Bees and Spiderwebs

 

Last month, I was the Queen Bee in the Modern Irish Bee. This is a scrappy Bee and we use our own stash to make the blocks which I am really enjoying. I decided on a Spiderweb block as I've wanted a spiderweb quilt for the longest time. I asked for bright, bold strips of fabric against a grey, low volume central star, and I also asked that the strips forming the star all from one colour group on each block, to highlight the secondary pattern of stars. Like this:

I used Heather's tutorial which is really easy and fun to make. In the last 10 days, my blocks have started to trickle in (we are a very relaxed Bee which I love!) and I was not disappointed!

I tried to spend the afternoon playing with the layout, I have about half the blocks at this stage. But I was thwarted by a small lady who wanted to eat them help.

Can't blame her. They look scrummy so far, no matter what way I lay them out. I have a feeling this one will be sewn up as soon as the rest of the blocks arrive.

January Finishes - Put Your Scraps to Work 2014

It's hard to believe that this is the last day of January. It has flown by in the blink of an eye, full of work, kids activities and a little bit of sewing. Today is also the first month of the Put Your Scraps to Work 2014 challenge and I hope you'll join me in showing off your scrappy sewing this month.

My plan for the month included a scrappy fabric basket (check) and a scrappy cushion (sadly no check).

I made good progress sorting out my scrap basket - I'm not quite finished, but almost there.

And I made 2 sets of scrappy blocks.

First up, I made these two QAYG blocks for Alison as part of her appeal for quilts for street children in Mexico city:

I did a version of a log cabin block with strips of increasing size. I would have liked to do a few more, but had to accept that my time is limited and that contributing something was better than having great intentions and ending up contributing nothing. I really like these cheery, happy blocks. I quilted them in an expanding square type pattern - you can see it better on the back of the block. I hope Alison can use these, and they definitely made good use of my scraps!

The last of my makes for the month were my Bee Blocks for Ruth in the Modern Irish Bee. These blocks used teeny tiny 1" squares so they were a little bit tricky, but fantastic to use up those tiny pieces of fabric you can't bear to throw out. The Kona Ash sets of the little scrap blocks perfectly, I can't wait to see what this quilt turns out like.

 

 
My aim for February is to use these orphan blocks I found in my scrap basket, and turn them into something lovely!

 So, lets see what you've been up to and what lovely scrappy makes you have for this month! Please link back to me in your post, and go visit some of the other peeps linking up. You have a week to link up so get writing :-) Don't forget to add your pics to the Flickr group, and to tag them on Instagram using the #putyourscrapstowork2014 hashtag.

An InLinkz Link-up

Improv wonky house bee blocks

This month was the second in our new Modern Irish Bee, and last week a little bundle of colourful, fun fabric arrived from Agnes. She asked us to make wonky house blocks in any style, any size and using whatever method we wanted.

I decided to make some improv blocks. First up was this summery feeling little house.  The swirly fabric I used for the house made me think of a gingerbread house for some reason, and I pulled out some scraps from my basket to add the little tree and the girl in the window. I still have a bear cut out to applique but didn't really feel it was working in the block so never applied it. I love the wonky, crooked little house and there is room for Agnes to add little details on the doors and windows when she is quilting, if she wants to.

Then I turned to the second block. There was a big strip of deep navy fabric in the pack, so I knew my 2nd block was going to be a nighttime block. This one is pretty simple, but I like the owl and hedgehogs, and the yellow windowpanes - it's a little cozy house in the moonlight :-)

I had lots of fun making these and I hope Agnes likes them! There are a host of lovely wonky houses popping up in the group pool, and I think she is going to have a fab quilt! 

I was also queen bee for July....and I have almost all the blocks back, just waiting for some where people are away on holidays. I can't wait to show you the gorgeousness that has been dropping in through my letter box in the last few weeks!

Slow Sewing...

It's been more than a little quiet around here of late! I feel like I've barely blogged in weeks, which is, in fact the case. Not like me at all! Unfortunately, life has just gotten in the way of blogging for the last month or so. For some (clearly deluded) reason, I thought that as my kids got older, I would have more time to myself. Apparently not! And now that we are into the long summer evenings and they are itching to be out on our big green and in the back garden, there is no getting them to bed at 7pm and having the evening to myself to sew. But to be honest, even if they had been in bed, most evenings I have been only capable of collapsing onto the sofa and watching tv, what with life, work and everything else!

Anyways, I thought I would show you some of the (very limited) projects I have been working on.

First up, some bee blocks:

April

and May

I have made up a few sample make up bags and pencil cases, hoping I might sell a couple for teacher's gifts to fund some fabric purchasing later in the summer.

And I have been working on a simple pattern for my Charlotte bag which will be available next month.

Lastly, I have quilted and partially bound the Little Apples "Stained" quilt and will be hand finishing it on the sofa tonight. Can't wait to have another finish to finally show you :-)

Hope you are having a lovely weekend, particularly those of you off gallivanting in London for the Fat Quarterly retreat - looks like you are all having a ball!

January Bee Blocks

 

This month in Sew Bee Blissful, Christine gave us a lovely block to work on - this garden fence block.

As yesterday's post was so long, this is going to be very short.

Aren't they gorgeous? I loved working on them and ADORE her fabric choices. These are going to make an amazing quilt.

Next month I am Queen Bee - I'm still freaking out about my block choice because there are just too many gorgeous blocks out there I want to make quilts from - if you have any recommendations, please send them my way!!

November Bee Blocks

November was all about wonky star blocks in Sew Bee Blissful. I was so thrilled, I love making wonky stars!

Ella was our queen bee for the month and sent out packs of gorgeous fabric, using a deep wine coloured solid as the background which was perfect. She also posted a fab inspiration mosaic and asked us to "play" with the blocks, leaving our interpretations up to us.

So I took the fabrics out earlier this week and had a good think about what I wanted to do. I decided to do the first one pretty straightforward. I made a little four patch block for the centre square, just to add a bit more interest. And I went as wonky as I could with my points and am really happy with how it turned out.

 

The second block, I decided to swap out some of the background fabric for a print with similar tones (with Ella's blessing). Because I was doing this I decided to stick to the solid orange and yellow for the wonky star points. The centre square is a little square with borders. Its a little in your face, and I had mixed feelings about it when I was making it, but I quite love it now and I think it will work really nicely in the quilt. I just hope Ella does too.

Lastly she asked us to make a small improv block - here it is:

Overall, I really loved this month's blocks! We're on a break for December and I need to get thinking about what I am doing as my month (February) will be coming up fast!

Cut, piece, press, repeat....

Slowly but surely I am making progress this week! Having some time off work is great and the miserable weather definitely limits the options for other things I could be doing.

 I finally managed to get CeLynn's October bee blocks done and in the post to her. She picked a super cute owl block and, with some lovely fabrics to work with, I think they turned out nicely!

We also did a 6.5" signature block for the back:

 

I spent a lot of yesterday making up a little something for Susan as part of her long overdue giveaway prize from the Summer Sewing list. Its gone in today's post with a Terrain charm pack - but no pics until it arrives! I want it to be a surprise.

Then I got working on the blocks for my friend's baby quilt. I took Leanne's advice and decided to piece what I had already cut before doing any more cutting (good advice!) and now have 25 blocks done! I think they are going to work quite nicely - I know there is an over supply of red blocks here - haven't done a lot of the blues and pinks yet so it will be more balanced.

I have some faves in these blocks - like this gorgeous flower:

This butterfly:

This fairy princess - although I don't know what fabric its from!

The willow wren:

And of course, not forgetting my owls:

And lastly, my very last bit of Sherbet Pips:

Have to go to work tomorrow but hoping I might make some more progress on Friday when I am off again! Linking up to some really talented ladies over at Freshly Pieced:

Wednesday WIP update

Another week gone, where does the time go? August is always a busy month, this year more than ever. Can't believe that my little boy is off to school next week. He is all kitted out with his uniform, his books, and his schoolbag. He looks so grown up with the uniform on! I am torn between excitement for him moving on to this new stage in his childhood and wanting to cry that he is growing up so quickly when I see him!

So here's the progress this week:

Completed this week:

I finished my mug rug for the Haiku themed scrappy mug rug swap and posted it off last Friday. I don't think my partner will receive for another few days, and I don't want to spoil the surprise, so here's a little sneak peak of the front:



And the back:


I must admit to shamelessly stealing the idea for this card from Susan who sent me a similar one with our little fabric swap a few weeks ago. I loved it so much, I've made a few versions for friends, and as I did a rainbow theme for this mug rug, I thought it fit in quite nicely. Inside the card was my (pretty amateurish) Haiku -
"Rainbow of colours
Like a smile after the rain
To brighten your day."

Which pretty much sums up my sentiments about this mug rug. I will reveal all later in the week.

I also finally sat down and pieced my Bee blocks for August - they're here. I really liked this double pinwheel block, once I got over the fear of messing up, and I even had enough leftovers to do 2 nice 6" blocks for the back for Jenna.

In Progress:

Besides the mug rug and the Bee blocks, this week was about two things for me - our Across the Sea QAL, and my solids swap item.

We are cutting the fabric for the quilt front this week for the QAL and next week, the fun really starts with the piecing. I really love the simplicity of the block and the way it lets the fabric shine through. Here's my trial block - I just love this print from Just Wing It!



I also made good progress on my For the Love of Solids swap.


My partner has liked some improv blocks showing up in the group pool so I have tried to piece some for her.


In addition to this first one which got a lot of comments at the weekend, I have pieced 2 more. This is going to be a mini quilt, with a Kona coal background. The 4th block element I can't show as I think my partner would realise immediately it was for her.






This is my first venture into improv piecing - I don't really know what I'm doing but I think it looks ok. Would love your feedback :-) I'm sorry about the pics which were taken indoors and the lighting isn't great. There are nine different shades of Kona blues in these blocks, and they do create contrast all by themselves, but I really like the pop of cerise/hot pink.

Last but not least, I'm guest blogging today over at Sara's fab blog Sew Sweetness about essential sewing supplies.


So if you are new to sewing and you want to know what you need in your sewing basket to get you started, head over right now and find out more!

I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced where I know I will be in some super talented company, so head on over there and have a look!

Blocks, blocks, blocks!

Sunday is a dream day for sewing in this house. After a day off on Saturday and (ususally) a good nights sleep, the extra energy coupled with daylight always give me a boost. So this morning I tackled my Sew Bee Blissful blocks which I have been avoiding for the last couple of weeks for fear of ruining them.

Jenna wanted a double pinwheel block, and, to be honest, it was very straightforward once I figured out what fabrics I was going to use where. She sent me these bright and colourful fabrics and I added a little white as well.

This is the first time I've used starch, strangely enough and I think I overstarched the fabrics for the first block. It very possibly could stand up all by itself (sorry Jenna!). But I think it turned out ok, here it is:

The second one is my favourite:


Jenna asked us to make 6" blocks for a strip on the back of the quilt with any leftovers. I had quite a few scraps left as I used some white, so I made up 2 blocks for her. One a simple pinwheel to echo the front, the other a crazy pieced block. I hope she likes them, I really love how they turned out.


I also got started on my solids project for the swap. My partner has really responded to some improv blocks in the photo pool so I thought I'd try this for her. I've never done it before, but I quite enjoyed it. The unstructured nature of it appeals to me! (Surprise, surprise!) So I did this block plus some other bits - but I can't show them because they would totally give the game away as to who my partner is! I'm using Kona Coal as the background fabric on this mini quilt. Can't wait to get to the next blocks now. What do you think of this? Does it work, or not... bearing in mind that its supposed to be random and improvised? Let me know. (yes, I know its not a regular shape.....that's part of its, eh, charm!)


On another note, are you exited about the Across the Sea QAL?? I know I am. The Flickr group has jumped into activity with over 60 members so if you're still on the fence, come join us! Fabric cutting instructions will be posted tomorrow so check back then :-)

I'm linking up to: