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The Complete Quilter
Having already enjoyed Jessica Alexandrakis' first book Quilting On The Go!, I knew that The Complete Quilter would be just as brilliant. It is a thorough guide to quilting, packed full of how to's and really useful tips and tricks. While it is a perfect book for beginners it is also fabulous for anyone wanting to try a different style of patchwork.
The book contains so many techniques, which Jess demonstrates in a variety of quilt blocks that culminate in this clever sampler quilt.
There are easy to follow guides and it's so informative, covering everything you need to know about patchwork and quilting. What I really love though are all Jess' handy tips and the advice she offers from her unique approach and experience.
She also gives tutorials for some really nice projects and all throughout the book offers amazing inspiration and ideas!
Looking through the book I was inspired to make a row for Sheila for our quilt bee, Bee A Brit Stingy. I chose to make four Economy Block Variation blocks and I am super pleased with the neat points!
The Complete Quilter would make a great gift for someone interested in or new to patchwork and quilting and also as a great reference for anyone excited by interesting quilt blocks and designs.
love those little clips
It's always hard to photograph Bee A Brit Stingy rows, they don't fit neatly in a picture and at 48" long I have to stand on my tiptoes to get it all in!
I'm really happy with how this turned out and I hope Collette likes it. Her sewing themed quilt is going to be gorgeous! The other bees have already made her rows with scissors, sewing machines, button jars and spools of thread.
I used instructions from the book Word Play Quilts by Tonya Ricucci to form the letters and improvised the background. The heart was made using this tutorial and I enjoyed making a rainbow of clips using the Clippity Clip Block pattern by Amanda.
I did think about writing a few words but those little clips took quite a while and ultimately I'm glad I went for a one word statement because I think it keeps it modern and unfussy. Also 'sew' just sums everything up!
We only have one more row to make (it seems to have gone so quickly) and I'm excited to find out what our bee mamas have planned for next year!
blooming
It's been a productive week and I'm happy I managed to sew anything with the crazy kids around!
I finished this Bee A Brit Stingy row for Nicky. The blocks are Castle Walls by John Q. Adams from the book Fat Quarterly Shape Workshop for Quilters
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I switched out the arrangement of grey / white squares so the row would have more movement, which Nicky requested.
Also managed to finish two more hand pieced flower blocks for my green tea and sweet beans quilt:
I adore that little Cocoland cat!
The next block is clamshells, which I have never done before. I'm going to do needle turn appliqué because I'm feeling brave. Here's my fabric pull for the clamshells:
Wish me luck!
unwound
When life is stressful there's nothing quite like sewing. It got to the point last week where I have had to prioritise trying to relax and getting back to sewing has really helped me unwind.
I finished this Bee A Brit Stingy quilt row for Di:
Di has to take some of the credit for this one because she made all those small butterflies. I added some nine patches and made large butterflies on the ends, the shapes of those wings and the row underneath were inspired by Lori Holt's instagram.
Spurred on by this successful machine sewing I decided to start a new English Paper Piecing project. I have created a pattern and hope it'll work out so I can teach it!
I also got some pretty goodies for my planner, I mean Totoro, Hello Kitty and robots are bound to make me more organised, right?!
Of course I had to have some sewing machine sticky notes too :) These are all from The Idea Owl.
Here's to a productive and tension free rest of the week!
back to it
Now that my thumb is healing nicely (so everyone tells me but it still looks and feels horrible to me!) I decided to get motivated and do some sewing.
I've been working on a Bee A Brit Stingy row for Di:
I am loving her garden themed row on row and hope to get this finished in the next couple of days.
There are a couple of other things I'm trying to get finished up and I'm enjoying the process. While I've been sewing I've been watching the Fat Quarter Shop videos on YouTube. Have you seen them? I've been catching up and really enjoyed the ones they did with Jen Kingwell. You can search their channel to find specific things or just watch great tutorials and interviews! Click here to check it out! I find it really inspiring.
And a heads up if you haven't heard already, the Fat Quarter Shop is celebrating their 12th Birthday and are having a Birthday Bash sale. Happy Birthday!
the best things in life
like finishing bee blocks:
All of the blocks are from Fat Quarterly Shape Workshop for Quilters. I had to add some sashing to the get the row to the correct size but I like how it creates an abstract look.
Block patterns from left to right: Migration by John Q. Adams; Landscape by Tacha Bruecher; Meeting Point by Tacha Bruecher and Bowties and Blooms by John Q. Adams
Enjoying the sunshine and shadows, playing with paintbrushes and water:
She takes her art very seriously!
The joy of simple games: sink or float?
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There is an ongoing problem is our house, those dreaded missing socks!! I feel bad for the lonely ones stuck in a raggedy old bag and today I saw this tutorial to make a bag for mismatched socks, cleverly utilising an embroidery hoop and the cutest embroidery pattern!
Finally fabric sales are always awesome and right now Pink Castle Fabrics have marked down hundreds of fabrics - no coupon needed, just hop over and check out the sale section :)
if you go down to the woods today...
you might find a pretty pink bear zippy bag!
I made this cute zip bag using the Art Gallery Fabrics pattern by Melissa. It was a present for my daughters friend but I know all of my kids would like one of their own!
This year my bee mates and I are making rows in the Bee A Brit Stingy Bee. It's really fun to see all the different ideas we've come up with. I have asked for flying geese blocks, all sizes but set the same way so they look like trees. Here's my first row that has arrived with Sheila:
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Yesterday I was teaching a class at Patchfinders and one of the ladies had taken two of my previous classes, one to make the quilt and one to learn big stitch quilting. She perfectly combined the two and brought her finished quilt in to show me:
I would love to add some cross stitch to my quilts too! Thanks for letting me share your work Tean :)
Linking up:
at Persimon Dreams this week
Yesterday I was teaching a class at Patchfinders and one of the ladies had taken two of my previous classes, one to make the quilt and one to learn big stitch quilting. She perfectly combined the two and brought her finished quilt in to show me:
Tean and her stunning quilt!
Tean picked a great mix of fabrics and her stitching looks brilliant. She also added some adorable appliqué hearts with roses she had cross stitched. I love the whimsy and pretty touch they add:
I would love to add some cross stitch to my quilts too! Thanks for letting me share your work Tean :)
Linking up:
**There's a couple more days left to enter my giveaway, open worldwide, ends 1st March**
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