Sunday stash

 

On the first day of the show, we arrived at the exhibition centre for Happy Hour which is free entry from 4 until 6. My first port of call was Sew Kind of Wonderful.  I wanted to check whether I could pay by card and whilst there, I purchased straight away - one quick curve ruler and the matching quilting ruler and two patterns for the ruler. Each patter has a coloured button on the bottom of the ruler which tells you which ruler (s) you need for the project.

I made two purchases at the Miyako booth - two ready-made bag straps in red and silver for me and later one in green for my daughter. They were good value as they are leather with good quality lobster claw fittings.

On the first day I also stopped at the Fil Volant booth to thank my friend Donna for the one day pass for the following day. On the Thursday I also purchased two Christmas Fat Quarters to add to my seasonal stash.

On the Thursday I spied this range at Le Tricot di Monica (Italian shop). I bought just ten FQs and hope to pair these with any leftovers that I may have in stash from my favourite Birgitte Heitland range - Comma. I'm hoping that I have some greens and oranges to add to this selection. This might be a retreat project as I purchased Birgitte's latest book at the 2022 show as I couldn't attend the class.

Friday finish - Sew Happy

This is a pattern by Lori Holt of Bee in my Bonnet. I won the pattern at the Modern Quilt Club retreat in autumn 2022. 

I used the called for DMC threads on a 32 count Zweigart Murano. I need to purchase some quarter inch buttons tomorrow to complete the piece and take it to the framer next week.

A friend would also like to stitch this pattern so I will pass it on to her this weekend. 

WIP Wednesday

 

It's week four of the Trinket SAL with Alison Glass and we are stitching blocks 11 to 15. I was hoping to pick up a few fat quarters of Ruby Star Society whilst in France. I need some extra greens, reds and purples in particular.

They are looking very cute together. I have no plans yet as to how I'm going to use them in a final piece.

In related news, my finisher pin from the Alison Glass Mini series SAL 2022 arrived last week and has been added to my pin badge pennant.

Pour l’Amour du Fils 2023

 

The theme of this year's Pour l'Amour du Fils was the Netherlands. Imagine my surprise when I had a slow walk around the show during happy hour on the Wednesday to decide on a plan for Thursday when I came across my friend Marjolein who I first met at the Fat Quarterly retreat in London in 2012. Marjolein was there with a Netherlands Modern Quilt Guild exhibition. I was lucky to spot her as she wasn't there on the Thursday.

I enjoyed may of the exhibitions which are always beautifully staged, but lighting as always is an issue, and these are a few of the pieces that caught my eye.

The following piece was in the Windmills of my Mind" theme competition.

Having met alison Glass at the Wonderfil booth in 2021, I had to see who they'd brought over this year. I hadn't heard of Herma de Ruiter but loved her exhibits.

The neutrals of this room display worked well with the acid yellow backdrop and accessories.

SAQA had an exhibition based on the Orient express and I knew a few of those exhibiting. Such a variety of interpretations.

Exquisite workmanship

Gall Grottos' exhibition was different and she definitely has a style.

Odile Bailloeul had a room display as part of her booth which was lush. No purchases this year but I was very nearly tempted by her velvet for bag making.

Boeunju Bags work was beautiful and totally impractical.

We stayed at the Ibis nearish to the exhibition. I really did think it was a short walk from the exhibitiion but the walk nearly killed off my 95-year-old father. On the way back we took the tram one stop which halved the journey. We like staying outside the city but will try one of the other hotels another time. After one night in Nantes we headed to Chateaubriant where the hotel was lovely, and we just pottered aimlessly. Some shopping on the way to the ferry on Saturday brought our trip to an end.

I was intrigued by the frozen counter top at breakfast which is why there is a random photo of cod meats!!

Friday finish - rainbow remix quilt top

I purchased the kit for this quilt from Modern Quilt Club in their last sale. It came with the printed pattern by Paula Steel and the fabric by Alison Glass. I completed three blocks at the recent retreat and have worked consistently since my return. I am at my best in the morning so if I'm not going out I have been stitching on this project.

The design boards (tutorial on Lori Holt's blog) are perfect for laying out the pieces for each set of four blocks. These boards are 18" square, and the board was digitally cut by a local framer.

I finished the blocks last week. Friday was a day of multiple doctor and dentist appointments for both me and my husband so piecing the top together had to wait until the weekend.

The top is now complete and lightly pressed. I will need to find some backing. I think I have a package of wadding the correct size already I will quilt it on my long arm on our return from France.

WIP Wednesday -Trinket SAL week 3

This week is week 3 of the Trinket SAL with Alison Glass. Week 1's task was to stitch and share blocks 1 to 5. These are nice simple blocks to get us warmed up. I particularly like the middle block of this photo as it's a chance to use up skinny strips from my Ruby Star Society scrap bag.

Week 2 was more simple blocks and I love the apples and strawberries in the blocks. The apple fabric was a 5" scrap from a RSS scrap bag from Olive & Flo Handcraft.

Week 3 is a bonus catch up week and we have to share any block or blocks from weeks 1 and 2. Here are the first two sets of blocks together.

If everything has gone to plan, we should be heading by ferry to France with the car today and specifically to Nantes for the Pour L'Amour event. This is the third time that my 95 year old father will be joining us and will be a nice short break for us all. This time we are staying outside of the city centre near to the exhibition and then heading to Chateau Briant for two nights and that takes us back towards St Malo, from where we catch the ferry.

 

Monday Motivation

I need a finish to motivate me and Sew Happy seems to have been worked on for months. However, it is my biggest pattern in progress and one of my UFO challenge pieces. Looking at my progress so far, I have the sewing machine, star, S and H to complete. I think I need to focus on this piece to finish it. 

I also started "Whale Hello There" at Easter which is a small piece. My plan is to work on this until Wednesday when we go to France and then concentrate on Sew Happy which I'll take with me for during the ferry crossing. I am definitely not someone who can stitch during a car journey.

 Next time that I share these with you, I'll press them first as that makes them look so much better!!

Friday Finish - 2023 Santa

 

Who am I? I purchased this pattern in the last month, have stitched it and listed it for resale. Perhaps I have found my long lost mojo at last. There was no major unpicking on this Santa apart from the lettering which I accidentally stitched in white. 844 is a much better colour and shows well but doesn't overpower and is the colour suggested in the pattern.

The fabric is 32 count Belfast vintage stormy night, and I changed the red to 321 and the green to 699 to brighten the piece. I am now back to having three Santas left to stitch. What project should I pack for our short trip to Nantes next week? Perhaps a little more stitching on Sew Happy by Lori Holt as I'm currently working on the sewing machine which is a simple stitch.

WIP Wednesday - March 2023 achievements

 

March was mainly about the Mad for Plaid cross stitch projects which are now waiting to be fully finished onto a house shape which has been painted with blackboard paint. I started the month with the four Mad for Plaid seasons and finished with the Plaid Year - Hoppy Easter by Hands on design.

At retreat I completed two small projects, the first was the charm square basket.

And then I completed the Fifth Avenue Fanny Pack by Sallie Tomato.

I also stitched on the mini block sampler and some Trinket blocks for the Sewalong.

Retreat review

 I had another lovely retreat weekend at Gomersal Park with Modern Quilt Club. This was very much a last-minute booking and fortunately my daughter was able to join me. We stayed an extra night on the Thursday and for a change I flew to Manchester instead of Liverpool. What a difference between the airports. I would not choose to fly to Manchester again as it took an hour to do bag drop and security. Thankfully for the return flight, I got to the airport at 5am so I wasn't panicking.

After some shopping and teams call on Friday morning, 12 o'clock arrived and it was time to head to the sewing room. The first thing to do was check in and collect our goody bag. I was particularly pleased with the Sew Quirky pattern which will be saved for a sewing day or autumn retreat.

My first make was the charm square basket using Sweetwater fabrics from several years ago. I gifted it immediately to my daughter as it is her aesthetic. I had to add a Kylie and the Machine label to the project.

My second project which I finished before breakfast on Saturday was the Fifth Avenue fanny pack by Sallie Tomato. This is a very late Xmas present for a mustard loving friend which I will gift today. On Saturday we worked on our Square crossbody bags but mine is not quite finished. By the end of the day I was tired so thought it safer not to carry on and mess it up.

On Sturday morning and Sunday I worked on cutting and stitching nine blocks for the Rainbow Remix pattern by Paula Steel. I have cut some more pieces to work on the blocks in April. I have added to my to do list to stitch four blocks every Friday for six weeks.

As we were late bookers, we didn't participate in the secret swap but there were some lovely gifts. The recipients are pictured above with their three gifts.

Aurifil bingo happens on the Saturday night and the final thing before many leave on the Sunday was the raffle and Lizzie chose this Jacqueline de Jonge pattern and the batting seam tape for me. She chose Vilene products for herself.

Another lovely weekend and I'm already looking forward to the October MQC retreat and the Jersey retreat in November.

Sunday stash - the retreat edition

I engaged in a little retail therapy before, during and at the Modern Quilt Club retreat last weekend.

I had pre ordered a few items. The Acorn Precision Piecing pack was sent to Lizzie in Aberdeen as I wasn't paying £18 delivery to Jersey. I liked the non-starch starch pen but then misplaced it. That was so annoying as it was brand new. It was found just as I was waiting to put my bags in my friend's car and I'd left it on a pressing station that I'd only used once. I was ridiculously relieved.

I also preordered some Ruby Star Society fabrics from Olive & Flo Handcraft who provided the in-house fabric shop. The two strawberry fabrics are for my square crossbody bag and my daughter's plan was that we would stitch those on Friday, but I had forgotten that Saira didn't arrive until Saturday. The best laid plans of mice and women!!

On the way to the retreat on the Thursday, Jane and I stopped at Fabworks for a quick look at the Mill Shop which was stuffed with fabric goodies. All I bought was a gift certificate for a friend. However, my daughter also arrived on Friday afternoon, so she planned a shopping trip for us for Friday morning. On the list was Fabworks, TK Maxx and Home Bargains. We had a to be back at the hotel for a teams call at 11, no pressure then.

We started at TK Maxx where I bought nothing. A quick trip, then it was on to Fabworks. Lizzie treated me to this fuchsia velvet and I also bought some heart shaped magnetic snaps at 50p each. A bargain. Then it was on to Home Bargains to have a look at Sarah Ashford's new range. The range wasn't in the Cleckheaton store but I did pick up punch pliers for £3.99 each.

At the retreat I purchased a bottle of Flatter spray in the mint scent, and I was tempted by the Zip, Divide It! kit which includes all of the supplies needed to make the medium and large sizes. I could potentially make these at the October retreat, if not before.

A nice collection of purchases, which was quite restrained of me. Lizzie also brought all of our Zipper Valley order, which is now in my overflowing bag making drawer.