Friday 3 August 2012

Kurves and Kitty

I had such a good weekend...  I went to Edinburgh (always a Good Thing) and met up with mum.  We went to the cinema, which I haven't done in donkeys, and we saw "The Angels Share" - a filum with no explosions and a proper story!!  So, so good... And on Sunday...  Awe.Some....  Me and mum went to Jo's lovely shop for a sewing day with Katy, Fiona, Lynz and Julie.  It was mum's first time meeting cool quilters, and it was my first time meeting Lynz and Julie too.  That was especially nice!
Everyone was so lovely - I had cake and endless cups of tea, a braw lunch from the sandwich place round the corner, we all chatted sewing and fabric ALL DAY.... and I got to shop...  It was such a brilliant day.
And as if it wasn't good enough, we went for dinner after and I got the tastiest pizza!   I didn't get any photys, I'm not very good at remembering things like that really.  Actually forgot to do any sewing whilst I was there too...

Naturally I've been a bit dozy this week.  Lots of getting up and going back to bed.  Had a doozy of a blank yesterday too, I was making a cup of tea, and I remember the kettle boiling and putting the teabag in my mug (my 500ml + mug).  I think I remember filling my mug but I'm not that sure.  Then I was standing there with an empty mug and some very wet clothes....  ouchy...  Don't worry, it certainly woke me up  and I was standing right next to a freezer handily full of bags of frozen fruits and veg etc and I got my first aid certificate when I was about 10...  So I'm fine, no blisters, just a few red marks. All in a days sleep eh?

Sleepiness aside, I have managed to get wee bits of sewing done this week too.  (drum roll please....)
First Time Ever...  I'm the first in Brit Bee this month to post finished blocks!  Amazing!  This was Katys month and so I got my bee fabrics on Sunday.  She picked a bundle of greys and aquas that had me itching to shop (such a toddler...I see, I like, I want....)  and she wanted 2 retro flowers blocks.  I'd seen lots of people doing the retro flowers quilt along, and its a beautiful block.


block trimming



I painstakingly got all my curves sewn with only one unpick - another record!  After a scary amount of trimming I got the blocks together with not toooo many unpicks...


Brit Bee August Block 2
Brit Bee August  Block 1



Pretty huh?  All my petal middles are really mismatched, and I don't really understand how that happened, but I was concentrating really hard on getting the edges of the petals to line up....  I think they look okay...  Hope Miss August approves.

Something else Katy gave me a push to get on with was learning to do inset circles.  I'd attempted to try it once before but given up half way through the tutorial and ended up with a sort of portholey reverse applique type thing.  Anyway.  Miss Thistle  reminded me I only had a few days to do it, so I got stuck in.


Inset circles
I used this tute (click here!)



Not too shoddy!  I liked the method, but I used a lot less glue than they did and I still found it a bit too sticky!  My favourite bit of the tute is where it says

                             "Peel and pop the fabric off the pattern to release the paper."

I did three of them and not once did the fabric "pop" off the paper...  It just didn't want to shift at all!  In all three it ended up being torn off in bits.  And I was really really sparing with the glue, honest!
Aside from that though, I was quite happy with how it went, it was certainly speedy!  I just might see if I can do without the glue?  Or was I not supposed to use Loctite?

And finally (yes its fluff) there's a jolly little linkyparty / giveaway / competition going on a Lily Pad Quilting, called Pets on Quilts!  How could I *not* enter little Ellsabub??  (Sorry Hadley, Cat on Quilt photos coming up...)  Well, I got the camera out, but this was the view....

Ells



Not the prettiest pic of cat or quilt.  So I stuck the camera under the quilt and stole a photy before she complained.


Ells



That's my cutie!!!

And here's a few more just for fun...



Ells


Ells


So, I'm linking up, do go have a look here and see if Ells is as cute as the other entries ;-)

46 comments:

  1. Elsabub is very cute and fits right in with all of the loveable pets in the show. Pets love quilts whether they are on top of them or cuddled up beneath. Very sweet pics.

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  2. Totally gorgeous kitty. I photograph pets for an animal shelter so I know these hiding poses very well :-) Lovely quilt too.

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  3. My cat always enjoyed hiding under the quilt.

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  4. Congrats on finishing your bee blocks already! I would like to go for a shopping trip after seeing the greys and blues too, but I've already gotten several other pretty things of late.

    Cute Ellie photos!

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  5. definitely a cutie-pie...........love the photo with the paw sticking out.

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  6. Wow! What a bad time to sleep! Glad you weren't hurt. Kitty is too cute! Love when they enjoy themselves.

    ANd your posies are perfectly wonderful. I did inset circles like that for my cow quilt. got the hang of them pretty quickly and they do make the nicest circles.

    I love how you write/talk! I am listening to a book on CD while I quilt about the King's Mistress, the mistress of the English King in the 1400's. And the girl narrating talks like that. It is wonderful, lilting, and I want to listen to her all day!

    glen

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  7. Your cat is so cute! And your circles and curves and flowers are all lovely. It sounds like you had a great trip to, I would love to go to Edinburgh again.

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  8. I'm so glad you all had a good day on Sunday - shame there's no photos though!

    Great job on the curves. I've just done some for the first time for Annabella and they aren't brilliant, but they're not bad.

    I must have a look at the cat link and see if I've got any cute cat photos

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  9. What a sweetheart. And, I love all your blocks & quilts.

    SewCalGal
    www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

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  10. lol, you said you probably wouldn't get any sewing done even though you were loaded up with fabric and projects!

    Sounds a fab trip ... it must be 10 years since I last visited the big city and that was for a work training course, not for fabric shopping!

    Oh a kitty competition ... I better go enter a photo of Maggie cat helping to make a quilt! I bet Ellie will win though!

    Glad you didn't drown in your cup of tea and escaped with no 3rd degree burns .... not sure there are any gadgets that could keep you safe making a cuppa but I have a buzzer thing that clips over the cup and sounds an alarm when the cup gets full ... I don't use it because I object to thinking I need help making a cup of tea! (actually I don't need it because I can hear how full the cup is so don't usually flood the kitchen by overfilling my cup! lol)

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  11. Hee hee, cats are safe with me - it's dog's arses that need to be careful of my steel toe-capped boots!

    You're curves look great, and I am so pleased and jealous you got to join the fun at Jo's xxx

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  12. So glad you got away virtually unscathed after your tea incident!
    Your blocks look great :-) glad you got to meet up with pals again too!!

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  13. Purr purr from Rusken (my cat) to your cat :) All cats needs a lot of quilts :)

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  14. *shocked by Hadley's comment about steel toe-caps and (potentially) my rear end*

    I love the photos of Elliecat on/in the quilt - I'm not allowed on quilts so I don't think I'm going to be able to enter the contest...unless I can hold a secret photoshoot while she's out this afternoon. Oh, must go, she's back! Love the flowers and "phew" for the boiling water/sleep incident xx

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  15. Ooooh! Cats on quilt comp?! I'm there!

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  16. Fabulous blocks S! Well done on being top of the class this month!! So glad you had a brill time in Ed. Sounds like a blast! I'd better make sure I cover Poppy's ears when Hadley's around!! Jxo

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  17. I am so very glad you got to get away and have some fun!!! That is FAB!!!

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  18. Whoa, what a week, I agree, a trip to Edinburgh is the best thing!
    Loving all your curvy stuff but not your sleepy tale, hope you are not too sore.
    Good luck with Ellie's pic.

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  19. Your curvy quilting is wonderful as well as your furry little friend.

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  20. Glad you managed the first aid :) and that you had such a brill weekend too ! Still waiting for Katy's package to,arrive here :(

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  21. Aww, gorgeous Elliecat pic, as always. Sounds like you all had a great time in Edinburgh

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  22. Wow you've been up to a lot, with the shopping, the not sewing when you were, the eating, the tea spilling and yet you had time to take some photos and sew some inset circles!
    Your cat is so adorable! =D

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  23. I love cats hiding in quilts! Yours is adorable!

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  24. Oooh, oooh, love, thank you! Please try and avoid boiling yourself alive in the future, the lobster look is soooo not in this season...

    PS, think the cat is actually giving you the finger in that 2nd to last pic ;o)

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  25. Great pictures and yes she's just as cute as the others.

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  26. We seem to have several of those "bumpy" quilts too! LOL...Ells is a love!

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  27. Oh you really do crack me up!! The sewing day sounds totally fabulous!!! Katy is a clever one getting the Bee to do the retro flowers!! Yours look fabulous.
    My cat is black and is so hard to get a good picture of her! Ells looks adorable and I love the pic with her paw stretched out, so cute!

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  28. Glad you had a great time in your home city! Is this the first of many occasions? Poor you - tea can be a dangerous weapon! The cat pics are gorgeous - she is such a star....what there was a quilt in the photo? Sorry I didn't notice!

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  29. I used to have a cat who just loved to sleep under the quilt on my bed. The one I have now hates to be covered. Very cute pics!

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  30. Hoping we can meet up again before too long! Elliecat is soooo cute. I really love the petal blocks and wouldn't have noticed anything about the middles, very minor, the rest matches perfectly. Makes me want to give them a go, might tear me away from my plain and simple approach! Juliex

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  31. Yes Ellie is just as cute as the other cats, what pretty coloring she has. And your retro flower blocks are lovely!

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  32. Oh, sweet, mysterious Ells ;o) the quilt is also very sweet!

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  33. Hello hon, I can't believe you didn't get any pics of your sewing meet up - darn it! Your curves look awesome, we've all got something to live up to now! be safe with that tea,

    xx

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  34. Whoa! You quilt has a tail...or wait...there'e a kitteh under there! Thanks for sharing :o)

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  35. Love the peek-a-boo shots of Ells. Ouch on the spilled tea!!

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  36. She's such a cutie! Your blocks are wonderful, too!
    Thanks for joining us at the Pet Show!

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  37. Nice curves! I think that look is, "I was in here for a reason, don't make me make you regret lifting this quilt up to look at me." -wink-

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  38. you are going to pay for the under the quilt shot!

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  39. CUTE!! Love the photos of your cat. Thanks for sharing.

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  40. Love the photos of your cat.

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  41. Man, curves and circles! what ambition! I would've just appliquéd them...I always enjoy your stories because they're lively and humorous. You've made me chuckle despite the heat!
    best, nadia

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