Swap Goodies

One of the great things about the FQR last weekend was the sample swap. I made 3 cushions for the anonymous ladies in my group. And in return I received these amazing goodies -
from Jan

A gorgeous fabric flower and pouch - check out the soldiers
From Reene

This fantastic hoop, with such a great label - and in all my favourite colours.
Finally from Francine

This brilliant mini - such vibrant colours 
I am really lucky with the swaps that I received and want to thank the ladies for making them.
Centre Parcs was amazing this weekend, we laughed so much I have aching ribs. Perfect!

FQR13

My apologies for those of you who have read a lot of FQR posts already .... but here is my recap.
It really was everything that everyone has already said.  I spent a lot of time with these lovely people and dinner out with about 35 others on Friday night - thanks to the fabulous organisational skills of Susan

1. Di, Sarah & Jude 2. Di, Sarah & Nicky 3. Night out Friday

There was a lot of sitting around and catching up and chatting, whilst doing some show and tell with Bee and Siblings quilts

 Bee Blessed Siblings quilt and Annabella's quilt top, finished off by Bee Blessed

 
 Nicky's Oakshot quilt - the pebble quilting on this on is amazing

 
 Siblings quilt with blocks donated by Bee a Brit Stingy bees and made up and quilted by Nicky

 Jans Bee a Brit Stingy quilt and Sarahs Hipbee quilt

There were the fabulous goodies

1. Sunglasses case from Sarah (there may have been fudge too!) 2. Goodies from the very generous Emily 3. Retreat goody bag, with so many lovely goodies

1. Swap goodies from Francine,Jan and Reene 2. Srip swap booty 3. very restrained quilt market shopping

 

I finally learned how to make portholes - that was a lightbulb moment and I started Pj bottoms with Kerry, which I finished off at home, along with my precision piecing block that we did with Lynne

But the weekend really was about the people.  Those that I have met before and got to catch up with again and those that I met for the first time.  It was all a lot less stressful than last year in that respect - and I can't wait for next year.

 

I feel rather guilty to tell you that I am off again on Friday - a long weekend at Centre Parks with some work buddies - and that will be another story....!

Counting the sleeps

Well, it's only 3 more sleeps till FQR London.  I am ridiculously excited, but very under prepared: thankfully I have tomorrow afternoon off work, so will get myself organised then.

 

I blame my un-organisation on many factors: Beccy had her prom on Friday - I was a very proud mum.  Beccy is in the middle, with her two besties either side. They are so grown up.

 

 

They arrived at prom in this yellow camper van - can you see the bunting, it went all around the van. Beccy cut out the shapes and I whizzed it through the sewing machine-suddenly a mum who sews is quite handy to have....!

 



I picked Bex up about 1am on Friday night, we sat up talking til about 2.30am: all about the prom and all sorts of other things, it was lovely to have that time together.

My dad and stepmum came down for prom and for the weekend, so there was also a lot of this distraction

 

And a bit of hand sewing in the garden thrown in too.  This is the Hipbee block for July.  Tanya asked us to make a tree and gave us free rein on the pattern/design.  I really enjoyed this one

 

And finally, I received this happy mail today, perfect after a very long day! 

 



Q3 FAL hopefuls

Time to decide what I am going to get done for Q3 of the FAL. 

So, first up: my Bee a Brit Stingy pineapple quilt.  This is so big, I don't think I will need a border, so it should be a quick one to finish

Second, my double wedding ring quilt. I am no further forward with this one, mainly because I can't make up my mind on a border.  I have great hand quilting designs in my head for this one, so I am not hopeful of a finish, but you never know

I need to turn these blocks in to a finished quilt for my quilting group, we are making quilts for boys for the local women's refuge shelter.  I don't know if it's best suited for a boy, if it not, I will donate it to the hospice ladies.

Definitely need to finish my Liberty notebook cover!

I want to get these bonus blocks (from my pineapple blocks) made up - I know the pattern I want to do

I also have two quilts that I need to start and finish before September - hmmmm. no pressure then!
Linking up with Leanne

Oooops

Better late than never!

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2nd quarter FAL finishes

So, its time to declare my 2nd quarter FAL finishes, as stated here

I wanted to get these turned in to something - these have been hanging around since the very 1st 1st quarter FAL

which I achieved and made something for Le Challenge, blogged here

Then there was my Siblings Together quilt:

which got finished and blogged here

and finally my Lynne Bob Square Pants, Hipbee quilt

which I finished here and I absolutely LOVE

 

and these are the two that didn't get finished yet, so I will carry them over to next quarter








But, I am more than happy to have finished two quilts, along with numerous other bits and pieces

And, if you havn't done so already, you should pop over to the flickr group and have a look at all the amazing finishes

Hello! This is me

Hi there, my name is Catherine and this is me with my two daughters (this is about the only picture I like of me!)

 

 

I am really looking forward to the retreat.  I went last year but only for the Saturday and it was really overwhelming, in an amazing way.  I met new people and people that I chatted to via the blog. 

 

Since then I have joined two bees, one of which was mooted at the retreat and then became a reality.  These are the two quilts from those two bees: 

 

I can't thank my fellow bees enough for these and I am really looking forward to meeting some of them for the first time at the retreat.

I have joined in with a lot of other quilters and made a Siblings Together quilt, which I will bring with me to hand over.  I made it with a jelly roll that I won in the raffle at the retreat last year: it seemed fitting that I was able to make a ST quilt with my winnnings

 And this is my other quilt that is in progress: my double wedding ring, hand pieced from all my tiny scraps

So, I look forward to meeting you at the retreat and making more new friends and discovering more blogs.