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Thursday 8 March 2018

Bit Of This, Bit Of That.......

Lots been happening in the last week........not!  The bad news is the heavy snow prevented me from going to the embroidery weekend, but the good news is the west side of the country became affected too and the course was cancelled with full refunds!!! Oh yes, I was doing my happy dance at the refund.  Guess what happened after that?  I came down with a virus, aches, pains, headache, if the weekend had been on no way would I have been able to attend.  I spent four days cuddled up on the sofa feeling sorry for myself.  The good news is Higham Hall have put on another weekend in April and gave us first option for places, Yipeeeeeee!!!!!  Especially as I am able to go that particular weekend.

I haven't been up to doing much sewing but I did make bee blocks for Jennifer @Inquiring Quilter who is joint queen at Bee Inspired this month.


Shamrock blocks four of them as they are so small.

Last year Jennifer requested a block she designed herself


I made this one in three shades of green and white, Jennifer is calling her block Irish Eyes.


This is Jenifer's design.  You can find out more about it and the tutorial for the shamrock border block on this Bee Inspired post.

I also wanted to show you

A memory cushion I made for my Niece Claire a couple of weeks ago.  Claire's grandad died not so long ago, she had a shirt of his and asked me if I could make this cushion which incorporates the pocket and shirt front, the shirt was just wide enough.


Can you see the pocket?  It almost disappears into the pattern.

It had obviously been a favourite, the fabric was very soft from wear, so I layered the top with a cotton batting and a white calico.


 I stitched the two fronts together, I left the buttons on of course but the 'shirt front' doesn't open any more.  I quilted it with simple lines using my walking foot and following the check pattern, it it doesn't appear quite straight it's because the fabric was slightly distorted with use.


  I didn't quilt the pocket of course, you can see it better here.


I made a simple envelope back using the back of the shirt, I didn't use wadding on the back but I did add a fabric backing to the fabric as it was so soft and well worn.  I added some widely spaced stitching to support the fabric, you can hardly see them here.  The check doesn't quite match on the pic, although it does without the cushion pad.


I finished it off by stitching around the edge, it gives it a nice finish I think and it stops the edge from turning and showing the back, handy if the back is a different fabric or colour.


I hope Claire likes it.


Now, you may well have read this already but I have to tell you, or remind you,


that the Modern Plus Sign Book Hop starts this coming Monday 12th March.  This is going to be so exciting, and like all good book launch hops there are lot's of giveaways too so don't miss it.

This hop is even more important to me, Paige Alexander from Quilted Blooms was the first new blogger I met when I started blogging two years ago, and Cheryl was one of my mentors in the New Quilt Bloggers in 2016.  They are both lovely warm and generous people who are wonderful quilters and contribute much to the quilting and blogging world.

Here is the schedule so you don't miss anything

Monday, March 12th
Paige @ Quilted Blooms

Tuesday, March 13th
Kitty @ Night Quilter
Sophie @ Luna Lovequilts
Afton @ Quilting Mod

Wednesday, March 14th
Jayne @ Twiggy and Opal
Abigail @ Cut & Alter
Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl
Sandra @ mmm! quilts
Karen @ Run Sew Fun

Thursday, March 15th
Bernie @ Needle and Foot
Michelle @ From Bolt to Beauty


Friday, March 16th
Izzy @ Dizzy Quilts
Christa @ Christa Quilts

Monday, March 19th
Jessica @ Quilty Habit

Tuesday, March 20th
Katherine @ Sew Me Something Good

Wednesday, March 21st
Anja @ Anja Quilts

Thursday, March 22nd
Joanne @ Quilts by Joanne

Friday, March 23rd
Paige @ Quilted Blooms

Now, if you read down the list you might notice ME, yes that's right!  I have made one of the quilts from the book for the hop, my secret sewing, oh I'm so excited about this, I can't wait to show you my lovely quilt, I will of course!

There are over forty quilt bloggers taking part and two quilts from the book will be featured every day, so you will see lot's of different versions.

That's all for today, as I said at the start I've been poorly and just wasn't up to sewing or much of anything else really, I am so behind in my blog reading, just after I had got caught up too.

So, let's chat again next week by which time I hope I will have done some more sewing and ave something to show you, fingers crossed.

Until next time,
With smiles from,
Kate x

Linking up with:
Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?
Crazy Mom Quilts
Finished Or Not Friday





19 comments:

  1. sorry you have been sick hope you are back to normal soon - wonderful pillow what a great idea

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  2. I love your idea of sewing around the edge of the pillow. It really gives it a nice finish.

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  3. I'm glad that you were able to get a refund and are able to attend the next weekend in April. What a bummer to get a virus and feel so bad for so many days, I hope you are recovered and doing better! The blocks look great and the pillow is a sweet make and gift. The pocket was well aligned! I have a lot of quilting to go to be ready for the blog hop myself, better get back to it.

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  4. SO MUCH GREEN. Must be getting close to St. Patrick's Day. The pillow is absolute snuggle-worthy. Congratulations on the secret sewing, being featured and all :-) Sending you hugs and healing vibes. Hope you are up and running soon :-)

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  5. My dear friend, I am sorry I have been out of touch for the last few days. I hope you are well on the road to recovery. This pillow is such a special thing! Your friend asked just the right person to make it because you take such great care with everything you make. I'll write more later!

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  6. That's great about the new weekend. Have a great time. The shirt pillows is awesome.

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  7. Those shamrocks are so happy! The pillow is fine in every detail, especially the edge treatment. It's so nice that you have recovered and will get to the April event at Higham Hall.

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  8. Hope you’re feeling better! The memory pillow turned out great. I’m sure it was well received. I’m impressed with Jennifer’s quilt and how she had a plan. She waited very patiently for it to play out, didn’t she? I’m looking forward to this blog hop! Can’t wait for your day!

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  9. Glad you are better.Your new design`s just fantastic

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  10. you have an action packed post for someone who got sick!! virus doesn't keep you down long! LOVE the Green quilt - its going to be so great! And your pillow - too sweet!

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  11. I love all the green fabrics! I'm sure Claire will love the pillow. Such a sweet gift for her.

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  12. Glad to hear you are feeling better kate . At least you have your weekend to look forward to again. I'm looking forward to the blog hop and seeing your contribution . And a lovely idea to make a cushion for your niece

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  13. Your memory pillow is quite handsome! I'm sure it will always bring fond memories to your niece. The soft fabric was probably a bit harder to work with, but you did a great job making it stronger and longer lasting.

    I'm looking forward to seeing your Plus quilt for the hop!

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  14. Claire is going to love that pillow. So special. I'm so sorry you were sick. How nice that everything worked out so well with the embroidery weekend.

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  15. Sad to see you were ill but glad you're on the mend now but especially happy that you will be receiving a refund for the class. I kept seeing reports of your weather and thinking there was going to be no way it was going to clear for you to travel since you thought a refund wasn't going to be a possibility. Let's keep our fingers crossed that April's weather will be lovely. BTW your pillow reminds me that I have a shirt of a dear friend who lost her husband several years ago and I've been meaning to make a pillow for her. I have my PLUS book and there are so many quilts I want to make and I can't wait to see which quilt you made.

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  16. You've done a lovely job with the shamrocks. Glad to hear you're feeling better! And of course I'm busting to see your version of the quilt!

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  17. Your shamrocks are awesome, I love that block! Thank you again for being part of the book hop, I am so excited for it to get started!

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  18. Love the shamrocks! And that shirt cushion is oh so cute. Happy stitching this week.

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  19. I love the Irish Eyes block and the shamrocks. They look great together! The shamrocks form a perfect and interesting to look at border. I love pieced borders!

    She will love that pillow made from her grandfather's shirt. I have one for each of my grandfathers as well. It is on my bed and always makes me think of him. I need to make some for my sisters-in-law because I have several of my father-in-laws shirts.

    I am visiting from http://dreamworthyquilts.blogspot.com and am currently logged into a different Google account which would make me hard to find.

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Thank you so much for taking the time to read and leave a comment, it helps me grow as a quilter and as a blogger. It also makes me very happy :)
I try to respond to all comments by email, but if I don't reply within a few days it may be because you are a no reply blogger

With smiles from,
Kate