Serendipity

Last Wednesday I asked "Is there anything more satisfying than neat piles of freshly cut fabric?". It turns out there is! I have had so much fun sorting my fabrics into colour groups:

and piecing them into perfect wedding ring curves (I am a total foundation convert!). 

Add to that the serendipitous fact that, just as I started piecing a wedding ring quilt, 2 of my best friends announced they will be getting married next August. It must be fate.
So shabby wedding rings is to go to this gorgeous couple.

And now I have a deadline, I better get going...


This post is linked to Quiltstory's Fabric Tuesday. Why not pop over for some gorgeous fabric inspiration.

Phew! I'm glad that week's over!

I have had such a busy week and it's been coupled with an awful virus that I, my sister and my brother-in-law have all caught. I am so glad it's over and I can get back to normal.

Last weekend we threw a hen night at big sister's house for one of her best friends. It was going to be Bollywood themed so we went to a Sari shop and bought some fabric to decorate the house. Who would have thought that a few yards of fabric and some printer paper are all you need to turn a conservatory into the Taj Mahal!

It was a fabulous evening but it took a day to recover - much too much tequila! 

Today is another friend's wedding and my mum has been working on making her a quilt for a wedding present for the past 6 months. Unfortunately a couple of stints in hospital and a terribly bad back prevented her from finishing it so I promised I would get it done. There were 6 blocks left to finish but I've managed to get it all sewn together and quilted in 3 days!

Colette and Damien (the lucky couple) live in New Zealand by the beach and mum designed this using beautiful batiks to go on their porch swing. I hope they enjoy it and spend plenty of evenings snuggled under it watching the sunset.

So between hen nights, weddings, viruses and job interviews I am pretty exhausted and ready for a nap. But you know what they say about idle hands... I'm going to get started on my fishy tea cosy!

Wedding quilt finish

I made it!  The quilt got finished, the dress got finished and they both made it the 350 miles to the wedding without being lost, damaged or stolen.  I managed to take some pictures of it before I handed it over to the bride and groom.

By the way, I don't live in a castle and sleep in a four-poster bed every night.  That's just the hotel room but maybe some day ........  

Don't the bride and groom look happy.  You can see where I got my colour inspiration from - I was there when the bride bought the fabric for her dress.

 

Oh well, on to the next project, a block swap on the Missouri Star Quilt Forum.

Sneaky Peek no. 4

I've finally managed to get all the hand quilting done (well as much as is humanly possible).  There was no way I could get all of the motifs done so I've left the outside ring of blocks, the ones that aren't complete stars, to finish at a later date.  Maybe for their first anniversary or maybe their 10th!!!

On to the machine for the final bits of quilting around the diamonds and the borders.  4 days of sewing left and I still have a dress to finish too - AAAAARRGGGHH!!!

A distraction before I go entirely insane

I've been hand quilting this wedding quilt for so long I've completely forgotten what it's like to cut and piece!  I come in form work everyday, I plonk myself down in my little corner and I sew:

Look at that vain kitty.  Always doing her hair!

It's come to the point when I just can't face sitting in that seat a night longer so I signed up for my very first  block swap at the Missouri Star Quilt forum.  The theme is very loose but it has to be summery and it has to use floral fabrics.  I had a spare hour so I drove up to The Fat Quarters and bought some gorgeous Tilda fabrics.

I chose them because they aren't available in America so it'll be a nice treat for the other ladies (I hope).  Now if I can just finish the block I'm hand quilting I can start cutting!  (I feel like a surgeon who's been denied time in the OR).

Sneaky Peek no. 3

5 blocks down, 26 to go and 12 weeks on the clock.  Is it time to panic yet?

Quilting progress

Sorry I don't have anything more fun to post but I have spent the entire week (including the Bank Holiday weekend) sat in front of my quilting frame.  All that time and I've managed 4 out of 31 centres.  I should mention that I actually have to go to work full time otherwise that statistic would make me cry.  Here's a picture of the pattern I decided to go with:

I couldn't find any way of marking up the patterns because all of the water soluble pencils and chalks stain the silk.  This means each block is stenciled onto tissue paper, pinned to the quilt, basted over the lines in a contrasting thread and then the paper peeled away.  Only then can the quilting begin.  On second thoughts, maybe 4 blocks in a week is good going - only 27 to go!

Let the quilting commence!

The quilt top is finished, the batting is layered and the design is chosen.  All there is left to do is find the time to quilt the Wedding Quilt.  I've never made anything bigger than a twin before so I think this is going to take some time.  From now until August if I'm not at work or babysitting, you will probably find me in my designated quilting seat (note ease of access to TV remote - essential)

Well here goes nothing ...

Babies and bunnies

I've finally decided on a quilt for my step-sister's baby.  I fell in love with this pattern at The Fat Quarters when I feigned illness last week so I could go with mum instead of going to work.  Don't judge me until you've had to temp - it sucks!

How could anyone resist those bunnies?  They are so adorable and as gender neutral as I could find.  I opted for less pink in my fabric choices to try and make it a little less girly so I think it will work for either boy or girl.

Well back to the wedding quilt.... This little beauty will have to wait until I have the silk monster all layered up.

Sneaky Peek no. 2

My inner self is fighting between showing you what I've been up to and keeping the Wedding Quilt a secret but I'm going to give you a peek and hope that the bride to be doesn't look at my blog.  Hmmm... Maybe I should take the link off Facebook...

Weeks of driving myself crazy and spreading tiny fragments of silk all over the house has culminated in the centre of the top being finished.   I've added the first border to try and prevent some of the fraying.  Three more borders to go and I can start quilting.  I've been working on something special for the centre.  What do you think?

Busy busy bee

I've been very busy flitting around the country for the last couple of weeks and my laptop suddenly decided it didn't like electricity which isn't really conducive to blog posting.  I've seen some beautiful exhibitions and purchased some gorgeous fabrics so it was all worth while.

First off was the V&A's "Quilts: 1700 - 2010" exhibition.

There were some beautiful quilts from centuries ago but I was very disappointed with the modern day examples.  With all of the amazing artists out there making gorgeous quilts, why did they think Tracy Emin's dirty bed would be a good use of their funds?  And sheets of silk billowing from the ceiling may be beautiful but they most definitely are not a quilt!

Rant over.  While I was in London I got to meet up with some good friends that I haven't seen in a while and catch up on the gossip.  I also got a private tour of the foreign office which is very fancy.

On to Leeds where I stopped in to visit the boyfriend who is in complete exam stress meltdown.  I took him  to York for the day to try and relax him a bit and to celebrate his birthday.  We went to Jorvik Viking Centre (stinky as ever), York Castle Museum (oddly had nothing to do with Castles or York), wandered around the shops and then I dragged him to the Quilt Museum and Gallery run by The Quilter's Guild of The British Isles.

I felt very guilty for making him go there on his birthday but at the end of the day he said that it was the best thing we did all day.  It was beautiful, some unusual examples of quilting with very knowledgeable ladies around to chat to and answer all your questions.

It's good to be home though, I'm getting cracking with the Wedding Quilt and trying not to get distracted by all my other purchases.  More about them soon ...