CHARM ABOUT YOU

Over the weekend I finished my last two little stitchings for the Fat Quarterly Retreat swap so just need to get these pretties on some teatowels



I also managed to get my Blogger's BOM blocks done for March and April:


On a roll I just finished these two blocks for charity Bee Blessed:


Hope they're ok Judith! They're like a boy and a girl converging corners!

It was fun making them and I was glad to dip into my scrap bin giant bag because it looks like this:


Serendipitous then that Sana should post about joining a bee that is using scraps and asking for followers! It's called Scrappy? Sew bee it! (great name!!) and is being run by the delightful May over at Confessions of a fabraholic. She is so sweet, incredibly organised and very helpful - I've gleaned all that just from emailing her today so I'll be happy to get to know her and the other bee members better!
If you'd like to join there's still room so go see May and sign up :)

I've never been in a bee before but already I'm enjoying it and so glad I joined on a whim!!

In other fun news, the gorgeous Katie is starting a fun link party each week for hand stitched items. This is such a great idea and I can't wait to see what hand sewing there is around blogland!



Check out her great blog There & Back then get to hand sewing something and I'll see you there on Friday! Maybe with some progress on this:

http://www.sewsweetness.com/2012/05/tutorial-embroidery-to-go-bag.html

The icing on the cake today had to be the wonderful news that the lovely Cindy of Fluffy Sheep Quilting has opened her online shop!

I'm linking up to Lynne's Fresh Sewing Day:


Well I have to say I was a little disappointed in my productivity this month until I started doing my mosaic and realised I'd made more than I thought! January was a really long month! I had such a slump after Christmas and was recently ill but I seem to have spurts where I achieve a fair bit and I do really love all the things I've made.


I finished the Hacienda quilt, my Not So Charming Rainbow Stars Quilt top and did a little fmq, a camera case and a thimble pocket! I also made a sewing machine cover, two sewing cases and a zip pouch. I'm most proud of completing four rose and star blocks this month, having never done any English Paper Piecing before - I'm totally hooked and loving every part of it! If you want to join in the Rose and Star Block Party is being run by the very talented Selfsewn :)


Since it's Wednesday I'm linking to Freshly Pieced:




completed:

Two more Rose and Star blocks:



I also did the Blogger's BOM:

still not convinced about where I'm going with this

ongoing:

I managed to fmq five more stars on my Not So Charming Rainbow Stars Quilt last night! In the zone!!:


There's only 3 left to do so I'm hoping to do that tonight and then it just needs binding. I originally thought about using Kona charcoal but actually I don't have that much spare and I realised I still had some of the backing fabric left over when I cut the length so I'm going to use that instead :)

I've also been working on some Bee Blessed blocks, my first contribution.

tutorial: http://modifytradition.blogspot.com/2009/11/amish-diamond-tutorial.html

I made two different blocks and they both went horribly wrong. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. They both came out about half an inch too small (12" square instead of 12.5"). Any clues?? My seams are all 1/4" and I don't know why this has happened.
If anyone has any good links to SIMPLE 12.5 blocks for beginners that I can try not to mess up please let me know. I feel so annoyed about it but obviously I need some practice. Sorry Judith I will try again and failing that send you some fabric!!

no progress:

The secret quilt - I have to do something on this by next week. seriously.

stats
completed: 0 (well 3 blocks but I think I have to stop counting them!!)
new projects: 0
in progress: 3

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Finally it's Weigh In time at Missy Mac Creations:





Although honestly can I just skip it?? I've done nothing, ate rubbish and been ill.
There's been no change. I haven't gained or lost anything. Just feel blah about it.
I have been walking but clearly all the carbs I've inhaled after feeling better haven't helped anything.
Need a bit of motivation!!

Any ideas about the blocks or improving my clear misinterpretation of instructions would be very helpful too :)