1.10.11 .... mmmm binary ...

Oh good grief ... that's another month gone and a not very brilliant sewing month for me.

However ... It is the first of the month and this month that means two things ... Day One of Blogtoberfest 

And ... I AM linking up to Lynne@LilysQuilts Fresh Sewing Day because the ONE thing I made this month I love more than anything I've made before ... My Ruby Star Spring quilt.  On MY bed ... teehee ...  

To try and divert your attention away from the fact that it's the only thing I've sewn (other than a pencil case and some bee blocks which I can't show you yet!)... I'll just bore you all with the photos again ... 

... from fabric to quilt ... 

So, if I were you I'd get along over to Lily'sQuilts ...where other people have been a load more prolific and inspiring ... and you can spread the love by visiting some lovely new/small bloggers, like Trudi or Catherine.

And then, if you're not all exhaustipated and needing to lie down with a lavender soaked hankie, you should go and see some lovely Blogtoberfesters too!!

Happy Saturday!  

Building Blocks

Apologies for my absence of late, but been a bit busy in flickr world  on the old swap front, but even more so in the real world of work - 3rd week of term is always a bit of an eeeurrrgh and this term is certainly no exception! 

I’ll be back in full blog harness next week, but in the meantime
I thought you might appreciate these luscious delights … 

... photos of the Educational Centre in El Chaparral …





The architect is Alejandro Muñoz Miranda. (choose the Spanish option on his website to see more pics)






Inspiration for some more improv quilt blocks methinks?

This weekend will be spent cleaning (yuck!) and quilting and binding my DQS10 effort (yay!) … pics to follow … 

What does your weekend hold in store?  Loveliness, I hope …

Hey partner! DQS10/Make Mine Modern/{Urban} Home Goods Swap

This is really a little open post to my stalker(s) secret swap partners 


 

on the Doll Quilt Swap 







 
… the Make Mine Modern Swap

 

and the {Urban} Home Goods Swap!  - no button yet! Sign-ups finish tomorrow for this one, so get on over!  (probably tonight as I’m in the UK!)

(although we don’t know our partners yet for the last two … )

These three swaps, featuring some truly fantabulous quilters, are all hosted on flickr, and I’m lucky to be taking part in all 3 - nothing like biting off more than you can chew eh? LOL. 

You might not be able to access the links as I think some are restricted to participants only, so, sorry if you can’t see the wonders that others are making, but I’ll post some links as we progress a bit …

In the meantime, I thought I’d post some of the mosaics that I created for inspiration for these swaps … My mosaics are usually populated by images/creations that I wish I'd made myself, wish I'd received or would like to make for someone else.   The links displayed under each mosaic will take you to that item's flickr page ... go feast your eyes!

So partner(s) … Please don’t feel restricted by them.  I would much rather you created something that has something of you in it, than made something you aren’t happy with! And PLEASE, don’t go out of your way to buy a whole heap of fabric - I’m happy with whatever is in your stash  

Make Mine Modern Mosaic 

 

  1. FMF quilt top, 2. 278 Spiralling Step's of the Amedee Lighthouse, 3. Vintage Kitchen fabric, 4. flickr.com/photos/27443336@N07/4908706581/, 5. scrappaliscious! - square2, 6. FMF Snail Trail quilt, 7. squares and rectangles~ for cristin, 8. Poppyprint - mugrug pears 3, 9. WIP- Picnic 9-patch quilt, 10. UHG Item 3, 11. How should I finish??, 12. Sew-do-I's block detail, 13. UHG Tablecloth Teaser, 14. Birds, 15. Scrappy Hoop Swap - Received, 16. Scrap-Along, 17. Nesting Baskets and a Button Bouquet!!, 18. Oh 2, 19. Joseph's Coat Pillow - it's done!, 20. Half Square Triangles Galore, 21. Quilting Divas , 22. Pillow Swap 2 pillow FINISHED! =), 23. Pillow Talk Swap, 24. PMC1: Mary Pustejovsky - Quilt, 25. flying farfalle version 2

DQS10 Mosaic

 1. scrappaliscious! - square2, 2. FMF Snail Trail quilt, 3. "Collectibles" block for Kerry, 4. Birds of Paradise, 5. Sew-do-I's block detail, 6. Oh, 7. Pillow Swap- Received, 8. PTS #3 , 9. Pillow for....., 10. Joseph's Coat Pillow - it's done!, 11. R #2's quilt, 12. Bee Modern Too - October, 13. Doll Quilt Swap 5 received, 14. Doll Quilt Received, 15. Doll Quilt from Holly, 16. Around the Block for Annie - Applique Circles

 {Urban} Home Goods Swap

 1. PTS4 pillow, 2. crab, 3. Urban Home Goods Received, 4. Fancy Fabric Bins, 5. tea towels for urban home goods swap, 6. My machine feels so loved!, 7. Urban Home Goods swap package, 8. UHG Item 3, 9. UHG Tablecloth Teaser, 10. DQS 9, 11. "Collectibles" block for Kerry, 12. WIP, 13. molly's work in progress, 14. Birds, 15. High Texture Hand Embroidery of the Moon, 16. Joseph's Coat Pillow - it's done!

If you’re still really stumped, just have a browse through my blog and you’ll soon get to know me!  … Just go with the flow … I can’t wait to get going myself, and I’m just excited that you would take the time to make something for someone you don’t know!! Lovely!

Anyone else out there participating in any of these swaps? 

Or anyone out there who has never taken part because of fears of inadequacy? (I was in the latter camp, but this year is all about stretching myself …)

What are your experiences of swaps?

A bit of a plan … {Blogtoberfest #8}

Apologies - but yesterday’s lack of Blogtoberfesting was due to 3 hour dental appointment & extractions & partial denture fitting – let’s not even go there eh?

But I did use my time well – calmly (!) sewing hexies together for some new pincushion gifts … but then I thought … hang on a mo … 

… these produce a perfect double sided bigger hexie … and I am in need of a slow hand-sewn project … 

(there are more trips scheduled to the d******t) 

So, when I got home (very late at night as my dentist is up in London and my appointment wasn’t till 7pm!) I started experimenting:

I made a 6cm sided template & cut a large hexie out of batting and slipped it inside the pocket.  Ta-Da!  instant quilting !!  In the top most picture you can see the green hexie is a bit more puffy than the orange – it’s got the batting in.

 

Obviously, if I were to continue with this I would probably tack the batting in once I’d removed the piecing and before turning right side out, but I think I like the idea … you could make a pretty funky double sided quilt reasonably quickly like this.

The idea of making a quilt with a gazillion individual 1”hexies put me off big time because of the long preparation time that would mean for me, but I feel this would be quite fun – especially if you add your block colours into the centres or around the edges to break up the patterns a bit … You could also cut two large hexies from plain blocks and piece them to really make the colours pop…

What do you think guys?  Is it viable?