Thursday's Child...

Mondays child is fair of face,
Tuesdays child is full of grace,
Wednesdays child is full of woe,
Thursdays child has far to go,
Fridays child is loving and giving,
Saturdays child works hard for his living,
And the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.

 

Actually he was born on a Wednesday at 11 minutes to midnight, so not quite a Thursday child but today is Thursday and we had fun at kids roller disco, even if most of it was spent on the floor!  Lucas is getting the hang of it now and was zipping round quite quickly.

 

and then this afternoon we did some planting while big bro was out at a play date.

We had to resuce this fella from the dog after he hopped off the compost heap in the wrong direction!

And all this has left me exhausted, the kids are still up and running though!

 

And that was my our Random Thursday - no sewing time but lots of fun!

 

Linking up with Cindy's Really Random Thursday

Quilted Notebook Covers

Well I don't know about you but we had a beautifully sunny bank holiday weekend that was spent with friends, riding bikes, climbing trees, BBQing and attending the local Soap Box Derby.

Today, it bucketed down with rain ALL day... Not good for two energetic boys, so I bribed them with a new game for their iPod and got sewing up a couple of the quilted notebook covers for my teacher presents.

The first has a pieced front cover, made with a small sample I was sent in the mail, it might be Birch Fabrics, and Timeless Treasures Sketch in grey.  I worked out how to add elastic for a pen holder and closure and I think it looks cute.  As you can see from the size of the pen, the notebooks are quite small, I think A6 size but very handy for popping in handbags!

This one took me ages to complete so for the next one I decided to use just one piece of fabric for the outer cover, in this cute radios print that I picked up at my local Quilt Festival, it doesn't have a name on the selvedge.

 I used one of the Kona solid greys as the inner linings as I seem to have yards of the stuff!  I've taken loads of process pictures, so maybe I'll even have a go at writing a tutorial one of these days!

I hope to crack on and make at least 5 or 6 of these over the week - famous last words I'm sure!

Linking up with;
Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story
Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River
Link a Finish Friday
TGIFF at  Charm About You
Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Sunday Stash

I've had a couple of arrivals this week....

Lots of Kona White (turned out still not to be enough!) and the Perfectly Perched Nests in Meadow just fell in the basket - if that's virtually possible of course!  And don't you just love pretty mailing bags!

Some Kona Black (also not enough - I have ordered more! I think I need bolts of black and white solids!) and again an item that just fell in the basket, this time a 2wenty Thr3e charm pack!  And don't you just love it when they sneak a little packet of samples in there too!

And I finally bit the bullet and ordered some Backyard Baby prints to go with my lonely FQ of bug jars!  

While I was there I got a couple of FQ's for my stash which you may have already seen me use in the churn dash blocks for Sarah.

The school holidays started off with a brilliant day out yesterday.  The best days just evolve from nowhere, all we needed was sunshine, open space, good friends and a few bags of crisps! The kids had great fun bike riding, tree climbing and playing poo sticks under the bridge but all my pictures have other peoples kids in them, so I won't post them, but here is a shot of Buster being a very good boy and just looking at the sheep, not chasing them!

I hope you're all out enjoying the sunshine, long may it continue!


Linking up with Sunday Stash at Finding Fifth - it's the one year celebration of this linky and there's a fabric giveaway for those who link up this week, so don't be shy, share pics of your purchases!

Ahead of the game?

My son had a letter in his book bag advising us that one of his teachers was leaving in a couple of weeks time rather than at the end of term which got me thinking about teacher presents.  At Christmas I made them all red onion marmalade and chilli jam but this time I'm thinking more along the lines of journal covers.

There are loads of tutorials in blog land and on you tube but some of them seem way over complicated, so after reading a few I just went ahead and mocked this up from my Urban Circus scraps.

It has a small (A6?) Cath Kidston notebook in it as that's what I had to hand.  I quilted the main outer panel, used a bright yellow for the lining and added a ribbon bookmark.
 

It has a hair elastic wrapped around it but for the 'real' ones I have been out and purchased proper elastic which I'll secure into one of the side seams.  I picked up some pretty notebooks, some pens, some fab post it note type arrow labels and more exercise books for the kids doodles - they know they must never use mummy's pretty notebooks! 

I also got some stick on hook and loop handy dots (Velcro type closures) as we have seen a tutorial online for making trifold wallets and shopping bags out of Capri sun drink packets!  Another half term activity I have planned.

I hope you all have a fab weekend, I'm off out with the girls tonight to see Fake That! So if everyone could be very quiet in the morning I would greatly appreciate it! :-)


Linking up with
Richard and Tanya Quilts - Link a Finish Friday
Confessions of a Fabric Addict - Can I Get A Whoop Whoop!
Finish it up Friday - Crazy Mom Quilts
Lets Get Acquianted over at Sew Bitter Sweet Designs

Jack #3 in progress

Union Jack No 3 is underway for Hubby's Jack Attack quilt.  For this one we have a lighter colour palette as I'm using the London Tube Map print and some red buses and black taxis on cream.

I gave him the choice of Red or Black solids for the stripes that would normally be white, and he chose black.

Hopefully I'll get some time later to do the middle '+' bit and join the 4 blocks together.

 

Sorry for the poor photo's, it was a bit damp outside so I laid the blocks on the conservatory floor and the light looks really odd for some reason...

 

Stats:

No progress this week on the Super Mario Bros Quilt.  7/14 blocks made so far.

 

Kaleidoscope is now a quilt top, I just need to decide whether to up size it a bit using my leftover scraps and what to back it in...

 

 

No progress this week year so far on the;

Solids HST Diamond Quilt - needs re-basting as I've changed my mind about the backing fabric!
Black and White King Size Bed Quilt - completed quilt top, partial quilt back
Kids T-shirt Memory Quilt - some t shirts cut....

 

Dresden Plate - partial quilt top - I saw a great tutorial posted last night for a dresden cushion, so there might be hope of a resurrection of this one after all!

Finishes this week: 0
New Projects this week: 0
In Progress: 7

 

Apparently there is no WIP Wednesday linky this week so I'm linking to;

Quilt Story - Fabric Tuesday

Bee Blocks - Siblings Together

My first ever Bee Blocks post!

Sarah at Sew Me has started a bee for Churn Dash blocks for a Siblings Together charity quilt.  She asked for bright coloured blocks aimed at a boy aged 10+, so I hope mine will be ok!

I realise they're both blue but I have a very small stash, I usually buy collections of fabric with a particular quilt on mind or one off FQ's that catch my eye which doesn't produce a well rounded 'stash'!

I'll hopefully get to the post office to post these off to Sarah over the next couple of days. 

Linking up to Show & Tell Tuesday

Kaleidoscope Recovery!

I can't believe I have a finished kaleidoscope flimsy quilt top to show!

Have you ever started a project and something went wrong and you couldn't fix it?  That's what happened to me when I joined the Kaleidoscope QAL back in May 2011.

The blocks didn't come together as expected, they weren't square and I had baggy bits in the middle.  I was really disappointed, it was my first experience of an online QAL, I didn't have the knowledge or experience to put it right and I also didn't have an 'in the flesh' quilter to come and look at it and offer advice, so it all got packed up, put in a drawer and pushed to the back of my mind.

Then I decided that after 2 years perhaps I should include it as one of my Finish-along goals for the quarter and at least try to resurrect a block or two.  Having looked back over everything there seems to be a catalogue of issues;

• my templates printed slightly to the wrong size
• my then very novice cutting skills compounded the problem
• my then very novice piecing skills meant that my 1/4 inch seams we're off.

So I reprinted the templates, tried to salvage as much as I could from the already incorrectly cut pieces and made sure I was sewing more accurately this time!  And voila, kaleidoscope blocks started to appear!

Don't look too closely, it's still not perfect and some of the points are off but I'm so relieved to have conquered this one and saved the coveted Denyse Schmidt Picnic Fairgrounds fabrics from the back of the drawer!  I was only able to salvage enough for 20 blocks which doesn't make for a very big quilt so now I'm thinking that maybe I could sash it in white and then add a further border of scrappiness from all the bits I have left...  I went online but couldn't find this line available anywhere so buying more is out of the question.

 

With hubby's Jack Attack quilt to finish I'm not sure I'll be able to afford to buy any wadding and backing for this quilt just yet, so I have time to ponder on it some more.

 

Linking up to Can I Get A Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Crazy Mom Quilts,

Anything Goes at Stitch by Stitch.

 

And for the Lets Get Acquainted Link Up this week we have to answer where our favourite holiday destination is; well 10 years ago I was honeymooning in The Maldives and it is the most beautiful, idyllic, peaceful place I've ever been.  We had an amazing bunglaow on stilts in the water and would open the doors to the sea every morning.  We snorkelled with baby sharks, turtles and lion fish and I ate lobster for the first time!  One day I hope to return there, hopefully the sea level won't rise too much as it promises to claim those beautiful islands forever...

This week...

I was waiting for Him Indoors to decide on a solid colour for his third union jack for the Jack Attack quilt, he has now decided on black (which I must order!)

so in the meantime I have been making a few more Kaleidoscope blocks.

It was raining really hard to day so I had to hang them on the airer in the conservatory for a picture!  There are more than those pictured, I'm up to 10 blocks now plus 2 that I paper pieced (an idea which I gave up on) which are slightly smaller, maybe I could use them on the back...

Don't look too closely, the points aren't great!

No progress yet on any more Super Mario blocks... :-(

And finally, here is the lovely piece of lace I bought in Bruge.  I have hung it in the dining room window which I face when sewing, which faces the side of my neighbours house - such an interesting view! Hopefully you can just about make it out!

 

 

Oh and I joined my first bee! Sarah over at Sew Me is organising a few of us to make churn dash blocks for a Siblings Together quilt.  For those of us that couldn't commit to a whole quilt but who wanted to take part this was such a great idea, and there might still be spaces left if anyone would like to contribute.  I'm quite excited about this, I have been thinking of joining a bee for a while but am anxious about my ability to keep up, make the trickier blocks and the costs involved etc., but I can certainly commit to a couple of churn dash blocks for such a good cause!

 

Right, I'm off to order that black fabric, have a glass of wine and watch Deadliest Catch. :o)

 

 

Linking up to;

Show and Tell Tuesday at I Have to Say

Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story

Linky Tuesday @ Freemotion by the River

WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced

Bruge 2013

I have returned from a lovely weekend away in Bruge with Him Indoors for our 10th wedding anniversary.

Don't you just love how understated the border crossing is!

There was lots of sampling the beers, stopping for chips or waffles covered in chocolate sauce along the way - purely to soak up the beer! Great waffle van though!

There were lots of amazing lace shops, I purchased some cute lace butterflies to hang in my dining room window - picture to follow as I haven't unpacked my bag yet.

This map of Bruge is made of a sail type canvas but is made to look like lace, it was quite intricate but very tricky to photograph!

And on the return drive through France we stopped at The Calais Wine Superstore where they had a 'try before you buy' corner - genius! Here's Him Indoors pouring me some wine to try - he was driving! 

I hope you all had a great weekend too, after my 3 country tour today I'm off to bed!

Jack #2 - WIP Wednesday

Where did the last week go? I was waiting for more white fabric to arrive, then after having a filling at the dentist and not feeling much like sewing and a bank holiday weekend full of fun, family and bouncy castles I have been 'on it' trying to get another Jack done for hubby's Jack Attack quilt this week.

And here is Jack No 2!

A less traditionally coloured Jack but more fun I think, utilising the red London buses, telephone boxes and crowns this time.

I went a bit 'off piste' with the instructions as my directional prints were making my brain ache one evening, hence one of my points is way off, but I'm not a perfectionist and I think it still looks great overall.

Taking pictures of grey fabric on a grey showery day isn't ideal - sorry they're so dark!
One more Jack to go and I have lighter fabrics for that one including the London Tube Map print.
In case you missed the first jack, it can be seen here.

It's our 10th Wedding Anniversary on Friday and we're heading off to Bruge for the weekend, so although he won't be getting the quilt on the day he can at least see the progress I've made on his gift hanging on the dining room wall!

I'm entering loads of fabulous giveaways through SMS Giveaway Day but probably won't be able to check my emails until I get back on Sunday night - the suspense will be killing me!

Stats:
No progress this week so far on the;
Super Mario Bros quilt - 7/14 blocks made
Kaleidoscope Blocks - 5 blocks made, I'm not sure how many I can resurrect from my cutting mistakes but we'll see...

No progress this week year so far on the;
Solids HST Diamond Quilt - needs re-basting as I've changed my mind about the backing fabric!
Black and White King Size Bed Quilt - completed quilt top, partial quilt back
Dresden Plate - partial quilt top
Kids T-shirt Memory Quilt - some t shirts cut....

Finishes this week: 0
New Projects this week: 0
In Progress: 7

Linking up with
Freshly Pieced - WIP Wednesday
Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story

Jack Attack! Wip Wednesday

After the Royal Wedding, the Olympics and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee there have been loads of patriotic quilts made, lots of London themed fabrics released and lots of Union Jack patterns popping up too.  You know me, I'm not one to immediately jump on a bandwagon, I like to be several months late to the party!  So here I am making the Jack Attack quilt... eventually!


Image from Lily's Quilts

The tutorial can be found over at Lily's Quilts blog.  I read the instructions over and and over, freaked out a bit when I realised I didn't have any freezer paper but carried on regardless with a template made from greaseproof paper instead!  I made a tester block...

It came together much quicker and easier than I anticipated, so I forged ahead with the real blocks and I already have one Jack to show!

I'm so pleased with it, the red London map fabric is cool - even if I do say so myself!

This quilt will be for Him Indoors, it's our 10th wedding anniversary on 10th May, although it may not be finished by then.  The Jack is pretty big and the full quilt of three of them will be 70"x90" apparently!  This will be the biggest quilt I will have made so far and the thought of basting and quilting it is already preying on my mind!

I've run out of white fabric (again!) so while I wait for some more to arrive I may have to start a little project from the Patchwork Please book...


Linking up with
WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced
Fresh Sewing Day at Lily's Quilts
Fabric Tuesday