Frame purse love!

A while ago I took part in "In the frame purse swap" over on Flickr and was lucky enough to receive this gorgeous purse from ValMiller and a lovely assortment of goodies. I am always amazed and overwhelmed by the loveliness and generosity of the on line quilting and blogging world!!
Just look at this awesomeness!!!

Quilts, quilts and even mini quilts!

A little over a month ago (yep, that's how far behind I am with my blog updates!!) I managed to take a last minute visit to the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham.
I managed to spend a few pennies and see lots of amazing quilts and quilting.
Here's a little recap!
Amazing whole cloth quilting ~

 Gorgeous quilt designs ~

Hexies ~

 Stunning quilts ~

 Gorgeous use of modern fabrics ~

 A quick glimpse of Tula Pink!!

 I spy a stunning Lu Summers quilt!

 Wonderful quilting ~

 And just look at this mini quilt!! Yes this was mini!!

Look backing at some of the photos just reminds me that I've really missed using the sewing machine and I must get on and make my first quilt. Can someone please point me in the direction of where I can buy extra time!!

Lovely mail day!!

It is so nice to come home from work to lovely little parcels like this waiting for me ~

Although {Pink Stitches} has been a little abandoned lately one way that I've been keeping in the loop is on Instagram and Twitter, and it was on Twitter that I heard about the free FQ offer from Spoonflower. I love browsing on Spoonflower but had never purchased anything before so I thought what have I got to lose from ordering a free FQ!!

I love what arrived today - the fabric is gorgeous! It is a linen cotton canvas fat quarter, great colour, pattern and feel to it. The packaging is so cute! Will definitely be ordering some more goodies from Spoonflower in the future!!

Sorry for the delay ... normal service will resume shortly!

Poor little blog - left all alone but not forgotten!
Lots to catch up on and lots of WIP's!

Finally I can announce the winner of the giveaway!! Yay and about time too I hear you say!

The winner is *memmens*

Drop me an email with your details and I'll get the goodies out in the post.

Back soon!

Just popping in quickly to let you all know that I haven't forgotten the giveaway and done a runner!!
One minute it was August, now it's September and I have been manic busy but I will be back in a few days to announce the winner!

Giveaway!!

I missed it when it happened but a couple of weeks ago I reached 100 followers!! Yay!
Having lovely followers and people leaving comments makes me smile, as it means this little blog is a part of a community. It amazes me how a comment can lead to a new blog find, a swap, a new idea, a new friend!!
I really appreciate each and every comment and always try to respond to them, unless you're a no reply blogger then check here for that!!
So in appreciation of all this I am having a little giveaway ~

Everyone can enter - willing to post internationally!
Leave me a comment for one entry, become a follower and let me know for another entry, tweet or blog about it for another entry (let me know as well so I count all your entries!!)
I'll then use the random number thingy to choose a winner.
Giveaway entries will close on Monday 20th August. Have fun!!
*Giveaway now closed ~ winner announced soon!*

Yummy new fabrics!

Here are all the lovely fabrics from the Intrepid Thread unwrapped and ready to drool over!!! Unfortunately my photos don't really do them justice as they are so lovely!!

The Birds & the Bees in Mist fat quarter bundle by Tula Pink and a fat quarter bundle of Solids and circles ~

La Dee Da by Erin McMorris in Aqua ~

Vintage Modern Hopscotch, Quilt Blocks Ringlets in Shade and Pezzy Print in Aqua ~

Too much yumminess!!

Fabric organisation

So I've been busy organising my small, but ever growing fabric stash, as it was not looking too good and I'd forgotten (well actually couldn't see!!) some of the lovely fabrics that I had hidden away in my little unit! What you can't see is the lovely collection of fugly fabric hidden in the bottom draw at the back - they are beauties!!

I also needed a bit of a tidy up as I knew that I had a lovely new stash of fabric winging its way from the US due to this post!
Here is the lovely new stash of fabric just waiting to be unwrapped having just arrived from the Intrepid Thread thanks to my little old bag being the wild card winner of the Summer Sewing Contest at Ellison Lane Quilts!! Thank you to Jennifer at Ellison Lane Quilts for organising such wonderful and exciting contests and Julie at the Intrepid Thread for the wonderful prize!!

You'll have to wait until tomorrow to see the wonderful new fabrics!!

In the Frame Purse Swap

I've been lucky recently to be taking part in "In the Frame Purse Swap" organised by the wonderful Helen and Nicky which has been so much fun!!
It was a secret swap which made it even more exciting! So after a few weeks of stalking my partner on Flickr and hopefully getting a good idea of what kind of purse to make I finally put together this little package.

Luckily my partner has received the parcel and yay it looks like I got it right!!
The finished frame purse ~

 The front ~

The back ~

Side view ~

The lining ~

And open wide!!

Sewing spools

This morning I had a plan, I was on a mission, I wanted to QAYG!
What is QAYG I hear you ask?! 
Quilt As You Go ~ I'm a complete newbie to this method but have been wanting to give this ago for ages.
I knew exactly what I wanted to sew, had a pattern to use and I am loving the end result!

The pattern is "spools" from Thimble Blossoms by Camille Roskelley. It is an absolutely adorable pattern (I used the pdf version) and is very easy to follow. I was planning on only producing one spool block and made a few changes to frame the spool. So here is the end result ~

I love it! But now what to do with it? Making the full quilt is definitely on my to do list but for now I just want to use the one block. I think it would make a wonderful sewing machine cover if I didn't already have a gorgeous one received from the Urban Home Goods - a modern swap!

So I need to get my thinking cap on! A bag, mini quilt ... all ideas welcome and appreciated!
Linking up here today!

Bee Europa July

Managed to get my Bee Europa July blocks in the post just before the end of the month. Not quite sure where July has gone!!
Amy asked for a Wonky Log Cabin block which was great as we had both taken part in the Wonky Log cabin class at the Fat Quarterly retreat!
These are so much fun to do the struggle is trying to get them to be wonky! Here is my block and a half that I made ~

It's never too late....

to be producing a 2012 calendar half way through the year is it??
I picked up this Ikea frame from a charity shop yesterday and had a plan in mind.

It is a great little frame - one because of the lovely gloss white finish and two because it is double sided.
Numerous times I am sat in my little work area when I need to find a date at a glance. I don't have space for a large calendar and don't need space to write anything I just need the days and dates.
So with a bit of searching I found a wonderful desk top calendar that was printable and free!! Find it here.
I also had saved on my computer another little printable that will hopefully get me in the sewing mood.
So with a bit of printing, cutting and arranging here is the end result that now sits neatly on my desk! Not bad for 99p!

For when I need a date ~

 For sewing inspiration ~

Also hello to my new followers! Somehow I totally missed that I reached over 100 followers! Woohoo - I feel totally chuffed that there are 108 wonderful people out who spend the time to read my rambling thoughts! So to celebrate watch out for a giveaway next week!

Sunshine and a bit of sewing

Sewing (and blogging) has been a bit quiet of late as I have been enjoying the sunshine that has finally arrived in the UK!
I have however behind the scenes been finishing off the frame purse for my secret swap partner which is now somewhere in transit on the way to my partner and fingers crossed that they like it?! I'll post photos of the whole package when my partner receives it - don't want to spoil too much of the surprise!
I picked up a few things to get me in the mood for sewing for a total of £2 at the charity shop. I just love it when I find lovely treasures like these!

Mollie Makes

When I heard that Tacha had a write up about the Fat Quarterly Retreat in the current issue of Mollie Makes (issue 16) I quickly planned my visit to WHSmiths to get my hands on a copy. I was not disappointed!
Little to my surprise whilst having a quick read in the store I had to study the page really carefully!

This is what was going through my mind....
Hold on....
Ummm....
Yep I'm sure....
No it's never....
OMG that's me!!! (Damn my hair looks a mess!)
To my surprise there is a little photo of me looking far too serious whilst using a rotary cutter!! How scary is that!

It is a great write up and really sums up the wonderful weekend and Tacha also has a lovely project in the issue from her new book!

APQ radio

I first heard about American Patchwork and Quilting Internet radio over on Twitter a few weeks ago and was curious. Curious because I'm slowly getting into all this techie stuff and curious to see what it was all about!
So today, well actually right now whilst writing this post, I am for the first time listening live to the show with the host Pat Sloan and loving it! Just listened to Tula Pink and loved what she had to say about no fear quilting, and that quilting should be fun! Totally agree! Now listening to Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins of Piece O’ Cake Designs about their work, books and videos. Totally off to check them out and download lots more APQ broadcasts!
I'd totally recommend tuning in! More details of how you can listen here!
If like me you're in the UK tune in Mondays at 9pm.

Blimey - another finished project!

Yay! I finally managed to finish another project from the FQly Retreat.
This time it's a machine sewn placemat designed by Brioni Greenberg who also took the class!

The class was so much fun and where I discovered my new found love for spray starch - it's amazing what a little starch can do!
I actually managed to sew the top together at the class but then unpicked it as I had sewn the sections together in my own little way! I should have sewn it into two groups of 6 which gave me 2 half sections that could then be sewn together easily, as first time around my placemat had what looked like a little volcanic eruption in the middle where all the seams met! Not a good look!

For the layering, quilting and binding I simply followed the instructions (learnt from my first mistake!) and I love the finished placemat!

Now in case your wondering my dining room is not pink! So at the moment I have it hung in my little craft room as a mini quilt, thinking this would be a great pattern for a Christmas themed placemat!!

It's not too early to be thinking of Christmas is it!?
Linking up to Lily's Quilts: Fresh Sewing Day July