A finished 'Story in red and white'

Last Sunday I finally finished my 'A story in red and white' quilt and it is quite hard to find the right words to express how enormously happy I am with this quilt.

Last year July when I ordered my favorite 'Cranberry' red and 'White Sand' from Oakshotts I had a vague idea that I wanted to have a red and white sampler quilt. So I though the best method to go about it is to send each of the Brit Bee Ladies a fat quarter of each colour and ask them to make me two different blocks each. At that point we were only in the third or fourth months and I know that some weren't happy with the surplus of creative freedom I gave them but each and every fantastic Brit Bee Lady rose magnificently to the challenge and produced outstanding blocks.

The quilt albeit being 70 inch square in size feels is incredibly light as the shot cotton is so much lighter than normal quilting cotton; yet the quilt is very snuggly and is already on my bed. I figure that a Sampler quilt for adults is exactly what an "I spy" quilt is for children. I will never tire to look at this quilt and always spot a little new detail I admire.

Have a look at this beauty !

I contemplated forever about the quilting and  for a long time I was convinced that this quilt would be the first one I wanted free motion quilted by an expert but then a few weeks ago I grew uneasy with that idea as I really wanted to finish the quilt myself. And then all of a sudden the idea struck to quilt in straight lines beginning in the middle and fanning out to all four corners. This quilt lends itself ideally to this method as it it has a distinct centre with its 25 blocks.

I have never quilted this pattern before and was a bit apprehensive but all that vanished after the first  couple of "rows" - I knew this was perfect for the quilt and is so me. The back is a giant lock cabin that has as its centre all the signature blocks. The idea of the lock cabin came from Katy and I am ever so grateful for this as it fits the design and mood of the front perfectly.

And here it is already being used....

The binding was an easy choice this time. Because I sashed the blocks in 'White Sand' I wanted the binding to be in 'Cranberry' to offset all the white. Isn't the red lush ?

 

And now that you have seen this beauty I am sure you will want exactly one like it. So I give you the links to all the fabulous Ladies that helped me produce this. I am sure if you pay them well they will oblige :-) 

• 4 and 7 are from the wonderful Hadley who apparently looks like Lady Gaga .... (blocks are contemporary to the bone, right up my street)
• 5 and 15 are from the lovely Fiona (I love the tiny little white stars in the mass of red, so intricate !)
• 9 and 18 are from our resident Canadian Susan (Look at the Canadian flag, isn't that fab !)
• 13 and 14 are from the fantastic Ceri (look at optical illusion of block 13 I put right in the center of the quilt;  how clever and beautiful)
• 2 and 11 are from our Brit Bee organiser herself the great Laura and she went through the trouble of making me a circular flying gees block (and that fulfilled one of my secret wishes for this quilt) !!
• 6 and 10 are from the hilariously funny Sarah who lives up North on the windy Shetland Islands (look at the Japanese Taube Quilt block No 10 !) 
• 19 and 24 are from the superbly talented Trudi who produced such a great wonky strip block
• 8 and 23 are from Jo who blew me away with a Hexagon block (just like that !)
• 1and 16 are from  Terri who has the best sense of humor ever and she made me the cutest little Smurvette block  No 16
• 12 and 20 are from the lovely Judith from Belfast and she made a gorgeous Nautilus block . 
• 25 and 22 are from the super talented Jennie who actually made me a redwork embroidery block from a picture I sent her from my front door.
• 3, 17 and 21 are from me

Previous posts can be found here and here.

A story in red and white - on the finishing line

Never content with doing nothing (except at the beach with a  book in my hands...) I went about working on my red and white quilt over the past days. For those who don't know the quilt I am talking about, this is my Brit Bee quilt from when I was Queen Bee back in July (gosh this one has almost turned into a UFO). The last post I wrote about it was in August where I added my blocks to the other Bee blocks and contemplated on the sashing and quilt back. I took up all your advice and sashed in white and also made a giant lock cabin back.

It has  been such a pleasure sewing all the blocks together because they are all so amazing.

Today I will start quilting but I'm not telling you how just yet....

 

Brit Bee blocks

Brit Bee is on its sixth month or so and Miss October is Laura who incidentally is also the instigator of this wonderful Bee. Laura trusted us with her stash of Hope Valley which is as you know very precious to me. So precious in fact that I failed so far to do anything with my stash other than stroke and gaze at it (yes I do know this is not only sad but weird too !).

Laura's theme was stars which is a great theme as there are so many fantastic star pattern in the quilting world. I had set my sight on paper piecing two of the stars from the Summer Sample Series.

 This first Star is the 'Rocky Road to Kansas' star which I did scrappy with a contrasting white background.

 And the second one is the 'Arkansas Traveller. I am really glad I did the stars in this way although hit meant that I had to asked Laura for some more white fabric.. I hope she like them !

September was the Susan's month and she spoiled us all by sending us pre-cut fabric curtesy of her Aqua Quilt Baby Go. The fabric was wonderful to play with and alhtough we had to option of asymetric circles I stuck to symetric ones. I didn't get the curves a 100 % flat on these which was really annoying given that I have sewn rather a lot of curves over the past year.
Check out Susan's blocks for Laura - they are stunning.

A story in red and white - {advice needed}

... is what  I will be calling my Sampler quilt that has been created by the Brit Bee Ladies.

I have now received all blocks and also added my own.

These two blocks are from the lovely Terri who gave them to me when we met at the Festival of Quilts last weeks. Terri forgot to take photos of them so I am doing it for her. Isn't this one utterly cute ?

Brit Bee block from Terri

2nd Brit Bee block from Terri

The next two bocks are my own.  These were very much driven by scraps as I wanted to make good use of all the scraps and left over fabric the Ladies returned to me. Also I felt the quilt needed another good dollop of red.
This first block is actually a collaboration between Terri and me, though unintentionally. Terri returned eight HSTs and I thought I  could make these into diamonds surround by more red.

 

 And this second block is actually my first paper pieced block !!! I used the 'Rocky Road to Kansas' block from the Summer Sampler Series.  Isn't this gorgeous !

What I learned about paper piecing is that it wastes a lot of fabric which is something really hate and that you get the most accurate piecing done which is something I absolutely love.  Not sure how I am going to merry these two......

 

Then I did another layout test and wasn't happy at all as I find it way way to long.

So I made another block. This time with some leftovers from Trudi  and some scraps.

 

And then changed the layout to square which I think works much much better.

Now it's decision time. I need to decide which sashing to use (I think no sashing is not an option as the quilt will look to busy). The above layout images show one in white sashing and the other in red. I really would appreciate your input and there is also the question of the back. Normally I am never lost for ideas but in this case I am somewhat. I kind of want to stick to the red/white scheme and was thinking to just do a four-patch of very large white and red squares with the siggy blocks scattered around. But maybe I am wearing red and white glasses at the moment. Any ideas ?

Previous post can be found here and here.

And before I close I'd like to show you the two blocks I made for our lovely August Queen Bee who is Sarah from Narcoleptic in a cupboard. Sarah send us stunning fabric in all sorts of blues and some rather daring black plus chocolate, music and a super sweet pulverised drink. And after consuming all of that I was ready for some improve style blocks. She didn't want anything traditional so I went for the wonky and modern instead.

Brit Bee news and a Giveaway

The month of July has been good to me as I was lucky enough to receive commissions for three bags,  ( I will publish a pattern for the 'I'll see you later' messenger bag and a tutorial on the zippered inside pouch in a few weeks time) sold a quilt via my on-line shop, past my 100th blog post and 200th follower and to top it all basically had Christmas every other day with my fellow Brit Bee members producing truly astonishing results with the fabric and brief I gave them. And to celebrate this I am offering a fantastic giveaway sponsored by Oakshotts. But first some words of gratitude to my fellow Brit Bee Ladies.

So far I have received 16 of 22 blocks (my own blocks are still missing too) and I thought this is enough to share with you a possible layout.
Isn't this stunning ?

When I set the brief for the Brit Bee I never ever imagined in my wildest dreams that I would end up with such a wonderful sampler quilt. It has everything; the most gorgeous shot cotton one can find and a truly contemporary mix of blocks that all have a personal touch from each Brit Bee member. For that I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

The red in the quilt is called  'Cranberry' and I already used it in my 'Cranberry Crush' quilt that I love and adore. The white is called 'White Sand'. Over the past year I have ordered a number of shot cottons (here and here) from Oakshotts and Michael has been fantastic in advising me and his customer service is nothing short of perfect. I met Michael last year at the Quilt Festival in Birmingham. Oddly enough I didn't remember meeting him but he did and told me so when I spoke to him on the phone the first time. He has customers from Germany and we must have talked a little about me being originally from there.

Oakshott specialises in colourful shot cotton weaves that are ethically sourced from along the Malabar coast of South West India and I cannot emphasis enough the vibrant colours and quality of the shot cottons.


Michael has agreed to sponsor my giveaway with this superb set of fat 8th shot cottons called 'Sunrise'. Michael and his team are of course again at the quilt festival this year and their stand is H25 where you can visit him and have a chat and a good look at his fabrics (and don't forget to say hello from me).

Here are the conditions for the giveway:

• the giveaway will be open from Monday the 1st August until Sunday the 7h
• the winner will be drawn and announced on Monday the 8th
• no contact-email no participation in the draw (if you don't have an e-mail on your blogger profile visible you need to leave one in the comment)
• all are welcome to participate, nationals, internationals, E-Ts, ghosts etc. 
• to participate you have to sign-up to Oakshott's e-mail newsletter that you can find here. Let me know that you did so with a comment on this post. Michael will sent out a newsletter soon with special offers for the festival that I am sure you won't want to miss
• for a bonus point you can follow me on either my blog, facebook or twitter and leave me a comment that you do so now or are already doing so

Good luck !!

Blocks upon blocks

Well it is Sunday morning again and looking back at the week I must say I have been busy. I made one mini quilt (blogged here), and six separate blocks which is not bad going for a week that has been busy otherwise too. I even managed to go the Theatre to the see the delightful Domic West in 'Butley' which was fantastic.

So let me share with you what I have been up to.

First up are this weeks blocks of the Summer Series Sampler QAL I joined. I am doing this with my stash of Moda Cross weave, some Essex linen and a few bits and pieces of shot cotton.  I love the colours and texture of the Cross weave because they are so soft and subtle yet intense. This has been really enjoyable so far, fairly easy blocks but next week I guess will be some paper piecing which will be a first for me. I joined the QAL because it offers the possibility of working with a variety of techniques and of course because I love a good sampler. Favourite block so far is the Mosaic block ( could it be because it is entirely made from HSTs......surely not !)

Mosaic

Star of Virgina

Greek Cross

Second up is Project 51 (or is it 57 ?) but I can't talk about it. First rule of project 51 is that you don't talk about project 51, the second rule of project 51 is: You do NOT talk about project 51..... 

Brit Bee News

I am a member of the Brit Bee that started some three months ago and it is my first Bee ! You see I am not somebody who willingly joins into clubs and things. Two years ago I thought that I should not be running by myself all the time so I joined a running club in nearby Richmond. I did this for about a half year and then sort of fled because I just couldn't bear the constant talking and comparing and obsessing about times anymore.
I know clubs of any shape or form are all about shared interest but sooner or later they all turn to intense for me. 

So you can imagine that I would not be so keen to join a Bee but on the other hand I love the idea of helping to create 12 quilts throughout a year. So I joined the Brit Bee and am loving it (phew.....)

The first month we made blocks for Trudi who wanted us to make 2 blocks each of the LynneBobSquarepants.

Trudi meanwhile received most of the blocks and put the layout together which looks truly stunning.

Next on for the month of June was Fiona who asked us to to make here disappearing 9-patches and this is what I came up with:

A little bold with the white square but I think it brightens the finished quilt up and Fiona wanted us all to make different versions.

 

And now for the months of July it is my turn. I have requested the lovely Brit Bee ladies to make me a red and white sampler quilt with my favorite shot cotton from Oakshotts.
 
I am asking for two different blocks each using both colors and other than that give the Ladies creative Freedom. I already found out that this kind of brief is bliss for some and torture for others. Oh dear !!! My inspiration comes from this stunning quilt which also happens to be a Bee quilt.

I can't wait to receive the blocks back. This is so exciting.

Happy sewing everybody.

Judith

Stash Note 19

I have written previously about my love of 'Oakshott' shott cottons and  I couldn't resist to indulge the Brit Bee members and myself with some of this gloriously luxurious fabric for my turn as the Queen Bee for the month of July.

This here is 'Cranberry' and 'White Sand' from their Colourshott range. So Brit Bee member and non Brit Bee followers what do you think I am going to ask the Brit Bee Ladies to make for me ???

The one who guesses the closest or even spot on will receive one of my pincushions as prize. So don't forget to leave an e-mail address in your comment.