He's here!

James Ronan arrived at 2.38 pm on 13.03.13 weighing 7lbs 2 oz. We are all doing fine!

Summersville Cushions

What can I say - I am so pleased with these cushions!

I followed Lily Quilts tutorial on Moda Bakeshop.  I'm not usually one for skinny borders - I'm far too lazy for the precision required but I am pleased I persevered with these.

The backing is more Summersville and I used fusible fleece for the first time on the front and backs and would definitely use it again - suits my lazy side as no need for quilting!

And as there is no baby to go in it yet these are currently residing in the baby's cot with it's matching quilt.

11 random things

Pippa over at Pippa's Patch nominated my blog for a Liebster award.  

To qualify, you need to have under 200 hundred followers (me) or be under 6 months old in blogging terms, and then do the following:

1.List 11 random things about yourself

2. Answer 11 random questions

3. Choose 11 blogs to pass it on to

4. Create 11 questions for those 11 people

I've done this a few times before and I am running out of time and energy fast these days so I hope it's ok with Pippa if I tell you all 11 random things about me and answer her 11 random questions only.  I love finding out a little bit more about the bloggers I follow and hope you do too.  However if you would like to play along and qualify please consider yourself nominated by me!

So 11 random things about me:

1. I was born in Ireland and lived there until I was almost 21.   I was supposed to move to England for 1 year only but on my first weekend here met my now husband (in an Irish bar as you do!) and have stayed ever since.  My Irish accent has sadly almost all but disappeared.

2. I pretty much bought a new car today.

3. I spent a summer during university working at Gap and waitressing in San Francisco.

4. I don't like the texture of anything wooden in my mouth - so I can't lick an ice lolly once it gets to a certain point or eat chips with a wooden fork.

5. I like the light switches to be the right way up and doors properly closed (not ajar).

6. My middle name is Iris.

7. In real life I am a solicitor and spend half my working week in Court (in my head I am like the Assistant District Attorney's in Law and Order, the reality is sadly very different!!!)

8. At the moment I'm on maternity leave as my first baby is due in 11 days.

9. I don't wear pink a lot or use it to decorate in my house but I seem to have a lot of it in my stash.

10. I didn't pass my driving test until the third attempt.

11. I am still amazed that I have 90 people who follow my blog and lovely people who leave nice comments every week.

And answering Pippa's 11 questions:

1) Name 4 things that are in reaching distance of you right now 

My phone, a quilt, a notebook and a bottle of fizzy water

2) What would your dream quilt shop be like?

The fabric would be free!

3) Are you a morning person or a night owl?

Night owl

4) Sweet or Savory ?

Ohh difficult -  I couldn't live without chocolate but whilst I have been pregnant I have gone off sweet things and love cheese.

5) Stripes or Spots ?

I love both but if you make me choose spots.

6) What 3 things would you take with you to space ?

My husband, a notebook and a quilt.

7) Who's your favourite fabric line/designer?

I can't choose one - can I pick 11?  If not I like most things Sweetwater for Moda do.

8) If you could describe yourself in 4 words what would they be?

I found this really difficult so cheated and asked my husband who said "Chatty, Confident, Enthusiastic and Compassionate"

9) Do you drink coffee or tea or something else ?

I don't like tea and mostly drink coffee and water.

10) Why did you start/do you blog?

I started my blog because I wanted to keep a record of all the things I made.  I was amazed to discover this lovely online community.  Whilst I love being part of it I wanted to make sure that blogging remained fun, something I enjoy and never became an obligation.  Hopefully I'm managing that.

11) Have you met any RL bloggers ?

Yes lots!  I had met a few at Festival of Quilts in Birmingham in 2011 and then met lots of lovely bloggers at the Fat Quarterly Retreat last year (including Pippa).  And I'm hoping to meet lots more this year too.

And because a post without a photo seems dull here's a picture of some fabric I may have treated myself to after a stressful Thursday.

Work in Progress Wednesday

I've made some huge progress on a very old WIP this week.  My scrappy 9 patch blocks are now a finished quilt top!

When I first started quilting I cut 2.5" squares from scraps for each quilt or project I made.  I gradually made these into 9 patches intending to make them into a Crazy Mom Quilts 9 patch quilt.   (And for those of you who suggested my next quilt should be for me - this one definitely is - lots of memories of previous projects!)

However I planned this quilt before I discovered how much I hated sashing so these sat in a pile for a long time.  But after some deliberating on Twitter and Instagram regarding the border, the quilt top is finished.  The backing is going to be pieced from my stash - possibly Ikea numbers print or solids mixed in with whatever else I can find.  This is supposed to be a scrappy quilt after all!  Any ideas on quilting - there is no way I can attempt FMQ on this so it will be some sort of straight line quilting?  I was going for low effort and thinking of quilting 1/4 inch either side on the sashing and not going through the 9 patches? 

I've also made 3 cushion tops following Lily Quilts Moda Bakeshop tutorial and once my fusible fleece arrives I'm hoping to finish these off quickly.

No finishes or new projects started either but I think I have enough on the go at the moment (2 weeks until due date eek!)

Linking up with: 

February in Review

My monthly check in on the goals I set here at the beginning of the year.  February has been another good month for me.  I finally finished work and am really enjoying being on maternity leave.  This month seemed to involve receiving a lot of lovely handmade gifts made by talented friends and family which I have blogged about here and here.

Sewing

However I have managed to get some things made myself this month.  Unsurprisingly they are all baby related - sorry!

And I've made a little progress on some of my WIPs too.

Stashing

The sewing room transformation into nursery is now almost complete - I will bore you all with some photos of the finished room with all its handmade bits soon!  I am managing quite well with my stash being stored in a cupboard in our bedroom and the machine set up downstairs.  It's making me be a lot tidier for sure!

This month I've managed to use up 14 yards and only added 4 to my stash so that a net use of 10 for February - so far so good this year!  (In case you were wondering why my stash use is so big for not a lot of makes I count something as used when it is finished and the bunting and quilt were heavy on the stash!)

Blogging

I've managed to keep up with blogging this month and have been trying to focus on taking slightly better photos of my projects (being home in daylight hours certainly helps!).  

I've also done a new blog header which I'm rather pleased with.  I am usually not very technical at all but I followed That Girl That Quilt's tutorial and it all seems to work ok. Click through and let me know what you think!

I'm not making any big plans for next month - having a baby will be quite sufficient!  I expect that I will keep sewing a few little projects though to keep me occupied while I wait!

Linking up with: