Distlefinks ..no honestly!

I love this word Distlefinks!  

Just a few weeks ago I had never heard it but I liked it from the start. 

It is the name for the folk art bird used in the HEX symbols made by the Pensilvania Dutch.

They are very cute ... don't you think?

Well my Distlefink flew the nest today and has gone off to part of the challenge

 "Something Borrowed Something Blue".  

I'm not sure where it will be displayed exactly  ... it travels I think (sometimes I need to ask a few more questions) but my husband made a great point in making sure it was coming home at some point.  He loved it ...  but he made me smile when he said 

"ooh it looks 3-D"   

Yes dear that would be because it's Trapunto'd!

...a knee lift would be good!

Buttonhole applique around circles and tight curves without a knee lift or automatic pressor foot lift is tedious to say the least!

Oh well .. It's on my wish list now.

... and the winner of the Nest Egg is ..

Thank you to everyone that took part in the Quiltmehappy Nest Egg competition. 

Hope you all enjoyed hunting for the special piccy.

This months winner was Sara G. 

Congratulations!  (Sara please check your email for instruction on how to choose your bolt of the day)

So, should we run this competition again next month and make it a regular feature?

In the meantime, heres a sneak peak of a new quilt I'm making.

Nest Egg Competition time

Have you entered the NEST EGG competition over at Quilt me Happy?  

It closes tonight UK time at  9pm so you have to be quick. 

All you have to do is find this photo hidden amongst the fabrics. Then send a message to say you have found it and you will be entered  into a draw to choose your own bolt of the day and save 35% off the web price. 

So how easy is that!

Want a hint where to find the Nest Egg?

HINT: This designers fabrics should be applauded!

The Teenage Cancer Trust Raffle Quilt

Tickets for the The Vectis Quilters Raffle Quilt in aid of The Teenage Cancer Trust will be available at the end of April. Please do go and visit their website here and contact the secretary for details and to register your interest in buying some tickets. 

You will be supporting a great cause.

Arty quilts shots

The weather was nice today so I managed to take a couple of photos of the Vectis Quilters raffle quilt. Its a big quilt (84" x 95") so trying to fold and arrange it was quite a challenge.  I'm still struggling with slightly greyed off background and some shadowing. Note to self .. investigate some lights ! 

So here it is. Quilted and binding sewn to front.

The quilting pattern is Mariposa by Patricia Ritter
and the thread is Aurifil 40wt.

 So that's my part done and its back to Vectis to hand stitch the binding! 

Raffle Quilt in quilting progress made by Vectis Quilters on the Isle of Wight. I'm not sure when this will be raffled but there is a huge amount of foundation piecing in this quilt AND it's huge!
It will make one lucky winner very happy I'm sure! If you want details of where to get tickets send me a message.



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Curious Nature in Transit!

I am feeling uber excited! 

Curious Nature by Parson Gray is almost here and I can't wait to start making this quilt!  

(My American buddy Laura .. this one is for you !)

The designer behind Parson Gray is no other than Amy Butler's husband,

David Butler 

What a team.  Scary too ... all that design talent in one house !  

You can download the pattern for this quilt  (and others ) from the Free Spirit Website here 

The pattern looks really quite easy and those curves are nice and gentle  

so I don't think it will be a problem to put together. Actually as I think about it  it would be a good  pattern to introduce curved piecing into your repertoire.

The quilt is around 62" (157cm) square and

 made in 4 blocks - each one measuring 31" (79cm)

 So what do you think ... you like?