I've had a very special weekend: last night we spent the evening with our dearest friends to watch Strictly Come Dancing and eat a delicious curry - we had great fun! Their youngest had her 10th birthday this week so I made her a mini Pants Bag (7.5" x 6.5") and we filled it with sweets:
Today, we commemorated Remembrance Sunday by meeting up with old friends and taking part in a parade and service at a little village in Kent. The sun shone on us as we marched and stood in the church grounds. I am always moved at such events especially as my grandfather John Evans, a Captain in the Merchant Navy, was killed during the second World War. He was lost at sea so has no grave but is remembered at the Merchant Navy Memorial at Tower Hill in London:
The whole service moves me but I always find these words taken from the poem by Laurence Binyon particularly poignant:
I have wanted to make and donate a quilt to a member of the armed forces for some time but just couldn't find the right pattern or decide on the colours. With DH's advice on Saturday (should have asked him months ago!), I've decided I'm going to make it in the colours of the Help for Heroes charity:
So, I have ordered some fabric today and have drawn my design based on this pattern I saw on Julie's blog on Friday:
The rest of today, I have been working on my Scrappy Sunday blocks and my Strip Bee quilt! The scrap blocks are a challenge that Jennie @ Porch Swing Quilts and I have set each other to try not to be too OCD about it and just use up our scraps. Last Sunday, I made these 4 blocks:
And this afternoon, I made these:
And I still have gazillions of scraps to use up! You have to start somewhere, hey Jennie?
We are on Round 4 of our Strip Bee Quilt organised by Maria @ Sew love to Sew and this round, I have the strip started by Julie @ Mack and Mabel:
We're not allowed to show too much of what we add as it's going to be a surprise finished quilt top for each of us at the end of the 6 rounds. But here's some of the fabrics I'm thinking of using:
And after making one block today, I cut the fabric for the 2nd block ... I have to make 5 in total. It's taken quite a bit of time but it's so worth it. I can't wait to see all 6 quilts (including mine!) at the end of this Bee:
So that's been my weekend, hope you've had a special weekend too :)
I just can't do it! Don't know if I need to let go, or get some other things done first, but I just can't do it right now. I'm loving yours (and you are hanging on to a little bit of organization, which is what I need to do as well!). Let me get through Christmas.
ReplyDeleteVeteran's Day (what we call it here) is a special holiday for us. Both my grandfathers fought in WWII. Pearl Harbor was the reason my maternal grandparents met in the first place.
Touching poem. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeletePretty row to start a quilt. Your fabrics for the row quilt look to be wonderful picks. Happy sewing ... :) Pat
Wow, you have lots going on! I love the fabric you are using in the strip bee quilt. Very pretty. Your scrappy blocks are looking lovely.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic busy weekend! Your Remembrance quilt is going to be beautiful. And I can't wait to get the bee strip to work on! Your scrappy blocks are fab too :-)
ReplyDeleteLove that design for the armed forces quilt, how sweet of you! We made poppies with the Brownies tonight, they each had to sew a black button into the middle of a piece of red felt shaped like a flower. So cute, and useful button sewing skills.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great weekend. You are looking good in the creativity department. I can't wait to see.. That mini pants bag is adorable.
ReplyDeleteYour quilt for a soldier is lovely idea, the pattern looks great.
ReplyDeleteLove the strip bees fabric.
I went on my first ever quilt retreat at the weekend, got quite a bit of sewing done.