Not much time to sew!

But it is lovely to have visitors (Keith and Lorraine) especially at this time of the year when the garden is looking so lovely.

A lovely surprise in the post last week was this super postcard

from Monika Kinner-Whalen. Such a completely different style for Monika and you can read all about the fun evening she had with friends creating these modern cards by clicking on her name. Thank you very much Monika - am enjoying having it on my easel.

I can show progress on my May crazy block

not quite finished but I need a quiet afternoon to myself to do it.

Hope you are having a great weekend.

FNSI was here again

And don't the months whizz by so quickly!

Many thanks to Wendy for hosting us especially having moved this week! Pop over here to see her new home and here to see what everyone else got up to last night.

I made a start in the afternoon and got the edging done on these cards and ATC's

Just the threads to sew in now.

Then I thought it was time that I started sewing these pieced rows together.

This was a Mystery Quilt from the Quilters Guild that I have been working on over the last year. In each of the four issues of the magazine we were given instructions on how to make two or three of the rows - the width of the row and a clue - ie it could be stars or strip piecing or curves etc. The rest was up to us. Not exactly needing another quilt top I was not going to buy fabric so raided my stash (large) of hand dyed cottons and this is what emerged. The idea was for everyone to finish in time to display the quilts at the AGM but that has long gone! I am going to finish machining these together this afternoon and then think about the colour for the border - no more piecing but just a wide border of hand dyed cotton I think.

Then of course in the evening watching TV out came some hand work and I added some more stitching to my May crazy block.

I hope everyone had a great evening - I shall be off to visit and see what everyone got up to in a while.

Happy weekend.

EPP Tuesday

And once again I am linking up with Anthea as we 'Piece Ourselves Together'!

Click the link above to see what everyone else has been doing - join in too, the more the merrier!

Well, in between other projects, I have been busy cutting and tacking and now have a box full of hexies ready to sew together - when I decide on what to make. At the moment I am thinking Dilly Bag but who knows!

Lots of fabrics in there from way back as I work through my scrap box.

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I also have my May crazy block pieced together, framed and ready to start stitching.

This time the fabrics are all ones I have dyed myself - mottled and blotchy cos that's how I like them. There is some velvet in the middle, smooth and raw silk, cotton and the pin tucks were along the bottom of an old linen apron I bought years ago from a brocante. It had a few holes in but was perfect for ripping up and dyeing. This time I plan to be much freer with my embroidery - more like the work I did on my hexie machine cover .

It's another beautiful day in the Dordogne - hope it's fine where you are.

It has been a while since I have posted - have been busy here with the garden, spring cleaning and of course getting on with some of my projects. So this is what I have been up to.

First of all my CQJP block for April (which I did finish in April but have not shared yet). This was my starter block.

And here it is again with all it's embellishments.

Plus a few closeups!

I am really pleased with the way that the hint of turquiose works so well.

If you would like to see more crazy blocks then go to the CQJP2015 site and feast your eyes on some gorgeous work.

Since then I have been busy with some secret Christmas stitching and my pink BOM which is Batchelors Puzzle.

Couldn't resist putting my four blocks together to see how they look.

I have my swap hexies ready to post off on Monday and I have a batch of postcards and ATC's all ready for backing and edging.

I have more news on the hexie front but am saving that for Anthea's link on Tuesday.

So I have not been idle - starting to think about my May crazy block - I have two colour themes that I want to explore but can't decide which to do first!

We have had a showery week but I have managed to pot up all my tubs and troughs ready for the summer and we have most of our summer veg planted too. Now we need to keep it all reasonably tidy! Looking forward to the predicted few days of hot sunny weather now.

Hope you are all having a great weekend.

Birthday Giveaway Winner

Thank you very much to everyone who entered my birthday giveaway. There have been a couple of additions since my last photograph - one of my Jacobs Ladder bags and a key ring.

As usual I cannot get Mr RNG to show up here so I will tell you that he chose number 4 which is

Rosa

 Congratulations Rosa - if you would like to email me your address then I will put your package in the post.

It has been a lovely birthday so far - after two days it has finally stopped raining and the sun has been putting in an appearance. We have been to a vide grenier this morning and I made two small purchases - this afternoon there is a very important football match to watch! Time to make a few hexies I feel.

Hope you are having a good weekend.

 

It's EPP Tuesday!

And I am piecing myself together along with Anthea at Hibiscus Stitches

Why not pop along and see what everyone else got up to.

This is my scrap box

It's a plastic shoe box full of smaller pieces of fabric - off cuts and leftovers. And it's about time some of it got shifted. So I have decided to work through the fabrics making the nicer ones into hexagons and being ruthless and throwing anything I am not so keen on!

So this afternoon I spent an hour making a start and ended up with this little pile of hexagons

with the byproduct of some smaller pieces for my 1/2" hexagon collection.

Don't know what I shall make with them yet but I doubt if it will be anything as big as this!

This was my very first quilt and it took me two years - a year to piece and a year to quilt! I had no idea that quilting was done by a running stitch so it is all stab stitched! I soon learned though.

Enjoy your EPPing.

A Finish, WIP and a Giveaway!

Earlier this week Jenny of Elefantz shared this tutorial for her sewing caddy which she designed to sit over the arm of a chair.

 

With so many projects going on here  I of course immediately decided that I had to have one and so dropped everything to get started!

Fortunately I had to hand all the necessary ingredients. This Jenny of E stitchery that used the beautiful Cottage Garden thread that Maria sent me.

I also had these fat quarters that I won in a giveaway a couple of years ago. They were so lovely that I have been keeping them for just the right project.

That fruit fabric is gorgeous but sadly there was no info on the selvedge as to what it is.

Anyway, here is my finished caddy.

I made mine slightly larger than Jenny's so that it will sit nicely on my lap and also contain all the necessary for an afternoons sewing while 'watching' the bowling during the summer. Thank you Jenny, it's a great pattern.

I have also found some time to get on with my April Crazy block and have added some more seam treatments.

I am pleased with the way it is coming along and should have it finished by the end of the month.

So now to the giveaway! Next Sunday is my birthday and so to celebrate I shall be giving away  a collection of goodies - here are some of them.

That gorgeous floral is one of the V&A vintage florals collection and I am sure something delicious can be made with it using the matching spot fabric and the rickrack. If you would like to win these (and I am happy to ship anywhere) then please leave a comment below. Next Sunday I shall ask Mr RNG to choose a winner.

Lots of pink and purple in this post so I shall leave you with some more, in pictures I have taken of our garden. Have a good week.