I'm going to the Fat Quarterly Retreat!

Next weekend I am off to the Fat Quarterly retreat in London (after we have been to DS's graduation in Aberystwyth!)
I booked this weekend months ago with money I was given for a special birthday - so you could say I'm still celebrating!
There's a linky party of the Fat Quarterly blog, so I thought I'd better introduce myself. I live in Wales with my husband, 2 kids and very fat cat and have been quilting since 2000. I can't really describe my style as I just love all quilts, traditional, modern, arty, utilitarian - all of 'em.

At the Irregular Choice shop in Carnaby Street earlier in the year, wearing favourite colour pink and carrying my lovely red satchel ( another special birthday present). And these are the fabulous shoes I bought that day! Those rosettes are made of tape measures.
Perfect quilter's shoes don't you agree?

I'm looking forward to the retreat, meeting the other attendees and joining in with the classes
Spring Carnival with Katy Jones
Portholes with Lu Summers

and tabletop sessions

Fantasy Fabric Shop with Kerry Green
Needleturn Appliqué with Mandy Noble

My name badge has been made by Katy at The Littlest Thistle. Thank you Katy, I love it!

Feeling sad and despondant

Oh dear! I am not a happy bunny. I realise that I was working away very slowly on this quilt, but I don't think I deserved this :-( We live in a three-storey house, with my little sewing haven and our bedroom on the top floor. Someone decided he was hot. So he opened all the windows. This was the result!

Half of the quilt has ended up on the floor. I am so fed up that I'm tempted to put it into a box for now. It took me ages to get the zig-zags how I wanted them. Fortunately I have a photo of the layout as it was - the rest is secured with pins now

Sunshine

Last weekend was beautifully sunny here in Wales ( now there's a change!), so I did find some time to sit in the garden stitching some over-sized hexagons.These are 2 inches on each side, so plenty big enough.

While I was sat I also enjoyed the view from my patio.

No time for sitting on the patio this weekend as I'm heading off to Manchester with a friend - the kids didn't want to come with me - too many exams etc. However, the weather is going to be good and I will take my stitching to keep me occupied on the train. I'm not sure yet what these are going to become, at the moment I'm just enjoying stitching the bright fabrics together.

L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N

Not quilty, but ... it's one of my favourite times of the year, the start of the Hay Literature Festival. We'll be spending the day there on Monday seeing Roger McGough among others. But they also have music as well. Several years ago I saw Justin Hawkins with my son, but last night was a favourite, Noah & The Whale. We managed to get a couple of seats up on the sloped section, so I could actually see the band, which made a change. It was quite a small venue compared to some that we normally go to, but still had loads of atmosphere and I thouroughly enjoyed it!

Just a Bit Naughty!

I did have a lovely day yesterday at the Malvern quilt show with my Mum. The sun was shining and we were able to sit and enjoy the beautiful surroundings during our lunch break. There were some lovely quilts on display, although there seemed to be less entries this year. Perhaps I'll have to enter one next year, I have entered once before and do feel that even if your entry is comparatively simple it's still inspiring for someone. Saying that, the simple entry I submitted was hung next to a stunning appliqued/embroidered tiger that did make me feel just a teeny bit inadequate. I also managed to do some shopping too ( don't we all! ). Into my basket fell a new die for my Accuquilt Baby Go some thread for applique Sweet Tea and Green Beans pattern together with a couple of the block background fabrics
Liberty FQs for my retreat swap
a packet of Kaffe Fassett fat eighths for an on-going project
and this. I looked down when I was paying for my die and my hand was resting on it at the stall so I had to have it!
All in all a good day was had, now to get on with some stitching.

Zig zags

I have been stitching half square triangles together very slowly on this quilt. I did have a plan to finish this central section ready for the quilts how at Malvern. My plans were scuppered though as I wanted to get border and backing fabric from Oakshott and they weren't here. So I'll just have to carry on and get it at the Festival of Quilts in August I did a bit of re-arranging so that the quilt will look less 'blocky' and a bit more random. I did find some fabrics to bring home with me from Malvern though. Mainly some Liberty lawns to mix into some swap projects for the fat Quarterly retreat in London. Will post some pictures of that one when I've done a bit more of them.

Back Once Again

I can't believe how long it has been since I've posted on here. Life just got in the way. Now I have my mojo back, there's a quilt on the design wall in my new little quilting space, and I'm planning a trip to the Fat Quarterly retreat in London in the summer. So perhaps I will have more to say on this lttle blog once more. The quilt on my design wall uses a package of Oakshott cottons that I've had for some time now. I cut the pieces into half square triangles using a Baby Go die and started constructing zig-zag blocks I've admired the zig-zag quilts that I have appeared on various blogs, and fancied creating one myself. I wasn't completely satisfied with this layout, and have re-arranged things to give a less 'blocky' effect but I don't have a photo yet. I have started stiching the whole together now, so I'll post a picture of the top when it's done. The aim is to get the centre done in time to get some border/backing fabric at Malvern later this month.