Carpe Diem!

I bought this fabric from the US when it first came out and i have been saving it for "best"....This sort of thing plagues me in my life generally, not just when it comes to quilting...I have to battle against "saving best things until the right time" and learn to seize the moment more...
I am not sure I am ready to bring out the most expensive shoes, frocks and handbags I own but the Far Far Away fabric has slowly been making it to the cutting table!!!

Here are a few blocks I have made from the Boxed In pattern in Moda Bake Shop from KarrieLyne from Freckled Whimsy :

They really cheer me up for a Monday morning! Hope they do the same for you!

                                                                        Amelie x

Loving it!!!

This will definately be my little baby's first quilt...it is sooooooo beautiful (except for my seams!!!)

Here is the Centre Right block from the Far Far Away collection:

The Owl & the Pussycat are sooo sweet....

This is block Centre Right:

and this is 'altogether now'!!!

Kerry you ARE a genius!

and now I have to run out of home and disappear before the Leyton Orient - Arsenal football game starts...the roads around our home have been blocked already and it is heaving with people, police etc... yuck

                                                                           Amelie x

Sunday gift!

My French General quilt is finally completed and will be meeting its rightful owner on Sunday afternoon!!!
This is a quilt I made for my best friend Juniper and am ashamed to say that it is her Christmas present!!! She has already seen it and really liked it, so I hope she will like the finished product too!

Again, too large for Mr Whirlygiggles to hold fully stretched...
One way up:

 and another way up!:

 and two of my very favourite blocks:

Lovely pettern and gorgeous colours...I think she will heart it loads!!!!

                                                                       Amelie x

Flora and Fauna!

The mind is willing but the body is very weak...
We are having a very dark, dull and grey day in London and coupled with a very bad night sleep (courtesy of a poorly Mr Whirlygiggles aka big baby and a little baby doing loads of boing boing in mummy's belly) there is not much life for quilting.
Thank god for the weekend which was very produtive and I am now up to date with Kerry's Quilt Along:

There are plenty of animals in the quilt and they need to feed hence the flora and fauna blocks!!

I also finished my heart contribution to the charity quilt we are putting together as part fo the annual Roding Valley Quilters group in May:

cutie!

and last but most importantly:
If you have not seen the extremely talented Lynne's first Moda Bake Shop creation from Lily's Quilts, you are missing out big time...Not only she has made an extraordinary quilt with an incredible new Moda line called Sherbet Pips but there is also a Giveaway attached to this...all blogged here:
http://lilysquilts.blogspot.com/

                                                                        Amelie x

Eleanor Burns meets Kaffe Fassett!

Another binding finished and here is a quarter trip around the world (some times trying to get to Richmond where Tikki sells these beautiful kits and fabrics feels just like that!!!).
This quilt was also quilted by Ferret and she has done an amazing job on it considering just how many colours there are here...

 and the back with 2 different fabrics:

 I am now down to one last quilt of these poor ones that have been waiting in the cupboard for binding...yeepeeee...not far off my binding target (considering that 4 other items were added to my list for priority reasons i.e. baby quilts, friend's quilt etc!!!!).

                                                   
                                                                         Amelie x

Ohhhh those wonky stars!!!!

They are sooo beautiful.....and yes, you would have guessed correctly that this will be my baby quilt...

This is a Quilt Along with the very clever verykerryberry and I heart it loads!!!!

Here are my first 5 blocks:

Isn't the little mermaid just adorable?

Finally making use of my echino fabric!

I am grateful for the brilliant quilt along Kerry!
and here is the link: http://verykerryberry.blogspot.com/

                                                                Amelie x

"Shooting the photo" more like!!!

I have now tried 4 times and Mr Whirlygiggles has also tried to help as much as possible but I cannot get a really good picture of my pink flowers quilt...
This was a kit from Tikki http://www.tikkilondon.com/ and I made it almost a year ago. It was quilted by Ferret with beautiful flowers all over and it has been waiting in the cupboard for binding.
Once it came out of the cupboard, it took a large part of the evening to finish the binding and the rest of the evening for me to wonder why I had delayed it for so long!!!!

The first photo has been taken indoors and as you can see the quilt reaches all the way to the ceiling, hence the lights are in the way!!! I also had to enhance the colours a bit...not my favourite photo...

Part of the quilt taken in natural light....

Hopefully this one shows the quilting a bit better:

and this is the back:

I love it! it is soooo pretty and so pink and girly!!!

Might have to give the photo shoot another go tomorrow (won't tell Mr Whirlygiggles tonight!!!)

                                                                          Amelie x

Progress with UFOs

Since my last post I have been busy busy busy!!!

I have finished 2 quilts for Little People. I blogged about the Safari Quilt a few months ago (!!!) and here it is finished FINALLY!

I have no idea what made me choose this very small grid for the quilting but I did think I was going absolutely mad halfway through. It was a very painful experience indeed!

The only saving grace is that the texture is brilliant and i think great for little people to run their little fingers across the grid squares!

The other day we went to see a very good friend who just a had a baby. He was so small and soooooo beautiful that when I got back home that day I constructed the little quilt below for him!

I made up my own pattern, cut my tumblers and I  used fabrics that I had in my stash exclusively!!!! Must admit, all of that was a real high point for me...I think I am growing a bit more confident as a quilter (yippeeee!)

This back fabric is from IKEA and i love the Hippos!!!! I have had it in my cupboard for a year and I am glad it will go to a such a beautiful baby boy!

I could not resist the variegated little hearts on the ditch!!

     

 

Aren't the hippos really sweet?!!!

Today I have taken advantage of my mum being here and apart for a beatiful oxtail soup, she has helped me baste a large quilt I am doing for another very good friend. Off to do some binding before lunch!!

Amelie x

One done!

I seriously heart the Flower Sugar range of Lecien...so much so that I have bought a fair amount of it and I am already on my second project with it!!!

The first one is a pattern by Natalie Lymer called Woodland Faeries and it's in the free patterns section of the Lecien website:

These fairies are sooo cute and this fabric line suits them perfectly! I also made this tiny quilt trying out the Quilt as you Go method (love it!) and using the scaps left over from this project below !!!

I know I have already broken my New Years Resolution like 10 times over but it gives me such joy to be naughty creative!!!:

Anyway, both of these are meant for my little princess but then the quilt in progress above has turned out to be rather large...I might have to use it instead!!! Even Mr Whirlygiggles likes these fabrics and has become a willing partner in this project by rearranging some of the crosses ( i am keeping my eyes on him whilst he is at it!!!).

Yesterday I prepared the binding for 5 quilts, attached it on 3 and finished it around the fairies. I then spend about 2 hours trying to work out how to go from this:

to this

and wanted to tear my hair out in the process......all cut from fairly small pieces on a pattern...arghhh,

to my amazement it all worked fine until the blue bits had to be sewn round the star....what a disaster...but why has it left me craving more madness???????? Any ideas?

Amelie x