Two-timing, neglectful blogger! Tut tut :(

I am a bad blogger! I have been carrying on behind your back with a new kid (to me) on the block! I have neglected old friends and have shamelessly played with my new pals over at IG (we even have our own language #shameonyouGlinda) I am sorry. I am back ... and I am sorry. But words aren't enough - I promise to visit your blogs and read about your WIPs and finishes and take the time to leave you good comments. I will stop just looking at the pretty pictures on Instagram! It's not good enough ... forgive me?! 

Okay then, what have I been up to in the last couple of weeks? Quite a bit ... please stay and take a look. Some cosmetic bags for birthdays and Mothering Sunday:

I have made a few of these now using this You Tube tutorial from Debbie Shore. My addition is to interface the outsides with Pellon (and sometimes quilt the bag) and to add tabs to the zips, as taught to me by my friend Fran:

A couple of Pants Bags - this one for Jasmine's husband's birthday:

And this one for my first best friend; it's her birthday on Monday:

Love how colourful this is!

My little big sister came to stay last weekend. She doesn't quilt but she's very good at up-cycling furniture. Look what she did to my old table:

and my book stand:

But my biggest project had been making 16 'Home Sweet Home' blocks for the Siblings Together Quilts. Mary is collecting blocks for the boys' quilts:

and Hannah, the girls: 

I'm thrilled to have finished the top of my own Siblings Together quilt this evening. It's measuring up at 48" x 62":

And if that wasn't a busy enough few weeks, we went to the indoor ski centre on Monday and my poor SIL had a little fall :( she ended up with spiral fractures in her right shin bones and had a significant operation today:

So we get to babysit this beautiful boy for a couple of weeks - expect to see lots of cute Boxer Dog / next to quilt pictures!

Phew-eeeeeee! You're up to speed! Linking up with the lovely Lorna @ Sew Fresh Quilts and Sarah @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict. And if I haven't visited your blog for a couple of weeks, I promise I'll pop in and see you this weekend x

Instagram? Oh dear ...

I'm now on Instagram (glindaquilts) - something else to take up my 'spare' time because I really haven't got enough things to fill my day! It's great fun because it is so instant and very search-friendly ... yes, I'm in! I have 'met' new quilters already and am enjoying the variety. But ... and there is always a but ... it means I have neglected my blog, which I don't want to because:

1) Not everyone is on IG

2) I really like the linky parties

3) I like writing my posts, thinking about my creations and 'reaching out' to fellow quilters and bloggers

4) I love reading about the extras in everyone's lives and their thoughts on their creations - it feels more personal, somehow.

So, I will not give up blogging - stop with the groaning, now!! You know you love me really :)

Although I have been a lazy blogger, I have been an active sewer. I have also had visitors to my home and sewing room (dear Fran @PatchyRose and her most delightful daughter, Rosie) and have committed to making my charity quilt for 2015 for Siblings Together.

Here's what I've been up to and some quite a lot of photos. As soon as Fran and Rosie arrived, I became 'Auntie Glinda' to one of the loveliest little girls I have met. Look at the gorgeous gift they brought me:

We set to making Rosie a Gym (Pants) Bag; she chose all her own fabrics from my stash - isn't it fun seeing how others put a fabric bundle together?

She designed the bag, I just rotary cut the blocks. She did all the sewing, I just pressed and directed! Within a couple of hours, she had made this - clever girl and she was so happy:

The next day we set to work on my Siblings Together quilt. Please read this post for all the details on this great charity ... I'm so glad to be able to do my little bit. I had already made 24 half log cabin blocks from my scraps (think I started it in 2013) but had lost my mojo but Fran and Rosie spurred me on to finish it and we got the scraps out:

An 'action shot' of me:

And one of Fran, working on her 8 year old Insanity Quilt!

We all made some blocks and chatted away, listened to music .. the time went very quickly. Saturday night, after DH cooked us a fabby dinner, we settled down in front of the fire and watched The Sound of Music - one of my very favourite films. 

On Sunday, I helped Rosie sew down the rest of her binding on her first quilt - she had made this all herself from a kit I gifted her last year:

Oh, we did have fun (come back soon, ladies!) and that was two weekends ago. Last weekend, I finished the rest of the blocks - taking me to 48:

and started to sash them:

It's even brighter in real life!

And made a pencil case for a birthday boy:

As well as my Siblings Together quilt, my other WIP this week is a Dresden plate cushion for my Aunty G (she asked for greens and browns - think I've got a good mix here?):

Oh, if I only had more time ... what else could I do?? Linking up with the lovely Lorna @ Sew Fresh Quilts and Lee @ Freshly Pieced.