getting a few more French General Grannies finished, by 8pm I couldn't resist cutting into a Scrumptious Layer Cake with my Half Hexie ruler!  Less than an hour later I had this ...

Yes that is sunshine coming through the window!

This quilt will be a present for my friend who is having a significant birthday (wink wink) in May!

And this morning my back is reminding me of what a fun and productive sewing day I had yesterday!!

Happy Monday!

Jude xo

Progress!

Yesterday at Bee Blessed we made some progress on a few quilts.

We finally got the Road to Tennessee quilt completed ..........

Scrappy loveliness!

And the Star Block quilt just needs some binding.

The Wonky Crosses Man Quilt is taking shape nicely.

And this young lady made an appearance yesterday too!  I wonder why???

Once again a big thank you to all our contributors and members for faithfully making blocks each month.  We appreciate every one!  And while we can't always disclose details of who the quilts are donated to, please know that they are always greatly valued and cherished.

If you know how to sew or quilt, and would like to join in the Bee Blessed fun, please join us once a month for creative craic and cake!  More details here.

Jude xo

Collaborations!

Most of what I've been sewing lately I can't show you yet!!  So sorry!

There have been a few collaborations ........

Using my Hera to mark out the quilting lines

I can't wait to show you this finished class sample!



And here, I arm-twisted asked my super talented friend to add her stitchery magic to another class sample.

I've also been trying to turn a French General into a Granny!!

Fabrics are Josephine by French General

Geddit? Sadly, this is more shhhhhhhh sewing! So no more details just yet!

Thank you for your patience! Wishing you all happy sewing time this weekend!

Jude xo

Irish Chains

My Irish Chain Quilt class finished tonight, and I'm delighted to be able to show you the amazing quilts that were made!

There were 4 sizes of quilt to choose from in this pattern.  The smallest one is 79" x 84", which lots of folks made.  But there were a few not-so-fainted-hearted ladies who decided to go for sizes 2, 3 and 4 (90" x 102").

Aren't they fabulous!  Well done ladies for wrestling through all the stages with your giant quilts!

The Irish Chain pattern uses a jelly roll and some yardage, & is now available here in my Etsy shop.

Jude xo