:: quilt improv the blog tour ::

Happy New Year!

i feel bad that i haven't stopped by to wish you all a happy new year but hopefully my post and giveaway today will soften that blow.

today is my turn on the fantabulously talented Lu Summer's blog tour of her equally fantabulous new book Quilt Improv.

i have long since been a huge fan of Lu's and it is fair to say that she was a huge inspiration to me starting my screen printing journey. her improv quilting style is very unique and so i was very excited when i heard that she was bringing this book out and even more excited to be asked to be on Lu's blog tour.

Quilt Improv is such a visual feast of a book, with beautiful photos all taken on Lu's picturesque farm. even if you aren't a quilter you won't help but be drawn in by the colourful shots. 

not only is Quilt Improv a stunning book to look at but it is also extremely well planned and one that will become a favourite resource for improv quilting. 

the book begins by teaching you how to do 13 improv designs and then goes on to show you how to make 12 quilts that Lu has designed using these blocks.

one of the things i love most about Lu's book is seeing how you can follow a pattern but make it entirely your own and every time you play around with the designs each quilt will come out differently. 

i had a great deal of fun this week trying out some of the blocks and piecing them together to make my own little improv quilt. some may say too much fun...

so the giveaway...

f & w media, the clever publishers behind Quilt Improv are very kindly offering one of you my lovely readers, near or far, a copy of the book. All you need to do is leave a comment here and I will pick a winner by midnight sunday 12 jan...or a little earlier if i'm having an early night.

check out the other reviews, and opportunities to win a copy of Quilt Improv, at other stops on the book tour going through the rest of the month. to see the other stops on the Quilt Improv blog tour over the next month visit Stitch Craft Create. 

good luck!

:: retreat ::

i'm going to retreat! 

with it having fallen badly for me the previous 2 years i am yet to make an appearance at retreat but this time i am going...

i have to...

i'm teaching!!

i have to say i feel very honoured to be teaching and to be in such esteemed company. (check out here for a list of some of the teachers if you haven't already seen the announcement today.) what a line up...oh and then there's me!

i'm very very excited to be teaching and to finally get to meet so many blog and instagram and other quilter friends.

so are you going?

have you bought a ticket yet?

they are available right here and you can pay in 2 instalments too before March 2014...perfect!

i really can't wait. i just hope in between the teaching i have time to hang out...maybe i won't teach after all...

a nice day for finishing a quilt...

2 miracles happened today...

1. i finished a quilt that had been sitting on a pile waiting patiently for its turn since january and...

2. it was sunny enough to take a stroll across the road to the park to shoot a few pics of it.

the quilt in question was my scrappy trip along quilt below, which was my xmas vacation project last year. 

oh so embarrassing to be about to embark on this year's xmas vacation and still have it unfinished. having found an unusual free gap in my week i finally set about to finish it.

there is actually something rather nice about revisiting an unfinished project...memories are wrapped up in it...you get to revisit and rework with fabrics that you may not be anymore.

advantages galore...and that's my story for being a lazy a*** and i'm sticking to it.

im so so pleased with how it's turned out and hopefully ruby, who it was originally made for, is still keen on it too.

i had a fun little photo shoot in the park...dodging the dogs and the wind (weather wind not the dogs' wind) and to show you a few more of the photos i have attached a little flipagram here, which may or may not work. i have never made one before, but have fun with it if it does!

what finishing this quilt has taught me is...

1. i can be a finisher...

2. i actually enjoyed being a finisher...

3. i really really must finish more things before i start anything new.

that last one is my new year's resolution...good luck with that huh?

oh and that first picture at the top?...

that's a sneak of a commission that i have been working on and is about to head off to its destination. just as soon as i can i'll tell you more about that one!

:: bpfc ::

it's here!!

the Blueberry Park Fabric Club!!

choose the size of your bundle from charm pieces up to full panels...

you can become a yearly member and receive additional discounts or spread the cost and pay month on month, either way you will receive significant discounts on regular panel prices.

go here for more details and to sign up. 

and tell all your friends about it...although not too many as i am keeping it small, exclusive and limited. after all if everyone has them, it won't be special any more will it?

i hope you will be as excited about it as i am and enjoy all the benefits of being a member of my club (i have a club!...i've always wanted to have my own club!)

introducing...

 the blueberry park fabric club!

i am very excited to tell you that my new fabric club will go live and ready to join later this week.

it is a club like no other...

:: choose your size ::

...from charm pack up to a full panel size.

:: choose how often ::

...join for a full year or month by month

:: unique hand printed unavailable-anywhere-else fabrics ::

i have taken all your comments on board and hopefully providing what you have asked for.

so what do you get for your money?

:: 2 designs a month :: 

...printed onto a carefully selected group of fabrics printed onto kona cottons

:: ideas sheet ::

...suggestions of what you can do with your special pieces of hand printed fabrics

:: mini project ::

...every issue comes with a mini project

all you need to do is purchase before the 10th of the month of that issue (blueberry park fabric club will be every 2 months, starting in january). there will be limited availability so do book early! if you want a special heads up email on release date to ensure you don't miss out, please leave your details here.

i hope you will be as excited as i am and look forward to telling you in full later in the week.

{big} city girl QAL - London

 way back in the summer aylin and amy asked me to be part of their new QAL - {big} city girl QAL and i jumped at the chance.

so here i am, the final leg of the QAL with my home capital city London.

whilst i am from leeds in the north of england i lived in london for 16 years and it will always in some ways be home.

i really couldn't decide which landmark to use in my block. there are so many to choose from - tower bridge, big ben, houses of parliament, st paul's cathedral, buskingham palace, the gherkin and even the meandering river thames.

but there was one that stood out for me...one that is a modern renowned landmark, the london eye. i used to travel up to the centre of london by train regularly and my heart always skipped a beat when the big wheel came into view. 

so here is my interpretation of one of my favourite london landmarks, the drunkard path way.

you will need:

for each circle: 4 dark circle quarters, radius 2"

4 low volume outers with a 1.5" radius cut out.

Using a 2” inner circle and a 1.5” concave outer piece make each quarter piece. Check out this great tutorial if you are struggling with making your drunkards patch pieces. Sew together each quarter and trim the combined square to 4”.

Repeat to make 6 drunkard path circles.

In addition you will need a 4x4” square for the centre and 4 2x4”corner pieces. Sew the 3 rows together as illustrated below and then sew each row together. Finally cut and sew a 3x11” border along the bottom.

Now for a little hand embroidery detail to sew the frame of your London Eye. Sew with a running stitch from capsule to capsule and across to opposite capsules. Use chain stitch to sew the support posts.

And there you are done! 

please do add any make to the {big} girl city QAL flickr group and do catch up on all the other wonderful city blocks from around the world if you missed out on visiting them.

01.09. Aylin - Nilya2011 from Germany with Berlin and Istanbul http://aylin-nilya.blogspot.de/
08.09. Alyce - SewBlossomHeart from Japan with Tokyo http://www.blossomheartquilts.com/
15.09. Julianna - Sewing under Rainbow from Poland with Warsaw http://jednoiglec.blogspot.co.uk/
22.09. Sil - silort from Brazil with Brasilia http://www.flickr.com/people/silort/
29.09. Sylvie - -Vivie- from France with Paris http://lafamillecreative.blogspot.co.uk/
06.10. Marit - Sy-elsk-lev from Norway with Aalesund http://www.sy-elsk-lev.blogspot.co.uk/
13.10. Amy- During Quiet Time from USA with Boston http://www.amyduringquiettime.com/
20.10. Jane - Quiltjane from Australia with Sydney http://quiltjane.blogspot.de/
27.10. Lotje - Lotje M from The Netherlands with Delft http://slootjesschilder.blogspot.co.uk/
03.11. Rachel - wooden spoon from New Zealand with Wellington http://www.flickr.com/photos/wooden_spoon/
10.11. Annabella - liferichpattern from Morocco with Marrakech http://kechquilts.blogspot.co.uk/
17.11. Felicity - felicity.quilts from Canada with Vancouver http://www.felicityquilts.com/ (you are here)
24.11. Karen - blueberry4park from UK with London http://blueberry-park.blogspot.com/

:: number 2 ::

i got a little feeling of what it must be like to win an oscar or the like yesterday when i discovered that my advent calendar kit was voted as number 2 in BT lifestyle's best advent calendars. 

we will just sidle past the question of who actually goes on the BT lifestyle website to see it shall we?

actually i think plenty of people surprisingly have as i have been printing these kits ad infinitum as alice of backstitch will testify.

with regular weekly emails of "help, need more red Klona!"

what makes me particularly excited more than anything is the thought of so many people a week on Sunday hanging their advent calendars, filling with them with their choice of treats until xmas eve.

i thought i had printed my last panels last week. i even told alice so. but no, with just 8 days to go until the start of advent orders are still coming in fast and furious.

and panic upon panic...alice has run out of klona crimson! i've run her dry!

thankfully i have managed to secure another source who have guaranteed me delivery tomorrow...printing on sunday...mailing on monday...happy people making kits on tuesday.

i may have ordered just enough if anyone else still want one...shout now because this really is the final order.

and if you don't fancy making one up i do have one available to buy ready made. i guess i felt i was missing out on the sewing up fun and wanted to join in. anyway it's available here and the kits are available here.