Friday Night Sew In - September

I had a bit more than a Friday Night Sew In - I had a whole Friday Sew In :o I had booked a class at Patchwork Chicks - the quilt was so pretty, I couldn't resist and part two is on my birthday so it was meant to be, lol! I had the tricky job of choosing fabric for the quilt before I set off for the class of course, always a nail biting experience for me. I had been tempted to buy some Park Avenue...I have a couple of fat quarters already (they're destined to become a cushion) and really like the fabric but...I was looking at my stash of French General and it looked a bit neglected - I've only made a bag from it so far, and so I decided it was time to cut it up! 

Yesterday in the class we got started on the centre applique panel and I managed to fussy cut the bird for the centre of the design...here's the progress so far (I'm itching to do more)

 

I managed to put together everything from stash for this quilt except for the large outer border, it finishes at about 54"x54" I think. The rest of the quilt is made up of 4.5" squares some of which have stitcheries of quilt block designs in them. I did make a start on a stitchery yesterday but there isn't really enough done to show just yet. I did buy a metre of the beautiful blue bird print from Rural Jardin for the outer border - it's my absolute favourite from that line of fabric.

When I got home John and Catherine had an evening of kayaking planned and Matthew was communing with his friends on Xbox live so I was all set to carry on sewing :D

I had brought a couple of little bundles of wool felt home with me - needed for Lynette Anderson's Beehive Sewing book. Patchwork Chicks sell great little bundles of felt for £2.50 which is much more affordable for projects that need only a little bit of felt than buying great huge pieces. I was eager to play with the felt so I did...

 

and these were the result!

I had already appliqued the beehive onto the front of the book and done the stitchery on it - I'd come to a full stop though because of the lack of felt. I'm really pleased with how it's turned out - I would have carried on to finish it off last night but a) I was shattered and b) I had forgotten to buy a magnetic clasp!

I'll be slipping off to the market while Catherine's having her hair cut to get one so that I can finish this off later on. Since I stitched the My Little Heart block for August I seem to have added a bumble bee obsession to my bird obsession  -  I have a few more bumble bee things in my stash to make at some point!

So that's my Whole Friday Sew In - I had a fabulous day, it was a lovely treat and I'm already looking forward to the next one and seeing what everybody else got up to with their needles and thread last night. 

 

 

Comments

[Jenny of Elefantz]

I absolutely love the way you fussy cut the bird into the centre of the block! The book is gorgeous too! :-) Don't you love sewing wth felt? So wonderfully soft on the hands.
Hugs
Jenny

[Carole]

Well you were a busy bee and no doubt LOL

The quilting is pretty but I'm in love with the felt beehive and I don't even like bees!

[Margaret]

The block is gorgeous but then I'm still having a love affair with Rouenneries and Rural Jardin so anything made from those fabric lines gets my vote.