Thursday 31 May 2012

Special Day...




32 years ago I married my Best Friend.... What a good job he was a guy..! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY SWEETHEART..... Not that he reads this of course... Perhaps I should post a sports picture here then he might take note.. 
I am gathering all my Retreat goodies together and I think he's looking a bit worried....
 "How long will you be away?"....
 "2 nights Dear.." .....
 "Are you sure that's all?"...
 " Yep... promise..."
 It looks like I am not the only one getting excited.... We've been having a 'Link up' to get to know each other and there is a lot of Squealling and 'Sleeps' counting going on... The only cloud on the horizon is sorting out the parking..... Central London is not blessed with a lot of parking... And when you find it it's expensive.... Going to have to do a bit of moving around to get some free parking on Sunday..

Today I was supposed to be tidying the house in preparation for my being absent but I got sidetracked....


Last year at the Festival of Quilts I bought some fabric that I was going to use for the Olympics in some way... But I decided I wanted a London Bag...
and it will do for the Olympics too..





This pattern is from the Kath Kidson book Stitch oops sorry its from Sew.... and its a great size for packing a load of gear around..

and if I get a bit carried away with any shopping in the area.......

I don't know how the girls traveling by plane are going to get on... this bag weighs a ton already and its not fully loaded yet...
But I am prepped...

2 Sleeps.............




Monday 28 May 2012

FQ London Linky Party

Fat Quarterly



So just popping in to say "Hello.." In advance of our weekend in London... I am late because I have been stalking in London this weekend, going to the Rugby actually but then steered my family in the Kensington direction so I could check the area out.... Parking is the worst part, for those who are traveling by car be prepared to pay around £50... Eek.. That could buy a lot of fabric..  I am hoping to save a bit by moving the car around but I don't want to miss a minute of the fun..

So... About me - looks like I will be in the 'senior' section ... But I'm a bit of a junior in the blog ranks, having finally got around to it only a few weeks ago.
I live in Suffolk where I work and teach in a quilt shop part time and love being in contact with all the enthusiasts of our craft.
Like a lot of us I am not keen on photos so just look for a purple fringe and this badge...



Lucky me I got the lovely Trashalou as my badge swap partner and this is Boris the keeper of my cleavage.... 

I am in Group 2 and my classes are..........
Frame Curses  Purses with Katy - thats why I need to take the class. 
Paper Pieced Pillows with Lynne - Every girl needs a Union Jack...
English Paper Piecing with Tacha - Looking for shortcuts....
Portholes with Lucie - Loving this girls work..

I'm staying at The Grange with Kathleen who has been working with us at Quilters Haven for the past year.. she is due to return home to Canada in July.. We are staying out near Lakeside shopping centre on Friday night and driving in on Saturday morning, so I don't know if we will make it to Tikki on Friday night but will try..



Thursday 24 May 2012

MIA.. Missing in Action..

Well some time life gets in the way... and I have been really busy with family matters for the last 2 weeks and have not had time to get any sewing done.
A treasured Aunt & Uncle were over from America and have just celebrated their Diamond (60) wedding anniversary - incredible that they made the trip at their age. We all had a great time celebrating with them..

It culminated on Saturday with a family gathering for 40 ... so loads of food to prepare and whizzing around getting the house tidy - ugh.. the summer spiders are coming out.  You know you have plenty of food when you can sit 12 people down for leftovers the next day....!!


So getting back to my sewing room was lovely - I finished up the samples for the FQ retreat swap, I can't decide whether to post a picture before the event or not...
I have been gathering the supplies for my classes at the Retreat.... I'm paper piecing, making a frame purse, a Union Jack pillow and trying out Lu Summers 'Portholes' technique. Then there are some group 'play' sessions as well so plenty to organise, I think my poor husband will think I am leaving for longer than 2 days when he sees the car packed.

With the weather getting better every day its nice to have some hand sewing to sit with and I have been starting the first block of my Fernhill Button club.... sew relaxing.

Saturday 12 May 2012

Fiddly bits

My week has been centered around a little white ball this week, so I haven't had too much sewing time but I have been getting my Sample swaps for the FQ retreat ready and as this weeks Zakka project was teeny tiny I thought they could be added to the swap as well..
I will post finished pictures but here is a little taster....

This weeks Zakka style project were the Itty Bitty Quilt Block magnets... really cute and they finish at 1½" square ... so quite a challenge to keep accurate..
As I was going to make a few of each style I thought it would be easier to change the method of construction - for example the 9 patch was supposed to be sewn with 1" squares but I decided to make strip sections up instead...

It was a lot easier to just sew the 3 sections together....
I have put in a bobbin for size reference... they still need a seam around so there is another ½" to come off... I am trying for a patriotic look as the FQ retreat is on during the Jubilee weekend.

Next pattern is a String block - these could only be done by the method described but were so quick and easy to make it wasn't  a problem. Paper piecing is very accurate so is especially good for small items. It looks a little odd at first....
But after trimming and pressing it looks lovely... I made 2 to start with and changed the colours around..
So now to finish them off.... I may change the width of the strips on the string as the corners will nearly disappear in the seam line..

As a result of my recent wanderings on the web, I have been having some great packages arriving but one of them wasn't a purchase.... it was my name badge for the FQ Retreat (I will give you fair warning... posts will contain a lot of references to the FQ Retreat - as I am getting a little excited) 


Let me introduce you to Boris... my Bosom buddy - literally.
Boris was made for me by my swap partner Trashalou and I gave him his name because I first saw him on the day the results were announced for the London Mayoral Election.. At that time I didn't know he was coming to me... I love him he has a cheeky little grin - it may because he doesn't  take his duties of guarding my cleavage seriously.. Thank you Trash.. and that ribbon makes me feel like I am wearing a medal around my neck - perhaps he can come with me to the Olympics.......

Friday 4 May 2012

Letting my fingers do the walking ( and the shopping)

Oops! ... I've been a naughty girl... It's amazing how much damage I can do sitting down. It's so easy to source things and once found - they become desirable. Therefore I am looking forward to the postman bringing me some beautiful lacy zips, a stamp alphabet roll and some Summersville pre-cuts... Woo Hooo!!

Also hitting my mat today was the Fat Quarterly Shape Workshop book... Very yummy.. And inspiring.!!

Only a month to go until the Fat Quarterly Retreat - got all the instruction for my classes and have to start gathering my supplies... Do you think I will be able to get it all from my stash... Watch this space.
So now I'm off for some late night Zakka sewing. I think it's addictive - we have some Essex Linen in at work and I have brought some home to try out.. I'm liking the look and feel so far, the proof will be in the sewing..
Just to brighten this post with a picture.. Here is the badge I made for the Retreat badge swap... I was making it for Laura from Needles Pins & Baking Tins
All the badges I've seen so far are brilliant and all so different.