Som Sabadell Flashmob

Love it!

Some cut, Some sewn, Some waiting...

Finally summer ?

Hexie Quilt Along

Have you heard? The lovely Katy from Fat Quarterly has organised a hexie quilt along for her quilt Hexie MF ! She is going to do a version with Lilly Belle by Bari J Ackerman for Art Gallery Fabrics.


(photo totally taken from the FQ site)

If you want to join us; HERE is the link to the FQ page for this beautiful quilt!

I just can't seem to decide on the fabric to use...

What do you think of Love ?



It's a contender....

Lucky Girl - London, the Goodies post

Whilst I posted about classes and people, I have not yet shown you all the lovely goodies I brought back from London.

I was lucky to receive gifts from fabulous swap partners;
A gorgeous bag made by Tacha (Hanies) with a union jack pincushion and one of the new minis that have just come on the market! (not pictured some scrumptious chocolate.. you make guess why not :-). Trash (Trashalou) made a London Bus pin cushion wrapped in cutesie tiny Red Robin box. Karen (Listen to the Birds sing)had sewn us all a lovely FQ pass with lovely postage stamp paper inside and include a lovely card. Last but not least, Leanne, who has recently had such a success with her quilt "Red" gave us all a mini Red. Isn't it lovely? Thank you guys for making such fabulous swap items, I will treasure them forever!



Of course thanks goes also to the great sponsors of FQ London. You can see Aurifil threads there (I always wanted to try those!) a mini pack of 'Walk in the Woods' (whoop whoop!!) Robert Kaufman threw in the London Fabric, so appropriate! and a lovely FQ from Oakshott Fabrics and a £5 off online voucher amongst others. What a goodie bag, fantastic!



As my friend Dee surprised me by turning up unexpectedly (nothing more said about that.. ahum...) I did not have anything for her, but she has brought me another lovely mini quilt and some really fun fabric. What a surprise! Thanks Dee !!



...and... she had more goodies in her bag too. A online fellow Old Red Barn quilter who I had not written with for a while, had (in spite of losing recent contact) thought of me and asked Dee to take a little parcel across the oceans for her. Greta (Gretters) sent me these lovely bright FQ's and a notebook with a Kate Spain design on the cover. Thanks Greta! That was also a surprise and much appreciated!


As my son and his girlfriend gifted me a little spending money (knowing I would like to take home the whole fabric shop!) I also bought some goodies for myself, but that will have to wait to another post! See you all soon!

I am featured !!

Have you ever been to Lily's Quilts? It's Lynne's fabulous blog. Lynne has been blogging for a couple of years and her blog (and quilting knowledge) has gone from strength to strength!




And if you pay her a visit, be sure to check out her post on how to grow your blog (click HERE). Not only does she give very good advice on things to do for your blog, she also very kindly featured this blog!! Thank you Lynne, it feels good to be in the company of the other amazing blogs you mention!!

Angela Madden - Workshop!

As soon as I heard that Angela Madden was going to teach a workshop for our local group, Thanet Quilters,I signed up super quick to not miss it! And I was not disappointed. Angela is a lovely very approachable friendly lady who loves to chat with everyone but still gets things done. I won't tell you what happened to her on the way here but if you meet her, DO ask her to tell you... you're in for a funny story (we worked hard but we laughed a lot too).

Here she is in front of her most amazing rainbow quilt;



She was just having a wee cuppa tea when I asked her to pose with the quilt (it's my favourite) and she graciously agreed (thank you so much Angela), but had to bring her tea! (as you can see, it was that sort of a day, relaxed, fun but jam packed full of information and technique too!)

Angela brought lots of quilts and samples for us to see, too many to put on the blog but if you want to have a look, do go and check out her site at angelamadden.com Lots of more loveliness to see and other classes to take. (Just click on the name to get there)

We all had an amazing day, learning not only the 'Slice a Circle' technique Angela came to teach us, but getting lots of stories from the quilt world and lots of little tips and tricks on how to do things. Some of them are amazing and shouts could be heard around the hall... 'Wow.. that WORKS like a treat! How come WE never thought of that?'



The Church Hall was still decked out in lots of cheery Jubilee bunting, a cheerful atmosphere to work in and check out each others' progress.


Would we like to learn the technique of how to construct the rainbow quilt or something like this?



Well... as far as I was concerned.. "Yes Please!!" :-) So I duly purchased the ruler that Angela especially designed to achieve these patterns with ease and the book, in case I wanted to check up at home what I hadn't taken in at the time.



As Angela says, it is a technique anyone can learn and it is really astonishing how with a simple change of colour, the same block can seem totally different! We had a quick first tryout at designing and for a first go, I came up with this;



Not quite a rainbow quilt yet, but... who knows.. with a bit of practice the sky might be the limit!

A HUGE Thank You !!!

Before I post about goodie bags, fabric bought and plans, I want to take a moment to say an enormous, gigantic, huge THANK YOU !!!! To Leila (Where the Orchids Grow) and Leanne (shecanquilt).

As some of you know, I was so bogged down with work, I nearly didn't make it. Many friends said to me 'as long as you are there in person, forget the rest'... but having committed to the swap, and not having made my own badge yet (luckily had the sense not to enter in a swap there :-), I did not want to let anyone down.....

Into the breach stepped Leila... she wouldn't hear of not making my swap items, in spite of not entering herself due to lack of time! She made four absolutely beautiful lavender pouches with lace and lots of tiny piecing. They were just beautiful!! Thank you Leila, for taking the time to help out a friend, I really really appreciate it! This is the one that ended up with Karen (photo by Karen, thank you for allowing me to use it Karen!). Isn't it great ?



As Leila gave them to me just before a class and the swap (to which I was late) was just after the class, I unfortunately can't show you the other three, I really wish I had had the time to take a picture but I felt guilty being late already... Still, you can believe me if I say they were just as lovely. Thanks for saving the day Leila!

Another lady who I did not even know before but since become a friend is Leanne from Canada. She made the journey over here and did some London sightseeing before the retreat. As I said, we only met online because we were both in the Iron Man Challenge and within the shortest time, learning of my predicament, she also insisted on making me a badge.. inbetween the sight seeing and (being in London only a short time) obviously having better things to do!

So I ended up proudly wearing a little piece of "Red", her beautiful quilt she made.



It shows time and time again how strong online friendships can be and also what a generous bunch quilters are. So I made it to London! and thanks to both of you, I did not end up with a sticky label (well I did that too :-) we all were wearing both to start with) and my swap partners were not disappointed! I owe you guys! Thanks awfully much !!

Daybreak...

As said... when in London....

The first thing to do is - of course - pop in to my 'home from home' favourite museum in the world: The V&A!



No matter how often I go there, I still find more to see, more to get inspired by and realize how immensely BIG it is! Do go and have a look when in London, it is SO worth it!!


Now I knew there was some sort of a surprise brewing... All my friends had been hinting but not saying and it drove me mad!! Now and a surprise it was!! My blog friend Dolores had come all the way from West Virginia and I didn't even know about it!! Apparently my face was a picture! It sure was a big surprise but being the only one not in the know was a hard position to be in ! Don't do that again Dee or I might have to ... well... use your imagination but it won't be pretty, lol :-) Here she is with Mandy (and I DID know Mand was coming, all the way from Australia.. amazing!)



A trip to Tikki was on the program and taken seriously.. Linda seems determined to find that elusive scrap of fabric whilst Elizabeth is holding her head in despair... which colour does match with this?



And would you believe it, Trash pulled on the way back in the Tube. A very nice charming young man! Shame he didn't leave his number, told you Trash, you should've asked... Ah, you're shy, yeah, can happen ... :-)



For a lot of us, our online flight to unknown heights started with the Old Red Barn Company where we all met doing a sewalong with the incomparable Dana. To our delight a lot of the Old Red Barners were also in London and we of course had to have a photo with all of us! Hey John, appreciate the enthousiasm (as this was the umpteenth camera being passed round to take a shot), think I got the best one, whaddaya think !!



Two more of my BBFF's *best bloggie friends forever* attended. Leila (left - Where the Orchids Grow) and Jo (right - Bearpaw of Edinburgh). I was so pleased to see Jo again after meeting her last year and very happy to finally meet Leila face to face after writing to and fro from Holland.



The classes were all fantastic but due to me actually concentrating on getting things done properly and finished, I seem to have hardly any photos of either the classes or what I have made! Here is Lynne explaining the ins and outs of how the geese fly.



And very soon it was already time to go home and Trash and Mandy all packed and about to brave the tube. More random pics next time. It was great to meet all friends old and new and like everyone, I had a wonderful time!



A big thank you to the FQ team who were everywhere for everyone and to all of you to make the experience what it was!

Lynne eagerly anticipating....

the master pieces we are all going to make?

or... maybe ... everything ? :-)

(notice the big smile ! making amends, lol)

When in London

What happens when you go and meet over a hundred quilters who think fabric like you do?

You meet old friends finally face to face, you make new ones, you laugh, you cry, you sew, you learn new skills, it's all utterly wonderful, but you also don't have enough time to see everyone, to talk to them for long enough, to experience all that is on offer (boy, did I miss things... I never saw Michael and Julia Oakshot although I had been looking forward to it and totally missed sizzix to name a few) and in the end everything goes by in a blur....

Update on the meet with photos soon!

My Moo cards came...

In their incy wincy teeny weeny cutie little box!



Can't decide which one I like best!