Time to Swoon

So, I have had the fabric designated to be my Swoon quilt for months now and last week I finally decided that it was going to be my next quilt- I have been umm-ing and arr-ing for too long and decided that enough was enough and that it was time to just get on with it and make something; so Swoon it is!

This is probably the start of the girliest quilt I could have imagined and is definitely the girliest I have made, but Amy Butler was the first pattern writer/ fabric designer I heard of (back before I started quilting) and I love her, so it's time I used some of her fabric.

I have been cutting and piecing all weekend and I am very pleased to be able to show my first 2 Swoon blocks, the beginnings of my 3rd AND I have the rest all cut out and waiting (well not quite "all" as I ran out of patience cutting the white so I only have about half of that cut and ready, but at least that's enough to keep me going for a little while!)

I have been following the progress of the Swooning group on Flickr for a long time, but I haven't noticed anyone currently making a Swoon (I am a little slow, they have probably mostly moved on now) so imagine my surprise to read that 2 of my fellow Brit Bees are also in the midst of making some Swoons too. So, I am looking forward to following their progress to spur me on :)

I have been working from home this morning and there is no better place, for comfort, than the sofa with a cosy new quilt for doing some research.

It's also a great place for some paper piecing, and I now have a total of 2 blocks to show for it too!

Loving the progress, all around!

J x

Jennie's Crab Shack Charm

After designing the back of this quilt with Lucy's Crab Shack fat quarters in mind I had to give up on my design as I couldn't find the co-ordinating Kona solids on a single UK website, instead I took my finished quilt top to my LQS and dug out the best co-ordinating navy to finish the quilt top with a bold frame and I wanted a bright pattern for the back.

This is a simple and bold quilt that was really easy to put together; I especially enjoyed using whole charm squares as it helped me to make sure my seam allowance was accurate.

The finished quilt is around 60" square, perfect size for two to snuggle on the sofa!

J x

Fresh Sewing Day - October

Despite the fact that I feel that I haven't stopped sewing in the last few weeks, I don't seem to have much to shown for Fresh Sewing Day.

1. Porthole Windows - finished quilt
2. Jennie's Crab Shack Charm - finished quilt
3. EPP Rose Star block 1
4. Matching iPhone 5 cases

Linking to Lily's Quilts Fresh Sewing Day and Small Blog Meet











J x

Porthole Windows

Woohoo; 100% complete!

I finally finished this ginormous quilt last week and it is so big I can't hold it up alone; even Chris struggled to hold it up for the photograph.

I am so happy to have this quilt sitting on my bed, as my first full size quilt, it has been really exciting!

J x

Basting and Quilting

I spent quite a few hours finishing my portholes quilt this weekend; just the binding to finish off today now; I have really enjoyed this quilt but I just want to get it finished and on the bed now...

Happy Weekend

J x

Pillow Talk

PTS9 is starting up, sign ups are open until thursday, and I am torn- I have been watching the Pillow Talk swaps since I started quilting and I thought that this would finally be my year to join in, but the standard is so exceptionally high that I don't know if I can play with the big boys yet...

I know it is an international swap, but I have been looking online to see if I can read anything written by a previous UK participant, has anyone been involved before? What's it like?

I really want to play but I am not sure if I want to take part in another swap... and coming up to christmas too :(

So I am trying to decide whether I should just make a pillow for myself in a Parallel-Pillow-Talk-Non-Swap that way I...
1. get myself a pretty pillow
2. don't have to stress if I make a mess/ miss the deadline
3. know that whatever I make my partner will enjoy
4. not have to go shopping for the latest fabric.

It kinda seems like win-win to me, but am I just being chicken? Long story short; I want to join the Pillow Talk Swapping, but I don't want to do it right now. I have raided my pinterest boards to create a nice little mosaic for myself and my non-swap (I haven't included any links on flickr as I hate that part but if you want to link to the original posts they can all be found on my pinterest boards here... I wonder what my partner will choose?!

Rant over, I think I will pass for one more season. Sorry for a minimum amount of pictures in this post, but obedience class sucked up my evening tonight but some more Porthole Windows is on the cards for tomorrow.

J x

ps. I discovered Audible last week and downloaded my first ever paid audio book; Stephen King's Bag of Bones, it was great company during my many hours at the sewing machine (over 30!) so I am onto my next book tomorrow; Vanishing Point by Val McDermid.