Back in  the summer of 2012 Michele from the Quilting Gallery started a Quilt-Along aimed at beginner quilters.  Although I'm not a beginner I had never made a sampler quilt and had never taken part in a mystery quilt. I thought this quilt-along would be a good opportunity to do both of those things and to refresh some skills and learn others.  When I first started quilting we all used cardboard templates to draw around and scissors to cut out fabric, roller cutters, cutting mats and specialist rulers had not become the norm.  

I hoped that by following the quilt-along I would learn some new to me  techniques that are standard practise to quilters these days.  Also I planned to see if I could use my AccuQuilt Go! to cut pieces accurately and quickly.  I decided to make three quilts in total, one using techniques I was familiar with, one using the instructions given by Michele and one using the AccuQuilt Go! for as many blocks as possible.  I started by making the blocks using Michele's instructions.

The individual blocks were

I thoroughly enjoyed making the blocks each week and joining in with the discussions about the quilt-along on Flickr many people posted weekly pictures of their blocks and it was fascinating to see how different the end results were when all of us started from the same place.  The three sets of blocks I made all look very different.  This one is made from fabric I already had in my stash and the link between the blocks was flowers.  All the blocks have flower fabric in them and most of the blocks have two flower fabrics of different scales.  The second set of blocks is also made from fabric in my stash and is a scrappy blue quilt and the third is fabric purchased especially for the quilt-along and is called Dandelion Daydreams by Maywood Studios.  because a lot of the flower fabric is directional I spent a lot of time making sure the pieces were cut and sewn together the right way up.   

After completing all the blocks for all three quilts I needed to take a break from the project.  The break went on for a lot longer than I anticipated.  I found myself worrying about making choices for borders, scared of the quilting process and generally finding excuses not to move forward with finishing the quilts.

For this quilt, once all the effort of keeping the fabric in the blocks the right way round was completed, it looked to me as though it was a typical English country garden and so when I found some fabric that continued the theme I knew I had the right border fabric to finish this quilt.  Once again I had to make sure the fabric was cut and attached so that it is all the same way up but it was worth the effort as the border really compliments the blocks.

I then had a few panicked moments over the possibility of ruining everything while trying to quilt it on my domestic sewing machine.  Eventually I came to my senses and remembering that the object for this year is to finish things and applying the maxim that done is better than perfect I took a deep breath,put the quilt top under the sewing machine and free motioned it.

It is far from perfect but it is done.  At the moment it hangs on a wall and I'm the only person who sees wonky quilting and not matching seams.  

Now I just need to finish the other two quilt tops.

The fabric for this quilt was an impulse buy at the Spring Quilt Festival at Westpoint, Exeter. I promised myself at the beginning of the year that impulse purchases would be used straight away and not tucked into the stash and forgotten about for months.

The pattern is a Dissapearing Nine Patch, a block I've never tried before and the floral fabrics all seemed to represent springtime to me. With so many busy fabrics I decided that simple quilting was all that was needed and so an all over grid with the walking foot I also just happened to buy at the show finishes it off nicely.

This beautiful block arrived in the post the other day.  It is my block for the January swap of Block Swap Adventure.  This group is such fun to be a part of, I always receive lovely blocks and it is fascinating to see how other people interpret my request.  So many different colours used to make this Cactus Block over the past year but they all work as a whole.  Must start quilting them soon and get a bed quilt completed.

If you like the idea of making a block for someone else and in return receiving a block made especially for you have a look at the BSA website and join in with us.

My partner this month asked for a Bonnie Hunter Crayon Box block. I had never come across this one before so I went straight to Bonnie's website to find out more about it. Of course I got distracted by all the lovely things on the site and it took me a while to work my way down to the block instructions. Once I found the instructions the block was simple to make. My partner had requested that the block colours should be red,white,and black. All my fabrics in these colours looked to Christmassy for a January block and so I was forced to go buy more fabric. Although I like the fabrics individually and it's a quick and easy block to put together this is not a block that appeals to me personally. I like scrappy blocks and I like string pieced blocks but this variation is not to my taste. I enjoyed making it for my partner but would not make it again for myself.

This month's parcel came from Susan, who is a fellow Fitbit user, (more about Fitbit in another post).  She sent me a lovely parcel, a great deal of which disappeared very quickly.

I love peanuts, these were hardly out of the box before I was opening the packet and gobbling them down.  Very Tasty.

I don't know how Susan knew I have just bought the best pan ever for cooking risotto but it has become a passion this year and so when I saw this packet of Risotto con Peperoni I knew it had to be taste tested very quickly.  It cooked up so easily and the kitchen smelled wonderful as it did so, the packet easily made four servings so on day 1 it was served hot with stuffed roasted peppers and on day 2 it was mixed with the vegetables that hadn't made it into the peppers, some tinned tuna, topped with a bit of grated cheese and heated through until the cheese melted.  Delicious on both days.  I will be looking for this when food shopping as it is so tasty.

The teas were incredibly refreshing and made a lovely change from fruit tea or coffee.

The carrot and pecan trail mix was put in my backpack when I went walking this week but didn't make it home.  Very, very moreish.  At least i was exercising so I didn't feel too guilty about eating it all in one session.

I haven't tried the paella spices yet or the african pepper but neither has made it into the spice drawer.  Both are sitting by the hob waiting for the first possible excuse to use them.  I think the paella spices might be tried tonight as rice is on the menu and the pepper won't be long before it is tried.

As usual this was a fun parcel to receive, I have never yet been disappointed with a parcel, and I have had the chance to try foods I have not previously known about.

If you like the idea of getting a parcel full of foodie treats each month and would like to know more about it all have a look at This is Rock Salt for those of you in the UK and Europe or The Lean Green Bean for those of you in the USA and Canada.

This cross stitch is one of the many UFO's that demand my attention. It's the one I've decided to concentrate on first this year simply because it was at the top of the pile and that seemed as good a reason as any other. When it's completed it should look like this.

Finishing the ginger cat is the only really complicated bit left to do and that takes time as the colour changes are so frequent. Once he is out of the way the lettering should be plain sailing. Let's see how it looks at the end of the month.