Pink, purple and orange, coming together nicely

Today I have spent a little while sewing together the Pink, purple and orange blocks to make another quilt for Siblings Together.

I decided to use these 12 blocks for the quilt:

 

and to leave the 13th block for making a QAYG block for the Soy Amado Project:

And here's the quilt top I created from those Swap blocks, scraps and stash:

 

I had already added 5 hearts to the block in the centre of the bottom row which I will hand sew on with blanket stitch this evening.

However I think the block which is on the left of the 3rd row looks very pale compered to the other blocks so I am going to add some royal purple shapes to the two wide pale lilac borders.

I am trying to decide whether they should be triangles to reflect the flowered windmill featured in the block or some purple flowers with pink centres to reflect the border fabric which butts up to this block.  Have to think about that one a bit more.

Turning hoarded UFO blocks into quilts is so satisfying!

No more hoarding or procrastinating!

I was so pleased with the Lucky Stars Quilt I created from a set of blocks received in a swap at the beginning of 2012 I decided to delve into my box of UFOs once more.

This time out came a set of 13 blocks which I collected during a Flickr Swap during April and May 2011!

Here are two of them.  I have added hearts to both blocks because they had a lot of solid fabric in them compared to the other blocks I received.

 

 

 

I am using a Kona white for sashing the blocks, with 3" cornerstones found in my 3" squares stash.

 

I have had great fun this afternoon sewing the sashing strips onto the individual blocks and am now halfway through sewing the sashed blocks into rows.

 

Watch this space as another quilt comes together which again I will be donating to

Siblings Together.

 

Lucky Stars Quilt ready for donation

I have had such fun making my Lucky Stars Quilt.

I enjoyed turning a pile of 9 star blocks ( all different in every way which I had collected in a Block Swap over four years ago) into a pretty quilt.

Each block contained lots of white solid fabric which needed softening somehow so I added rows of hand quilting using variegated Perle threads: blue, pink, yellow, purple and green threads.
Again I am pleased with the result.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, a photo of the finished quilt:

 

 

It measures 55" square and I am thrilled with it!  I am sending it off to Siblings Together later today and I hope it makes one little girl very happy, that every time she snuggles under it she will remember her time at Summer Camp.

 

Another NEEDLEBOOK & SCRAP VOMIT SWAP posted

A busy couple of days, some sewing and a little knitting and I parcelled up my 3 sets of Scrap Vomit squares for the Swap. 

The SV Swap was organised through Gnome Angel (gnomeangel.com ) but managed via swap-bot which worked like clockwork!  As soon as the deadline for registering as a participant expired I received an email linking me to their website and discovered the names and addresses of the three people I had to send my sets of squares to.  This was the International Swap and 80 people had signed up for it.  My three partners were from three different continents........ Europe (Germany), Australia and North America (Canada).  All very exciting. You can keep track of who has sent their packages via swap-bot and I know my Canadian partner has sent her packages out.  What I am not sure about it whether the folk I send to actually send their sets to me.  We shall find out when our Postlady, Julie, starts popping packages through our letterbox!
This swap reminded me of when I was about 11 years old........ a very long time ago!...... when I registered with the girls' comic School Friend for a penfriend living in another country.  I was really disappointed when I ws given the name of a girl living in Yorkshire! However, we happily corresponded for about fifteen years and then, sadly, lost touch.

I have had quite a productive few days, managing to finish another little Crumb Quilt and I am ready to bind another one.  I have also sandwiched the Siblings Together Project quilt, a job I heartily dislike.  Difficult to do as I don't have a large table or a hard floor so I crawl around the bedroom floor trying to pin the layers together without getting loads of creases.  Very tiring and time consuming!  Anyway, it is now ready for me to start the hand quilting. 

My church is again taking part in the Samaritan's Purse Shoebox Scheme.  You pack a Christmas paper-wrapped shoebox with gifts for a child in parts of the world where they wouldn't receive any Christmas gifts.  You decide whether to make up a box of little gifts suitable for a boy or girl and the age range you have aimed the parcel for.  Gifts can be little toys, toiletries, warm hats, scarves, gloves, etc. We were provided with a knitting pattern for a simple Beanie and I have enjoyed making two so far. They look very pretty in the variagated white/pink/mauve wool I chose. I'll make a few more which can be popped into other Shoeboxes.  I now need to shop for some little gifts, hair slides, crayons, soft toy etc.  Good fun, the sort of shopping I enjoy.

 

We are going to a family wedding on Saturday which should be great, a lovely chance for a family get-together.  One of the bride's cousins is Helen who has been so kind and supportive during the past year since my cancer diagnosis. She loves knitting and sewing so as another little "Thank You" I have made one of my Strawberry Needlebooks to give her on Saturday. I'll pop some pins and needles inside too.

And another photo showing back and front.

 

Off now to get ready to go to a friend's for coffee. Haven't seen her since she returned from holiday so lots to catch up on!