F2F5: June round-up

It’s the end of the month again.

We’re halfway through this latest session of F²F, and as ever, the blocks are beautiful, colourful, and for the month’s member, a surprise (if they haven’t sneaked a peek).

It was Monike’s month, and we all made her blocks in indigo with golden yellow and accents of magenta (hot pink), with an optional white background. You can see her reference image if you go to the Members & Their Colours page on the F²F blog. The block photos are in the gallery, and they’re gorgeous!

July is Robin’s turn, with a fresh and summery palette of blues and yellows as an antidote to the chilly southern hemisphere winter where she lives. This is what she had to say:

“My colours for this year are blues and yellows with a white background if needed. All shades of blue from light to darkest navy. The yellow can be pale through to mustard and gold like sunflowers. Fabrics can have blue and yellow in the same fabric or be just blue, yellow or white.”

If you’re new to this blog and don’t know anything about F²F, do head over to the dedicated F2F blog and read all about it. The first ever session can be found on this blog, but for subsequent years I set F²F up with its own blog due to the image-heavy nature of the work. You’ll find a rich, varied and vibrant source of inspiration in all the blocks shown in the galleries for the various years. Enjoy!

July’s going to be a month of summer skies and sunflowers 🙂 …

 

BM&I #47: Parterre block 14

Here’s Block 14. I love this one!

It’s becoming apparent that my bright colour fabrics tend towards the warm side of the spectrum. It may be time to do a spot of fabric shopping, so isn’t it lovely that Covid-19 restrictions are slowly lifting, despite a recent flare up down south ;-D

Here’s Block 14 of the Parterre quilt:

And because I may be almost halfway through making the blocks, here’s a fun little collage of where I’ve got to so far. The blocks are, of course, the same size as each other in real life. Visualise them joined by narrow black sashing, perhaps with a brightly-coloured cornerstone at each intersection. Does anyone feel there’s a gap in the colour scheme, a colour missing from the line up? All suggestions considered (but not necessarily acted upon!). I know it’s hard when they’re all different sizes. And I think I’ve come as close to brown as I’m going to. Just sayin’.

Bee, Myself and I is a forum for ‘selfish sewing’; any stitchery which is purely for pleasure and not to a deadline or for anyone else. The original concept belongs to Carla of Granny Maud’s Girl. To find out more, you can click through on either her blog link, or using the button a fair way down in the left hand column of this blog.

Until next time…

Mend it Monday #8

An idea devised by The Snail of Happiness…

Oh joy, another pair of the Husband’s work pants to repair…

I think we can justifiably call this an Heroic Repair, don’t you?  There are already two patches in place from previous incidents, and he really did a number on them this time.

However, despite biting the bullet and buying not one but three new pairs, these are still among his favourites. They’re soft, comfortable and lightweight. So pleeeeease would I mend them. Again.

Oh, very well…

OK, Heroic Mend complete.

That’s better.

Back from outer space

I know, I know, it’s been too quiet around here.

In my defence, I’ve had a pretty foul week. I’ve had to wait for blood test results to see if I had a familial auto-immune disease. Despite having most of the symptoms, it appears from the blood tests – finally – that I don’t. Which is great, but still doesn’t explain the symptoms. Never mind. Life goes on and my sewing mojo is back now that the doom hanging over my head has been removed. I have recovered my equilibrium and my optimism, and I’m back at it.

In token of which, the second Sugar Sprinkles pillowcase front is finished. Completely different, a bit more colour, and patterned fabrics, but still wonky-ish. I just couldn’t go past all those lovely bright colours and splashy prints. The greys are mostly a bit darker, too. The Husband and I can fight over which one we want when the time comes. He thinks they both look like TV test patterns. That’s a brilliant name for a quilt, and I may still need to change Sugar Sprinkles to Test Pattern…  Full credit to the Husband of Chiconia if it happens!

Now to sandwich and quilt these panels, make backs and assemble them. But there’s no rush; my F²F turn doesn’t come till August, and I still have my own blocks to make for that.

Now, what shall I make next…?

ScrapHappy June: Sugar sprinkles

Welcome once again to ScrapHappy Day!

It’s the day my friend Gun in Sweden and I host ScrapHappy, a day for showing something made from scraps.

I don’t really enjoy improv. It’s too…. disorganised. But sometimes, what you have in front of you cries out for some serious improvisation. Later this year, it’s going to be my turn to receive F2F blocks (Footsquare Freestyle, for those who don’t follow regularly). My chosen colour theme is light and mid greys, whites and brights (except yellow, I’m not a big fan and I’m a bit picky, so I’ll be supplying my own yellow blocks!). Well, I thought I’d warm up to making my own blocks by using some of my scraps.

The F2F blocks will certainly become a quilt, and this being the case, I decided to make a quilted pillowcase (or maybe two) to go with it. And this is the first stage, the pieced front (still to be quilted).

I’ve used some fairly tiny scraps and quite a lot of scrappy grey, many of the darker pieces turned back to front to allow them to blend in. I haven’t allowed myself to get all agitated about wonky seams or strange angles. I think it works…. There’ll be another one in the pipeline at some stage. As I said, I don’t really enjoy the process, although I do like the outcome! If the blocks I receive have the same sort of colour balance (ie, more grey than colour) I’ll probably end up calling the quilt Sugar Sprinkles.

ScrapHappy is open to anyone using up scraps of anything – no new materials. It can be a quilt block, pincushion, bag or hat, socks or a sculpture. Anything made of genuine scraps is eligible. If your scrap collection is out of control and you’d like to turn them into something beautiful or useful instead of leaving them to collect dust in the cupboard, why not join us on the 15th of each month? Either email me at the address on my Contact Me page, or leave a comment below. You can also contact Gun via her blog to join. We welcome new members. You don’t have to worry about making a long term commitment or even join in every month, just let either of us know a day or so in advance if you’re new and you’ll have something to show, so we can add your link. Regular contributors will receive an email reminder three days before the event.

Here are the links for everyone who joins ScrapHappy from time to time (they may not post every time, but their blogs are still worth looking at). If you’ve copied this list from previous posts, please use the one below as it’s the most up to date.

Kate (me!), Gun, Titti, Heléne, Eva, Sue, Lynn, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan,
Moira, Sandra, Linda, Chris, Nancy, Alys, Kerry, Claire, Jean,
Joanne, Jon, Hayley, Dawn, Gwen, Connie, Bekki, Pauline,
Sue L, Sunny, Kjerstin and Vera

See you next time for more scrappy loveliness.

A Message from Mouse

Hello blog people, Mouse here again.

I’ve had to have words with the Staff. I noticed that Mum isn’t adhering to her usual regular posting schedule and I felt she was Slacking Off. I know you’ll be concerned that the same slackness might be carrying through to My care and feeding, but luckily, all that is still happening on schedule and up to standard.

It appears that Mum (aka Chief of Staff and Quartermaster) is having a spot of bother with her back and hasn’t been able to adhere to her proper schedule (except for looking after Me, naturally). She says there’s a fair bit of pain and some very unpleasant clunking and grinding sensations, and that as soon as Dad finishes his last day of night shift, she’s going to have a day on her back in bed to let it all settle down.

To be honest, I’m not sure what the fuss is about. Her back’s not nearly as long for her size as mine, but I suppose as she insists on walking around on just her hind paws it’s not surprising she’s having a spot of bother. And she doesn’t spend enough time snoozing, in my opinion. Catch me ever having back trouble… On the other hand, too much time spent snoozing might impact on service quality, so I’m going to keep my opinion to myself on that subject!

To be fair, she has sorted out a couple of piles of scraps and has ironed them. She says it’s for F2F and ScrapHappy and is going to be a cushion cover.

I wonder if it’s for Me… My bed could do with a a bit of smartening up.

Do we not bleed?

From Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, Act III, Scene 1 (with minor adjustment for topicality):

“I am a Man of Colour. Hath not a Man of Colour eyes? Hath not a Man of Colour hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a White Man is? If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die?”

“And if you wrong us shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that….”

“If a White Man wrong a Man of Colour, what should his sufferance be by White Man’s example? Why, revenge. The villainy you teach me, I will execute…”

We have not deserved the forbearance of our Brothers and Sisters of Colour. Despite our example of centuries of oppression, torture, rape, slavery and theft, they have not returned to us our just deserts. Our arrogant, stiff-necked Christianity has not shown them the example of loving kindness towards our fellow men they have deserved of us, despite our cramming it down the necks of people we have oppressed. What they ask is not mercy, but justice. Mercy is shown by the strong to the weak. Justice is for equals.

I ask forgiveness for my assumptions, my arrogance, my ignorance, my unintended blindness to the suffering of my fellow man. I don’t feel prejudice against any colour and I try not to make assumptions; we are all the same under the skin, but I am ashamed because I have not seen, I have not called out and I have not fought for your rights – because they are just as important as mine…

I am a privileged white woman, and I am sorry for it.

BM&I #46: Parterre block 13

Block 13, and a day late, sorry!

I have no idea why I couldn’t have got a couple done this month, but laziness took over. And mending. And hand stitching the Anemone quilt. And so on. I really love the bright greens, combined with yellow on one side and with turquoise on the other. And the scrap I used for the flower was begging to be paired with them! I mean, they both sing at the tops of their voices, right?

So, Block 13 of the Parterre quilt:

Bee, Myself and I is a forum for ‘selfish sewing’; any stitchery which is purely for pleasure and not to a deadline or for anyone else. The original concept belongs to Carla of Granny Maud’s Girl. To find out more, you can click through on either her blog link, or using the button a fair way down in the left hand column of this blog.

Until next time…

F2F5: May round-up

Where is the time going? Time for our monthly round-up again.

And again, all the ladies have come in on time with their blocks. I wonder if that’ll all change once we’re allowed to venture out to eat, shop, work, visit and holiday? I won’t mind too much, as it’ll mean we’re slowly returning to the world we all know. This time out has been an interesting period of self-discovery and creativity for many of us. For others, it has been hard and stressful, and for them, I am glad we are moving towards a degree of normality.

It was Susan’s month, and as in previous F²F sessions, she is making use of her blocks to construct American Hero Quilts. It’s safe now for her to go and look in the gallery to see what she has to work with, and I think she’s going to be pleasantly surprised!

Not surprisingly, her colours were red, white and blue, in any combination except red/blue only. Three colours I suspect most of us have in our stashes most of the time!

June is Monike’s month. This is the first year she has joined us, and I hope it’s being an enjoyable experience! I’ve loved seeing the photos of her original and creative blocks coming in. She has asked for blocks in indigo prints with golden yellow and accents of magenta (hot pink), with an optional white background. You can see her reference image if you go to the Members & Their Colours page on the F2F blog.

If you’re new to this blog and don’t know anything about F²F, do head over to the dedicated F2F blog and read all about it. The first ever session can be found on this blog, but for subsequent years I set F²F up with its own blog due to the image-heavy nature of the work. You’ll find a rich, varied and vibrant source of inspiration in all the blocks shown in the galleries for the various years. Enjoy!

I like the summery colours we’ll be using this June…

 

Mend it Monday #7

An idea devised by The Snail of Happiness…

Oh joy, not one but three pairs of the Husband’s work pants to repair…

I’ve told him that it’s probably time to consider a couple of new pairs; many of the existing ones now have multiple patches on the seat, and once they start giving out, there’s only so much you can do to resurrect them. The legs will make useful future patches.

Right, that’s my mending basket empty.

That’s better.