Bees in Granny`s Flower Garden & a Giveaway!

We`re back!  We`re in England.  We`ve escaped the incessant high temperatures, leaving poor hubby behind, although we clearly brought a little with us in our suitcase as it has been beautiful the last few days.

As promised, I have a back to blogging (well almost) belated 300 followers pre-birthday giveaway but first, let me tell you what I`ve been up to or just scroll straight to the bottom and look at the pictures!

Before we left Morocco, I dragged the machine out of its summer hibernation and fulfilled a couple of bee obligations.

First up was a stargazing block for Nicole in the We Bee Modern Too - a bee using blocks from Modern Blocks.  Nicole sent us all fabric from Kate Spain`s Joy collection. The block is made up of 3 different sized wonky stars and Nicole asked us to alternate the points of the stars in red and green.

It was a little strange making a Christmas block in Morocco in August but here it is - ready to be mailed off to Nicole.

Next up were blocks for Dolores who is queen bee for August in the Care Circle of do.Good Stitches.  Dolores asked for granny squares in hot pink, orange and yellow.  I love grannies as the effect outweighs the effort involved but this was a challenge as I had very little yellow and most of my orange had been used in my hexies.  I did however have pink. I then remembered the Silent Cinema FQs I had bought back in May and I`m hoping that the yellow prints will be okay for Dolores.

 My aqua, orange and grey hexie flowers continue to grow - I`m loving the slow relaxed progress. Here are some of the latest to join grannies flower garden...

...and here is a close up of the variagated versions using up the fabric which I love but don`t have enough of to make a whole flower.

...and lastly, here are some gorgeous fabrics which the lovely Susan generously donated to my hexie quilt and which came all the way from Australia in a record breaking 3 days!!  So I won`t hear a bad word against Aussie post anymore.  Thank you Susan - I love them!

Now you`ve been patient enough. Let`s get down to the giveaway. I was looking around the UK fabric shops for something to give away and then I saw this fabulous bundle of loveliness in Cindy`s gorgeous shop. A fat quarter stack of eight Kona solids -  Kona Basil, Teal, Turquoise, Peacock, Azure, Bahama blue, Lime and Jade..

Under the Palm Tree FQ Bundle (photo - Fluffy Sheep Quilting)

I love this bundle of cool sea colours and the name just spoke to me. I may just have to go back and buy a bundle for me! I would love to make an improv.pieced quilt using these.

So you have 3 chances to win - no hoops.

1. Leave a comment about what you are making right now.
2. If you are a follower, leave a comment and say so.
3. For an extra chance, tweet or blog about the giveaway and come back and tell me.

That`s it!  I shall post anywhere after choosing a winner on my birthday - that`s next Tuesday August 28 (there`s always a bank holiday in honour of it don`t you know).  Good luck! (Make sure to leave an email address if you are a no-reply blogger.)





March Fresh Sewing Day

 1. Gee`s Bend Inspired Mini Quilt, 2. Pouch back, 3. We Bee Modern Too - February Block, 4. For the Love of Solids Mini Back, 5. do.Good Stitches (Care Circle) February Blocks, 6. Pouch Front, 7. perle hand stitching detail, 8. For the Love of Solids Mini Front, 9. do.Good Stitches (Care Circle) February Blocks

Oh my, February was one frenetic month and was fairly selfless as nearly everything I made was for someone else - either one of the two swap makes (Mouthy Stitches and For the Love of Solids) or bee blocks (We Bee Modern Too and do.Good Stitches). There was definitely a green and yellow thing going on too!

The only thing I made for myself was the Gee`s Bend inspired mini, which I love.  I made it as part of Jennifer`s super fun Modern Mini Challenge, the linky for which opens on Monday March 5.  This is my entry. It has really inspired me to use solids more and to experiment with improv,piecing.  The mini will hang in our kitchen and remind me that trying something new is fun!

I finally got my pouch finished for the Mouthy Stitches swap after the linen I needed finally arrived.  It`s winging its way to my partner and I hope she likes it.

I`m really hoping that March will be more laid back. There were times last month when it was all beginning to feel like work (because vital supplies took an age to arrive which is all stress inducing believe me) and for me that`s not what it`s all about.  So time for a breather.

Linking up with uber talented Lynne at Lily`s Quilts for Fresh Sewing Day.  Do hop over and see what people have been up to the last 29 days and check out some great smaller blogs in the Small Blog Meet.

 

*Edited to add Lynne`s new button*

Modern Mini Challenge

To say I`m excited to be participating in Jennifer`s Modern Mini Challenge is an understatement, and today`s my day! I`m sharing it with Twin Fibers, so be sure to pop over there too.

When I got Jennifer`s email inviting me to take part, ideas whizzed around in my head.  I certainly didn`t want to let her or you down. The mini quilt I`m sharing with you was made for the challenge.  It is the first mini I have made, the first quilt made completely from scraps, and the first made from solids (well almost - the red is from Moroccan Mirage by Kristian A.Howell).

I am currently participating in a solids swap and my partner loves improv.piecing. In my research to see how to approach this style of patchwork, I came across the Gee`s Bend quilts and I am head over heels in love with them.  The Gee`s Bend quilters are a group of women who live in Alabama in the isolated hamlet of Gee`s Bend and create amazing improv.pieced quilts. They are bright, unique, abstract and just a little bit crazy.

Using the blue and green (Delft, teal, olive, artichoke and peridot) Kona scraps left over from my partner`s quilt and adding in some Kona charcoal, Kona ash, white and a pop of red, I made this mini. It measures 22in.

Gee`s Bend Inspired Mini

The Gee`s Bend quilts were a big source of inspiration for some of the block designs...

...particularly the house top quilts - examples of which you can see here and here.

I didn`t use a ruler to measure or cut, and simply pieced different sized scraps of fabric together, making it up as I went along.  There are 12 blocks of varying sizes in total. It was liberating and huge fun but to get the design looking `right` was a lot harder than I thought!

There`s a certain wonk to this quilt as is typical of the Gee`s Bend quilts.  Whether or not that was deliberate, I`ll leave you to decide!

Jennifer`s challenge certainly inspired me to try something new.  I really hope you have been left inspired by the bloggers participating in this blog hop.  As Jennifer says, "Think big make small". Why not make your own mini and enter it in Jennifer`s challenge. The linkie opens on March 5 and remember, you don`t have to have a blog to enter.

The Modern Mini Challenge is generously sponsored by the Fat Quarter Shop.

Your mini could be one of 5 winners! 

James’ choice (Jennifer`s husband chooses his favorite) 

Viewer’s choice Mug Rugs

Viewer’s choice Mini Quilts 

(mug rugs and mini quilts- the viewers choose from a selection chosen by myself and three other bloggers) 

Luck of the Draw (Random Number Generator chooses 2 winners)

Source: fatquartershop.com via Jennifer Mathis on Pinterest

Both Viewer’s Choice Winners will receive a fat quarter bundle of the FULL LINE of Flea Market Fancy reprint by Denyse Schmidt. 

James’ Choice Winner will receive a $100 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop

Both Luck of the Draw Winners will receive a $75 gift certificate to Fat Quarter Shop

There are still a couple more days of the blog hop to go.

 2/18: Cut to Pieces & Sew Sweetness

2/19: Swim Bike Quilt

I can`t wait to see what you come up with.  Good luck!