Feathers and Small Quilts

Look  !!  Not only a finish, but my first quilt with free motion feathers !

From this book , it's just 39 inches square, but I am  thrilled with the way it has turned out !  The feathers are from this  DVD  by Patsy Thompson, who's method  I've found the easiest to master.  I am so pleased with myself that I'll even show you the back as long as you promise not to laugh at my 'swirls' - more practice needed there me thinks :-)

Not perfect I know, but not too bad for a first attempt either (even though I says it as shouldn't !)

Moving on, some while ago I joined this Yahoo Group  dedicated to making small quilts and recent I joined their first quilt swap  .  My partner Tricia  (no blog) from Michigan said that her favourites were autumn colours and purple, this is what I made for her

Measuring 16" x 24" , finished block size 4", containing 47 different fabrics not counting the neutrals - I was gutted when I discovered I had duplicated one colour, but by then it was too late to  do anything about it .  This is the  lovely little quilt I received in exchange which  is Tricia's first swap quilt

So to finish, the same Group also issued a Red & White quilt challenge a couple of weeks ago and here's my entry , just 15 inches square.

 ...and look !!  More feathers !

Mug Rug Swap

Yesterday my Mug Rugs arrived from my partner Tessa Mc Ardle (no Blog) in South Australia - didn't I do well? 

I have to show you the backs as well, as they are just as pretty as the fronts

Tessa sent other goodies too

A lovely sewing themed card , a notepad, bookmark and even a 'cup' of coffee - how good is that !  Thank you Tessa,I love the mug rugs -  you have been very generous!

Thanks also to Michele for organising the swap!

Slow Progress

 Finally I've got up the courage to make a start on my Pineapple quilt!  It's been backed for a couple of weeks now but I still couldn't make my mind up on how to quilt it but eventually decided that 'less is best' and just follow some of the straight lines.   This turned out to be a good decision as once under my machine it seemed even larger than I originally thought  !

I also decided to use the Janome as its a long time since it's seem the light of day. I just can't seem get as good results  with my FMQ on this machine as with the Bernina but its OK for everything else, and for all Janome users  out there-  I am sure its me not the machine :-)

After two long sessions I have managed to get all the anchoring lines done and have just 2 rows to finish on the white sections, but today it's back to some gentle piecing as both my right arm and shoulder are suffering
from wrestling with this monster!  I think that finishing this quilting is going to a slow process, as little and often seems to be the best way of tackling it without disabling my right arm :-)

My Mug Rugs are finished and ready to go to my partner in ...? and as its a secret swap, this is the best I can do for a sneak peek

 I  don't think I've given too much away do you ?

Bad Blogger!

Yes, I'm afraid I'm turning in to a very bad blogger indeed  -not only is my blog turning into a weekly event , but I also keep forgetting to tell you what's going on in Blogland.

I didn't mention this

                                                               


over at Quilting Gallery , not that I  think this was very serious as even without my help (!) there are 330 participants from 25 countries, now you can't get more international than that!

Fall Quilt Swap

With everything that's been happening in the last few weeks,  I haven't mentioned the Quilting Bloggers   Fall Inspired mini quilt swap

Luckily this is one thing  I managed to get  finished and off to my partner Lynne  in the UK whilst it was still officially Autumn - but only just !  Unluckily  I forgot to take photos, so 'borrowed ' these from Lynne's blog

It's always difficult making for someone else, particularly when there are no guidelines as to preferences, but I think that Lynne is pleased with the little quilt !!  As I still had some of the lovely Cider Mill Road fabric, I though a basket of apples would be appropriate - the colours haven't come out as good as in really life unfortunately, but all in all it made a nice little quilt and one I found difficult to part with !

Thanks once again to Michele of Quilting Bloggers for organising the swap!

Did you see it ?

If you clicked on this yesterday to enlarge it,



............. you would have seen this smiley 'face'




Don't ask me how it got there, it must be a trick of the light or something, but how amazing!!


Last day today to join the Friendship Bag Swap! This little one is the Charmed Gift Bag from Moda Bake Shop

New Swap!

In case you've not heard about this one and want to join in , pop over to Fiona's blog and
get your name down straight away as sign-ups close on 31 July !

I know I said no more swaps this year, but what a fun way to build up to Christmas Day - and I can't believe I'm talking about Christmas in the middle of July !!

Spring Swap

It's almost a week now since I received my Spring Swap parcel from my partner and what a great parcel it was too! I'm afraid I am late with this post as I 've been waiting for some decent weather before taking the photos, but as the rain is being very persistent and time is passing rather quickly, thought I should get on with it !!


So - my big fat squiggy from Norway.......

...full of lots of intriguing parcels!

Which were hiding not only this lovely table runner ...

...but many other goodies....

.

...including a Tilda stitchery, a rooster ornament and two pieces of repro fabric and.......

.......chocolate, tissues, some serviettes and a note pad!!!! Didn't I do well ??

In case you are wondering, I did mention that I have a bit of a thing about roosters/chickens and my favourite colours are blues and creams, and I think you'll agree that my partner managed both very well!!

Thank you so very much May Kristin for all these wonderful gifts, you have been more than generous and I am delighted with every one of them !!!

Time also for a 'Thank You' to Linda for organising the swap, it's been a pleasure taking part !

Beating the Credit Crunch !

I am sure we are not the only ones suffering from today's economic climate, certainly the £ against the Euro exchange rate is hammering the likes of us in Europe, and I expect the same can be said for ex-pats worldwide!


Shouldn't moan too much about it really, as we are here from choice not by force, and our relationship with the exchange rate is a bit like a marriage at times, ' for better or worse'! Not so long ago we were rubbing our hands together because we were getting a very good rate, which boosted the old pension no end, so now we just have to take the 'worse' end of the stick I guess!!


All is not doom and gloom though , there are still ways to feed my addiction to quilting without having to find yet another 50 ways to cook minced (ground) beef :-)

So if you feel the same way ,and if you haven't already done so, hurry along to Quilting on a Budget's new Blog to find lots ways to keep quilting without breaking the bank !! Some of the ideas may not be new , but here they are all in one place ! Anything that helps save money and keep me quilting has to be good in my book!!


I keep forgetting to mention that I joined in Linda's Spring Swap

Sorry Linda, but it might be just as well, as I am hopeless at keeping secrets !

This swap has been a big challenge, as my partner gave me no clues whatsoever as to her likes or dislikes! I've trawled her blog from end to end and still no help!! I just hope she likes her package (!) which is all wrapped up and ready to be posted on 25 March! This is a little earlier than the official date of 3 April, but it's the same day as we leave for the UK and as it is going international (like all my swaps - surprise!) hopefully it won't arrive too soon before the 3rd!

Birth of a Monster!!

Sometime weeks ago, Kate had a block 'clearaway' on her blog and I swapped this mini...








..for 9 of these blocks!




For the last couple of weeks I've been laying them out, shuffling them about and having finally decided on a setting, spent hours debating on what to use to try and complement the many colours in these scrappy blocks!! I think I must have pulled every piece of fabric in my (modest!) stash before coming up with a combination that I thought might work and then set out to try another 'first' for me - on point settings!


Now, anybody with an ounce of sense tries out new techniques on small items - yes? You won't be surprised to hear then that starting out on 15 inch finished blocks was not a good idea but one guaranteed to cause big problems!! No rulers long enough to cope with diagonal cuts ; no square ruler big enough for the job either (20.5 is my largest!!); no single cutting mat that big , arms not long enough (!).......need I go on ???


Eventually, after getting DH to help with the drafting and cutting of a couple of templates from some very sturdy card, clearing off our dining table and taping together several cutting mats and praying that the multiple rulers didn't move off line under pressure , which was achieved by virtually lying on on top of them across the table (not a pretty sight I assure you!!) setting triangles finally appeared !! I am sure some of you out there know an easier way to cope, but this was the best I could come up with on my own - nothing about this dilema in any of my books or mags!!


The top is 4 ft 8 " x 6ft 8", a lot longer than I'd thought it would be even though I only used 8 of the blocks !! At one time I was going to make additional blocks to try for a better setting - then it would really have been a monster!!


So, without any further ado, some not brilliant pics (mainly!) because of its size , this is my latest UFO !!

The sashings are chocolate brown , the corner stones quite a strong pink and the setting triangles are tan with a small red/brown all-over folky heart pattern even though it looks like polka dots from a distance!

Now that's over with, all I have to cope with is - how many sleepless nights will be spent worrying about quilting it!!!!! May even manage better photos then too!!

Claim to Fame ?

Wow!! I got my name into print - how exciting is that, and I didn't even know about it!!!


February 2008 I joined in a fibre postcard swap being organised by Susan Lenz for a proposed exhibition called Cyber Fybers . Susan was inviting you to swap a FPC or ATC with her for display at the exhibition and some 400 worldwide swappers joined in , together with a number of invited well known textile artists - Maggie Grey to name but one! Can you imagine organising and controlling a swap of this size (!) but Susan managed it and the exhibition was opened on 9 January this year. Susan very kindly kept us all up to date with frequent postings as to what was happening, but once the exhibition closed, I have to admit I forgot all about it!


Imagine my surprise this morning when, not expecting anything at all from the US, I received an envelope with a return address in South Carolina ! Inside was this magazine


with a note from Susan, directing me to pages 22-26

where I found my postcard (bottom - far right with the 'vine') and my name!!

I don't even mind that it's spelt wrong on this occassion!!

My card was made of silk snippets with gold sewing machine cord and FME leaves stitched onto water soluble film - I thought it was lovely (!!), but never thought it would make it into print !! What are the chances that out of all the entries mine was one of those fortunate enough to be photographed .

One Degree Under!

No - that's not the weather, that's me & DH I'm afraid, as we've both been laid up with some kind of tummy bug/'flu thingie that's been invading this area of Brittany ! Thankfully, it is wearing off now and it will be a treat to be able to eat something other than soup, which has been our main diet for the last few days - what a way to see the New Year in !! Of course I am blaming the surprise visitors we had from the UK - I don't know why it is, but whenever we come in contact with our fellow countrymen, we end up 'suffering' from something or another, and it's not just me (!) it seems to be some strange phenomena that effects most of the ex-pats that I know !!



The weather, that's another topic ! It has been very cold over Christmas and New Year and yesterday the morning temperature was minus 8 degrees C ! Now I know that's not cold for lots of people but for us more 'delicate' mid European types, believe me that's cold !! It had been quite bright , sunny and rather pleasant in spite of the cold, until today that is and now we have sleet/freezing rain with roads and pathways that are positively dangerous and covered in black ice -so much for global warming as this is the coldest winter we've had in all our time in Brittany!!


On the quilting side of life, lots going on at the moment but nothing I can photograph as the light is so very bad , and I ain't going outside to do it :-) I did have a paper piecing session booked last Friday with Lucy , not a lesson as such but more of a ' help me' (!) so that I could make a start on the NYB blocks, but as that was wiped out by the tummy bug , I decided to make a start on my own -GULP!! Other than giving myself aching jaws from clenching my teeth whilst concentrating it wasn't as bad as I thought , and they've turned out quite well in my opinion - photos will follow when the sun comes back out !



I have also managed to turn this quiltie

Front




Back


into 9 of these large scrappy blocks (14" finished!)




thanks to Kate's generous Clearout Swap ! I am really looking forward to (trying!) to turn these into a lap quilt, so Thank You Kate !!

Freebies

One thing that has never failed to amaze me is the amount of free quilting information, tutorials and patterns that are available on the web - in fact I would go so far as to say that without the internet I don't think I would be quilting today and for me that would be tragic!!!

I depend so much on this wonderful tool to keep in touch with what is happening, provide me with 'on line shopping' facilities for my fabric, helpful explanations when I am floundering and inspiration when I feel brain dead!! That so many talented people are willing to share their gift is amazing, and I am certainly grateful for their generousity! So - having said all that here's a little of my 'Freebie' Christmas sewing !!

A cheeky snowman door hanger from All People Quilt - free bells too as they came from Jo in Tas (go look at her blog to see some great Christmas ornaments!)

A small cushion made from a block at Fat Cat Patterns (some great Freebies here and also the birthplace of Dylan !)

A redwork Santa that I found (but can't remember where - sorry!) and made into a small wallhanging

Lastly, not a freebie really as I found it in this magazine

but as its Christmas related I thought it should be included with this post - my version of Christmas gone Scrappy Country !!

All of these will find their way to one or another of the DGDs (don't think the 2 boys would be very impressed somehow!!) and I just hope they have as much fun receiving them as I did making them !!!

Almost forgot! I've heard from Anjea that my Holiday Booty Quilt Swap parcel has arrived, so I can show it now

She seems to be pleased with it, thankfully! It is always a bit of a worry making something for someone else, and wondering how they will like it ! Don't think I will be taking part in any more for a little while now as I have so much I need to do for myself - unfortunately not all quilting related but things like the dreaded redecorating (!!), such a waste of good sewing time, but getting very necessary - Ah Well!!!!

And Yet Another !!!

How's this for yet another coincidence - I do seem to be having a run of them at the moment !

My ALQS2 swap mini arrived this morning from Lisa Jo - a lovely quilt called Wonky Pineapple Blues

( I 'stole' the photo off the ALQS site as I've not had time to take one myself!)

Also this morning I got a mail from Trish to say that she'd received my quilt called - wait for it - Exploding Pineapples !!!

Now what do you think the odds would be for us both to have picked not only such a similar pattern but also in the same colour family !!

Thank you very much Lisa Jo for the delighful quilt, and thanks to Kate for organising the swap .

Another Coincidence!

It's been a very bitty week this week ,taken up with what seemed to be one long hospital appointment - 2 for me and one check-up for DH! The good news is that my lung function tests were OK, but the (not too) bad news is that they need to look a little further into a possible sleep/breathing disorder which might be causing my lack of energy and constant tiredness , so I am off to the local hospital next week to spend some time in the 'Sleep Clinic'. This is one that made me smile - as who can ever sleep in hospital !!!

As a result very little has been achieved on the sewing side of life other than a little more progress on the Holiday Swap mini, which I can't show yet. I did however get to the LQS yesterday and found this on their sale table for half price !



I haven't had a really good look at it yet, but like what I have seen so far , and there's certainly a good story behind it all ! Then look what arrived in today's post , all this lovely reproduction fabric !

Now, don't you think someone is try to tell me something !!!