Blogger's Quilt Festival

This is my first entry in the Bloggers Quilt Festival - which Amy has organised again this autumn.

I am entering the Authentic Quilt I made for my brother's 30th birthday in July this year.

I followed Dana from Old Red Barns Quilt Along several months after it was finished.  This is the first big quilt I have made and I learnt so much quilting it particuarly how much easier it is to quilt if you have basted well.

The female members in my family were a little disappointed that the first quilt I gave away was to my brother and warned me he may not appreciate it.  His reaction was so funny "You made it?  What with?".  When I said fabric he replied "But it looks like newspaper!".

Go check out the other amazing entries:

Sunday Stash - the Bee edition

 

Dolce by Tanya Whelan 

From the moment I first saw this quilt line, I had to have it, all of it and not just a small amount full metres or yards (yup I'm greedy).  

Purchased from Allegro Fabrics, Pink Chalk Fabrics and Fresh Squeezed Fabrics in the US and Saints and Pinners  in the UK.  The grey at the bottom right  is Kona Medium Grey and is from Simply Solids also in the UK.  

I love them all :

Pinks

Lavenders

Oranges

Blues

Greys

This is my current favourite.  I am currently cutting some of this beautiful fabric up to send off for my month in Fresh Modern Bee 2.  I can't wait to see what they come up with.

Bee Blocks

I am finally caught up and ahead on all my Bee Blocks.  In Bee Quilted I made as my Sept/Oct block for Marlynn.  This was a real challenge for me and I had put it off for ages because I was scared of applique.  Marlynn had a great set of instructions on how to applique and I found it really straightforward.  I really like the look it gives and might try it on a quilt soon (though probably a simpler shape like a heart or circle!).

This Bee is Quilt as you go and the Oct/Nov block (see how caught up I am!!) for Lucinda was a log cabin made out of gorgeous Alexander Henry and Keiki fabrics.

For Fresh Modern Bee 2 the October block was for Danielle who requested blocks made of squares from this selection of fabric.

We have really similar tastes in fabric (I particularly love Wonderland) and I love working with these fabrics.  These are the blocks I came up with - I liked the idea of the blocks being window or frames for the fabric:

I am really struggling to get good photos with the light at the moment - its dark when I leave and get home from work.  I can't wait until the clocks change so I don't have to get up in the dark!

Hippo Bag

Well the Works in Progress is working - I finished this bag which has been sitting around for ages waiting to have a strap and buttons sewn on.

Red hippo fabric is Ikea and the linking is a white and red polka dot. Pattern is from Quilting in No Time by Emma Hardy. 

Does this mean I can start a new project now???

UFOs

No not the flying spaceship ones - the ones clogging up my sewing room.  My UFOs Works in Progress are many, in fact at Sewing Club last week I was struggling to remember exactly how many.  So its time to face the music and count them up and maybe try to maintain a little order and a lot of progress.   

First up are those that really should be finished if I just got a move on:

1. Red Hippo Bag - just needs a handle and some buttons sewn on, no excuse really . . .

 
2. Crazy Sweetness Quilt - needs a little perseverance to finish the quilting and binding

  Then there's the ones that need a little more work to finish:

3. Baby Girl Coin Quilt - needs ironing (a lot),  backing, basting, quilting, binding, someone to have a baby girl to motivate me to finish it.

4. Sampler Quilt - needs quilting (I just can't decide how to do it) and binding.

5. Wild Oddyysea - needs everything except cutting done to it!

And then there's the long term projects which I have convinced myself don't really count as UFOs do they?

6. Red & Aqua Little Windows

 
7. Nine Patch

8. Tilda Hexagons - which I will be working on until I am at least 83 and a half!

And finally the newish projects that are distracting me from the oldish ones:

9. Christopher's  Quilt - deadline Christmas

10. Tilda Red Quilt - deadline Christmas/Valentine's Day?

Hmm seems rather a lot listed out like that - I will try for an update in a few weeks which hopefully will keep me motivated.  Though knowing me as I cross one thing off the UFO  Works in Progress list, I will almost definitely add another.  Just as well I'm not listing all the quilt ideas running around in my head . . . . .

Bee Blocks catch-up

Finally catching up on my Bee Blocks!  For Bee Quilted I made this Robot Block for chez-j  using the Quilt as you go method.

In August (yes I do know it is now October!) Lynne in Fresh Modern Bee 2 sent these beautiful Whimsy fabrics and requested Union Jack Blocks for which she has a fantastic tutorial on her blog.

These are the blocks I made - for some reason the first block is actually better than the second!

I had never done paper piecing before and these were definitely challenging but that's why I joined this Bee and I actually quite enjoyed them.  I can't wait to see the finished quilt.

For September Jessica in Fresh Modern Bee 2 sent these beautiful solids and black and white spots.  She asked for modern pieced rectangles.

These are my 2 blocks.  I loved making these.  I have never worked with solids before or made up a design for a block so this was great fun.

Spaced out Squares Quilt

I'm back and I've finished something hurrah!   A proposed visit to a friend and her 8 week old baby who I have already seen twice with no gift spurred me on to finishing this:

 

Fabrics are mostly from David Walker's Robot line with a couple of tiny polka dot orange and yellows thrown in.

(Unfortunately I finished it late at night and it was really dull the next morning before I had to give it away so some of the photos aren't brilliant).

 For the backing I used the red robot print from the front.

I quilted it in red thread 1/4 inch from each seam line.

I love love love stripy bindings!