Still growing my own...

Despite my laid back approach to gardening and fairly long periods without watering my veggie plants are doing their utmost to produce something edible (they've also produced a ridiculous amount of leaves and are slowly taking over my yard!).

Courgette

Teeny tiny green tomato

Baby butternut squash

Wedding Banner Quilt - Part 2

And the work on the quilt for my brother's wedding goes on.  Nothing like an end of the month deadline to get you moving on a king size quilt!

A large proportion of the 900+ 2.5 inch squares destined for the border

Two of the letters - one appliquéd, one not

Festival of Quilts - The Shopping

So the Festival of Quilts wasn't just about the amazing quilts, there were also loads of vendors stands some of which I couldn't resist...

The little item with the hearts on is a needle case I won in a lucky dip.  This was especially lucky as for the past 15 years I've been using a little scrap of felt to hold my needles.  The needle case is going to seem like luxury after that!

Festival of Quilts 2014 - The Quilts

Warning picture heavy...

My sister and I visited the Festival of Quilts at the NEC in Birmingham today and were amazed by the stunning quilts on display.  Here's a small selection which caught my eye...

Fire and Ice - Claudia Pfeil

Skull Optics - Paula Rafferty

Mum's a Star - Michele Clarke and Margaret Routledge

Fish at Sea - Pam Stanier and Quilter's Trading Post

The Brightness - Kazue Iwahashi ... Hand quilted!

Autumn Gold - Heather Bentley ... a close up of one of the log cabin blocks

Paris - Anna-Karin Andermo

David - Gillian Theokritoff

Harlequin Star - Jess Williams

And finally, a full size, actually working, quilted Grandfather Clock by Kate Crossley

Wedding Banner Quilt - Part 1

Well I've finally bit the bullet and made a serious start on the banner/quilt for my brother's wedding...which is taking place on 23 Aug this year!!!!!

I've had the fabric since April and started drafting the letters in July.  With a few hours effort I now have slightly more to show...

The drafted letters...

Transferred to bonda web type stuff...

Ironed onto the fabrics and cut out.

I'm feeling so much more enthusiastic and confident about this quilt now I've really started. Love how the letters look.  Need a few more fat quarters but it's definitely looking promising.

4th August

"The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime" 
  - Sir Edward Grey, British Foreign Minister, 4th August 1914