finally! a Bee quilt!

 Eons ago, I started a bee quilt. Blocks were assembled from this one and that one,  I had decided on a tessellated design, so backgrounds for blocks were in squares, to be finished 12" or 6", or rectangles, to finish 62 x 12". Add a restricted palate of bright cheerful hues, and then have great fun organising and arranging these.





Then, the real fun begins. Several part seams. some slightly under or oversized blocks- you may think, oversized is easy, just chop a bit off, but when a design gets near the edge,, that is not always a wonderful solution...

 Then to quilt it.
I knew I just wanted to do a cosy fleece backing   ( Quilt police , just do not look, please!), and I had some variegated thread to work with. I did simple organic wide quilting to anchor everything, and then, with trepidation, and after several practice efforts, I actually did odd bits of FMQ in a few places.

Go me!

 See that flower by the wee birdie?   yes, that is one of the bits. Or does this count more as embroidery? I am not quite certain, but it was free motion, so, that is a start.

And there you see my DS, home for the weekend, holding up the Bee masterpiece! He and his girlfriend have trotted it off down to London to cheer their wee home up a bit. I am very happy to see it go off to a happy home, to be snuggled under.

I was chuffed to bits to get the effect I wanted with those varied size blocks.

Thank you everyone who contributed.

Hazel,the many faceted hedgehog...

The Fat Stash Brit Bee for June had a request for a hedgehog...A selection of fabrics was sent, to which we add some of our own.. and see what we can come up with.

Hazel number 1

This is a pattern by Oh Fransson, and is a bit fiddly, but comes together fairly well. I had an issue with my machine, which seemed to think it should centre the needle two steps to the left, yesterday, and then one step to the right today. As you may imagine, this leads to a mild inconsistency with sizing... But I think it is OK!

Hazel number 2

Funky was what we were asked for, I think funky is the word?

 This is the third tote for the swap. Variation on a theme here.




























 It is not necessarily a good colour match here, that is really a very vivid green, and not a turquoise at all!

 The obligatory pockets












Including a zippy pocket.

The three together. I hope these will pass muster on the day.

Now on to the next on my list...

a basket case...

 The basket swap is starting to throw up some very nice baskets. A lot of work is going into some of these, and I had to put on my thinking cap, to decide which I would make. There are lots of tutorials and instructions out there, for various baskets, but from the information available about my partner, I get the feeling she likes things kept quite simple and elegant. I found this lovely fine flame orange linen, only a small scrap of it, and some fabric for a lining, and looked for a simple organic design to work with it. These stems and leaves I have done before, and with a pretty, variegated thread, I thought it would look OK.

 But, just suppose? if she is not a fan of orange. Well, in the abstract, I am not the biggest fan of orange... this orange I love, and soft coral oranges I love, but raw orange? Not for me.

So, I had a very pale yellow. So pale, it almost doesn't look yellow. And the same simple, variegated thread design- A different colour of thread, but same style- and a matching version is born.

 But, perhaps she would like something a little more fun?

I already had these chevrons, which make a fun lining...

Simple strips of red prints turn into a basket




this picture shows it inside out, just for the sake of keeping some confusion!

And, no handles on this one!

So, which of these will I send?


and I have folk who want each of them- so good homes will be found for any left over....


I am thinking hard, what to do!

I will show the whole of the red one soon.Just not yet  as that might tell someone too much...