Constructing a spiderweb

Back in early 2010 I belonged to a quilting bee called Sew2Speak.  It was a time when the spider web quilt block was all the rage and I wanted to try it.  As usual I didn't want it to be like everyone elses and decided to arrange the blocks in rainbow style.  First I drew a diagram of the layout, then cut the colour strips and the grey centres.

It took the better part of the day to lay out all the strips and then pin them onto template paper which was marked with it's row number. 

 We almost slept on the floor that night.

My fellow quilt bee members were very indulgent and followed my layout request to a T.   

 After the quilt blocks had all arrived safely, it was time to join them together.

I made a backing from bits of flannel sheeting leftover from other quilt backings and some oddments of fabric. Vacuumed the carpet extra especially clean, laid out the backing, pinned it down, sprayed some 505 spray (it works quite well) and then laid the top down.

Before I could pin it I had to untangle the pins - a wiggle to the left and a wiggle to the right and they all fell down.

I've quilted it in light grey thread on top and a pale blue in the bobbin to match the backing.  Stitching was done 'in the ditch'.  It's three years later and the only step that remains is the binding.  I've not yet decided which colour to use for the binding, although I am leaning towards the red. What do you think? Done in grey.

Edit:  I've just found the Blogger's Quilt Festival Spring 2013 over on Amy's Creative Side and have entered this quilt into the categories for : Group/Bee group, Scrap quilt, Throw quilt, Colour wheel quilt.  Please go and have a look at the other entries.  Don't forget to vote (for me of course) as there are wonderful prizes to be won.

Testing my birthday present

So just the other day I celebrated another birthday and in a tradition l established in 2000 when l was widowed, l bought myself a present.

For sometime now I've wanted to be able to take and share photo's with family and friends, and chat to them on Skype, Tweet, have access to lnstagram and part of me just wanted to be one of the gang. After chatting to my colleagues I decided on the Samsung Galaxy Note11

After lots of hiccups I finally got it connected and downloaded and this is my first Android based post. If anyone has any tips for either blogging on the go or just blogging from a Smartphone or any other tip or shortcut then please do not be shy - leave a comment.

I am very curious to see where the photo will be placed and am reserving the right to edit on the pc if I think it needs fixing.

Hope you all have a really lovely weekend.

It's soooo great to win

 Yippitee doo da yippitee day,
My oh my it was a wonderful day!

 

A little while ago there was this lady called Amy at Crafty Shenanigans who blogged about a blog hop and at the same time she had a giveaway.  Not just any kind of giveaway, but a framed purse ... and .... it had a whole lot of fabric scraps in it.

Even though I thought, she'll never draw my name ... so many people have entered to win, actually 356 people entered and that's a lot of potential winners, but then I also remembered these sayings:
You snooze you loose  .............. and ......    you got to be innit to winnit
so I left my comment and guess what, I won - yip - little old me won the best thing next to sliced bread. 

 

You see I've been wanting one of these metal frame purses ever since I saw them popping up in Flickr land.  And, if you know anything about me, it's that I love scraps.

 

I was just so chuffed when it arrived (a few weeks ago) and was looking forward to having a peek to see what scraps were in it.  Well, the size of the purse is so deceptive, the more fabric scraps I removed the more there was.  This really was the gift that kept on giving!! 

Thank you Amy, you have no idea at just how perfect this was for me.


 

Giveaway winner

Hiya everyone,

As there weren't that many people (7) that showed an interest in the magazine I didn't bother to get the random number generator involved.  Instead I wrote all the names on slips of paper, plopped them down on the dining table, and picked one.

...............the winner is .............. Nan
Congrats Nan.

I did take photo's of the process but at the moment I can't find the camera!

Nan, please let me have your postal address and I'll get the magazine off to you.

Quilting Gallery Mug Rug Swap

 Some time ago I discovered Quilting Gallery.  It is somewhere you can find like minded folk from around the world, who quilt. You can search for blogs in your area (country or continent) and participate in events such as swaps.

One such swap was a rug mug swap using specific patterns from The Patchsmith I decided to join in because I felt that if we were all using the same pattern then it kinda puts all the participants on an equal footing.  The top two are the mug rugs that I sent off to my (secret) partner.  Along the way, as I was making them I thought how nice it would be to make a second copy of each one for myself. 

 Then I remembered that someone, somewhere, was making me one of each.

Hey ho, I didn't have to wait too long before these beauties arrived all the way from Connecticut, America.  The lady who made them is Margaret Gumble, who doesn't appear to have a blog.  They really are super and having had contact with Margaret it's a lovely thought to think that she went about making them with a secret on her lips and a smile in her heart.  Thank you Margaret.

Love Quilting & Patchwork magazine giveaway

This is one of the first issues of Love Quilting & Patchwork magazine 

which I understand has become 'a little' sought after.

It contains a number of great quilting patterns  ....................

especially the very popular Marcelle Medallion quilt pattern.

 You'll also find some interviews with popular and gifted quilters and designers

and competitions.

 If you're in the UK you could even receive it in time to enter the magazine's competition.

To win the magazine, all you have to do is be a follower of the blog.  Leave a comment letting me know how you follow eg Feedly, Bloglovin.  If you'd like to follow by email then let me know that too.   The giveaway will close on Friday 12th April whereafter I'll draw the winner's name.  Good luck

(The magazine is an unused copy and was only opened up to take photographs for the purpose of blogging the giveaway.)

Wordless Wednesday 27.3.2013