Grow Your Blog Party and I've been squeezed in after all : )

Vicki the lovely lady who organises the Grow Your Blog Party has slotted me onto the list, after I must have fallen through a crack in the system ~

... so thankfully I can now party fully!  

I may be coming later than expected to the party  - but I'm here and waving Hello from a chilly East Yorkshire, UK.

Vicki's blog is a feast, do go find her beautiful textile nests and most recently her luscious knitted hats and the full list of the blogs taking part in this years event will be found here ~

 http://vicki-2bagsfull.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/welcome-to-my-grow-your-blog-party.html

If you've popped in from the GYB list then I'm thrilled you felt inclined to drop by and if you already do pop in here from time to time,
then welcome back : )

 I work 3 days a week making tactile and Brailled resources for visually impaired children. I took flexible retirement last year and really enjoy having more time for myself and the grandchildren. In fact I am considering dropping to term time from april so I can have even more time to myself.

 

 

A Topic Box stone circle model and a

fastening waistcoat for a disabled child

 

Once upon a time I was an RAF Air Load Master, loading VC10 aircraft and flying world wide but after marriage and then bringing up 2 children alone, I have fallen quite happily into being an old biddy,

with 2 cats and 1 dog and can please myself which craft

to faff with and when!

I also did about 20 years or so of cat rescue and this is the first time in many years, I've only had 2 cats lol

Isn't it amazing how helpful cats can be?

 

 

Some of my current stitching ~

 

 

This below is my first 'rosette' in Katja Murak's BOM which is currently cutting up an obsessive storm and well worth taking a look at.

There is a Facebook New Hexagon Millefiori group page,

 go on I dare you, take a look!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1481806698762201/

 

Katja's book The New Hexagon has full sized patterns for most of the 3" hexi blocks needed to make each months rosette shape, through 2015.

So all you need is to buy the book and the BOM details are all provided free for you to follow along with.

 

 

My final round of hexi blocks is slightly different to the January pattern, but that's a flaw in my Creative Gene, I rarely ever follow a pattern exactly!

Impatient to start on the February rosette which won't be released till Feb 1st, I started another batch of blocks which will no doubt slot in somewhere in the making of this quilt.

 

 

some birdie pennants

 

and one of my stitch trees which use recycled materials throughout.

Well the thread used for the stitching is newly bought lol

 

 

Anyway am sure you are impatient to be off cyber travelling,

so if you'd like to enter my Giveaway to celebrate the GYB Party,

please leave me a comment and make sure I can contact you by email, in case your name comes out of the draw hat!

 

 

Given that it's a great long list of blogs to visit I will draw the winners name on Feb 14th, so everyone has a chance to enter.

 

If the winner is from the UK then I will send them a couple of US magazines and if the winner is from elsewhere, then I will send you a couple of lovely British stitchy magazines.

Like this ~

 

 

 

Thank you for popping in, please do come back!

Lyn

The laptop is back and the Grow Your Blog party has started ~

Well I was so keen to pick the laptop up today, having finally got the car back from the garage yesterday afternoon after its' damned repair too, because I wanted to chase home and write my GYB blog post : )



So imagine my disappointment to see that my blog is not included in this years GYB Party listings after all!
I can hardly promote myself as being a part of it, when in fact I'm not lol 
Despite my having emailed Vicki as soon as she had asked for entrants last year, it looks as if I have been missed off.
It is a huge undertaking that she organises each year with such good heart and mistakes must happen now and then, so I've just been unlucky this year.
Ridiculously I now feel at a loss and a bit foolish for apologising ahead of time, for not posting exactly on the 26th! lol now how silly is that lol

Anyway for those of you out there who will surely be interested,
please do nip across to Vicki's 26th January post on her really delightful blog and see the great long list of wonderful blogs and go blog hopping around, at your leisure.
It's a list that will remain up for a year, so you have plenty of time to travel round the world reading blogs and meeting new folks as you travel the cyber airwaves : )
http://vicki-2bagsfull.blogspot.co.uk/

 I had intended doing a 'hello this is me and what I do' post, but those of you that pop in now and then already know that, so forgive me, I won't bore you by repeating anything just now.
I'm going to go and lick my wounds lol - and struggle some more with fabric selections for my Millefiori rosettes.

Katja Muraks Facebook group page now has well over 1200 members! It's reassuring to know there are others worldwide driving themselves daft trying to decide which fabrics to place where - so I don't feel so alone!


Enjoy yourselves folks ~ Lyn

Grow Your Blog 2015 ~

Hi there :)

Am waving from East Yorkshire in the UK - see?
Life has thrown me a couple of curve balls and I am not going to be able to write my GYB blog post properly until Wednesday evening which is later than the 26th January deadline!
But I didn't want anyone to look in on the 26th and think I wasn't going to be posting at all!

The cars gone in for repair and I didn't have it on Friday to drive across town that day,
to collect my laptop off our works IT guys,
who were trying to get my printer driver to load properly for me and I was planning to pick it up on the Friday.

So I bussed into town Saturday morning to buy myself an IPad, which is what I'm now using but -
LOL  - I have yet to learn how to use the darned thing - properly -
And - I need to suss out how to move pictures from one place to another, from memory stick/laptop to IPad SO -
to save my sanity I'm going to wait to get my laptop back so I can do a decent and colourful GYB post!
My blog is rated - get this lol - 1211378th in the UK - so in an effort to creep a little higher up that foodchain HA!
Can I sweetheart you to pop back in to this blog midweek PLEASE? lol
I will be offering a giveaway but you'll need to drop in later to see what that is :)
So please pop back !
Lyn

Millifiore update - it could easily become an obsession ~

This is my rosette in making ~ not alot of progress you might think?

 

and with a bit of computer magic it looks fantastic!

 

 

I have to say, this is great fun to do and Katja Marek must be so thrilled, since the Facebook group page she set up to give those of us following this block a month activity a 'voice', now has over 670 members and its proving to be a delightfully supportive group.

We can ask questions and seek advice and get feedback from not only Katja herself, but any of the members logged in at the time!

The dozens of pictures posted showing what we are all

making are amazing!

It's worth looking in on the group page to see what folks are doing, even if you don't want to join in with us!

Just search on FB for this group and take a peek : )

 

The New Hexagon - Millefiore Quilt-Along

 

The 'rosette' above is made up of smaller hexi shaped blocks, which themselves are made up of an assortment of other shapes, and they are fun to make  - BUT .......
the actual fabric selection process is nothing short of masochism lol
well for me!!

I am on the third round above and have yet to stitch in the remaining 6 hexi blocks, in the gaps.
I have stitched several different versions and to give you an idea see below : )

......... and I don't think I'm going to use any of those inserted lol
After this post, I will be back to the fabric auditioning,
with a stiff G&T to help calm my stress levels!
And how about this acquisition to practise my fussy cutting on?
Although, no, its going in this rosette!

I nipped into our local Scrapstore last Saturday and the only thing I came away with was this charming item - I couldn't leave it there unloved. It's beautifully stitched too.

 

Oh I have had to buy a climbing frame - for the cat I rehomed -

hooligan youth that he is!

He assumed it as his territory as soon as it was constructed too.

 

 

Spooky eyes lol

Note the absent door behind?

My son was going to fit one for me, I have been in this house

now 14 months and there's still no door lol

Kids gawd love em ...

 

 

 

Here lies fascinating madness ~ and Grow Your Blog 2015 will start soon

 

I am hooked with yet more fabric patchwork hexagon blocks.
like I need any more hexis in my life lol
but there's always going to room for more!
Katje Murak's book The New Hexagon has 30+ small hexi block patterns and her free 2015 BOM is proving popular, with a 400+ member group on Facebook alone.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1481806698762201/?fref=nf

It's a joy to see the fabrics used by so many folks to make their own versions of Katje's rosettes.
It's all quite easy EPP but the fussy cutting of fabric can make me a bit crazy and as far as mirror image cutting goes, I suspect that could be beyond me - although if I find the right fabric, who knows!
All may not be lost.

Here's the central fabric I used -

and fabric 'auditioning' which always sounds so pompous to me lol

I had a bit of help cutting out today - sigh -
he really doesn't like to be ignored at times -

when his patience ran out he started grappling with templates
and fabrics and was unceremoniously turfed off the table,
not once but three times!

 

All too soon my 2 weeks or so off work is over and its back to the business of paid employ again this next week.
Tomorrow is my granddaughter day which can be more tiring than going to work, but is much more satisfying, despite not being paid lol

I wish you all health and happiness for this coming year and am so thrilled if any of you pop in and comment from time to time.
I try and answer all comments and know myself that although I don't always comment, I always read the blogs I follow and try and keep up with what's going on in your lives.
Blogging is such a lovely way to share ideas, interests and every day joys and often to have a proper chuckle over things.

I will be taking part in the Grow Your Blog Hop later this month
on the 25th, which is run by Vicki from the wonderful blog
2bagsfull.
There will be links to ALOT of blogs you might like to take your time and browse through and you are bound to find some that take your fancy I'm sure!

http://vicki-2bagsfull.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/grow-your-blog-2015-party-this-is.html

Not paying attention lol and the 2015 Milliefiori EPP QAL

So there was I happily stitching away with green hexis, along the former red hexi edge and half listening to my grandson, who was building me lego vehicles.
So this is where I was -
take note of the neat right hand edge where I first started

A couple of sessions of only half paying attention and - duhhh

That neat starting edge is now on the left and dam It ........... I've sat and pieced all the greens on there, instead of the 'working' end lol
Sitting curled up on a chair with the cover taffled up on my lap and slowly stitching away, obviously doesn't give you the right perspective on which bit your working on lol
All is not lost of course, I will straighten off the irregular green edge and then go in with greens and blues on the real 'working' end!

Now as if I haven't enough stitchy projects juggling above my head, I am going to try and do the (free) Milliefiori EPP QAL that's been organised by Katja Marek.
To take part, ideally you should have her book which is rather nice for us hexicolics anyway, even if you don't follow along with her 2015 QAL.
It has 52 different block patterns, made with an assortment of triangles, diamonds etc.
It is available in kindle and paperback format.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-New-Hexagon-Blocks-English/dp/1604683848

Katja has arranged for www.PaperPiecess.com to supply pre cut papers for each of the monthly 'rosettes' that will form the kaleidoscopic patterning for this piece of stitching.
However, it could be likely that we will be able to work out what needs to be cut and done when she sends out the info emails each month.
Some of the blocks from her book will be used in the making of some of the Rosettes.

Below is Rosette 1, for January, which is made up of 36 mini hexi blocks and seems to be the most onerous Rosette to make.
I have bought the pack of pre cuts for this but this picture is from the PaperPieces website itself, advertising their pre cut pack.
Although whether I can afford to send for further packs, or try and cut my own shapes for the other Rosettes, remains to be seen.
Remarkably, PaperPieces posted the pack to me on Dec 19th and it arrived on the 26th Dec!!
All credit to them for their speed in dispatching and thanks too, to whichever airline carried it airmail!



I was looking in my 'Liesels Funfecke' book by Hilde Klatt and Liesel Niesner and was struck by how similar their patchwork Mandalas are to these kaleidoscopic rosettes.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Liesels-F%C3%BCnfecke-Inspiration-F%C3%BCnfeckprojekte-Sechsecken-Technik/dp/3000189033/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407704589&sr=1-1&keywords=liesels+funfecke

These fractal like piecing techniques have been popular for some time but its always nice to see the different permutations that people come up with.

See  for instance http://www.quilterblogs.com/tag/liesels%20funfecke/ 
Paper Pieces themselves have several books other than Katja's that offer instructions and patterns in this richly, fussy cut style.

Okay, back to my green hexi infills : )

Merry Christmas to you all ~

My great plan to grow my own sprouts to eat at Christmas hasn't quite gone to plan ........ this is a VERY close up picture .... and believe me when I say, all of them together, would barely make one decent large sprout!

Bought myself a natty bird feeder off a stall in town the other day, hope it survives the winter weather!
It is lovely to see someone use those delightful odd teacups and saucers that I so often see on car boot stalls.

Bought this for my almost daughter in law, whose a petite soul anyway but thought she'd see the joke ~ a bar of chocolate

read it carefully lol

I wish you all a relaxing and happy Christmas : )

Clever Christmas Decoration idea and more stuff ~

Picked this up at a local charity shop, made by one of their volunteers.
Thought it was such a clever idea that you might like to see it.
The bow is wired centrally and the spike of wire is pushed down into the books spine.
The pages have been cut in a bell shape ~

Hilly cat has a new perch lol I moved my horses head up by the back door and it seems she likes it there. She was in full watery, winter sun but it had lowered in the sky by the time I got my camera.

Was in a charity shop yesterday and this has to take the biscuit surely!
Tattoos on a doll? - what are we doing to our daughters!!

I had been a bit down recently, probably just turning 65, the broken ribs and then Christmas looming, which has always been a lonely time for me. Silly I know.
Anyway my stitching mojo - had mooched off somewhere,
so I've been trying to get it back.
Made a new pin cushion and my first ever needle case.
How have I managed without a needle case!
The edges are straight its my photography angle that is skew whiff!

Did a bit more on the scrappy floral hexi top, but its not looking much bigger to me yet lol
At this rate I may make a lap quilt rather than a double bed cover!

It was our stitchy club meeting yesterday and this fantastic draught excluder was displayed, made by one of our members Brenda Sims.
Its clever in that its a triangular shape so will sit neatly against the door, I've never thought of making them like that.
Love the colourful felt she used and its 3" x 1" ish strips, simply rug prodded/hooked into hessian.

Another member Joan Drake gave the show n' talk at the meeting and she'd made some wonderful quilts.

There were some really fabulous nine patch quilts made after inspiration and techniques she'd found in the book '9 Patch Pizzaz'.

I had been looking at that book oddly enough at Harrogate

and even bought a sizzix dye so my patches

stood a chance at being cut correctly!

I've sent for the book now, since I really liked the method using

the nine patches, 12" and 6" blocks together,

so the blocks all sort of blur together.

Having seen Joan's versions, I feel brave enough to give it a go.

 

I enjoyed this talk the more because Joan wasn't just show casing quilts that she'd entered into this, that or the other quilt competition. We have had several well known speakers who have shown us stunning quilts, but its been like a CV list of their wins,

and whilst they certainly deserved to win, 

their talks were less interesting to me.

Joan Drake's quilts were just as good, but made to use or for wall hanging, rather than made as competitive art quilts.

These smaller ones really took my eye too ~

 

These cute little chicks were about 2" across and were EPP!

Joan likes the style of Angie Lewin's artwork and below is her interpretation of Angie's style. It was superb, I loved it.

 

for Angie Lewin see ~

  http://www.angielewin.co.uk/

One of our club members had sadly passed away during the summer and her stash must have been given to club, for us to sell off in aid of our club funds, which was very kind of her family, given their loss.

 

We always have a sales table which is very well stocked by our own donations of what we no longer want, but the addition of this lady's stash meant that last month, they took well over £300

on the sales table in the 3 hours of meeting! 

I had broken my ribs so hadn't gone but this month 

I picked up one or two bits to work on ( somewen!)

A quilt in the making

 

 

                                and couldn't resist this one either

 

  I mustn't start on these yet though, must crack on with my hexis!