I did tidy up!!

Fellow quilters, you make me smile!  Your humourous responses to my last post definitely confirmed we all make a mess when sewing and that I really shouldn't worry :)

I did tidy up though - you saw the 'befores' and here are the 'afters':

And so today, I could make a new mess! I made two more Pants Bags (for my cousins in Germany), a cushion for my sewing room and I started a new lap quilt. 

The Pants Bags were made out of my scraps and stash so I never quite know what design they'll end up as until I put the fabric piles together. These are #4 and #5 ... just two more to make before my Mutter goes to Germany next month:

And this little cushion was made for me from the leftovers of Aunty Ruth's layer cake quilt:

Please pardon the fugly chair - it's vintage Lloyd Loom :)

I'll post more about my new lap quilt later but here is the fabric I've chosen for it:

That's enough for one day. You can tell the evenings are drawing in - I covered  my legs with my lap quilt and look who joined me a minute later! I can count on both hands how many times in 3 years this little rescue cat has sat on my lap. Thank you, Nell - each time is precious:

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend.

You decide!!

Oh dear, my fellow quilters - do you think I had better tidy up a bit before I start on the following:

• 4 more Pants Bags for Germany
• At least 3 new cushions for my SIL
• A quilt for my 'maman spirituelle' in France
• A few mug rugs for work colleagues
• A charity quilt for a McMillan fundraising event

In my defence, we have had a busy few weeks :)

A great weekend with our wonderful family :)

We left London at 9am last Thursday and got back at 3pm this afternoon. During our time away, we slept in 3 different beds in England and Wales (Llangefni, St Asaph, Chester) and met up with 19 different family members! We have had a fun time :)

The main reason for going home was for Aunty Ruth's 89th birthday - she loved her quilt! She said the nicest things about it and it was so lovely to surprise her. Here we all are at the restaurant on Saturday night (sorry for the poor quality photo) and the cake which the Italian waiters brought out as they sang 'happy birthday' whilst banging trays!

And here is the birthday girl at the barbecue yesterday - isn't she adorable?

My sweet niece bought me this wooden sign and my dear SIL bought me the books in a charity shop for 99p:

Some new fabric had arrived in the post:

And after we got home, I just had to sew something so I made this Pants Bag for my new friend, Julie over at Mack and Mabel - we're taking part in a Strip Bee quilt and Julie loved the idea of my recent Pants Bags so I just had to make her one! This fabric was part of a Liberty fabric stash I bought at the V and A quilt exhibition in 2010 - it was good to finally use it:

Linking up with:

A quilt in under a week!

I actually finished this last Saturday night (whilst watching The Notebook ... sob sob!!) which means from start to finish, this quilt took me 6 days to complete :) Undoubtedly, the time needed to make a quilt is reduced when using pre-cuts and when you can spend 2 uninterrupted days at the weekend to get the bulk of the work done (a piecing day and a quilting day).

I free motion quilted some little flowers in the sashing just to break up the stippling ... I keep saying I'll make up some practice squares to try out different FMQ patterns but I never seem to find the time. These are by no means perfect but I like the effect:

I tried some different photo angles of the finished quilt:

But I think you can't beat it being held up by two willing volunteers ... even if they do muck about during the process:

And the label:

It's Aunty Ruth's birthday tomorrow and we get to give it to her the quilt before the big family meal we'll be having ... it'll be a surprise gift - I'll let you know her reaction :)

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts - Finish it up Friday and Confessions of a Fabric Addict - Can I get a Whoop Whoop.

3 down ... 4 to go :)

I have to make 7 Pants Bags* for Mutter (my mum) to take on her holiday to Germany in September ... well, she doesn't ask me for much anything and she wants to take them as presents for all my aunts and cousins.

I didn't think I'd made that many this year until I checked out my 'other finishes 2013' page and counted 14 already! How does that happen?! 

On Sunday, I made a start by opening my little house of scraps:

And then I just went with the flow. I love making Pants Bags like this because I really don't know how they'll turn out ... I get to touch lots and lots of fabric and always end up with bags of different sizes and patterns: 

I love them and I hope Mutter and my family will too :) Linking up:

(*Pants Bags is the name I call these drawstring bags as I use them when I travel - I don't like to put my drawers in other people's drawers, so to speak!)

It's going to be a perfect day :)

It's been a pretty good week too ... I made this quilt in January for a Hurricane Sandy survivor and look what came in the post on Thursday:

Made me do a big gulp! A letter of thanks was more than enough but a pack of batik squares too! Huge heartfelt 'woo hoo' to you, eQuilter and  Timeless Treasures ... you're amazing and I'm glad to have helped just a tiny bit.

This morning, I have finished making the back and basting Aunty Ruth's quilt, have cleaned my sewing machine, changed the needle, wound my bobbins, fetched myself a glass of iced water, got the radio playing some disco tunes (my favourite band ABBA have just come on as I'm typing ... life doesn't get much better than this!) and I'm now ready to start quilting:

DH is out all day (and night) with his football friend (first day of the new Premiership season) so I can sew sew sew ALL day long ... yippeeeeee!

As well as covering my sewing chair with Cath Kidston fabric this week, I also made a new peg bag and a pouch for Nell's treats ... I swear it's the only reason she spends so much time with me in the loft :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Good call :)

I have been working on my layer cake quilt ... the green blender fabric arrived in the post and I am sooooo happy I decided to do the extra bit of work and frame the blocks:

I cut 1 1/2 " strips for the inside sashing and 2 1/2" strips for the borders:

I'm very pleased at how it's coming together and we decided it would make a great present for our dear Aunty Ruth who will be celebrating her 89th birthday next Sunday so I have until next Wednesday night (gulp, a week!) to finish the top, make the back, baste, quilt, bind and label it! Love a challenge?! Easy peasy :D

Linking up with Lee @ Freshly Pieced - WIP Wednesday

Ah Paris ... c'est très magnifique :)

I have started a new quilt today - don't know who for yet :) I have only ever bought one Moda Layer Cake:

I actually bought this one two years ago (I think) so it was high time it got opened, don't you agree? And how pretty:

Had an idea in my head for a pattern  - must have got it from somewhere but could not find any images / patterns / blog posts so just went for it! I knew I'd need some 'blender' fabric and was lucky to find this cream 'Dimples' in my stash:

Once I'd worked out which order to sew in and made the first block, it just flowed:

I think it needs sashing to frame the blocks and stop them getting lost in each other so have ordered some sage green ...  hope it matches!

Oh and I spruced up my old pink (sun faded) chair with the Cath Kidston fabric I bought last week. Now it matches my radio ... yay!

... it's the little things that make me smile!