Absolutely Fabulous

Firstly thank you so much for all the well wishes for my brother Will.  He had an emergency operation to his back on Tuesday and there has obviously been some nerve damage.  He faces months of rehabilitation but the doctors are confident he will walk again.  As one of his friends said, "Those energy balls work so keep them coming!"

It`s our beautiful boy`s 4th birthday tomorrow but we are doing most of the celebrating today - the luxury of being young enough to not really know what day it is! I ummed and ahhhed about a birthday party but decided on starting that next year.  Today, he`ll have 4 cousins and various uncles and aunties over fr cake later and he`ll love it. We`ve moved on slightly from dinosaurs to marine life.

Anyway, I mentioned a few weeks ago that I wanted to get back to my first sewing love, dressmaking.  I`ve ordered some books on pattern cutting and getting a good fit, a pattern and some fabric. These bundles of loveliness are all waiting for me at my mum`s in England. Yesterday I signed up for this course over at Craftsy - the Couture Dress with Susan Khalje. I have looked at this course before but waited until it was offered at special price.  Yesterday I got an email saying it was $39.99 as opposed to the regular price of $79.99. Woo hoo.

Once you have signed up, you can watch the course videos as much as you like, there are full written instructions and the price includes a Vogue dress pattern, which will be sent to you.

I have only had the chance to have a quick look at the first lesson but I like what I`ve seen.  It`s all done in real time so you really get to see Susan at work.  I like her too.  She has a nice soothing voice. She`s full of tips - for instance, did you know the width of the metal end of a tape measure should be 5/8ths of an inch - useful when marking your stitch line. I like the way how you can make notes below the video as you watch it.  As soon as you type, the video pauses until you`re ready to resume watching.  I shall let you know how I get on.  I don`t have that much use for couture dresses if the truth be told but I think I shall learn so much from this course that will be useful for dressmaking in general.

I quite fancy whipping something up for Jennifer`s Summer Sewing Contest, which looks like it`s going to be a whole lot of fun.  She has a fab lineup of bloggers taking part in the hop!

If you are a beginner dressmaker or are interested in taking it up, you might want to check out this great post by Sara of Sew Sweetness as part of Sarah`s excellent {Sew} Get Started series.

 Lastly, a few weeks ago I received an enticing email from Moo saying that they had a sale on and so duly inveigled, I ordered some mini cards and had them delivered to my mum`s.  There has been a slight delay in showing you these as my mum mislaid her new camera. Anyway, she found it.  Where?  In her sewing scraps.  Go figure.

Hope you are all having a great weekend.

Partay

Zaki and I are just back from a friend`s daughter`s 6th birthday party held at one of my favourite places in Marrakech - the organic Flower Power Cafe at Casa Botanica.

There was a treasure hunt amongst the pretty bunting...

...and tea in a traditional tent...

...designed especially for small people, with flower strewn wooden crates tables...

...and a 5 tier cupcake cake (with gingerbread bases and edible flowers)

When you are seated between a couple of cuties, the paparazzi are not welcome...

...but a vanilla cupcake with sprinkles most certainly is.

There was even a pinata...and everyone got a turn.

But the pinata was a tough old bird and with the temperature still 29 C (84 F) at 5.30 PM, a mid-pinata sit down was necessary for some.

...but it went eventually and there was the usual unseemly scrum...

...and that`s when small elbows and hands come in useful!

Happy Birthday Maria!

There Were Times...

...today when I thought I was already in the Iron Man Challenge (a challenge I`ll be participating in at the FQ Retreat where teams compete to finish a quilt top in the quickest time).

I have so much to do this month that there is only one way to work.  Quickly.

So I left you yesterday with a pile of cut up orange and pink fabric - the yummies provided by the wonderful Jennifer so that I could make a quilt for Lynne`s quest to gather together 50 quilts for Siblings Together. I used Jennifer`s (another Jennifer) curved ruler on Tuesday.  Yesterday, I pieced the blocks (so easy with Jennifer`s ruler) and squared them up. They come in at 8'' x 6''.

I was originally going to join all the blocks together with no sashing so there was a huge riot of pink and orange but then the Kona white I had been waiting on arrived and sashing became an option.

Today, I joined the blocks in to groups of four. I was going to sash both vertically and horizontally but then I actually really liked the vertical only sashing.  It reminded me of alien pods going toward the space ship.  Or is that only me?

I then added a border and the top comes in at 69'' x 51''.  Here it is on the kitchen floor.  It is a beautiful sunny evening here but the terrace is dusty and I just didn`t want this baby getting dirty during the photo shoot!

So I shall take this with me to England in 3 weeks time and baste and quilt it before sending it to Siblings Together.  Another tick off the list.

Talking of siblings, I received some worrying news about my younger brother yesterday morning - he is in hospital in France and has a long recovery ahead of him. Please think positively for him. This quilt top has kept me busy and I`m very grateful for that.

Lakeside

No, not the shopping centre! So yesterday, my husband took a few hours off work and we went `en famille` to Lake Lalla Takerkoust for lunch, a reservoir 30 odd miles away from Marrakech. After a dry winter, the water level looked low. As we left Marrakech, we had passed 3 golf courses being constructed in a space of 10 kilometers.

With it being a gorgeous day and a holiday I thought the lake would be busy with day trippers and pic-nickers ...

...but apart from a few boys swimming and a lone pedalo, a very squeaky pedalo, it was deserted...

We ate a simple lunch at a simple little restaurant.  Zaki seemed happy enough..

.
but was a little nonplussed by the arrival of the salad. Perhaps it was the orange slices? Nope. Vegetables.

Later, I sliced in to the pink and orange fabrics Jennifer sent me for a Siblings Together quilt.

I`ll show you how I got on tomorrow.

Fresh Sewing Day - April

 1. Embroidery Detail, 2. Curious Nature Pouch (Front), 3. Back of Name Tag for Partner , 4. Scrappy x and plus blocks, 5. April Block We Bee Modern too, 6. Embroidery, 7. Parisville Pouch, 8. Stained Quilt Top, 9. Group Shot of Blocks for Hive 4, 4x5 Modern Quilt Bee, 10. Scrappy Granny Block, 11. Curious Nature Pouch (Back), 12. Embroidery, 13. Scrappy Grannies14. Not available15. Not available16. Not available

How is it May...I mean, how is it May?? It`s still unseasonably cool here.  Long may it continue but how can it be?

April was the month when I tried something new. I attempted embroidery and have to say that I really quite like it..I`m surprised!  It`s so restful and slow and takes me back to this time last year when I didn`t even have a sewing machine so everything was hand-stitched - blocks, seams, quilting and binding!

It was also the month when I fell behind in the Stitch Tease Bee.  I don`t like getting behind especially when it`s on a project with good bloggy friends.  You see I haven`t been able to even start my blocks for Di - the swap mama of Stitch Tease.  I ordered some white solid as all I had was a small amount of snow and it still hasn`t arrived. I`ve made my excuses and will get started as soon as the solid arrives.  Do I sound like a broken record? So this month I still have Di`s blocks to make as well as Susan`s. Help!

April was my month as Queen Bee in the Care Circle of do.Good Stitches and I asked my lovely ladies to make me as many x and plus blocks for a quilt of Lynne`s Siblings Together.  They lived up to expectations and then some.  We are going to have ourselves a great quilt or quilts for someone at camp this summer.  There was also bee blocks for the 4x5 Modern Quilt Bee and We Bee Modern Too.

I also had to make a name tag for my secret partner in the FQ Retreat Name Tag Swap.  I have a fabulous partner. Ideas came very easily.  The hard part was executing those ideas.  I can`t show you the front as to do so would give the game away.  You`ll just have to sit tight until she has received it.  I hope she likes it!

May is already shaping up to be super busy  - my head is already starting to spin. With the usual bee obligations, playing catch-up in the Stitch Tease Bee, quilts for Siblings Together and preparations for the FQ Retreat - help!

It`s May 1 and it`s a public holiday here so we are off out for a spin in the new (used) car!

Linking up with Lynne for Fresh Sewing Day!

Modern Minimal

A week or so ago, I was sent a digital copy of Modern Minimal by Alissa Haight Carlton, to review.

You all know how I love my quilting books don`t you?  Well this book has been in my amazon wishlist since I first saw that quilt on the front cover.  It`s full of designs for bright modern and graphic quilts using solids.

Alissa has included 20 gorgeous designs in total from baby quilts to a 90 inch beast over 5 sections - White Negative Space, Colorful Negative Space, Improvisational Piecing, Monochromatic Quilts and Baby Quilts.

Each design is clearly explained with instructions and diagrams in a highly visual way.   Alissa gives lots of great and easy to find tips about how to vary the design and also colour value which is really important when working with solids. Unlike some other quilting books, Alissa also gives you 2 ideas for quilting (usually 1 straight line and 1 free motion quilting) for each design so that`s a whopping forty ideas in total!
 
There is a section at the end of the book entitled `How to Make a Quilt`, where Alissa goes through all the basics (tools, piecing, basting, quilting and binding etc.,), which is great for a beginner quilter. 


This book is full of eye candy for those who love contemporary and graphic designs. The quilts are simply beautiful.  As a newbie to solids, using them more in my quilting and using lots of negative space is something I really want to do more of. I don`t think I would ever follow a pattern to the letter but would rather use the book as inspiration and put my own spin on it. However, if I was a beginner quilter interested in modern quilting, this would be a great book to start with!

When I am next vacillating over which binding to use or wondering whether my quilting is good enough, I shall remember the advivce - the best kind of quilt is a finished quilt!

My first all solids and improv.pieced mini

So you`re all wondering how I got my hands on this book hmm? A week or so ago, I saw an interesting post on Amarette`s blog about how she reviewed books for C&T Publishing as part of their Creative Troupe.  C&T are responsible for fabulous titles in quiltmaking, embroidery, sewing, fibre arts and their stash books, which I love - titles such as Block Party - The Modern Quilting Bee, City Quilts, Modern Blocks and Elizabeth Hartman`s soon to be released, Modern Patchwork!

I emailed the Creative Troupe, heard back within a couple of hours and had received my first book for review the next day - sent to me digitally. You can choose whichever C&T book you want to review.  Once you receive your book, you have 20 days to write your review and then you can ask for your next one.  How cool is that?

I could have chosen Zakka Style by Rachida Coleman Hale, and joined in the Zakka Style Sew Along, or Modern Mix by Jennifer Levitt or any other of C&T`s publications.  There are other perks too including product testing and discount offers. In fact now I have belatedly jumped in the Sample Swap for the FQ Retreat, I better get my hands on Zakka Style so that I can whip something up!  Off to email the Creative Troupe to get my copy.  Why don`t you give them an email too?

The World`s Postal System In Harmony

This is my 298th post and I have over 300 followers.  Surely we need to have a giveaway soon!

The postman returned yesterday.

Fabric enabler Di, or Super-Di, who lives in sunny Southern California offered to pick up some Denyse Schmidt fabrics and send them to me.  I said yes please, she did and they arrived! Thanks Di!

If you don`t know Di`s blog you should.  Hop over and say hi.  There is eye candy of all kinds over there. I only wish she was able to come to the retreat in June.
 
There were also X and Plus blocks from Kat and Kris in Australia for the Care Circle of do.Good Stitches.  There are 11 people in the Care Circle. These blocks are contributions from 4 of us. So we are well on the way to making a big quilt or 2 smaller ones. This quilt will be given to the Siblings Together charity, which you can read about here. Here`s a group photo of the new blocks with mine and Cindy`s.  They look very happy together!

A few weeks ago, an incredibly generous woman called Jennifer (Bessiemae on flikr) put a whole load of fabric stacks on flikr, which she was prepared to post anywhere in the world to people who had the time to make quilts but perhaps not the stash.  I quickly snapped up this pink and orange bundle and it finally arrived.  Thank you so much Jennifer for your amazing generosity! It will hopefully be backed with some fabric which is winging its way from another incredibly generous person, Katy!

I am responsible for piecing another Katy`s quilt in the round robin bee, Stitch Tease and she sent me her starter blocks, which are just so cool. Katy is after blocks which replicate the vehicles in her chosen fabric in yellows, teals, oranges and grey.

Katy`s block for the Stitch Tease bee

Katy`s block for the Stitch Tease Bee

How I`m going to do that in batiks and Civil War fabrics, I`ll never know!
Katy lives in Glasgow where my mum`s side of the family come from.  Knowing my love of Highland Toffee but unable to find any, Katy sent me some tablet and Edinburgh rock.  Tastes of my childhood.  As I said in an email to Katy last night, having teeth is seriously overrated. I couldn`t include the sweeties for technical reasons.  Uh em.

My winnings from Kati (yes, another one) arrived - These gorgeous cards based on Kati`s designs.

...and I whipped up this little Curious Nature pochette for a friend.  Why is it that one end is okay and the other is squishy?  Is there a sewing law that I`m unaware of?

Front

Thank you for all your suggestions for the Curious Nature stained quilt - I think I`m leaning towards a mustard colour for the binding at the moment...