Hexies on the run

Any of you that follow me on Facebook or IG will have seen that I have been very busy in the last couple of weeks stitching up a whole pile of hexagons ready for a swap. This round of the Modern She Made Swap has hexagons as the theme and whilst I did try something different with my hexagon fabric box, I eventually settled on a  simple piece of EPP for my make for my partner.

 A table runner was one of her suggestions so fingers crossed this will suit somewhere in her home. It is certainly bright and bold so lets hope it will fit the bill.The whole runner is modelled by the Beloved by the way .

The fuschia coloured linen was a  real find in John Lewis ( sorry if this means  nothing to non UK readers). They seem to be getting a lot better these days so if you haven't been to your local store for a bit, do pop along and have a nosey around. You may get some very pleasant surprises. 

The back is  a mish mash of the fabrics used in the front and actually I think is quite fun and makes it pretty reversible.

so its off to the post office tomorrow for me and bye bye to the hexies. I really like this piece and will be sad to see it leave. 

Bag lady

 

A short post today as it's late and I am running behind again, but I just needed to let you into my latest exciting bit of stitching. I took my self along a week ago to a great class at My Bearpaw classes in Edinburgh to have a bash at making a Weekend holdall, or "Weekender" as these seem to have been nicknamed in the crafty world. I am not done yet as you can clearly see, but am so pleased and excited with it so far and just had to share a bit with you now. I spent until 1 am on the previous Friday making myself a giant 1.3 m square piece of "quilt as you go" for the body of the bag and that in itself was a bit of a challenge, but like a dipstick I forgot to take any pictures before it all got cut into bits for the bag. It was pretty darn traumatic cutting it up if truth be told. We do have to suffer for our art though don't we.

Huge thanks have to go to Naomi Crowley of Green Earth Beads and Bags for sharing her vast knowledge and making the class such an enjoyable couple of days. Despite me having a very late night in the middle of her class ( but no hangover!), she managed to make it all seem pretty straightforward and all that thickness in the seems no quite so scary.

I can't remember if I told you that My Bearpaw have moved to new premises, but just in case I forgot do pop by and have a look at the new shop and classes here. Jo has done a great job and I think the classes will be even more popular than ever in the new fab surroundings. I have to say too her classes are a great way to make new friends and as you can see here, some very talented ones at that ( note I had not consumed all the biscuits on this occasion).

 

As I said though, this is just a Work in Progress post . Adding the bottom of the bag is a bit too tricky for late night stitching so it will have to wait till the long weekend . Add to that curtailment of all sewing for nursing duties of the Beloved due to an unfortunate incident involving a shower mat and a bath handle and I reckon it will definitely be next week before I can head off to Paris, as Naomi suggested, with my natty new Weekender. First class of course.

Freebird

Delighted to report I have finished the main piecing of my Freebird quilt.  Its been such a time since I made a large quilt and this has been good therapy. The fabric is a Moda Jelly roll that's been around quite a while by MoMo, but just because its not the latest doesn't mean its not fab. I actually am not sure if you can still buy it sadly but  I love the colour combinations and have kept it sitting in the stash just because it looked pretty. This picture doesn't do the real colours justice. Hopefully once it is quilted  I can get some great shots and you will be able to see the great mix in there of oranges, reds, blues, greens and yellows and yes even the dreaded brown makes a little appearance. The reds and oranges are so much brighter in real life, trust me.

The pattern was a freebie from the Moda Bakeshop which goes with the Mixed Bag fabric range which you can see here. I thought it suited my Jelly roll and I love the use of the negative space. One thing I would say though about the pattern, if your tempted by it is, don't cut all the coloured strips straight away. The instructions said you need 92 units, which is incorrect. I had a whole load left over which was really annoying , but I think I may well make a bright pieced border from them. Not sure yet. Really in two minds, so need to sit and have a play. Its also  biggie so I will be heading off to Beechwood Quilting to quilt the top, which will be an added bonus as I haven't seen Carole and Brain for an age and I think they have been off on adventures so will have much news.   

You won't believe by the way how hard it was to get this picture in between torrential rain!

Soggy Sunday

Some of you lovely readers south of the Border have been dusting off the barbeques I understand . I have heard nothing else on the radio this weekend. Nothing like rubbing it in you know, because , meanwhile some of us have been stuck in this ¬

and look what effect its all had on the local wildlidfe.....

 ....teeheehee... have a great weekend everyone

Thinking outside the fabric box

A few months back I signed up for another round of the Modern She Made swap, in hindsight a bit of a mistake as I already knew I was a bit too busy to sew, but I thought it would kick me back into gear. Well as you saw it didn't and now I am a bit behind and need to play catch up so that I don't miss my posting deadline. The theme of this round is "Hexagons". This can be interpreted in any shape or form as long as what you make for your partner somehow contains a hexagon! The obvious way to go is with a bit of EPP and any one that has read my blogs before has seen that I have had some fun with those in the past, but there is no need to be that obvious . It could be hexagons in the fabric, embroidery, anything.

So late last night, in a bout of insomnia, I had a brain wave. My partner had suggested she might  like some fabric boxes and I therefore wondered if I could make a set of hexagon shaped baskets for her?  

I set about experimenting today and it turned out to not be too tricky but it does need a bit of honing.  Given time constraints I don't think will now be the way for me to go for the swap, but its definitely one to come back to as a work in progress. I will write up the pattern, once I have made a couple of changes, and then get Emily to road test it and if it all goes well will report back.
in the meantime today's efforts will come in handy as a little caddie in a bathroom . Now, new plan for the swap please.....?