Less UFO Sightings Reported

You wouldn't believe the mayhem going on behind this quilt as I was taking photos.   Short of a responsible adult to hold the quilt, I enlisted the help of Zaki (age 4) and his cousin Salma (7 years old).  Behind the quilt, one of Zaki's 'big' cousins was restraining another 'small' cousin from jeopardising the photo shoot.  Light was going and I had to be quick.  Hence the wonky tilt to the quilt!

I have definitely made a big old dent in the UFOs lying around since I joined Leanne's Finishalong 2013. This is my third finish of 2013.

Last October, it was my second turn as quilter in the Care Circle of do.Good Stitches.  I asked the lovely members to make bright scrappy patchwork wheel blocks. The blocks look so pretty when assembled together - there is just the right mix of dark and light in this quilt.

When you look at the quilt sometimes you see hugs...

...and sometimes you see kisses...

I made a backing using white cotton and some of Tula Pink's Birds & Bees, and used some for the binding too. I bought some half yards last year and never did work out quite how to use them... 

...especially these squirrels...so it makes me happy to see them off the spare bed and in a quilt.

When I returned from England at the beginning of the month, I was uncharacteristically slack when I gathered up my sewing kit and caboodle and left behind fabric (*gasp*) and my hera marker at my mum's.  So I chose simple straight line quilting again and as this is a smallish quilt (48" x 48"), it was done in a flash.

Thank you to all the wonderful women who contributed to this quilt.  I am sure it will give lots of quilty hugs and kisses to a sick child when I hand it over to  Project Linus UK.

Things will be a bit slower on the quilt making front but it has made me realize that if I lived somewhere where I could buy batting or thread at a local quilt store or online and have it in a couple of days then I would probably be much more productive.  I bought 4 kilometers of thread (4 x Gutermann's 1000m spools) back with me along with 3 lots of batting - the batting has gone as has over 1 kilometer of thread but I'm looking forward to finishing bee blocks and working on some quilt tops - after all my favourite part of the process...

Linking up with TGIFF being hosted by Laura this week!

Over Two Years

Have you ever forgotten your birthday?  No, I haven't either.  However, it appears I have forgotten my blogiversary, which in blogging terms is forgetting your birthday. Clearly I was too busy entertaining a 4 year old on his holidays and making quilts.  It was on January 20 apparently.  Yep - one week ago marked two years since I started my little blog.  My witterings.

I have also been hovering around the 400 follower mark for a while now.  So together with my blogiversary I think that calls for another giveway.  I shall get back to you on that one very shortly.  I have a cunning plan.

Today, I assembled the blocks for my second Care Circle quilt top. Last October, I asked the circle to make bright blocks using Elizabeth's Patchwork Wheel block.  You can find the super easy tutorial here.

I still can't get over the fact that these blocks were made with lots of different stashes - they just go so beautifully together.

This won't be a very big quilt - it will be 48" square. Once made, the quilt will be donated to Project Linus UK and give comfort to a young sick child.  I'm hoping to make the back, get it basted and start quilting it tomorrow or Tuesday and perhaps there might be one last finish for January.

I'm not promising as I have some important bee blocks to attend to including a paper pieced one.  Have I paper pieced before?  No.  What am I paper piecing?  A Union Jack from the book, Modern Blocks. Off to find my seam ripper...

Linking up for the first time with Plum and June and the Let's Get Acquainted Monday Link Up!

Solve

Solve the equation. What does n represent? 

n = x + y (+Care Circle) 

Ughh.  Algebra. Mathematics and I didn't get on well at school and it was only when I had to teach the subject to 6th graders that I started to enjoy it.  6th grade math is. as. far. as. I. go.

I've been a little quiet over the last week or so but I have been a busy bee I assure you.  Last weekend I decided to have a computer and sewing machine 'lite' weekend so that I could have some time doing fun stuff with Zaki.  Then on Monday he appeared with his 'dossier' - a huge tome of all the things he had done since September.  It had a whole end of term feel to it and yes, he was on his holidays (having only been back at school for 2 weeks).  Somehow, we hadn't got the note. If I checked my husband's coat pockets, I'm pretty sure I might find one in there as he usually does the last school run of the day (there are three as Zaki comes home for lunch). Thanks honey!

Anyway, I have had Zaki at home and have been sewing although trying not to be chained to the machine.  I do have another, yes another finish for you!

I know, I know, I'm starting to spoil you as this is my third finish since December 24, 2012.

n = finish!

Last year, I was a quilter in the Care Circle of do.Good Stitches - a really lovely group of women.  I asked the circle to make super sized scrappy x and plus blocks based on badskirt's original tutorial but a bit bigger.  They did good.  Very good.  So on Tuesday, I whipped up a quick back using a couple of spare blocks, basted it and then started quilting it using 1" straight line quilting.

I finished the quilting on Thursday.  As I too go to the school of  'we'll cross that bridge when we come to it' I then had to figure out some binding.  I ws thinking of going scrappy to  match the whole scrappy vibe going on but then found a half meter of some Sherbet Pips' fabric in amongst the huge box of mystery fabrics I had bought from Lynne when she had a destash last year. I like how the binding kind of just blends in.

So this quilt was destined for last year's Siblings Together appeal by Lynne. Siblings Together is a UK based charity which provides camps for siblings separated by the care system. However, for one reason or another I didn't receive all the blocks until July and the moment passed.  Lynne has just started her Siblings Together appeal for this year and I'm very happy that this is done and will go back with my mum after her visit here in April and to the summer Siblings Together camp.  I'm really hoping this will make a young girl very happy! If you want to join in by making a quilt or donating fabrics or batting then the flickr group is here.

Oh, and I almost forgot - this is my second finish of the first quarter of Leanne's Finishalong!

Quilt Stats

Quilt Design x and plus blocks

Quilt Front Fabrics Scrappy!

Quilt Back Fabrics White sheeting and 2 blocks

Binding Sherbet Pips

Measures 55" x 65"

Linking up with TGIFF over at Nat's, who is hosting it this week...even though it's Saturday :-/

2013 FAL - 1st Quarter

We're home! We arrived back home on Monday and while the sun is shining, it's chilly and I'm really struggling to settle back in to our normal routine.  However, before we left I was delighted to be reunited with my machine.  It was fixed under warranty and as suspected, it had a faulty bobbin casement.  She is clean and shiny and purrs while sewing like a dream!

With a to-do list as long as my arm, I'm linking up with Leanne's FAL (Finishalong).  Perhaps this will be the kick up the butt that I need!

So what would I like to get finished this quarter?

First up are the two quilts for the Care Circle of do.Good Stitches. I promised Rachel that these will be done by the end of January. Before we came home, I bought thread, backing and batting so these should be among the first finishes of 2013.

There's the already pieced X and Plus quilt top...



...and the unpieced Patchwork Wheel quilt top



Another important finish for me and long overdue is the Stained Man with a Curious Nature quilt for my husband. It was the last thing I quilted with my machine before it broke.  I hated the quilting and so it was a relief to unpick it all so that I could steal the batting and use it for my mum's quilt, now known as the Turning Corners' quilt (thanks Flo!).  I have new batting for it, a recovered machine and no excuses!



Another one languishing sadly in a plastic body bag is the Drunkard in Central Park quilt top.  I finished it in December 2011 and loved it.  Only it was too small.  Then in a serendipitous moment last month, Amy was having a destash of Central Park and I snapped it up! It arrived the day after we left but I shall ask my mum to send it over and somehow use it to make this quilt bigger.  It may mean some deconstruction but it will be worth it as I love the colours in this top.



Lastly, it is almost a year since I made my granny squares - I jumped on the bandwagon and made a few and then there may have been a kona white crisis and I stopped making them.  So I would like to finish this one too. This is a little ambitious as there are quite a few more blocks needed.



So I'm linking up with Leanne and crossing my fingers. This is very optimistic I know.  I have a gagillion bee blocks to figure in as well.  Wish me luck! So what are you hoping to finish?  If you fancy joining in and haven't yet done so, the linky is open until Sunday January 13 at midnight MST.

The One with Lots of Colour

I haven't been blogging much recently but I'm feeling a lot better and the pity party is officially over.

These are the 12 blocks I have received so far from the Care Circle of do.Good Stitches and all from Australia I think.  It was my second  month as quilter in October and I chose Elizabeth's Patchwork Wheel block.  I can't believe six different people made these blocks as they are so incredibly in tune with each other.  I asked for scrappy and I got the most beautiful rainbow blocks.

Thank you lovely ladies of the Care Circle - this is going to be a gorgeous quilt! 

Being machineless has meant that I can get on with an EPP bee block due by the end of the month.  Celine wanted a Row A and a Row B of Katy's Spring Carnival templates using some Liberty lawn fabrics of her own and supplemented with fabric of our own.  This is Row A.

I am really enjoying being in this EPP bee - there is a two month turnaround for each block, and it is great always having a little EPP project on the go.

Had I not been in the bee, I might not have made any Spring Carnival blocks. However, I have and Katy's free templates are perfect and come together pretty easily.

I'm now thinking of a cushion using this gorgeous charm pack of Katherine Wheel, which my lovely Aunt Jan gave me when we were in England back in August.  She picked it up at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham and having met Nel Whatmore declared her absolutely lovely! I'm thinking of using this pretty purple or perhaps navy for the solid background. That will be tomorrow's EPP project.

Lastly, here's a view over the scruffy Marrakech medina south toward the Atlas mountains, which are back! They disappear every year as soon as it gets really hot and then return in the autumn.  If you look really closely (forgive the 'phone quality), you'll notice they are snow capped.  The recent rain has turned to snow and that's why it's now so cold at night! Brrr.

Treat Me Like a Lady

Perhaps my machine had overheard me saying how much I was enjoying a little handsewing but today while I was sewing up my x and plus block quilt top, she sent me a message loud and clear.  Treat me like a lady.

You see I had woken up in a bit of a cold sweat this morning thinking about all the x and plus blocks, which I had asked for back in April when I was queen bee quilter in the Care Circle of do.Good Stitches.  I hadn't received the final blocks until July due to the possessive nature of the Australian and/or Moroccan postal system and then due to the summer heat and a million other excuses I could no doubt come up with, they languished on the spare bed.  As it is my turn to be queen bee quilter again this month, I knew that I had to get them sewn up in to a quilt top and sharpish.

Halfway through sewing the seams, there was a crunch and a judder and everything came to a stop. I looked at the bobbin casement and found that it had been pushed upwards.  This has happened before a couple of times and I had kind of ignored it.  Today the casement wouldn't go back easily and unless I sew fairly slowly, it pops out again.  Gah.  I would liken sewing at present to driving a car with a loose exhaust.  Noisy and unsettling.  So there is nothing to do but buy a new one.  That means ordering online from England. There goes that new fabric I was going to buy.

This is one bright and cheerful quilt - much brighter than I normally go for but I love it and really believe it will make a young person happy - once it is basted and quilted!

This month as quilter, I have chosen this patchwheel block by Don't Call Me Betsy.  Click here to see the blocks made so far.  It's going to be a beautiful quilt - thanks ladies!

Yesterday morning I had a bit of a fiddle with my blog and added some pages showing my finished quilts (9 apparently!), some of my favourite photos of Morocco and some recipes (a work in progress), so if you fancy a snoop round - feel free!

Bee Blocks & Bunting

It's Friday!!  I'm not sure why I am particularly  happy about this fact as my days seem to merge in to one another and sometimes I lose track of exactly which day it is but perhaps it's having a couple of days off the exhausting nudging the 4 year old off to pre-school routine in the morning.

Anyway, last month when we were back in England, my bestie's daughter asked if I would make her some bunting in pastel colours. She's not a girly girl and so I majored on blue and green stripes and dots with a little bit of pink thrown in for good measure.

I'm a little late to the bunting party...who knew it was so fun, quick and easy to make?  I fear I may be a little on the old side for bunting but it certainly cheered our bedrooml up.

Bee blocks have been their usual plentiful self...well that's what happens when you are in (gulp) 5 bees.

First up is this Follow the Leader block for Sarah in the We Bee Modern Bee - a bee which uses blocks from the Modern Blocks book.   Sarah wanted us to use browns, yellows, oranges and reds with a hint of green so that her blocks would look like falling leaves.  Clever! I panicked a little as these are not colours I readily have to hand..well apart from green.  Luckily and not for the first time, my rainbow charms came in to their own and saved the day.

Next were Sea Glass blocks for Helen in the first month of a new bee, Sew Euro Bee-An.  Helen sent us some Kona snow, some Kona Poseidon colours for the border and some pretty scraps in blues, greens and pinks....and yes, there were some batiks in there. The borders could be any size we wanted and we were to place 1-2" coloured blocks in a random fashion.

It was also my turn to make a block for Helen this month in the mystery bee, Stitch Tease. Helen asked for wonky stars of various sizes in bright colours against a background of kona ash.  Here's a sneaky peek of her block which measures 24.5"

Lastly, it was Kris' turn as quilter in the Care Circle of do.Good Stitches.  She asked for Liberated Churn Dash blocks in jewel coloured blues and greens using this tutorial.  These were my first Churn Dash blocks and they were fun to make as they included foundation piecing and that was also a first for me.

It's my turn as quilter in the Care Circle next month and I have still to come up with a plan although I saw Svetlana's Shoo Fly quilt today and I'm thinking that block could make a great quilt for our circle. She's helpfully given a great tutorial.  It's also my turn as queen bee in the We Bee Modern bee next month and I have yet to choose my block...mainly because my real favourites have already been picked. It will be fun to receive some blocks next month....for me!

Anyway, have a great weekend whatever you are up to!

TTFN

Just to prove I haven`t been a total lazy wotzit since I arrived in England, I made a block for Megan today - she`s the queen bee of We Bee Modern Too and May was her month.

In this bee, we make blocks from the book Modern Blocks - this is the Mondrian block using Megan`s colours pink, red, orange, yellow and a hint of green.  The sashing is Kona charcoal and the 5 inch block is Kona white.

Just before I left Morocco, I made 2 blocks for Kristin who was queen bee last month in the Care Circle for do.Good Stitches.  She wanted scrappy herringbone blocks for a quilt which will be donated to a women`s shelter.

I mentioned yesterday that I received lots of happy mail upon my return from a couple of days away!  I`m bowled over by the genorosity in this soft and squishy corner of blogland.  These were gifts to help me feel like I had been at the retreat. Look what I got?

This lovely cathedral window`s pin cushion from Catherine who hangs out in `Jamland` - Tiptree in Essex! I love the cool colours - they shall come in handy upm my return to the firey furnace.

this gorgeous mini needle case and +x brooch from Hadley, which are cute beyond words!

these lovely FQs from Kerry which I shall make in to something for Zaki along with other lovely Robert Kaufman FQs I received from Susan and Ceri...

and this amazing package from Ceri, which included a gorgeous bag, Oakshott and Robert Kaufman fabric, gorgeous scraps and a very exclusive tape measure bracelet (which only members of the Brit Bee have - shhhhh), Aurifil thread and other yummies. I made a very simple and totally unimpressive name tag for Ceri - my only excuse is that I was feeling very below par but this totally outweighs my effort.

So thank you Catherine, Hadley, Kerry and Ceri - you have made me feel like I was in London with you and all the other amazing retreaters and I really hope that will be the case next year!

Now I just have to do some mailing and packing before we leave at 6AM (hardly worth going to bed really) on Wednesday morning.  Our visit here started in the sun and ended in the rain but it`s all good.

Here are a couple of my favourite photos from our visit here,

Waiting for a pony ride

Paddling at Charmouth Beach

Lovely smiley Susan

A finish! The Siblings Together quilt

Face painting at the local fete

Our holiday is nearly over now - see you a bit nearer the equator!