Let's try it again

Thanks for all your advice about my Brit Bee block that wasn't working :)

I've unpicked the border, remade the cornerstones and sliced up one of my most treasured fat quarters ever, Heather Ross' Swimming Sisters in blush, and here is the result!

I'm so much happier with this :) I think it's light, fresh, airy and hopefully still beachy, but as the wise Catrin suggested, more tropical beach than British ;)

What do you think? Better?

Fiona x

Brit Bee Round 3

Round 3 is starting for the Brit Bee and after much dithering I have finally chosen a star and fabric to make my block. Yay!

I've been thinking about using some of my Mendocino fabric by Heather Ross for ages and decided that now is as good a time as any, so I started pulling fabric. Before I knew it, I was head over heels in love with the pile of fabric in front of me, and decided that just a single block wasn't enough! I have a whole quilt planned for this pretty pile :)

I managed to get a grip of myself and choose just a few fabrics to make my star. I wanted a round star shape and decided to use the Evening Star from the Summer Sampler Series. I've made this star a couple of times before and really like it, but then I remembered a gorgeous block I'd seen Rita of Red Pepper Quilts make a while back called a Colorado Star from the book 50 Fabulous Paper-Pieced Stars by Carol Doak. Now, I don't have a copy of that book (but I'm seriously tempted to buy it) so I used the Evening Star templates from Katie at Swim Bike Quilt and added in the centre star part.

I love the star but I'm not sure about the border I've added to the block. I'm going for a light, sunny, beachy feel and the blue strips are supposed to be like water. The essex linen cornerstones are supposed to be like sand, but I'm not sure it's working. What do you think?

Fiona x

Fourth Quarter FAL List

I've missed the last few rounds of the FAL. I got totally overwhelmed with my massive to-do list and couldn't face making a list of stuff that I knew I probably wouldn't work on. But I've realised those projects aren't going to finish themselves are they? So here goes

1. My Brit Bee round 2 quilt. I have the most beautiful pile of blocks and the lovely Sarah has guilted me into putting this top of my list ;)

2. my St Louis 16 Patch quilt. I love this quilt and have already added an extra row as I wasn't happy with the square shape. I've got backing fabric and just need to get it basted and quilted.

3. My Scrap Vomit Quilt. I think I might have lost the plot a bit with this one. It was actually quilted, but I wasn't happy with the backing fabric I used (a flannel sheet that I dyed a hideous colour) or the quilting so I ripped out all the quilting and binned the offending backing, so it has regressed back to being a quilt top.

4. Moving swiftly on...
My Fat Quarter Shop BOM 2012 blocks need to become a quilt top. I'm trying to decide on a layout for these blocks, and I'm considering making a second version of each block so the quilt is bigger, I've got plenty of fabric and I really enjoyed making the blocks. I really wish I'd made 2 of each one as I went along, but that's a lesson learned!

5. I started a scrappy Tumblers quilt on a whim months ago, and fell out of love with it halfway through making the quilt top. I'd really like to get this one finished and onto my bed!

6. My Brit Bee round 1 quilt. The lovely Emily basted this for me and I've started hand quilting this. I would really really like to get this finished.

7. My FFA2 Dresdens quilt. I think this might be my oldest WIP. I started this when Lynne did her dresdens QAL and loved making it, but once I basted it I fell out of love. I'm hand quilting this one too and I'm hoping I'm going to love it again once I finish the quilting.

8. My Recess quilt. This was another one I started on a whim and loved making it. I'm hand quilting this one too and got bored. I need to get this finished up because I really love the fabric!

9. My freshcut quilt. I was hoarding this fabric for so long and finally decided to use it in a quilt.  Once I finished the quilt top I didn't like it at all and I've ripped out some bits and it's been sitting sadly ever since.

10. My Row Along Quilt. I started this QAL that Lori Holt hosted, but I think I got bored and it got abandoned. I love the fabric and either want to use what I've made so far to make something - a baby quilt maybe? Or make the rest of the rows and get it finished!


Now that I look at that list, I think there's no way I'll manage it all, but if I even get a couple of things done then that's better than none :) There's also a bit of a theme going on there: start something on a whim and either get bored of it, or not like it anymore once it's a quilt top :(
Maybe I'll love them again if I ever do get them finished.

Thanks to the lovely Leanne for hosting the FAL!

Fiona x

Prettified Pincushions - A Zakka Along 2.0 Project

Well it seems like I needed a little blogging break doesn't it? Sometimes something has to give and this time it was my blog (again!)

Anyway I've been wanting to jump in on the Zakka Along 2.0 since before it started. I bought Ayumi's beautiful book Patchwork Please as soon as it came out and have flicked through it so many times, each week when a new project was posted in the sew along I vowed I would make the time to make it, and finally in the final week I have managed! Yay!

I grabbed some of my teeny weeny Heather Ross scraps that I just couldn't chuck away and made 2 little Prettified Pincushions. I kind of wish I'd made a third because these two are destined to be gifts, but I have plenty more little scraps and it was such a quick easy project  I'll definitely be making more.

I was really excited to find the square buttons in my Great Great Aunt's button box. They're beautiful mother of pearl and are the perfect size for the centre of the pincushion.

I've got loads more to write about, but I'll save that for another day. For now, it's just nice to be dropping in here :)

Happy Thursday!
Fiona x