Making Me Smile - 19/52

Looking for the Sew Mama Sew! Giveaway post  - try here.

Here is my boy, all packed and ready to head to the airport yesterday morning for his school trip.  It's good that he's ready to spread his wings a little without us for the first time!  Just how it should be (even if my mummy heart misses that he wasn't practising his trombone at 7.45 this morning)!

Last Two Blocks!

The last two blocks for my MIL's special birthday sampler quilt came from this book - one directly, one indirectly.

My first choice was this strip rail block -

Strip Rail Block

I felt that the quilt needed another square patterned block as there are quite a few with a star/triangular feel to them.  (Though ironically, its construction is from HSTs anyway.) I'm quite proud that I managed to get all those diagonal joins to line up - it definitely paid to take my time with this one!

The instructions worked a treat, though I changed it slightly so I was sewing two diagonal lines across the wrong side of the strip squares before cutting the triangles rather than sewing biased edge triangles together and making a horlicks of it.

Then, trying to decide which block should be my final addition to the quilt, I noticed this photo of a sampler quilt by Liz Parsons in the same book.  The centre block in the fourth row down caught my eye.  Unfortunately, the pattern for it doesn't seem to be in the book but it really wasn't that difficult to figure out the maths myself.

And, I am so glad I did because I really love this wee block and I loved making it.  I wish I knew what it is called, but for now I have affectionately called it "Four-lips" (because it looks to me like four little tulip quadrants).  If you happen to know what this block is actually called, please do let me know.

So, with all 12 blocks finished, I couldn't resist laying them out to see them all together - do you want a peep?  Do you?  Here you go ...

As you can see I even laid out the sashing (which you may remember I cut along with all the borders and binding before I started the blocks just to protect my fabric quantities).  It might take me a while to get used to this patterned sashing but I think it will look grand when it's all together properly.  There are lots of those blocks that I really am glad I tried and I do think my MIL will be pleased, which is the point after all!

Nice to feel like I am making progress at last!


PS Because I am a numpty and posted one post when I forgot I had this one scheduled for later in the day, you may have missed my earlier Sew Mama Sew Giveaway post - it's here if you don't want to miss out!

Sew Mama Sew! Giveaway Day!

It's Sew Mama Sew's biannual Giveaway Day which I'm sure you haven't failed to notice on your wandering around the blogs today.

Since I seem to have had my head buried in sand and didn't realise this was happening until yesterday and since I'd really like to give something away to one of you lovely peeps, I have two half yards of Denyse Schmidt loveliness to send someone's way.  See?

One print is Chicopee and the other is Hope Valley but you already knew that, right?

Anyway, if you'd like a chance of these popping through your letterbox, please just leave me a comment below telling me what the best giveaway item you've won has been, or if you haven't won, what giveaway item you would most love to have won.  Easy peasy.

Please folks, make sure that you are not a no reply blogger or that you have at least included your email in your comment.  If I cannot contact you by hitting reply to your comment or if you don't leave an email, I will have to redraw and I'd hate you to win and miss out on that technicality.  Winner will be drawn Sat 11 May, entries close Fri 10th 5pm PST (which I think is midnight GMT, but don't hold me to that!)

So that's it, one comment with means of contact, international entries welcome.  Have fun with all the other giveaways too!




ETA - If you enter the giveaway - thank you!  I will read every comment but am struggling with replying as there are many and some glitch also seems to be throwing me notifications of entries to another giveaway so I am sifting these out of my emails too.  Be assured I am reading about some of the great things you guys have won, and wish I had enough fabrics to send to all of you who have never won a giveaway!

Bee Blessed - May 2013

I'm sure you'll have seen these 16 patch blocks popping up here and there on blogs and Instagram recently.  They are pretty and they are easy peasy if you follow Fiona's brilliant tutorial.  Having made this block I can see why some have described them as addictive - if I hadn't been making mine in a hurry before heading out, I'd probably still be up there churning them out.  Judith may have to lock up Bee Blessed around some of us when we get making these blocks on our Saturday meet up!

Anyway, as you will have guessed, this is our Bee Blessed block for May.  If you fancy making some for us, please stick to two prints per block as in the tutorial - no need for white background this month.

Have fun and remember to leave the machine to feed your family/ pets and to get some sleep.  Bee Blessed accepts no responsibility for introducing you to new addictions!

Sew Many Plans - May 2013

Who said it could be May already?  Where did April go?

Feeling a little bit rushed through April but I think I managed to cover nearly all the plans I had listed.

• I had fun whipping up some starflower blocks for Bee Blessed last month and made a ton of binding for three different quilts that the group have been working on, as well as joining in the general quilt progression efforts.
• Karen was kind to hipbees this month with a fun little whirligig block and some beautiful textured white fabric to work with, and I managed to get all my little fabric packages cut, parcelled and posted for my month as Queen Bee in May.
• I started work on my Hexie Globe EPP but didn't get as far as I'd hoped.
• 2 more blocks were added to the Birthday Sampler collection and my wardrobe now houses two little infinity scarves.
• I did not manage to keep the momentum going on my hexagon quilt hand quilting which was a shame, but it's been a slow burner all its existence so I'm sure it won't mind!
• As a last minute decision, I joined Le Challenge in it's inaugural month and made myself a pretty little coaster for their "geometrics" theme, and I made a suitably ridiculous bow tie for my son's school show, which was a fabulous evening of fun and entertainment!

Looking around the sewing room I have several WIPs and UFOs that really need my attention, but I think what scares me more are the PIWs (Projects in Waiting).  There seems to be an ever growing list of things I want to make and have actually been digging out fabrics from my stash for and setting aside in hope of starting.  Dying as I am to get at them, I think it would be a huge and overwhelming mistake to start new projects just now (my little brain goes into meltdown when there's just too much happening). Shame!

So May, I think, will be a month of plodding on with my WIPs and maybe even trying to get a UFO off the shelf and back into the WIPs pile (at least)!

Bee Blessed - I've got a 16 patch block to make up.

HipBees - I am Queen Bee this month so I am going to wait and make my block later in the month but I will be doing some scheming and quilty calculating in the hope of being able to progress my quilt when the blocks are returned.  I would so love to be able to bring a pieced top to FQR in July, but we shall see.

Le Challenge - this month's theme is "wings" and I haven't quite made up my dithering mind what to make yet, but at least there is a shortlist in my head.

Hexie Globe EPP - I would love to make lots of progress on this, but that's about as much as I want to commit to.

Hexagon Quilt - well... hopefully... maybe ... another few flowers handquilted?

Special Birthday Sampler - another two blocks would have me ready for sashing and borders in June, so that's my plan for this one.

UFO to WIP - this is definitely aspirational, but maybe ....

Hope you all have some lovely plans for May stitching!

Making Me Smile - 18/52

It has been so lovely and mild this week that I have been brave enough to buy a few new plants for my very dull doorstep in the hope that the arrival of May will assure their survival!

Love a little bit of colour at the front door, and living expectantly that they will be prolifically flowering soon!

What do I know?

Ok so, I have tried to be all sensible and seek the opinions of you folks who are cleverer/more tech savvy than me in order to make an informed decision about the move from Google Reader (boo sucks) to another reader.  Frankly, it's all a bit overwhelming and I'm kinda losing the will, so i grabbed the bull's ears and and am shifting to bloglovin' - at least for now.

Part of that process is the claiming of your blog which I'm not entirely sure I understand but am now doing it anyway by pasting this here:

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Cynical me, thinks I only have to claim this so you can click on a link for Bloglovin's purposes rather than for mine (tut, tut me).  Anyhoo, you don't need to do anything (unless you actually do want to follow me on Bloglovin").

Blog claimed, I hope!