Busy day!

Today I drove my quilts to Harrogate to be hung in the show.  If you are heading there, there are two for you to keep an eye out for, Chocolat and Filmstrip. 

On the way, the Teenage Diva and I stopped at York for a little retail therapy, (and a break from the driving).  And on the way back we stopped in to finally meet up with QuiltSue from Quilt Times.   As she had won the Festival Giveaway, I personally delivered my festival goodies ...

 and a little extra in the form of a Mug Rug.  I pieced this little quilt this morning before we left. 

Yep!  It was that quick!

Thanks Sue, for the coasters, they are great!  And it really was wonderful to finally meet up with you  :) 

Late again!

It seems I forgot to show the final finished Pinwheels quilt from the Old Red Barn Quilt Along. 

Oh, how I love this quilt  :)

And the green spotty binding!

And I finally got all the binding stitched down and the label sewn on to the blue and yellow quilt for a dear friend who is leaving to go live in French France! 

Now what better than 'French Blue' for a title!

All wrapped ready to deliver in the morning :)

And I've been playing with my new found confidence with free motion quilting after my workshop with Phillipa Naylor.

First the wobbly feather ...

Then a load of fillers ...

And finally a Photo Album cover for the same friend .

I am so thrilled at how well this turned out! 

Happy Quilting!

Festival Giveaway!

OK a week ago I promised you a giveaway for Festival of quilts if you could tell me which of my quilts were at the Festival and where you could find them. 

I have to say this had you mostly guessing.  I went for the full four days not only to get some workshops in but to give my friend Martha from Machine Quilter, yes the same Martha of the New English Quilter fame, a hand on her stand. 

I'm sure I've mentioned from time to time I have a New English Quilter frame.  Martha had done a post of where she would be and the stand number, that would have been a clue if you had not found me at the show or couldn't make it.  Stand D52.

Not only was the blue and yellow quilt I frantically tacked the binding down on the day before, especially as this was filled with blue fabrics that were very much like the blue and white china Martha is so fond of. 

Also just at the bottom you can see the convergence quilt I recently completed. 

And the Filmstrip quilt. 

No one was exactly right, but Sue of Quilt Times was the closest!   Congratulations Sue, can you please e-mail me your address, it got lost in the laptop crash! 

This is my booty from the show, and among all these goodies are some I will be sending to you :) 

I'd like to thank Martha for letting me help on her stand, Emily for her patience, Brenda for being such a darling and so giving, and Emma for being such a diamond, and I still can't believe we have so much in common! 

Emma, Trudi, Brenda, Emily and Martha.

In the background is Brenda's quilt that was the catalyst for her buying a frame.  She is amazing! It's official!

This quilt is quilted by Brenda on her frame, stunning!  Talk about raising the bar! 

Thank you all, I had such a great time, if a little exhausting  :)

Go Giveaway!

No not here, but over at Freckled Whimsy! 

Oh, I so drooled and slobbered all over these at the Festival, I would so love to win one.  If you fancy winning one then head over and visit KarrieLyne and follow the instructions to see if you could win one too!

Festival Fever 2

There was sew much to see at Festival of Quilts, my supposed wifi wouldn't work which made posting pics quite difficult.  I'm sorry I couldn't keep you informed.  And I was pretty exhausted at the end of each day too!

I must share with you the winner of the Minitures Quilts, not only that, but this little 8" quilt also won Best in Show!

Mission Impossible 2

by

Kumiko Frydl, of Texas, USA

Yes, that really is a mariners compass with 128 points!  Yes, I did say 128 points!

It's quite difficult to see, but the background had the most tiniest stippling I have ever seen!

This truly deserved both awards.

2nd Prize in the Miniatures category went to ...

And here's to you Mrs Sanderson

by

Dorian Walton of Stevenage.

I'm a sucker for traditional quilts and this was a truly remarkable Sanderson Star. 

This was one of my most favourite in the show, strange considering I'm very much a traditionalist!

Monstruck by Jean Cheszeck was part of the Rust Tex exhibition. 

I don;t know if it's the peaceful colours and composition of the overall quilt or the quilting that created such texture, but this definitely spoke to me!

Well that's it for now, I'm off to check back on my e-mails to see if any of you got the questions right that I asked you at the beginning of Festival.  :)

Happy Quilting

Snippets from FoQs

It's been a full and busy day, starting off with a workshop with Philippa Naylor on machine quilting.  Oh boy what an opportunity!  Loved every minute of it, and the lasting memory will be the immortal words of Queen  "Don't stop me now, I'm having such a good time, I'm having a ball!"

This is her award winning quilt from last year!  Stunning, and what a joy to be up close and personal with it and the lovely lady herself!

Just a little idea of her talents

I really hate having my pic taken, but we had such a great morning  :)

I looked at the quilts from the Contemporary Group of the Quilters Guild, and I was thrilled to see this beauty in all its glory.  By me dear friend Sweetiepie!

And other good news...

3rd place for Luke Daymond in the Children's themed competition!  Well done Luke (age 12) who pieced, and machine quilted this amazing quilt all on his own, from inception to completion!  He's attending the Gala Dinner tonight to collect his prize!

Well, that's it, it's way past my bed time and I'm heading out there again tomorrow for more punishment! 

I promise to have more quilt pictures too!

Happy quilting!

Festival Fever!

I made it down to Birmingham this afternoon, with no major hic-ups, apart from a monsoon style down pour!

So are you ready?  Do you have a list?  Have you got loads of workshops and lectures booked?  Made arrangements to meet all your friends? 

That's a resounding YES!  And I am thrilled to be spending all four days at the Festival of Quilts!  Yep, that's right, all four days  (can you see the big grin?) 

So to celebrate I have a little challenge for you all.  If you are a regular reader of my blog, you shouldn't actually need to be at the Festival to participate. 

Do you fancy a Give Away?  Silly question right?  OK,  I'll move on quickly .....

I  promise to purchase something really nice, no not nice, GREAT as a GIVEAWAY PRIZE, if you can tell me which of my quilts you have seen, and where?  Easy right?  ....

You have until 5 pm British Summer Time to let me know either here or by e-mail and I'll pick a winner on Monday and let you know. 

Watch out for Festival posts, I've got my camera, and I promise not to spoil the surprise for any one coming later in the week by showing the winners until Sunday! Good luck! 

Happy Quilting!

Christmas quilt along - Sunday morning progress report

I'm an adventurous kind of gal, I know, I always raise the bar to a high level of what I hope to achieve.  I never remember that it always takes longer than I think!  You'd think I'd have learnt by now!  But hey, that part of the challenge ... right?  :)

So when I went to bed last night this is as far as I had got ...

I'm halfway through piecing the blocks into strips.  I s'pose it didn't help I stopped to find that Jelly Roll!  And it wasn't where I thought it was.  The cutting was the easy part, 15 minutes at most!  Though I still have some fabric squares to cut, but again that's a 10 minute job.  I will continue to sew these up today as well as my leaders and enders.  I'd like to get both done, but hey, my partner may have other ideas! And I do have some catching up to do on my C&G work!  Oops!

The quilting went well...

That's the bottom border on the back rail!  I spent over 4 hours quilting this one yesterday, and have a couple of hours at most left to do on it.  It's an all over pattern, but not the large meandering you can see.

not a brilliant pic, I know, but at least you have an idea why it's taken a while to quilt!

So, I didn't quite get all of it done, but I'm pleased with the results.  And with the goings on in the street there was a slight diversion that held me back for a while.  It's not every day you see two policeman sat on top of a big white van talking to a bungalow! 

On that note, time for me to go for a walk, get some chores done, and take control of the day!

Happy quilting!

Christmas Quil Along - Early Evening update

pNow I'm not one to just sew all those blocks together with loads of stopping and starting, personally I love a good leaders and enders project to have on the go at the same time.  I guess it's the thought of getting two quilts for the price of one, so to speak. 

So with that in mind, an after thought I might add, take one great Jelly Roll - Avery from Moda, and an equally fabulous book, and wait to see what I can do with this little lot.  He he!

It's now going surprisingly quick! I'm about half way through piecing the blocks into strips.  And, I can safely say I'm well passed the halfway mark on the quilting front.  In fact, I was when I went back in to it after lunch.  How do I know?  Ah, well that will be the tell tail signs of the fold in the wadding!  It's history, I think I'm 3/4 of the way through the quilt, so there's a good chance it WILL be off the frame tonight!

Have you been over to look at how everyone else is doing?  And have you sent Sue the quiz answers?  I'm still working on that one! 

Oh and before I forget, go say hello to Ali, she's not feeling so hot, she could do with a little cheer!

Happy Quilting ..... til later!

And the sun is shining! 

Christmas Quilt -a-long - Post lunch update!

The quilting is going well, I can report I'm making good progress on it.  I am hoping to have it done by today, a little adventurous maybe, but a girls gotta dream .... right?

So that lovely pile of Spool blocks have been laid out, and then laid out again, jiggled about and then moved some more!  You know how it is  :) 

So this is the layout I've decided on....

I did have red setting triangles, but they just didn't have the effect I was looking for.  Yes, very Christmassy, but all much of a muchness.  Hmmm, I think this charcoal is much better, and will a bit of imagination it will have red in the borders - I think!

So, there you go, I've made some progress, so now it's time to get back at it and charge on a little.

Have you been over to Quilt Times to check out what everyone else who is taking part?  Go, go on, it'll be fun!

There's a button on the sidebar to make it really easy for you....  see you later :)

Happy Quilting!

Christmas already!

Sue, over at Quilt Times is hosting a Christmas Sew Along today.  And of course you know I can't resist a good sew along! So my plan for today includes piecing these Block Lotto blocks - Christmas of course!

However, that is going to have to be in between finishing the quilting of this little baby!

I'm on a deadline for this one, and I NEED it done today, bound tomorrow and ready to take with me to Festival of Quilts so I can sew the binding down in the evenings.  (yeah I know, wishful thinking but I NEED this completed NOW!)

So go head over to Quilt Times and join in the fun.  There is a Mr Linky so you will be able to see who else is playing and how they are getting on.  We have all pledged to keep you posted on progress throughout the day, so stop back later and see what progress I've made.

Happy Quilting!

Weekend Round Up

It's been a funny weekend, home alone, busy but not quite achieving all I had hope.  Oh well, achievements all the same :)


 Played catch up on the Moose on the Porch Jelly Roll Quilt Along.

Block 4

Block 5

Block 6

Block 7

OK, so I have a few more to go, but I'm hoping to get them done before I go back to work on Wednesday  :) 

I did manage to get this quilt loaded up onto the frame and have starting quilting it too. 

And I've got a box of things to send to V over at Bumble Beans for her Basics quilts too!

Bindings all ready to go!

Last weekend we visited an open garden a little north of here.  A beautiful walled Victorian garden, which was full of inspiration for my C&G. 

I thought I'd leave you with one in particular  :)

Happy Quilting!