Finished quilt for charity :)

This evening, I finished my quilt for the charity Macmillan Cancer Support. Please read this post for the story. Did I really start this just 2 months ago? Looking back, this is what I wrote: 

I scare myself sometimes ... with my unfailing blind faith that I can look at a pile of fabric, think of an idea, draw a rough pattern (and I mean rough!) and start cutting and sewing with an absolute certainty it will all work out in the end. I really am the eternal optimist * sigh *

Well, my optimism paid off! From this 'original design':

I have to agree with many bloggers (other than our friends down under) that this is a terrible time of year to photograph quilts, so forgive me, these were taken in my loft / sewing room and the light wasn't great:

The front and back, this finished at 50" x 50":

I straight line quilted a 1/4" around the blocks (still rubbish at this!) and originally tried pebbles in the butterflies but that was a disaster! Unpicked and went for a squiggly free motion quilted thing with antennae. Thirteen butterfly blocks - six knots in each to bury = 78, which was about an hour's work:

Definitely the part of quilting I would happily forego ... perhaps I can teach DH! Now there's an idea :) 

And the label:

What's extra nice is that the fundraising event isn't until January so I've finished with time to spare. I hope it raises lots of money for this very worthy charity and that whoever wins it loves it :)

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

I cried ... and I cried ... and then I cried some more!!

It's been quite a tough week at work so after dinner last night, I was going to do some quilting on my butterfly quilt but instead we decided to watch a film. A comedy would have been a good choice or even a thrilling action movie ... but we watched Les Misérables and the tears came! Boy, did they :'(

I cried when Fantine's hair was shorn. Then, again when she died. Pulled myself together (just!) until Jean Valjean sung 'Bring him Home' and sobbed my heart out when he died at the end ... what an amazing film! Bless him, DH was a bit worried about me ... said he couldn't remember the last time he'd seen me cry at a film like that! 

If you've never seen it, there's lots of clips on You Tube to whet your appetite - I particularly love Colm Wilkinson's version of Bring him Home and, of course, the brilliant Susan Boyle brought the epic song I Dreamed a Dream to the masses when she auditioned with it on Britain's Got Talent in 2009.

So, from crying like to a baby, to my one finish this week which was this little baby quilt for Laura at work:

I posted about it earlier in the week and have since been asked to make another one for a friend and, as this really was such a dream to make, how could I refuse? And a bonus for me - this one's for a baby girl so I get to use my pinks! Here's my choices of fabric (so far!) and some fleeced fabric for the backing ... I just might get cracking on this over the weekend: 

Or I might finish quilting my charity quilt - I have done all the straight line quilting but think it needs something more - perhaps some FMQing in the butterflies? There's not a lot of space to move around in so my usual stippling is not going to work. Have been over to see what free motion quilting designs the fabby Leah Day has to share and I think I'm going to try making her pebbles. She really has the best site - everything's clearly signposted, categorised by ability, and there are videos for each design ... yes, pebbles - how difficult can it be?!

And no more sad films for me this weekend! 

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

Busy Bee!

Busy at work, busy at home ... so busy that the deadline for this round of the Strip Bee Quilt jumped out at me and I had a bit of a panic when I read everyone's emails on Friday night saying they were ready to post ... how did that happen?!

Just a reminder, there's six of us involved - from all over the UK - who have never met (hoping that might change one day), each adding a 40.5" strip to each others' quilts as they get passed from one quilter to the other. This was my strip  - which I passed on to Amy @ Cloud CouCou Crafts:

Round 2 - I received Fran's @ Patchy Rose strip - stars from a star:

And tonight, I finished adding my strip (Round 3) to Maria's quilt @ sew love to sew which had been to Fran before coming to me. Aren't Maria's houses the greatest? 

So, next week, I think I'll be receiving either Julie's @ Mack and Mabel or Sarah's @ Quilt Candy quilt and will have 6 weeks to add my strip ... it's such fun! I can only say that now I've finished - this time yesterday, I wasn't so calm but I only have myself to blame. 

We're not supposed to put pressure on ourselves but when I received Maria's strip from Fran, what she had added was so amazing, I just felt I had to 'step-up' and decided I wanted to paper piece either bird or butterfly blocks. Yes, I know - silly woman!

It's not like I've paper pieced that much before - a couple of square in squares cushions and Pants a Bags so ... SERIOUSLY ... what was I thinking?? I bought this pattern off Craftsy (very reasonable) by Linleys Designs:

and it worked very well but the first block was wayyyyyy too big for the quilt and some of the pieces were so small, I didn't see how I could reduce it in size - that was yesterday morning! So, back to ye old faithful Google Images and I found a couple but they weren't quite what I was looking for. You know what they say about necessity being the mother of invention? I made my own! 

We're only supposed to post sneak previews of the strip before passing it on but I don't think Maria will mind if I share with you the ingredients of just one block - I drew my pattern, cut out some templates for the wings and background, sorted through my scraps, paper pieced the wings, unpicked LOTS and made a heck of a mess:

But, it was worth it - all done before dinner tonight and it will be in the mail tomorrow! I have really enjoyed my sewing this weekend - I pushed myself, I found a solution, I had to take my time but I cracked on with it and am really really pleased with how it all ended up - hope Maria will like it! Just need Glinda to wave her wand again and for my sewing room to be tidied!!

WIP Charity Quilt ...

I have only made a little progress on my Macmillan Cancer Support charity quilt (started here) - I did an hour last night and hoped to have finished the top tonight but after a 14 hour day at work, my weary legs can't make it up the loft ladder! 

I was going to go with a more fancy border but thought there was enough going on in the quilt without adding lots more seams ... well, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! Here's where I'm up to:

Linking up with Lee's WIP Wednesday, hosted  this week by the 'Paper Piece Princess' herself  Kristy @ Quiet Play - she really does the most amazing work - very inspiring. 

DH said he'd hang my notice board back up in the loft at the weekend because I'm losing track of all my promised projects. So far, I know these are on my things to do list:

1) At least 3 new cushions for SIL's conservatory

2) Pants Bag for the daughter of a friend

3) Strip Bee strip (round 3) to add to Maria's quilt 

4) Two baby quilts

5) Table mats and runner and 1 or 2 bedroom cushions for dear niece

If only I could sew all. day. long ... ah well, one day *sigh* :)

I scare myself sometimes ...

... with my unfailing blind faith that I can look at a pile of fabric, think of an idea, draw a rough pattern (and I mean rough!) and start cutting and sewing with an absolute certainty it will all work out in the end. I really am the eternal optimist * sigh *

Laura (from yesterday's post) is holding a Macmillan Cancer Support fundraising event in January and I am going to make a quilt for the raffle. This paragraph describes their work: 

"The Macmillan team is with you every step of the way. We are the nurses and therapists helping you through treatment. The experts on the end of the phone. The advisers telling you which benefits you’re entitled to. The supporters who make it all possible."

They don't have one logo as such but I did see did this image on Google:

There are many references on the Internet to the symbolism of butterflies ... too many for me to condense in any worthy way here but did you know the ancient Greeks considered butterflies as the souls of those who had passed away? And in ancient mythology, the butterfly stands for wisdom and everlasting knowledge? Fascinating reading and quite fitting a theme for this quilt, I think.

So here is my rough pattern:

My first strip:

A close up and some more blocks I made tonight:

Not sure yet how it's all going to come together, where to position the blocks, what size it'll end up at, if I'll have enough fabric. But that's okay - a few butterflies in my stomach along the way is absolutely fine by me :)

A new WIP, thankful to those who work at Macmillan and to Lee (who's not feeling too good - get well soon!) for the chance to link up: