Thank you

First off I wanted to thank everyone for their wonderful advice on my troublesome HSTs. I think I might actually be doing them right now!  I remade my 2 blocks and although not perfect they are so so much better. To celebrate I made this little pin cushion with the leftover bits.

I have had to wrestle it away from the 2 year old, apparently it makes a great throwing thing! Here she is making another grab for it.

Carolinex

The Curse of the HST

I think the HSTs have defeated me.  I have to be honest I struggle with them but today I have had to walk away from the machine before I throw something. The block tutorial is great, it is clear and easy to follow. I should be able to do it but for the life of me I can't get the block to work. I just can't do it.  Just look at that one on the right, aaaarrggghhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

How many times can I unpick and resew before I finally give in. Today I really hate pesky triangles!!

Hope your Sunday is less frustrating.

Caroline

Tetris

First I wanted to thank everyone for the wonderful response to my turn on the Lets Get Acquainted Blog Hop. Everyone has been so supportive and I am so pleased I took part. Thank you all for hopping by!

This week I have joined the Tetris quilt along being held by Melissa over at Happy Quilting. I made the first block and I am hooked. I can't wait for next week's block.

It is certainly going to be a bright and cheerful quilt!

Happy Weekend.

Caroline

Lets Get Acquainted Blog Hop

Wow, so it's my turn on Beth's fabulous Lets Get Acquainted Blog Hop. It has been a fab hop, with so many great tutorials and blogs and I am so excited about being involved.


I am Caroline and I live in Finland with my husband and two little girls. I started blogging in January and have been quilting for a few years. However, it has only really been in the last year that I have started trying new things and learning new techniques and have found the wonderful world of quilting blogs. Here are a few of the things I have made.

What is your favourite quilting tip?
Measure, measure and measure your fabric again before you cut it! The number of times I have been caught out because I thought I had measured something correctly but haven't.


What is your favourite blogging tip?
Don't feel pressured into making things specifically to blog about. When I started blogging in January I felt I needed to make new things every week just so I could blog about them. I soon realised I just can't do that. I don't have enough sewing time for a start and I want to enjoy the sewing and blogging time I do have.


Favourite fabric?
Well this is a really tough one, I think my all time favourite is Momo's Just Wing It. I loved it in aqua and in red. I don't have much left and will be a little bit sad when it is all gone.


Favourite book?
Many moons ago when I lived and worked in London I had a crazy hour and half commute on London Underground to and from work each day. Boy did I read a lot of books during that time (if only I had known about English Paper Piecing then). I read everything from classics to sci-fi, modern literature and anything I could get my hands on really. One of my favourite's is Peter Hoeg's 'The Woman and the Ape'. I have read it many times and still love it. The book I am reading at the moment is Andrew Kaufman's 'All My Friends are Superheroes'; it's funny, easy reading.


I thought I might also give you some random facts about me;
- I cook an amazing chicken saag curry.
- Although British I have not lived in the UK for 6 years and my children have never lived there.
- I used to work for Prince Charles.
- I know how many layers of clothing you need to stay warm at minus 5, minus 10 and minus 25 degrees celsius.


So, if you have got through all that, here is my tutorial for this hexie mugrug. 

You will need:
-  Fabric scraps to make your hexagons (the sides of mine each measure 1").
-  Hexagon papers. I created mine from here.
-  1  10" x 7 1/2" fabric piece for the front of the mug rug.
-  1 piece of fabric for backing 10 1/4 x 7 3/4" (I cut mine a little bigger and cut down when binding).
-  1 piece of batting 10" x 7 1/2".


1. First I made 11 hexies by cutting out my paper hexagon pieces from my printed template and then basting the fabric to them.

2. Lay out your front fabric and decide where you want to place your hexagons. I settled on the final picture below as the layout for my mugrug. Make sure you have at least a quarter inch margin between the edge of your hexies and the edge of the front fabric. You don't want to lose any of your hexagons when you attach the binding later.

3. Now sew your hexagons together. I sewed mine together in rows and then sewed the rows together.

4. Press the hexagons really really well and then carefully remove the basting stitches and take out the paper pieces.

It should now look like this.

5. Now sew your hexagon pattern to your front fabric. I sewed around the edge of the hexagon pattern using a scant 1/4" seam.

6.  Once you have attached your hexagon shape, baste your mugrug and decide on your quilting pattern. I quilted random straight lines from the corners of each individual hexagon.

7. Add your binding and then you are all done. Ready for a nice cuppa and a cake!!

Thank you everyone for getting this far and a big thank you to Beth for organising the blog hop. Don't forget to visit the other fabulous blogs that are hopping today.


 Kati at Kati's Quilting and Sewing
 Claire from Sewing Over Pins




Caroline 

Bubbletastic

I have been playing with circles this week for Karen's block in We Bee Modern Too. They so remind me of bubbles.

I had a lot of fun with these. They are really summery and who doesn't like bubbles.

Hope you are having a bright and happy weekend.

Caroline

WIP Wednesday

Back to normal everyday life after my trip to the UK. It was lovely to see the folks and meet my new(ish) nephew. I admit it was also lovely to have some time away from the little ones! Anyway, I thought as it was Wednesday I would show you the progress I have made on my hexies. Here are the four completed panels.

I ordered some Kona Purple from Cindy at Fluffy Sheep Quilting last week (absolutely brilliant service, fabric was here in 2 days!!) and am now making a shed load of purple hexies to encase the pattern panels. Now this could take a bit of a while because I figure I need at least 300 of them. Mind you it is amazing how many I can make whilst getting my two year old to sleep!

Linking up to Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday.

Carolinex

June Jamboree!!

What a June, lots of little makes and my first quilt finish of the year! Here's to an equally prolific July.

1. Sanity. 2. T-Quilt. 3. Stars. 4. June Stash Bee. 5. Night and Day. 6. Scrappy Mug Rug. 7. Sweetie Blocks. 8. June Stash Bee. 9. June Bee Blessed. 10. June Bee Blessed. 11. Teachers Pouches. 12. Grannies. 

Linking up with Fresh Sewing Day at Lily's Quilts


Carolinex