Modern Stitching Bee Quilt: FINISHED

Why is it bee quilts are always my favorites?  Is it because each of my friends contributed a bit of happiness?  Is it because I can see their personalities in each block?  I think so!  The ladies in this bee are so very special to me, so this quilt was bound to be a hit!  

This quilt started in November of 2012 when I was queen bee and requested a scrappy Depression block.  My bee mates were quick to send in beautiful blocks, but I had set them aside for months and months. It was only when I was preparing for the Fat Quarterly Retreat in July 2013 that I realized I could assemble the top and hand it off to Emily for quilting (you can see her work bit better in this post).  Done!

 

 

The back is Kona Peacock pieced with signature blocks from some of my bee mates.  I wish I made other siggy blocks for those who were not able to send in their own...just to have the complete group included.  Live and learn.

 

  

 I then finished it off with a dotty pink binding from Simply Style and popped it into the wash and held my breath.  Thank goodness the Color Catchers did their job because the white top stayed nice and crisp.  After a day or two on the line and a tumble dry, this quilt is now in use each and every evening.  

Ladies, thank you.  I think it's absolutely wonderful.

Quilt Stats

Name: Unknown - Modern Stitching Bee Quilt for now.

Made for: Me to use while watching TV curled up on the couch.

Fabric: Scraps and white fabric from bee mates, Kona Peacock on the back and binding by Simply Style.

Thread: Pieced with Aurifil.

Batting: 100% Simply Cotton.

Size: Approximately 60x60 inches.

Quilting: Quilted by Emily using an infinity loop.

Pattern: Depression block using this tutorial.

Significant Quilt Top Finished

Not that the finishing of this top is significant, but the name of this quilt will be Significant.  I will tell you the whole story later, but the long and short of it is this quilt is being made for a family who needs a quilty warm hug. I wanted to make a quilt that could be used by the whole family this winter when curling up on the couch.  I tried for a more neutral colors scheme than I usually go for (ash, white and creams vs. scrappy rainbow) and avoided things that might make it too girly as there are two fellas in this family.

With three Comma charm packs, some Kona Ash and my Sizzix, I altered Jennifer's Starflower tutorial scaling each HST block to 4.5 inches square.  The first border is a 2 inch (finished) strip of Kona Black followed by a second border (3 inches finished) of Comma Asterisk.  The full top is now 70x70 inches, which is perfect for a couch quilt.

I just need to finish off the back, sort out the label and then I'm sending this off to be quilted professionally.  It is quite important to me that this family has the quilt quickly and I take months and  months to quilt anything.  Sending it out seemed like the best thing to do. 

I hope to show you a finished quilt next week!  

...And In Return

I always forget that after I send off swap goodies that happy mail is quickly to follow.  Both of my recent swap partners had me 100% pegged with the pretty things they made for me.  Want to see?

In the Irish Pin Cushion I was unknowingly matched up with Fiona of Besty Grey Crafts. Fiona makes the most beautiful things and you get to see lots of it in real time following her on IG (@betsygreycrafts).  We have not yet met in real life, but I am hoping our paths cross this weekend at the Knitting and Stitching Show.  Fiona sent over the most gorgeous cathedral windows pin cushion with the little tiniest yo-yos at each point. 

How on earth did she press these windows and still keep each of her fingertips?  I'll never know.  I adore the fabrics she choose. I love, too, that with the thickness of the windows it gives great resistance when poking it with a pin. It's beautiful, Fiona.  Thank you.

In the Stamp It Up swap, the super Nathalie made a massive zipper pouch for me.  Its a size I don't have and it's 100% perfect for travelling as it fits all kinds of goodies.  She carved an amazing flower and stamped it once on the front and once on the back, then framed the stamp with log-cabin type piecing.  The blues she choose are so beautifully rich.  

Inside it is lined with white and pink fabric, that's further stamped with little FSQ sheep, making this pouch so super and personal. I love that there are little black FSQ sheep, too!  That's so cool.  Nathalie, thank you.  It's amazing.

Swaps are such a wonderful way of getting to know new folks or pushing ourselves a bit further.  A great big thumbs up to both of my partners as well as to the organizing mamas, Nicky, Helen and Sarah.  Thank you all for making these swaps so much  fun.

Stamp It Up Zippy Pouch

Life has been filled with travel, family, health issues/healing, etc lately and blogging has fallen behind.  You know the story.  But I have missed you all so very much that I'd really like to re-join our happy community as best I can.  I love the giggles and inspiration we all share so I am only thrilled to bring that back into this cold, wet, dark part of Ireland.  

Let's start with an oldie, but a goodie shall we?  Back in Sept the lovely Nicky ran a super swap called Stamp It Up!  We were each to carve eraser stamps and make some small creation for our swap partner based on their inspirational mosaic.  So I gathered together my erasers, brand new ink pads and got down to business.  

I then embroidered little eyes and legs on my new friends.  I loved doing that.  At the end I felt like I knew each of the little ladies personally.

My partner, now revealed as Anneliese, had wanted a coffee cozy to keep her fingers from getting burned when holding a takeaway coffee.  I read through a few tutorials and choose one to try.  Although the tutorial was relatively straight forward and logical, the measurements listed were COMPLETELY incorrect, so my miserable cozy ended up looking like this.

See how the top and bottom (Summersville) border is cut off and one birdie is missing her feet? Awful.  So I unpicked everything and made a few new birds to create a zippy pouch using Kat's go-to pattern that is 100% wonderful from start to finish.

I used Essex linen on the top and back, then Kate Spain's Good Fortune on the bottom and as the lining.  I liked that I was sending a bit of Good Fortune to Anneliese and her home.

My little stamped pouch has now safely arrived at its new home and is already in use.  I hope you like it, Anneliese!  I really enjoyed making it for you.

Irish Pin Cushion Swap

A few weeks ago I joined the Modern Irish Quilter's pin cushion swap. This is such a super swap as lots and lots of new-to-me Irish quilters have joined in, so its great fun seeing what everyone is into or planning on making.  When making my inspirational mosaic, I found a few cathedral window pin cushions that just mesmerized me.  I loved loved loved them. My partner seems to like them as well, so I thought I might give one a try.

I used the tute by Jamie Mueller to make mine.  It was well written and easy to follow.  She has two variations of her pin cushion, but I choose the most basic and straight forward one.  It's my first, after all!  I used a cherry red Amy Butler paired with a light blue floral from Sweetest Thing.  The window fabric is a simple Kona white.  

And voilà!  After lots of folding, pressing, folding, pinning and a few bad words my mother wouldn't be proud of I made this!

I am quite pleased with how it turned out.  I did struggle putting the little button on the center. It's quite hard to hold it in place, stitch and press to get the little dimple in the center.  I originally tried with a smaller button (silly) with four holes in the center.  Epic failure. I then found a larger button with only two holes and it worked a treat.

So, partner, I hope you like it!  If it is not your thing, I can change it up and make something else.  Let me know what you think!  

Swoon Blocks 6 and 7

I am still Swooning along.  Honestly!  These blocks, and this quilt, still hold my interest, but each block is a commitment so I am slow to turn them out.  I have just finished blocks 6 and 7.  Want to see them?

I really like the grey eyelets in this block.  They set off the business of the green print so that the overall effect doesn't induce seizures.  I'm digging the green and grey color combo too.  That's a new one for me.

I'm a little flustered with this one.  I had originally planned this block so that the pink was the center star print and the grey they surround, but I cut them in reverse order.  This means I'll have more grey stars in the quilt than I originally intended.  That being said, the pink dots may have been too busy for the central star.  Regardless, this block still looks nice with the others on my design wall.

Two more blocks to go!  I should have them finished this week all going well.  Woo hoo!

Clarinbridge Market Day

Last week I wasn't motivated to blog.  It took a while to recover from our Electric Picnic adventures (unpacking and sleeping and all) and I picked up a (totally rockin') souvenir head cold.  Anyway, life is back on track and I have missed you guys!  Here's the news...

Myself and Molly at the opening of the shop.  Molly was more interested in
her new friends at Madra to our left.

This past weekend  I spent Saturday (7th Sept) with the shop at the Clarinbridge Market Day.  Once a year they transform their town square into a market highlighting all of the local businesses and crafts people in the area.  There were jewellers, cupcake makers, antique shops, knitters, bookshops, livestock and veggie vendors.  It was so lovely to meet our neighbours, have a chat and peek around at the talent is just at our doorstep.

A wall of quilts by Emily (top left), Lucy (top right), Lynz (bottom left),
Annabella (bottom middle) and Little Star.

My other half and I put up a 3 meter x 3 meter canopy right in the center of the market.  We had a fantastic spot between a silver jewellery stand and Madra (love them!).  It was cold and drizzly so we decided to put up both the roof as well as the walls.  Thank goodness because by opening the rains were falling.  And falling.  And falling.  It was miserable, so there were very few people.  Finally by around 1 the rains lifted and the nicest group of supportive, cheerful, neighbourly folks started to arrive. 

A table of precuts, bundles, perle and Echio.  Yum!  Quilts by Rhonda (top) and
Erin (bottom)

 What was incredible was the number of younger girls and teens who were into sewing clothes for themselves, their dolls or cushions for their room.  That was really unexpected and very cool.  There were some new quilting faces and a few familiar friends.  Thank you all for coming out and saying hello.

Aurifil, FQs and Kona bundles along the table with quilts by Fiona (left) and
myself (right).

I'm sorry for the bad lighting in the photos.  There was no way to get a good photo from outside in the miserable rain back into the dark stall.  Please believe me  when I say your quilts looked just amazing ladies!  Thank you all for your talent and time.  xx

Back to School Sale!

It's that time of year again!  The kids on my street are staring school this Monday.  They are half looking forward to seeing their friends, but are already complaining about the homework.  

But what about us? The grown ups.  Maybe you are a parent welcoming the peace and quiet back into your house.  More time to sew!  Maybe you are like me and your quiet work space is about to be invaded by hundreds of students.  We need to sew for sanity!  No matter how you cut it, I think we need a little fabric therapy.

Fluffy Sheep Quilting is having a 20% off sale starting today (Friday) and running through Monday so you can shop all weekend long.  Just enter the code back2skool on the shopping cart page under the pictures of your pretty fabrics.  Happy shopping!  

Modern Stitching Bee: Quilted

It is with great excitement that I show you my new gorgeously quilted Modern Stitching Bee quilt!  It was recently quilted by Emily on her wonderful frame and I am absolutely thrilled with the results!  Look!  Look!

Photo by Emily

As Emily's frame is new to her, she is offering a basting service to anyone who doesn't fancy loosing their dignity and crawling all over the floor to baste a quilt.  Although she is not taking quilts from the general public for quilting quite yet, she's happy to take quilts from folks who are willing to let her learn/grow in her quilting skills.  Now I know Emily is phenomenal, so I was more than happy to give her my quilty baby.

Photo by Emily

The Modern Stitching Bee was incredibly important to me as I had such great bloggy friends included in the hive.  I loved each and every month we had together for the laughs and the quilty inspiration.  I was Miss November and chose a Depression  Block for the ladies to make.  I was a bit slow contributing my own blocks...still making them in January after the hive blocks arrived!  I needed to add a few extra to bring it up to size.  Since winter, it's been a finished top hanging over the shop door waiting to be layered and quilted.

Photo by Emily

But when making my Q2 and Q3 FAL goal lists, including the goal to finish this quilt (!!!), I realized both Emily and I would be the Fat Quarterly retreat in London.  I thought it would be a great opportunity for us to do a quilty hand off.  I happily gave her the finished top, batting and back (with signature blocks) and we chatted with Leanne to decide how it should be quilted.  We eventually decided on an infinity loop.  I wanted something bubbly to counterbalance the edges of the HSTs, but I didn't want it to be over quilted so that it would remain soft.  The infinity loop is perfect.  Before handing it off to Emily, we took a hive photo at the retreat.  How fun to get nearly half of the hive together!  The folks below are from the UK, Canada, Ireland and the US.  Amazing.

Photo by Leanne and Laura Jane
Susan, me, Leanne, Emily, Nicky and Di

Anyway, Emily has just finished it off and sent it over to Galway in the post.  Today it arrived and I am bubbling with excitement at the real deal in front of me.  I just need to get a binding on this old friend and we'll call it finished.  I am so excited to put it to use watching movies this winter.  Emily, it's gorgeous.  Thank you!!!

 I have just realized I need a name for this quilt.  Any suggestions?  

Hand Printed Fabrics

I have a new obsession.  It's still fabric related, of course, but not your normal old fabric.  Hand printed fabric has stolen my heart!

It was only recently that I "met" Karen of Blueberry Park on Instagram and Leanne of The Little House Martin via the Fat Quarterly retreat last month.  (Instagram has opened a whole new world of quilters, artists and crafters and I am simply thrilled to bits. Join me @fluffysheepquilting.)   Leanne and Karen print the most gorgeous fabrics!

I first picked up a rainbow goodie scrap pack from Karen via Instagram (@blueberryathome).  I had been watching Karen for a short while printing away in her happy studio, but when a little fabric pack came up for sale I couldn't control myself!  I had nabbed it and gave Karen my paypal address before I realized what I had done!  Anyway, they arrived at the house and they are more delicious in person.

I have not made anything from them yet...I'm still in the happy petting stage.

Then, at the Fat Quarterly retreat market, I very briefly ran by Leanne's stand.  As I had my own shop that I was supposed to be watching, I could not hover for long.  But then over dinner my friends were showing me the gorgeous charm packs they picked up while shopping and I could not believe I did not have my own!  I hopped over to Leanne's Etsy shop and picked up a bundle for myself.  Happy happy days!

Now here's the question.  I'd love to use these in a single project where each print gets to shine as much as possible.  Any ideas?  Maybe in a quilt like this mixed with matching solids?

Nieve's Bunting

My little nice Nieve now has her own room.  She has a crib, a couch to read books with her mom and dad, a rocking chair and a changing table.  But her walls are still white as they day they moved in.

Nieve at 6 months old

So, while I was in Boston, Nieve's mom and I had a chat about brightening the place up.  We wanted to coordinate what hangs on the wall with both her dream catcher painted by her mom's friend (in aqua on a white background) and her quilt.  Well, how about a matching bunting?

Nieve has a 13 foot interior wall that doesn't have a window or a door.  We thought a bunting might be a fun way to add a little color to that space.  I used the leftover scrappy fabric I pieced for Chaos to make 9 of the flags, then choose a few fat quarters that I thought might suit Nieve for the other nine.  The dark blue with yellow and red flowers (photo below) is from my childhood curtains!  Love that print.  The back is a basic Kona White.

Elephants, sheep, frogs, birds and flowers.

I tried to coordinate the binding (Kona Peacock) with the aqua I remember from the painted dream catcher to pull things together.  I really hope my memory of the color is true and I didn't create something that looks awful!

Leaves and squiggles

Cranes and sheep (of course).

This is about 15 feet long to fill the wall and then have a little extra to droop or swoop as they'd like.  I tried to make equilateral triangles that are 10 inches from the base to the apex.  I'd say they remained as equilateral triangles only about 1/3 of the time.  The rest warped in the process. I don't  think you can tell, but my fear is that Nieve's dad tries to teach her about the geometry of triangles using this bunting and she's scarred for life.

Flowers from my childhood bedroom and elephants.

Flowers and frogs.

Nieve (and family) I hope you like it!  I'm already working on an idea for your other bare wall, but need a little practice before I start in on the "real deal".  Fingers crossed it works out!  xx

Miss Molly.  Photographic assistant.