BOGOF books

This one I bought

I love just about anything Kathy Doughty produces in quilt world. Her blog is definitely in my Top Ten of inspirational quilt blogs in terms of her random use of colour. There are always a tonne of quilts on there and I always come away from reading one of her blog posts thinking I definitely need to live to at least 112 1/2  years give or take 10 year either side, to accomplish half the quilt ideas  I have spinning round in my head.

This book has just added to my quilt ideas.

I didn't even think I liked Denyse Schmidt's Greenfield Hills line until I saw this.

And look at this one too.

And this one.

As you've probably noticed, the book is half in French and half in English. That's because it is published and distributed by Quiltmania in France. What this means is you can't get it from Amazon, Book Depository etc. You can order it from Kathy direct but I didn't fancy paying the postage to ship a book from Australia,  so (if you're in Europe) I would recommend ordering off the Quiltmania website. Click on the Union Jack icon on the top right hand corner of the landing page to get it into English (going on the assumption you're not fluent in French in which case ignore that last bit) and place your order. Definitely one of my new favourite quilt books.

Then this one I got free.

Because I was lucky enough to win it on Jacquie's blog.

And the Madame of Modern even signed it for me.

A complete antidote to the previous book with its cacophony of mad, wild patterns, this book is a more subdued take on quilts, using solids only.

Great selection of ideas and styles.

Kajsa Wikman

Emily Cier

Definitely have to save this one for a rainy day week.

It's got some great information on solid fabrics.

Who knew? Not me I'm afraid.

And probably my favourite quilt in the book for the colours and the quilting and the composition.

Designed and made by Jacquie Gering. Quilted by Angela Walters.

I'm thinking after devouring these two books I need to find the elixir for eternal life to get all my quilt ideas made now.

Sew Mama Sew Winner

Mr Random Number Generator thingy has spoken and it is number...

...which happens to be

Natalie, please send me your snail mail address so I can get the goodies off to you.

Thank you to everyone who entered but the biggest thank you to Kelly at Jeliquilts. My giveaway closed last night but since Blogger made some changes earlier this year, comment numbering disappeared. So I was faced with manually counting 634 comments which I didn't fancy late last night.

I noticed Hadley had numbered comments so at 11pm last night we had a flurry of emails between us as she tried to help me but her method didn't (unfortunately) work for me.

So I woke up this morning thinking I was back to manual counting until I spotted Kelly's blog and saw she had numbered comments.

One email to her and her method works...courtesy of her husband...which I get to share with you:

Go to template
Then press edit HTML
You will get a message about proceeding, click on 'open template designer'
click on advanced
add css (scroll down list it's at the bottom)

and paste this into the box (press enter a couple of times before pasting)
.comment-thread ol{
counter-reset: contarcomentarios;
}

.comment-thread ol ol {
counter-reset: contarbis;
}

.comment-header:before {
content: counter(contarcomentarios,deci mal)".";
counter-increment: contarcomentarios;
float: left;
padding-right: 4px;
}

press enter again after the last }

and then apply to blog.

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day

Time for Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day  **NOW CLOSED**

and I am giving away:

3 panels of Atelier Akiko by Lecien (there are 9 feature squares in each panel, all with a Parisian theme = 27 total)

8 fat quarters of coordinating Lecien fabric = 2 yards total

All you have to do is leave me a comment giving me the url of your favourite online shop - it can be anything!

There is an extra random comment for those who already follow so in addition to the fabric above, I will send you this bag, made predominantly with Koka fabric:

Good luck.

Draw will be made by Mr Random Number Generator thingy after this post is closed -  10pm Little Island time on Friday 25 May.

Bloggers' Quilt Festival

I am resisting trying to say 'it's that time of year' again but it is; Amy's Bloggers' Quilt Festival which she very kindly arranges twice a year to coincide with International Quilt Market in the USA.

I'm afraid the quilt I am showing popped up on my blog only a couple of weeks ago. So for those of you who have already seen it, I went out this morning in what felt like Day 963 Of Rain to take some more pictures of it so you are sort-of-kind-of-in-a-roundabout-way getting something new to look at.

Note nice rain smudge in centre of piccy please

I made it with Jenny's Quick Curve Ruler which I have had the best fun with.

I strip pieced random scraps together of varying widths, squared up to 8 1/2 inches square, sliced out the sides with the ruler and then replaced them with various black and white scraps.

In some ways it was a good scrap buster because you really get through all your coloured scraps...you're just left with a new pile afterwards of black and white scraps.

I really like the backing fabric.

Please take the time to visit some of the others who are entering the Bloggers' Quilt Festival.
And thank you to Amy for all the effort and time she has put into this - it is appreciated.

Siblings Together quilt

A charm packet kindly provided by Katy (actually two but I haven't made the other quilt yet).

Pondering what to make that would reflect a quilt for a sibling that has been separated (read more here)

Talked about it with my two daughters and we decided on this.

 
Both daughters positioned the hearts to make a heart shape.
We decided that if you were separated from your sibling your heart would not be complete so we took the decision to make one of the hearts smaller.

But all is not lost because the missing heart is still close by (I quilted one in the bottom right which you can just see)

Quilting looks quite pretty from the back. (All levels of age group had a go so it is not perfect)

If you want to see the amazing selection of quilts that have been made for Siblings Together please go here.

Linking up to Lee's WIP Wednesday

Quilting matters

It's very easy to get absorbed into this whole quilt-making thing.

In the initial flurry of quilt making it's very simple to find family, friends and Uncle Tom Cobley, who, although they may not specifically have asked for a quilt, you feel sure need and want one, which more than justifies your need to make quilts.

And then they all have one and yet you still want to carry on making quilts, knowing that you will always want to keep it as a fun, relaxing hobby.
How many can you stock-pile before you realise that if the pile gets any higher it is going to topple over.


So I decided to start giving some away to charity.

Last year I made this one...

...and last November packed it off to Project Linus purely because they have a branch on a neighbouring island and I wanted to think of it being used in my corner of the world.

I thought no more of it, other than wondering whether it was a tadge self-indulgent to think that someone would find a use for something I had made purely because I wanted to.

And then I came home from work today to a letter waiting for me from Project Linus, enclosing a photo copy of a thank you card they had received from the girl it has gone to in a children's home.

Although I can't tell you her name I did feel sad and wonder if she was in a children's home because of this

And all my doubts about whether making a quilt really helps melted away.

This one short note has made me realise that, in its own way, quilting really does matter.

Robbing Peter to pay Paul

There has been a lot of this these past few days

which has allowed me to concentrate on this.

I made it bigger in an effort to get through some more of my scraps, including some that had clearly been hanging around for longer than I remembered.

 Then I decided to quilt it in a diagonal grid pattern with just an inch between each line so it wasn't long before this popped up on my machine's screen.

Several squirts later and I was done.

And then we ventured outside for a spot of photography.

With a semi-willing photographer's assistant who saw no need to put shoes on.

I'm thinking an orange and purple quilt would be quite striking.

The back is just one piece of fabric I'd had for ages that was big enough.
Job done.

The shoeless photographer's assistant proceeded to walk across a wet, grassy field.

By which time the photographer was feeling slightly twitchy but managing not to say anything in lieu of the help being received.

But then the photographer caved in and resorted to the trusty photographer's standby - the washing line.

And although the light levels were not as good, it did show the quilting off better and equilibrium was restored.

'Robbing Peter to pay Paul'? It is apparently the name of the quilt block I used in this quilt.

I guess there is nothing new under the quilting sun rain.
Just variations on a theme.

(Blocks were made with Jenny's Quick Curve Ruler)

Slow with a capital S...

...most definitely equals progress with a very small p.

Plan of action was to originally paper piece each different component.

So I could piece the quilt with all the parts ready.

 But it just seemed that I was on a never-ending production line of tiny bits of who-knows-what, that I wasn't really sure would go together.


I started to doubt that I could turn this...

...into this.

Still available to buy if you have the patience

So I've changed tack now and decided to start assembling it as I go; paper piecing each block as I need it.

And so now I feel it is going better.

The end may not necessarily be any nearer in sight.

But at least doing it this way, it feels like it is.