Nid yw hi'n hyfryd?!

That's Welsh for - 'isn't she lovely?' And this little Welsh baby is adorable. Her name is Tanwen (= white fire) ... a beautiful name for a beautiful baby.

I started making this baby quilt for her just a few weeks ago and it came together really quickly once I had picked the fabrics. The fun fat quarter was new and the rest (including some Riley Blake spots) came from my fabric stash:

Once I'd chosen the fabrics, it was easy to make a design with 16 X 10" squares:

And here is the top:

Quilted with my favourite free motion quilting:

A metre of daffodil fabric on the back - the daffodil is national flower of Wales so a perfect choice:

And, saving the best until last, some 'action shots':

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

Stash in transit!

I'm a little bit sad today :( 

We move house next week and, although the packers aren't coming until Tuesday, I've had to start packing up my sewing room. I could have left it for the removals men but I have a rule ... non-quilters are not allowed ... EVER ... under any circumstance ... to touch my stash. That's just the way it is.

First box, in went all the pinks:

And it just went on:

And on:

And on:

And I had some new fabrics to place gently in the box:

My shelves and baskets are empty:

It'll be a week before I can unpack ... a whole week before I get even half a chance to sew again :(

I'm going to head over to Karen's linky party for some therapy :)

Little tote bag WIP ...

The last time we visited family in America, my cousin produced all of this loveliness from her garage:

This belonged to my Great Aunt and we calculated some of the fabric was over 25 years old! I made 5 lapquilts out of it for my USA cousins in 2012 and there was still lots left. 

In February this year, I shared this Missouri Star Quilt Company tutorial for making a charm square tote bag. I never showed the finished bag (unlike me) so here it is:

My cousin is 60 in a few weeks time so I thought she might like a bag made out of her Mom's fabric so I've made a start:

I know it gets said a lot about MSQ's tutorials but this really is a great one and even if you've never made a bag before, give this one a go - you can do it!

Going to finish it up later and pop it in the post tomorrow - fingers crossed she gets in time! Linking up with Lee and Lorna:

3-2-1 ... and she's back in the room!!

What broken arm?!

I woke up Saturday and had an overwhelming urge to climb up the ladder to my sewing room and make something. It's been 5 weeks since my accident and, although I am in pain and have a lot of healing still to do, I felt better (and restless!) so thought I'd try my arm out.

Ironing? Not too bad because I could use my left arm. Rotary cutting? Bit more tricky - okay close up but hurt as I stretched to the end of the mat. Sewing? Easy - think how little you move your right arm.

So only one thing for it - make a Pants Bag! Because of the difficulty in rotary cutting, I decided to keep it simple by not cutting up lots of fabric. This is for my friend Maja in Sweden (Majas Paradis) who I said I'd make a Pants Bag for before my accident. She said her favourite colours are: teal turquoise, pink violet and orange - plenty to choose from then! I would have liked to have cut up fabrics from all those colours but, as that wasn't possible, I looked in my stash for a fabric that had most of those colours represented.

It took a big longer than usual but here is Maja's Pants Bag:

And, as I couldn't cut them up I have sent her a tin of scraps of all her favourite colours:

Oh, it's good to be back!

What's on my table?

Lots of house viewings since last week and a good offer but no sale yet ... it has only been a week so we're not worried. I got a bit of sewing done over the weekend but certainly I'm feeling unproductive compared to my usual outputs :(

I have finally added a border to my soldier's quilt and made the back, so if DH and I can baste this this weekend, I may even get it quilted:

Next weekend I'm hosting a 'quilt retreat' for our Strip Bee quilters  - I have previously made Fran and Julie a Pants Bag so felt it was only right that the other three ladies had a Pants Bag too to transport their 'pants' in when they come to stay! Here's all three together:

For Maria (pinks and blues):

For Amy: (aqua and pale blue):

For Sarah: (pinks and purples):

They'll be in the post tomorrow, ladies! Very excited to host the weekend, promise to take lots of pictures of our weekend and the finished strip quilts.

And one more thing on my table - I participated in a low volume charm swap around Christmas. Here are the 56 x 5" squares I received:

But I just haven't been hit by the inspiration fairy to know what to do with them. So, yesterday, I laid them out with different fabric choices from my stash:

My thinking is to keep it simple, maybe  a 10 x 10 lap quilt using one extra colour ... or more than one? What would you do? All ideas gratefully received :)

Linking up with Lorna, Lee and Heather & Megan:

Got to love a quickie!

And that's what this had to be! Found out Friday afternoon that a colleague in another team is retiring - clearly had no time to make her a quilt so I asked her if she'd like me to make her a cushion or a Pants Bag. 'Cushion, please ... browns and beiges and maybe a little red.'

Raided my stash over the weekend and got to this stage:

... but then took to my bed with a filthy cold. Tonight after tea, feeling much better, I finished it off ... thankfully, it came together really quickly, no dramas, everything in harmony:

I'll be handing it over in the morning. Happy retirement, Carol x

Linking up with Lorna and Heather & Megan: