Queen Bee

It’s my turn to be queen of the hive over at Sew & Bee Happy.
August seemed to be so far away and now here it is staring me in the face…


What I have in store for my online quilting buddies is a bit of paper piecing.
There are many tutorials for paper piecing that go into much better detail than I am able to…
http://www.caroldoak.com/weblog/?p=928
http://artisania.wordpress.com/2008/07/31/learning-to-paper-piece/
http://www.quilterscache.com/StartQuiltingPages/startquiltingthree.html

INSTRUCTIONS FOR SNB MEMBERS:
The block that I’ve chosen is this Kaleidoscope Block (printed from my Sew Precise software). 
This first picture shows the general colour scheme.
The block can be scrappy, just keep within the general colour scheme of

Light blue, mid blue, light grey and dark grey.

Mosiac of the Kaleidoscope quilt block

Here is the link for the pattern:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B4rAKxGHRX39MS1HdC00VTV4TFk


You will need to Download the file to get it to print at the right size. These are the steps:

1. The above link will take you to a page that is headed “KaleidoscopeUpload for SBH”
2. Click on “File” and a dropdown menu will appear.
3. Near the bottom of the list, click on “download”
4. Print the page 4 times. Paper from your printer is fine.
5. The side of triangle ‘5’ on unit “G” should measure very close to 3.5” (don’t worry if it is barely under or over…only worry if it’s closer to 3.25” or 3.75”…which hopefully it won’t be!)

I’ve only given you the pattern for two of the wedges because it would have meant joining several smaller pieces to make the other wedges (and I wouldn't put myself through that - yet alone you lovely ladies!). Just make 4 of each wedges as shown below – one is labelled Unit G (made up of 5 triangles and the other has no label (but when I printed it off I hand wrote "4 UNIT WEDGE" on it) and consists of 4 triangles.

Cut out each wedge just past the dotted line (seam allowance) – don’t cut the solid line – that’s your sewing line!

SEWING THE PIECES
Pretend the paper is like a piece of fabric – the right side of the paper is the writing side and the wrong side is the blank side.
Place the first colour – labelled ‘1’ behind the paper, so that the wrong side of the paper and the wrong side of the fabric are together.
I use repositionable glue to hold it in place…it’s ok to iron over because it doesn't stick to the fabric and when you eventually tear the paper away, the glue goes too! -  I just don’t put it near the stitching lines in case it gums up the needle.

Take fabric “2” and put it right sides together with piece “1”
In this picture the medium blue is fabric ‘1’ and the dark grey is fabric ‘2’

Sew with a short stitch and a sharp needle (a jeans needle is good) on the paper side, following the solid stitching line, marked between piece “2” & “3”. Do a back stitch at the beginning and end of each line.

If you want some help working out where the seam line is put pins through the corners. Where they come through you can see there is enough fabric left for a good 1/4” seam allowance. Another trick some quilters use, is to hold the it all up to the light, so you can see if there is the proper seam allowance.

When you’ve finished the first seam, fold the paper out of the way, run your nail along the stitching line to help perforate the paper, but don’t remove it till after the entire block is sewn.

Take your ruler and trim the seam to 1/4”… this ruler I have has a fabulous 3/16” mark which is a touch smaller and neater than the1/4” – but go with what you’ve got.

Just follow the above steps for adding pieces 3 and 4 to the "4 triangle" wedges and pieces 1 to 5 for the "G - 5 triangle" wedges.
Here are the first two that I’ve made, one of each of the wedges.

I’ll put up the finished block in the next few days.


One of the reasons it's taken so long to get this going is that the first colour scheme I went with looked so "blah", that I had to can the whole thing and start again...much happier now!


Thanks to all the Sew & Bee Happy members and I'll look forward to seeing your lovely scrappy creations in the coming month.

thanks for taking a peek over the fence...

The Great Big Stitched…

Postcard Swap is on again… #5

I’ve joined in with everyone of these swaps and it is so well organised by Beth from Do What You Love
Register by midnight (GMT) Thursday 26 July…everything you need to know is here.

Just to whet your appetite, here are the postcards that I have sent and received over the last 4 Great Big Stitched Postcard Swaps…

More postcard swap loveliness is on display on the GBSPS flickr page.
Think about it! It's not to late to sign up!

thanks for taking a peek over the fence…

My Place And Yours

This weeks theme for My Place and Yours is:

 ON MY FRIDGE 

At chez quilary, the front of my fridge is not a pretty sight - there is all the flotsam and jetsam of a household of 8.

But above…that’s a whole different story. My blue and white delights to make me smile amid all the chaos.


To see what all the other cool fridges are wearing this week, check out Cherie’s link MPAY post
Let's have a look at what's on your fridge and link up to Cherie's blog

thanks for taking a peek over the fence…

Under the Weather…Over the Moon

Since the MaTH got home from his travels abroad, I have slowly been succumbing to the dreaded lurgy. To the point where I looked, and sounded, (and felt) so sick, even the children recognised that I would be better off staying in bed.
I'm still coughing and sneezing, but I promise I’m covering my mouth and nose and you shouldn’t catch anything!!

Doesn’t this just put the biggest smile on your face?

She arrived as part of a beautiful parcel of Op Shop Swap goodies from my wonderful partner

Laurel of Miss Muggins fame.

Here are the other lovely goodies sent to me.

I can’t describe enough just how beautiful and clever and delicious is that little doily pouch…it’s clever, creative, brilliant and beautifully constructed. Laurel you are a genius.

I’ve had my tea and toast in “Mary” and read the magazines in my sick bed (plotting what to make with cute “button fabric”), pouring buttons through my fingers (it’s very theraputic – you should try it!). And paisley - just makes my heart sing...

Thank you, thank you, thank you Laurel for an amazing parcel of goodness.

You can see a sneak peek of what was sent to her here.

Thanks to Jody for organising the swap. You can see what other goodies were sent around the world on the flickr group

thanks for taking a peek over the fence…

A Mystery

Do you wonder what your parcels get up to after you mail them?
I don’t usually, but a little surprise package that arrived recently, has me wondering.

There it was - a mystery parcel from Canada. The customs label said “fabric”. What could it be?
Had I been ordering more fabric on line? In my sleep, surely?

Then I saw the date April 19, 2012! Over 2 months ago? Very curious!
Oh well, nothing for it, but to open it and find out what goodies lay within.
Christmas fat quarters – six of them…and the best ever Christmas card.

Leslie from the cuddle quilter had a giveaway all those months ago and had mailed them off to me in April.

So, little parcel, what have you been up to in the last 2 months?

Was it Ausralia Post that has been holding you hostage?

or Canada Post not wanting to let one of it’s little babies head out into the big wild world?

Were you just holding off for "Christmas in July"?

We will never know! but I'm really glad you eventually made it here!

thanks for taking a peek over the fence...

thanks for taking a peek over the fence…

Winter Op Shop Swap

I came across this swap as I was poking about on a few blogs in May. This was something a bit different for me to try my hand at.
Our parcels had to be sent off by the end of June.

A certain partner in this swap has been teasing me with snippets of what might be in a parcel headed my way.
Well, Miss Muggins, two can play at that game….
     

The blurb on this card alone was reason enough for buying them…
It's just so Batfink …”your bullets cannot harm me, my wings are like a shield of steel” -  one of my all time favourite cartoons!


I haven’t shown you everything Laurel, I have to keep you in a bit of suspense…

thanks for taking a peek over the fence…