Fabric Bundles

Look what arrived this week

I haven't decided what I am going to do with the bundles yet, but they are stunning.  

Country Cottage Quilting

Country Cottage Quilting is absolutely wonderful, I have picked out a quilt and a matching cushion so far but haven't decided which fabrics I am going to use.  I like Lynette Anderson fabric but I also like Red Rooster which I think would complement the patterns in this book so will have to wait and see.

Mother's Day

We have had a really busy couple of weeks and last weekend was no exception.

We decided to visit Kristian for the day at Uni in Teesside so that we could spend the day as a family - something that rarely happens these days. 

We got up at 6.00 a.m. and headed out of the door by 7.00 a.m. with Rachael and James both crashed out in the back for the two hour journey.  Hardly any traffic getting through which meant we did the trip in record time.  

Picked Kristian up at 9.00 a.m. and headed off to the retail park, shopping and eating was the theme for the day.  Very naughty and totally unhealthy lunch at Burger King, we don't have one locally so I love to get in there for a visit when we can.  (Better tasting than McDonalds!!)

Beautiful sunshine all day and we all enjoyed each others company, with plenty of conversation about Uni, boys, girls, food, school and Summer holiday plans.  

Thank you to my family for my wonderful day out, it may just have been travelling and BurgerKing, but it was the company that was important.

These were all my goodies bought for me for my Mother's Day presents from hubby and the three children.

Moda Sweetwater Reunion and Moda Shangri-la charm packs

Moda Blackbird Designs Blackberry Crumb Cake Layer Cake

Bareroots Scrappy Quilt with scallop border, Sewline Duo Marker (NEEDED that) and my new BOM Lynette Anderson - Stitched By Me - comes complete with button and accessories.

Whimsical Just Spooling Around Book and the Quilter's Companion 2012 Yearbook.

Wasn't I absolutely ruined - I love everything I got - but guess what - I am still waiting for one more package   to arrive from the USA - a Cape Ann 1/2 yard bundle.  

Tula Pink

When I saw this book I knew I had to have it, all of the ideas inside are gorgeous, I don't think there is anything that I wouldn't have a go at.

I love all the freshness of the fabric and the colours Tula uses throughout the book, in fact, I have to buy some as my daughter also fell in love with it.  I bought the Field Study pattern and the Prince Charming fabric as this will go beautifully in Rachael's new room.

I can't wait to see the next range of fabrics and ideas from Tula.

And The Winner Is ...

Thank you all for entering my giveaway and for all your wonderful comments and becoming followers, you will all be desperate to know who has won the giveaway and using the random number generator,

Number 33 KatyQwith the following comment:Sadly, one of my favorite LQS is closing. All the fabric is 25% off so I bought some Moda Primitive Muslin to use as background fabric and some just in case fat quarters.

Congratulations Katy :)

Please can you let me know your name and address so that I can arrange the delivery.

Watch out soon on my blog as I am going to do another give away in the next couple of weeks for all my new followers and for soaring past the 10000 views.

I hope I can keep you all entertained with my blog and look forward to chatting with all my new found craft friends.

St. Patrick's Day Blog Hop & Give Away

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I am taking part in my first blog hop and give-away.  All part of the fun of being a member of the Quilting Bloggers world.

You can join in the fun by clicking on the link below and it will take you to a list of all the blogs taking part, every blog is offering a give-away, so get hopping and remember, you have to be in it to win it :)

Now for the give-away, I thought and thought about this but decided in the end it had to be

Whimsy & Wonder pattern with fabrics included in the kit, this is an exclusive to The Fat Quarters in Newcastle.  Along with ribbon from My Mind's Eye Bloom & Grow Collection and ribbon from the Basic Grey range and a selection of new buttons from The Fat Quarters that I fell in love with.

The Whimsy and Wonder kit which has all the fabrics, you just need the threads but you will be able to choose whatever colours you have or want.

So...

to be in with a chance of winning the goodies, leave me a comment telling me what your last quilting purchase was and why, maybe fabric, thread, scissors, cutting mat or if you haven't made a purchase recently what is on your wish list ( mine just keeps getting bigger).  The Giveaway is open to international guests as well.  I will announce the winner (chosen by the random generator) the day after the blog hop finishes.  Get hopping :)

St. Patrick's Day Blog Hop & Give Away

This giveaway is now closed, thank you for entering and good luck :)

Bunny Hill Designs

These two patterns fell into my basket last week at www.fatquartershop.com and they are absolutely gorgeous.

All Dressed Up and Happy Go Lucky.

The patterns are explained really well, everything listed that you need including tools.  I love these and I am now on the look out for more by this company.  There are two of us going to be doing baby quilts and I have chosen Bunny Hill Designs Ooh La La for Moda, whilst my quilting buddy has decided (so far) on Bunny Hill Designs Puttin' On The Ritz for Moda, both fabric ranges are gorgeous and complement each other.  I love the greys with the pink as it isn't a colour I would normally do for a baby.

Friday Night Sew-In Part 2

Good morning crafters, I managed to get something made last night and here are my results :)

From a 10.5 inch piece of a fabric that has been folded and pressed, place a 4.25 inch square in the middle and fold the triangles in, stitch in place

Choose a couple more charm squares on the folded fabric and bring over the edge of the triangles by 1/4 inch then stitch on the outer edge very close.  A normal straight stitch is good for the top stitching but for the piecing I would suggest a smaller stitch so that it is tight for when you are stuffing the pincushion.  Repeat for each triangle to make the window.

Stitch together four charms (2 lots of 2), press the seams to one side.  Turn the window onto the backing piece with right sides together and stitch remembering to leave a gap for turning.  Stuff until full and firm and then stitch using invisible stitch so you can't make out where it was turned.

Stitch a co-ordinating button in the middle and there you go.  The Moda Bakeshop has the original recipe and gives you all the instructions.

Hope you like it, I love the colours.  The fabric is Moda Grace by 3Sisters.

Friday Night Sew-In

It's Friday 16th March so that only means one thing, It's the Friday Night Sew-In.

I have a choice of making a pincushion from the Moda Bakeshop, I am a sewist BUT I don't own a pincushion so thought that I need to change that and decided that testing my quilting skills on a Cathedral Window Pincushion would be just the job for a Friday Night or I could choose to do one of my Blocks of the Month from Cinderberry Stitches.  I think it has to be ...

 

Check back tomorrow to see if I got it completed and if you want to have a go at making one yourself, check the recipe out here

Baby Quilt Competition

This is the baby quilt that I have entered for this weeks competition over on quilting bloggers. 

The theme is baby quilts so I know I had to enter my Rio Quilt made last year for my Great Nephew.  This one was made with Moda Lily & Will II in blue, cream and green with a hint of brown, has stitcheries and applique.

If you would like to vote for me, click on the link on the right hand side with quilt competition on, thank you :)

Hope you like it and would love your vote. :)

Bundles of Love for Tiny Lives

These little bundles of love are on their way to The Fat Quarter Shop in Newcastle.

 All washed and ready to iron and package.

 A little tag with 'A Little Something For You'

 and a couple of matching gems

 along with co-ordinating ribbon and we are ready to go

I know these will mean so much to the people that get them but they also mean a lot to me, my family and my extended family, having experienced such a traumatic time.  It is something that they will be able to cherish and also know that other people care even if it is privately and unspoken.  My thoughts are with any parents and families going through a traumatic time and know that you are thought of.

Colour Cards

I finally managed to get my hands on one of the Kona cotton colour cards and an Aurifil Thread colour chart.

The Kona Cotton Colour Card by Robert Kaufman, this is going to help me greatly as we haven't got a local stockist of good quilting fabrics so I have to use online which can be hard work matching colours as you just  never know if you are looking at the right colour.  Every colour is a one inch square of fabric giving you the ability to get a true match.  I got mine from www.fatquartershop.com  They were really fast with the shipping as well, arriving in less than a week.

The second colour card is the Aurifil Thread.  A brilliant resource for quilters.  I have been struggling along with Guterman thread and haven't been happy with the results, particularly when pressing patchwork piecing seems.  Anyway after a long search I found Aurifil Thread and bought the Aurifil 40 which is great for both piecing and quilting.  As you can see you get a sample thread of every colour they do so it is brilliant for matching up and maybe even throwing a curveball of a colour you wouldn't use on a fabric but that actually looks really effective and stands out.  It is not cheap thread with reels costing around £7.00 but that is for 1000 metres so it will last.  I have chosen my staple colours at the moment of brown, off white, bright orange (looks great on brown fabric), baby blue, baby pink, olive green and yellow.  

Both colour cards fold up for easy storage when not in use so you still have plenty of room to be creative ;)

Block of the Month Holders

Isn't this just the most gorgeous fabric, it is Robert Kaufman Vintage Couturier, best placed I thought for making a couple of different sized block of the month holders.  Again, inspiration from Fresh Fabric Treats but I used my own pattern and sizes.  I have a quilting friend that I meet with on a regular basis and we are working on blocks of the month so this is going to be the most useful tool ever.  It will keep our blocks of month clean and tidy, but, it will be lovely to just sit and look through to see what work we have got done.  I preferred to use pastel fabrics as I am quite clumsy and spill drinks so wanted to make sure there wasn't any chance of colours running into my stitcheries once they are in the holder.

The pages are made from Doctor's flannel and the backing is Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton Solids Ivory.  All of the patterned fabrics used are available from www.nelarofabrics.co.uk and the Kona cotton is available from www.pollyanapatchwork.co.uk  The spotted border is Moda Vintage Dots from the Fig Tree Quilts Whimsy collection, I couldn't find anymore but did find a suitable alternative from their Butterscotch and Roses collection.

It didn't take a long time to make them up - done in a weekend. :)

Pat Bravo Handmade Bag

I love Pat Bravo's fabrics and patterns and took an opportunity to make myself one of her bag patterns just before Christmas.

I used Art Gallery Fabrics throughout the entire bag - Girly Girl Aqua, it has useful pockets on the inside and beautiful roses that were really easy to make.  

This will be a great bag for long summer evening walks, here's hoping we get the weather ;)

Quilting Blogger Competition

I decided to plunge in at the deep end this week and entered my scrappy quilt Hour Glass into the Quilting Bloggers weekly themed quilt competition.  

It is the quilt I made for my niece Jasmine while she is at University studying for her nursing degree.

If you would like to vote just pop on over to Quilting Bloggers and vote for me, you have until midnight on Sunday to place your vote.  To vote simply click on the link in the right hand corner of my blog and it will take you straight to the website.

The winner will be announced next week.

Tiny Lives incubator quilts needed

The RVI hospital in Newcastle does fantastic work in their premature baby unit including looking after my adorable niece who is now 11 years old and wouldn't be here today without them and they really need  some help.  They need incubator quilts, just small custom sized quilts that fit neatly in the incubator with the babies.  I have given all the details below and if you can donate any quilt by the 31st March 2012 by sending it to The Fat Quarters shop in Blackhall Mill, Newcastle you will be entered into a draw with a possibility of winning Moda goodies.  You can contact Kim at www.thefatquarters.co.uk for more information or look on their website.  

Incubator Quilts

16" x 20"

No invisible thread

No accessories like buttons/beads or ribbon

You can use wadding, preferably cotton

Flannel or cotton for the backing

You can quilt them

Send you completed quilts to Kim

The Fat Quarters

5 Chopwell Road

Blackhall Mill

Newcastle Upon Tyne

NE17 7TN

I am using the Moda Lily & Will II charm pack, with doctors flannel for backing and lightly quilted in the ditch.

If you would like more information please don't hesitate to ask, it is a worthy cause and quilts do make wonderful gifts for all kinds of circumstances.

Pictures to follow.

Gluten Free Cherry & Almond Scones

1 lb Juvela White Flour Mix with a pinch of salt  (Self-Raising Flour if not GF)

4 oz Margarine or Butter

2 Eggs

2 oz Caster Sugar

2 oz Ground Almonds

2 teaspoon Almond Essence

3 oz Chopped Cherries

Milk to make up the eggs to 1/2 pint

Mix the flour and salt together and then rub in the margarine.

Add the caster sugar, ground almonds and chopped cherries to the flour and mix together.

Whisk eggs with the milk and add the almond essence, add the milk/egg mix to the flour reserving a little for brushing the tops of the scones.

You can omit the kneading stage if not doing Gluten Free

Flour your work surface and tip out the scone mixture, knead for around five minutes, you will notice the texture change to a smooth dough and roll out until 1 1/4 inch thick or the same height as your scone cutter.

You should get about 12 scones from this mixture, place on a baking tray, brush with the egg/milk mixture, sprinkle a little caster sugar on the top of each scone and bake in the middle of your oven on gas mark 7 until golden brown on the top.  When you remove them from the baking tray they should move easily, you can also tap them on the bottom to check if they are cooked.

Leave to cool, cut in half and serve with lots of butter - Danish of course :)

Sock Monkey

My daughter has started a new hobby, she adores sock monkeys and so far this week has made three animals, a monkey, a cat and a leopard.  Thanks to my nieces for showing Rachael what she can do.  My reliable Brother Compal Sovereign was the machine she used and after a good clean up it looked brand new.  

High leg socks, buttons and ribbon

Glittery socks, buttons and ribbon (cat burglar :))

Leopard print socks, buttons for pupils and ears

A mischievious collection, looking like they are about to be up to no good