Interruption to normal service

Just a quick post to show you my amazing haul. All £17 meters worth!


The last local linen factory is closing down and the guy is offering brilliant prices on offcuts.

This came to the grand total of £23. Yes that works out at £1.35 per meter! Normally I never get bargains like this and was always jealous of the garage sale finds in the USA. But this makes up for that. Belfast was the home of linen production and I'm glad to get a slice of history. And now I have my full quota of linen for probably ever!

Splurge Part 1

I have been very bad at updating my blog and I realised there were loads of projects that I have completed that I haven't blogged about. So the next few posts will be a splurge of all of them. Lots of pictures you'll be glad to know! Also I need to get that awful picture of a failed block from the last post off the top of the blog!

This Kobo case was a request from a friend and I just got some shots in before I gave it to her.

Isn't the button absolutely adorable?

Sorry this picture is a bit blurred. I was able to get some coloured elastic from this website. I think it really makes it - black or white would have looked horrible!

 I appliqued the patches on and hand sewed the message - Never judge a book by its movie.

Finally I quilted this squarish crossover stipple in turquoise thread.

This cover turned out so well I could not believe - my next attempt (which you think would be better and easier right?) for my Mum's was more awkward and did not come together as easily.

It took a few attempts to get right. I think I cut it too small - and then there is no going back. I don't even have a photo of it. You will have to make do with WBP (Work Before Progress!)

More to follow soon.

Just try

Sometimes you start something which you think you will love but it doesn't turn out that way. Other times there is a technique you think you will hate or be no good at and it actually turns out not too bad.

This is what happened with the sampler quilt I am working on and I guess a very good reason why a sampler quilt is a good idea in the first place. It "samples" techniques and methods and not only looks really pretty but gives you an idea of what you might like to work on more often.

I admired paper piecing for ages. All those pretty designs and accurate pictures. Look at sew take a hike blog. Too amazing! And how hard can it be, right? You get a piece of paper and sew along the lines. Easy? No!!!! Look at this attempt at a flying geese block - I'm embarrassed to say that this wasn't even by first attempt!

What was going on there??

So a big no no to paper piecing. Guess I will just have to admire those picture blocks from afar! But I will show you the finished block after much perserverance - I think it just about redeems me from the mess above.

So on to hexagons. Again, some pictures were really inspiring but I wasn't going to tackle them until I found a way to do these babies on a machine. But somehow it was too awkward on the sewing machine. So I bit the bullet and printed out the templates and started stitching.

Don't they even look inviting all piled up?

And.... I'm still going... But I love it! So relaxing!

This is my 12" block, still not finished and in the words of the other half - feels like you've been working on that forever! Wouldn't fancy doing a whole quilt like this but as a technique, something I am no longer afraid of. Now if only I felt that way about improv piecing...

So what's the moral of the story - who knows - I'm a quilter, not a lifestyle guru!