I like it...

...but I don't love it.

The trouble with stashing fabric is that when I finally get around to using it, my tastes have changed and I'm not even sure if I like it any more.

I also think my short love affair with jelly rolls is coming to an end. While I think they are a good 'grab and go' way of quickly putting a quilt together; for me at least, I think half the fun is choosing the combination of colours and styles of fabric that make up a quilt. By using a jelly roll I feel I have reverted back to painting by numbers.

This quilt came about because I acquired a ruler and there seemed to be so many pattern possibilities that I was itching to have a go. And there was a jelly roll gathering dust that needed to be used up. I strip pieced three jelly roll pieces together for each block, added in some Essex linen in Natural and then tested out the ruler.

I like the pattern it makes -  I just feel I have made a very safe and possibly boring (for me) quilt.

However, I shall reserve final judgement for when it is quilted!

When I die

A work colleague's mother died recently.

I never knew her.

He came into work last week and said he knew I liked 'sewing' and please would I take his mother's sewing things. He thought his mother would like to know that her things had been put to good use.
Apart from two small bags of wool, there was just this:

Her sewing life all neatly packed up into one small plastic container.

It did get me thinking.

Unless I seriously reduce my hours of sleep and up my productivity, when I die they'll have to close the roads around our house, as an articulated lorry under police escort arrives for my 'stuff'.

In the meantime, I am definitely heartened that others are also unable to put their quilting life in to just the one box ;-)

And the winner is....

(Sorry, couldn't think of a more original title than that!)

Which is Jen who said:

However, it was her comment before that really depressed me...she used the words 'warm', 'sunny' and '70's.'

To be fair there were a lot of comments from Canada to balance it out with the 'S' word used quite a bit- you know... snow;-)

And for some reason Chicago seemed to have a lot of depressed quilters mentioning rain and wind.

When I originally posted the giveaway I thought it would be fun to see what weather we were all having. Events of the past few days though put it all in perspective and really there isn't much to moan about in comparison to others right now.

Thank you everyone (including SewFreshFabrics) for joining in the fun.

Jen, I have emailed you for your snail mail address.

And because I can't do a post without a picture, here is the block I finished up this morning for bee mamma Leila, who's month it is in the A Twist On Tradition Bee

I paper-pieced it from this pattern

Who fancies an unintentional giveaway?

I placed an order with Sew Fresh Fabrics but part of my order got a little mixed up. So instead of thinking I was getting the black, white and grey bundle, I got the blue and green stash builder bundle

When I contacted Sew Fresh Fabrics they were mortified and said they would send out the correct bundle straight away. But that left what to do with the half yard blue green and stash builder bundle

Well we've had a little chat about it and decided that I'll keep two of the half yards but the other FOUR half yards are up for grabs!

Do you fancy a half yard each of:

• Tufted Tweets Birds on a Wire in Grass
• Lime Ta Dot
• Anthology Candy Shop
• Wild Thyme Pods in Blue?

If you do, you have up to three chances:

1. Leave a comment - what's the weather like where you are today?!
2. If you already follow me that's very kind of you so you get an extra go - just let me know
3. If you want to blog about this you'll get another go. Again, just let me know.

I'm willing to ship this happy accident anywhere and I'll leave this open until Sunday 12 March  12 midday my time (GMT).

Spring has sprung...

...well it has in this part of the world anyway...

Hellebores

And so with spring colours in mind, I dug out a selection of fresh greens to make a quilt.

Up until this point I'd never made a half-square triangle quilt. And I keep seeing these really good tutorials popping up on how to make them. I'm not going to repeat them here because there are so many good examples out there already. This is what I came up with:

Just to make it a bit different, in three random places I put larger half-square triangles, using some Amy Butler Soul Blossoms fabric. I think randomness is not my forte though as looking at this image, I've just spotted the same two pieces of the same fabric, one underneath the other. Was not what I intended!

The contrast plain fabric is Kona White.

And then I discovered there was an easy way to make quarter square triangles and so I tested that method out with a small strip on the back.

I used Kona Artichoke as the backing fabric.

Quilting was done in straight lines, either side of the seams, forming the grid pattern you can see. I used a lime green thread in the top and a variegated green in the bobbin

I see more half-square triangles in the future!

Spring has sprung.

Definition of a good skiing holiday

In theory it should just look like this...

or this...

Now at this point I should just say that if you are within popping distance of a quilt shop this post may not be of particular interest to you. However, if, like me, you have to get on a plane to see a quilt shop in the flesh - enjoy the next few images...

Love that birdy quilt.

Look at all that yummy fabric.

And this is the owner and her son - he built her website

And then there was this:

It was like stepping into a log-cabin inside

There were quilts for sale

And although the shop was beautifully laid out...

...the fabrics were quite dark - a lot of reproductions, batiks and traditional prints and I was looking for something a bit more light and funky. So I used it as an opportunity to buy 'unable to buy where I live' things such as fusible fleece, pellon and insulated fleece.

Then there was this:

Very friendly people:

I liked the way the fabrics were displayed in this shop...

I think you gravitate more towards attractive displays of fabric and perhaps consider things that you hadn't looked at before.

And then it was on to here:

(No, that's not me!)


I think by this stage it would be fair to say that my traveling companions were perhaps all quilted out. Lucky for them there was an 'I'm not in to quilting area' with colouring for the kids and free tea and coffee and they were made to feel just as welcome as me.

So while they snapped the wildlife outside...

...I concentrated on what was inside:

Was really enjoyable to see what is to buy in a 'real' quilt shop as opposed to an online one. My only comment would be (and some of the owners know I am doing this blog post) would be for more fresh, funky, modern fabrics please - I saw no Heather Bailey, Amy Butler, Anna Marie Horner or Tula Pink, not a huge amount of Robert Kaufman or Michael Miller but loads of Moda. Appreciate these are my personal preferences though.

Oh, and on the way to the airport I spotted a Jo-Anns but it was on the wrong side of the freeway/dual-carriage way and I wasn't the driver. Had I been the driver and there hadn't been a barrier dividing the two flows of traffic, rest assured, I'd have done a swift U-turn.

And what fabric did I buy?

That and a little (oh OK, big) bit more ;-)

Doll Quilt Swap 10

I joined the Doll Quilt Swap 10 (otherwise known as DQS10) on Flickr, got my partner, set to work and have finished it:

I'm not going to say too much in case she reads this but she has similar(ish) tastes to me. The colour choice came about though because I had to use the centre fabric in each block (which I've fuzzed out until I can do the big reveal after she has got it). Had to because I think it's funny/apt/pertinent/applicable/relevant/whatever to her. So I looked for other colours that would bring it alive and that is how it came about.
I hand quilted it with Perle 8 threads in blue and pink and used this tutorial for the binding. I made an Ok but nothing to sing about job of it. It comes in at a trim 22" square - 2" shy of the maximum size allowed.

Working small means trying out new ideas.

I just fancied doing random wavy which is the sum total of the thought process behind the back. I tried to pick colours that were similar to what I used on the front but not the same. Just have to pop a label on it and then it will sit quietly in a corner of my sewing room before it is allowed to make its journey to its new home from the middle of March.

Please take a look at this Flickr group as there are all manner of styles going on and it is all very inspirational.

Oh...and I got me some new reading. Slowly making my way through the list.

Thank you!