Catching up ...

I have become such a poor blogger (still blaming Instagram!) that I'm not sure if anyone will even read this post - except for Aunty G ... hello x - but I was going through my photos since I last blogged and really wanted to capture what's been going on. I'm linking up with Lorna @sewfreshquilts and will see what I've been missing!

September was our return to the USA. Before the trip, I made my friend Gerrie some patchwork gifts out of her brother's shirt:

It had been 5 years since our last USA visit and there was a lot to cram in -  combining our 15th Wedding Anniversary, with a family wedding and visiting relatives in Maryland (MD) and Pennsylvania (PA). Cousin June has quilted for nearly 40 years and had a bit of a destash just for me:

Yes, I was very happy to take dozens of yards and fat quarters off her hands! We also spent a few days at Lewes Beach, Delaware and June and I 'got lost' for a couple of hours in the lovely Mare's Bears fabric shop with the friendliest and most helpful staff.

And this was me in The Old Country Store, PA ... could have spent days in here! I would've if DH had let me: 

Just a glimpse of what managed to come home with me ... there's still a box in MD with my name on it :) 

Upon our return to Wales, it was Autumn and the leaves on our Virginia Creeper had turned gorgeous shades of red:

A very special young lady turned 17 and instead of 'normal gifts' had asked for cash towards driving lessons - I couldn't not make her a themed gift to go with that now could I?

I finished a Christmas table runner for my sister (made mainly from Scandi Makower) and added a little bunting too:

I found the first quilt blocks I had ever worked on - shoved in the back of a drawer (how sad) but they forgave me and after a little fixing and trimming, I added some sashing and now have another quilt top ready to be basted:

I finally finished this quilt for our cousin in Florida (posted nearly 2 weeks ago ... I hope it survives the journey!):

I have started on a 'Stag Quilt' for my God-daughter who us 18 in January (think this deserves a blog post all of its own!):

And yesterday, I finished making for my friend 8 little Pants Bags for her 6 year old to give as Christmas presents to her school friends:

What a couple of months and what variety! One of the most used hashtags I add to my Instagram posts is #ilovemyhobby ... and I do - after nearly 7 years of discovering Patchwork and Quilting (thanks to this special lady): 

I still love it.

Little finishes this week ...

I'm not sure what gives me more pleasure ... one big finish (like last week) or lots of little ones - who am I kidding? I LOVE ALL FINISHES EQUALLY!! 

I work and live in London in the week and then I am home (and sewing) Fri-Sun so just 3 days to get lots of things done. I try not to neglect DH and our families too much (I try!) but I do love to sew and make quilts so am often found in here:

Here are some of the things I've finished in the last week or so and shared on my Instagram including a couple of 'flat-bottomed' cosmetic bags:

And I finally got around to making Kelly @kelbysews 'one hour basket' and I am now addicted!! The prototype was to made to plan: 

Then I went on to make two smaller ones:

And I made this little lap quilt (30" X 30") for my special Aunt last weekend for her birthday:

She's special for lots of reasons but she bought me my Juki back when I started quilting in 2010, which was an amazing gift and a leap of faith - I had no previous sewing experience and no idea how important quilting would become to me. My darling Juki and I have worked really well together since then and she has definitely helped me produce all of my loveliness (thanks again, Aunty G xx).

The cat block was totally inspired by Elizabeth Hartman and I just worked out fabric sizing to fit my own measurements. DH helped choose the Makower Spraytime shades for each of the four cats and the background fabric is by Robert Kaufman:

And it came together really quickly. My default is meandering / stippling free motion quilting and it took less than one bobbin and no time at all:

The backing fabric was gifted to me in 2012 by one of my first quilty blogging friends, Tonya, and I had held on to it all this time because it was 'too nice to use' - do you do that too?! 

Labelled 'NOONIES' as Aunty G and her adorable cat, Bonnie, have an afternoon nap most days where Bonnie cuddles up on Aunty G's lap:

What will you be working on this weekend? I'll be working on this quilt for my nephew (and probably lots of other things):

Linking up with Crazy Mom's Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict. 

She likes dogs ... and girly colours!

That's what my friend said when I asked her about what style of quilt our God-daughter would like for her 18th birthday! 

I found some lovely dog fabric online and it inspired the colour choices for the rest of the fabrics:

I made this block and then just built around it:

Friends know I am challenged by straight line quilting - whether, it's me, my machine, the way I baste (spray not pin)?? Who knows ... but I gave it a go on this one using my zig-zag stitch. I put my gloves on, I went slow, I gripped (and it hurt my shoulder!) This was what happened with the walking foot on:

But it didn't happen when I just had the ordinary foot on?? Go figure ... so I quilted it without the walking foot, persevered and after a glass (or 2!) of the white stuff:

And using both my chins:

It was done ... Phew!

Finished sewing the label on this afternoon and took a few garden photos:

I love it! I think she will too ... dogs and girly colours she has! Linking up with Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts and Sarah @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict

First finished quilt in a year :)

In March 2014, I tripped over some pavement and fell on my shoulder ... hard ... dislocated it and smashed it in 4 places - ouch! I now have a metal plate and 9 screws and am still in physiotherapy. But this week I have finally finished my first quilt and that has made me very happy indeed :)

Sadly, it was a leaving gift for my boss - she was a lovely lady to work with and I shall miss her. I used two Moda Papillon charm packs and added some Kona taupe and aqua to mix it up a bit and to make the quilt a little bigger:

I free motion quilted it with variegated thread - in about 2 hours - and, although the movements were awkward at first, muscle memory is a wonderful thing and I was soon in my flow.

Here she is:

I enjoyed it all so much, I quilted this little lady too (Siblings Together charity quilt) and will be finishing her over the weekend:

Linking up to Amanda Jean (welcome back) @ Crazy Mom Quilts.

Here's your quilt, now get back to work!

I finally finished Mandy's quilt at the weekend and we visited her at home yesterday to hand it over. Mandy is my number 2 (is anyone else giggling at that? No? Just me then!) and she has been off work for 3 weeks after an operation on her foot and won't be back at work for at least another 3 ... and we miss her :(

It was so lovely to see her and the other girls had bought her chocolates, flowers and wine - she's doing alright out of this, hey?! I think it's time she hobbled back to work :D

I've said it before and, knowing me, I'll probably say it again but I remain amazed and joyful that I can turn this:

into this:

I started quilting 3 1/2 years ago and it wasn't easy. I really struggled as I hadn't really sewn before (didn't do it at school or have a relative who'd passed any skills on to me) so it could have been one of those pastimes you dip into as an adult and never master. I was hooked from the start and whilst I may never master it, I know I will always love quilting.

Taking good photographs is a bit tricky in the UK at this time of year so my photo on the garden bench above was an attempt at something new. Looking around the wet garden yesterday morning, it really was just the washing line shot I had to settle for:

At least Nell showed up for the shoot:

The back:

And the obligatory label. Our work is in the public sector so there's no bonuses I can give Mandy but when she's done great work for me, I've always said thank you and emailed her some gold stars (it's our thing) so it was fitting that when I came to name this quilt, I thought of 'Star':

Please get well, get fixed and come back to work soon, it's not the same without you x

Linking up with Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts and Sarah @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict:

Speedy Scrappy Sunday :)

What a busy weekend! Friday night after work, DH and I had a fabby night out at the theatre seeing Shakespeare's finest comedy - A Midsummer Night's Dream. Starring the sublime David Walliams and Sheridan Smith, it was a very good play:

Yesterday, I free motion quilted Mandy's lap quilt and straight-line quilted dear niece's table runner and mats ... just some binding to hand sew on the runner and mats and Mandy's label to be attached and these will be finished:

The lovely Jennie over at Porch Swing Quilts (one of my loyal followers) and I have been emailing each other after she left this comment on my scraps post: 

The birdcage of pink scraps is perfection.

I'm hopeless with scraps. I know in my head I need to make a scrappy quilt, but I also can't wrap my brain around truly scrappy ones. I might force myself to do one or two or ten next year. My OCD little self will have to shush in order for that to happen!

We've decided to 'challenge' each other to use up our scraps and Jennie suggested an idea from Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts - please pop over and see her post from Friday. So this morning, I made a start on my blue scraps and decided it would be that scrappy that all I needed was my scraps, a pair of scissors and my finger (to press!):

This was so quick! Like Jennie, I could never relinquish control to complete randomness so I did give a little bit of thought to choosing the fabrics but I just kept adding and adding:

... until it was about a 7" square, then I pressed it and trimmed it down and voila:

Thirty minutes later, I had done three more! Am going to stop now ... I think my Sunday mornings will be my scrappy quilt time from now on as these blocks really do come together so quickly. And I have LOTS of scraps to use up :) I wonder what Jennie's blocks will look like? 

And to cap it all, I have signed up for a 'low volume charm swap' that Rachael over at The Floral Suitcase is organising. I haven't taken part in a swap before and I don't have any suitable low volume fabric ... I'll just have to go shopping ... YAY!!