Happy campers

Saturday was "quilt " day according to my diary, which really meant a day booked in at

Beechwood Quilting to use their long arm machine again. I can't handle a big quilt under my machine, however hard I try so I do all my free motion quilting along there whilst having a good old chat and a cuppa or two. Two quilts finished in the day this time,but only sharing one today as the other one needs binding and this one here is by far the most important of the two. Its a house warming gift for our darling Pepper-Ann and I think she liked it. (We had tears!).

The fabrics were a layer cake called "Happy Campers" which is very appropriate as I reckon that just about sums her and her man up these days, as we count down to the wedding next spring.

The pattern is from the Moda Bake shop called" You Zig , I'll Zag"  ( with a finished size of 72 inches square) and I have quilted it in a dark yellow to match the border.

Forgot to photograph the back due to a  nosey cow ( literally if you look in the background of the picture), but it was pieced too, mainly from red but with an added bit of  personalisation as we used one of Pepper-Ann's late grandpa's lovely paisley scarves added into a strip. A sweet idea which she came up with and one that has made it even more special to her. As a surprise I also added in her and her man's names on the bottom in the free motion quilting which I think may have been the deal maker for a  quick attack of the soggy eyes.

Trying to get good photo today has been a challenge as I set off to try and get lovely pictures out in the countryside. When I left home it was blazing sunshine but by the time I got to the end of the road the temperature had dropped  by 6 degrees and it was pouring hard.

So not the best but you get the essence of our beautiful little piece of Scotland anyway. Typically the sun came out when I got home  (and the cow was left to her own devices).

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!

Gathering Nuts in .... Edinburgh

Well we got there, we are not sure how, but we got there. And oh wow, wasn't it well worth all the effort. The first (and lets hope it it becomes an annual event) Stitch Gathering took place in the beautiful Morningside area of Edinburgh on Sunday, thanks to the very clever and organised Jo of Avery Homestore.

Unfortunately I was having what I like to call a "technical hitch" so was not firing on all cylinders so despite carrying my camera with me and snapping away, I discovered yesterday that I had forgotten to put the SD card in before hand so I have no photos of the event to show you.  But if you pop over to the SG website you will see the pictures taken by the lovely Jonathan Avery, or alternatively Sheila from Bluepatch quilting has today written a lovely post too which is here. I can however show you the contents of the stonking Goody bag we were all given. I have listed as many contributors that I could see at the bottom of this blog so you can see how generous they have all been.

As you can see it was full to the brim with amazingness, from fat quarters, to a whole box of thread, and from buttons to badges. But the "piece de resistance" was the Frixion Erasable Pen. Oh my goodness. This thing is genius. If you haven't got one you need to head right off right now and order yourself one and your life will never be the same. The idea of being able to erase any markings made on fabric simply by ironing over it seemed too good to be true and a few of us were doubting Thomas' until we actually tried it. It really is like a little bit of magic right in front of your eyes. I fear I am a little too excited by this pen, but you just try it and you will see. 

The lovely Mrs P, who joined me for the day at the Gathering, thinks we should write an episode of "Midsommer Murders" based on this pen, once we found out that the marks come back again once exposed to the extreme cold! how clever is that too. How about some deadly deeds occurring down in that fateful village's local quilt group, with the victim leaving a secret message written in Frixion pen on her favourite piece of stitching. The big reveal could be when she is laid out in front of the autopsy doctor. "It was the Swap Mama who did it!" ha ha ha...

Anyway, I cannot thank Jo and her team enough for a great day, which ran so seamlessly. ( See what I did there?) It was great to put some faces to names from blog and flickr land first of all and then we moved on to the classes. We took the cathedral window pinnie course in the morning with Jo herself, which I loved and will now be itching to have another go at. Then after a sumptuous lunch it was Fiona's Jelly roll class in the afternoon. Truth be told, I have used jelly rolls quite a lot, but thought that Mrs P would enjoy this one so wanted to join her too. Fiona's suggested quilt is lovely and features in the special edition of Creative Patchwork this month. A really lovely quilt. I have gone for a grey and orange theme using some fabric from the Lucy's Crabshack range which I bought in Cannon Beach this summer, plus some others from the stash and am not sure how big it will turn out yet, but will of course report back. What do you think?

I think it will be a good souvenir of our trip and its so nice and fresh on the white background. I have even gone for the trickier piecing of the points, as explained by Fiona, but so far I am in luck with it matching. Thanks Fiona for your inspiration.

Anyway, still a bit to do though as you can see so do pop by to see the final top. In the meantime I have a date with a box of steroids and a week of watching "Homes Under the Hammer". See you soon.

Thank you to all the wonderful sponsors for the Goody Bag contents:   Avery Homestore , Frixion pen, by Pilot, Frister & Rossman thread box from sewingmachines.co.uk, assorted buttons and thread from buttoncompany.co.uk ,Coats Crafts UK,  Rainbow scrap pack from Veryberry Fabrics,  Hexagon Flower Block by webfabrics.net, Liberty Art fabrics, Nairn Oatcakes, Milward needles and pen, Beechwood Quilting, Groves, Robert Kaufman fabrics, Aurifil

Hold the front page...

Well actually, it's page 38!

If you have laid your hands on the Special Bag issue of  Popular Patchwork this month you will see an article all about our lovely friends over at Beechwood Quilting. It's a great piece written by Gillian  Cooper, relating her experience of trying her hand with a Longarm machine for the first time.  

You might remember my ramblings some time ago about the same experiences and how helpful and lovely Brian and Carole are in hand holding on your journey with their beautiful beast of a machine.  I am really pleased for them to see this piece in the mag and I hope this encourages a few more novices to pop along and give it a go.  You will definitely get the bug once you try, and if you're like me quilting anything bigger than a baby quilt is always too much of a challenge on a straight forward machine.I myself am well overdue a visit and a taste of the obligatory and wonderful flapjacks always on offer.  I can't see that these delicacies were however extended to Gillian, so she needs to beetle back there a bit sharpish in my opinion as she missed out on one of the other highlights of her visit. Oh, and if you turn to page 40 you might recognise the short bespectacled old bird standing alongside lovely Carole....

 

  

 

Eek.... its an EPP

Well we are back. You might have noticed the absence of posts over the past couple of weeks and this is because the beloved JB and I have been dashing about a bit . This started off with a visit to Number One Son, which was wonderful, on the eve of his graduation. There had been a school of thought that my dear lad was aiming for the Longest Student Career ever, but that was just an ugly rumour put about by the pubs of Cambridge and we were all pleased to announce his move to "Grownup-hood" at the grand old age of 27. Well done Tom, we all love you to bits and are very proud of you.

 

Next we headed off to the Emerald Isle, a first for JB and we had a blast. Belfast is a must for us to revisit as we found it a bright and vibrant city and our one night stop off was far too short. The essential pint in the Crown Bar ( the only pub owned by the National Trust) was fun and we even manged to grab one of the highly sought after booths. I did make the fatal error of being too polite though and instead of us enjoying some privacy in the pub behind the beautiful oak panelled door of our cubby hole, I invited in what I thought was a French couple, to share the whole "British" experience but they turned into a whole gaggle, pouring into the tiny space, somewhat spoiling the atmosphere. Ho hum. This episode was however brightened when JB tried to impart to them that he worked for French company, only to discover that none of them spoke a word of English. The sight of 8 middle age men and women trying to mime to one another how they earned their living was pretty entertaining and not your average occurrence in a Belfast pub on a Friday night I am pretty sure. And you will never guess - whilst supping my pint of Smithwick's I spotted that the floor tiling was a brilliant example of quilt blocks so couldn't resist a quick snap.

Anyway, Ulster fry consumed, we headed off to the North Coast and then on all around the Donegal coast for a great four day trip.  A hiccough by the booking agency meant we didn't get to stay where we had planned so my itinerary to head off to find the Fluffy Sheep Company  and the Fennel Shed ( owned by a work colleagues family co-incidentally ) was somewhat curtailed, so when I head back to see more of Belfast again I will have another shot at introducing myself down there too. We loved the whole area and had a great break but a highlight has to be the Giant's Causeway. I have wanted to see this phenomenon ever since I was a child and I wasn't disappointed. We struck it lucky with a bright, nippy but stunning day which meant we were both well in our element snapping away with the cameras. Nature is pretty darn clever and I think we forget that all to often.

 

On returning home I was very conscious of being behind with my piece for the Mouthy Stitches Swap and whilst I had chosen the fabrics I thought I was going to use, I still hadn't quite got a plan together for a design.

However, reviewing my photos I found myself fascinated by the hexagons forged by the elements and this has inspired me to put together an EPP design using tiny little hexies, each about one inch in diameter.

 

I hope my partner will like this. Whilst they are small and I have a long way to go, I am home alone again come the weekend so I am pretty confident at making the deadline of the 25th. Fingers crossed, but should you see a small woman hiding in the corner of the 7.31 to Edinburgh, please give me some elbow room and try not to waft too much as these hexies seem to have a life of their own once laid on a flat surface.

 

See you again soon (and hopefully after completion of swap). Oh, and a planned trip to see Brain and Carole at Beechwood is on the horizon as I still have "Autumn Shadows" to quilt, which I haven't shared with you yet so do pop back  .

Long-arm quilting- or how I would spend my millions

How many of us plan what we would do if only our lucky numbers came up on the lottery one weekend? For me it would be a simple and easy decision. I would have to buy myself a long-arm quilt machine- oh and perhaps a big enough home to keep it in.  I think for us weekend quilters, the actual quilting of our projects can sometimes prove the most troublesome part. I personally have spent many an hour tightly rolling my pieced quilt sandwich so that it will fit under the arm of my Janome machine only to end up feeling exhausted and disappointed at the result and sad that I have messed up what had been a  great piece of piecing. So the idea of a "rent by the hour" quilting service is an absolute God send to many of us. To be honest as a hobby quilter the actual investment in a machine of the size and quality available through these services, regardless of the financial consideration, is pretty unrealistic because of its practicality so being able to find somewhere that I can feel at home and relaxed and finish my larger quilts to a high quality has been a great boost to my enjoyment of my stitching.

My local Long-Arm Quilting service is Beechwood Quilting based in the beautiful City of Stirling and the business is run by a very welcoming Carole and Brian. They have a great set up with their Gamill Optimum (this recently replaced the APQ Millennium shown in my pictures) in a spacious and bright studio which they also use for other quilting classes and workshops. I haven't yet had a chance to attend any of their classes as they have always clashed with other commitments for me, but they have a great flexible approach so are happy to organise classes on requested topics if a group can be pulled together. Emily and I are working on a plan at the moment so I will let you know if this comes together. 

As a double act Carole and Brian are a hoot. Carole has the calmness and approach of a great teacher and is wonderful company. I really look forward to catching up with her at each visit and we regularly put the world to rights over a cup of tea mid session. Brian- well Brian is a man with a plan. If an ingenious solution to a problem is required , he is the chap to find it. He is very knowledgeable when it come to his machine and its workings and at the moment he is also working on his piecing skills, so that they match his machine quilting. I am very much looking forward to his next major project and particularly his entry to Loch Lomond next year which appears to be top secret. I would say though that Carole has the patience of a saint and after writing that I think Brian may never speak to me again ..... ha ha.   

Loading the backing

For anyone who hasn't yet tried their hand at Long Arm quilting, I would highly recommend it. The hour of initial tuition can be a lot to take in but I have to say the Gamill Optimum ( or Vicky Plum as she is affectionately known to Brian and Carole) is the easiest and most intuitive machine I have used so far. I started off with lots of quilts looking very similar with "spaghetti" stitching but you very quickly get used to the idea that if you can draw in a long flowing manner then you can create any design you like. Carole is an absolute whizz at this and has had some great ideas to help me along the way. I bet you have never realised how easily you could draw a realistic helicopter in one long sweeping movement have you? Well nor I had I until let loose on Vicky Plum and was prompted into action by my wonderful JB who too has an artistic bent as well as an uncommon knowledge of these "parafin budgies".  

So far I have only completed one piece of custom quilting, on a Block of the Month quilt which I made called "Stitches of the Oregon Trail" , ( bought via Keepsake Quilting many years ago and buried for over 6 years in my finished top stash because of the impossibility of quilting something so large on my Janome). This took me 2 sessions at Beechwood, and a fairly large supply of Carole's wonderful flapjacks. I have 2 more king size quilt tops tucked away which I have been looking at them recently to see what style I can incorporate so again, watch this space for updates of how it goes.

Stitches on the Oregon Trail

Brian and Carole also offer a service where they will quilt for you if you haven't either the time or the inclination to quilt your piecing yourself. They have over 2000 patterns to choose from and a great knowledge of what will suit your work of art so if you are after a whole cloth  and regular pattern they can use their computerised pattern to do this for you. Again I haven't tried this yet, as I get very attached to my work and have an inherent need to do anything all by myself but its a great great service.


If you would like to read about some of the work that has gone on at Beechwood, this link takes you to "Women of Scotland" a project they were involved in, which exhibited earlier this year. 


Also if you are not lucky enough to live close to Beechwood, Carole  and Brian also run a  very lovely Bed And Breakfast called "Kerran Bed and Breakfast"  so you could make a couple of days of your visit and explore the stunning Stirling castle and surrounding areas.


I am off there again on Thursday evening for a quick session which you will hear about in my next blog , oh yes and my fill of flapjacks...that is unless I win the lottery.

Kookaburras, Koalas and Kangaroos

Any of you that know me not as Emily's Mum but as a busy commuter may recall we have been going through somewhat of a population explosion in the office. We are a tight little team  who have been brought together through work but bound together by sadness and laughter and whilst there are only a dozen of us, somehow 6 of them have managed  to produce 8 off spring in the space of three years and none of them have been twins! I know it is a reflection on the age group of the core of the gang but honestly- this seems like a pretty drastic way of filling the fine schools of Edinburgh to me. 


Whilst we were away "en vacance" the latest and probably final two babies for quite a while decided arrived and at last we got a girl ( and another boy - the beautiful Adam, a brother for little Filip). 7 boys and one girl- don't you think the odds are badly stacked there for a good and balanced team barbeques once they are all grown a little and running around? That poor wee soul of a girl will be so out numbered by those boisterous boys. 


Anyway all this family growth has caused a great deal of stitching and the arrival of a girl should have given me the opportunity of bringing a little femininity to my fabric choice, but this was not to be.  Mum and Dad to be had spent some time living in Australia before coming to Edinburgh and their time there had very clearly been a very enjoyable one and had left them with lots and lots of wonderful memories. So much so we held a sweep in the office as to whether they would call the new born Alice or Sydney! The antipodean influences were soon to be seen in the decorating of little one's nursery, with the introduction of a lovely deep sandy orange and some lush cactus greens in the curtains and borders,off setting pale and serene cream walls. The room looked a treat and set the tone for me to know where I had to go with my choices. And then fate stepped in. 

One lunchtime, whilst shopping in Mandors for another project I spotted a fat quarter all on its own in a basket by the till. It lay on the top of all its scrappy friends and I don't  know what drew me to look closer, but there they were. Kangaroos, Kookaburras, Koalas, Kane toads, Crocodiles, the lot! I couldn't believe my eyes. I had spent weeks scouring the Internet for Australian themed fabric but none had really hit the spot. But this was just the job, although at first I worried that if the new arrival was a not a boy, it might be a little masculine. But the match in colours to Mum & Dad's nursery choice was perfect so there was no question. It had to be the basis of the quilt, all be it a tricky one. I decided to wait for baby's arrival before picking the other fabrics just so I knew if I had to go all out with the boys fabrics, or whether I needed to soften the tones as the green background really was very strong.

Well baby finally arrived and we all cheered at the birth of a girl for the team and I set off in my quest to find co-ordinating fabrics for her quilt. Again, having seen the nursery I did have some other hints so I decided to concentrate on the orange of the Koala and owl faces and then add more cream.  After a lot of Googling,  I discovered the fabric was from called Hooty Hoot Kangaroo  by Riley Blake so found a couple of co-ordinates from that range as well as a good matching Moda orange tiny spot. As you will see, I didn't actually use all my purchases because as usual I hadn't decided on the piecing.   

However a plan quickly formed again  and I fussy cut the feature fabric , picking out the key animals  in 3 3/4 inch squares , which I pieced in a checker board with nine patches in the orange and one of the cream spots ( using 1 3/4 inch strips). I then added an orange border and then further four patch sets in a pale cream and a pale green which I think brought in the softness to the piece.  As ever this was followed by a quick trip to Brian and Carole at Beechwood Quilting for a session on their long arm machine and give the quilt its wonderful texture. Carole came up trumps, as ever, with a White Chocolate cookie especially bought for my visit as she was out of Flapjacks. What a treat and how spoilt am I? 

Binding ( in the feature fabric) was slightly held up by my excited son and a very long Skype call discussing his pending move with his other half to their first home together, but I did manage to stitch whilst paying strict attention to the growing wish list of household appliances which he was drawing up. Gladly by midnight the quilt was finished, ready for wrapping in its cellophane and  of course a few pictures of the finished product for the blog.  These proved tricky with the flash so apologies for the quality here. A bit disappointing.  

I am glad to say the quilt was handed to Dad this morning and he scurried off home tonight for the first time to his wife and stunning daughter with the package under his arm and a happy skip in his step, in the keen anticipation of seeing his new little family again after a day in the office.  What a joy and oh how life goes on...

Oh , by the way she is called Rebecca.