The Liberté Egalité Fraternité Cushion - Le Challenge

So not everything turns out quite as you envisioned it but this is my entry for Lucy and Nat's monthly Le Challenge. The theme is geometrics and I used the humble rectangle.

Inspired by Rita's thouroughly modern and bright Liberty Lifestyle cushion, I thought I might try something similar using my Liberty tana lawn charms which I have been collecting from Ali over the last year. But compared to Rita's, this is definitely old school!

I cut the charms in half and alternated the layout so that they resembled bricks. I wish now that I had thrown in some of my low volume charms from Laura Jane's recent swap so that the crazy riot of colour and design was broken up but as I remind myself on a daily basis - it's a cushion (or a quilt). If it's less than perfect or I don't really like it, it really isn't the end of the world.

As frequent nominee and winner of the most unadventurous quilter award, I straight line quilted it by echoing the seams first vertically and then horizontally.

I backed it in some Tanya Whelan fabric that a friend recently donated to me after moving house making a simple envelope closure. The cushion form is 22" and this piece of fabric was big enough to fit!

So this retro style cushion shows that perhaps I really am a seventies child!  Thanks to Lucy and Nat for hosting.  For more adventurous interpretations of the monthly theme, click on the button below.

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.

Going through the Bins

I'm sure you are completely fed up with me moaning like a minnie about the heat.  She lives in Morocco, what the heck does she expect? I hear you cry and you would be right but the heat recently has been relentless.  Apart from a couple of days earlier this week, temperatures have been in the high forties (today it's 115F) and it's relentless with minimum temperatures of 26C and that's in the middle of night! We are luckier than others.  We have air conditioning.  Not in every room but where it matters.I try to be  positive...really but the other night I blubbed to my husband and was feeling really down.

Liberty granny square

So I'm getting out...I'm going back to England.  Next week! I haven't yet booked my flight back to Marrakech (dangerous) but we should be there for 3 weeks.

I'm hoping to soak up some post Olympics euphoria.

So I suddenly have quite a lot to do before I leave and it's not sewing weather! Having said that, I ignored my to do list, and whipped up a super size granny square. A few weeks ago I started collecting Ali's Liberty tana lawn charm packs from her folksy shop here as ever since I made this quilt I have wanted to make a big sumptuous Liberty quilt. I have quite a few of the 5'' packs now and one 4" pack. Using some 4'' squares and some beautiful Irish linen, which lovely Karen sent me, I made this mini quilt top. It measures 18" and really is very pretty.  Much prettier in real life.

I'm hoping that if I can get it finished in time, I shall take it with me for a friend.

Thank you for all your clever suggestions about my hexies, and for your kind donations of fabric! If I didn't got back to you it's because you are a no-reply blogger so if you are still interested please email me!

I've decided to keep to the original palette of  aqua, orange and gray.  I had a good root through my scrap bins and managed to find quite a bit of fabric. Sometimes it's been a loose interpretation of aqua but that will add interest hopefully. I think I'm going to arrange them in abstract clumps on a background of perhaps some  crosshatch sketch fabric.  What do you think?

I haven't forgotten about the giveaway.  I shall announce it once I'm back in England and it will be a glad to be back pre-birthday late 300 followers giveaway!