Not a lot to report

I’ve been away over the weekend so no sewing except a little bit of handsewing in the car. I took OH and his friend to see Tenacious D for his birthday present and did the driving. Even though I went to the cinema, I still had two hours to kill in the car but the light wasn’t great for my eyes and this is why I haven’t got it to show you today.

So to keep up with Blogtoberfest, here’s a picture of the signature block for my Around the Block and Across the Pond Free Two Bee round robin. I sewed together randomy selected strips from ym scrap drawer and then trimmed it after piecing for a scrappy, wonky look. I’m hoping the other ladies will write in the white spaces and I’ll piece this into the back when the top is back with me in a few months’ time.

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Can’t stop the block

I’m trying to get my little bits and pieces done and out of the way. This weekend I’m working on a tutorial for a magazine using Oakshott shot cottons (as well as making 300 chocolates for 2 weddings, but that’s another story) so I look forward to showing you that soon.

I’ve already made my block for my tote bag for Mouthy Stitches. I need to correct some rubbish points on the bottom section and actually construct it into a bag, but this bit is pretty much sorted.

And I’ve made the starting centre block for Free Two Bee that is about to start.

Both items have a posting deadline of the end of the month so I’m on it like a car bonnet. Which leaves me more time later in the month to go and watch ice hockey games in Nottingham with OH, my new favourite thing. Go Panthers!

Round the blocks

Have you seen the Can’t Grow a Mo’ Sew a Mo’ block appeal? I won’t go into too much detail but it’s being managed by DJ Cool Bear to make a quilt to be raffled off for Movember and the Mary Potter Hospice raising money for prostate cancer patient care. All you have to do is make a block square or rectangular up to 12.5″ unfinished with an applique moustache (and there are some templates provided on the link if you can’t draw one) and mail it off to be included. I had forgotten my seam allowances when making my block this morning so I am quite glad of this because I expected to have to add another border tonight! Since quilting is all about working together and good causes traditionally, it might be something you want to get involved in. CLICK HERE FOR ALL OF THE INFORMATION.

So here’s my finished block, a dapper Dickensian gent is what I was aiming for…

Also I finished round 1 of the UK Borders Agency bee- I got Hannah’s boat block first so I added lots of solid strips round the outside to create a bit of a gap so the next person can add a load of patterns if they wish without it being too chaotic! I will be passing this on to Gina when I next see her, I have some things for her anyway!

Sadly it’s got a bit of a wonk to it- it doesn’t lay totally flat and I’m a bit worried to be honest. It could be because the block either wasn’t straight when I started adding to it or it could have been something I’ve done when building it. So what I’m thinking is if I put a big white border on it, do you think I’ll be able to square the wonk off? Any tips?!

Lastly, I’m looking for a volunteer to review the book below for me. I think sometimes it’s nice to get a mix of people reviewing things. I would post this out for you to keep and then I would need to know your general likes and dislikes about it, a couple of photos of things in the book you found particularly appealing and then I’ll format it into a guest blog post. I’d prefer UK reviewer at the minute because it will be quicker to get it to you and (marginally) cheaper. Any takers?

Swaps and Bees

I still have two spots left on the borders bee! Read this post for more information if you’re looking to join a UK quilting bee. So far our members are me, Gina, Wendy, Marie and Nan.

If a bee is too much commitment, then you might be interested in a swap. The Brit Quilt group has started up again and round 3 is a mini quilt round. If you fancy a secret swap and want to make a 12-24″ square mini quilt, get signed up ASAP. Here’s the link to the group.

And this is my mosaic for my lovely secret swapper to get an idea of what I like!

And of course a blog post wouldn’t be complete without a WIP picture, I am doing another secret swap and if I show too much the person who it is for will know I’m her partner so it’s just a sneak peek of a sketch that is going to be transfered to a useful homeware item 😉

UK Borders Agency Quilting Bee plus prize winners

And the winner of the scraps and bits and pieces is…

Nadia/TCN!

And the Twitter bonus prize winner is…

@gholmes724

Well done, I’ll be in touch later 🙂

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Right, onto new business! I’m starting my first quilting bee! I couldn’t find one with spaces and wanted to take part in another borders one but it was US only because of the postage, so I give you the UK Borders Agency Quilting Bee! We are currently looking for 6 5  4 2 1 more members!

A group of seven patchworkers will be adding borders to each others quilts over the course of a year. Want to join? Here’s the info you need, all you need to do is comment here (making sure there’s a way for me to contact you) or you can Flickrmail or e-mail me and I will e-mail you with a few questions based on your reliability. You will also need a Flickr account as this is crucial for communication (if you haven’t got one, they are free!) and then that’s pretty much it, you’re in!

Flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/ukbordersagencybee/

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This is a UK only borders quilting bee, taking place over a year from July 2012 to 2013. There are only seven people in this bee to make it a little bit more time relaxed than other bees, so we should know each other really well by the end of the project.

This is not a secret swap and you are encouraged to see what your partner likes from their blogs and Flickrstream and also from their wish list on the discussion board. Each participant will make a centre block- anything you fancy- for their medallion quilt measuring 12.5″ (unfinished) and post it on to a specified bee member to add the first round. This will then be posted to another member to add the second round and so on.

Each round is allocated 2 months to complete and you will receive a quilt top posted on from another bee member. At the end of the sixth round, the last person working on your quilt top will post it back directly to you for you to quilt and finish yourself.

If you find you can’t take place in a round and need to drop out of the bee, you will get your medallion top back in its current state instead of the next round and your space on the bee will be taken by a reserve member (or by me if we’re almost at the end!), so it’s almost flake proof, as long as you keep your queen bee- that’s me BTW- informed of any possible delays or issues.

Everything will be run from the Flickr group, so your next address to post to, etc will be communicated through Flickr Mail and you are encouraged to come and chat on the boards often if you can, which will help fellow bee members make something you will love. Please post images regularly and check with your partner if they like the idea. Feel free to talk about a funny thing that happened that day or pretty much anything you like, it doesn’t need to be quilting related. It would be great if we all became friends by the end of it!

There is no size restriction to your borders so the quilts are likely to be different sizes but the aim is for a lap quilt size or a wall hanging. You can make your borders modern or traditional, pieced or appliqued, anything goes as long as you are working on something the recipient will like.

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My requirement for my quilt is that each border must feature animals somewhere, whether pieced, appliqued or simply in the fabric, so you can specify what you like. There’s a thread on the group visible when you join where you can state all your likes and dislikes and anything your quilt just must have.

Any questions fire away and I’ll answer them 🙂 I’ll leave you with a couple of inspiring medallion quilts I just love (these are not my quilts, click the photos to link back to the original source)!

(it’s incidental that they both have the same starting block!)