Look what I won!

Our first day back in our NZ house I went to a local Quilt Show.  Really good venue in one of the church halls in town. Lovely quilts, all displayed very well. This is a new annual show, only started last year. The idea of a couple of local quilters who felt there were quilters who did not belong to clubs so were unable to display the lovely quilts they made.  There was a raffle in aid of St John's Ambulance so of course I bought a few tickets and - amazingly - I won Second Prize which is a beautiful Zig Zag Quilt. I really like Zig Zags and once made a scrappy one for a baby quilt gift.

I love the white backgrounds to the different coloured zigzag stripes. And my favourite colour, aqua for the boarders and binding.  I am thrilled!  It's a lap sized quilt so I know I will use it back in the UK.

Here it is:

 I have signed up to be part of a Bee making quilts for Siblings Together. We have a Queen Bee for February, Tanya, and she has already given us our block which is a 20" Log Cabin design. Ideally with a solid fabric centre, all the logs in the same colour as the centre but as many different fabrics as you like.  As I had the opportunity to make them yesterday afternoon I decided to seize the moment and make both of mine.  One in pink and one in green as when I looked at the very limited stash I have here in NZ, I discovered I had most in those two colours. I didn't have any solid green fabric so chose one which has a butterfly design that I think stands out fairly well from the surrounding logs.

Here is the green one which my computer has unhelpfully turned around so that the dogs and sheep aren't walking along the horizontal.

 

I have made loads of log cabin blocks before but never any this size!

I will mail them back to the UK when I am next in town.

 

My husband went fishing with our next door neighbour yesterday and caught some gurnard, my favourite fish. It was absolutely delicious. I made a dish of roasted vegetables to accompany the fish - all the veggies (pumpkin, onion, green and yellow courgettes) were from the same neighbour's garden.  So, a VERY local meal!

 

 

 

 

Sorting out my sewing room

Well, suddenly we are halfway through January, so 2015 is already starting to slip away, and it's time to sort out my sewing room and have a good old tidy up.

I have a drawer with "Project Packs" which I did not touch today. I do more or less know what's in there.  Mostly packs of fabrics and scraps ready to make a quilt, not WIPs.

However, I did delve into the cupboard which has packs of blocks, including a couple of Sewing Bee groups I participated in a few years ago.  Time they saw the light of day!

 

Thirteen 12.5" blocks which really need to be made into a quilt - or donated. 

 

Another Bee Group, similar colours to the previous set but Stars this time. Perhaps I could combine both sets of blocks?  There does seem an awful lot of white in both sets ( although one block in this set definitely has  cream background).  Perhaps a bit of trimming and adding colourful strips? 

Then I have a few sets of blocks I make as "Leaders and Enders" - in the Bonnie Hunter style:

Top row are a set of 6" Crumb blocks and 2 sets of 4" Crumb blocks
Middle row: a set of Hour glass style blocks and rather anaemic pinwheels(should I undo them into HSTs?)
Bottom row: Wonky stars, Bonnie Hunter style. Boy colours.

And a quilt top made from 4" Crumb blocks made into 4 patch blocks, made into a Cornerstones top (Gwen Marston style).  Probably needs a border.  A good size as you can see from the photo - it is spread out on top of a single bed. Once this is finished I think I will donate it to Siblings Together.


I also sorted out my scraps.  Any reasonable sized pieces I put into a large zipped poly bag which originally  held sheets. I do find these bags so useful.  Smaller pieces I cut into 2.5"  or 3" squares, or strips. All tidily away in my stash.

Not quite finished sorting out as I ran out of time but hope to finish the job tomorrow.

Feeling pleased with my efforts so far.