4x5 Modern Quilt Bee update

Hello there!
Been meaning to update for a while as my blocks for the 4x5 MQB (3rd quarter) have been posted and are safely on their way to their new homes.
As I mentioned a while ago it took me ages to decide on a quilt block (not good at making decisions!) but I am really pleased that I went with the "Rocky Road to Kansas" block and it was somewhat difficult posting these little beauties out after seeing them all lined up together! Hopefully my fellow hive member like!

Mini embroidered canvas

In addition to the shopping and quilt sight-seeing at the FoQ I also took part in a fab workshop -
"Embroidered Seedheads".
This was such a fun way to spend a few hours in the evening and I was really pleased it was a workshop where I came away with a finished outcome (rather than something that gets put in a drawer, one day to be finished but never sees the light of day!).

We were each given a little kit that contained a chunky canvas, bits of fabric, organza, netting and scrim. Shown some amazing examples, clearly explained each stage and then off I went!
It was also great that the workshop was using my favourite machines - Bernina!

So after I had secured my fabric with bondaweb it was off to free machine embroider over all the different pieces. I went with a linear pattern.

 

Then when all my different pieces of fabric were stitched down the edges were trimmed and then neatened with a close zig zag

 

Then it was time to decide what kind of seedhead we wanted to embroider on. I did a bit of drawing by freehand first to get an idea of design and scale before heading off to the machine. This was the really scary part in case I sewed straight off in the wrong direction!

 

Canvas prepped ready for the embroidered picture

 

And ta da! You can see that when I got home I spray painted the canvas a chocolate brown colour before re attaching the embroidery

Loving how this worked out and will definitely be making a few more of these!

Close ups

A few closes up, mini quilts and 3D quilted items from the show ~

 

Quilts

So here are some of the amazing quilts on display at this years Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, UK.

 

It was only fabric!

So I'd like to say that the little sneak peek yesterday was a huge delicious pile of blocks I've been busy working on ready to be sewn into the most wonderful quilt!
Who am I kidding right! (One day a quilt will be accomplished) It was however a gorgeous stack of fabric that are the most wonderful vibrant colours.
I've been meaning to update on my visit to the Festival of Quilts this August in Birmingham so here is a start. This was my little pile of goodies that came home with me:

I didn't go overboard this year (partly as I was also doing a workshop) and stuck to a few things that I had on my list.
Will show you all the awesome quilts tomorrow!

"Must do better"

Yep that's what it would say on my Blog report card!
Currently not sure where a day or a week is going but its going somewhere and its Autumn Equinox on Friday as well!
I have far too many blog posts stored in my head and photos of what I've been up to that need sharing that my plan is to get around to sharing them this side of Christmas! (Yep Christmas cards and mince pies on the supermarket shelves as well! Argh!)

So here is a little sneak peek of what's to come ......

Blogs I Love!

Summer is sadly and well and truly coming to an end!
The lights are coming on earlier and the leaves are starting to change which means less time out and about and more time being cosy at home ..... and catching up on lots of blog reading!

I have recently discovered some fantastic blogs out there some with more of a Home focus (rather than sewing or quilting) with amazing, gorgeous interiors and decorating ideas and other fantastic blogs all about organisation something true to my heart! So I have updated my "Blogs I Love" links down on the right hand side. They are definitely worth a visit!

A couple of my newbie fav daily reads:



Perfectly Pretty

Gorgeous fabric!

These colours are just so me!!

This fabric is gorgeous and my photo does not really do it justice.
Oakshott is a new company to me that I discovered after an insert and discount voucher (never one to turn down a discount!!) in my Quilters Guild magazine, and if you have never visited their website go check them out. They have lovely fabric, some great free patterns, lovely kits and also some extra lovely leather bag handles!!

Can't wait to pay them a visit at the Festival of Quilts to spend a few pennies!!

4x5 Modern Quilt Bee

So I've joined another Quilt Bee!!
This one is a bit different .....

About 4x5 modern Quilt Bee

The idea of this Modern Sampler Bee is where each block is constructed using a different pattern and even if two people make the same pattern, it will be made with different fabrics. We want to celebrate the talents and creativity of each other regardless of their experience level.

What’s in the name? The reason why it’s called the 4x5 Modern Bee is you’ll be swapping 4 times a year with 5 members. At the end of the year you should have 20 unique blocks to make a fabulous quilt! (taken from Flickr)


My fellow members in Hive 2 (I love that we've all been put into hive's!!) have all chosen lovely colour choices and put together some wonderful inspiration mosaics to help come up with fabric and block ideas. 
So I pulled all the fabric and spent ages umming and ahhing over which block to choose but finally decided on "Rocky Road to Kansas". 
Here is the fabric that I've pulled for each member and an example of the block (which I did not make):

So today there was a bit of this.....

and a bit of that......

and quite a few cups of tea in between to arrive at this sample block!

 

 I just need to make one for each of my hive members now!!

{P.S there is an amazing tutorial for this block at Fresh Lemons Quilts}

Machine quilting

A while ago I attended a beginners machine quilting class with Ferret from Ferret Fabrications.
All I can say is that I've caught the quilting bug!!

One of my goals this year is to actually make a completed quilt. So far my adventures into quilting have all been about making individual blocks, which hey look great but don't really stretch too far over my lap or keep me warm!!

This class was so much fun. We spent the first part of the day covering the basics of machine quilting such as what type of needles to use. I learnt that you get about 8 hours out of a needle when quilting! I can't even remember the last time I changed the needle on the machine - so lesson well learnt!
We then looked at different types of thread that can be used, marking tools, quilt sandwiches, basting, tacking guns.... there was sooo much! Then it was time to start!
I was a bit afraid looking around the room at everyone's fancy machines that my little Bernina 1010 would not be able to cope, the only part that let me down was playing around with decorative stitches as I only have a handful on this machine, but otherwise my little B did me well.
We were shown and played around with so many great patterns, tried not to quilt to tiny in case you were having to machine quilt a large finished quilt and quilting particular areas to give texture. Here is my sample (play around) piece for the day: