Friday Night with Friends

Very hot here again after last weeks rain so I was able to start sewing in the afternoon whilst 'hiding' indoors!

Many thanks to Cheryll for inviting us round again. Click on the link to see what everyone was working on.

First up for me were my swap hexies for July which hopefully are now on their way to Australia. No pics I am afraid - I am saving them for EPP Tuesday!

Having got those all packaged up and stamped my next job was my RSC blocks for July. Thank goodness this month was blue! I have masses of blue. So here are the blocks I made.

I am so pleased with how all these blocks are looking - maybe next month I will lay them out together.

So I am linking up with Angela at ScrapHappySaturday.

By this time it was the evening and so I got on with some secret stitching! So no pics. Sorry that there is such a dearth of pictures in this post!

Have a great weekend everyone.

EPP Tuesday and some crazyness

Thank you Anthea for hosting our link up again. Not a lot of EPP going on here. This is as far as I have got with my border for the Hexathon quilt.

There will be lots of units like this that will make up the border on two sides of the quilt. I am awaiting more supplies of the grey fabric from my favourite supplier Strawberry Fayre

You can see more EPP linkups on Anthea's blog here.

Meanwhile there has been some secret stitching going on - it involves red thread and a fat jolly person. I am saying no more!

Also I have been working on my small crazy project which you last saw looking like this.

Well, then it looked like this.

And now it looks like this!

A few details.

I am glad that I went with a stitched frame rather than glue. It took time and patience but I am really pleased with the finish. I have also learnt about placement of stitches having made up the bag - for instance that Fargo Rose is in a totally inappropriate place and the beading round the lace is lost as that is the base of the bag. But I treated it as a learning experience knowing that this one would be for me and am very happy with the result.

There is a storm a rumblin round as I write and some very welcome steady, heavy rain. Good to know that my water butts will be filling nicely.

I am also linking up with Heather's Needlework Tuesday - here

Enjoy your week.

CTTY

Many thanks to Anthea for hosting CTTY - she is showing some cute little buckets this month that will make great containers for gifts - see them and everyone else's work here.

One small make for me this month.

These little bags are super easy to make - I have made another for a swap but will not be revealing just yet! The tutorial by Bee In My Bonnet is here and easily adaptable both in size and design. I made use of this little Gail Pan stitchery but it could be all patchwork, a combination of patchwork and applique or just a larger stitchery. The choice is yours.

Happy stitching.

June's FNSI

Many thanks to Wendy for organising our FNSI again this month. You can what everyone did here.

It must be a couple of years now since Wendy sent me these lovely Heart of the Garden fabrics as a thank you for taking part in FNSI.

I loved them so much that I put them aside for 'that special project' as you do, and there they have stayed. Earlier this week I decided that it was high time that I did some more crazy patchwork and I got out the box that holds my equipment when I am working.

What a sad sight! Ah thought I, I will make a nice basket to hold all my equipment and immediately Wendy's fabric came to mind. Two of them are perfect for fussy cutting and so I scaled up this Pink Penguin pattern, used some new to me In-R-Form to stabilise and hey presto, one basket.

The In-R-Form has worked very well and has made for a very firm basket. Another time I will use a larger seam allowance especially around the rim but otherwise I am very pleased with the result.

The inside

The two large 'pockets' on either side are open at the bottom to make them easy to hold bulky things in place. The four end pockets are all closed at the bottom.

While I was making the basket I read this post by Barbara, she of The Flashing Scissors, which reminded me that I have been wanting to make one of those little twisty threadcatchers for some time. Perfect opportunity and so following Barbara's instructions here we have my version.

So thank you very much Wendy for those lovely fabrics.

Now to this months FNSI. A few days ago I put together this patchwork base for a frame purse.

So my first job for Friday was to pull out some threads, beads, ribbons etc to work with.

My new basket by coincidence matches perfectly with the tray I use for my bits.

After a happy hour rummaging I was ready to go.

Here is my progress so far.

The postman has just been with this lovely book which I have been waiting to read ever since Sharon announced she was writing one about two years ago!

So with the temperature set to soar over 30 degrees this afternoon I am about to sit down with some iced coffee and have a good read.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

EPP Tuesday

It was EPP Tuesday yesterday and I am a bit late linking up - sorry Anthea! You can see what Anthea and everyone else have done here.

I have been working hard on my Hexathon quilt and now have the main body complete - apart from adding the top right corner of course!

I am pleased with how it is looking. I have made a start on the border but decided it was time to put it away again for a while.

Appropriately I received a swap flower in the post yesterday - another to add to my turquoise and terracotta collection.

These are the flowers that I sent out for June.

I am also linking up with Heather at Books and Quilts for Needlework Tuesday - again, sorry I am late Heather.

Don't forget that this week is FNSI - sign ups are here and I hope to see you there.

Partying with Chookyblue in the Chookshed!

A wet Saturday meant that I had more time than usual to enjoy myself! And a nicely watered garden into the bargain although France is still on alert for a drought and hot summer. To catch up on all the fun in the Chookshed go here.

Here is what I was doing yesterday afternoon - my RSC blocks for June. Yellow. Yellow!!!! I went to what I though was my yellow/orange fabric box and what did I find - orange! Went through my scrap box too and all I could come up with that was a true yellow was this.

So in the end I went with some dull mustards which I think will work well with the other blocks that I have made.

My other mission was to make my swap hexie flowers for the month and these also got finished so I am well ahead on all my projects for the month.

I have also been working on my hexathon quilt and my CTTY project so have had a very profitable weekend. Hope yours was too.

Friday Night With Friends, a party and a finish!

Many thanks to Cheryl for inviting us around again. You can see what everyone got up to here
I spent some time working on my Hexathon quilt and now have the bottom edge straight and have started working up the side.

Meanwhile, it is party time in the Chookshed! and we are invitied.

Check out these posts here and here. Thank you for the invite Chookyblue - I shall be popping in from time to time.

And now to the Finish! Yes, Jacqueline's quilt is finished! It just needs a label and then I can post it off to her. A few pictures!!

The back which I pieced from all the leftovers

So whatever you are doing I hope you have a great weekend.