When Nesta and her Sister came to group

Well, now all the Challenges are in- for those of you not in the know, Louise set this years Challenge.

We all picked out (blind) a paint sample from an envelope with our initials on it. Three samples using your three initials (or two initials and your maiden name initial if your parents could only decide on one name!)
 The Challenge was to make an item using three random colours, and you could add you two more colours - plain or tone on tone (there was a bit of poetic licence used there ladies?!?!)

 Well what do you think?
(Please accept apologies for a bit photo heavy post, but I think they are worth a look.)

a couple of bags

beach hut wall hanging

an I Pad case (see the paint samples?)

A very posh Peg Bag

A ric-rac cushion and an Easter Egg hanging - very pretty

A couple of cushions and a Faux Chenille bag

A rather smart Art Nouveau wall hanging

a couple of bags and a miniature Pineapple quilt

Two more bags and a Table mat and Coasters

A very fancy Note Book cover

Some lovely Appliqué wall hangings

A rather effective table runner

A fabulous Compass quilt with a Flying Geese border ( again see the samples in the corner?)

Here is a lovely sewing tidy

A miniature and (I think) a Linus quilt

A lovely selection here

A bit like "Topsy" -- just kept on growing!!

Someone had a "Hoot!"

And we ALL know who made this cheeky little number

And then we had a bevy of cushions - Wonder if these ladies are all ready for the cushion raffle at our Exhibition?

And you may be asking what this all has to do with Nesta and her sister? -----

Well - Let me introduce you----

Aren't they just adorable??

This is how Nesta looks when she pops out for a coffee!!
And yes - this was her entry in the Challenge!!

love her lashes!!

Bet you wish you belonged to our group ??

A huge thank you to Louise for setting this years Challenge. I think (though we complained) that we all have had great fun with this idea. Looking forward to another Challenge this Christmas!

Unveiling our Challenge

Yes, today was the unveiling of the challenge set by Louise and I have to say 'didn't everyone do well'!!
We had Cushions, Mini Quilts, Table centres and Table Runners, Wall hangings (some very cheeky!), Place mats and Book covers.
Everyone had stuck to the brief and chosen fabrics to match their paint swatches.

Photo's cannot do justice 

some great applique,

and wonderful paper piecing.

we all spent lots of time studying, discussing and being amazed at creative minds 

Now I have to make an apology -  Lesley gave me Pauline's cushion to bring to group as Pauline couldn't make the meeting this week and Lesley wasn't going to be around either, so the cushion was passed to me where it has sat very safely in the boot of my car.  Yes you guessed it, I forgot to get it out so it missed the party and unfortunately it won't make Wednesdays show either. 

 

But just so you won't miss it altogether.....

Pauline's cushion--- all alone

A big 'Thank you' goes to Louise for setting the challenge, and an even bigger thanks to all that took part. 

No meeting next Monday as it is Easter, so a Happy holiday to all.

Wednesday Update

 Jackie has been toiling away on this FABULOUS black and white number. Its a cross between Prairie Braid, Linked Nine Patch with a rather nice Celtic design in the centre. Stunning don't you think? Well done Jackie.

love the centre panel

 And for --- shall we say, a "While" -  Nesta has been playing with some 1" hexagons. Pretty colours surrounded by white.  Impressed??

£1 coin shows the scale

 Well -- BE IMPRESSED!!

sometimes the old one are the best (Designs - not Nesta!)

 I'm not sure HOW many hexagons there are, and it's not quite finished. When it is I'll get Nesta to count them for you:)))))


Don't forget ladies - next week we will be having a 'Show and Tell" reveal of the Christmas Challenge.

A Learning Curve!

Well, our "All Day" was going to be lead by Penny Mackenzie, but as we know, she has been unwell - Get Well Soon Penny!

So we did it ourselves and started with a little bit of this...

looks harmless

 and some of this...

is this how we do it?

 And finished with quite a few of these!!

a lovely selection of fabrics

 We purchased some sew in purse frames from here and uses a tutorial found on this blog

its a nice fat bottomed purse, ready for all that change.

Fabrics all tacked to the frames, and ready for sewing neatly in place.

love those spots!

 Michelle had made a bag at the weekend so wanted a purse to match

 We did have a choice of little items to be made.

There was a lined drawstring gift bag from this blog

ready for the cords

would be good with an egg inside!

 Ena made a bag, and has been experimenting making fabric flowers too

petals ready for joining

just threading the cords

And there was also a handy little wallet that we found on this blog which we thought would sell well on our sales table at the Exhibition

tea and company

You know how fussy those tea drinkers can be!  It is just the right size for packets of sewing needles too.


There was continuing work on Linus quilts

adding some appliqué

just squaring up

sewing down the binding

And Jo, bless her, was teaching a certain someone how to crochet. I don't think she realized what she had taken on, Thank you Jo!!

I have shamelessly cropped this to miss the funny face being pulled!

So all in all, not a bad days production!

a bevy of goodies

Please remember ladies that next week we need the Challenges returned to group for all to see, and we will arrange for the Joan to collect the Linus quilts after the Easter break, so if you could get those finished off too. Linus labels are at group if you could sew one of those on too. ( it will save Joan having to sew them on) 

We will have to have a count up but it looks like we will have a good batch again this year.

Welcome Back

 Jo was back with us today after a month long visit to her daughter in South Africa. As expected her needle was not idle whilst she was away.
 This is a Hexi Corner project  the idea from HERE   
The idea was that we would have some hand sewing to do at group (and only at group). Jo had special dispensation to take it with her and I am ashamed to say, whilst the cat was away the mice sat back with their feet up!

we have some catching up to do !!

If you want to see more of what Jo got up to (you wont believe half of it!!) just pop along HERE

 Is she mad or what? -----


There was quite a few hand embroidery projects being worked on - looks like a family tree, a traditional tray-cloth and a Birdie Stitches block  (pattern can be found littlemissshabby)

some expert stitching

 Carole was working on some embellished blocks.

vibrant colours!

 And there were some bindings being stritched down on some Linus quilts too

a Scrappy Trip Around

Michelle adding the final touch.

 Pauline was also binding a project

is this the front?

 Meanwhile Lynda is STILL tidying here scrap bag. Slicing it all into strips for another project. So organised!!

but not for long!!!

Brenda has two more pockets for her workbag

And Murial's foundation pieced blocks are going together well

just need a press

The coven corner was busy as usual - more on this another time

brickwork

Although we are a Patchwork & Quilting group you won't get thrown out for doing other things, which is a good job a there was a bevy of knitting this week!

A TEA SET!!! I ask you!! And apparently when shown to one small child the comment was that they would look better in "blue and white"  - and yes -- Ellen is going to obey! What a woman!

so cute!!

Next week is our All Day ladies. Unfortunately Penny is unable to come to show us the work roll up project. Get well soon Penny. 

There is a choice of small projects being shown "in house"
A lined drawstring bag 
A Tea Bag Tidy
A bank card wallet
a purse using a sew in frame ( if you want a purse frame please let Lesley know ASAP - £3.50 each)

The items all take small amounts of fabric /fat 1/4 so probably can be done from your stash.  So bring a bagful and go home happy!!!