Just a couple of pics today.

First of all the completed Doll Quilt #1, it's just got minimal stitch in the ditch quilting and around the applique pieces. I'm scared to do anything more adventurous in case I 'ruin' it. Afraid the lighting in the photo isn't brilliant but yes, you've guessed it, it's still raining.

And another bit of the CW quilt, I've sandwiched it today so I should be able to finish and post it well within the deadline. I'd show the whole thing but I'm not sure if you are supposed to or not.

Raspberries and runner beans

As it's been raining non-stop I've made a start on the CW(ish) Doll Quilt. Here's a bit of it.

I did nip down to the allotment in between showers to try to pick some raspberries - there are loads of ripe ones but I haven't been able to pick them because it's always raining.

I picked quite a few but then it started to rain again so I came home. I did remember my camera though and the rain will do the runner beans good.

Have you seen Jen (Fairybread) and Jen's (Hedgehog) posts about Quilts for Leukaemia? I've made a few of the red and white blocks for Clare, but was beginning to worry about the fact that while it's relatively easy to show support by making a block, Clare still has to purchase the backing and batting. Luckily, the two Jens did more than think about it, they have come up with a cunning plan - at Quilter's Quarter, an online store in the US, there is an option to buy a Gift Certificate that can be emailed to Clare, which she could then use to buy batting and backing fabric. Quilter's Quarter accepts PayPal, and they felt that quilters, if they were able to donate, would be confident that their donation would go toward quilting supplies and not toward a bottle of wine! (Clare does live in France!). The smallest gift certificate is US $10, but they think the store might be prepared to accept 2 people each donating $5 to make up one certificate.

I am not for a moment pressuring anyone to contribute - all of our circumstances are different and it is always an individual choice, but it is a very worthwhile cause and if you have made any blocks you might want to know about this.

On the Doll Quilt Swap front, there's good news and perplexing news. The good news (for me at least) is that my partner likes Civil War Reproductions, so I get to keep the quilt I'd already started. Usually I am not bothered about whether I keep a quilt myself or not, but I'd gotten quite attached to this one and I really wanted to put it on the wall in my kitchen - so much so that I had in fact cut out all the pieces for its twin. I've just got the put the binding on the first one and then I'll post a picture. So far, so good. The perplexing news is that I don't have a huge collection of Civil War reproduction fabrics, so ... I've just pulled all the fabrics that look as if they might be from that era to give a similar overall effect. What do you think - will they be okay? I think they will be fine, and in fact there are a few that are repros. This is an unexpected challenge for me. I like all of the fabrics - I wouldn't have bought them otherwise. But I wouldn't normally use this selection all together. And yes, I know I could limit the number of fabrics I use, but once a scrap quilter .... In the Doll Quilt in the last post I used over 40 different fabrics - just because it's a Doll Quilt doesn't necessarily mean that you have to use fewer fabrics. And for me, the scrappier the better - now I've just got to decide on a pattern.

Meanwhile, I went to my first ever Quilt Group meeting in Lutterworth, where I met fellow blogger Jane, from Sew Create It. It was such a friendly group and there are some very talented members if the Show and Tell was anything to go by. It made a nice break in a week where work has taken over (again, and I know I keep going on about it but it accounts for the fact that it's been two weeks since I last posted anything).

I also found this article a couple of weeks ago about how women are using the web to forge friendships - have a look, it really reinforces what most of us know already, but it is interesting in that it shows that men don't use the Internet in the same way as women at all.

Doll Quilt #2

I knew I was right to get cracking - the sign up for the Doll Quilt Swap has had to end early, due to the sheer number of people wanting to join up.




On the home front, the scraps are now transformed into... this layout. I string-pieced the scraps for the sashing and fused and machine zig-zagged the flowers. I'm hoping it'll piece together okay as there are a lot of seams in the sashing which could be bulky when it's all sewn up, but so far so good. I have, of course, got a lot of scraps left so I maybe see another Chinese Coin Doll Quilt on the horizon (get a grip, girl, you haven't finished this one yet). With a border, it should measure 18 X 22 inches.

Doll Quilt #1

I'm all fired up for making doll quilts now (note how nonchalantly I cast aside my earlier vow to finish things up before starting another project - maybe there's hope for this completer-finisher yet). I thought I would try to make more than one before the swap deadline so that when I know who the recipient will be I could pick one closest to their taste (okay, this might be wishful thinking but humour me).

Anyway just to give you a quick peek, here's the start of Doll Quilt #1, which is very much to my taste, I just like looking at the scraps, never mind a pieced top!

Almost there ...

... with the Road to Arkansas top - I've put three narrow borders on - another two to go but I've kind of lost impetus - too much scrabbling on the floor to measure.

I've also joined the Doll Quilt Swap, Amy posted about the first one a while ago but I missed the deadline for signing up. This time round it seems very popular and I'm really looking forward to seeing all the different quilts that people make. If you want to join the swap, sign-up is open until June 17th.

This week the door fell off our (built-in) fridge, I left my debit card in a shop and the flush mechanism on our (one and only) toilet stopped working. But ... I got these shirts in a charity shop sale for 50p each.

Bits and Bobs

Just pottering about really. I made a fabric basket for my SIL's birthday, haven't made one of these before so it took a while but at least it worked. Here it is without contents.

And here it is with added toiletries - I did wrap them in cellophane and add a bow but that was after the camera batteries ran out. Of course, being a person who thinks ahead, I looked for the 2 spares in the charger - needless to say they weren't there. I have a 10 year old son, three guesses where they were? Yes, you're all correct, in his PSP of course.

I also received a lovely parcel from Jane - she drew my name for her 50th post. We were both tickled by the thought that of all the bloggers around the world I won, and yet we probably only live about 30 miles away from each other.

A couple of you have asked about the pattern for the quilted bags a couple of posts ago. The pattern I used was from a book, but Dani has been making the bags too (check them out) and she put this link to instructions for a similar bag on her blog if you are curious about how to get the square shape.

Other than that, all I've been doing is starting to put the borders on the bright Road to Arkansas quilt that I pieced a while ago. I really hate to have too many UFOs - I try to kid myself I'm a free spirit but if was a stick of rock I'd have "completer/finisher" in letters right the way through - it makes for a very stressful life, that's all I can say. I have a Yellow Brick Road quilt all cut out and ready to go from recycled shirts but can't bring myself to start it until that top is finished. Trouble is, my mind is always about 300 quilts ahead of the one I'm actually working on, there are just so many possibilities and so little time (and so many beautiful quilt books to drool over).

Have a good weekend all, the weather forecast is sunny!