Friends, And Stuff

On Saturday I went up to Lincolnshire to Di's house for a wee Brit Bee get together. Only six of us could make it, but as always with this group any and all gatherings are joyful, laughter filled, and food is consumed. Saturday was no exception. 

This is the first time any of us have gathered since Terri died. Obviously this brought bittersweet moments, but mostly love and laughter because that is Terri's legacy. Ceri brought up the pieced bee tops from Terri's two years in the bee. Fiona and I had finished the last two blocks with an embroidered prayer that are in the centre of each quilt. Ceri and Hadley pieced the blocks into tops. Trudi has now taken these home to put them on her long arm and do her magic. 

These quilts will be presented to Terri's daughters in July at her memorial service. It was the least we could do in her memory. 

Another thing being done in her memory is Ceri is going to do The Race For Life in a couple of months. She will do this wearing a costume made out of donated quilt blocks. And she will be raising money for cancer research whilst doing said 10k. If anyone is interested in sponsoring her run please do follow this link and give her your support. https://www.justgiving.com/ceristokoe/

I also came away from Di's house with fabric, (Yeah, yeah, I know. What a surprise.) 

I topped my supply of Essex linen and aurifil. Another of our original founding Brit Bed members, Judith, is selling fabrics and patterns in her Etsy shop - Just Jude Designs. If you're in the UK I have to say the linen is only £10 a metre. Get it while you can. Other fabric is listed at great prices too, just saying, but I needed the linen. 

It never fails me how amazing it is to be in this group of such talented, loyal and wonderful women. I totally lucked out the day Laura Jane asked if anyone was interested in being part of a UK bee four years ago. Totally lucked out! 

Susan 

A Little of This...

... A little of that. 

I'm about to start quilting my latest project, having done the basting today. I was so pleased that my backing and wadding were just (just!) the right size. 

I've also started on my next mini. I like having (at least) one hand sewing project on the go. 

Then there is a bit of appliqué going on for a gift for a friend. This will be all I'll show until she receives it. 

And if that's not enough. Cupcakes.

So, I wrote this post two days ago and just saw that it failed to publish. That defeats the purpose of this whole blogging game. Attempt two.

Susan 

Finally!

It's a finish. And I have to admit that I am so happy with it. 

The colours in this mini are totally me. The pattern is mine, in that there was no pattern. It just evolved bit by bit, from the mermaid star outwards. 

I've always wanted to make a mermaid star. Saw ones other people made and just knew I'd have to do it eventually. This was my eventually. 

The mini measures up at 30" point to point, so it's a good size. It's all pieced using the English paper piecing method, and it is hand quilted using perle cotton - 8w. The back is not pretty, (a) because I used a piece of godawful fugly fabric for the backing, and (b) as I used some different embroidery stitches in the quilting process I made no effort to hide what some of those stitches looked like in the back. Suffice to say, I'm not showing you the back. 

But I think the front is pretty. 

Susan 

Stitching Finished

I've added some running stitches.

Some stem stitches.

And some colonial knots.

I'm trimming the edges and getting the binding ready. The end is nigh. Woohoo!

Susan 

Stuck In The Middle

I want to blog. I want to sew. And I'm caught in the middle here, sewing but not being able to show you, therefore left without things to blog like I would with progress reports when I'm making non-commission stuff. 

And it kind of sucks sometimes. Because I really like what I'm making right now. But I also really like having commissions because they do help pay for things like super nice holidays. 

So here I sit, sewing, and I really think colours are pretty. It's my kind of quilt. I've got sixty six inch blocks lying on my floor right now. I'm at the halfway point in the piecing process. 

And I'm kind of on a roll. Some of my seams and nesting just put me in my happy place. 

When I'm not sewing I'm doing the necessary - which, unless it's baking, I really think you don't want to see. Because cleaning loos is not pretty, or blogable! I'm also working on something else totally different than sewing that I would like to tell you about eventually, but because it is a new thing for me and I'm insecure I'm going wait until I finish it and like it enough (and am having a super confident day) before I tell you about it. But I will eventually, though it is a big project and will take a while. 

Finally, I went off to the canal with himself and Helen on the holiday Monday just past and a hilarious thing happened with cows, their apparent fascination with the canoe and kayak my two were in and culminated with a cow deciding the canal was a good place to be (I kid you not) and I didn't even have my freaking phone with me to take a picture. So you'll have to trust me, it was really funny. And would have made a great blog post, if I had pictures. 

Hope life is going good for you and I find some time to make some things that I can show you. Because that's the best bit about this blogging thing. Making stuff, showing my thought process (or lack thereof in some cases) and watching makes go from a few pieces of fabric to a finish. 

Susan