AMH feather blocks
Showing posts with label AMH feather blocks. Show all posts
Anna Maria Horner - my hero
I love Anna Maria Horner. I mean lurrrve. There's so much wonderful fabric she's designed, her patterns are always gorgeous and I just generally dig the whole vibe of everything she creates. If I was to pick one designer who has influenced my style, who's aesthetic I admire and inspires me to create, it is her. Anna Maria Horner is my creative hero.
You will find her fabric popping up in lots of my projects, if I could afford to buy more I totally would and there are of course the things I've made from her patterns:
And for my HEROES challenge this month I have finally completed the quilt top from the Feather Bed Quilt pattern and the fabulous bee blocks that my wonderful 'Bee A Brit Stingy' and 'Scrappy? Sew Bee It' friends have made me - for which I THANK YOU!!
I can only apologise for the dreadful pictures that are to follow. This is about 80" x 100" and I hardly have room to lay it out anywhere, it is going to be a challenge to baste!
Maybe a blurry pic of Lois enjoying the quilt top will make up for it?
For the back I did a jelly roll race thing using 5" strips of fabric I love (of course there's some AMH in there!) and then cut it to include the row I made of all the siggy blocks.
Hopefully once it's all quilted I will find somewhere to show it off... I'm hand quilting it though so don't hold your breath ;)
Now head over to Le Challenge and see some other HEROES projects!
the universe
**Make sure you've entered my giveaway HERE**
I managed to get my blocks done for my lovely bee mate Emily, using this tutorial. I think my 1/4" seam was a little off though because they are not perfect. I'm hoping it's not too obvious and Emily can live with them, if not I will make more!
I was getting a little annoyed trying to make them perfect and I'm trying not to get stressed out right now!
I get daily messages from 'The Universe' and on Monday I got this one:
Did you know, Lucy, that when you were born, so wee and little, we thought we might never, ever get over all the crying?!
Ours, not yours.
So in love,
The Universe
Ours, not yours.
So in love,
The Universe
It just seemed so appropriate!!
and then yesterday...
No matter how great the desire is to please another, Lucy, let it be no greater than the desire to be yourself.
Otherwise ain't no one happy.
So pleased with you,
The Universe
They come from www.tut.com - the motto is 'thoughts become things... choose the good ones' - I couldn't agree more! You can sign up to receive positive daily messages for free and you customise them too - it really is a fun way to remind you of all the greatness, inspiration and wonder all around us. I love them (especially when I'm in a bad mood!!). I have received them for many years and still read them all.
The universe has been sending me huge blessings recently and I can't go into it here because there's not enough time and I'll get too emotional but my fabulous cousin in California just sent me a beautiful and thoughtful package to welcome baby Lois.
She sent two fabulous Berenstain books, which me and the kids adore! Some gorgeous baby fabrics... I'm thinking a little quilt and a dress? And for the two bigger ones, these gloves - they love them so much I had to wrestle with them not to wear them to bed!! Fred wore his into the classroom this morning so he could show them off to his friends and teachers :)
Yesterday I also got a lovely package from my friend Nicky. She had already tackled the feathers because we are in two bees together and here are the latest four!!! I love them!
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| Nicky's photo - shamelessly nicked from Flickr! |
She also sent a cute card, lovely scraps and some MUCH needed sugar (the kids are not having them when mummy really needs that boost!!). Thank you Nicky :)
Linking up:
a bunch of stuff
**Be sure to enter the fabulous giveaway from ChristaQuilts**
I was doing so well yesterday - got lots of housework done and even basted my Blogger's BOM quilt in the afternoon... by 5pm I was losing my mind and the sleep deprivation totally caught up to me. I went a bit mental and then I was asleep by 8pm. God only knows what I'd do without my husband - he's pure angel!
So I might find some time at some point to get this baby quilted. It isn't basted too well but that's what happens when you're rushing to do it with a baby asleep and 'help' from a cute 3 yr old girl!
I know some of you will tell me I'm crazy for even thinking about sewing but honestly it felt SO good to make some progress and sewing is my 'me' thing. Being a mum always comes first but being 'Lucy' is important too!
I made these Japanese x + o blocks for Sue, our first queen in the Simply Solids Bee, before Lois was born... now just need to get to the post office!
Over the past couple of weeks more feather blocks have been floating in from my lovely bee mates...
bottom row: Collette and... I don't know!!! I've totally lost track!! Shout out if this is yours!! May (so sorry!! - thanks Helen!!)
They are all gorgeous, thank you ladies and forgive me for not keeping up!
I also received this AWESOME bundle of vintage sheet FQs - huge thanks to Mary for organising it all and doing the hard work! Check out her blog and I'd highly recommend joining in if she ever runs another one ;)
Lastly check out my girl with her totally natural (and I can't stop it!!) amazing mohican hair do. I'd literally have to put gel on it to stop it from sticking up!! It has a mind of it's own ;) Super cute though!
Linking up:
swim down!
Like the scene from Finding Nemo where the fish all work together to avoid being trapped, my husband has been telling the baby to SWIM DOWN!
Due date +5 now. We had a false alarm on Monday but it's all gone quiet. There's the occasional wriggle but no big contractions. I'm hoping to do a post at some point very soon saying 'hurrah, the baby has arrived' but I shall be moaning until then so you'll have to put up with me ;)
I had a fantastic birthday weekend, my sister and her fiance came up from Cardiff to surprise me and they brought this gorgeous chair with them! It used to be in our childhood home and was my 'Dad's' chair :) It doesn't really fit anywhere in her house and we needed more seating so it's perfect. The children love sitting on it together (their legs are never still!!) but as soon as my husband sat in it he declared it his! It is so comfortable, so nice to sit and lean your head on.
The other picture is my children chasing balloons around, which is what we've mostly been doing everyday! You can also see the TV in the fireplace we had knocked out... it's not totally finished and I'll show another picture when it's done but it really has opened the room up and I'm so glad to be rid of the fireguard.
We've had a little bit of snow, it settles overnight but then melts with the lovely sunshine in the day! Another thing floating in is these gorgeous Bee feathers. I had a few drop in last week and saved them to open on my birthday (sad?! maybe but I had fun!)
They are gorgeous and work so well together :)
robot cushion
It is late (like a certain baby now) but I made this cushion as a Christmas present for my friend's son. Hopefully I'll be seeing her soon to give it to him.
I used this pattern for the applique - I think it's really cute. I had run out of heat and bond so it will probably get very frayed but hopefully it'll just add to the look and texture. I made a simple back using fun Dr Seuss fabric (available here and here) that the lovely Justine sent me in a swap.
I also finished up this embroidery yesterday (with the help of my little girl!). The pattern is from Sublime Stitching:
I got great post too, these Bee blocks are from the fabulously talented Sheila (I should point out that I've asked both the Scrappy? Sew Bee It! and the Bee a Brit Stingy ladies to make me the AMH feathers so I would get more!!). I love the colours and prints she used. She also sent yummy little chocs and a cute card! Thanks Sheila :)
Linking up:
p.s. It's my birthday tomorrow so I am bouncing on this ball like crazy (and following Annabella's advice when I can!!) in the hopes that I go into labour and won't be sharing a birthday ;)
in suspense WIPs
Here's a little round up of what I'm working on (not a full WIP report because it's too depressing!)...
I have attempted some short stints at my machine and quickly appliqued this robot, using this tutorial. I'm not making a quilt of them though, just a cushion and hoping to have it finished very soon.
Then (because I've had the pieces cut out for ages and I love this block) I wanted to make the Tippecanoe blocks for the How Far Will You Go? QAL - this was the straw that hurt the pregnant lady's back though and I've only managed one of four, the rest will have to wait until the bump has gone!
So back to EPP on the sofa and block 30 of my rose stars:
I just love getting post from far away and in an envelope from Australia I got another lovely Bee feather, this one is from Debra - I cannot wait to put all of these together!
Then this afternoon I had 2 fabulous visitors! My wonderful friend Rachel and her daughter, this was the first time I'd met her beautiful daughter (carrying a cute hedgehog bag!) and she so kindly made these beauties for the baby:
How gorgeous are they?!! So sweet of her. She had also made some scrummy biscuits (devoured by me and later hubbie!!) and Rachel gave me a jar of marmalade, which I will sample in the morning! I feel spoiled by these lovely treats, thanks ladies!!
We spent a nice time chatting and they really are so down to earth and funny. It was fun to have some company and hopefully they'll be back soon to meet the little one :)
Speaking of the impending arrival, my biggest WIP, I had a midwife appointment today and she suggested bouncing on one of those exercise balls to get the head engaged fully (it's hovering a bit apparently). So I will be spending the evening doing that!
Due date is tomorrow, husband is trying to point out that it's not officially late yet (doesn't help!!), but I hope it arrives within the next week so I can avoid having a sweep. Please send 'get out now baby' thoughts my way ;)
Linking up:
anyone else?
Is it just me or does anyone else have sore eyes and tired fingers from entering all the giveaways over at SewMamaSew?!
I thought I would quickly show you a little finish. I used this great tutorial by Pinwheel Ponders to make some cute paper pieced Santa decorations:
Adorable huh?! I didn't have any little bells or pom poms (clearly I need more varied supplies!) so I used some wooden beads at the end of the hat and embroidered the eyes and nose.
Another bee block feather in the post. This lovely one is from Christiane, who also sent the cutest notecard with measuring tape!! It's now on my noticeboard, love it:
She was kind enough to include some lovely scraps, some of the backing fabric she used and a super cute decoration. Thank you so much Christiane!
Now a bit off the sewing topic...
We've had the builders round. They repointed the brickwork at the front of the house and then they came inside to work on the fireplace.
Try to ignore the cuteness that is my son (when he was one - nearly 4 years ago!) and look at that 'modern' fireplace on the left.
It was there when we moved in and despite some visitors saying they like it, we don't! It actually broke recently anyway, which was a good excuse to get a radiator fitted in the living room, hence no need for the fire!
It was also a hazard, those imitation rocks (???) always seemed to fall down and we had to get that vile fire guard to protect the kids...
...which is currently being used to prevent them from trying to get up the chimney to see if Santa is coming! We decided to have the fire taken out and the fireplace opened up.
What you see is the original lintel and gentle arch that was built in the 1930s. Sadly the bricks are not in the best state (they often reused bricks at that time) so it will all be plastered over but we get to keep that lovely organic shape. The hearth will be tiled and then we can move that table and the TV into that space. We have some shelving to go next to the chimney breast so hopefully we can get some toys off the floor!
I also just have to tell you how much I have been loving the smell of soot - I think it's a weird pregnancy thing because I can't get enough. I don't want to eat it mind, I just love smelling the bricks!
The plasterer and joiner are due to come later this week so I might have a finish to show you soon!
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