A very busy month or two

Well February & March had me on my toes. It's been a very busy month with lots of baby boys being born.


To start off I'll share my contribution to the Bee Blessed group.

February's Block

March's Block

I am still very much enjoying adding these blocks to the terrific work that the Bee Blessed Group carry out.

Next in line are the quilts that I've made since my last post.

I'm now starting work on another quilt for another baby boy! This one will be made from my Oscar design and I'm looking forward to making that quilt again. It's been a while.


I also made an Easter Basket especially for a customer of mine who had already ordered some from me a couple of years ago. It was great to make one and I had forgotten how much work they were! But it was enjoyable work.

I also gave my sewing room a huge clean out and sorted out my fabrics and took stock of what fabrics I had and those that were running low. It always feels great when your sewing room is back in order and you can start to mess it up again the next day.

I did however notice that I'm running very low on yellows and purples so I may or may not have order more fabric to fill that space!

So this is happening..

..this week:

I had an order for one of my baby boy blue quilts. This design is my most popular by a million miles. I need to tot up how many of them I have made. Although I have made lilac, floral and pinky ones, the original blue ones are still my best seller. I kinda don't post about them much anymore as I'm thinking you guys are so bored of seeing them and I can't say I'd blame you!

I have two more orders for this quilt lined up over the next two weeks.

I do think I have some of the best customers going though, they are so much fun and when orders turn into secret missions - well all the better. I love going the extra mile to make them happy. 

Next up I have a cushion order, before I go launching into the next two quilts. This is for a little baby girl. We have decided on the general idea, so I was playing around with placement and did all the cutting out today.

I'll leave you with a selection of photos of herself doing her Austin Powers impression!

Happy New Year

Another January, another flying start to the year. I finished up sewing quite early in December to give myself a much needed break and also to ease myself into the Christmas spirit. It was the first Christmas in years where I didn't take part in any swaps & I didn't sew anything Christmas related either - other than a few embroidery hoops that don't count.

I opted out of the Modern Irish Quilters Bee last year and this one too. Although I did enjoy the Bee I did in 2012 I found it quite stressful. 2012 was a terrible year for me health wise I was in hospital a lot and found my months stacking up. Now there was absolutely no pressure put on me, and the ever wonderful Sarah sorted everything out. All the Bee ladies were very sweet and understanding. BUT I still did feel that completely self inflicted pressure - I don't know why, but I did. 

I suffer from a very rare and debilitating illness which leaves me in considerable pain. I cannot tell from one week to the next how I will be, so it is important for me to be clever with my workload and commitments. I used to get carried away with wanting to sew everything and offer crazy quick turnarounds on orders but I finally copped on and gave myself space and time to do what I can. If I can't physically do anything for a few days then that's fine.

Sooooo when I saw Judith's Bee blessed Block of the Month on the MQGI blog I made a commitment to myself to make a handful of these blocks every month. What's great about this is I don't have to worry if I miss a month, I can always make it back when I feel I can and I'll get to participate and learn some new blocks into the bargain. You never know I might even make one of the Bee's sewing days in Belfast sometime in 2015 if I'm able for it!

So January's block was the Maple Leaf, a block I've never made before and have been meaning to try out. I really enjoyed making them and they got me back in the sewing saddle after 5 weeks off!

January BOM for Bee Blessed 

So, once I got my sewing boots on I wanted to make a pillow case to match the quilt I made for my girl Sophie in late last year. The quilt is a random mix of 3" squares from a huge variety of fabrics. The finished quilt measures 60" x 80" so it can grow with her. 

The old pillowcases whilst still pretty, didn't quite match the quilt. I am so happy with the result and it's so nice to visualise something and get it done! Now the only thing left to do in her room is everything else! 

And an added bonus was her reaction! Seriously I didn't think she would be a bit bothered or even notice but she loved it, gave it a squeeze and laid her head on it, what more can a mother ask?

Geraldine x