Don't you just love your postie?

There I was, commenting on Fiona's Little Apples quilt and telling her I was waiting for my charm pack when - THUD - a parcel in the porch.........

 As well as my charm pack, I have a fat 1/4 bundle of 1001 Peeps by Lizzy House - have been drooling over this for a week or so and when Sew Fresh announced their 20% sale last week I succumbed.
 The colours will suit my hexie project but they also remind me of Aladdin and my daughter's favourite Disney was Aladdin and now she is having her own little rugrat.........a possibility? Or when I mix my Little Apples and Sherbet Pips together, another possibility? Oh what a delicious dilemma.
I also have a finished project.....drumroll.........but keeping that for Lynne's Fresh Sewing Day tomorrow.

Swaps, & the kindness of others

The indefatiguable Hadley, from Flying Blind........, by her own admission, has her finger in many pies.

 One of the pies I took a fancy to, was the Mug Rug & Goodie swap being organised by Cindy at 

Fluffy Sheep Quilting. We get 2 secret partners and make each one a mug rug and a goodie. I had yet to make a mug rug despite the craze, so it was a good opportunity to have a go.

I have made a start today and this is work in progress on the first -

Meanwhile, my classes are all up and running - at class last Thursday, one of my lovely ladies who had seen me the previous week, thought I had "looked a bit fed up" and made me this -

I was really touched by her kindness. Thank you.

Rite of Passage

Got my eyes tested this week - my next check up will be in 2 yrs and thereafter, annually. A significant milestone said the optician....ha ha, so funny.

Getting older is weird, you still feel much the same inside your head but the body has forgotten how to work properly..............however, there are fringe benefits, oh, yes...................still with me?

I am going to be a grandma!! Woo hoooooooooo and I will be married to a grandad - how did that happen??

This was my very first quilt, made for Jenny - now I get to make one (or two........) for her baby..oooh, which fabrics, which pattern, such choices, what fun!!

Off to have a nanny nap...............

Doll Quilt Swap - receiving

Got home from work today and found a parcel on the mat - it was from Hartford, Wisconsin......

from my secret swap partner Shirley, Freidasew, and inside was this fabulous little gem -

Isn't it just adorable, it will sit very nicely on my wall beside my Brit Quilt swap quilt......our partners figure out our likes from our blogs, and our flickr faves..........Shirley got me bang on, I love it. I could become slightly addicted to these little quilts, and to swaps. It's very exciting to send one off around the world, and equally exciting to have one turn up from some far off place.
When Shirley was posting her wips on flickr she offered a choice of this little beauty or a wonky star quilt - as you will have spotted the wee pincushion, you will see I scored a wonky star too...win win.

Scenes for the Virtual Tourist

My classes started last week, it's good to be back in the old routine and lovely to meet up with old and new students and I just know the noise level will recede as we settle down.......................

......as well as my regular classes that I hold in Prestwick, I also run occasional day workshops and I thought some of you who are not local might like to see the privileged spot that we have to do our thing.

 

This is Alloway Village Hall, right in the heart of Alloway Village, now a suburb of Ayr  town...............

 and just across the way is the birthplace of Robert Burns.

 

Lucky aren't we? Sometimes it's good to smell those roses.

Doll Quilt Swap...giving

I took part in DQS11 recently and this morning I received a lovely message from my secret partner Ruth, of ruthiequilts (in Utah).........her request was for a doll quilt for her 7yr old son who loves snakes etc (not sure if real or toy....) So I came up with a little quilt made up of different scale HSTs to suggest snakes. As often happens, these things take on their own life and I pieced a ladder on the back.........get it? Snakes and ladders! Ruth had said she liked embellishments so I added a ric rac snake with googly eyes. It was fun to make but I am so chuffed to be able to show the pics she has posted on flickr..makes it all worth it!!

  

If you want to have a look at some of the DQ lovelies that have been produced, just click HERE.

Brad comes to town

Brad comes to town, a photo by bluepatchquilter on Flickr.

There has been a flurry of excitement in Glasgow this past week because...Brad Pitt and his production company have been filming scenes for his new film World War Z.

My husband has been in the thick of it as he works in the actual street fiming has been taking place........his building (HMRC) has been transformed temporarily into an accountant's offce - this apparantly has caused much mirth which I think Hadley might understand.

His street, and George Square have been disguised as downtown Philadelphia, can't imagine why they can't just use......hey, Philadelphia, and can't begin to imagine the cost.............filming has also taken place in Malta and Cornwall.

Big Al (my DH) managed to take some snaps on the way to work and from his office window..thought you might like to share the fun.

It's not that I dislike summer but.........

...........I felt a nip in the air this morning that felt a bit autumnal........heading towards September, my favourite month, don't know why, just is.
Soon, we'll be tweaking up the thermostat, dusting off the hot water bottle and bringing this baby out from its summer sleep...............

A Right Old Mess

I am a messy worker - sometimes it gets too much, even for me............

So, yesterday's plan was to tidy......I got my table cleared and worked on a couple of projects. My  tablemats to match my runner - I had them layered so started some machine embroidery on them,.......then I made a couple of pillowcases for a very large pillow but got very frustrated with my overlocker (serger) - the lower looper thread just kept jumping out the loop....aaaaargh!! Gave up on that..............
In the evening I worked on a few more "whole" hexies and one wee pieced one - couldn't have a hexie free day now could I?
So rise and shine Monday, peeped into my sewing room and the messy fairies have wreaked havoc in the night - it looks worse than it did yesterday.................the more room you have the more mess you make.........

I will transform it today - my classes all start up this week, a lovely new batch of beginners on Wednesday night for me to convert to our obsession..lol,  and a return to class of all my lovely regluars. New term, new projects!!
BUT, back to class / school - makes me feel like summer must be over....................

Swirly Seams

I first came across this technique a couple of years ago - it was on an Eleanor Burns tv show and it is brilliant. Any time you have a 4 patch you can achieve this really flat intersection without having to open up your seams. And of course that makes for easier quilting.............
I have quite hurriedly put together this little tute with some orphan HSTs I had lying about - please excuse the horrid fabric, and the photo quality......

So here we have 4 HSTs waiting to be joined in pairs.

I have chained pieced these two pairs but you don't have to for this technique.

Fuzzy pic to show the chain link thread, in red.

Push the bottom seam of one pair towards the right and the top seam from the other pair to the left, you can feel them interlock and you might like to pop a pin in to secure until stitched.

Now, normally you would press up or down or in dismay, maybe even open.........

Another blurry pic, but can you see the stitches in the seam allowance? Unpick these and the wee linky loop if you chain pieced.

Now you want to swirl your seams in a clockwise direction and the centre point should just open out. (you might need to help it along) Now I always, always do my pressing on the right side. If you press on the wrong side you sometimes create tiny pleats that just won't iron out.

Once you have pressed it nicely, turn back and have a look at the intersection - you will have a teeny, tiny pinwheel if you have used HSTs in this formation. If you just try it out with a 4 patch of squares, you will produce a teeny, tiny 4 patch.

Go on, try it, it's a magic moment!! (I don't get out much)

One Track Blog

Another hexie I'm afraid - I am enjoying this HAL so much and just want to have a go at all the variations.

I really enjoyed making this one, not sure it will fit in with my more subdued hexies but it might be the start of something new. It was easy to make, suited my rotten eyesight as it was so easy to match.

Two Pairs and a Reject

Still plodding on with my hexies - sometimes it's satisfying just to fussy cut a pretty fabric.........

for the next two, I used my embroidery machine to decorate some shot cotton.........

  

and lastly, my reject.....I spent a fair amount of time piecing this baby but I am not happy with it. I can get it to lie flat with lots of steam but my hand sewing skills are leaving much to be desired........I fear my seams would not be too secure long term, the shot cotton is prone to fraying and made it a bit tricky. I enjoy the challenge of the curves but this one beat me. I might try again with different fabric, I don't like to be beaten.

The Plot Thickens

Another 2 weeks have elapsed so it's time again for the Mystery Quilt instalment. You can jump in any time and also find the new handouts HERE.

Here are some examples of works in progress from some of the Mystery QAL participants.

First up we have this from Suzan over at http://suzanalmond.blogspot.com/

 Next is from Siobhan at http://shevvylondon.blogspot.com/2011/08/mystery-qal-catch-up.html

 and the last one for this post, is from Theresa, Lochside Quilter.

 All so different - great work ladies.

Delusions of Grandeur.....

So - guess who has a design wall??

I know, I know, it's just a bit of wadding pinned to the wall, BUT, it gives a whole different view of your work. Already I am seeing where I want to put different colours, where I feel it is a bit dark etc.......I quite often photograph the work of ladies in my classes and then let them view it on the camera, again it gives a whole different perspective.

Am off out to sewing bee now with my portable project - anyone guess what it might be....?

Still Hexing

A normal one for the HAL.........

and I found a triangle template that I used some time ago for foundation trees (!) and I thought - you could be a big hexie.............

in fact it is a giant hexie measuring about 15" across - think it is destined to be a hexie cushion, will need to make a hexie cushion pad..........

If at first you don't succeed........

..........then you just have to keep trying to win an Accuquilt Go Baby. This time you can have a go over at
Fairy Face Designs where Sarah has one on offer.

White Rabbits

So goodbye July, hello August. I haven't produced a lot of big stuff this month - finally quilted the tablerunner made from my "Authentic" charm pack. I have pieced six matching placemats and have a plan for them that involves my embroidery machine.
But the overwhelming feature of July was the introduction by Lynne and Gayle of theHexalong - oh how I have avoided doing English paper piecing............why would you, thought I, when there are perfectly good rotary cutters and sewing machines at our fingertips...........I have missed out.Who knew it was such fun, and so versatile - I so wish I had paid more attention to maths in school - wouldn't it be great to include a bit of EPP in the school curriculum?
As usual, I am linking to Lynne's Fresh Sewing Day over at Lily's Quilts.