Gutted

Well I was gutted to realise I had missed WIP Wednesday. Ironically I was so taken up with some very mindful sewing and chilling out (am on holiday - squee!!) that I totally forgot what day it was ....
But then I remembered about the new linky party on Maybush studio and all was saved :-)
So what's been under my feet this week? Well I spent the weekend being a quilting Yoda to a friend who has never quilted before but was making a quilt for her sisters wedding (week on Saturday, no pressure then ...) but she had the blocks made. The binding should now be sewed on, so Ruth, if you are reading this and the binding is not sewn down then get back to the sewing machine!
I caught up with loads, the latest Craftsy block, a giant tumbling block. This was my first choice of fabrics:

Well what was I thinking! That's all a bit 'meh'

I far prefer my final choice:


Much better.

Also done and dusted is my bloggers block of the month quilt. This is from 2011 .... Ahem, better late than never. I loved doing this BOM, it was be of the first I did online. I did it while undergoing chemotherapy so it is especially poignant for me. Flickr, blogs and generally quilting online in general was a godsend while I was ill. So it's quite fitting that this little baby is heading off for Project Linus.

So that's been my week, see you same time next week, unless I forget :-)

Community work done and dusted!

A while back I blogged about the community work I was doing for our division of the SWRI (Scottish Woman's Rural Institute) I wanted to show the finished piece so here we are!

I was a bit constrained by the requirement to have it no larger than 1 meter, but I think it is quite cute.

As it is going to be judged on technical merit I kept the quilting simple. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Linking up to an exciting new linky party at Maybush Studio

The one with a finish in it

I follow my wonderful project Linus co- ordinator on twitter @PL_UK_Stirling she often puts out appeals for quilts and I feel incredibly guilty as I have at least 4 tops waiting to be layered up etc. This weekend I decided I wasn't allowed to do anything else until I had done at least three of them.
First one - hot chocolate, blogged about here. The pattern is from Southwind designs

This next one is the sew a sampler series from popular patchwork, it's extra special as it is my first adventure (be gentle) in free motion quilting, I did a gentle meander/stipple and am quite please with it! All it needs now is binding then off to Project Linus it will go.

Bigger shot before quilting

My little tin of left over binding strips is perfect for a scrappy quilt.

Linking up as ever to WIP Wednesday

Sparkly

Well enough of the maudlin self indulgent posts :-) lets get back to the proper stuff, crafting.
My big sis, who is by the way the bestest big sis in the whole wide world, laughs at one of my Pinterest boards, it's called 'crafts other than patchwork'. Well, there is really only patchwork is there ;-) Before I got the quilting/patchwork bug my main craft was embroidery, mainly hardanger. Tendon problems in my arms put paid to me doing that as my main hobby but as long as I take it easy I can still do some.
At last years FOQ (festival of quilts) I signed up for a class taught by the fabulous Bella Lane what a marvellous young lady she is, so sweet and her needle work is out of this world.
I did the class called Tudor rose and I just got round to finishing it this weekend, sitting out in the sun.
I think it safe to say the Royal School of Needlework will not be calling at my door, but I like it and it makes me smile.

Tough

This is a tough time of year for me. It's a time of contrasts. I am sooper excited because the sun is shining, holidays are looming and the festival of quilts is just round the corner.
It is also exactly 2 years since I went to the doctors with a lump on my neck. It turned out to be stage 4 hodgkins lymphoma and for good measure it had spread to my liver.
Six months of chemo later I went into complete remission and am still there.
But because I do the same things every year (take holidays at the same time, go to FOQ) it all conspires to remind me of that time. In 2011 I went round the FOQ in a daze, a mere two days before I had been given the cancer diagnosis.
I seem to remember spending a HUGE amount of money saying 'life is too short'
Well do you know what?? Life is too short, it's too short to continually live in the past so today I will get out on my bike, do loads of quilting, practise being mindful and be very very grateful to be still here.

Groundhog Day

Since my disaster with the fruit tea and the scrappy trip blocks several things have happened.
I set up a rudimentary cutting table:

It does the job and keeps quilt blocks off the floor :-)

I have had to redo all five scrappy quilt blocks, bit of a scunner since there were one or two of the fabrics I didn't have anymore. Still I think they turned out ok. I did seem to have lost my nerve a bit with the exceptionally scant 1/4 inch seam so there are maybe or two odd blocks added to the orphan block pile.

So now these are all done and ready to post, I can get my festival of quilts groove on. As per usual I have the burning desire to finish off absolutely EVERYTHING in my to do pile in order to make room for the pile of stuff I will bring home.

Lists

I love lists, I'm a librarian it's in the blood to love lists. I have a gazillion productivity apps on the iPad which help me make lists.
I was slightly horrified when I actually used one of these to figure out how many things I have on the go at the moment ...
--> stitch gathering ticket
--> lanyard for stitch gathering
--> farmers wife
--> silk quilt
--> craftsy BOM 2013
--> hello moon
--> pile o fabric skill builder
--> marks mum and dads quilt
--> layer up and bind hot chocolate quilt
--> layer up and bind shadow box
--> layer up and bind sew a row
--> layer up and bind b&w runner
--> curvy quilt
--> craftsy BOM from 2012 FMQ
--> star blocks FMQing

Flipping heck, that's a biiiiigggggg list but it's a lovely day and I am aff oot on my bike first before tackling said list.
Before I go have a little bug on a leaf saying hello to the moon:

A bit partial

It's been a funny old week, I think a holiday is long overdue. On the plus side I get to go to graduations on Friday and see all our lovely students one last time before they go out into the world, a very special,time.
Didi mention that I love craftsy? Well I do, particularly the block of the month they do. Laura Nownes is doing an excellent job this year, I had always hated partial seams and would blush to show you my last attempt at a lone star but after following her instructions I am quite proud of this attempt for the June block.

What's also been on my new cutting table? This rather charming hexagon block for the Alyssia Lichner block of the month. I won't say EPP is my favourite technique but I'm happy with this.

And yes I do now have a cutting table no more red tea near fabric ...

Claiming my blog

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