presenting a finish

It's really time I present this one - it's been finished and waiting for me to either clean up my design floor or take it outside for a few pictures. So I took it with me to hand in a paper and stopped along the way cycling home. I present:

name: redorangepurple (BeeBiased 2014)
size: 66" x 60"
patter: Thrifty (the pieced block) + solid squares
quilting: machine quilted on my machine in a diagonal lines
back: framed signature blocks

Löni

getting things done

sometimes you need a little kick in the ass to get some more sewing done ... I first started this quilt about a year ago when I chose the block for the bee Biased Bee to sew for me. I finished the top somwhen later that year and only now got around to just figure out a backing.

I had all the stuff set out and started actually piecing and then decided the "siganture blocks" where too colourfull to just sew directly to each other and I wasn't really lookign forward to cuttign up the flannel - I was a bit afraid it wouldn't be big enough in the end ..

So I completely threw that decision over baord and went hutnign for the remainder fo the solids I used for the front and started piecing a backing ... which now turns out o be almost looking like a second front ...

If you wonder what the white spot is for - I plan to use that instead of a lable to put all the swap information down ... Now just a few more stripes of red and I can go on to basting and then eventually quitling. Well as soon as I cleared up more of my floor ...

Löni

in need of colour

I haven't done much sewing lately and when I did it was all pale colour for bees ...

May for Stash Bee Hive#8

May for NewBee Bee Hive#8             and         quite a while ago April for Stash Bee Hive#8              

So I decided I had to get out one of the colourful UFOs that was missing a border so a lot of colour but still not much sewing ...

Now I just need to finish the back - that screaming red flannel with that small pile of signature blocks - and decide on a quilting design.

Löni

linking up with WIP Wednesday

first day of the holidays

Well ok it's probably more the second day - I spent the first one cleaning up and doing laundry and packing and cutting fabric ... After an unusually uneventful train journey I did dive head first into sewing ...
Ok it did take me a while to set up the sewing machine - the old Lady is a bit well, let's say she sometimes has her own mind. I should probably introduce her to you at some point - it's an old PFAFF machine, and probably the grandma of my main machine and mother of my heavy duty machine ...

Anyway I did get some sewing done yesterday - as I decided not to wait on the last bee that is hmm ignoring me and went ahead and assembled the top.

ehemm yeah I folded it over night - you will see the reason in the next picture - and didn't iron it for the photo shoot

In the evening I went for a puzzle - while watching, or rather listening to an Austrian movie I knelt on the floor arranging and re-arranging and changing and ... I'm really glad my mum has such a large free space in the living room .. I'm sure to spend some more time arranging and re-arranging in the next few days.

Today I spent most of the day in the garden, planting a rose and some other perennial things, and a few strawberries that are of the early kind, and I got the wood I need to fix the wood-shed roof ...

Tomorrow is for visiting the park I worked at for a year, getting tea and some fresh meat and tinned sausage, and catching up with old friends ...

The Ladies - very headstrong ---- the meat is the kids, nieces, nephews

the drying beds for herbs and in this case flower petals for teas .. 

Löni

1 gone 1 to go

Lovely news ... paper one is history! On I go to paper two which is the more interesting one, so it shouldn't be to troublesome to get it done, apart from my general dislike for papers and preference for any other kind of exam.

I did start with a trial block for one of the QALs because I was going crazy at my desk -  so this broken herringbone trial block is the first of many for my "Red Herring" Quilt with the MSBHQAL.

I did manage (don't ask me how) to send out my August Bee blocks for the NewBee Bee and BeeBiased. Of course it was only late night sewing therefore I own only crappy pictures.

I did get some more BeeBlocks myself for my July Queen Month ... I got very beautiful Angel Block for a no-show Bee and am still waiting on one more block.

I guess from now on I will always plan to finish Bee Quilts earliest 2 or 3 months after the Queen month. For my other Bee-Quilt I will sew the missing block myself I'm a bit mad at the uncommunicativeness of the Bee, but I can ignore people too.... I just want to finish it. Here is the JulyQueen update ...

Löni

Goodbye July

Seems another month flew by - time seems to pass faster the older you get. I woudl say July was much more productive than August will ever be. I am officially on summer break - but that just means I need to write papers. (I'm now on my second breakfast break - sort of.) Well after spending 8 hours reading and writing I usually don't feel like sitting down to sew something. So yeah August is going to be an unproductive month.

This is what July was all about - bee blocks .... some more bee blocks  .... and bee blocks - well mostly incoming bee blocks - but I actually did have to sew one to send out ...

still waiting on one Lady to send the blocks

I'm ready to give up though and just do them myself

I did get started on the binding on this quilt ... well yeah but I haven't gotten much further - didn't really have the time for movie nights - not that I have any new DVDs to watch. But I started two new proects in July - one was more or less voluntary the other was for a swap.

I always wanted to try the irish chain pattern - not necessarily in those colours - I would classify them under "store and pull out if want to insult someone by giving away something ugly" - but yes I do understand that some people might like that sort of colours. It was really ust about trying out the pattern and well using up shirts (blue) and bed linens (apricot and white).

 my "what did I get myself into"-baskets

Löni

So and now with the beginning of August comes the time to be "royally pissed" (reading books is not good for my manners) at certain persons who forgot my birhtday - aye middle of the month till the end should be enough time to send a card ... or do something else ...

Queen Bee

Yeah you have all been seeing the blocks pop up in various posts as a sort of add on at the end of other posts. Being still rather a beginner it wasn't easy joining a bee - I mean so many of them want "bee experience". The other problem is of course findign a stash bee - my bank account is not in favour of sending out tons of fabric to have people sew my blocks ... 

keeping the postal workers and esp. customs officers in work

In January it happend - I got into 2 bees - a beginners bee and an intermediate bee (of course there is a constant dscussion what intermediate means). I enjoy making the blocks and sending them off but of course "my months" are the best ... especially as I got both around my birthday.

June blocks - the intermediate bee

each one made 3 purple-red-orange thrifty blocks and one block in their colour

I rellay like having my birthday sort of extended into August. I'm missing one block for June, but that Bee is MIA so I will maybe have to wait a little longer or get busy myself. These are for July and I really like how July is turning out.

My design wall is occupied by the June blocks - so I had to turn my floor into a design floor, which means of course putting the blocks away again as soon as I'm done with taking pictures. As you can see I'm already behind and the newest block hasn't yet been on the "design floor" with the rest ...

I really love how that one is coming together

 Leo

progress report

This week ther is much less to report progress on ... yeah I sort of dug my teeth into something I knew I had to finish because the colours give me the creeps - but hey I'm a Swabian we don't throw away things just because we don't like them - if they can be used they will be used.

the whole thing measures 47 x 62 inches ... 

and I have no idea what to do with it now - any ideas for a border?

It all started with some blue shirts that the local THW - Federal Agency for Technical Relief was "throwing out" and some old bed linens I had lying around in apricot and white. They all worked nicely together being well washed (and used) so being soft despite the rather coarse/rough weave.I think I showed the trial block last week - well that's the top done - 1 shirt, 1/2 apricot linen, 1 white linen

Apart from that there hasn't been happening much - I got a few more Bee blocks, I guess I will need a second design wall. I have half of the June blocks, the purple, orange, red ones and 2 July blocks. But yeah the I didn't really work on those blocks - I mean I just carried them upstairs.

    

And I finally got around to sew my block for this fortnight (that's 14 days - I got some questiosn so I thought I woudl mention it) of the Landmädel QAL - sunset sewing picked an "easy" block: whirlpool, well I might have to do it again with less HSTs and more flying geese, maybe I will get the seams to mach better.

Ohh well yeah I did start hand sewing the binding to my bluegreenpink quilt - that I'm liking more and more especially the back ...

 Leo

I am crazy

You know something is wrong when it's July and you still haven't "bought" your Christmas present from last year. I had this little budget to buy machine parts - well sewing feet and the like, maybe a few rulers. So when it was time to sit down and write the birthday wihslist those items where still not in my possesion I figured I was doing something wrong. So off I went a little googling and I found the nearest PFAFF dealer and went there. 

You know my machine? it's older than me so it's ancient and the sales person was really sorry, they don't really produce quilting stuff for those ancient machines and ohh it got more and more frustrating. I really do like my trusty old Lady she never let me down I know her inside out, there probably isn't a screw that resistet my curiosity. [orry she doesn't have a name] Ohh yes before you ask - of course you can quilt huge quilts on that machine - you just need arms like Popeye and a lot of patience rolling your quilt and  wrestle-squeeze it - or is it squeeze-wrestle?

Anyway - as I'm going to be ancient next week I decided I'm old enough to get myself a birthday present. So it was nice that the last remnants of my "former life" in Leipzig turned up on my doorstep or rather in my post box.So yeah I decided a decent sewing machine should be my first own gift.

This post has an unusual amount of text - so I will just add a few more pictures and let you know about my machine on my birthday. Ha now I have even more to look forward to than ripping wrapping off (that crunch - tear - crushl part is absolutely satisfying). Singing Haydns Creation in Frankfurt and eating a ton of fridge-baked cakes (I don't have an oven).

And maybe this year I will remember to share some birhtday goodies with you - do remind me if I forget.

But I promised some more pictures: so first off we have my first paper -piecing ever, well first finished PP I did have some prjects that a very frustrated me tore apart and hid deep down in the bin. It's a 6,5" cupcake (I guess you can see that) block for the Bee Biased hostess (the Lady organising it? being sort of motherly if we run late - you know the part about making us feel guilty and all) July was her month as Queen and it's her birthday month so she got that as an extra. It's not perfect but I think I feel comfortable saying it's not to bad for a first ...

Urghh sorry that was even more text - I will try something with more pictures later this week - I promise.

[Late night add to the post:] Well I checked the postbox this mornign when I left the house early in the morning - just wishful thinkin on my part, and when I got back I had the hands ful with groceries so no checking the mail box. But I remembered a few minutes ago and went again and look what I found my first July-Bee-Queen block: 

And no I'm not going to be patient and save them all up till the big day ...

 Leo

The usual suspects that I link to

progress report

Well I thought I would just overwhelm you with pictures - I had quite a busy time. Doing an excursion to Bavaria and then having a tournament on Sunday and a presentation on Monday morning. And now having well no voice anymore. So I've been mostly reading and sulking in bed drinking hot tea with honey not enjoying the almost 28°C at all ...

I started my Farmer's Wife quilt:

I made a NewBee Bee block that had the wrong colours so I made another one:

I started quitling "bluegreenpink"

I started adding my June Queen blocks to the design wall

I started "Spring"

I made a testblock for my month as Queen - and wrote a tutorial on it - sort of - I will still keep calling them "How-to's"

I didn't  work on:

hmm no it's getting late and the list is so long and I don't want to look for the pictures ... another time

 Leo

The usual suspects that I link to

feeling productive

I'm goign to be Bee Queen in June (and July but that's for another bee) and I had to come up with a pattern and of course make the blocks to see if the instructions work fine, and well yeah all the other reasons:

So I'm going to get a lot of blocks like those this month:

and because they are 6.5" I will get 4 blocks from each of the bees - life is wonderful

I also did get one Bee block for May done and the other one is still in the making but I have a few more days - well okay I have like 2 days today and tomorrow, but there is just a little bit left to do:

I also did get around to sewing some scraps together I ad left over fromt he "never again skirt"-project:

And most importantly I did get another quilt finished late laste night - now I just need to wait for nice weather to actually photograph it (and my other finish - yes there hasn't been a good sun since then):

 Leo

The usual suspects that I link to