Amelie's Whirlygiggles

The Year of the Bee!

2012-02-17T13:38:00.000Z

I spend most of my afternoon breaks absorbed in my Bee commitments...and although I seem to be on top of each one of them, I feel a bit scared that at this rate I will miss a month, overlook an envelope and basically forget someone's block...so I now keep a proper list of all my bees and their requirements and I tick off all my boxes when ready! I also keep a 'to do' list with all my other quilts. It is the only way to keep a bit of order in my chaotic mind/sewing room!!
So, here is progress made since my last blog:

Geese in a Ring Swap: block for Fordcowgirl who asked for orange and aqua geese flying in succession! besides the bad photography, this is a really lovely block in terms of the colours and I was very happy with it!

Next one up is the We Bee Modern Too and Kersten who asked for the 'Missing Your Kiss' block. Once I was happy with the colours it was a great block to make. There is one or two little giraffes hiding in one of the kisses! I could not help myself!
I am going through a bit of a grey time with my fabric choices but I think the kona charcoal compliments this block well in terms of borders! Another gorgeous quilt in the making here! Enjoy Kersten!

Then I made some wonky stars for my Happy Scrap Quilt Block Swap. One is truly scrappy and two are wonky but less scrappy! I love this first one...so sweet with the dotty fabric!

And finally!!!!! it has been about 12 months in the making!!!! a Cluck Cluck Sew pattern for a baby quilt...all fabrics used from my stash (no dent though so am not worried!!!!)
Mr Whirlygiggles is holding it in our garden! Photography is a big issue for me at the moment ranging from lighting to who will hold my larger quilts that need to be photographed? arghhhhh

and the back with some spare pinwheels!:

PHEW!!!!!! off to finish basting another small quilt before the princess wakes up!
Talking of which (I know she is mine and I think of her as beautiful even when I change smelly nappies, but isn't she cute?) where does time go?
In the first one she is modelling her 2 bottom teeth which are not fully out yet but they are there and as sharp as a rotary cutter I assure you!!!!

Amelie x

The kindness of strangers

2012-02-08T10:41:00.000Z

I have just managed to get my Flickr & Blogger to be friends again :-)
life feels so much better when things work the way they are meant too...yesterday their relationship broke down and it bugged me all day long so much so that I wasted 2 hours on a Geese in a Ring block that ended up in the bin....let's not talk about that as it will break my heart just thinking about it...
Anyway, a stranger from the Flickr forums was most kind to me and I am grateful to him for sharing his knowledge and making things good again.
The other good things come in the form of these two blocks:

Stash Bee Hive 2: block for Miki:

I stayed with the red theme because I was not sure what other colours you might like Miki...I hope you like it! there are some of my all time favourite fabrics in there especially the last two.

I also made the Parisian Star for the Patchwork Queen from my Modern Minx Beginner Bee: this one is the Parisian Night Star and in the middle it has a bit of a map of Paris featuring the Champs Elysees a reminder of a hand in hand stroll there many many years ago!

And finally, another picture of the yellow/aqua bee block...I still cannot get it to look as good in pictures as it does in reality... :-(

I am off to try making another one of these and hopefully making it right this time!

Amelie x

Resolutions!

2012-02-01T21:32:00.000Z

First time ever that I have stuck to my word on one of those resolutions....
but the proof is in the pudding and without further ado:

I will give you one guess only on what it is and whom it is for!!! ;-)
Yep, little dress for the bella Isabella who has found her loud voice and she likes to practise it daily especially in the supermarket!!! any tips for managing this are every welcome (except for shove a 'biscuit' in her mouth). I am on week two of my six week dressmaking course and I am loving every bit of it! throw any dart at me and I will sew it down!!!!

Apart from little girly dress, I have continued to work on my Oh My Stars QA at a snail pace am afraid...i get a bit upset every time i look at my stats and I see that I have still only made 12 of the 68 little stars...;-(
anyway, I will get there eventually...

The last one is a medium size star. The others are large and I have only made 2 more small ones...

I have also made another Geese in A Ring for my swap group. This one is for FairlyMerry. I can assure you that my photo is not very good and the block is soft and beautiful!

And finally: Susanne from my Bee Europa 2011, asked for a mosaic block using only solids. The tutorial is from the brilliant Elizabeth Hartman from Oh Fransson!. Another challenge for me as I am not too keen on just solids and could not believe how i could get from this:

to this and LOVE it! Even Mr Whirlygiggles loves this block and the colours!!!!

Well Susanne, well done you! this quilt will look fantastic I am sure...
I cannot wait to see the whole article. Also, thank you for getting me to try something new and for getting me over my worries about solids! I hope you like it! I added some of my solids in order to bring it as close to 15" as I could and it is almost there...I will have to leave the final touches to you as I did not want to add any more Kona Ash to the sides. Good luck!

Well, finally, next month is my month and I cannot decide which one of my 4 ideas to go with!!!!

Off to watch Masterchef with Mr Whirlygiggles and fantasise about all the fabulous food we cannot smell, touch or taste!!! Oh well....
Amelie x

Resolved to Sew 2012

2012-01-23T12:18:00.000Z

Although the title name links in to a giveaway (details further down), considering that very soon I am due to return to work (no more Ms Lady of Leisure apparently - does the daily cleaning, washing, mopping etc - "we must kill all germs before they get to Isabella", count as leisure?!!!!) I would like to make 2012 the year where I use my sewing machine for more than (and more) quilting.. (stop for breath!).

I came to England when I was just over 17 to go to university because I would ONLY study psychology and back then psychology was not a scientific enough subject to study at the Greek University. So I packed my bags, said my goodbyes in tears to friends and family and travelled on a the Magic Bus across Europe to the UK (that is another story for another time). At the borders an official asked me how long I planned to stay in the UK and I answered "10 years"!!! Well I had it all planned you see..my first degree, my MA, my PHD and then my return back home!!!! My god I was so young and so naive but also so full of beans and 'go get it'...
Once I stopped crying every night in my dinner and whilst waiting to be offered a place in a university I came across a Floodlight magazine where all the courses in all the subjects across all education venues are listed in there...I came up with 17 courses I wanted to do (besides my main degree!) ranging from jewelry making to tap dancing etc!!! That was 26 years ago and of course I did not do anything else because once my degree started I devoted myself to that exclusively.
Well, 26 years later, I am a lot clearer about what I want to learn and my choices have dwindled from 17 down to 3-4 max! So, here is my resolve for 2012:

1. Learn to sew more things and especially little clothes for little people like this one:

2. Make a quilt worth exhibiting in the Festival of Quilts
3. Finish a few UFOs
I will stop here because it is important to keep my list realistic...

There are some wonderful giveaways on the http://veryberryhandmade.co.uk/2012/01/16/giveaway-resolved-to-sew-2012/ blog...check them out if you get a mo!

This is what I made over the weekend as part of my Resolve number 1!!!:

Please note that they are my first ever cushions! I am well happy with them! :-)

At the rate of one every night, I have added two more stars to my Oh My Stars QA:

I fear it will all look like a complete mess with all the strong colours and busy fabrics...let's see:

I made this one and was very unsure about it...so last night I made another one because i simply adore these stars..:

not so sure...might have to test it once again!

Amelie x

Jinxed!

2012-01-18T11:45:00.001Z

In my last post I wrote how great it is to get almost 2.5 hours free time a day when the bella Isabella has her beauty sleeps! well, since then the poor baby has had her second proper cold come teething time and sleep has been all over the place...remind me never to boast about her sleep..or food...or her great good moods ever again!!!!! Just in case!
Just before this I managed to carry with with my commitments and here are a couple more blocks I made:

This one is for my Modern Minx Beginner Bee:

The block is called Envy so I thought it was appropriate to choose the 'greener' fabrics in this range. Connie from Basildon Kitchens did an excellent tutorial on it which can be found here: http://www.conniepeter.blogspot.com/
She did her block in this range and as I happen to have a fair amount of this in my stash I followed suit!
I hope you like it Connie!

I then did my first Geese in a Ring swap block. I only managed to waste one quarter of this thank god because the work involved in this block (foundation piecing) is considerable to say the least!
This is the black-grey-white block. I hope it will meet the groups expectations.

and finally! I managed to take a photo of this little quilt (you have one guess who will be the lucky recipient of this quilt!!!!) which waited in pins for 3 weeks and 2 more to be bound and 2 more to be photographed!!!!poor thing!
Anyway, I bought some of the fabrics and the panel from the Eternal Maker shop during a fair and I added some of my own linen fabrics to the mix to make it more interesting and less nautical (pack only included the panel and the stripey fabrics).
The stripey fabrics were a pain in the butt to work with...very stretchy and difficult to manage... anyway, this is the front:

and this is the back! I decided to use all my leftovers plus some kona solid I had left from another project happening at the same time and I made three scrappy stars...I like the whole finished article. I quilted it with another fancy stitch and with a black/grey/white thread. The final effect is very striking indeed!

and these are some hexies I worked on not for a grandmother's garden quilt (I have another stash of those somewhere else!) but for a border piece...more on this when I have got a grasp on what exactly I am trying to achieve with these!

Best get on and finish preparing the princess's lunch!

Amelie x

Commitments!

2012-01-13T12:24:00.000Z

Well, round about Christmas I started to panic...my Bee Europa 2011 is coming to an end in April and I already started to feel bereft and without virtual quilting friends!
So I joined one more Bee - Modern Minx Beginner Bee and a block swap group - Happy Scrap Quilt Block Swap AND a Geese in Ring Swap!!!! Overkill I know especially with a small baby BUT: we have now worked out a proper sleep pattern and I get almost 2.5 hours free for quilting during the day!!!! Hurrahhhh

So, this week so far I have finished my Bee Europa blocks for Ulrike who asked for a Bento box block:

The block in itself is not difficult at all but when I say there is a challenge in everything patchwork I mean it!!! Precut fabrics do not always measure perfectly what they claim to measure...which makes matters very complicated. ..especially with the little pinking teeth..arghhhhh where are your measurement meant to start and stop? let's say that for a perfectionist like me I had to stitch and unstitch and re-stitch the blocks and even then they are not a perfect 6.5". I have stressed and stressed about this but even with a scant 1/4" seam there is no chance on this earth that I can get to 6.5".
I hope you like them Ulrike and that they will not put your quilt measurements out...:-(

I have also finished the blocs for my swap group..arrows...I found some reds in my scap box and here we are:

i love these four so much! i was tempted to keep them and make a cushion but my commitments come first!

and 2 more blocks for the group administrator who will do all the hard work of sending the blocks round the group:

I am working on 2 small quilts and hopefully I will have some pictures to show in my blog soon.

Amelie x

A Tribute & I Believe..

2012-01-03T11:36:00.000Z

In Father Christmas!!! Yes, I was converted on New Years Eve and I will explain why!:

My mum (the only truly supportive fellow crafter!) told me that on the night of the year change, if you are doing what you love or you have close by what you love, you will spend the year with/doing these things. Well, considering we have had a truly traumatic month with my daddy in hospital, I put 3 things under my pillow on New Years Eve: a letter from my dad, one of Isabella's socks and I piece of patchwork!!! Am I a saddo? possibly!!!! (PS I was spooning Mr Whirlygiggles so no need for something of his under my pillow!!!-in case he reads this!!!)

So, the next day my dad started to slowly come around from his triple bypass operation, Isabella was in high spirits, Mr Whirlygiggles gave me 2 hours gratis to do patchwork and I got this beauty!!!!

Meet Aspassia! she is beautiful and she sews like a dream....well, she did sew like a dream for my mother who used her ALL day long since we took her out of her case!!!
My grandmother used to have one of these machines and my mum reminisced no end about my grandmother who was an extremely amazing woman. She run a household full of kids, she run a farm, cooked the most delicious food, made her own cheese, grew vegetables and dressed the whole family with a machine like this one.
Her most extraordinary feat was that 70 odd years ago on an Greek island, she defied the doctor and her husband and she brought her 6 month premie baby home in a shoe box covered in cotton wool. She stayed with him in her nightie day and night until he became 9 months. He still lives on the island.
My grandmother Aspassia was very special but she also suffered a lot of loss in her life (husband, a teenage son and two babies) and by the time I knew her she was at heart, a very somber and depressed woman. I think her Singer machine was one of the things that kept her sane and I understand that...
Here's to you my YaYa (Greek for Grandmother). I will think of you every time I sit at my machine.

On a different note, am making slow progress on my star quilt and am making a quilt for someone else that has to be delivered this week!!! ouch!
Here are my stars:

Please excuse all the threads and uneveness..I have not finished them yet... I think I will make all the stars in this size by using shot cottons that I have left over from other projects...I hope that by doing that I will tone down the wilderness of colour in other stars!!!

And here is a sneaky preview of another Isabella special I am working on!:

Isn't she a beauty?!!!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!

Amelie x

What is it with me and stars?

2011-12-20T21:02:00.000Z

Quilting activity in this household has been extremely low key..nothing to do with Christmas (we have not even bought a tree yet...our excuse? Isabella is too young to notice/be upset by the lack of Christmas tree/spirit)...more to do with a nasty little bug that Isabella brought home after playgroup where they had already got into the Christmassy spirit of sharing everything including your germs and bugs!!!

Anyway, I decided to make some stars after joining this quilt along:

The instructions that Sheila of 'Thought & Found' blog has posted are brilliant. I followed her instructions for making flying geese (I always use a specialist ruler for geese) and they have worked out brilliantly!

Here is what I have made so far:

I must change the date on my camera!!!!

The background fabric is a solid dark blue and the stars are (need I say it?) Kaffe Fassett. Not sure how this will all come together but I am loving these bright stars!

Amelie x

Plus Quilt

2011-12-05T15:10:00.000Z

ahhhhhhh....a bit of sunshine in a grey day...or should I be putting my sunglasses on? !!!!
Another pregnancy quilt that has just been finished!!!!

This one was based on a brilliant tutorial by Jeni. Her blog is 'In Color Order' and the tutorial can be found here: http://incolororder.blogspot.com/2010/09/plus-quilt-tutorial.html

I have used Lecien Flower Sugar fabrics (I am too ashamed to admit to how much of this fabric I bought when it came out!!! ;-) ) and how much I have hoarded in the depths of my cupboards! It just made me smile and smile and smile every time I looked at it!

It is an easy quilt to make provided you have the space to plan it and lay it out before sewing...if you miss a square..well, you will be in doodoo land! It took me ages to fathom out what goes where especially as my design wall was too small and squares kept falling off!

I think I will go and get my sunglasses!!!

Amelie x

Bee Europa 2011

2011-11-29T20:21:00.000Z

Two blog entries in two consequtive nights!!!!!blow me down!

November is Ulrike's month and she asked for a star. This month seems to have been full of stars!

I saw this star in a magazine and knew instantly that it was the ONE! I love the shape, movement and fullness of it... I think Ulrike's red fabrics make it look lovely!

Foundation piecing is not my favourite activity but I have grown to really like the patterns that you can only make this way...another challenge that I really enjoyed making. I hope you like it Ulrike! ;-)

Amelie x

The Queen of Lateness!!!

2011-11-28T20:32:00.001Z

..erm...that would be me! not big or proud especially for someone who is soooo OCD about time and order that I would be better off described as CDO instead (that is still OCD but put in proper alphabetical order!!!!)...

I started this quilt at our old home and it was meant to be large enough ( Mr Whirlygiggles always moans that our quilts don't cover the whole bed?! :-( ) and it was going to be my pregnancy quilt...the one i would snuggle under and be alone with baby?....
It did not quite work out like that and 7 months post pregnancy the quilt has finally made it on our bed. Isabella seems to like it so much she managed to wet herself on it whilst she was rolling around on it without a nappy!!! Man oh man! back in the washing machine tonight and Isabella is back in her nappy (and tucked in bed as we speak!).

The quilt is made by 5" squares mostly Tanya Wheelan and of course some Kaffe Fassett shot cottons in various shades of pink and purple...in there somewhere are also a few rare bits of OOP Urban Chicks fabric.

It is simple but we love it all the same:

Amelie x

The Stars are out!

2011-11-21T21:42:00.001Z

Ricky's Magical Stars quilt ( Ricky is really Riccardo, my 11 year old gorgeous Italian/Greek nephew), was finished on the day we were leaving Italy to come back home!!! talk about lastminutequilting.com ... I am the queen of this!!!
The little monkey refused to pose for me!

Anyway, this is the view from their balcony and Mr Whirlygiggle's attempt at serious photography!!!

And here is the quilt in its (almost) full glory and Mr Whirlygiggles exclaiming (as always) that he is risking his life for my quilting yet again!!!! yeah yeah yeah!!

Can anyone tell me how we went from this:

to this? my baby is wearing tights!!! My sister bought her a whole load of little girl's clothes and tights and shoes and dressed her up every day of the weekend!
7 months in a few days...eeeekkkkkk where is time flying to?

Amelie x
PS i blogged about this quilt back in May. Pattern is by the amazing Jaybird Quilts.

Resistance is futile!

2011-11-04T20:56:00.000Z

Last year I missed the chance to take part in this wonderful online show of quilts. This year, despite my time limitations I decided that any resistance is truly futile and i must take part even if there are only 9 hours to go before submissions are closed! Talk about lastminute dot com!!!!
The link is at Amy's Creative Side a blog which is amongst my favorite blogs to follow.
There are almost 600 quilters who have linked up and I have hopped on and off many blogs this evening amazed at people's creativity and skills...some people are very very gifted.
Anyway, if you have time make yourself a nice hot drink (or get a glass of wine ;-) why not?!) and go to the blog to get very inspired indeed.

In the meantime, as I never finished the binding on the big quilt I had intended to show here, I will have to tell the story of the little quilt I adore, or rather the little girl I adore who is the owner of this quilt!!!!

This is my Far Far Away quilt made for my daughter Isabella who is now 6 months old. I loved every minute of making this quilt. The fabrics make my heart sing and the colours are divine. The sleeping beauty in purple and the Owl & the Pussycat poem are my all time favourites. All my friends or family who have seen this quilt have loved it.

It is made from a Moda Bakeshop pattern called "Boxed in" by KarrieLyne from Freckled Whimsy (http://www.modabakeshop.com/2010/10/boxed-in-quilt.html)

Here are a couple of other photos of some of the blocks and the back:

Love it!!!! I cannot wait for Isabella to make it hers (even if that includes baby vomit!!!).

Thank you Amy for giving me the chance to revisit this quilt and to show it and share it with other quilters.

Amelie x

Seeing the wood for the trees...

2011-10-24T10:37:00.000+01:00

Johanna from my Bee Europa 2011 group asked for a block depicting a tree.
I thought about this for many hours (as I always do) and my searches seem to point to traditionally pieced tree blocks which are great but not quite what I wanted to do for her.
Following two prototypes done in very different ways (but both aiming to make a new fabric by joining strips together and cutting them randomly), I finally came up with the idea of an African type tree (I think it is called an African Savanna tree)...
I love how resilient these trees are and how they survive in extreme weather conditions.

Anyway, enough chatting and here are the fruits of my labour:

It is all made with pieces as small as 7/8 of an inch and it is a log cabin. Of course small pieces mean the block is fabric-hungry and although there is plenty of the green fabric left, we soon run out of the white and had to add some from my stash. Although not the same white, it adds to the whole effect of the block.

I used some pieces from my stash and there is a little owl and some flowers hiding in there too!!!

I loved making this block.

I hope you like it Johanna and i also hope your brother likes it too as it will end up on his quilt!!!

AHHH forgot to say that it is a large piece - i could not work out the maths of a piece like that to make it small scale...plus if I went any smaller with the pieces I would have lost the little mind I have left nowadays early on in the process!!!!

:-)

And last but not least, my patchwork group of lovely people in Patchwork Corner, run by Ferret, surprised me by giving me a quilt for Isabella last Thursday. I was extremely touched by that and very grateful that Isabella has a beautiful quilt made by a group of people that thought of her and quilted by Ferret. Very very grateful....

Here it is with the princess enjoying it!:

PS, my friend Jane who is an absolute genious, came up with Isabella's second name in Greek as it should be written!!! check out the bear to the right!!!! Jane you are BRILLIANT!!!!

Amelie x

You cannot keep a good woman down!

2011-10-16T22:01:00.001+01:00

Sooooooooooooooo much has happened since my last blog entry I don't know where to start!!!
So here we go in order of events:

1. We moved to our new home and then two days later we went off to Greece for 3.5 weeks for Isabella to meet her Greek grandad!!!
Grandad got his first quilt to warm up his night in the coming winter:

Yep, another Kaffe Fassett quilt to feed my obsession! My dad loved it! yippeeeee!

2. We came back to find that our NOT-so-lovely builder had gone together with the cash for materials and the house unfinished :-(

Too trusting and too stupid. I don't know whether losing the money hurt me more than hearing that during this time he was sleeping in our bed!!!! Would it be an extreme reaction to hunt him down and boil his bunny rabbits (if he has any?)?

Since then I have spend my days between holding/feeding/playing with Isabella and painting/cleaning/carrying/organising etc etc....

3. I finally have a sewing room as opposed to a sewing cupboard! another huge Yipppppeeeeeeeeeee

Got quickly over my guilt about the amount of fabric I have and have been arranging the room bit by bit. When it is finished I will post some photos.

4. This week I managed to recover my sewing from the garage (covered in dust and plaster thanks to the rogue trader) and I completed the August blocks for my Bee Europa. I felt so blooming guilty for not managing to do this sooner but in the scheme of things it was impossible to sew....

Here they are, 6 batic nine-patch blocks for Patricia:

4. Isabella will be 6 months next week!!! Time flies and she is growing fast...and here she is!

Best get some sleep whilst I can as princess sleeps through the night (YES I know I am lucky, fingers crossed this carries on and on!) BUT wakes up nice and early :-)

Amelie x

Lessons learnt!

2011-08-02T22:02:00.000+01:00

Finally I get to do my bloggy! I have missed chatting here :-(

My sister and nephew were over from Italy for two weeks and I was forbidden from sewing!!! Well, that was until my sister discovered that I can sew pillowcases and then BOOOOOOM!!!
I asked myself how many pillowcases can this girl want...but she took 2 pairs with her and I am left with another 6 pillowcases to sew!!!!!

Well, before she gets her pillowcases I had to finish this block for Ceri for my Bee Europa.

I know I am repeating myself everytime but I do struggle with the Bee blocks, not because they are massively complicated but because they are not mine...and that means there is very little to no scope for error...I can be less of a perfectionist when it comes to my own quilts but when I know that what I am making will be going to another person I become the quilt police personified!!!!

Ceri wanted a flower for a quilt for her one year old daughter and clearly this is close to my heart having had Isabella 3 months ago!
I agonised over what type of flower and which of the fabrics to use and then when I finally came up with the flower the pillowcases got in the way and another fellow Bee got there first!!!! Lesson 1: get on with the block of your choice asap after you receive the fabrics and instructions!
Finally whilst awake in wee hours of the morning over a feeding session, I had a flower epifany! I have used a pattern from the Material Obsession book ( I love these 2 books and have read them millions of times!) by the brilliant Sarah Fielke. Lesson 2: no need to go far away from what I love for inspiration.
Once I decided the order of the fabrics I then went through some magazines looking for inspiration about the rest of the block. I finally found a shape I liked and proceeded to cut the fabrics (admittedly late at night) without doing the math and hoping it would all fall in place in the end. I was horrified when they did not!!!Arghh. Lesson 3: don't be an idiot, never cut fabric late in the evening and always do the math or get Mr Whirlygiggles to do it for you -even better as he is very bright with numbers although the 1/4 inch seam throws him a bit!!!).
Finally, I had to make up a border of my own without having to rely on other's ideas. As scary as that is, I think the block looks very cute and original. Lesson 4: no need to be so very scared.

I have worked on this block for days and I have learnt a lot as stated in this blog! Ceri & Felix, I hope you like the block and Felix, I hope you will be very happy covered in all these flowers!

By the way, where does time go? Isabella will be 14 weeks in 2 days!!! I cannot resist a little photo and to say that she seems to be learning loads at the moment too like sucking her thumb (she finally realised that the whole fist in mouth bit is not too comfy!) and how to get the immediate attention of her devoted parents whom (as my best friend Juniper pointed out today) "Isabella has complete control over"...what can I say...it is all true!!!

Why do your Greek grandmother and auntie pop a hat on your head everytime my back is turned for one minute?!!!

Amelie x

Bee Europa 2011

2011-07-16T19:42:00.001+01:00

and this is Cara's (Pink Stitches) block for June....
running a bit late :-(
BUT I loved the fabrics (Just Wing It by Moda) and I loved following this pattern...It is clever and beautiful and it should make a gorgeous quilt when all the pieces are put together.

Thank you Cara and I hope you enjoy your block!

The tutorial for making a plaid like this one can be found at: http://www.modabakeshop.com/2009/01/sultry-jelly-roll-project-sheet.html

Amelie x

Blocks coming out of my ears!!!!

2011-07-07T18:21:00.000+01:00

I know I am walking a tightrope here in terms of boring you all to death with these blocks so I have decided that I will only put up my most favourite ones (as opposed to each one I make!).

My alterior motive is that I have been doing the Farmer's Wife Quilt Along and I have LOADS of those blocks to show you as well...so I must not abuse the patience and kindness of those of you who are following my blog! :-)

This is still my Japanese X quilt. I have now completed 30 of the 56 blocks! well, I guess the best way to look at it is that I have less than halfway to go!!!

The worry of what the border will look like on a quilt like this is keeping me awake at night :-(

I still struggle with the quality of the photos so I think I should aim for a new camera for my birthday as opposed to a new sewing machine? let me think about this for a nanosecond...I think the sewing machine wins!!!

Isabella is now 10 weeks (where does time go?????) and here is a gorgeous little photo of her and the clothes/hats my mother will get her to wear when my back is turned for 5 minutes!!!

Isn't she gorgeous in her little bonnet?!!! I can't believe she is all mine!!! (and Mr Whirlygiggle's of course!)

Amelie x

The Liebster Award!

2011-07-04T15:16:00.000+01:00

Yippeeeeeee!!!!!!

I have never won any awards (not sure that 2 bronze medals in table tennis when I was 14 count?!!! :-)) and I am very grateful to ScissorsandThread http://scissorsandthread.blogspot.com/ for nominating me!!! That is very lovely of you A.

For those of you who do not know, the Liebster Award is designed to bring additional recognition to blogs that have less tht 300 followers! It is awarded to 3 blogs at a time and each awarded blog has to then nominate a further 3 lovely bloggies!

so, here we go my nominations of blogs I really like that I have discovered recently:

1. http://lifeinlists.typepad.com/ gorgeous photos and gorgeous handmade beauties!

2. http://craftsfromkaren.blogspot.com/ Karen's lovely blog called "Ramblings of a Novice Quilter". Gorgeous and inspiring work...

3. http://an-eclectic-mix.blogspot.com/ Rachael's blog called Tiny Pink , again full of lovelies, grorgeous colours and loads of inspiration.

Check these blogs out and if you are not seen them yet them, please do so as they worth every read!

Amelie x

Night labour!

2011-06-19T14:54:00.000+01:00

More Japanese X Blocks!

I love these blocks and what I love more about them is the thinking that I have to do for the colour choices and the lack of concentration that I seem to show nowadays when it comes to the construction of the blocks!!!
Please try not to look at the pictures too closely...not all points are matching as they should...but I am trying to be more tolerant of myself and more forgiving of my lack of patience when sewing after 10pm :-)

So, for the quilt police out there...thank god you don't know where I live!!!!

This next one has to be amongst my favourites...I loooove it!

I love the way these blocks are evolving...I started with one range of fabrics (scraps left over from another quilt) as I wanted some uniformity...but a number of other fabrics have been since introduced and I feel a lot less worried about the overall effect...(these might be my famous last words !!!)

Well, 25 done, another 26 to go!!!! Easy peasy (NOT) !!!!

Amelie x

My secret obsession!!!!

2011-06-15T16:12:00.000+01:00

The lovely Kerry from http://verykerryberry.blogspot.com/ has started this funny link and I have been dying to take part for days except time is a very precious and limited commodity for me at the moment...however, I think I am still in time to disclose my obsessions and believe me I have thought about this long and hard in the wee hours of the morning when I am feeding my first and major obsession! :-)

The truth is that before I met Mr Whirlygiggles, in my single girl days, when I had a lot of time to myself, I had quite a few obsessions such as shopping every Saturday in Selfridges followed by a creamy hot chocolate and a ciggie in their basement bar (ahhhh those were the days!!!), playing backgammon on the internet for HOURS and 'mashing' my opponents and buying millions of books and DVDs!!!!!

When I saw this post on Kerry's blog I wondered for ages what my obsessions are nowadays and I fear I have become an old and boring moo :-(

Anyway, I will give it a go.
In order of priority and excluding Mr Whirlygiggles and fabrics and all things patchwork, here is my definitive list:

A. Isabella: what can I say....she came after a major loss for me and she is the 'be all and end all' of my life...

B. (Patchwork and all things thread and fabric...in brackets as I should not be mentioning this BUT it is truly my second biggest obsession!!!)

C. Orchids: especially the ones that I have rescued from the bin when people thought they were well and truly dead...to be honest I am not a green fingered person...actually I have a bit of a disgust thing about worms and so gardening is not on my agenda...but I love these plants and I have accumulated 9 beautiful ones so far.

And here is one I rescued from the office...poor thing was discarded at the back of a printer on the way to the rubbish:

D. Make-up: I simply loooove make-up although nowadays I own a tiny bag of it... I have a fascination with the colours and the textures of make up and I love watching people applying make up. My alter ego is a beauty therapist but in reality I barely ever wear it!!!

Anyway, that is enough about my secret obsessions (did I mention buying fabric?!!!!)...it is 'feeding time at the zoo' so am off!

Amelie x

Love actually!

2011-06-04T12:49:00.000+01:00

In between nappy changes, feeds and masses of cuddles, I managed to complete my May Bee Europa block for Elisa...

It is based on a tutorial by Aneela Hoey which can be found here: http://comfortstitching.typepad.co.uk/comfortstitching/2011/04/crazy-scrappy-block-tutorial-and-a-maybe-quilt-a-long.html

As we know there is nothing about making a quilt (or a block in this case) that does not require loads of thinking, planning and hard work and this crazy scrappy block is no exception to my rule.
I find it very hard to work with another person's fabrics and that is why this block has been a bit of challenge but hugely enjoyable to make as well.
I have used some of my scraps to compliment Elisa's fabric choices and I picked my favourite "The Owl & the Pussycat" to be the central theme of the block.

As always, there is a lot of love here and i hope that these two creatures will live happily every after in Elisa's home!!!
Elisa I hope you like it!

Amelie x

Sleeping matters!

2011-05-28T16:05:00.000+01:00

The Sleeping Beauty will not sleep in the day unless she is being transported in the car or in her sling. This means less patchwork time as she also seems to prefer mummy's arms to daddy's! If you have any tips out there about getting babies to sleep and also managing the nasty colic moments, please leave me a message...i will be grateful!

In between Isabella's 10 minutes catnaps though I have managed to cut and place this little cutie on the design wall...yes, another quilt for Isabella but a girl cannot have too many quilts as we know!!!

This is a Cluck Cluck Sew pattern and i have stuck faithfully to the colour arrangement on the pattern!!! All fabrics have come from my stash and already precut white 5" squares have speeded the process up no end.

On Wednesday night we went to see mummy's patchwork friends at Just Between Friends and unfortunately I did not take any photos of the affection Isabella was showered with by everyone there...we are very very lucky to know such lovely people and grateful to the group for the lovely present they gave us and for all the cuddles we got.

Again I cannot resist showing you Isabella's first patchwork lesson:

I think it went quite well really!!!!

Amelie x

Thank yous

2011-05-22T21:46:00.000+01:00

I am still craving time to do patchwork...I seem to be craving sewing and fabrics more than I ever craved ciggies after every time I gave up smoking! But my brain is mash and my arms extremely tired from rocking the Not-So-Sleeping Beauty to sleep every day...I have spoiled my 3 week old baby already!!! :-)
Having said that I need to say something about the kindness of the quilters (some of whom I have never met in my life) who have got in touch to give their wishes and to let me know that the 2-hourly feeds through the night will not last forever! I am truly grateful to you....
I am also grateful to all the lovely quilters I follow who supply me with endless photos & inspiration especially during the 4am burping session!!! Some nights we just have to burp in front of the laptop!!!

Anyway, courtesy of grandmother, I am about to do some sewing (yippeee) but I also have a few more blocks to add to the Japanese quilt:

Amelie x

A slow comeback....

2011-05-19T17:08:00.000+01:00

My little Sleeping Beauty slept almost all day long for the first 2 weeks of her life and mummy just watched and watched her in absolute amazement...but with hindsight I think I should have slept more and I should have certainly done a bit of patchwork to clear my head from all the paranoid preoccupations new mothers seem to have :-(

Anyway, in Week 3, the Sleeping Beauty has finally awoken (kissed excessively by mummy and daddy) and we are now struggling to get her to sleep!!!! So, I have hungered for some patchwork but time has been very very limited. Thank god for Mr Whirlygiggles who adores both of us loads and has been looking after us loads too...looking after mummy has included some patchwork time (2 hours so far to be precise!!!) and i managed to finish off Riccardo's (my gorgeous half Italian-half Greek nephew!) quilt top...
I love it!!! I had bought these fabrics so long ago and could not think what to do with them...

I am going to call this quilt "Ricky's Magical Stars" ;

and a closer view:

As mentioned before the pattern is from Jaybird Quilts and the main fabric is Timeless Treasures. I have added a mixture of other fabrics All from my stash I am very proud to say!!!!!

That is all for now except i cannot resist another photo of the Not-So-Sleeping Beauty with the beautiful bunny rabbit Carol send her (thank you Auntie Carol, we LOVE our bunny) :

Amelie x

The best I have ever made!!!

2011-05-04T16:06:00.000+01:00

And here is my little princess!!!

Meet Isabella-Nepheli, born on Thursday 28th April 2011, @10am.

I am completely in love as is Mr Whirlygiggles who is wrapped around her little toe already!!!

No time for quilting just yet but I am working on the sleep-feeling bit to see if I can eventually fit a bit of sewing in between!!!
Amelie x

PS please ignore the date/time on the photos...it is another technical detail with the camera that I never got around to sorting out!

Tah Dahhhhh!!!!

2011-04-27T15:48:00.001+01:00

I have had a couple of good quilting days. It does not feel like I have done a lot but this is why bloggy is here - to remind me (amongst other things) of quilting progress.

So, without further delay, here are my latest blocks:

and I love each one of them even though they are far from perfectly pieced!!! I have to confess to patience not being very profound at this point of my quilting life...I am starting to become more confident in introducing a wider variety of my scrap fabrics in this quilt and when I have put all the blocks i have made so far on the design wall, they look great together...no glaringly scary fabrics out of place yet!

I have also finished two more little people's quilts that I have been working on for a while. You might reall this from previous posts:

I started working on this quilt over a year ago and it is based on a pattern in the first Material Obsession book. I simply adore the owls fabric (Alexander Henry) even though some of them are very moody and a little unfriendly!!!

Here is a zoom in on the owls. I quilted this using a wavy line on the seams and it looks very nice overall.

This is the backing fabric which I came across cmpletely by accident on a day trip miles away from home with Mr Whirlygiggles when I discovered a small fabric shop in Eastbourne!!! It is cord and it is so soft and beautiful and warm and completely unsuitable for this early summer weather we are having at the moment...so it will get washed and be stored away for future use!!!

and a close up of this fabric! love it!!! it is so bright it it makes me smile every time I look at it!

and finally, I also managed to finish this little experiment of a quilt which came together very unexpectedly (another one of those flights of fabric fancy I get quilte often!) but again, the brightness and the whole combination of the colours make me smile loads!!!
I have to say that everything about this quilt including the final pattern as it has turned out came from my mind with little preparation or drawing...I had a few ideas to start with and a few combinations of the HSTs in it but this is the final product and although (again) far from well pieced, I think it will make some little girl very very happy!

That's all for now!
Amelie x

More blocks!

2011-04-22T15:31:00.001+01:00

At my current rate of 2 per day, I will not be getting anywhere fast. Truth is I can no longer get anywhere fast anyway!!!
The heat is almost unbearable (feel bad complaining about heat..) and coupled with another bad cold, massively swollen feet and hands and excessive waddling (I am painting such a pretty picture of me!!!) quilting is verrrrrryyyyyy s l o w.
Last night I managed to finish these two lovelies though..

Loooove them!!!! Off back to bed for brief respite!
Amelie x

Blocks Galore!

2011-04-19T17:18:00.000+01:00

Despite my increasing waddling and feeling like a tank (looking like one too!!!!) and quilting in 23 degrees heat, I have managed to get down to some serious block making!

I found this QAL via Lily's Quilts and here are my first 2 blocks for it with a great Flickr tute from Badskirt Amy:

Aren't they cute? and what's more: I am using scraps which for me is a really big deal (must start emptying out my overflowing scaps containers!!!!). And altogether now:

I have also been making a quilt for my adorable nephew (finally!!!) using a great pattern from Jaybird Quilts called Unwind. I have been waiting for a long time for a pattern that would suit him...and I LOVE this. I am making him a lap size quilt but got so carried away that I have also cut a baby size quilt from the same fabrics at the same time!!!

Again, the fabrics have all come from my stash minus the solid black and they are mainly Timeless Treasures (the psychedelic owls) with Momo, Moda, Kona etc all thrown in for good measure!!!
Aren't they great????

And as I am doing this post, I am also designing my own block for another quilt that I am planning to enter in a competition!!!

Somewhere amongst all this activity I also have to find time to give birth!!!! ehhhhh, something tells me that the baby will remind me of that date when she has chosen it!!!!! ;-)

Amelie x

The Miro' challenge!

2011-04-14T16:20:00.000+01:00

Those of you who follow me know that I like a good challenge...I might moan and groan for 10 seconds but in reality my heart leaps for joy and secretly I think "bring it on baby!!!"...
Well, Miriam from my Bee Europa 2011 group asked for a block that would be inspired by the great man Miro' himself. I love Miro' and he always reminds me of 1994 when I did a brief spell of teaching psychoanalytic studies at the University of Sofia and one of the friends I made out there gave me Miro's book as a gift....

Here is what I made:

The process for this block involved the usual:

1. Fear that I cannot do this.. :-(
2. Drawing about 100 silly drawings (cannot draw to save my life...) :-(
3. Loads of ideas and taking the Miro' book to bed every night....
4. Grandiose thoughts of loads of curved foundation piecing...
5. Proper planning that involve a 'map' like this (not 100% followed to the letter):

This was a large envelope which I split open so I could get the size paper I needed!!! I also ironed some freezer paper to the window part!!!! Necessity is indeed the mother of invention!!!

6. About 6 different models of the most complicated parts
7. Final execution!!! Yippeeeeee

The block measures 12.5 x 12.5 and it contains a number of techniques such as curved piecing, foundation piecing, some poor intepretation of the concave/convex idea of making circles and LOADS of imagination...

The Miro' painting this is (very loosely) based on is called "Personages and Dog before the Sun"...my sun is a deep purple but then again...I have not seen the sun all day today...how is a girl to remember everything?!!!!

Miriam, I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!

Amelie x

and the winners are.......(drum rolllllllllll.....)

2011-04-11T20:41:00.000+01:00

Well, thank you all so much for stopping by to wish my Bloggie Happy Birthday!!!!

Please believe me that fter all the hassle of trying to install the Mr random number organiser thingy, it was not showing its numbers properly...arghhhh
As I am already tired and my new quilt blocks are not a perfect 6.5" (arghhhh again) here are the winners as proposed by the gadget itself!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kerry congratulations! The panel is yours. I have your address because of the Bee and I will put it in the post for you on Wednesday.

Miriam, the jelly roll is yours to enjoy. Please email me at ameliec2009@googlemail.com with your address so I can put it in the post for you!

And last but not least, Jeepgirl19700, the 3 charm packs are yours. Please email me your address so I can send them off to you.

I wish I could send something to each one of the lovely people who took the time to comment/follow...maybe when the baby arrives I will do another giveaway to celebrate, so keep visiting, you never know!!!!

I would love to see what you make with your gifts!!!

Amelie x

Quilting by Trimester!

2011-04-09T16:36:00.000+01:00

Tah Dah!!!!!!

Remember my "It's a Hoot" pinwheel quilt? here it is finally finished and quilted on the ditch with a variegated pink, yellow and green thread.

and the back is soooo cute and full of owls!!!:

Anyway, back to Quilting by Trimester:

last week I met with a very close friend who had her second baby 10 weeks ago. In the chatting-breastfeeding-chatting cycle, I said to her that in the first trimester I felt awful, sick and dying! I could not bear to look or touch fabric and that made me feel even worse and worried...even Mr Whirlygiggles was concerned and was constantly trying to encourage me back in the sewing cupboard!!!! In the second trimester I felt a massive boost of energy and quilted quilted quilted...I started to buy fabric again and even went to a few quilt fairs!!! In this third trimester (in my ninth month really) I feel like a headless chicken...I want to run but I cannot because am too heavy and tired and cannot see which direction to run!!!
My friend's reply was: "you wait until the fourth trimister my friend...that is the one when you feel and look exhumed!!!!!" OMG!!! what is going to happen to my quilting? any quilters with small babies out there please drop me a comment and tell me that you still can quilt!!!
New guilt: I know a few parents that played loads of Mozart to their unborn babies...I play loads of Husqvarna sewing machine sounds instead!!!! arghhhhhh quilty as charged!!!

and here are the latest creations, all small...all baby's!

This quilt is at the basting stage..I have decided that the pink (Lecien) and the red dot (Moda) fabrics are my ALL time favourites (for now!!! am a fickle fabric lover!!!):

and finally a bit made for the back of the diamond quilt out of leftover scaps...love it!

and this is (a preview!!!) the central detail of the new little quilt all made by fabric from the stash!!! Mr Whirlygiggles thinks she looks like a nun...it took me ages to convince him it is Little Red Riding Hood!!!!

Off to do some more quilty pleasures stuff!!!

Amelie x

Happy Birthday Bloggy!!!!!

2011-04-06T18:19:00.002+01:00

Today my blog is 1 years old!!!

It all started very tentatively as a way for me to record my quilting journey and learn and grow as a quilter...
Making new friends amongst the quiltaholic community came along the way and it is now a very enjoyable part of my quilting and learning.

As a way of celebrating my birthday and also destashing a bit (i cannot seem to make enough of a dent in my collection of fabrics!!!), I have 3 little giveaways that I am happy to post anywhere around the world...

Number 1: panel piece from Building Blocks by American Jane. Absolutely gorgeous images

Number 2: Jelly Roll- Hushabye Baby from Tula Pink. A gorgeous cmbination of pinks, greens and browns...

Number 3: three charm packs from Westminster fabrics. One is Jennifer Paganelli "Dance with me" and the other two are Dana Fishbein "Monaco". They are VERY bright and funky but please note that unlike Moda charm packs these only contain 22 5' squares each.

The closing date for the giveaways is Sunday 10th April (shall we say GMT midnightish?) and the winners names will get picked randomly (unless of course I only get 3 comments/replies...let's hope this will not become an exercise in "nobody loves me, nobody cares, I will go to the bottom of the garden and eat worms"!!!! ).

To enter, please tell me:

what you find most challenging about quilting - one entry!
if you follow- put an extra entry in telling me that you follow-two entries!
if you don't yet follow but now you do, please let me know and that will count as your 3rd entry!!!!!

Email me your name and email address so I can communicate with you if you are the winner. My email address is amelie2009@googlemail.com

Good luck :-)
Amelie x

A different kind of diamond!

2011-04-04T23:19:00.000+01:00

and thank god these are NOT forever or I would be losing the last few bits of sanity I have left!

Here is the finished product (minus basting, quilting and binding):

I bought a kit of beautiful blues and greens (Kaffe Fassett of course) from Tikki as they were utterly irresistible (I would say that though, wouldn't i????)...I brought them home, stroked them loads and thought about them loads too...then I found a pattern in a magazine and thought I found the perfect match for the beautiful fabrics...and I had never attempted diamonds before so here was my challenge and my chance to learn something new...I know I continue to do the "fools rush in where angels fear to tread...":

Now, nobody/no pattern tells you HOW to piece these diamonds together especially the very tricky diamond 9-patch pieces...I tried so many ways and failed time and again...until the last row...isn't that funny? I finally got the hang of them but I cannot begin to tell you how tough this learning curve was!!! and here is one of my good 9-patch diamonds!!!

and a few of my favourite large diamonds...I just love these fabrics...they make me almost drool with joy when I see them...

:-)

and of course I have leftovers...quite a few of them...so I played on the design wall and here are a couple of ideas i liked best:

but the future holds more baby quilts, so I am in no hurry to finish this off just yet....

Off to ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz now

Amelie x

The Far Far Away story...

2011-03-31T17:07:00.000+01:00

I cannot begin to tell you what a joy it was working with these fabrics...linen is so much more resilient than cotton and sturdy too which means that both piecing and quilting were much easier and the final quilt is looking gorgeous...

This is the front made from a Moda Bakeshop pattern called "Boxed in" by KarrieLyne from Freckled Whimsy (http://www.modabakeshop.com/2010/10/boxed-in-quilt.html). The quilt is very easy to make and i think it is a great combination for these fabrics:

and a couple of my favourite blocks with the Sleeping Beauty:

and the back with a 9 patch from leftover fabrics (upside down unfortunately!!!):

I quilted it using a dark orange/yellow thread and 2 different stitches from my machine. One is wavy and it went over the key seams and the other a star, was made around the small blocks to emphase those bits of fabric.
The fabrics are absolutely gorgeous and the Pussy & the Owl are the cutest ever!!! Not a baby quilt but a little girl one for sure!!! so I will count this as my baby's quilt number 2!!!! that has already made me feel much much better!!!

Amelie x

My baby's first quilt!

2011-03-27T21:08:00.000+01:00

I am so in love with this little quilt! I just hope it will get loads of use and preferential treatment!

and two of my most favourite blocks:

The little mermaid stitching is a bit wonky but then again this is a wonky star block!!!

Thanks again to Kerry for the beautiful QAL and the fantastic instructions.

Off to work on the next baby quilt!!! there are some very talented quilters out there who are also prolific and despite being pregnant they churn out loads and loads of quilts for their babies...I must be the only one whose brain has been mushed by the hormones and can barely keep my eyes open or work out a pattern!!!!
Despite that, here is a little preview of my baby's next quilt!!!!!! (surely I am feeling like a 'not good enough' parent already, can I?!!!!)

ain't that soooo cute??????

Amelie x

" The Bird, the Sea, Tilda & her Sister": a modern block!

2011-03-25T20:50:00.001Z

My first Bee block!:

God knows I struggled to make this as perfect as possible and to give Muriël a moment of joy when she sees these photos...

The neurotic process: I started by drafting 6 different versions of what my bee would look like...then a fellow bee came up with my most favourite block too and got there first...fair enough...then I complicated matters so much so that I got into a state of panic until my lovely friend Jane shared her wisdom with me and made me feel better about the world again! Finally the brilliant Kerry looked at my last 2 versions and shared her wisdom with me too helping to draw my decision making processes to a final close (finally!!!!!)

So nuances there are plenty as Muriël requested and this is not just my first attempt at a Bee block but also my first work with blue fabrics...of which I should admit to owing 1-2 FQs only!!!

I hope you will like it Muriël . It will be flying home to you tomorrow! (or should I say, swim to you tomorrow???)

Amelie x

The Charm of the Packs

2011-03-18T17:13:00.000Z

It is incredible what a charm pack can do!!! and it is even better when one can break the mould of the solid white...
This is certainly different for me and I am in love with the greys at the moment...

Another little quilt top done with "Its a Hoot" by Momo:

The pinks lend themselves very well to the dark grey fabric...

And here is a little glimpse of the new quilt I started last night...it is (of course another Kaffe Fassett quilt!!!) and despite the 15 minutes it took to work out how to cut the 60 degree diamonds I finally got there!

I was originally planning to keep the solid green fabric on its own as the in-between diamond but I have a bit of leftover fabric and I think it looks quite good mixed in with the solid?

It is probably madness to be starting new quilts at 33+ weeks of pregnancy but then again...in the name of honesty, one has to accept that the mind is very weak when it comes to gorgeous fabrics and loads of ideas!!!!!

Amelie x

Mother love...

2011-03-10T19:25:00.000Z

Finally am getting there....I am finishing off more of my quilts...
On Monday my mum helped me press 3 large quilts and get their backs measured and cut. I put some additional touches to them and now they are ready for quilting...

It's good to have mother love around:

This one is my Lecien cross quilt. It looks adorable and I have added another photo of it at the end even though it is too large to hold open and photograph (arghhh!!! usual photography challenges!)

More Lecien fabric for the back but the main quilt (which was meant to be my pregnancy quilt and I doubt it will be on my bed before the baby is born!!!!) is made of loads of scap squares including shot cottons:

And finally, OBVIOUSLY a Kaffe Fassett to conclude with!!! I absolutely love this quilt. It will look fab when quilted and I have finally decided that this will be a present for my daddy who has not seen any of my quilts yet...

This is a snapshot of the Lecien cross quilt. It is very very sweet and despite being a bit of a pain in terms of making sure the squares were all in the right place, it was all extremely well worth it!

Thank you mummy even though you will never read my blog

Amelie x

Soft, cuddly and beautiful

2011-03-08T11:57:00.000Z

and am not just talking about Mr Whirlygiggles here!!! (joke!!!!!)

Another finished quilt and the shot cotton makes it so soft and cuddly I cannot wait to wash it and snooze under it!.
This was another kit/fabric pack from Tikki....The lovely Tiina is sooooo creative I had to treat myself to another one of these packs in a different colourway when I went to the shop last week!

Anyway, here we are:

and this is the back:

I quilted this myself (only the once thank god!!!) with a variegated orange thread and an embroidery star stitch from my machine....it looks lovely.

Amelie x

The Chicken or the Egg

2011-03-05T18:55:00.000Z

I have not had a moment or opportunity to blog...for the last 2 days I have felt as if I live in a disaster zone...everything seemed to go wrong all at once. I still have not worked out though whether it was all of the disasters listed below that put me in a bad mood, or the bad mood that brought on all the disasters????

1. I managed to lose my ability to log onto my Flickr completely - still unresolved
2. Computer was taken over by Trojans (sounds scary doesn't it?!) - finally resolved by buying some software on line that marched in and mashed the Trojans!!!!
3. Quilted my baby's first quilt (verykerryberry's quilt along) and then had to spend all evening skinning the very puckered quilt...a few tears were shed over that piece of wasted effort....- resolved today when it was starched, glued and pinned before quilting!!!! I know it all sounds like overkill but I could not take any more chances...
4. all of the above plus some nasty pregnancy hormones and loads of weird pregnancy induced nightmares - yuck - that go like this: " I am sorry you think I stole your white van and am driving it around a small car park smashing it into stationery vehicles...it was not me...honest...I just got in it just now to drive it to a place of safety...please don't kill me!!!!!"

Having said that I have done quilte a bit since my last blog but for tonight I will leave you with one of my favourite quilts of all time (the final large quilt that was patiently awaiting quilting in the depths of the wardrobe for the last few months... it is a Heather Bailey and all her fabrics bring me LOADS of smiles and happiness!

The back! I adore this fabric despite the fact that many people find it too strong...

and a little glimpse of the latest project...yep, another little person's quilt....love the dark grey fabric which I bought in France last year and 'saved it for best' - finally used!!!!

Amelie x

Carpe Diem!

2011-02-21T10:03:00.000Z

I bought this fabric from the US when it first came out and i have been saving it for "best"....This sort of thing plagues me in my life generally, not just when it comes to quilting...I have to battle against "saving best things until the right time" and learn to seize the moment more...
I am not sure I am ready to bring out the most expensive shoes, frocks and handbags I own but the Far Far Away fabric has slowly been making it to the cutting table!!!

Here are a few blocks I have made from the Boxed In pattern in Moda Bake Shop from KarrieLyne from Freckled Whimsy :

They really cheer me up for a Monday morning! Hope they do the same for you!

Amelie x

Loving it!!!

2011-02-20T14:49:00.001Z

This will definately be my little baby's first quilt...it is sooooooo beautiful (except for my seams!!!)

Here is the Centre Right block from the Far Far Away collection:

The Owl & the Pussycat are sooo sweet....

This is block Centre Right:

and this is 'altogether now'!!!

Kerry you ARE a genius!

and now I have to run out of home and disappear before the Leyton Orient - Arsenal football game starts...the roads around our home have been blocked already and it is heaving with people, police etc... yuck

Amelie x

Sunday gift!

2011-02-18T18:21:00.000Z

My French General quilt is finally completed and will be meeting its rightful owner on Sunday afternoon!!!
This is a quilt I made for my best friend Juniper and am ashamed to say that it is her Christmas present!!! She has already seen it and really liked it, so I hope she will like the finished product too!

Again, too large for Mr Whirlygiggles to hold fully stretched...
One way up:

and another way up!:

and two of my very favourite blocks:

Lovely pettern and gorgeous colours...I think she will heart it loads!!!!

Amelie x

Flora and Fauna!

2011-02-15T17:33:00.001Z

The mind is willing but the body is very weak...
We are having a very dark, dull and grey day in London and coupled with a very bad night sleep (courtesy of a poorly Mr Whirlygiggles aka big baby and a little baby doing loads of boing boing in mummy's belly) there is not much life for quilting.
Thank god for the weekend which was very produtive and I am now up to date with Kerry's Quilt Along:

There are plenty of animals in the quilt and they need to feed hence the flora and fauna blocks!!

I also finished my heart contribution to the charity quilt we are putting together as part fo the annual Roding Valley Quilters group in May:

cutie!

and last but most importantly:
If you have not seen the extremely talented Lynne's first Moda Bake Shop creation from Lily's Quilts, you are missing out big time...Not only she has made an extraordinary quilt with an incredible new Moda line called Sherbet Pips but there is also a Giveaway attached to this...all blogged here:
http://lilysquilts.blogspot.com/

Amelie x

Eleanor Burns meets Kaffe Fassett!

2011-02-12T17:20:00.001Z

Another binding finished and here is a quarter trip around the world (some times trying to get to Richmond where Tikki sells these beautiful kits and fabrics feels just like that!!!).
This quilt was also quilted by Ferret and she has done an amazing job on it considering just how many colours there are here...

and the back with 2 different fabrics:

I am now down to one last quilt of these poor ones that have been waiting in the cupboard for binding...yeepeeee...not far off my binding target (considering that 4 other items were added to my list for priority reasons i.e. baby quilts, friend's quilt etc!!!!).

Amelie x

Ohhhh those wonky stars!!!!

2011-02-10T14:05:00.000Z

They are sooo beautiful.....and yes, you would have guessed correctly that this will be my baby quilt...

This is a Quilt Along with the very clever verykerryberry and I heart it loads!!!!

Here are my first 5 blocks:

Isn't the little mermaid just adorable?

Finally making use of my echino fabric!

I am grateful for the brilliant quilt along Kerry!
and here is the link: http://verykerryberry.blogspot.com/

Amelie x

"Shooting the photo" more like!!!

2011-02-08T21:59:00.000Z

I have now tried 4 times and Mr Whirlygiggles has also tried to help as much as possible but I cannot get a really good picture of my pink flowers quilt...
This was a kit from Tikki http://www.tikkilondon.com/ and I made it almost a year ago. It was quilted by Ferret with beautiful flowers all over and it has been waiting in the cupboard for binding.
Once it came out of the cupboard, it took a large part of the evening to finish the binding and the rest of the evening for me to wonder why I had delayed it for so long!!!!

The first photo has been taken indoors and as you can see the quilt reaches all the way to the ceiling, hence the lights are in the way!!! I also had to enhance the colours a bit...not my favourite photo...

Part of the quilt taken in natural light....

Hopefully this one shows the quilting a bit better:

and this is the back:

I love it! it is soooo pretty and so pink and girly!!!

Might have to give the photo shoot another go tomorrow (won't tell Mr Whirlygiggles tonight!!!)

Amelie x

Progress with UFOs

2011-02-06T13:49:00.000Z

Since my last post I have been busy busy busy!!!

I have finished 2 quilts for Little People. I blogged about the Safari Quilt a few months ago (!!!) and here it is finished FINALLY!

I have no idea what made me choose this very small grid for the quilting but I did think I was going absolutely mad halfway through. It was a very painful experience indeed!

The only saving grace is that the texture is brilliant and i think great for little people to run their little fingers across the grid squares!

The other day we went to see a very good friend who just a had a baby. He was so small and soooooo beautiful that when I got back home that day I constructed the little quilt below for him!

I made up my own pattern, cut my tumblers and I used fabrics that I had in my stash exclusively!!!! Must admit, all of that was a real high point for me...I think I am growing a bit more confident as a quilter (yippeeee!)

This back fabric is from IKEA and i love the Hippos!!!! I have had it in my cupboard for a year and I am glad it will go to a such a beautiful baby boy!

I could not resist the variegated little hearts on the ditch!!

Aren't the hippos really sweet?!!!

Today I have taken advantage of my mum being here and apart for a beatiful oxtail soup, she has helped me baste a large quilt I am doing for another very good friend. Off to do some binding before lunch!!

Amelie x

One done!

2011-02-01T16:46:00.000Z

I seriously heart the Flower Sugar range of Lecien...so much so that I have bought a fair amount of it and I am already on my second project with it!!!

The first one is a pattern by Natalie Lymer called Woodland Faeries and it's in the free patterns section of the Lecien website:

These fairies are sooo cute and this fabric line suits them perfectly! I also made this tiny quilt trying out the Quilt as you Go method (love it!) and using the scaps left over from this project below !!!

I know I have already broken my New Years Resolution like 10 times over but it gives me such joy to be ~~naughty~~ creative!!!:

Anyway, both of these are meant for my little princess but then the quilt in progress above has turned out to be rather large...I might have to use it instead!!! Even Mr Whirlygiggles likes these fabrics and has become a willing partner in this project by rearranging some of the crosses ( i am keeping my eyes on him whilst he is at it!!!).

Yesterday I prepared the binding for 5 quilts, attached it on 3 and finished it around the fairies. I then spend about 2 hours trying to work out how to go from this:

to this

and wanted to tear my hair out in the process......all cut from fairly small pieces on a pattern...arghhh,

to my amazement it all worked fine until the blue bits had to be sewn round the star....what a disaster...but why has it left me craving more madness???????? Any ideas?

Amelie x

Pillow talk!

2011-01-26T15:49:00.000Z

They say that there comes a time in pregnancy when you start making the home more of a home/nest...I think I have just hit this time!

2 new pillowcases!
This one is for Mr Whirlygiggles:

and this one is mine!

I have also spent an hour or so going through my quilts and creating different lists.
My current stats are:

Quilts tops completed and waiting for wadding, backing and binding: 18!!!
Quilts to be completed: 6
Quilts ready for binding: 4
Quilts on the go currently: 3

I would like the quilts finished before the baby arrives...something tells me that when she is here there will be NO time for quilting, especially in the beginning.

Back to the sewing machine to finish a beautiful quilt I am working on which shall remain a mystery for the time being!!!

Amelie x

Amelie's Garden

2011-01-20T20:20:00.000Z

The time has come to celebrate the completion of this quilt.

The quilt below is a very special quilt to me. I started quilting in May 2009 and this pattern (Leanne's House: Butterfly Garden) was the first quilt I noticed in Carol's shop (Just Between Friends) and I instantly fell in love with it. It was a very large project to tackle as a beginner to sewing (either by hand or by machine) and so this quilt records/tracks my progress block by block.

It is also a quilt that followed the biggest loss in my life. I also wanted to create a 'garden' but for me this garden would belong to the most beautiful little butterfly in my life...this is Amelie's Garden... a labour of all my grief and love...

Here are some pictures of my most favourite blocks:

Mummy x

Quilt Police

2011-01-11T16:07:00.000Z

Some days are just 'bad quilting days'...no matter what I do I cannot get it right. I seem to have had a good quilting day followed by a bad one, followed by another good one...

The good quilting day saw the beiginning of my whirly quilt (yes, another Kaffe Fassett!, not that I am obsessed or anything!) of which the blocks look like this:

I loooooove them!

Then the bad day came and I realised that I had cut up those trapezoid shapes all wrong (did you read the pattern properly I hear you ask? ermmmmm probably not properly properly...)...Ahhh, I should add that this is a kit I treated myself to for Christmas...which means that cutting fabric wrongly results in having NO fabric for the quilt. Obviously my pregnancy took priority over the quilt and tears were not shed!
I then decided to quilt a little person's quilt I have been working on and thought I would be clever and add the binding by machine rather than waste precious time to hand binding....what a disaster...I have never seen a worse binding job since i started quilting....it is all coming off as we speak...awful...
what a day....I should have never got out of bed in the first place...I heard the Quilt Police knocking on my front door all day!

Then today came and this has been a good quilting day!!! First of all, not having the kit fabric meant that I had to pluck the courage to make my own fabric choices from my stack..and I did and they look great!!!! I felt so good! So all blocks of this quilt are finished but need to be squared up and the sewn together. Here is a preview of how the quilt looks halfway through:

It still needs borders and it needs finishing (not my srongest point as you know!)

I also attempted my first pillowcase and I HEART IT LOADS and loads :-) Mr Whirlygiggles was thoroughly impressed!!! I followed a tutorial from the lovely Missouri Star Quilt Company at http://tutorials.missouriquiltco.com/

And finally (I know I should get a life BUT I am on holidays before my maternity leave kicks in and so the whole day is mine) I finished the Safari quilt although I decided not to follow the pattern exactly but to put together something a bit more to my taste:

It is very cute and the elephant in the middle is gorgeous!

Am happy and grateful for the good quilting day (can I please have a few more of these??????)

Amelie x

La la la...and a Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T13:34:00.000Z

:-( am not allowed to quilt...
well, there has been so much to do yesterday and today in preparation for a little family & friends party and my sister and her boys coming over from Italy that there has been no time for sewing...

BUT, a couple of days ago I managed to make 6 of the houses for my dollies quilt and all the large dollies have hats now!!!

They are soooooo cute:

and my favourite large dolly so far (although that seems to change daily!!)

I better go any cook my dish for tonight (Mr Whirlygiggles has already finished all his jobs!!!!!)

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Amelie x

It's a Dolly Holiday!

2010-12-27T11:12:00.000Z

A belated "Merry Christmas" if you are reading my blog now...hope you have had loads of lovely company, food and pressies!!!

One of my best pressies was a Spa voucher from my best friend :-) thank you thank you thank you
and 4 patchwork rulers from my beloved Mr Whirlygiggles (despite the fact that he thinks I am very sad to get so excited over rulers !!!)
So exciting!!! all the new quilts that can be made!

Anyway, finally managed to finish my HST quilt...I was so worried about the huge variety of Amy Butler fabrics and colours but it turned out very fresh and lovely. It has not been trimmed yet but could not resist putting a photo up:

I know I said I would NOT start anything new until i finish all my current projects BUT these dollies have been my little sirens for a long time and here they are:

These are from the wonderful Material Obsession book and this is a quilt by Sarah Fielke whose work is always amazing...
There are 13 dollies in total. These are the small ones and they are almost ready. I have also finished the large dollies but they have no hat yet and they are far too shy to show themselves to the world without a hat!!!!

Amelie x

Winter Wonderland!

2010-12-19T17:54:00.000Z

The view from our balcony today...yesterday there was a huge snowstorm that went on and on...I felt so sorry for people caught in it...

Whilst the weather has been dreadful and I have a cold which I most definately could do without, the quilting activity has peaked!!!

Our 21 year old got back from university completely skinned...a few quick calculations later and I had him doing some fabric cutting!!! This boy is truly amazing and a very gifted cutter; despite the initial worries about us ending up in hospital with a removed finger, he cut 768 squares which measure 1 3/4 without a moan, a winge or any sign of back problems!!! My hero!!! (well it did cost me a few bob but then again I handed that

over gladly).

Here are the fruits of his labour (the tiny squares of shot cotton).

I am now ready to progress on my snowball quilt that I started with Kaffe Fassett at the V&A. Well, almost ready to start that one, as soon as I finish my first baby quilt which is made up of these cuties:

The owl fabric is extremely gorgeous and yes..I managed to run out of it before doing my borders!!! at the moment waiting for fabric to arrive is excruciating. The snow means that parcels delivered within the UK take almost the same time as coming from the USA!
Anyway, this is what it looks like so far without the 2 borders:

I have also finally completed the 72 HSTs and they are now pressed and ready to be assembled...cannot wait athough I am a little worried about the variety of colours in it...Let's see!

Best go and check on the dinner before all the boys get back home.

Amelie

I am back!!!

2010-12-11T15:19:00.000Z

I have missed my blog loads...but up until a couple of weeks ago there was no quilting whatsoever!!!
Even Mr Whirlygiggles was getting worried about what I would do with "ALL THAT FABRIC" as he calls it!!!

The reason for my long absence?

I know that it looks like I had one MacDonalds too many but this is my 19 weeks + 2 days little baby bump!!!
Up to week 15 the sickness was too intense for any quilting to take place...

I have promised myself not to let any new siren projects lull me away from completing as many of my UFOs as possible before the baby arrives...having said that, 4 new quilts are being seriously considered at present together with cushions, tablecloths and pillowcases (this must be linked to hormonal changes no?)!!!
Also, how many baby quilts can a baby have?

My return to quilting started with a bang! The challenge of these Sunburst blocks (attached are 2 out of the 4):

The quilt is now finished and it is huge!!! Poor Mr Whirlygiggles could not hold it wide enough from side to side or high enough despite climbing on the lounge furniture!!
It is absolutely beautiful and worth every hour of cutting and sewing that went into it... This week it will be heading to Ferret to be quilted.

Well, I am off to start my weekend sewing!

Amelie

Labour of Love!

2010-08-30T00:11:00.000+01:00

I have been in my pjs all day sewing, cutting, arranging and I don't seem to have finished anything!

My latest quilt adventure is certainly turning out to be a true labour of love...160 half square triangles all stitched in place now (yeahhhhh!!!) and so have the 80 nine patch blocks (OMG!)

anyway, all done now, ironed and ready to be sewn into the borders. The last challenge will be the Sunburst Block with the funny little plastic templates...I might lose heart or my mind at this point!!!

The next photo is of one of my Kaffe Fassett quilts that Ferret quilted for me...it is a very luscious yummy quilt and the binding has just be sewn on.....

and that is the backing fabric:

I finally also made a start on a quilt I have been thinking about for a while to cheer me up through the winter and here is a snapshot of it:

It contains some 'out of print' fabric (can you spot the birds? - Summer in the City) and I love all the fabrics on it...it is huge and BRIGHT!!!!

anyway, bedtime now...
Amelie zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Long time, no blog :-(

2010-08-22T22:26:00.000+01:00

I have been a bit poorly and very tired and very slow with my quilting....

I did however manage to make it to the Festival of Quilts for 4 hours only and except for the amazing Kaffe Fassett quilts, I saw very little else am afraid.
Having said that, I never cease being amazed by the strength of little old ladies who push and shove and elbow their way through these fairs!!!! and please someone remind me not to buy a rotary mat in the first 30 minutes and have to carry the darn thing through the whole fair!

Anyway, I finally finished cutting my new project and this weekend it has gone up on the design wall...only today I realised how small my design wall is as the last row of blocks was hanging off the edge!
Here is a sneaky preview:

These blocks are really gorgeous and very uplifting but my god, the preperation cutting and the sewing alone has been massive! There are 160 half square triangles in the main part of the quilt.

That is all I had to say to Mr Whirlygiggles who looked at me like I was mad and said.."goodness, give it up"..ha ha not even remotely funny! as if!

ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Amelie

I digress again!

2010-08-09T22:05:00.001+01:00

Whilst preparing for a new quilt based on a pattern from the Material Obsession 2 book, using a set of FQs that I have had for almost a year now (Recess by American Jane), I decided to give this a go as I love every part of the panel and the stories behind it!!!!

This is work in progress and still needs a few alterations but I think it is cute, cute, cute!!!

I have a few more of these panel stories and I would be happy to give 2 sets away!!!! (five frames each as per in my quilt)

I think when I reach 20 Followers I will do a lucky draw to celebrate!!!!

Amelie

Ta-Dah!

2010-08-03T22:38:00.000+01:00

The new project!

Half of it has been sewn already and it is yummy! The orange is a gorgous shot cotton warm and cosy full of alternating yellow and red threads...

obviously not a boy's quilt so I guess I wil have to start another quilt soon for my nephew...I chose this quilt because it is a zig-zag and also because of the gorgeous orange which is one of his favourite colours...on reflection, this is too flowery for a boy, so it will have to join my stash instead! (not sadly)

No sewing tonight (sadly)

Amelie

Why does learning has to be done the hard way?

2010-08-01T19:41:00.001+01:00

The HST saga continues....

This is how many were completed and on the design wall :

a total of 33

BUT I then had to make a few more before the facing the Sunday supermarket nightmare (i.s. weekly shop)

So, the new total for the day: 42/72

and I was happy until i realised that I had made things extremely complicated for myself and also my triangle points are not matching perfectly and "not matching perfectly" in my books is enough to turn me into the Princess and the Pea ....

I did a quick test of my theory and realised that trimming each HST is unnecessary and also prevents the points from matching...not sure I am making sense (the ramblings of a Princess tormented by a Pea I hear you say!) but if the four pieces are sewn together and then trimmed, it all looks much much better!!!!

I also completed Week 7 of my Quilt-Along...another very painful lesson to me...despite all my love and affection this quilt is stressed!

Let's hope a good ironing will sort most of its problems out!

I was about to give you a snapshot of my new project and as I glanced at it I realised I have placed 2 rows wrongly!!!

Photo tomorrow!

Amelie

Over-ethusiasms...

2010-07-29T23:48:00.000+01:00

The HST patterns says "make 72 units". It is in black and white and I have read it many many many times.

How come I have 96 units cut up and ready to go?!!!!! arghhhhhh

:-(

I will read patterns thoroughly before cutting my favourite fabrics

x 100

Yes, yes, I know I could also make a baby quilt out of it BUT i don't want another HST quilt now...the next 15 projects in my head are keen to materialise!

Here is what the HST project looks like (random placement/not final yet) at the moment with the next few identical units pinned on the current ones in an attempt to introduce a bit of order and control!

As I am too knackered to sew tonight I have cut endlessly...I now have the setting triangles for this quilt also ready (hopefully in the right measurements) and also a gorgeous Kaffe Fassett and shot cotton combination Zig-Zag quilt for my gorgeous nephew..there will be a sneak preview at my next blog!

Off to Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Amelie

Testing!

2010-07-25T22:21:00.000+01:00

When it comes to work/team roles there is a test (Belbin) which is used to determine how you operate within a team. Well, I am not a very good team player (didn't need a test to tell me that) as I like to concentrate on a project and manage it from the beginning to the end (something that Mr Whirlygiggles never seems to be able to to especially when it comes to DIY !!!!).
According to the Belbin test I am an Implementer:
"Implementers have practical common sense and a good deal of self-control and discipline (not when it comes to fabric I do not!). They favour hard work (true - sadly) and tackle problems in a systematic fashion. They succeed because they are efficient (10 unfinished quilts demonstrate my efficiency?!) and because they have a sense of what is feasible and relevant".

I would like to develop a Quilter's role test where I will be the:
"Piecing Princess: head in the clouds, inclined to disregard pattern instructions and practical details of excellent quilt-making techniques! has imagination but engages it in inefficient and unorthodox ways. Her many ideas become counter-productive as she refuses to finish anything , a job which she sees as being below her highness status!"

Oh well, back to reality:
Ages ago I got two Swanky turnovers from the US and last night I could no longer help myself...oh...they are so pretty...if they were not fabric I would put them in a vase...and 2 pinwheels appeared!

and

I have sorted the pairs out and they are ready to be sewn together.

So many gorgeous things to make, so little time...

I also made a few more of my HSTs:

The lighting is not great on these as in finished them about 9pm and so I had to rely on artificial light.

The princess is off to bed soon where she will dream about starting a few more quilts despite the mounting unfinished ones....

Amelie

Softly Softly Catchey Monkey!

2010-07-20T23:05:00.000+01:00

Meet Mr Mellow Yellow!

How cute is this little monkey?!!! Back in May when we went on holiday he came with us (plus 2 of his identical friends) and 3 green Giraffes !!! Since then they have been living in the middle of a heavy diary where they have been kept very flat and stared at with some trepidation!

Well, tonight was the night when after a few deep breaths I used my sewing machine with some lovely variegated thread (Ferret will be very proud of me :-)) and all 6 little creatures are looking really fab! It has been a while since I last worked on a kiddie's quilt and I am looking forward to putting this together.

Finally, I also caught up with Week 6 of my Quilt Along...never has a quilt been handled with such gentleness before...yep, must remember never to do calico on the front again...thank god with loads of tlc and ironing it is ok but it has caused me a lot of unnecessary pain....

And a few more HSTs...What do you think of these Lynne? Hope you like them too!

Finally, here is my finished Authentic Baby Quilt top:

It has been a busy couple of days!!! my head is buzzing with 5 new quilt ideas...arghhhh

Off to Zzzzzzzz's land

Amelie

You can't keep a good woman down!!!

2010-07-18T22:40:00.000+01:00

A dinner for 8 good friends, a whole load of cleaning, washing and ironing later and yippeeee, I still found a bit of time to do some quilting...
(I do fear that visitors to my blog will think I am the lazyiest person ever when it comes to chores - I am not, honest!!!).

I made 9 more HSTs blocks and they look pretty cute:

Ok, ONLY 57 more to go!!!

I also finished my Week 6 Crazy Mum Quilt-Along but I have not attached the border yet (tomorrow night is a quilt dedicated night!!!)

Off to the sofa for some hand sewing

Amelie

The sadness of another weekend gone....

2010-07-11T23:06:00.000+01:00

The weeks seem to be flying by at the moment...another Sunday coming to an end and it is ONLY my spine that is quite thankful about that!!!!

Yesterday I bought some more Kaffe Fassett fabric to make the back for my gorgeous Quick Trip quilt and here it is, held by a moaning Mr Whirlygiggles who feared he would break his neck falling off a small coffee table whilst having to hold the quilt top for a photo!!! men can be so dramatic!

The wind was blowing hence the movement towards the bottom part of the quilt top. I seriously adore this quilt because it was so simple and easy to make, a real gift. Let's see what the lovely Ferret will make of this one!!!

I have to tell you about the wonderful woman from Tikki http://www.tikkilondon.com/ who spent ages with me on Saturday afternoon working about some very complicated calculations for a back for this quilt. She was a real hero to do all that in 28 degrees!!!! What a lovely woman. Unfortunately I did not take her name and I would like to reassure her that everything she cut for me worked like magic. Thank you!

I also finished 4 more HST Overload blocks from a pattern I bought from the adorable Red Pepper Quilts:

I love each one of these, they are so cool. ONLY another 66 to go!!!!!

Off to bed to plan more quilts and to come to terms with another busy week to soon dawn on me!!!!

Amelie

My good friend Quasimodo, Part 2!

2010-07-11T00:07:00.001+01:00

It is almost midnight and taking advantage of an evening alone I have sewn and sewn and sewn so much that I am hurting!!!!

I have completed my Quilt-Along Week 5, yippeeee:

although it looks real cute, I am experiencing some movement in the fabric and i fear it is a combination of using thin calico and also sewing small (and loads) of squares...I hope it will all turn out well in the end...

I also did a few more kaleidoscope flowers and finished the borders of my "Quick Trip" quilt in the gorgeous Kaffe Fassett fabrics.

I will get Mr Whirlygiggles to hold it up tomorrow so I can take a photo.

Amelie

The Take-Aways

2010-07-04T22:03:00.000+01:00

I would like to start this blog by thanking my local take-away for feeding me and the family and seeing me through the mad twilights between the daily very long work hours (8am-7pm) and the need for a couple of quilting hours before bed!!!!! If it wasn't for them we would all starve or I would be summoned to do my kitchen duties which I try to avoid at all costs!!!

So, quilting progress so far:

I managed to catch up with Week 4 of 'Crazy Mom Quilts' Quilt-Along and Saturday night I went from this:

to this:

and finally to this:

Isn't it really really sweet? am so pleased with how it is coming along and pleased that all the cutting is now finished...my wrist is indeed very sore... BUT I cannot wait for the next instalment!

And this evening I finally found enough courage in me to tackle a quilt I cut weeks ago and was too scared to do in case I did not read the instructions properly again!!!

Eleanor Burns you are a wonderful woman, I adored your book, thank you and please please please adopt me!!!:

Obviously it is not finished yet (not even sewn together yet!!!!) but I am so happy with it and in awe of Eleanor.

Amelie

My Heart is Moondancing...

2010-06-29T22:06:00.001+01:00

I have wanted to do a Quilt-Along for a while and then I came across this:

http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2010/06/qal-5-week-one.html

I loved the blog and the plan of the quilt and for a few days I thought about it loads until I decided that I would definately do it! Quilt number...(eh...lost count, but who was counting in the first place???!!!)

I love the part of the process where you fall in love with a pattern and then you think and think and think (Kaffe would hate me if he heard this think think business!!!) and then there is a beautiful moment when everything clicks into place and it all makes sense...

Well, I had that moment on Thursday night when I decided that if I was to do this Quilt-along I would have to use fabric from my ever growing stash... I had a quick look and I stumbled on a kit that I bought in France last year...

I do not need an astrologer to tell me that I will never learn French or get to use the fabric for that specific pattern...and it was perfect...just perfect...soft and girly and sooo pretty..It's called Moondance and it is by Jenean Morrison for FreeSpirit.

I have been cutting and labelling my fabrics including the background, a gorgeous soft calico I bought from Carol:

again, well organised but will I read the whole pattern?!!!

In the course of last week I have also made a couple of my Lady of the Lake blocks for another quilt!!! Yes, there is no danger of me ever getting bored!

I am using my stash of Amy Butler fabrics and these are so delicious I have to concentrate not to drool over them!!! I heart them lots!!!

Amelie

Quilting in 30 °C...

2010-06-27T21:06:00.002+01:00

My machine is almost on fire but since I had to go into the office yesterday I will quilt today no matter what the weather conditions!!!

Saturday night after a very disappointing visit to B&Q I made up my own design wall (my own design wall, WOW...am so happy!!!) ...and of course I had to try it out and up went an Authentic charm pack!!!!

This is soooo cute it is unbelievable and since there is a baby on its way for one of my closest friends baby charm quilts are a necessity (as are ALL the new projects am starting at the moment!!!)

Then late last night I put up my French General quilt that I have been working on for a while now. To my great shame I must have missed some part of the intructions and then had to re-cut every block twice...

I will read the full pattern instructions in the future

x 100

What a pain in the neck...some of the love has gone to be honest...

Anyway, maybe by the time I finish it the love will be re-kindled!

I need time, bags of it...the list of unfinished quilts is growing as is the planning of new ones...

Amelie

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread....

2010-06-22T19:58:00.001+01:00

Idiom Definitions for 'Fools rush in where angels fear to tread' : this idiom is used where people who are inexperienced or lack knowledge do something that more informed people would avoid.

I used to be a thrill junkie when I was younger but thrill-seeking adventures finished a long time ago for me, or so I thought UNTIL Saturday evening when I decided to try something new...

oh the thrill and joy!!! does't it look gorgeous? all made from selvages...

Obviously it has not been put together yet!!! ha ha, that will be the funny part! If i manage to get enough selvages together I would like to attempt a Lone Star out of this (am I totally cuckoo? I fear so!)

The other great thrill is this:

I rescued this Orchid from the office. It was practically dead, all dried up...Despite the fact that I am not at all green-fingered I was convinced she would pull through... and after a few months of tlc, ahhhhh my heart sings again and again...

Amelie

The Master & the Class!

2010-06-20T20:03:00.001+01:00

Kaffe Fassett :-)

What a gorgeous man he is and how lucky was I to construct something under his very experienced gaze?

We planned to make a Snowball quilt. Worked manically all morning on the background squares and having decided that magentas and hot reds were going to be my thing, I came up with some construction which I was terrified that he would come along and tear apart!!!!

He took one look at my quilt and it went from this:

to this: (one look!!!!! a few nanoseconds....see if you can spot some differences like the purple and white dot have vanished!!!)

and finally to the big moment of the day when Kaffe spoke individually about every quilt in particular relation to the choice of colour for the tiny squares that will finish off the Snowball quilt: (please excuse the bad camerawoman job...i was standing on a chair and was trying to get the whole thing in over people's heads!!!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NkNFD3gnnc

Liza Prior Lucy was also there helping the confused students like myself along and here she is holding up a wonderful applique quilt she has made with Kaffe's fabrics (WOW):

We talked about colour, we talked about Kaffe working day night with little sleep and disliking people who 'dillydally'(my word!) people who take loooooooooooads of time to think about what goes where as opposed to putting everything up on the design wall (I need one esperately!!!) and then working until it all blends well together.

Key pieces of advice as I heard it on the day:

1. Get on with it and don't dillydally

2. Cut and put pieces up without too much thought (music is a good distraction)

3. Your eyes will fall in the hole of the fabric that does not belong with the rest

4. Get yourself a reducing glass, they are AMAZING. Best gadget to date!

5. Book yourself on a day with Kaffe...he is sooooo lovely

6. If you have not been to the V&A yet, it is a MUST.

I could barely sleep on Friday night after he said that he really liked my quilt!!! am such a baby! ;-)

Amelie

The Terror of Colour Choice

2010-06-15T20:10:00.000+01:00

On Friday (25th June) I will be spending the day with Kaffe Fassett & Lisa Prior Lucy in the "Colour in Design" workshop at the V&A. How exciting is that?!!!! :-)

However, ever since I received the course outline I have been running scared as we have to prepare for the class by picking the colour scheme we want to make the Snowball quilt in. Now, that should not be too hard I hear you thinking? ha ha!

So, I have spend loads of time looking and buying a variety of fabrics, a lot of mental energy planning what I would like my colour scheme to look like and a lot of anguish over whether I have it all wrong!!!

Well, it is all layed out here and shortly I will be taking the rotary cutter to it...god help us!

Yellows, oranges, browns, bottom left

darker reds, top left

brighter reds, middle

blues and purples, top right

light purple to light pinks, bottom right

Does it look utterly mad?

Amelie

Quasimodo or The pleasure of the quilting pains!

2010-06-13T22:32:00.000+01:00

I have been patchworking ALL weekend!!! Yes I have overdone it and I ache alll over!!!

Saturday I did the Kaleidoscope Hexagon class with the wonderful Carolyn Forster. She was such a friendly, approachable, helpful, lovely teacher, it was a huge pleasure to meet her...I had such a lovely time in her class, met some new people and I am in love with my new quilt:

aren't they cute? I heart them loads

I made 7 (only another 93 to go!!!!); they still need their middle parts done but I am sure they will look lovely when they are all joined together.

I have used Amy Butler fabrics for a modern twist. Well, I have been collecting and saving these for the last year so I am glad their time has come.

After the class I worked for hours on my French General quilt. Still loads to do here.

Today I started quilting about 11am and it is now 10.10pm!!!! I think I have had 2 breaks for food and that's it!!! My body is crippled from all the cutting and sewing BUT I am happy and that is what matters, no?

I have prepared 1 quilt ready for binding, 3 ready but the binding still needs to be cut and stared intensely at 2 more that need to be basted!

I even cut my new (number 14?!!!!) quilt which is based on the Eleanor Burns book "Quick Trip Quilts". I am doing a Lap size quarter trip in Kaffe Fassett fabrics, yummy!

Organised or what?!!!!

Time for bed, busy non-quilting week ahead, BUT another beautiful long weekend to look forward to starting with Kaffe Fassett's workshop at the V&A on Friday and a visit to Sandown on Saturday, and then, well, more quilting I expect!!!!!

Amelie

The Process Pledge: sweat and tears, mainly tears

2010-06-11T22:30:00.000+01:00

For the last two terms I have been working on Ferret's sampler quilt featured on the cover of her Ferreting Around book. Ferret is an absolutely wonderful teacher and I adore her to bits and I am sure I have tried her patience many a times with my silly questions especially when it came to the Mariner's Compass parts of the sampler....OMG....I have been practically tearing my hair out over these, but tadahhhhhh, finally 1& 2 are ready, only 2 more to go!!! and I seem to understand foundation piecing a bit more than I did in the beginning..

and out of curiocity I just twisted the two around and my my my..

ain't that pretty?!!!! well, it would be pretty if it got stitched together properly!

I have promised myself that I will not put my best quilts up without their binding completed but I could not resist this teeny little preview shot of my latest Kaffe Fassett quilted by Ferret

thank you Ferret!

I now have 4 quilts waiting for their binding and 4 waiting to be basted and quilted!!!!

Amelie

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly!

2010-06-06T20:36:00.000+01:00

The weekend is sadly coming to an end and I have not done as much as I would have liked to.

However I have managed to meet all of the above in the last 3 hours!!!

The Good
I skinned and put back together my first ever tablerunner and it looks really cute and pucker-free! It is now completely done, pheeeewwwww...

The Bad

Being very new to blogging, I missed a comment from Sarah Fielke on seeing her amazing quilts at Pur L'Amour du Fil....Sarah, if you ever see this, please accept my apologies!!!! It made my day to have a comment from you. Thank you.

The Ugly

I finished my Whirlygiggles quilt and guess what....my squares are different sizes and no matter what I do the seams will not meet properly :-(

It is sad sad sad. I am a bit upset with the pattern that never said anything about using a special ruler or measuring the blocks in a particular way. The "quilt police" in me rejected the quilt until the lovely Carol had a brilliant idea and thin white sashing is being cut as we speak...it might not all be lost yet.

Amelie

Busy, Busy, Busy :-(

2010-05-31T20:29:00.002+01:00

and no time for quilting until this weekend yeepeeeee....thank god for another long weekend and I have done quite a bit!

First of all I went to a class (I must be mad! like I needed another UFO) and everything seemed far too complicated for my little brain...I am not sure I got the main technique at all :-(

However, I did make a start at using my beautiful silks which I brought back from our recent trip to Thailand. So, with a lot of hard work for a novice, this:

turned into this:

well, not quite as easily as that to be honest...actually, a few hours later ;-)

I think the art quilts will have to wait a tad longer...

Other things I have done this weekend:

1. I finished cutting my next project which will turn into an Anka's Treasures pattern

2. Worked endlessly on Block 8 & Block 9 (last one!) of my Butterfly Garden

3. Tidied up the Study which was covered with fabrics, threads and scraps. I must note here that this was not done because I love tidying up! hell no!!! it was more a case of 'I must protect my creations' as I am off to Scotland tomorrow for the next 4 days...separation anxiety or what?!!!!

4. Skinned my tablerunner (photo on earlier post) as I was too ashamed of how it had puckered and learned the hard way tha I must remember to quilt from the centre, not the edges...Well, the good news are that my tablerunner is in the process of being binded and it looks brilliant!!!! I think starching it to the point that I could have skateboarded with it actually helped loads!!!! I heart starch...truly!

Amelie

I have seen the light!

2010-05-17T23:20:00.002+01:00

Well, first of all I have been here, there and everywhere!!!

During the month of May I went to France, then to Italy then to Greece! Globetrotting or what?!

Then my computer screen died a slow and painful death and I could not see my blog :-(...oh well...

The best bit of the Italy journey was taking the quilt i mentioned in an earlier post to my sister and here it is!!! Finally completed the night before our flight...perfect timing!

I think she really liked it even though she would have preferred it much much longer!

It is yummy yummy....

The best bit of the Greece trip was this breathtaking view....

I can feel a curvy quilt coming on!!!!

Amelie

"POUR L'AMOUR DU FIL" - Nantes Weekend - Part 1!

2010-04-27T20:01:00.000+01:00

Well, that "Eyjafjallajokull" volcano did not manage to spoil my plans! I was soooo happy when I got on the plane to Nantes on Saturday, yeepeeeeeee!

I booked my flight and hotel shortly after Christmas and felt really sad at the thought that the volcano was going to stop me from seeing some of my favourite quilts close up...

Sarah Fielke never made it unfortunately (I so hoped to meet her) but her beautiful quilts were there and they so yummy and it was quite something to see them close up. I have spend loads of time looking through the Material Obsession books and I have dreamt that the day will come when I will be able to make something as beautiful as these quilts. So, I went close, I drooled, I took loads of photos and I bored my friend to death by looking like a love-struck teenager at these quilts!!!

Well, enough chat, here are some of the best pics:

The winter tree has little crystal on it, ahhh sooo beautiful!

This quilt is ever so cute but unfortunately I did not manage to get a clear shot of one of the pretty dollies! They had crocheted flowers on their dresses!!!!

I also thought the work of Sue Spargo was equally amazing, full of detail, colour and imagination...ahhhh

I do not know who made the gorgeouness blow BUT this stole my heart and I know that I NEED one of these!!!! (in the same way that I need more fabric, not!!!) but look:

As Rachel from P.S i quilt (one of my most favourite blogs) says: I heart this...a lot...a lot

I can see me sitting on one of these doing my binding or hand-piecing (when I get over my terror of the irregularity of my stitches that is!!!!).

Well, to all the amazing quilters out there (and I have not even started to talk about the Japanese quilts yet),

'Thank you, Keep Going and please forgive any excessive drooling close to your quilts! (fortunately they were cordoned off!!!!!)

Amelie

Huge moments of happiness!!!

2010-04-21T20:59:00.001+01:00

A few things recently have made me feel on top of the world..a lovely long walk with Mr Whirlygiggles through a newly discovered route next to a canal, one of my friends seeing my blog and liking my quilts and my teacher Ferret who thought that my work has improved loads since the beginning and my piecing of quilt tops is looking good!!! yeeeeha!!!
I wish I could reward her by spending more time on the sampler we have been working on together for the last two terms now or by learning how to quilt on my new Husqvarna. But I am sure she knows that in time she will see more improvements and will finally feel rewarded that her efforts have not been wasted.

Well, the time has come to reveal bits of the quilt ( my first Kaffe Fassett) that I will (promised and I have to stand by my word....no turning back no matter how much I would love to....) give to my sister. It was a kit I bought in a fair in France and the lovely Ferret has quilted it for me. The quilting is exquisite, done with different colour threads on every different colour section of the quilt and it is truly gorgeous.
I am trying to finish off the binding soon as we are taking it with us to Italy on the bank holiday weekend:

Isn't it delicious? have a look at this one too:

That is the back of the quilt and believe me, the quilting is soooo gorgeous that it is almost another quilt on the back...how about this one?

As soon as I finish the binding I will take a few pictures for my blog so you can see it in its full glory!!!

Amelie

Uploading the past...

2010-04-17T21:10:00.000+01:00

Back to my blog, another weekend is here and we are halfway through it already :-(
and before I know it it will all be over and I would not have finished anything again!arghhhh

Recording my quilt (hi)story has been pretty slow compared to my huge enthusiasm and the desire with which I have approached patchwork. Never in my wildest dreams did I see myself sitting opposite a machine and handling fabrics and yet here I am!!! and friends are never short of amazement at this new passion and just how much I have made in the short 10 months that I have been at it!
I still remember the first day I walked into Carol's shop "Just Between Friends" and had my first lesson, my first touch of the sewing machine and my first experience of handling fabric. It was Carol's encouragement and warmth that made it all seem so possible. Next step was the purchase of a small Brother machine (my first one ever) just in case I could not get on with patchwork! little did I know then!!!!

Today's visit to Carol has increased my stash by a layer cake and two charm packs from the new French General range called Rural Jardin, YUMMY! I already have a sneaky plan for the cake!

Ok, carrying on the past, on that first visit to Carol's I was so wowed by her Butterfly Garden quilt that I decided to start one myself. That was going to be my 'Amelie' quilt.

Well, the first block was so hard to put together and so difficult to get the little squares to match up that I ended up doing it twice!!!! since then every part of it has become easier. One of the things I adore about this quilt is that has become a brilliant record of my quilting history...I can see how much I have moved on since that first block but in spite of all its mistakes, every block to me is as beautiful as that first one ...

Here is a preview of the first few blocks...I only have 2 more to go before the quilt is complete!

I have used a combination of fabrics including a few older pieces and that beautifully bright silky red. I hope it will all survive time....

I adore these blocks so much, here is another pinned on the curtains!!

After I started my 'Amelie' quilt, I bought some Amy Butler fabrics (I simply adore her designs) and decided to do a quilt for my sister. I can only thank my teacher Ferret for standing by me very patiently in the beginning as I struggled with this quilt enormously. Miraculously my "Moroccan Sorbet" (you will soon see why the name!) was finished and I fell in love with it so much so that I could not part with it. It lies gorgeously in a wooden chest under lock and key (now, I would not want a thief to come into our flat and steal my quilts, would I?!!!!). Ferret did a beautiful job quilting it on her longarm and here it is:

I have made a few kiddie quilts since then in the course of my 10 month quilting journey but they are not all finished so I will not show them just yet!

I am ashamed to say that I have 5-6 UFOs (UnFinished Objects-for the non quilting folk out there!). They live in a lovely box under the promise that they will soon be brought out to be quilted, gifted and loved!

Amelie

Children's artwork - my new challenge!

2010-04-11T19:42:00.000+01:00

As a 'Thank you' to my lovely workplace, I took home a whole load of children's artwork hoping that I will be able to make something worth auctioning.

I went through the whole stack and was very sad to realise that the paint on the calico is not permanent and cannot be fixed permanently either. I guess the way forward is not a quilt but a wallhanging that can be dusted off and not have to be washed...

Here is a preview of the squares I have picked...I have tried to have some sort of colour similarities to make my fabric choice easier. Hopefully this project will not become my one way ticket to madness!!!!!

I was thinking of a 5 piece project like this one that I made from a Homespun recipe which was very modern but I decided to turn Japanese!!! Isn't it cute?????

The children's artwork I chose are below and before you start thinking that I cannot count, I chose 6 as a starting point and will be making a final decision as the project unfolds!

I love the top left square. Have a look at the 2 cool figures in it!:

I love these 2!

ok, I am off to buy more fabric...ehhhh, to sew more fabric! my god, someone please rob me off my credit card so I cannot order any more gorgeous fabric like the recent arrival of more Heather Bailey into this blessed home! My cupboard is creaking at the seams!!!!! I guess part of my problem is that I do not want to cut into it...just to store it, look at it adoringly and stroke it loads...am I a fabric lunatic? fear so....

Amelie

It's the weekend!

2010-04-11T19:00:00.000+01:00

and even though it is fast approaching its end we just got back home and am ready to carry on with this blog...
Ok, going backwards again, here are the pictures of the two quilt tops I finished on the bank holiday weekend:

Flower Pinwheels from the Patisserie range (loved it!!!!!!!!!!):

I have decided the needleturn applique is sooooo hard but sooooo rewarding!

and also my MOMO Wonderland Tulips quilt:

the orchids got in the way of that one!!!

Saturday I managed to finally pin one of my UFOs:

I have not decided how I will quilt this one...I don't think I will be able to do any more than just a bad version of stitch in the ditch...it is not as easy as it seems...or is it just me being purely incompetent?!!!!

In the meantime, I have finished ALL 42 whirlygiggle blocks and they need to be ironed and cut to size! cannot wait to sew them all together, they are soooo yummy!!!

bye
Amelie