Summer blessings

Summer blessings by Primrose Cottage was the free stitch for May for being a newsletter subscriber. I find it uncomfortable to sit for more than an hour, so this has taken longer than I had anticipated. Today is a bank holiday and it's hot, so time to finish off the small bees and flowers. I will make this into a small pillow but need to find some suitable fabric.

Stash Bee - plus blocks

My local friend, Jane, recently started a stash bee so as to use up our stashes and scraps. Jane's block was chosen for May, and I initially stitched these at the Modern Quilt Club retreat. I was using an unfamiliar sewing machine, and I was disappointed that my blocks were not coming out at 6.5" square. Once home, I unpicked and resewed the blocks and I'm now much happier with the outcome.

My month is July, so not long to wait and that is also a retreat month so I might collect some blocks at retreat.

Barbara Ana - Spring

Having completed winter, I decided to finish Spring too. This is number 1 of our UFO challenge 2026but the number hasn't yet been called. As you can see I had made good progress already with Spring.

I did make a counting mistake on the bird on the right-hand side but decided that it didn't offend me, and I added an extra blue cross to that side for balance. I have decided to put away this project until number 2 is called which is summer. However, I have updated my floss ring to include only the summer colours.

I spy quilt complete

 

I finished piecing this quilt top at retreat, so it was a priority to quilt it on my return. The quilt is for a Christmas challenge for the Wednesday group that I attend, but it's good to get ahead.

I used the digital pantograph Malachite and a multicoloured thread to quilt the top. I used the backing that was already loaded on my long arm from the Tula Pink Roar which I quilted with car interlining instead of Bosal in the middle for Lizzie. There was no black or white in the quilt top, but a black and white stripe for the binding is often a good choice.

I even remembered to add a small rainbow label on the back of the quilt and there is a rainbow block in the quit top.

Frida dress

Do you end up with lots of off cuts of dressmaking fabrics? I made the Aspen dress in a seersucker from Fabric Godmother in March 20205. I parceled the leftover fabric neatly in an Ikea Ziploc bag and it has lurked with many other off cuts. 

Last week I used the Frida dress pattern from two stitches to make this pretty dress in size T2 as a gift for a friend whose daughter is having a second baby this summer. I am surprised how much fabric that I have left and can probably make at least one, if not two dresses more. I think that these dresses could be a good retreat make if precut ready to sew. 

Retreat purchases

Just a few purchases from retreat. I bought the two stitches girls dress pattern as I thought that it would be a good way to use up scraps from the clothes I've made. The Oliver + S pattern was my raffle prize with the same thought in mind.

From A Beautiful Thing I bought two charm packs and a strawberry print to add to my strawberry stash. I also bought some magic pins which I left behind with my daughter, Lizzie. I left some other things that I didn't immediately need as my husband, Nick will collect my goodies when he visits the children and his family at the end of the month.

Also not pictured is the small stripology ruler that I bought to try out. I will report back.

I spy quilt progress

 

On the Saturday of my retreat weekend at Gomersal Park, I pieced the 81 5" blocks into a quilt top. Fortunately, I had a large bed in my room, so I laid all of the blocks out and then stacked them ready to piece together. This is now ready to quilt and perhaps bind, this weekend.

Still getting ready for retreat

Our Wednesday group Xmas challenge is to make an eye spy quilt for donation to a charity. I have taken the easy route and pulled out two Ruby Star panels. I thought it was going to take some time to find them, but they were actually in my Ruby Star box!

I also plundered my box of Moda solids for colours that toned with the squares in the panel. I was surprised not to have more dark blue fabrics. I have added a 1.75" border around the fussy cut squares and then trimmed the squares to 5". I find that the squares are a bit smaller than 3" square so i would prefer to trim them down for accuracy. 

I am stitching about ten blocks per day which takes about an hour and I hope then to be able to put the quilt top together at retreat.

 

Winter by Barbara Ana

Number 4 was chosen as our group's UFO challenge this month. Another of the seasons by Barbara Ana which I hadn't started.

I finished the piece on Saturday. There was a lot of white to stitch which doesn't really show up in photos. I now have Autumn and Winter complete. Spring is started and I may work on that in May to make progress.

Meanwhile, I have been doing tax returns for myself and my father's estate whilst also quilting metres of Roar by Tula Pink for Lizzie, so the fabric is prequilted for bag making. I should finish this job today.

Pour l'Amour du Fil 2026

When we arrived at the exhibition centre, there was a long queue. I was shocked as the French don't queue and I thought Thursday would be quiet. However, the red dress project which greeted you at the entrance to the hall, was only there for two days which may have changed the pattern for booking tickets.

This was Lizzie's first time at this show which is very different from, and much smaller than the Festival of Quilts. We started by looking at the rooms of quilts which were predominantly vintage, Japanese or traditional, which is not our aesthetic. This dress made out of tea bags caught my eye as an elderly friend keeps tea bags for recycling into bags in India.

We went up and down the rows of stands methodically but managed to lose each other in about ten minutes!! My obsession with strawberries continues and we also bought some Fimo buttons, but I think they've gone back to the UK with Lizzie. 

Au Fil d'Emma has the largest stand of modern fabric and I bought these two patterns along with some useful Fat Quarters and a blue FQ bundle for Lizzie for her birthday. I am joining a new quilt bee and I'm thinking of requesting stars in yellow, orange and red so a couple of these will come in useful.

I bought this vibrant pink fabric to make a gilet or similar. I thought had the same vibe as the Liberty Adidas shoes Lizzie bought me for Christmas. At our stop at Ecolaine in Rennes I also picked up this Liberty bias binding to cover the edges. If I have enough, I will also bind the few seams for a neater finish.

We had a lovely but short trip. Two 6am starts on Friday and Saturday, threw me a curve ball but I had a good night's sleep on Saturday night which makes all the difference. 

Getting ready for retreat

 

Having returned from France very early Friday morning, my suitcase was already out so I have started packing for the next Modern Quit Club retreat on 1 May. Less than two weeks to go now! I bought some lovely zippers from Ecolaine in Rennes, so decided to make a twice as nice pouch by Aneela Hoey for the pouch swap. These zippers were unusual as they look like ametal zipper with the end stop but aren't made of metal.

The pouch didn't take long to make but I made the same mistake as every other version I've made, I only cut two strips of the long striped piece but needed three. The pouch is now wrapped and ready for retreat. I need to decide what projects to pack for retreat next, which will entail doing some tidying to find a Ruby Star Society panel for a group challenge. I know I have one full panel and a half panel, but who know where.

Plans for this week

Our daughter, Lizzie arrived back home yesterday evening and we have two plans for the week:

Stitch up the Frida shirt; and

Spend a few days in France including a day at Pour L'Amour du Fil in Nantes.

I am going to use this light cotton from Seasalt with a fish motif. I feel that fish was the motif in fabrics and homeware for 2025. I have had this fabric for some years, but it is now prewashed and ready to make into a shirt. I plan to make the long-sleeved version so long as I have sufficient fabric. I will need to be careful where the circle motifs are positioned on the front of the shirt!

Paris je t’aime 5

I made good progress on section 6 of Verushka Zarate's pattern. There are only a few flowers to applique in this section so I will leave them until section 5 is complete. I have even completed one part of section 5 already. Do I keep going or wait until after our trip to Nantes to continue?

Be careful what you wish for!

 

For our group UFO challenge in March, I had completed Autumn by Barbara Ana. Lizzie is visiting in April and we are going to Pour l'Amour du Fil in Nantes together, so I was hoping for an easier UFO than in March. Unfortunately, number 4 was picked which was Winter by Barbara Ana and I had not put one stitch in this piece.

I have surprised myself this week and made good progress on the piece. I have finished the face and started working on the crown. My next aim is to stitch to the extremities of the piece on the left, right and top. I would estimate that I have completed about 50% of the stitching but my progress has been a bit scatter gun.

Lizzie arrives on Sunday afternoon, so more good progress is needed this week. Our joint project whilst she's home is a Tilly and the Buttons shirt and Lizzie has two quilts to put on the long arm. A little ambitious, I think, as we are away for three days which leaves only two days to sew.

Preparing your quilt for quilting

The maker of this quilt was very specific in her requests which I appreciate:

* Pantograph is Sally by the seashore

* Green thread

* Deadline

The backing fabric (a Tilda fabric) was 4" bigger than the quilt top as was the wadding. I recommend the Robert Kaufman app for calculating the size of backing that you need to purchase as well as how much fabric you need for the binding. It's always a good idea to prepare the binding before the quilt is ready to be bound, so that you don't have to think once the quilt is trimmed. I have 20.5" square quilt ruler that I often lend to customers to help with the trimming process.

I recommend that you pay particular attention to pressing your quilt ready for quilting whether by you or your longarmer. Another good practice is stitching around the whole of the quilt 1/8" from the edge so that seams don't come undone and it stabilises the quit.

Paris Je t'aime 4

Having finished my March UFO challenge, I decided to work on section 3 (my fourth section) of Paris Je t'aime by Verushka Karate. It is a small section so perfect for me whilst still nursing a cold. I also added in a few blocks for section 6 so as to make more progress. The top half of the quilt is now finished and looking great.

I usually store my scraps folded into the main piece of fabric, but I am now keeping the scraps separately so it's easier to see them and use them up. 

Autumn by Barbara Ana

 

Autumn by Barbara Ana was my March project for our group UFO challenge. This last week, I have been full of cold so was surprised that I got this finished. At the beginning of the month, I hadn't started the project so there was a lot for me to stitch. I fell that perhaps I should start working on Winter next so that it isn't a blank canvas. Tomorrow, the next UFO will be chosen but for today I'm going to work on Honey of a Tiny Town which is nearing completion.

Paris je t’aime 3

I am doing this project one section per month in 2026. My priority projects were my customer quilt to be long armed and my UFO challenge cross stitch. However, my long arm is playing up so a new cable has been ordered which I hope will arrive today or tomorrow (mail boat permitting). Then I left my cross-stitch project - Autumn by Barbara Ana at the Eisteddfod and didn't want to make a special journey to pick it up.

Unable to work on my priority projects, I prepped the applique for the third section of Paris je t'aime by Verushka Karate. It came together quicker than expected and is ready to be stitched to section 2. Section 4 is small and has no applique so should be a quicker make. I like how it's coming together and the less pressurised pace of one section a month.

Jersey Eisteddfod 2026

The Creative Arts Festival of the Jersey Eisteddfod opens tomorrow afternoon. It has been a week of hard work taking in over 600 entries just for our section, adjudicating the items, writing certificates and displaying the items. 

I was sent home by my team on Friday morning once we had completed the photographing of the trophy winning items. We had displayed all of the junior and adult entries, so my team completed the job by displaying the trophy winners entries in what I call "The Winners Circle".

All I've done today is to add coloured stars to three entries which are eligible for a visitor's choice award and added laminated copies of the judge's summary of her experience around the display. All ready for tomorrow and I am scheduled to steward on Friday morning so I will take some cross stitch with me to work on, just in case it's quiet.

Eisteddfod preparations finished

 We are just about ready for the Eisteddfod which opens on Thursday afternoon. Time now to work on a customer quilt and my March UFO. Number 3 was selected for March which is Autumn by Barbara Ana. I am putting all four seasons on one piece of linen. Spring is almost finished, summer had a small start and nothing had been worked on for autumn and winter. I worked along the bottom of summer to find the start of autumn.

Progress is slow as I have been suffering with the nauseous side effects of a medication. I have reduced the dose, so I'm hoping I will feel better this week. I set myself small tasks on the project to finish it in twenty days, but realistically, I just need to work on it steadily.