Scrap bags and what I made with them - the before.......

There are such lovely people at my quilt group, Icknield Quilters.  They save up their scraps for me!  I used to put them all in a box together but have now started to keep the bags as they were given to me and to then take them back to the group so that person can see what I have made with their scraps - with a dead-line for their use!

This is Jo's bag

There is a pile of pieced bits that I've managed to bury but I'll post all the bits and what I used them for before July 8th (so I'm ready to take them to the next IQ meeting)!

Back to the Body Farm.....

I've slightly revised my pattern for the Body Farm Bear.  I now print the pattern onto the fabric (buy sticking the fabric right-side down onto freezer paper, then putting it through the printer manually) and folding it in half.  

You should just be able to make out where I have stitched round on doubled pieces (legs, body and arms) and have left the other pieces to be cut out - all but the gusset of the head will need two pieces.

There is just a pile of such double-fabric pieces for hand sewing underneath this heap.  I hope you can see where I've sewn on the top pieces.  I have tried to sew this by machine but the pieces are prohibitively too small for the machine.

Yet again, such fab pressing!

Siblings Together Bee 2 but...brace yourself...long post!

SB2 is a group of quilters that is a UK only off-shoot from the Siblings Together Flickr group.  We all are making quilts for a charity, Siblings Together, that supports children separated by the Care system which provides a summer camp so that they can have a holiday with their siblings.

The Sibling Bees have taught me a lot!  Having mostly sewn by hand and only pieced my own stuff before, I now realise that my cutting had a lot to be desired and, as for 1/4" seams, well...what can I say?  Apparently, it's not just enough to have a quarter inch foot on your machine - you actually have to use it!  I've marked the 1/4" with masking tape on my machine and now see that the edge of the foot should actually follow the edge of the fabric (actually, a thread or two in from the edge of the fabric).  Who knew......?!? Think I should have!

Well, those ladies who received my 2 blocks each month must be angels!  Nobody 'returned to sender'!  I learnt a lot and it just shows that we can all too often become complacent with what we do.  All of a sudden, my stuff actually looks good...well, I never!

So, excuses excuses excuses now out of the way, these are the blocks:-

June 2013 - Wonky Star - Rafael's Mum 

www.adventuresinquiltingandsailing.blogspot.com/2013/5

 Impressed by the photography, lighting, pressing or stitching?  Hmmm.........


July 2013 - Confetti block - SveaP
via http://www.ladyharvatine.com/2007/05/in-true-spirit-of-whiplash.html

August 2013 - Colourful Log Cabins - susycat1
susysneedle.blogspot.co.uk & https://www.flickr.com/photos/susy_cat_1_pics/

September 2013 - Half Square String - Sewtobed
sewtobed.blogspot.co.uk
via http://bloomingpoppies.net/tutorials-2/half-square-triangle-scrappy-strings-style-tutorial/

           I loved making this block.....!

October 2013 - Crossroads - espritpatch

http://espritpatch.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/cross-roads-block-tutorial.html

November 2013 - Funky Wrench - suespatch
https://www.flickr.com/photos/80180915@N03/
via http://thehappyzombie.com/blog/?p=543

December 2013 - catching up, as per usual!



January 2014 - The Missing U - elfinpatch
dorfymid.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/i-might-just-need-that-sometime.html
via Sunday Morning Quilts by Amanda Jean Nyberg

February 2014 - Love in the Mist - jennies threads
http://jenniesthreads.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/false-alarm.html
via http://modifytradition.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/love-in-mist.html

March 2014 - Scrappy Sprouts - sewsarahsews
sosarahsews.blogspot.co.uk
via http://traceyjayquilts.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/wip-wednesday-scrappy-sprouts.html
I forgot to either photograph this or accidentally deleted it...here's what it should look like (but with more loose threads and wonky seaming!).  If only I could work out how to put the picture here...!  Can't believe I forgot the photo, they were my better blocks....sob....

April 2014 - Scrappy Woven - Me!
Via modabakeshop.com/2012/10/simply-woven-quilt.html
I'll post the finished quilt as it needs to be finished for the Fat Quarterly Retreat in mid-July - need to get my finger out!

May 2014 - Reverse Rainbow Starburst - libertyjsy
http://jersey-scrapper.blogspot.com/2013/12/siblings-together-2-quilt-bee-block.html
via http://flutterkat.com/2012/01/reverse-rainbow-starburst-block/
Forgot to take a photo of this one too.  So annoyed......but, this is what it should look like (from the flutterkat site).  Mine are orange and blue.

June 2014 - Scrappy Trip Around the World - HillyFilly

www.hillyfilly.com

via http://quiltville.blogspot.co.uk/2005/06/scrappy-trips-around-world.html

and http://www.imagingermonkey.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-min=2012-01-01T00:00:00Z&updated-max=2013-01-01T00:00:00Z&max-results=50

Now, I just need to put my blocks together, baste and quilt them and take them to the Fat Quarter Retreat on July 22nd - no sweat!

I found my quilt on Pinterest!!!!

First, excuses excuses excuses!

I'm finally over nasty infections in my new kidney, problems with Blogger and inaccessible InterNOT, so I no longer have any excuses for not getting some posting done, at last!  I think when they put that new kidney in, some of my mojo slide out.  It's been gone for a long time but, it's finally slinked home thanks to all the lovely ladies and their interesting blocks in the Siblings Together Bee 2!  More to come about SB2.........

I can't quite believe that I found one of my quilts on Pinterest!  Amazing! And, on quite a few boards!  The blog it came from said that the centre had been painted.....oh, no it wasn't!   It was painstakingly and never again, pieced!  

This is the original Dear Jane quilt

The blocks are from the Dear Jane book but I altered the size to give it a bit of a 3-D effect and the background is the Confederate Flag (of the time when the original quilt was made).  It's all hand pieced and a never-to-be-repeated project!

I was way too lazy to make the borders, too........