Hi honey, I'm home......

A lot of packing and 3 trips in the car means that I am now officially home from university. My mum's away visiting my Aunt which means I've been able to just dump everything for now. So the house looks a bit like this everywhere

(note: bewildered looking cat!) I know I should be unpacking but it's such a lovely day outside and big sister has presented me with a large pile of fabric triangles,

It's the nieces' birthday party on Sunday and big sister wanted a lot of bunting to decorate the garden with. She got as far as buying the fabric, cutting out the triangles and then realised a) she has a full time job and three kids under 5 to look after, and b) she doesn't own a sewing machine.

Since it was a lovely day I set up a little sewing station at the end of the garden. A short time and a little sunburn later (when sewing outside you must remember sunblock!) I have 35 metres of bunting. 

This was only half the fabric so I need to go on a ribbon hunt tomorrow to finish up. I'll try and take some pictures of the party at the weekend so you can see it in all its glory.

Finally managed to complete something!

Exams are over (kind of). I was too ill to attend them so I have no idea what's going to happen. Since there's no work left to do I've been catching up on some sewing. I finally finished quilting the Rural Jardin bear paw quilt and I love the way it turned out.

I was unsure about the thread choice when I started but I'm glad I stuck with it because, once I'd quilted all the "paws", it all blended really well. 

I echo quilted a quarter inch inside each paw and then repeated another quarter inch. I love the way that it has brought the bear paw pattern through to the back.

I still love the woven fabric I used for the back. It is so silky I'd love to make a quilt using all these woven fabrics, I'm sure it would drape beautifully. I used a bamboo/cotton blended batting and it has given it a gorgeous weight.

It's taken me an awfully long time to finish this quilt but it was worth it (many threads to bury when you do each paw separately). I think I'm going to free-motion quilt the second bear paw to see how different it looks.

I want to play!

Well, I am half way through my final exams and I think I'm going through sewing withdrawal. I simply don't have the time at the moment but it doesn't stop me from buying fabric or browsing blogs. My first new purchase is a layer cake of the new Fig Tree Quilts line, Strawberry Fields. I was given a gift certificate by the lovely people at the Missouri Star Quilt Company for helping out on their forum and I couldn't resist it.

The colours are really bright and summery and I love the strawberries, they make my mouth water just to look at them. There are also lots of dots and checks which contrast brilliantly with the busier prints. I couldn't help myself and had to play around with them (on my computer at least).

I recently stumbled upon a website with a list of traditional geometric patterns and fell in love with a pattern called Arabic lattice. It's traditionally made in two colours but I thought I could adapt it to be used with this lovely range of fabrics. What do you think?

The second splurge was on some Parisville fabric I found in a sale. I was mesmerised by these ladies when I first saw them on the Tula Pink blog. I have no idea what I'll do with it, the prints are large so it will have to be something to showcase them. I just couldn't resist those hairstyles!

I think I could definitely pull off the ship look. I bought some coordinating prints as well so I'll have a play with them when the dreaded exams are over.

Bye Bye lovely fabrics, see you in a couple of weeks.

So bright and cheerful!

Pop over to Jaybird Quilts for a chance to win this yummy fabric by Piece O' Cake Designs. Both of these fat quarter bundles are up for grabs and they're just delightful.

The colours are really vibrant and the patterns are really cute. My mind is just reeling with the thoughts of all the amazing things I could make with these.

Aren't they inspiring? And look at the gorgeous quilt Julie designed using them. The pattern is available on her website so go check it out.

Solid bear paws

I thought that using a solid jelly roll would make the bear paws look more modern but now it's done I think it has a traditional look about it too.

We had a fluke window of gorgeous sunshine this week so I took the time to get some outside pictures.

The subtle differences in the creams show up a lot better in natural light. 

I made a quick trip to The Fat Quarters to buy some batting and have a natter with Kim so now I just need to decide how to quilt this one. I think I might try free motion for the first time but I think I'll need to practice on something smaller first!

Chain piecing production line

I think I got a bit carried away with my chain piecing. There I was laying out my pieces and then wizzing them through the machine ...

... when I suddenly realised there was a pile-up. Turns out sewing 320 squares onto 320 rectangles make a large tangle of fabric

Still, you've got to love how quickly you can get through those blocks. A bit of slicing, a lot of pressing, a little bit more sewing and voilà!  The first 5 blocks of my second bear paw quilt:

It's quite hard to tell in the photo but they are 5 different shades of cream and beige from the oatmeal jelly roll.  They pick out the bits of confetti in the background fabric perfectly. Here's a close up of the lightest and darkest so you can see better

Hope it turns out as well as I think it will. I'm off to meet my mum for lunch. Happy Mother's Day to all those mums out there x