Hello what a week  .... to be topped off by a trip to the TWISTED THREAD  tommrow. in London . Most excited most interested .
I must resist the TRADE Stands although I suspect my hands will itch and my money dance a tango in my pocket trying to fly into the hands of the sellers of fabrulous fabrics and tempting notions .

I rapidly ran up a quilt for the daughter of a friend who has CF and it is completed ... quilted , bound the lot ... it needed doing and getting on with it . So it was done in 2 days and will go to it;s new home this weekend .

I promise I'll post photos of the show ...
a slightly unfocused RAVEN XX

BLOCKTASTIC

Sorry I tend to get a tad over enthusiastic at times.
OS today so far I have welcomed my husband home and sent him off again within 12 hours!
THe laundry is bouncing round the machine, I;ve cleaned out the hens ( bantams)
cooked breakfast and spoken to my parents 250 miles away ... written up my quilt website and cut a special quilt for a young lady I;ve known since birth who sadly has Cystic Fibrosis and spends a lot of time in Great Ormund Street Hospital ... yup it;s bene busy so far.

I am hopnig to get the quilt top made it;s only a half square triangle (LARGE) with some already made random blocks set between them in shades of light blues... so a bit of artistic license has gone into this and I have used shades of greens and blues and the blocks are a right mish mash but have blues and greens and some copper and bronze type colours so they should lok pretty good.
Hospitals of course are a bit odd re washing these items so she will have to have a 4oz polyester filling and heavily quilted ot hold it in and lets pray the gitsa don;t kill it !

I also must slay the GB style quilt .. it;s been lurking in hte corner like a wet dog .. stinking hte place up and making me feel uncomfortable it needs doing it needs it;s binding and it needs to go this wekend and sitting here isn't doing it LOL

I,m having problems postingp ics as my phone doesn't want to pass them over and synch is being a pig . grrrr .
SO I may have to change my photo method. ie use a proper camera and do it that way.  THe funny thing is ..................................... 15 years ago none of us had any of this .
we didn't BLOG we wrote diaries
We took film based pics and had them processed
We phoned or wrote to friends
We used pen pal groups to make new foreign friends however ...... in 1989 an enterprising young man called Tim Berners Lee working at CERN started it all off and with the help of CERN a load of enhgineers and people at MIT we ended up with the web .

SO why should I mention it well that;s where DH did his PhD and has just spent 3 days . I have bragging rights . He used ot use the office it all started in .

ANyway I am away to my champber of secrets and dark deeds will be done.
Be happy
Love Raven xx

Bonsoir mes amis . ... well that;s as French as it;s going to get ... DH is off to Switzerland very VERY early in the morning and I will not be up to wave him off .  3 days of larking around on the LHC in CERN  with a group of students... nah that's not work . OK he has to pack his "back pack backpack .." Dora the Exploiter rides again .  and there we go .

So I get to do all the school runs ... the homework supervision.... as well as the domestic engineering that goes with this house.

I also have the BFGW quilt to kill off . I am hopnig to have a telecon tonight to discuss the quilting styyle ... will it be SIAD  or will we go for something like Stipple or some other stylised quilting pattern . It;s going to be QAYG Quilt as You go .. so the quilt will be divided into 4 sections  and then the front sections will be joined together  and then a special cover put on the back ..

It;s a monster  a Kingsize at least .... well even in it;s raw state it covers our kingsize bed... now I get confused re sizes of beds the US sizing v UK sizing ... UK means at least 6 ft across the bed ... someone will no doubt tell me the US relative size.

I havethe japanese print to look at quilting as well and i think this one will be mainily quilted in invisible thread so as not to spoil the whiteness. maybe the odd line of porange or blue in occassional places but very low key .

I also have to get rid errrrrrr complete and put the edge on that darn GB quilt ... it mustl eave this weekend .

I have had lovely news today as well . A firned has offered to drag me along to the twtisted hteread show in London .... whhhooop whhhoooppp. I love TT shows and look at the quilts etc ... I must resist the temptation of al ltrade stands
I can order asm uch as I like 2 weeks after but not that week  LOL 

So my dear peeps .... I,m away to get my "single parent" grove on ...

Wish me luck !
Love RAVEN xxx

http://www.quiltcon.com/get-involved/quiltcon-block-challenge/

OMG am designing already just pray some smartie pants doesn't beat me to it !

Binding binding binding and sashing.

OK so I want to make the sashing on the BGWQ look awesome.. heck I;ve spent enough time designing and sorting and if I botch up the sashing it;s going to really annoy me .

 Soooooooooooooooooo smartie pants that I am I thought .... "Lets mitre the sashing"   making the corners triangular ..NOT square... well bite my backside for being a clever clogs.

 I got some old scraps and some"instructions" I use the term loosely as a very sketchy diagram and some one wiffling on a whiny voice does not a set of instructions make in my book.

So I sort of followed the instructions and nope that didn't work and no that didn't work either until I thought ... hang on !     if I was making a garment ( a sack classes asa garment as wel lyou know )
I;d marki this cut it with seam allowance and do it that way .... yup you guessed it ... I worked it out all on my own .

so now I have to of course do this for not only the outer sashing but the inner as well which means ... 2 mitres and a central seam ... now you see why I am kicking myself.   

Well in true Raven sstyle I tyhought of it I want it and so i am going to do it and yes my family might be deaf by the time I finish yelling at it ( not them #)  but it will look better I think .

You might be wondering why go for this effect when everything else is squared.... wel lthat;s the thing ... it;s all going to be too square if I am not careful and I don;t want it TOO square ... does that make sense.

So anyway I am going to go and fit some sashing to another SiaS  ( square in a square) style quilt and see if I can sash that one confidently    .

WIPS

"The BIG grey "
Gees bend style
SiaS Japanese print
Placemats
BFGW Quilt
Super scrapper

Lord! Help me!

Take care people it;s rough out there XXX

Greetings my fellow bee' ers and other peeps who have fallen into the blogging web!
So the weekend ... here and gone in a flash!  Saturday lost to  karate training, shopping, prepping for an evening event of star gazing and teaching school kids about staring into the heavens .

Well sadly a great day was marred by lost keys to the facility ! This then had repercussions into today ! to say that sapped my energy  and has had an impact on my sewing.

Yes I managed ot applique my "petals" to my blocks to go to the bee with limited issues... a couple of slightly rolling edges but I seemed to get it sorted I jsut hope they are ok for Debbe . I am including the remaining scraps and spares, batiks and bits and pieces so that she has spare as required.

I have finally cracked the "BFGW" quilt . HOOORAHHHHH !

Talk about a right wriggler ... this one has challenged me on the design front, fabric selection and styling. Add to that both Peter and John have a very specific design requirement and making it all work together was defiantely a head scratcher.

THe design specific has bene basedo n the guys holiday in South America with visits to PEru, Brazil, Patagonia ,. something they mentioned was the intense levels of Blue they saw in the skies, sea, rivers , wildlife .

Fabric selection was therefore more organic.... i chose batiks and designs that reflect nature. So geometics and feathers, amonites, picking out colours inthe intense greens, blues, aquas , purples that I suppose we imagine we would see in both the "jungles" and in the carnival atmosphere .

THe main design is built in 4 sets of 9 blocks ... mainly in a sort of rail fence design .
Now railfence would not be my first choice ... too simple too rookie.... maybe I was being snobbish .. yup i was actually . THe design the guys wanted wasa very very simplistic colour fazing around a central square but in the range of fabrics I had was going to mean that I either had to cut really BIG  pieces which would then look ..............well .... jsut wrong ..

OH GOD ! panic struck and then i went and sulked.

So out come the pens and paper and loking at the pictures and fabrics I thought  there must be more than one way to swing a feline !

sooooo we got to rail fence..... not to thick not too thin.... rail fence around a central square  ... 4 large blocks  then joined with sahsing and a coordinating framing fabric and bob;s yr auntie !

I'll post pics as I get them

http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=10150734793088593&set=a.10150332462318593.392132.602638592&type=1&theater

but this is one block .. only another 3 to go . THe next big question will be the quilting style.

Nayway ...  sleep well and hope yr week improves!

Love from Raven xxxxx

Greetings mt ittle blog hoppers!  Well today was another day at a very very busy clinic which seemed to take forever and go very slowly .

I have managed to bond some batik to some double sided .... without too much trouble... I,m waiting for it to jump out and bite me . YPu this applique hang up is really getting my knickers in a tangle and I suppose this is the perfect opportunity to get over this pysch hurdle.

I have my lovely week off next week and I am anticipating a lot of clearing the decks. THe big grey will be finished ,  the Japanese orange aqua and lime  will be quilted  and bound and the Gees bend will be sent out ! ( SILENT CHEER!)

I am about to et the blocks done for the BGW quilt . Very dear friend is getting married in AUgust after finally finding the man of his dreams and we are delighted to see them making a lifetime commitment to each other. As a result I am making the Big Gay Wedding quilt . A glorious melange of blues, purples, dark greens and pale aquas. Working in a central block theme  these will be made in 4 large blocks of 9 9 inch blocks.... so each quadrant will be .... about 24 inches wide .. plus sashing .... so the finished event will be around 60 inches square....

THe debate is whether it goes out to a Long arm quilting professional or I do it myself. I am a great believer in farm to fork .... so I design it , cut it , sew it , prep it quilt it bind it . I am jsut not sure what to do on this one. Maybe my confidence has wavered a bit . Self doubt is a bugger !

Good news my blood pressure is almost "normal" 124/79 !! Wohhhhooooo . Hey for the most stressed woman in the world that;s pretty good . I was starting to wonder if I was a tad elelvated ... stress , weight , not getting as much exercise as usual however I have a very low starting rate .. at under 21 mine was average base of 120/60 and at almost 6ft tall  well .. standing up can get a bit flakey.
I can work on getting my weigth and blood pressure down over the next 6months . However that means not sewing as much LOL . Maybe I can trade 5 mons sewing for 5 mins on the bike ...and maybe up my swimming time too .

I am super keen to get my next set of blocks so I might sit down and do some sample blocks to keep myself amused. IT will also gie me an opportunity to think about my turn in the    STASH BEE !

Tommorow is Herman feeding day . Who the heck is Herman  I can hear you ask .... Herman is a sourdough style cake .... it comes in a jar and youfeed it and mix it and stir it and add stuff as per the "instructions"  I say instructions as it recommmends to "stir Herman well" well in my house Herman gets a right pasting ! Nothing l ike beating the l iving daylights out of your "cake" Herman certainly seems fairly "lively" so it will be interesting to see what it tastes like . And anyway .... Herman will contain "fruit" so it;s healthy !

Sleep well my little beasties!
Love RAven XXX