Mouthy Stitches 2 - Totes and hopes

So yesterday I was beavering away in the studio, and I hear this noise ...

did someone just whistle ?

I turn around and there at the garden gate is the post man!  

Now, I've been expecting a couple of things and the size of the package he had in his hand looked to be just the right size for a couple of new low voltage bulb that are for the studio ...

oh goodie, I get some more light, just when I need it now the clocks have gone back!

only when I got up close and signed for my package, all those stamps, 

and the big give away return address of Germany ...

this particular postman always comes to the gate, he wants rid of his packages, and figures, quite correctly, that the car is in the drive, therefore I am home!

He's normally not wrong!

I was straight indoors and ripped that package right open ...

then I remembered my camera!

oh Wow!  Really, this one is all mine!

oh my, Aylin, wow you have spoiled me silly!

can you see that green quilting?  

and look at this beautiful lining and a zippered pocket too!

look at the tiny piecing ...

Now, when I saw this in the making on the flickr group, I loved it, but oh, I really didn't want to get my hopes up that it would be coming to me!

But it did! 

Thank you so much Aylin, you stalked me well, oooooh you did good!

Happy mail indeed!

(I'm still anxiously waiting for the tote I made to arrive at its new home, soon, very soon I hope)

Monday Makes

I finished the quilting on Jeans quilt, in the nick of time ...

as she exchanged contracts on Friday and completes in the morning!

the removals are booked for 9.30 am

its been delivered and I am sure is packed away ready for its journey to South Wales in the morning!

Oh .... and she loves the quilting and the Superior Rainbows All Spice thread used!

Happiness all round!

So the plan ... One down

Submission is close to being ready to send, 

Scraps sorted and some already sent - partially complete me thinks 

Susan's blocks - one down, one to go

Swoon - still waiting

Mod Pop cutting - in progress, I have cut some fabric! 

so next on the list ?  

an appointment with these, but I won't be able to show you any more than this for now ...

sorry! 

and ...

turn these lovelies into a top, and get it loaded tut sweet onto the frame 

and... 

start something new of course!  

that should keep me out of trouble for a couple of days!

Tomorrow I'll tell you all about my visit from the postman!

To everyone on the East Coast of America, stay safe!

Sunday Sitrep

We have progress ... 

whilst I haven't quite finished the quilting on Jeans quilt, there is only a couple of hours left so I feel sure that I will get it finished tonight ...

and we have scraps!  

whilst I took a break from the quilting, I sorted the scraps, 

and this is what my studio looked like mid sort ...

and now they are tamed into these!

and the bin looks like this again!  

and the studio looks a little better too!

so, for those of you that asked, I have scraps, and I was really shocked at just how many little tiny bits I have kept - why?  I have no idea

I'll be contacting you soon if I don't have your address  :)

And ...

I managed to piece one of Susan's blocks , one down, one to go!

so far,  I'm doing pretty good

rest?  oh yeah, I had a great lay in this morning, and then a slow start with Pancakes, bacon and maple syrup .... mmm delicious!  The Diva enjoyed it too!  

and whilst I was sorting and stitching this afternoon, a lovely thick traditional stew bubbled away in the oven, just what we need on a cold dank blustery autumn day...

hope you are all staying warm, and for those on the east coast of USA, stay safe!

And Exhale .....

I'm fighting off a cold, have been for a week or so, but a few lay ins now its half term will either kill me or cure me!

this morning, I was feeling much better, apart from waking up to snow!  

so there is home made soup on the go, and I have written my half term to do list ....

first up I have to finish quilting this one for my friend Jean who is moving to South Wales on Tuesday!  

and that laundry bin and the bag next to it are full of scraps, which need to be sorted, bagged up and taken with the quilt for her daughter to use at school ...

I know, there are better uses for lovely scraps, but I just need them gone for now,  if you are desperate for a bag of scraps, let me know quick

and then there is Swoon,  I somehow managed to buddy up with Lauli pops and set us a challenge to have our tops done by the time the Brit Bee and friends meet up in late November ....

so this is the state of my swoon so far, and I am pleased to see I have 4 blocks done so its not as bad a situation as I thought. ...  

I'll keep you posted on progress over the next few weeks ...

I must get Susan's Brit Bee blocks done, and this is how one of them stands right now ...

hmm, I want to get these in the post on Monday ...

and sometime over the week,  did I tell you I am not back at work until Thursday 8 November?   well, sometime over the next week or so, I want to get all the cutting for my Mod Pop done, so I can sew a little as and when I get the urge ....

there is also the small matter of a class submission or two to finish writing and a few samples sewn by the end of this weekend ...

and now I think I'll stop ,  my to do list is so much longer but I do want to be able to get those lay ins, run around with the Diva ...

and Exhale!  

Best of British - Bloggers Quilt Festival

It's that time of year again, already, when Amy Ellis of Amys Creative Side organises the Blogger's Quilt Festival to celebrate with all those not going to 'market' ...

and i do try to enter if i can find the time to write the post, so this autumn is no different ... and as it has been such a global year for Britain, what better than my 

Best of British Quilt 

It all started off with a post on this ladies blog  ...

that resulted in these ... 

... arriving at my house!  (I love it when that happens!)

As well as having the most amazing wrapping i had ever seen, inside was just a little bit of Summersville by Lucie Summers for Moda 

ok, maybe a small mountain of fabrics!

and it sat, and I starred at it, and I may just have given it a stroke every now and then ....

until one day, (whilst the Olympics closing ceremony was on the tell) just before Festival of quilts I took rotary cutter in hand and cut!

and cut, and cut some more! 

thanks to this lovely lady

and her amazing Double Fat Jack tutorial

and I sewed and sewed, and just before dusk, I had a quilt top ....

I love how these fabrics just play so nicely together 

no matter what the colour combination 

but once I got this far I really didn't want to just rush it through and half heartedly quilt it,

just to get it to Festival of Quilts 

when I got it on the frame it just spoke, and said it needed something special on those outside borders ....

so when I got home from Festival of Quilts

I  quilted that very special baby up!

and in my eagerness, i photographed it at night 

and in the dusk too!

this was the first time I'd quilted out this design and I'm thrilled with how it worked on my set up ....

and now, it adorns my bed 

and every time I walk in the room, or catch a glimpse of it from the landing, it makes me smile, I love this quilt, it reminds me of what great designers we have in this country, what a great show we put on for the Olympics and Para Olympics this year,

it lifts my spirits

and reminds me just how Great Britain is!

Best of British

72" x 84"

Fabrics:  Summersville designed by Lucie Summers of Suffolk England for Moda

Block Pattern: Double Fat Jack designed by Lynne Goldsworthy of Derbyshire, England

Quilted my me, Lincolnshire, England

(Best: bed quilt ?)

i'm linking this to Amy's Blogger's Quilt Festival Linky party, of which there were more than 200 quilts before I started writing this 

why not head over and look at all the wonderful quilts on show, its a great way to discover new to you blogs and see some serious eye candy!

Thanks for stopping by  :)  

Trudi x

Mouthy Stitches

It's done!

and a key fob too!  

now lets just get one thing straight here, I don't DO bags!  

and this was,well lets just say, I had an issue or two, so sorry partner, it may not be quite to your exacting standards, for which I am sorry ...

but I hope you like it?  

A nice big pocket on the outside, quite handy in my experience of the last bag I made!  and I couldn't resist just a little feather or two,  well, it wouldn't have been from me otherwise, would it?

and I even managed to get it to post office a whole 2 hours 10 minutes before they closed!

Sunday Sitrep

So it's Sunday already, and I spent a delightful day yesterday with Philipa Naylor, drying a workshop honing my free motion quilting skills. I feel all fired up and ready to tackle some class samples ... But that will be for another day....

In the mean time I have made a start, as always a last minute start, on my Mouthy stitches 2 tote bag ...




So I'm thinking of that beautiful Irish linen (thank you Judith!) as the basis of the body, the blue/green Kaffe floral and the text fabric for a few bits of piecing to be inset in the linen, and then the greens, either as the lining ....

Well that's where I was before I stopped to make lunch, oh, and I may have snuck a mincemeat and marzipan cake in the oven too! Shhhh, he doesn't know about that yet!

And just so you don't think I've been doing absolutely nothing ....



I loaded this one up onto the frame this morning too!

No rest for the wicked in this house at the weekends! Oh, I must have been very wicked!

(In the interest of getting this post published and out there, I may come back later and put in the links from my laptop)

wordless Wednesday

almost!

Pea Room BOM 

and ..

Mod Pop QAL block

Lots of Lovelies ...

first up some beautiful hand prints from the absolutely amazing

 Leanne Fanny of The Little House Martin ...

Really I couldn't resist!

you can read a little more about her here

and then a pile of  fabulous Japanese Charms that have travelled all the way from Sarah in the Shetlands ...

actually I think Ellie had an awful lot to do with this too!

oh, if only I could find more time to sort, organise and discover these beauties

Thank you Sarah for organising a great little swap, and to everyone who took part choosing such fabulous fabrics  ... sign

and then there was a wee surprise ...

from Hadley, a thank you for snapping her Sissix Quilt back in the summer at Festival ...

and of course it's a twin too!

I often get to reading blogs way too late and miss out on some of the really good stuff ...

but this time, I managed to snaffle up the last of these ....

well this design anyway,  

Thank you Aneela, I absolutely love it!

and last, but by no means least, a  very BIG thank you to Judith, who, it has to be said, 

can shop just like me! ...

yes, the most gorgeous Irish Linens this side of Lincolnshire now!

perhaps next time there may be evidence of actual sewing!