Another Month Bites the Dust

And we stoic Brits are still hopeful that summer will visit our shores. We have been teased now and then by the odd warm..ish day but sadly these rare moments are short lived and before long we are reaching again for cardis and fleeces.

I might as well take this opportunity to admit that I actually TURNED ON the heating one day last week, bet I wasn't the only one!

Taking the positives from this, at least we can sew without guilt.

Since my last post  have been working on My Small World - in fact I have completed Part 3 and made a good start on Part 4. I have even made a couple of bits for Part 5. Have I said how much I am enjoying this project? Who knew playing with tiny scraps could be so..........consuming. I have continued to try and use up tiny orphan patches and have made quite a dent in the pile left from last year's class quilt project.This next pic shows parts 1 - 3.

and MSW wips............

Talking of WIPs I finally managed to almost finish a quilt this week. I think it has been on the go now for over a year - several years ago I won a charm pack, and then many moons later was gifted an identical charm pack. So I set myself a challenge to design a double bed sized quilt using just two charm packs and a lot of plain fabric. I had a recipient (s) in mind and a deadline that I will hit next month. I just need to bind it.

I made this in three sections, quilting each one separately (using Aurifil 50wt #2000 - a lovely creamy cream) and joining them with narrow strips.

Last Sunday I held the first workshop of my new session - Christmas in July. I re-visited a couple of previous table runner designs and added in a new one for maximum choice, I do like to make things difficult for myself.

However, it all went very smoothly with everyone making great progress on the day. One or two ladies had never tried foundation piecing before but picked up the technique very quickly. Here is a little glimpse of their work.

The only drawback to the day was that it was a bit chilly indoors, for July, and we could have done with some warm mulled wine and maybe a hot mince pie.

Midsummer Progress

Since my last post we have endured what might have been the coldest midsummer everr, but now fortunately we are basking in sunshine, totally appropriate for Wimbledon fortnight.

I promised a mention of my efforts at needleturn applique - it's not pretty but it will have to do - those of you who know me well, know that my hand sewing skills are not up there, but I am growing to enjoy a little gentle hand work so maybe I will improve.

So in Part 2 of My Small World there was a bit of applique, my first bits were the four little arched doorways....mine were obviously old and well worn doors with lots of dings in. I forgot the part in needleturn where it helps to clip curves - doh!!

Then there were a couple of circles and I remembered doing this quilt last year in a QAL with Sarah Fielke and remembered her cunning technique for prepping circles for applique.

It involves card and tin foil and it helps if you cut your card circle neatly & smoothly.

And here are the circles applied to MSW.

And here are parts 1 & 2 all done. Still using little orphans here and there so some of my sections look a little different from the pattern.

Unfortunately I haven't started Part 3 yet as other tasks have taken precedence.

I resumed a project started several months ago for a friend's Ruby wedding........

Then my rows for July and August in Bee a Brit Stingy arrived. They are for Di and she has requested a garden theme in bright colours. The first three rows have been completed by Di, Catherine and Lucy and I have planned my contribution and made a start.

This block is one of two but I am not sure about the amount of plain background I have showing comparing it to the three existing rows but my other plans are quite busy so it may be ok, I'll look at it again when all the blocks are done.

and finally, me and a couple of real life sewing bee buddies are combining our efforts to make a small quilt as a gift to another Bee member who is moving away from Ayr. She was actually responsible for introducing us to quilting and most of her quilts until recently have been very traditional. But she is undergoing a bit of a renaissance and has moved firmly into modern. We hope she will love our choices. The HSTs in our blocks are the same for the three of us and all un-pieced squares are from our own stashes. These are my blocks and in my next post I hope to show off the finished quilt.

Now Andy Murray and Roger Federer are just about to step out onto Centre Court, so must dash...........