So sad ;(

I've been off work since getting back from Wales on Sunday which I didn't think I needed until I burst into tears 4 times a day ... every day - 5 times today but that's because my lovely friend from work came to visit with flowers! Sewing helps - REALLY helps, especially when I challenge myself so it takes all my concentration ... I made these little (10") cushions for my pbf's little baby girl out of her babygros. Cutting the jersey fabric wasn't as easy as cotton so I had to stabilise the fabric with vilene first but it worked out well in the end:

And then I decided to make my oldest best friend a Pants Bag but I wanted to try something different so I did some paper piecing:

Tricky to start with until you work out which bit gets sewn where and definitely takes longer than ordinary piecing so I'll have to finish this tomorrow.

I love my hobby ;)

Bye bye Daddy ...

My dear Dad passed away on Sunday (19/02/2012) after a long battle with COPD- we've been looking through some old photos and one of my American cousins posted this on Facebook for us:

Bless him - he looks like an angel - and so young. And here's one of me and him from 1989 - it was my 'Ladies Night' - I'm loving the hair!!

And one of his last photos. He wasn't well and had lost a lot of weight but he still had a twinkle in his eye ...

I'm glad he was my Dad. I'm glad I made him a quilt, I'm glad I was with him, holding his hand when he passed ... I love my Dad xx

Start of 'USA #3' Quilt

It's been soooooooooooo cold, I've (almost) not wanted to spend too much time in the loft (my quilting room) but I'm on a roll with the lapquilts I'm making for my american cousins. So for dear USA cousin #3, we're going with the blues: I was going to go with the pinks so I'm glad I thought to ask ... and my Great Aunt's stash is abundant with fabric ... still!

I got all my pattern books out, looked on t'internet for inspiration but nothing jumped out at me so I decided to keep it simple (often the best way when using lots of different fabrics) and I'm doing 6 rows of 6 blocks (a 4 square and rail fence repeated) so that meant cutting 288 pieces out of 12 different fabrics:

It was fun choosing which 4 colours to put in each row. And I'm making good use of the little ironong board I made out of 1/2 of an old cutting mat. It's very handy having it right next to me as I sew - there's a heck of a lot of pressing going on:

And this was (some of) the mess I made along the way:

And Nell?? Remember I told you how cold it's been? No surprises she's not in the loft with me ... back of the sofa next to the radiator for her - see you in the spring, Nell:

Back soon with more stitching tales and pictures ;)

Second finished quilt of 2012 .. yay!

For my sweet cousin, Lauren, in America. Using my Great-Aunt's fabrics (and only her 'Nama's' fabrics), I made her a rainbow quilt (lap-quilt 50" x 50").

As there was a little snow left after Saturday's fall, I thought it would be nice to take photos outside. But, in my haste to take photos before the afternoon light went, I dropped the camera and broke the screen ... I am such a clumsy wotsit!! It still took the photos, I just can't see them on the screen:

And the back was patched with what was left: some of the leftover pieces were lovely and large and I liked incorporating a bit of the HST design in the back. And look who sneaked into the photo ... the clue is in the scary eyes shining from the bottom left corner:

And my favourite bit of the whole process - the binding - kept my legs nice and warm last night as I quilted in front of the TV. 200" of binding hand sewn in under 2 hours. The free motion quilting was meandering / stippling (again) but I did it a bit smaller than usual. Gave me better control but used up 5 bobbins!

Going in the post tomorrow - "USA #2" is on it's way to Maryland ;) x

Progress on my UFOs /WIPs...

I have been busy ;) This was my list which I posted just over a week ago:

1) Finish the binding on USA Quilt #1 and post to my cousin in Maryland - posted yesterday

2) Finish piecing USA Quilt #2, make the backing, baste, quilt, bind and send it to another cousin - pieced, backed, basted and quilted today! Binding also made, just need to attach tomorrow ... stopped at 10pm so I could watch the snow!

Sneak preview:

3) Make a 'pink and dogs' cushion for my brother-in-law's Mum (I was going to make it as a little thank you for our yummy Christmas cake but now she's not well, I have two reasons to get this made.) Have to go fabric shopping on eBay ... dogs are tricky - cats are much easier to find! Done (and I got a lovely phone call from Helen to say thanks on her Mum's behalf)

4) Make a replacement conservatory Cath Kidston cushion for my sis (in law) as the sun has faded the one I made her last year (started yesterday!) Done and posted

5) Make some things (cushion, Pants Bag, Mobile phone neck pouch??) for my friend who's having a church fundraising day in February - Done - one cushion made so far (photo to follow)

6) Book another friend in for a birthday sewing day and we'll make her a cushion together - texted but no firm date yet ;(

Not bad going - and if we get snowed in next week ... ;)

Actually, I don't mind curves ...

Not easy but once I'd got into the swing of it, they came together okay:

Sew the pairs together:

Then into halves:

Make into a square:

Iron the seams open (I don't usually) and it makes it lie much nicer:
Appliqué the centre circle and this is the finished block:

D'you know - for a first attempt, Im going to say this is 'good enough' - infact not bad at all. And my glass is empty so that's enough sewing for tonight ;)

I don't like curves ...

And I have to do 8 of these and sew them together to a finished 6 1/2" block so they're a bit small too. I also have 'sausage' fingers so the pinning is tricky and painful!!


Only one thing for it ... going to have to drink through this ordeal:

Well, it is Friday night!! ;)