quilt blocks

Today I am adding 3 more of the tula pink challenge blocks.  Blocks 13, 14 & 15. I have made a bit of a mess with 14 & 15, not sure what I am doing wrong , I do as they say and measure at least twice and sometimes more and cut once but when it comes to sewing the pieces together it does not seem to go to plan.  I am wondering if because they are only 6" square the individual pieces are so small they easily get pulled out of shape,    or maybe it is too much ironing.  I will redo the ones I am not happy with after completing all 100 as by then I should have improved and if I have not then will not do such small ones again.

when I look at the above photos I can see on the last one that it looks as though the fabric has been pulled form here to kingdom come!!,   or maybe I am not getting it cut on the grain but slightly crooked,    any advice greatly received and also positive criticism preferable to negative please!

I have also completed the three blocks for next week, one of which I have redone 3 times and have now given up on it, you will see what I mean when I add it next week.   We are meant to be doing 3 blocks a week and can only load the correct three to the sew sweetness blog each week, of course we can complete as many as we want but cannot add them and if we miss a week I am not sure what happens.

Tula Pink blocks 10,11 and 12

I am so enjoying this challenge,    three more blocks done,   some are very fiddly as the pieces tend to be small, one block  I had to cut 4 pieces 1" by 1".  I hope  I am learning more about colour too,  I am using my stash of fabric I have bought in drips and drabs over the years.  Now wondering about should I have washed the fabrics before using  them as I have not bothered to, maybe when I attempt a proper piece I will wash those.  It is misleading as there are arguments for both washing and not washing, have read what well know quilters have to say and they do not seem to agree either.   I would love to hear what you think about the washing process. Re my blocks, I have not tidied them up around the edges yet, will leave till all 100 are done and then decide what I should do with them if anything at all!

I went to a remnant shop in Harrogate yesterday and they had cotton poplin for £4.99 a metre, this threw me a bit as I had not seen the poplin name before for patchwork cotton..I ask myself if the cotton I have bought from the market is also poplin as it was cheaper than what you find in the quilting shops, maybe I should give more thought to what I buy and wonder about pricing. I did not buy any      how I resisted I am not sure but what I was looking for was some hand dyed thread to send to a friend.  No luck so popped on another bus and went to York, should have gone there in the first place as I got what I needed then home again.  The free bus pass is great for times like this,there are some advantages to being an OAP I seemed to spend most of the day on buses  about 4 hours in total but must not grumble!!

quilting blogs

this is just a word of warning to you all out there,  I sometimes stumble on blog that I think is worth following and one I recently added was   Linda`s quilts and things,    not sure what it is all about but instead of getting a quilt blog it opens up as       puyol messi   home loan calculator and it  is sending me things all the time which I seem unable to stop.  There is an email address in America but I can only email if I give loads of info plus my telephone number which it will not accept so I cannot get the email to send.  Just thought a word of warning to you all and if any one else has had a problem would love to know how you sorted it.  Will be much more careful in future who I follow.  There does not seem any way to get in touch with blogger to get it sorted for me.

CQJP for june

I have been working on this latest block since yesterday and think I have done enough, maybe at the end of the year other bits will be added and who knows some might be removed.  I wanted to use the allium as my flower for the month as I have so many out in the garden at the moment, shame they only seem to flower in the mauve/purple range as it is not a colour I have used on the blocks!  The little 3D needle tatted  flower in the top on the right hand side I found the as a  tutorial  on another blog.
If I do this challenge next year I will make the blocks each month, it was a mistake doing them all together but that is part of the learning curve I am on at the moment.  I am unable to add lace, ribbon etc neatly, this should be added during the construction of the blocks, never mind we live and learn.

I am also taking part in a round robin with the group embroidery friends which has been set up following the closure of the Embroiderers Guild forum. This group is open to all not just members of the EG.  There are 10 of us taking part and I have chosen gardens as the theme for my 10" x 8" piece.  I have done a bird bath and can now send it on the the next person to add something,    wonder what it will look like when it arrives back, maybe someone will do a bird having a bath!   Bit concerned what is going to arrive through my letter box as we are all choosing our own theme, trust it is something I can do.  Two of those taking part are in Australia but the rest of us are UK based.  Here is the bird bath, only worked in stem stitch but think it is quite cute. 

Tula Pink and biscornus.

I have been pressing on with my Tula Pink challenge and have now completed 9 blocks. This is a challenge as they are so small some pieces end up only half an inch wide but I`m enjoying the process ans think I can see improvement.

I purchased a jelly roll a few years ago and I am using some of that on these blocks as they only need small pieces.   9 down 91 to go!

I have also been asked to share some of the biscornu designs I have done so I am adding a collage of 8 of them

The one on the top row at the end is the original design for stitch magazine but the variegated thread I had used for it was no longer available so had to stitch it in another colour, I am glad about this as if they had used the original I would no longer have the biscornu.  .

I must now think about the CQJP for june,  I have decided to use an alium as the flower for the centre as they are looking glorious in the garden at thee moment. Mine will be a rough interpretation of the real thing.

more quilts

As I was asked for more I have done 2 more collages from the photos.  Needless to say I had forgotten how to do them so messed about for ages but think they have worked.

Trust you enjoy these,  the next lot will be from the quilt festival which is in august.

The purchase of a new camera was not a success and I took it back today and they refunded me minus the cost of the memory card. I was very disappointed as there was no software disc and no cable to connect the camera to the computer, the lead to buy separate which the shop did not sell was £18.99 plus postage and I could have got a much better camera with the extras included for less than the cost of this one plus the lead.    After talking to one or two people I decided to buy a new battery for my old sony camera which I have been happy with. Unfortunately it is coming from America so will not receive it for a while but hopefully the camera will work better with a new battery, fingers crossed anyway.