Swooning along nicely!!

Corny title I know, but I'm over half way through the blocks for my Chicopee Swoon and I'm a bit excited!
Here's No.4

 No.5

 And No. 6

No.6 is definitely my favourite, I love this fabric combination!

With a mock up on PicMonkey I think they are going to go brilliantly together.

So, I just need to get on with the last 3.

With it being half term here, we are having the gorgeously expected weather of rain, rain and more rain, with a cold snap. Which has meant lots of staying in with puzzles and games for the children, revision for the eldest and a bit of sewing for me. Tuesday I managed to chop and sew a Giant Vintage Star almost all together.

I'm using all Pam Kitty fabrics, but ran out of white for the last two background squares, with just 2" short and the replacement is sitting in the post office as the cover postman couldn't possibly bend some fabric to get it in the letterbox! (Rant over!!)  So I'm meant to wait 48hrs before collecting it, but I might go and beg the nice lady in the sorting office tomorrow if it's already there!

And lastly, (I know your thinking, thank God!!) I've signed up to the Fat Quarterly retreat sample swaps and was thinking of a Boxy Pouch like this one or a Thread Catcher as my offering, but has anyone got any good ideas of things I've made that are good swap items?? Or things they have loved receiving in a swap, please???

I'm linking up today with Sue, I've been trying to get a Thursday post out to link up with the Brit Sewing link, but this is the first week I've been coordinated!

Cushion Overgram!

A question for you, how many photos can you take of one cushion?

If your me, far too many!!

And the back

So, I think you can guess I LOVE this cushion! Even if it finished up at an irregular 14"x28" size and I had to butcher a pillow form from Ikea to fit it!

If you missed the last post, this is for my mum from my children for her 65th Birthday.
I machine binded using the 'so far fool proof' quick machine binding from Lynne @ Lily's Quilts and in my opinion it makes for a neat and sturdy cushion!

The Details

Pattern - Letters from Spell it with Moda, cushion was bodged together by me. ( link is for the 'n' just change the letter in the web address to get the letter you want! 

Fabrics Front- Sugar Flower by Lecien for the letters, Kona White for the background.

Fabrics Back - A Kona green from Simply Solids Stash Club and a Pam Kitty fabric which I got from FQS but can't find the name!! 

Binding - Jump Scallops in Lime Green from Happy Go Lucky by Camille & Bonnie 

I embroidered the hand print on to the backing fabric with DMC thread after using a water soluble pen to trace their hand on. 

As ever, Miss Rose thinks every photo and blog post should have her in it, so she photo bombed the shoot!!

 And the lady who it was for!

The Birthday Girl and me! I think she had a very surprising weekend and really enjoyed herself!!!!  

I think it's time I started making these letters for me, so I can have a whole quilt……… what do you think? Random scrappy fabrics or plan the life out of it!
ps. Happy Bank Holiday Monday Uk peeps xxx

Blogger's Quilt Festival Spring 2014 - Scrappy

I've hummed and arred over joining in with the Blogger's Quilt Festival this time, but the yay in me won (at the last minute), as it is such a brilliant way to find other blogs and fellow quilt lovers!!

For those of you who have stumbled here from Blogger's Quilt Festival, my name is Joanne and I am a mum of 3 and wife of 1 long suffering husband, who loves to sew, knit and stitch, to keep sane. 

I live on the outskirts of London and am mostly a stay at home mum, but help with my parents business too. I have always loved making things, but the birth of my third child and deciding to stay at home and not return to work full-time, kicked me into crafting overdrive. I started blogging in 2011 as I knew no-one who knitted or sewed and I wanted to catalogue my makes. I started my first quilt in January 2012 and have been very badly bitten by the quilt making bug and the associated fabric buying/stashing addiction and have not looked back. 

I have picked to enter my Economy Block Quilt (that I made from 1st block to snuggling under, in a record breaking for me 7 weeks) to the Scrappy Category. 

I first spotted the Economy Block on Instagram over the New Year when it was being talked about as an IG sew along and within days I had pulled out my scraps and started cutting into them. 

I used some really special fabrics for fussy cutting and tried to not be precious with matching colours too much. 

I quilted it with straight lines framing the squares. 

And I think I love the back as much as the front! 

The details are:

Pattern- Ecomony Block by Rita - Red Pepper Quilts

Size - 70"x70"

Quilted - By me with Aurifill 2021

Fabrics - Everything and anything! 

Backing - Alexander Henry Baile de Calaveras in Tea/Marine

Binding - Sketch in Charcoal and Smoke

This quilt really tested one of my quilty resolutions to try and mix colours up more and to stop sticking within fabric ranges for safe options and my other one to use more scraps and stash fabrics!! Although the scraps where hardly dented, even after making 196 blocks!! 

Thank you so much for reading about my Scrappy Economy Block Quilt and thanks you so much for Amy for Hosting this amazing blogging festival! I'm off to see all the fantastic quilts and other categories! 

Wednesday's Stitching

I've been spending the last two evenings embroidering some handprints onto the backing of my NAN cushion.

Also a few words,

And I've been sewing some Swoon bits, 

I've got 3 blocks in various stages of togetherness, so that needs tackling. 

So, I'm all set to get them together, the cushion and the blocks, although with the youngest two's school being shut tomorrow for polling day, I might not get any free time till the weekend!!!!
I'm linking up with

Last minute bright ideas!

I love how my brain waits until we are really near an occasion and then throws an idea in my head!
It's my mum's 65th Birthday next weekend, I have been planning a surprise Sunday lunch and trip to Ireland with my dad (he told me what he wanted to do and I've run around like a headless chicken booking and arranging it!), so things have been really hectic, then yesterday I had an idea to make her a cushion from the children.

I'd spotted and grabbed some fq's of Flower Sugar by Lecien at my local quilt shop last week and so got cutting and sewing yesterday and have pieced this.

I know the A's a little subtle than the N's, but I'm hoping with a bit of quilting it will stand out more.
I've used the Spell it with Moda pattern again, as it is so so simple to piece and my appliqué is shocking!
Now to get myself away from the sunny garden to get it quilted. 

And the SMS day winners are…..

Mr Random has been busy over the last 24hrs, and he has picked………
for the supplies

who is

and for the Handmade cushion, the winner is

and No.105 was

I will be emailing you both soon and posting the winnings out hopefully on Monday or Tuesday!

Thank you so so much for everyone who entered, I have loved reading all the present ideas ( I'm so pleased cushions are what most people make too!!) and for all those new followers HELLO *waves franticly!!!
I'm so pleased you are here and hope you stay around!!!

* Blogger is being a bit of a git at the moment, so please forgive all the missed photos and the dodgy formatting!!  

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day - Supplies

I feel like I've started a bit of a SMS Day giveaway tradition on this blog, as each time I've joined in I've offered up a copy of Love Patchwork & Quilting Magazine and some fabric. So to carry it on, this time I'm giving away this.

Issue 8 of Love Patchwork and Quilting Magazine and a Charm pack of Color Me Happy by Vanessa Christenson of V & Co

I am having a hard time parting with this charm pack and might have to get myself one after flicking through the squares!
This magazine is where I got the pattern from for the handmade goodie I'm giving away over here!

It really is a good read with original patterns, well I think it is!

The Rules.

➢The giveaway will be open from today (Monday 12th May) until 5pm PST on Friday 16th May 2014 thats the middle of the night for me, so I'll get Mr Random to pick a winner on Saturday 17th May.

➢I WILL post internationally, so you can enter wherever you are.

➢Please, please, please, make sure I have your email if you are a no-reply commenter, I'm not telepathic and really don't have enough time to be chasing around the internet to find a contact email for you.

So, now how to enter, leave me a comment telling me what is your favourite Charm Pack project. I have a few Bonnie & Camille ones stashed and can't pick anything to do with them!

As a bonus entry, be a follower (old, new and anyway you like) and let me know in a separate comment telling me how you follow.

I LOVE SMS Day and have found some amazing blogs, followers and prizes from participating in it, so go on have a go and enter lots of them!  And remember my Handmade Giveaway is over here.

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day - Handmade Pillow

I have been very lucky enough to win prizes of both handmade and crafty supplies in previous SMS Days, so this year I'm offering up two prizes! The other one is here.

This is a giveaway for this Union Jack Pillowcase, all made by my fair hands!

It measures 18"x27" which means a bed sized pillow will fit in it.

The giveaway doesn't include the pillow pad!

It's paper pieced, in quilting cottons and the pattern is by Lynne at Lily's Quilts and comes from this months Love Patchwork & Quilting Magazine.

The Rules.

➢The giveaway will be open from today (Monday 12th May) until 5pm PST on Friday 16th May 2014 thats the middle of the night for me, so I'll get Mr Random to pick a winner on Saturday 17th May.

➢I WILL post internationally, so you can enter wherever you are in the world.

➢Please, please, please, make sure I have your email if you are a no-reply commenter, I'm not telepathic and really don't have enough time to be chasing around the internet to find a contact email for you.

So, now how to enter, leave me a comment telling me what is your favourite thing to make as a gift. I favour cushions, but I'm sure my family are fed up with them….

As a bonus entry, be a follower (old, new and anyway you like) and let me know in a separate comment telling me how you follow.

And if pink isn't your colour or you just don't want this pillow, you can enter my other giveaway for a copy of the magazine that this pattern came from and a charm pack over here.

I LOVE SMS Day and have found some amazing blogs, followers and prizes from participating in it, so go on have a go and enter lots!! 

35 Teeth and counting!

I've been knitting along on my Hitchhiker Shawl and although some of the rows have been ripped and reknitted I'm doing quite well.

I've knitted 35 teeth, with 30g remaining from the first skein, but obviously progress is slowing up now as the rows are getting longer.

The yarn is knitting up like a dream and I'm loving the grey rainbow shawl that it's becoming!

It's the perfect TV knit, but I do need to get a move on as I've got another knit lined up and I need the needles from this!!! 

I've been working on my SMS Day giveaway make and posts yesterday, so remember to pop back tomorrow to see them and have a chance at winning. 

yes, I have a glass mark on top of my machine!

I'm linking up with 

A wandering mind

You know when you start pulling out fabric for a project and are faffing around with colours, patterns and placement? And are completely concentrating on what your doing not being distracted by anything at all?……….and then you have a thought, not about what you are meant to be doing, but about something completely different?
And without even thinking, your half way through making a block?
Please tell me you do, as thats what happen last night and I ended up making this.

A massive paper pieced Union Jack block for a pillow, a bed sized pillow, not a cushion sized one.

The pattern is by Lynne of Lily's Quilts and it was in this months Love Quilting & Patchwork Magazine.
I'm hoping to get it quilted and turned into a pillow this weekend. I was thinking of it being a handmade giveaway for SMS Day on Monday, but I'm not sure if anyone will want it.

I do love the crispness of paper piecing!

Anyhoo, I did also managed to finish faffing with the original fabrics  .

I was thinking the layout on the left for a Giant Star Quilt for Siblings Together…or maybe one of those fabrics on the side should be mixed in, I do love those Kitties and balloons, or they might be too young What do you think? ….because, as normal, I'm undecided!

I'm linking up with

Swoon in Progress!

I spent the Bank Holiday weekend working, washing rugby bits, weeding the garden and trying to save my sanity by sewing a few Swoon blocks.
Here's Block No.1

Block No.2

and Block No.3

But, if I'm honest block No.2 will be forever known as the block that nearly lost me my sanity. I wasn't concentrating and sewed so many bits together wrongly and had to recut some squares and unpick LOTS!!!
But it is a corker now it's done and I'm a 3rd of the way through the quilt and I have learnt I will definitely not be multitasking and Swooning again!!
I think I might do something easy before I tackle the next 3.

Oh, and I'm really really pleased I chopped into the Chicopee, I can't stop starting at these blocks.  

I'm linking up with