Mother's Day Fun!

I've had a lovely weekend being spoilt by my wonderful girls!

I've had dinner & carrot cake made for me & my favourite ice-cream, chocolates and earrings bought for me!

There's nothing better than having giggles and girly fun with my 3 most precious people!

Thank you my angels!  You mean the world to me!

Mum xo

Bee Blessed BOM - April

The clocks go forward an hour here tonight in the UK!  That means an hour less sleep! Boo!

It also brings me closer to April, yikes!  And another block for Bee Blessed peeps to make!

This is the Asterisk block, and you can find the video tutorial for it here on Craftsy (please ignore the 2nd block in the tutorial).

They are 12.5" unfinished, and if you fancy having a go at two blocks (they are super quick to make!) it would be great if you could make them positive and negative like you see in my pic!

All you need is a 12" square of background fabric (white or modern print) and 2 x 2" strips width of your 2nd fabric per block.

Thanking you all in advance of your April contributions!

Can't wait to show you all our Pippi's next month!!

Jude xo

Conquering Cathedrals!

My first Cathedral Windows class finished this evening!

After some initial groaning challenges, and what felt like endless ironing, the ladies made it through this more technical class!  I even heard a few say they enjoyed it!! 

Well done ladies on stretching yourselves and adding a new technique to your skill set!

I have published the Cathedral Windows cushion pattern on Etsy, if you fancy having a go yourself. 

And I've also published the pattern for the Quilt As You Go Handbag!

Hope you are having a great week!

Jude xo

Spring Sunshine!

It was a cold but lovely sunny day here today!

I went out to my washing line to photograph a quilt top (can't show you yet, sorry!) and got a bit snap happy!

Oh how I love the sunshine! (Except when it shows up my dirty windows!!)

The little bit of sewing I can show you is pencil 1 of 2 for my youngest! She put in another order (or 2), chose her fabrics, and obedient mummy got to work!

An old necklace pendant came in handy for the zipper pull!

I hope you've had a lovely weekend and got to enjoy some spring sunshine!

Jude xo

Today at Bee Blessed

We are motoring our way through a wonderful collection of blocks, quilt tops and quilts!

Thank you for all the recent Heart and Pippi blocks.  Here are some of our groovy girls:

We have received lots more than you see here, I just forgot to get another photo!

Another set of blocks that got to the quilt top stage are the Greek Cross blocks:

And we got the Quarter Log Cabins laid out, with a few leftovers to make into a cute baby quilt:

Here are some that are all finished and ready to be donated.

There are a good few other quilts still being worked on too!  We are a busy bunch of bees!  Thank you for your continued contributions and support!

Jude xo

Something New!

I'm not trained in dressmaking, but have always wanted to learn! 

I can do a few simple garments (e.g. skirts and pyjama bottoms) and have loads of patterns waiting to be tried out!

The Great British Sewing Bee (currently showing on BBC2) is inspiring me to have a go at something I haven't tried before.

So I downloaded a pattern for a simple top for my youngest daughter, made a muslin version to adjust the pattern & fit, and then went for it!

We have darts, a back zipper and facing on the inside of the collar.  I recycled the blue trim from a charity shop skirt!

Not a complicated make, but enough to give me the confidence to try another one, this time with short sleeves and perhaps a peter pan collar!

As a pattern writer, I take issue with the lack of detail and clear instructions in dressmaking patterns. This is what has put me off dressmaking in the past.  But I accept that the only way to get better at understanding the patterns is to build up my experience & techniques in dressmaking, so I just need to keep practising!

I know one happy customer who won't be complaining!

Jude xo

Going Potty!

Thank goodness it's Friday!

I decided to get ahead of the Mother's Day gift making (30th March here in the UK) and make something for mum!  (needing an excuse to deviate from work stuff didn't factor at all.....much!)

I had a mini charm pack of Happy Go Lucky (from FQR last year) and some leftover jelly roll strips, which went perfectly with my stash of coloured bias binding!

These 10" potholders have heat resistant wadding inside, and are backed with non-slip table protector stuff (sorry, don't know the proper name!).

I'm really pleased with how these turned out, and think they'll look great on mum's black marble worktops.



I have a non-work Saturday to look forward to tomorrow, with a night out with the girls! Bliss!

Have a great weekend!

Jude xo