Miscellaneous Monday

Megan's Star blocks made by the We Bee Modern Too bee (so far).

1. Megan's Star Block, 2. WBM2_October, 3. Bee Modern. October 2012, 4. We bee modern too october block, 5. Megan's Star Block, 6. We Bee Modern Too, October block, 7. We Bee Modern Too - October 2012, 8. We Bee Modern Too - October 2012, 9. October Block for We Bee Modern Too

My secret sewing was...yes, you guessed it...for Susan! An early Christmas tote.

...and here's the back.

A big bundle of blues and neutral solids from Pink Castle - to hopefully become a monochromatic improv. pieced quilt for my Godson James.

A quick, simple and small tote for a pink loving 7 year old neice.

...and here's the back.

A sneaky peek of my EPP for the Travellin' PicStitch Blog Hop on Wednesday.

Happy Guy Fawkes!

Sent, Received, Delivered - I'm Yours!

October was the month of Mouthy Stitches 2 and I can't believe that by early November I'm done!  It's not often that my flickr name is struck through in a swap SENT, RECEIVED DELIVERED so soon.

Yesterday, I felt like Dolly as I was working 9 - 5, okay more like 8.30 - 3.30 as a substitute teacher at the American school here. Clearly unused to a bit of hard labour I was pretty tired last night and enjoying the prospect of a quiet evening.  At around 6PM my husband arrived home carrying a box. "This came for you today", he said.  I looked at the label.  It was from my BFF, Di and could be only one thing, my tote and fob!

...and now I have my own blue soda pop tote and gorgeous fob! Di has pretty cool cards too.

Take a look at my inspiration mosaic for the swap.  Di knows me pretty well and I was thinking how she could not have read me better.  But actually Di says that she had decided what to make me before she even saw my mosaic.

Di comes across as sweet and as lovely as anything and she is the most talented quilter but trust her? Never again! When I saw the fabrics she had pulled for the tote as well as the the tote itself as Di posted progress pics on flickr, I was very excited and very positive in my comments and she threw me completely off the scent with comments like, "Oh I wish I could send it to you...my partner has been really quiet and I have no idea whether she likes it."  She's very very clever!

After days of rain, the sun has returned.  Doesn't the front look beautiful?

I love the fabrics, the soda pop design and the quilting!

Here's the beautiful back...and Di knows I love me some organic wavy quilting!

The tote feels really robust and it has a reinforced bottom (now, now).  The lining is gorgeous too and Di inserted a lovely inside zippered pocket.

...and see that lovely little label there?

A huge thank you to Di - I love love love my tote and shall carry it with pride! It's all the mores special because you made it.

My partner, the lovely Ali of Very Berry Handmade has received the tote and fob I made for her. I was delighted that swap mama Cindy assigned Ali as my partner.  Coincidentally (or not Cindy?), Ali made for me in Mouthy Stitches 1, when she made me this beautiful pouch which I use on a daily basis.  It was so lovely to return the favour although I was slightly daunted as Ali makes such amazing things.

So that's it. Sent, Received, Delivered.  Thank you to the lovely swap mamas Susan, Cindy and Hadley who were tested in their private lives but were relentlessly supportive and enthusiastic in the swap.  Put your feet up ladies but not for long...we are looking forward to Mouthy Stitches 3! Oh and a huge thank you to the Moroccan postal system - you did good!

Hurricane Sandy Quilt Appeal

Yesterday I logged in to flickr and found an appeal for blocks from fellow bee mate Jennifer.  While she now lives in sunnier climes, she is originally from New Jersey.  Many of her friends and family have been seriously affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Silent Cinema blocks

She is asking for these blocks...one or however many you want to make, using this amazingly quick and easy tutorial by So Sarah Sews. There are various colour schemes.  I chose scrappy and  made these in minutes. Jennifer will make them in to quilts and deliver them at the beginning of December. You can find out how to help by clicking here.

The mailing deadline is November 23.

Fresh Sewing Day - The Scrappy Edition

Pinch punch, first day of the month!

1. Not available, 2. Megan's Star Block, 3. Mouthy Stitches Tote Front, 4. Scrappy X and Plus Quilt Top for the Care Circle of do.Good Stitches, 5. Mouthy Stitches Tote Back, 6. Christmas Star Block, 7. Lazy Day Lozenge Block No.2, 8. Mouthy Stitches Tote Front, 9. Megan's Star Block, 10. Not available, 11. Tote Lining & Handles, 12. Aqua, Orange & Grey Hexies

Looking back at October, it was definitely the month of scrappy but I like scrappy...it makes me happy!

A big highlight was the Mouthy Stitches swap, which is all but done.  My tote has arrived safe and sound with my partner but I'll tell you who tomorrow. I'm hoping the tote heading my way might arrive any day!  It was also the month of English paper piecing with Lynne's lozenges and my orange, aqua and grey hexies, which I continue to work at.  I was queen bee in We Bee Modern Too and I chose Megan's Star. I'm excited by the blocks popping up in the flickr group for me.  I also started my mum's Kaffe Fasset quilt and received the backing and binding fabric - it's going to look quite dramatic I think.

November looks to be super busy already so wish me luck!

Linking up with Lynne at Lily's Quilts.

WiP Wednesday

Quick quick, it's just about to end! I took advantage of Brenda's amazing 25% off everything coupon (MOVING) 3 times in the last couple of weeks.  Today's the last day to use it so head on over there - it applies to everything and she's just back from quilt market!

After months of buying very little fabric, my stash is looking a little pathetic.  However, before I started anything new, there were a couple of things that needed finishing.  With it feeling decidedly cooler here (it's been raining hard here today) this was the perfect time to buy backing and binding fabric for my man's man quilt.

Like a phoenix from the ashes, I resurrected my Stained Man with a Curious Nature quilt top, which I made back in April, when I joined in very last minute with lovely Sarah's Stained QAL. I used Curious Nature by David Butler aka Parson Grey and Kona Herb. I found I had some of the Kona Herb solid left over and so today I added a 2 and a half inch border round the scrappy border to make it just a little bit bigger and I like it a whole lot more now.

The photos are terrible as it has been really dark all day!

The backing will be Four Square from Hope Valley by Denise Schmidt.  While I love this fabric, it seemed a bit flat as it was so similar in colour to the front.  When I was choosing the fabric, I was looking for something manly and wish that I had gone for a real contrast.  So to liven it up a little, I added some of my striped Oakshott FQs that I received from the Fat Quarter retreat in the summer. The binding will be some Flea Market Fancy.

The backing will still be matchy matchy but more colourful matchy matchy!  So now I just have to wait on the batting which should be here any day.  I've had real problems trying to find batting which will ship to Morocco and when I do it's really pricey. So thank you to my lovely mum for sending me the batting I ordered from here.

Months ago I started a flickr group for projects made using Curious Nature.  It's called I Love a Curious Nature.  If you like this line, hop on over and take a look - there is some gorgeous eye candy! You can preview his new line Seven Wonders here.

Linking up to WiP Wednesday here.

Bloggers Quilt Festival

I've been loving seeing everyone's entries to the fall edition of the Bloggers Quilt Festival hosted by Amy over at Amy's Creative Side timed to coincide with quilt market each year.

Since the last Bloggers Quilt Festival, production has been a little down to say the least for one reason or another and to be honest I had decided not to enter a quilt. But then with Round 2 of the Modern Christmas Tablerunner Swap kicking off, I thought of the tablerunner I made for my partner in Round 1 at the end of last year.

This is still one of my favourite makes. I wanted to created something that would look the same from wherever anyone was sitting at the table. I love it because to me, it manages to feel Christmassy yet none of the fabrics used are Christmas fabrics. I used a palette of deep reds, greens and blues.

It turned out pretty much just like my preliminary sketch!

 

On the back of the runner I made a large central starflower so that it was a reversible tablerunner...

...and I tried out some random free motion quilting, which was a first for me and appliqued a small Fatima's hand, the symbol traditionally used here in Morocco to give protection against the 'evil eye'...

...before packaging this tablerunner off to my swap partner in Canada.

So this is my small entry in the Blogger's Quilt Festival. If you are visiting for the first or umpteenth time, please leave me a comment!

The tablerunner measures 18" x 36" approx.

Special techniques - free motion quilting, applique

Quilted by me!

Best Category Favourite mini quilt

Little to Report

There has been absolutely no sewing here the last few days.  I have been feeling coldy and like a horrible virus is about to descend while rushing arounnd like a blue a***d fly.

It's the big Eid here tomorrow, when most families sacrifice a sheep.  I snapped this shot on my mobile yesterday afternoon.  It's a fairly common sight here in the days running up to Eid and Zaki enjoyed it as he loves Shaun the Sheep (see below).

We're off to the in-laws later today to celebrate Eid with them.

Beautiful tote made for me by the lovely Karen at Listen to the Birds Sing

I'm all packed.  I can't speak for the boys...