Third Time Lucky

4x5 Modern Quilt Bee blocks for Hive 4

With the little person on his school hols, there hasn`t been much sewing time. I have however squeezed under the wire with my 4x5 Modern Quilt Bee blocks for the 1st quarter - the Four Acres block from Modern Blocks. These are my last blocks for this bee for the time being.  I haven`t signed up for the 2nd quarter as I have enough going on but who knows, it may be something I shall go back to later in the year.

The postman made a welcome return after a week or so`s absence.  I seem to be waiting on lots of stuff at the moment, and when I returned from lunch out with hubby and said little person there were a couple of packages waiting.

Quick Curve Ruler

 Jenny`s curved ruler showed up.  The third to be exact. You may recall the first arrived cracked.  When I told Jenny, she immediately emailed back saying she had already posted another. Well the second arrived - cracked in exactly the same place.  When I told Jenny about the second one, she immediately responded saying she had sent another and would keep sending them until one arrived in the perfect condition it was sent. Well butter fingers in the mail room must have been on his hols and nothing to do with Jen`s harder to get into than Fort Knox packaging but the third has arrived in pristine condition. Her rulers are beautifully packaged and are marked `Fragile` more than once.

As I opened my ruler today, I thought to myself, if this baby is broken I`ll just tell Jenny it`s okay.  Phew.  I was saved from having to fib.  This is beyond amazing customer service from Jenny.   Thank you so much! She even snuck in her Urban Birthday pattern.  Thank you!  I can`t wait to make something using the ruler.  There are some great designs coming out of the Designer Challenge on the Fat Quarterly blog here using Jenny`s rulers.

We Bee Modern Too Lemons & Limes block for Caroline

Here`s April`s block in the We Bee Modern Too bee - the Lemons and Limes block for Caroline. That pink stripey fabric is so pretty.

I also received this book in the post today, which I ordered after seeing it on Katy`s blog. I`m hoping it`s going to teach me some embroidery stitches for my partner`s name tag in the FQ Retreat Name Tag Swap.  I have known about my partner for a few weeks now but have been like a rabbit in headlights.  Let`s just say she is funny, uber talented and very generous.  I know - it seems like that description could just about be anyone right?

On the subject of the FQ Retreat, which is now only a few weeks away, I`m hoping to book my flight tonight and then it really will seem like I`m going!

Please Someone Tell Me...

...where on earth did March go?  I know it hasn`t finished yet, but all but in my view!

My mosaic for Lynne`s Fresh Sewing Day is going to be fairly minimalist but I have managed to tick another couple of essential sews off my list.

First off, here`s my `block` for Kat in the do.Good Stitches Bee.  I`m in the Care Circle - an awesome group of women from around the world.  This month Kat asked us to make one super big block, which could be made up in to a quilt for the charity she is involved with called Blankets of Love. You can read about it here but essentially the quilts are given to sick or premature babies at the Perth children`s hospital to give some comfort to the families who can take them home at the end of the child`s stay.  How wonderful is that?

Kat suggested a block but also said we could make whatever our heart desired as long as it was in child friendly fabrics.  So this morning I raided my rainbow charms for yellows and oranges and made this HST mini, measuring 24".

You don`t have to be in the Care Circle to help Kat and Blankets of Love.  You can donate orphan blocks, backing fabric, wadding and mini quilt tops, quilts or donations so that resources can be replenished - just click here for more information.

This is a great bee and I love being part of it.  It`s my turn in April to come up with a design so I`m wracking my brains as to what we shall do.

I have also started making blocks for the 4x5 Modern Quilt Bee.  This is a bee where you sign up each quarter and change your fellow beemates every time, making 5 blocks of the same design in everyone`s nominated colours.  I`m in quite a quiet hive this month and while I have received some beautiful blocks, I`m not sure I`ll sign up next quarter. I have enough to be getting on with!

I chose the Four Acres block designed by Solidia Hubbard from the Modern Blocks book.

Despite this being a simple block, my trusty seam ripper came in to its own after I misread directions.

Still, here is caretaker Leigh`s block.  Her colours are orange, golden yellow and grey.

...and Amber`s block.  Her colours are hot pink, tangerine and lemon yellow.

Now I have next week to dedicate to my starter blocks for the Stitch Tease  - an International Mystery Quilt Bee.  I should have made way more progress on this one by now and promise to be better next month girls.

Hope you`re all having a great weekend!

She once was a lazy pinner...

...sounds like the beginning of a limerick doesn`t it?  I had big plans to get lots done today but the cold which was coming on yesterday made a full blown appearance and with family arriving this afternoon I just couldn`t do what I wanted to do. 

I needed a small project so I spent an hour or so this morning looking for a block for the 4x5 Modern Quilt Bee.  I have had a pinterest account for quite a while now but it has lain mostly redundant a) because I didn`t really `get` it and b) because I kept reading how addictive it was and early signs are that this is the case.  Be careful, I may pin you!!

I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and try something I wouldn`t normally do and plumped for HSTs.  The one that finally got my vote was this Blockade Block by Faith (she of The Summer Sampler Series) at Fresh Lemons.  So called because it symbolized the Union`s strategy to surround the confederacy..apparently.  I love Faith`s quilts and if you don`t know her blog it`s full of free patterns and tutorials, including one for how to piece a Y seam, which is just what I need for my Camelot blocks, which are full to bursting with Y seams!  Anyway, I love how Faith took a traditional block and made it look so contemporary.

Here`s a Blockade block made by Becky Brown after the Civil War.

Yes, it`s a Civil War block.  If you had asked me a few months ago whether I would be making a Civil War block, I would have probably said, `No!` but today I did, and here it is.

It`s a 12 inch block. I looked to Leila`s  Skill Builder Sampler QAL for how to measure HSTs so that you don`t chop your points off when you come to join your blocks - a mistake I made earlier this year when I was making a block for Ayumi`s Tokyo Quilt Festival quilts. 

I admit to being ever so slightly pleased with my points.  They used to be baaaad. One of the best things I came away with from the Across the Seas QAL (apart from my quilt) was Sarah`s tip to pin, pin and pin again and sew over your pins.  I was always a lazy pinner but since I took on board Sarah`s advice, my points while not perfect have improved and I haven`t broken a needle yet.

1001 Peeps quilt top assembled!

By blogging we learn so much from each other.  I hope one day that I`ll be giving advice rather than just taking it! What`s your tip of the day?

So I`ll stick this audition block up on flikr and hope the rest of the hive like it.  If they do, I`ll be making 5 blocks each in their colours.

Lastly, here`s a photo I took from our roof terrace today - not very 1001 Peeps is it??  Over the satellite dishes - typical of the Marrakech skyline, are the Atlas Mountains with snow-capped peaks. The recent rain we have had has turned to snow and that`s the reason why our evenings are so c c c cold!

I`ve Got Lots of Charm(s)

So just after I posted yesterday, my husband walked in the door with a priority envelope...don`t you just love getting these in the post?  In it were my charms from The Color Wheel Charm Swap.  Just take a look at these.

They are not perfectly in order but you get the idea.  And here are just a few of the beautiful fabrics...

A huge thank you to Kati who generously allowed us international swappers to have fabric delivered directly to her for cutting into 5 inch charms.  I hope Kati decides to do a second round as it was a low stress high reward swap. I love my charms.  Now what to make?

For the 4x5 Modern Quilt Bee, I decided on mulberry, orange and grey for my colours.

Lastly, the lovely Rebecca over at Making Rebecca Lynne is having a fabulous giveaway to celebrate her first milestone in followers.  You have a great chance to win a lovely pouch and some de-stash.  What are you waiting for?

The Secret Life of Bees

As many of you know, I spend an awful lot of time waiting for things to turn up in the post.  It`s usually fabric but this time, it is much needed thread (no Aurifil to buy here, only 100 per cent polyester), feet for my new machine, my second goodie package from The Goodie Swap 2011 and my charms from The Color Wheel Charm Swap.

However, yesterday I received the last remaining fabric I had ordered.  When I held the giveaway a week or so ago, I had to order myself some of the Moroccan Mirage in the Marrakech colourway.  If you haven`t ordered from The Intrepid Thread before, then this is what you find inside your envelope and a handwritten card from Julie.

and here`s the Moroccan Mirage...

Yes - some pink again. I was planning to use it for the Duo QAL but I`m still thinking on that. It was fun reading your comments on my bright pink quilt a couple of days ago.  I had no idea I used so much pink.  I certainly don`t ever wear it. From your comments it seems our quilting styles depend on a variety of things - where we live, where we come from and our mood. In a recent swap questionnaire, I requested no Barbie pink.  Should the administrator stumble across this blog, they`ll wonder what planet I`m on. My mum arrives this weekend and she has her beady eye on that quilt, so it may be heading home with her.

I was super super excited to receive flikr mail today from the administrator of The 4 x 5 Modern Quilt Bee accepting the application I hurried off this morning to join the group. Yes - I am finally in a Bee! They are taking applications for the 4th quarter and I believe there are still spaces should you want to join. So I get to pick 3 colours and each quarter I will make 5 blocks in the other members` colours and receive 5 blocks in my colours.  By the end of the year, I will have 20 blocks to make a quilt.  I am in awe of the talent in the group and can`t wait to see who is in my hive.  First, I have to choose 3 colours for my blocks and I`m thinking of something different.  I have to be specific about colours.  I can`t just say blue or pink.  I have to say aqua or raspberry, for example.  So what would you choose?  I need ideas!