Bridesmaids Quilts - November Finishes

I have probably told the tale before . . . .


Quite a while back I found a free pattern with stitcheries of the words from 1 Corinthians 3:4-8 - the one that goes "Love is patient, Love is Kind...." and some flowers.
I knew my eldest daughter (DD1) would love it one day when the time was right . . . so I started it.
Then I saw a pattern from Val Laird and knew it would go well with the other bits.  (They became the corner blocks)

When she got engaged I thought I'd make it as a wedding quilt.

A few years later her Maid of Honour got married and when asked what she would like for a present she said "Oh a quilt like yours!"...so I made #2

One of the DD1's bridesmaids was already married when DD1 got married, but the other 2 are now married...so I have made versions 3, 4 and 5.
I don't think I will need to make this one for DD2...and that is probably a good thing!!!

I did these all in tandem - knowing that if I completed one the next one/two would be that much harder.  I must admit I am pleased they are finished.

Here is a slightly better / closer photo of the pink one

One thing that I didn't think to do on the original quilt was to combine the names like this:

These quilts will be handed over some time over the Christmas / New year period when DD1 is back home.

FNWF - August

I love the month of August - it means Retreat time - so I am busy getting ready - I am making three quilts in tandem so to speak - so not a lot to show at any one time but hopefully very soon - 3 quilt tops!!!

Here are the "Love" blocks for the quilts and the cut out shapes for the other corner blocks.

Thanks as always to Cheryll for hosting and motivating us.  It might take me a while to visit the others as we are having "internet" issues...but hopefully will get to some.

FNSI - July

A slightly delayed FNSI - but I'm happy to sew any Friday night and if I have cyber company then its even better.

Preparation - not always a lot of fun - but it has to be done - I have a retreat coming up (27 sleeps...who's counting??) and I plan to finish off 3 quilt tops.  I am making "wedding" quilts for each of my DD1's bridesmaids. One was married before her wedding and the other 4 since. I have already made one for DD1(blues & purples) and one for her Maid of Honour (teals), so now I am doing yellow, pink and red.

I have almost all the blocks for the inside stitched and am now working on the 4 corner blocks for each quilt.

So, I traced onto fabric and traced onto Vliesofix and ironed.

Before retreat I need to cut the stitcheries into 4.5" squares.  I've already cut the strips for around each block and I have the border fabrics packed ready to go...Sounding super organised...will it all pan out??

Thanks Wendy for hosting us again...pop over here for the linky to have a look at what others did.

This time next month I will be on retreat - cyber and physical friends to sew with.  Yippee!!! And hopefully I will 3 flimsies to show before I leave.

Glenrose Retreat 2016

I have had 3 wonderful sewing days with the Tuesday Girls and friends - De, Noela & Jenny.
We started with a delightful morning tea.

Not my photo - I didn't have any cream.

Then unpacked and sorted ourselves.
I had done a lot of preparation and I had a "Plan".

#1 - The borders for 3 blocks of Bluebird Lane - I still have the appliqueing to do - and the third block is missing a bit (since I mis-cut and didn't bring the fabrics) but done as per the Plan!

#2 - Splendid Sampler block - mine is in the middle of the photo.

       All of us ended up making a block.

Sandi made one but loved Teresa's so much she made

       a second one in similar fabrics.
And it's good she made two since we could then form a 3 x 3 square.

#3 - "My Town" - this was a BOM in Homespun  in 2011. I had chosen to do only 4 blocks and found this great house fabric that I wanted to use as the border. The blocks have been "almost finished" for quite some time but needed putting together.  I decided on an attic window pattern.

There are a lot of decorations to be added (felt flowers, buttons etc)

especially to the "Florist" block.

#4 - Quilt my Christmas Quilty Fun quilt.  I did some of the vertical lines and then started on the tree - but really I don't like quilting much - and there wasn't a lot of space so I stopped & packed it away.

#5 - The Bridesmaids Quilts. I sewed the borders onto each block that I took.   Still a long way to go on this ...but getting there slowly...

#6 - Christmas Runner.  Maureen had gifted me some lovely gold Christmas fabric which I decided to turn into a simple runner - I was able to get some more coordinating fabric from the shop so I made the runner.   I was going to start quilting it (it's only small) but couldn't find my masking tape and it was late so I just made the runner.

#7 - The Anni stitchery for my GDITC swap.  I worked on that - almost done.  Here's a bit of it...

My almost 'done' plan:

It was a wonderful time - everyone got a lot done despite time out for a trip to Warwick Garden Centre for lunch .....

and a trip into town to shop at Canning Town Patchwork and morning tea at Brysons.

Thanks to those from whom I pinched photos.
I do feel lucky to be able to join in with this group in February - though we could wish for cooler weather.

How many sleeps until Glenrose 2017???