Ooops, is July over already?!

Bee-ing did NOT go very well for me this month afterall (sorry Judith) I was super duper prepared at the beginning of July and did loads of research, settled on a block and even got my sketches sorted right back in the first week of July- all that was left to do was make the damn thing, but my weekends got sucked up with family commitments and I waaaaay misjudged how long that would take, before I knew it, it was the end of the month and I still just had a sketch!

Last friday I was determined to get it done, I sat down to cut and piece block one that evening and did the redwork on saturday morning... and saturday afternoon... evening... all of sunday... and it was all done on monday! How on earth it took me an entire weekend of sewing for that little block is beyond me; at least I managed to get my sky box clear of all those films I had hanging on and I think channel 5 played 'A Secret Garden' especially for me!

so here she is, I hope she was worth the wait!

and I made great time with block 2, I think its the first block ever that I have managed to get done in one sitting, AND it was one evening after work!

So even though this block decided to not let me sleep last week, it turned out alright- i was dreading looking at it the next morning in case there was a huge glaring mistake, but no, except for the customery idiotic mistake (this time sewing all the flying geese to the same side of the pinwheel because I had them lined up on the table so neatly) and subsequent unpicking, it went without a hitch! Yey!

Promise I will have the message block done soon too, but I had to get on with my mum's birthday present this week- pictures to follow next week!

Jx

ps. the second block is a Martha Washington Star, from Modify Tradition

It's on the way!

Exciting News!

I really love to experiment with quilt layouts and colours and have been thinking it would be great to have something quick and cheap that I can take anywhere and play around with. This was the starting point for Quiltography - it is going to be an iPad app that I am having developed for modern quilters that lets you choose from a library of quilt blocks and arrange them on your virtual quilt with colours or images from your photo gallery. This way you can put layouts together quickly and change them as much as you like without having all those bits of coloured paper lying around the house (which is what I usually end up with!) and other secret features that have yet to be announced, by signing up at the website now you can receive updates when more features are revealed :)

It's still in development, so if you have any ideas I would love to hear about them and if something you suggest is included in the final app or subsequent updates I will include your name and a link to your blog (if you have one) in the credits!

Please go over to quiltography.co.uk to register your interest and be one of the first people to know when it goes live on the app store! If you register on the site you will be entered into a prize draw to win one of three FREE copies of Quiltography on launch but for another chance to win a copy of the app all you have to do is write a blog post about it and comment on this post to let me know :)

We all like FREE stuff, right?

Jx

Sssssh! Project 51

After finished my first block for the top secret Project 51 last week sometime, I have been a bit slow in getting started on block 2.

But I finally settled down to get it done last night after graduation.

And I am now the temporary proud owner of two blocks from the Moda Bakeshop quilt by Angela of Fussy Cut; Starry Eyed Quilt until I send them off to their new home this week.

J x

Bee Dreaming

Wow, I didn't realise how long it had been since I last posted but my Bee fabric arrived through the letter bx this morning and has spurred me into action again :)

The task this month has been set by Judith of Needles and Lemons, and it is for ANY red and white block- kinda scary!

I love redwork quilts and have been thinking about embroidery; at first I found some lovely fairy tale designs (the Princess and the Pea was my absolute favourite!) but I didn't think that was personal enough. Then I saw a quilt made from town landmarks -sorry I forgotten who/ where it was, and I thought something from Judith's hometown would be lovely... but what is more personal than your own home- and I spend most days drawing houses after all! So I thought an embroidery sketch of the front elevation would be nice, but on second thoughts I have always loved doors and it really is the most easily identifiable bit of your home.

So Judith, my first idea is a redwork embroidered block of your front door. What do you think? I know you said that you didn't want any blocks with obvious corners so I was thinking a white block with an inset red sashing (unfortunately the white edge didnt show up very well in my mock up)

Oh, and if this in any way looks like your own front door- I promise I'm not a stalker it was just a picture of a pretty door :)

Still thinking about my second block, which will probably be a conventional block but I am not sure which yet.

Thank you for the freedom Judith, I am really loving the research in this challenge :)

J x

Colour Play

Today I stumbled across a series of posts on The Colour Challenge at Very Berry Handmade which reminded my of Palette Ping Pong, which has been going on for a long time at Ginger and George and I was inspired to give it a go.

I started with one of my favourite images at the moment from Wildflowers Photography and got so into it that I tried a whole lot more!

After playing with lots of different coloured images, I decided to try an "all white" image and I found this bedroom on my pinterest stream, it was amazing how many colours could be found in it once I started looking closely.

When you look at all the images as one, I was surprised at the colours that seemed to be coming out; I guess I now know that I lean towards dusty colours, but I would never have thought that for myself!

J x

Another busy day

Wooo, I am glad to report that I have finished my June blocks too! Trudi and Fiona, you can commence checking you letter boxes in eager anticipation (or backing away in fear, as the case may be) because both sets of blocks are on their way!

Here is a sneaky preview of Fiona's finished block...

Now that I am finally up to speed, I was allowed to do some playing, I have a single fat quarter from Verna that I have been holding for some time and I absolutely needed a new pin cushion, so ta-da!

I love these jars, I have been saving them for a while, but we just don't get through jam quick enough, they have a curved edge and lock neatly together all in a row- I think I will be needing some co-ordinating versions of this!

and what is a new pin cushion, without a needle case?!

I just love the matchy-ness!

In case you are wondering I used a tutorial from Jennifer Dawn for the pin cushion, although after making a yoyo looking shape, I realised that 5" was not enough of a diameter for my jar and I ended up opening the circle and hot gluing the edges around the lid and then covering the rough edges with my ribbon. and I used a tutorial from My Three Sons to get me started the needle case, but as I didn't have any hexies to use, I fussy cut a piece of my pattern for the front and back.

J x

Practicing June

I really wanted to get a reasonable start on June's blocks, hopefully to make up for May, this month's block from FionaPoppy is a disappearing nine patch, it is one that has been on my list of things to try but I haven't got around to it yet. The block came together so quickly that I think I might use these blocks for my god daughter's "Big Sister" quilt, and her little brother/sister's baby quilt, due in a few months.

I was so careful trying to match my seams on the initial nine patch, it is so much easier when there's only 2 seams at a time to think about- it's actually possible to match them up!

Chopping begins...

Then I started playing with the arrangements, I can't tell you how many of these I tried, but these are probably my favourites.

And my final arrangement, I think this turned out pretty well, even though my seams weren't perfect (it wouldn't be a block of mine if they did though I guess!)

J x