Busy Sunday

So this is what I've been up to this afternoon ~
Finishing off April blocks to be sent away for my Bee Europa Quilting bee. Yep you read write - April!! Sorry to espritpatch for being so late!! These were wonderful blocks to make and my first attempt at flying geese.

Covering my scrapbook where I stick bits and pieces that I tear out of magazines, from this......

To this .....

Amazing the transformation a bit of wrapping paper and stickers can do!

Making some new key fobs, I won't show you the old grubby ones!! Just believe me when I say they weren't nice!

Admiring the lovely blocks that I have been receiving this weekend as part of my quilting Bee Bee Europa 2012/13. Aren't they gorgeous!!

Amazed by the generosity of quilters! These extra goodies came from Cille! This is why I love the world of quilting!

Catching up on some reading .....

This is a wonderful new magazine!! I somehow completely missed issue 1? I must say it is one of the best quilting magazines I have read in a while. I think it's because it's familiar, lots of the blogs I read on a daily basis are mentioned and the projects are modern and easy to follow.
So what have you been up to today?

Remember to stop by tomorrow for ~

Happy mail!!

So today this little magazine arrived in the post ~

Nothing strange there as I get their newsletter emails and so on, until what do I see??!!
Look there in the middle of the page......it's my sewing box!!

It was at that point I had to control my excitement.
I had entered it into a competition, didn't win, but was chosen as one of the runner ups and received 6 lovely tins of spray paint (that I really want to get outside and use when its stops raining here in the UK!!)
I still can't believe it, my work in a magazine!
And if you've never used spray paint I highly recommend it!!
See what a difference it can make ~

Hexies

Spent this afternoon cutting out lots of hexies - which was rather relaxing.
15 large hexies in the grey cotton, 15 small hexies in the purple print and 15 small hexies in fusible wadding!

Now don't ask me why because I don't know!!
Literally I have no idea. You may think this strange but it's for a mystery project that my local quilting group are doing. This week I will be finding out the next stage and hopefully some idea of what these little lovelies may turn into?!

Stage 1 ~ I ironed the purple fabric onto the fusible wadding. First time using fusible wadding and this stuff is genius!

Stage 2 ~ made a sandwich by ironing the purple print to the wrong side of the grey cotton (although there is no real wrong side here!?)

So now have 15 little fabric sandwiches waiting for their next move!!

Fun starts May 21st!

If you don't already know the biannual Sew, Mama, Sew giveaway day is fast approaching!!!
May 21st to be exact.
I'm going to be taking part and just starting to think about what the giveaway parcel will contain.
Go check out more details over at Sew, Mama, Sew and don't forget to check back here May 21st!!

Pages

Not sure if you've noticed but just under my blog header photo you will see the introduction of some new pages.
I had designed some of these a while ago but had them hidden, partly because I didn't have enough time to get them sorted as I wanted and also not sure if they would be of any interest! However over the last few weeks (with my more frequent posting - not sure how long that will last!?) I have been receiving more emails about some of my quilting bees and questions as to how to get involved in them, where I have purchased my fabric from and so on. So hopefully over the next few weeks these pages will be developed!
Here is where you can play along!
Do you have a weekly link along on your blog that you want to advertise here?
Are you new to blogging (or maybe I've not come across your blog yet - although I have a rather long {lovely places to visit} list that keeps me entertained for hours!) and would like your blog or a particular post to be featured!?
If so get in touch! Yep there's even a contact page up there!!

Happy reading!

A few weeks ago I had a wonderful email from The Sewing Directory to tell me I was one of the winners of a book giveaway by Search Press!! I was sooooo excited!!
Even more so when the actual book arrived.
The book is "Flower Power Patchwork" by Anne-Pia Godske Rasmussen, I believe a Danish author.
Now I love my stash of sewing and quilting books and although I tend to get lots of ideas, inspiration and tutorials from the Internet I don't know about you but I still love a good book!

Firstly the photography in the book is gorgeous which makes for some wonderful projects. (Unfortunately my photography on a dull, rainy day is not so good so I do apologise!!) There is a wonderfully illustrated section at the beginning all about equipment, materials and techniques to support the projects which there are over 20 to choose from including pincushions, bucket bags, a table runner and pencil cases. The other area that stood out in this book is the wonderful fabrics that have been used in all the projects.

 I already have a list of the projects I want to have a go at - I just need to figure out which one to do first!!

(I have no affiliation to either company and the review of the book is my own personal opinion, I just love a good book and wanted to share!!)

*Tuesday Tip* - Have fun with your photos!

Photos - they can mean so much and capture some fantastic memories and I love taking them.
I'm no professional and use a bog standard point and shoot digital camera. I dream of owning a fancy SLR!!
So if you're the same as me I have hundreds of photos saved on my computer, what good are they on there!! So slowly I'm organising and printing them out.
One thing I love about photos is how easy it is to have fun with them and make them look much better than they originally did!!
By no means am I some kind of tech wizz, I use a simple piece of software that came with my computer to make the photos look better and add text etc but recently you may have noticed a change to some of my blog photos!?

I discovered this amazing site through Karen at Sew Many Ways:

It's a simple on line photo editing site by two former Picnik engineers that has some fantastic features and new ones that have just been added. I have no association with them but do go check it out it is easy to use, free with no registration and so much fun!!

I love this photo I took whilst on holiday in Toronto:

But how much more exciting  - Wow see what you can do, great for holiday journals to make things a bit different!!

Then you can go wild and have a bit of fun!! Hours of fun!!

Bee Europa Time!!

Tomorrow is the 1st of May! Can you believe it? Where is the year going!
Tomorrow also kicks off the new year Bee Europa 2012/13 Quilting Bee and May is my month so I'm up first! Not panicking much!
I've decided to ask my fellow Bees to make a Rocky Road to Kansas block. I fell in love with this block when I made it for the 4x5 Modern Quilt Bee, using the fab tutorial at Fresh Lemon Quilts and was very sad to give these blocks away. As soon as I had laid them all out I knew that I wanted to make a quilt with this block design so I can't wait to see what all my Bee's come up with! (as soon as I get the parcels out!)

Sorry this is not the best photo it must have been dull and rainy - seen a lot of that weather lately!
The best thing about this photo is the cute photo corners - pop back tomorrow to find out more about them!

Yay for the sewing machine!

I love my sewing machine and love it even more when my ideas come to life!!
The latest project is my iPad case version 2 (see here for version 1) and it is exactly what I wanted. I didn't have enough fabric left over from my first try so I raided my fabric stash and luckily had bits and pieces that went together well.

I tweaked the first design a bit. I put the zip pocket on the front rather than the back so that I could fully quilt the back making it a little more cushy and soft! The pocket is great for keeping little accessories.

I also added some little fabric tabs (not sure what the real name for these things are!?) to each end of the zip to make it look more finished.

Inside the zipped pocket I also quilted a full piece of lining for even more protection!!

This time around I sewed the fastener into the main flap so its all hidden away neat and tidy.

For the lining I went with a lovely soft flannel cotton and yes it fits snug as a bug with the smart cover on!!!

Now onto my next project!!

Round 2

Thanks for all the lovely comments and emails about the iPad case!
I to was amazed by my own inspiration to use a sweater as the lining (I love it when you have a light bulb moment!) although it was that idea that resulted in the case being a tiny bit too small!!
So round 2 and version 2 is complete, in use and I am loving it!!
Here are a few pics of WIP on the machine quilted sections, there are 2 quilted sections this time to give a little more protection.
I'm getting better at free motion quilting and "stippling" although find myself needing to relax when doing this on my machine as I suddenly realise I look hilarious as I gravitate towards the machine and my shoulders are up by ears!! Concentration or what!! Any tips on how to relax when free motion quilting?

Did you guess right?

Well done to Jeanette, Beth and Sukie who all guessed it was some kind of bag or holder and even got the iPad right as well!

Most of my free time has been taken up with my new toy! I have never owned an i phone so this was a new venture into apple products and I'm hooked!
I went with the pink apple smart cover but still wanted something to keep it a bit safer. Having looked around the stores and seeing a sea of black generic cases out came the sewing machine.
I used this tutorial as a starting point and away I went.
I purchased the lovely fabric and matching webbing from here and adore this fabric so think I will need to spend a few more pennies to get a bit more for my fabric stash!

Here are the photos of the finished case - love how it turned out, however somewhere along the line (I think when I adding the lining) I seem to have lost a small amount of space so the iPad only fits in without the smart cover!! So although I love this case I really don't want to have to take the cover off each time so guess what I'm doing this afternoon - got it ..... yep version 2!!

A zipper section at the back for all the extras

There is the culprit! I wanted a nice thick lining in addition to the quilted front so I recycled a old jumper but I think it was a little too thick!

WIP Wednesday

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced today!

Here is a sneak peek of a nearly completed WIP on my sewing desk at the moment. Very excited with how this is coming along and can't wait to share the finished project! Can you guess what it is!?

Quilt blocks looking lovely!

So yesterday after showing the quilt blocks that I made for the 4x5 Modern Quilt Bee, that are now winging their way to 5 lovely ladies in the USA my received blocks were just looking at me through the little plastic bag where I keep them safe so I thought I would get all the blocks out and see how the future quilt is progressing.
Here they are looking pretty in their Ziploc keeper!

All laid out - Isn't it looking lovely!!

I love that this Bee uses the makers fabric rather than sending fabric away and getting a block back. This means that there are lots of lovely fabrics that I could just not source in the UK! I was a bit nervous committing myself to just 3 colours and a background colour but I am very pleased with my choice.
I've signed up for the next quarter as well so plenty more blocks to be added!!

Weekend sewing

Had a lovely weekend with a bit of sewing and catching up on a few quilt bees.
The 4x5 Modern Quilt Bee is so much fun to take part in and hopefully these blocks will arrive at my fellow bees soon! I went with a HST triangle design and this layout was not my original plan but when I started laying out the triangles I preferred this design to my original! Hopefully my bees in Hive #9 will also like them!

For more close up images see over at Flickr!

I spy with my little eye .....

.... my first quilt top!!

Well a work in progress. Completed my first ever quilt top in a day (woohoo!!) using a bento box block pattern, a jelly roll and white contrasting fabric.
I just need to figure out what to do with the border, put the quilt sandwich together and then quilt it! Easy isn't it?

Pink Castle fabrics contest!

Linking up today to a fun little competition over at "I'm a ginger monkey".
Hosted by Brenda at Pink Castle fabrics and following the trend of her blogger bundles is to design your own!
So If I were chief bundle maker what would I choose?

Fabrics are:
Top row - 1001 Peeps Illusion, Moda Mono Pez in Gray, Hello Pilgrim Pearl bracelet
Second - Echo spring buds gray, Fly a kite ice cream teal, Solid nugray
Third - Alexander Henry in the kitchen heath,  Half moon modern chevron steel, Bonnie and Camille dot aqua
Last row - Calico cactus new day, Hope Valley thistle leaf fiesta, Metro living circles pewter


Loving all these colours and designs - so hoping they are liked by others as well!

Mod Mosaic

Just a quick drop by to show off one of the blocks that I recently completed for my Bee Europa quilting Bee.
This was a lovely block to make and my first using just solids.

It amazes me how many fantastic and easy to follow tutorials are out there that makes learning quilting so much fun. I used the Mod Mosaic Quilt blocks tutorial by the amazing Elizabeth Hartman of Oh, Fransson!

Revealed

So here is the after of my transformation (sorry later than planned - Snow got in the way, very exciting over here in the UK!)

First I applied a layer of primer. I've used a few cheaper shop brand spray paints but now always use my favourite from Rust-Oleum. Reasonably priced and a great range of colours.
A tip for any newbies to spray painting when I first started to use spray paint (rather than a paint brush) I used to think that having to spray a layer of primer and wait for this to dry before applying the actual paint was an unnecessary stage, but think again, applying a layer of primer gives a much better finish.
So after the primer I then applied 2 layers of white gloss. I then found this cute "Create" sign from Hobby craft for 99p and gave this a coat of Berry Pink gloss.

 

 

 Out came my glue gun and hey presto a cute and functional place to hang some of my projects!

Transformation

So this no longer looks like this:

(Although the Teddy bears are cute they are just not to my decorating taste!)
More tomorrow - a hint ..... spray paint was the culprit!