4 quilts...

 by the end of the month...not too much to ask is it? 

time will tell and we will just gloss over the fact that 2 of the 4 weeks remaining are school holidays and my time isn't quite my own.

{1} a blueberry park creation...

{2} grey abbey by cloud 9 commission...

{3] oakshott colourshott 

{4} summertime concoction

i have started all 4 in the hope that each one will be that bit closer to finishing as the month progresses.

right, i had better crack on then...

see you on the other side...or part way through for progress reports.

so what have you planned for April?

:: barn quilts ::

 my life has been opened up to the wonderful world of barn quilts.

i had never heard of barn quilts until i read about them here today.

i know...where have i been?

i have always had a thing for american barns, ever since i was old enough to hop across the ocean to visit my family in connecticut but i have never come across barn quilts there.

having flicked over to the barn quilt trail website (yes there is such a thing) i did in fact see that nowhere in CT was registered on the barn quilt trail.

this made me relieved that i hadn't been going around there with my eyes shut but saddened that i will have to go further afield to find some.

i will however be rectifying the lack of barn quilts in CT by painting one on my aunt's barn next time i am there...

american barns are so evocative and full of life and by painting a quilt on one of the walls just adds to this.

i've posted a few of my favourite barn quilt photos here and have started a new pinterest board where there are more. i know...obsessed.

there is even a book on barn quilts...that's obviously now on my wishlist.

the question is was i on my own here with my ignorance of barn quilts or have i enlightened a few more of you too?

do share you favourite barn quilt photo if you have one.

with a little help from my friends...

it all started back in September when i was queen bee for bee a brit stingy flickr group...a fab bee filled with lovely british quilters.

i have never been in a bee before so i wasn't very sure what to expect or how it was all going to play out.

my first dilemma was what block to choose. the bee started in january and some peeps had already picked some blocks that i may have chosen so that was those out. some demanded a more cohesive palette, some were too large and some were just too fiddly.

i eventually decided on this hourglass block and requested low volume, 1930s, liberty, vintage type fabrics.

to be honest i wasn't entirely sure how it

was all going to pan out. when i create my quilts i spend forever picking fabrics moving them around until they don't jar in my eye anymore and remove any fabrics that just don't sit well. in the bee group we are all very different, have different styles, different fabrics to pull from and i was a little nervous with how this would work for me.

but apparently what i love most about this is that it is full of little jewels of fabrics that normally i don't get to see in my own work, from overtly pretty florals to more muted geometrics. every single block that arrived filled me with EEEEEEKS!

honestly they are a magical bunch this crew.

i'm not even sure you can tell how wonderfully everything gels here, but in the flesh it is all so alive. the bee group made about half the blocks and they all look stunning with the ones i made.

it's all been a great big success in my eyes and hopefully we'll do it all again next year. (i hope so because i have already picked my block...)

and if you want to see how everyone else's quilts turned out go and check out the group here. there are some stunners.

the only question that remains is...

how on earth shall i quilt this thing??