Easter Baskets!

It's just over 3 weeks until Easter day! Yikes!

If you fancy a quick Easter make for a small (or a big) kid, how about these fun Easter baskets?

The one made in Essex linen is quilted ...

...and the multi coloured one is reinforced with sew-in vilene and 'darts'.

You can see the full tutorial here!  Have fun!

Jude xo

Baby Stars!

What a glorious and sunny day we've had here today!  I even did a spot of gardening!

I also got a spot of sewing done!

I recently unearthed some blocks I had started over a year ago!

Their original purpose is long gone, so I decided to turn them into a baby quilt top for Bee Blessed.

It's a tricky one to photograph because the colours in the 'Chez Moi' collection are so prettily soft.

So this will now go onto the growing pile of Bee Blessed quilt tops waiting to be basted and quilted!!

In Siblings Together Bee 2, the requested blocks for March have a nautical theme!

Hope you had some spring time sun and sewing in your part of the world!

Jude xo

Orphans!

In Bee Blessed we have collected quite a few 'orphan' blocks over the years.

A block can become an 'orphan' for a variety of reasons e.g.

* where we have made/received too many for the final number used in a quilt
* it's the wrong size
* it was too gender specific e.g. too girly, where we were making up a boy quilt
* randomly donated blocks from our generous quilting community

We have made sampler blocks in the past, and I thought it was time to adopt our orphan blocks back into the quilting fold!  For those of you who have donated blocks over the years, see if you can spot yours in these quilt tops!

Orphan Sampler 1:

Orphan Sampler 2:

Orphan Sampler 3:

Orphan Sampler 4 (baby quilt):

We also donated some quilted 12" blocks to Alison last year for her Soy Amado appeal.  This means as from today there is only 1 orphan block remaining! Not bad eh!!

And more Bee Blessed progress - Sarah put her Farmer's Wife blocks to good use and rustled up this gorgeous baby quilt.

A simple bordered donated quilt was finished off with bunting and binding.

A baby quilt made with donated charm squares.

And just look at how well our 'Strip Step' blocks are coming together!

Thank you again for your continued support and donations. As you can see we try to use everything we receive, eventually!! Hope you are having a great week! Jude xo

Mellow Yellow!

So lovely to see these miniature daffodils in my garden at last! Despite the persistent cold and wintery showers, spring is definitely pushing through!

In February's round up it may come as no surprise to learn that I made 18 blocks (2 are still secret so no revealing just yet!):

It's a privilege to be able to contribute to several very worthwhile and special causes.

February will also be the month that I will forever remember the passing of my dear Brit Bee friend, Terri! She collected all the selvedges that went into the making of the 2 red star blocks up there.  These will be included in her Brit Bee quilts, which she was unable to finish herself, but which Brit Bee will complete and pass on to her 2 daughters, as per Terri's wishes.

Her life, loves and legacy live on - Brit Bee Forever!

Linking up with Lily's Quilts Fresh Sewing Day!

 Jude xo

Bee Blessed BOM

The Bee Blessed block for March is inspired by my super talented friend Leanne's beautiful modern quilt called Canvas.

So we'll call this the Scrappy Canvas block, based on 2 colours (different prints), and here is the tutorial:

For a 12.5" unfinished block you will need:

From colour 1 (inner squares): 4 x 3.5" squares

From colour 2 (outer pieces): 4 x 3.5" squares
                                            4 x (6.5" x 3.5")

Assume scant 1/4" seams throughout.

1. Decide on your layout, 4 quadrants, with colour 1 in the centre, and the colour 2 pieces placed as shown below:

2. Sew the 3.5" squares together in each quadrant. Press the seams towards the darkest fabric.

3. Attach the rectangle to the 3.5" pairings in each quadrant. Iron the seams towards the rectangles.

4. Join the top 2 quadrants together and the bottom 2 quadrants together.  Press the seams in opposite directions.

5. To join the 2 rows, butt/nest the intersecting seams as shown before sewing together.

6. Press the final seam open before trimming to 12.5" square.

Thank you again for your contributions each month, we appreciate every single block that you take the time to make for us.

Jude xo

Block Central!!

When hearts are heavy and life feels like wading through treacle sometimes, it's always good to make stuff!

It's been Block Central in my sewing room this week.

All of these blocks are for Siblings Together!

If you want to read more about Siblings Together or how you can get involved, see Mary's post here.

And I've also made the March Bee Blessed block too, but more on that at the weekend.

Etsy have decided to absorb the new EU VAT changes which means I can continue to sell my patterns as instantly downloadable PDFs again!  I have changed them all back to digital files, so purchases from now on will be instant on confirmation of payment. Woohoo! 

Chat soon,

Jude xo

Heaven's Gained an Angel!

Thank you my sweet and lovely friend for the memories, laughs, inspiration and friendship!

Our world here on earth is poorer today, but Heaven has gained a truly remarkable and special angel!

You will be forever in the hearts of Brit Bee and many others!

All my love, forever and eternity!

Jude xo