May in pictures

Jubilee Jack

I thought I would join in the Jubilee fervour and share Jubilee Jack with you.

All my blog pals out there know I can't be with you in London for the Jubilee weekend  retreat - another time perhaps.
Meanwhile I wish you all a wonderful weekend and hope you might like to make your own Diamond Souvenir.
I have made the foundation pattern available for download here.

Mama's having a giveaway!

Jo, over at Bearpapw, was my first ever swap mama in my first ever swap. She also has a shop in Edinburgh, my home city, so for these two reasons alone, I urge you to go visit her blog.

Her real life shop sells all sorts of lovely stuff, homewares and fabric and wool etc. The shop has just launched its online facility and to mark this, Jo is having a giveaway. Whether you knit, sew, craft or do a bit of all of this, it's worth joining in. Just click on the picture above.

Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah

My number came up in last week's Zakka draw!! I have won $30 gift voucher from Zipit, our favourite Etsy zip store. I foresee many zippy pouches in my future, really chuffed to win, thank you Zipit.

This week's Zakka style project is a smallish quilt - I am giving this one a body swerve for now as my holiday approaches - but I was asked yesterday if I could make another cot quilt for my little nephew and I think this one might fit the bill.

Looking ahead through the projects a couple of weeks ago,  I started making the messenger bag - I spent a lovely self-indulgent day breaking the back of the project but had to put it on the back burner until I sourced and took delivery of the required hardware.

I pencilled in today as the day it would be completed and despite an unscheduled babysit, I have just managed to complete it.
It is actually next week's project but too excited not to share now.

I am pretty pleased with myself - now before you all rush to tell me about my wonderful quilting, I have to confess and tell you about my fabric choices.
The book, of course, suggested linen, but I have a wee pile of interesting fabrics that one of my lovely ladies in class - "Pink Caryl" provided. She has a friend who works in a textile company, not sure where or what, but she accesses samples that...wait for it......sit down............would otherwise be sent to .......landfill!!
Dreadful!!
Most of these fabric samples are decent sized, all home decorating weight, so when Caryl brings a pile to class, we all shout , with one accord - "BAGS".
So the fabric in my stash that became my bag outer, is a cotton/silk blend, yum, and has a quilted finish. My husband, known for his artisitc sensibilities, thinks it looks like a bit of carpet underlay - remember "Tredaire?"
The leaves were fashioned from scraps of faux suede and other home dec samples I have had for many years. They give lovely texture to the front of the bag.
Inside I used fresh, new apple cotton but miscalculated the amount needed and had to mix it with some Lizzy House bracelet fabric.
I used a strong cotton webbing for the straps. This is one of those smug makes that hasn't cost much at all, I might even use it!
I found the pattern fine to follow. I did reduce the width of the gusset (not keen on the word "gusset") and I completely missed the instruction to topstitch the top of the pockets..grrrr.......and I think I might slip something into the base just to firm up my bottom. (steady...!!)

Spring Quilt Festival

I am hoping to squeeze my quilt into Amy's Quilt Festival, as I write this post there are already 340 entries - wow! Why don't you pop over and have a look while you enjoy a cuppa?

So, I looked at the criteria for entering and decided to show off my hexie quilt again, some of you have seen it before, if you are visiting for the first time, welcome and thanks for popping in.

I started this quilt last year after Lynne and Gail started their hex-a-long. They, in turn, had been inspired by

a beautiful take on a traditional quilt and I was intrigued. I started quilting in 1998 but have fervently avoided piecing over papers. I am not fond of Grandmother's Flower Garden and could never have believed that I would spend hours and hours cutting, basting and stitching........so that was a huge learning curve.

In blogging, I was getting to know others and I learned that it was possible to make real friends this way, who'd have thought? Several of us would share our hexies and compare notes along the way.

As someone who hated maths in school, I was obsessed with all the intricate shapes possible from the humble hexagon. I began to see hexies everywhere........

I never really imagined it would become a quilt, didn't think I'd make it that far, but the obsession was too strong.

My fabric choice started with the soft greys and teals and then I pulled from my stash and added in pinks & purples - I was into 1001 Peeps at the time so some of that crept in and before I knew it I had a quilt.

I set myself goals - finish all the hexies by Christmas, join the rows by end of January, etc, etc.

Then came the quilting. I had never hand pieced a quilt before so was dubious about the lasting qualities of my stitching. I machine quilted every seam with a fancy schmanzy stitch. I did the borders with a straight line half hexie shape. One day, I might, will, might, do a little hand quilting too.

I love it - it's a quilt that doesn't fit in with any colour scheme I have, not really big enough for a bed (about 60 x 70), but it has wormed itself into my affections nevertheless.

My Thursday and Friday

Can't think of a clever title - I am feverishly hoping to post a quilt in the Spring Festival but that will have to be tomorrow .
Just wanted to mention Thursday - I visited the Loch Lomond Quilt Show, now in its 8th year. It was the brainchild of three ladies who built it on the idea of the quilt show they were familiar with in Alsace, France.
Each year, there are many and varied exhibitors located in various churches from Dumbarton to Loch Lomond shores.
It is a clever and interesting concept, if a little tiring to get round.
This year we enjoyed several of the exhibitions.The first was an amazing collection of quilts designed to reflect and honour women in Scotland who have left or are making their mark, in many varied walks of life. The design  and execution of so many quilts was awe inspiring.The quilters who produced this work were Tina M Gravatt & Lorraine Sullivan.
The next exhibition that really took our breath away was by a group of Scottish textile artists calling themselves collectively, "Off The Wall" - our favourite pieces were by Jane Appelbee. Do click to go and look at their website.
Lastly we were looking forward to the exhibit of work by Philippa Naylor - even I know that she is a world class quilter and we enjoyed a super chat with Mr Naylor. He graciously allowed photos to be taken and mine certainly don't do justice to these amazing quilts.
You'll have seen this one in magazines, behind Bernina machines.Philippa's husband said this was basically a Lone Star, given Philippa's trademark twist. Oh yeah!

And this one apparently, is a simple Amish design - could've looked at it all day long. The wee white spots were sparklies.

.and then these too -

and then Friday, arriving at work -

and later, look at these - how clever!

What a week.

Sunshine & Showers

I hesitated on this week's Zakka style project - it's a mug rug with a rain cloud on.

In these parts, I think we have had enough rain clouds recently, although no-one is listening, tomorrow's forecast is atrocious.

Anyway, encouraged by Hadley's take on this project, I too decided to inject a little sunshine into the rain.

and now for the arty farty shot,

and on the back.......nice weather for ducks (or whatever)........

If you would like to see some of the other projects made by the participants of this sew a long, then pop over to the flickr group for a look.