black fabric challenge

well, have signed up to do city and guilds level 3 certificate in design , patchwork and quilting with school of stitched textiles
they have  a  competition on their facebook page for a piece made with predominantly black fabrics
REALLY tough
with my poor eyes, and my bedroom ( ahem  studio ) poor lighting, black on black a real problem
quite like the ( unintentional) effect on my backing of the free motion, bit cobwebby.

central block

finished the central block with  girl and montauk lighthouse
now just contemplating borders
think I will consult bumblebeans.inc for inspiration to make my own fabric for border  blocks

also thinking of applying to do city and guilds  course in patchwork and quilting level 3
looks such fun and can be studied on online ; which is just as well as the  school of stitched textiles is in lancashire........www.sofst.org

Oliso fancy iron

I just HAD to order the great quilting iron from Oliso
Evidently it had reached Customs in UK where it has descended into Hades whilst they attach a huge import fee on it.
 Feeling that I really must control my gadget urges
I will need  to buy a step down voltage converter for more than the iron cost, in order to use it in the UK
But I am NOT going to give up yet
I WILL have my iron !

NY holiday memory quilt

Inspiration came over me today ( just like that )
have made individual blocks to remind me of the lovely house we stayed in ( recognise it V?)
and an acorn  from all the oaks around
planning the Montauk lighthouse next.......need an injection of courage before I start that one

Kona cotton 'slate' play

Trying to work out what to do with all my little pieced blocks I made in the USA
LOVED the Kona cotton slate when I saw it at Victoria's studio, so immediately ordered yards and yards.
Arrived yesterday, best postage ever ( $13.50) I have had from a USA site fabric shack.
Some of the blocks wanted to be friends, some wanted some distance......now waiting for inspiration for the rest of the quilt. Also thinking today very much of you all 10 years ago, and sending best wishes to you from England to you in the USA.

paper pieced silk star

Victoria gave me a lovely set of silk fat quarters....autumn colours
I tried them out with this star today, which is paper pieced from a free carol doak template
The silk was quite fragile to deal with, maybe I should have interfaced it before cutting?

any advice?

long island inspirations

our 5 day stay in the Hamptons turned into a 12 day stay due to being caught up in hurricane Irene

my uncles wife Victoria taught me how to paper piece and let me have fun in her studio, thanks V!

These are from Carol Doak's book on paper piecing quilt blocks

looking forwards to using them as accents in a quilt as I am too lazy to make 100s of them!

My daughter was choosing her favourite block here

we had a great holiday, first the calm before the storm....note the TV van getting ready to report at sag harbour

then getting ready for Irene, 5 beds, flashlights, candles ( vanilla scented of course), candy and QUILTS

the town was getting ready too

guess who was at the cafe?

then we hunkered down until it was safe to go out, this is the beach the evening after Irene hit

so glad I did my hair nice that day

then the calm returned

here are the girls modeling my first oilcloth creation ( the grey bag with polka dots , has a sky blue silk lining)

and the perfect doggie bag ( mine is on the right, I cant take credit for the spotty one! )