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

Cheryl @ Meadow Mist Designs

Paige @ Quilted Blooms

Tuesday, March 13th

Soma @ Whims and Fancies

Ann @ Brown Paws Quilting

Kitty @ Night Quilter

Sophie @ Luna Lovequilts

Afton @ Quilting Mod

Shelley @ The Carpenters Daughter Who Quilts

Wednesday, March 14th

Jayne @ Twiggy and Opal

Jen @ A Dream and a Stitch

Abigail @ Cut & Alter

Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl

Sandra @ mmm! quilts

Karen @ Run Sew Fun

Thursday, March 15th

Linda @ Flourishing Palms

Bernie @ Needle and Foot

Liz @ Savor Every Stitch

Stacey @ Stacey In Stitches

Michelle @ From Bolt to Beauty

Patty @ Elm Street Quilts

Melanie @ A Bit of Scrap Stuff Blog

Friday, March 16th

Myra @ Busy Hands Quilts

Izzy @ Dizzy Quilts

Ruth @ Charly and Ben's Crafty Corner

Christa @ Christa Quilts

Monday, March 19th

Jessica @ Quilty Habit

Cindy @ Hyacinth Quilt Designs

Jennifer @ The Inquiring Quilter

Julie @ The Crafty Quilter

Tuesday, March 20th

Tish @ Tish N Wonderland

Judy @ Sew Some Sunshine

Emily @ The Darling Dogwood

Wanda @ Wanda's Life Sampler

Karen @ Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats

Katherine @ Sew Me Something Good

Wednesday, March 21st

Anja @ Anja Quilts

Kate @ Smiles from Kate

Sue @ Sevenoaks Street Quilts

Carole @ From My Carolina Home

Alison @ Little Bunny Quilts

Thursday, March 22nd

Debbie @ Esch House Quilts

Laura @ Slice of Pi Quilts

Beth @ Cooking Up Quilts

Janice @ Color Creating and Quilting

Joanne @ Quilts by Joanne

Friday, March 23rd

Cheryl @ Meadow Mist Designs

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