And the winners are. . . .

According to Mr Random Generator the first winner is:

and the second winner is 

My comments were numbered and no matter what I do they now aren't so you will have to trust my counting skills but I made number 11 to be Diane and number 13 is Gill.

Swaps & Quilt-alongs

I decided not to join another Bee this year when the two I was in finished.  I wanted to spend more time sewing and quilting stuff for me (selfish aren't I?).  But I missed the Flickr interaction of a Bee so I appear to have ended up signing up for 2 quiltalongs and a swap and we are only half way into January!


Quilt-along number 1 is the Swoon-along started by Katy.  







This is a huge 80 x 80 quilt using the Swoon pattern from Camille Roskelley.  I have had the pattern for ages but havent' started it!  I am going to use some of this huge Hushabye stack and some Kona Stone but I will definitely be doing this one at a slow pace.


Quilt-along number 2 is Made in Cherry started by Pins and Bobbins 

This one uses the free Made in Cherry pattern by Sarah Fielke.  I think I am going to use my Amy Butler Love scraps and Kona Charcoal for the solid.


And the swap is Mouthy Stitches run by Susan, Hadley and Cindy where we will be making zippy pouches for our partners.  





I signed up for this because I have never sewn a zip.  Now that probably doesn't make me the best candidate for this swap and I almost didn't sign up. And several times I have drafted an email to a Swap Mama to back out.  I am really nervous about sewing zips and pouches but I really want to learn how to do them and thought this should make me do it.  And hopefully I can make an ok pouch and my swap partner won't hate me for never having made one before.  And now I've blogged it I am going to have to do it!


This is my inspiration mosaic for my partner:





And finally if you haven't already done so pop over to this post and enter my giveaway for a Hushabye Charm pack, it finishes tomorrow.

The year of the stash (includes giveaway!)

I like fabric. I have a lot of fabric. Sometimes I hoard my fabric and don't make anything from it. In fact I have a lot of fabric I like which I sometimes hoard and don't make anything from. Part of the reason I dont use my fabric is I can't quite decide what to do with it, not enough ideas and sometimes too many ideas. So 2012 will be different. I am not going to make any resolutions about not buying fabric as that would just be silly and I may have already bought some this year already! But I am going to try and use some of the fabric I have and love. So each month or two I will be picking a different selection of fabric from my stash, asking for ideas and cutting it up and doing something with it. As a little thank you to all the lovely bloggers and followers out there I may even have some giveaways!

Hushabye by Tula Pink

Those are 1 yard cuts, which is a lot of fabric that I couldn't decide what to do with. The husband (not usually known for his quilting wisdom) asked why I had never made a "proper patchwork quilt?" He means one made out of squares so I decided to stop procrastinating and cut this into squares with some squares made up of smaller squares. An instant gratification project and hopefully I will have gotten over my fear of cutting into it! 

And then just yesterday Katy announced her Swoon-along quilt along using Swoon by Camille from Simplify.  I couldn't resist so 18 fat quarters of this will be made into a Swoon quilt provided that I can master flying geece.  It's going to be fun so join up!

There is still a lot of fabric left! Ironing and cutting this fabric took a long time so when I was doing it I decided to cut some layer cake and charm pack sized squares and some jelly roll strips ready for making quick projects. I know a few babies due this year and thought the colours in this would be perfect. 

 And now for the giveaway bit! I am giving away a pack of 42 5" squares to 2 different winners. This time you don't have to be a follower but thank you if you are. Just leave me a comment either telling me what from your stash you have been hoarding or a pattern/idea for a jelly roll, layer cake or charm pack which you think would work for this fabric.  It's open to all and I will draw a winner next Sunday.

January

Well as my work in progress list is now down to 4 I thought I really should start dreaming up some new quilts and planning a little sewing for the next month or so.

There are 3 people who I really need want to make quilts for this year.  Firstly my new niece due on Sunday (or within 10 days or so) but she won't be getting her quilt until February.

My sister in law wanted something that wasn't too pink and hopefully this collection still looks girly enough without being all pink! Fabrics are a mixture of Riley Blake and Sarah Jane Children at Play.  I am thinking of log cabin blocks with some bigger squares like Retro Starburst from Material Obsession 1.

Since I made this lap quilt for my Dad my Mum has been hinting that she would really like one.  I am aiming to get something done for sometime in the spring.

My Mum brought me this stack of fat quarters back from Canada "because the colours reminded her of the mountains".  They aren't really my colours so I decided to make something for her from them.  I didn't have enough to make a quilt and nothing from my stash went with them.  Luckily I found 2 charm packs at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham last August.  I am planning on making a zig zag quilt hoping it will remind my Mum of the mountains.


My sister is 30 in September.  Other family members have got quilts for recent 30th, 60th and 80th birthday celebrations so naturally she is expecting a quilt.  She just mentioned that her bed is super king sized!  I know I could make her a smaller lap quilt but I guessed this is the only quilt I will be making her for a while and I know she would really like one for her bed.





I have plenty of time to work on this one but thought I should get planning.  I am still thinking of  ideas and am guessing it will be a Quilt As You Go given the size of it.  So far I am thinking of this one or this one or maybe I will use my Swoon pattern from Camille.


And finally I am cutting into this fabulous stack.  I will be back on Sunday with my plans for it which include my first giveaway.