YouPatch tutorial - How do you put a pixel block together?

For those of you who have downloaded the FREE Marilyn pixel quilt pattern from youpatch.com and would like a bit of help assembling your blocks, here is a tutorial for you!!

The first thing you need to do is organize all your cut pieces. I like to keep mine in those little plastic snap-lock bags so I can easily find them when I need them.

Once you have all your fabric cut and organized, select and lay out the pieces you need for your block.
This is block B2 from the Marilyn pattern.

The first stitching you need to do is sew the smallest squares into pairs to create the smallest rectangle shape.

Now sew the smallest rectangles together to create squares

Next we need to create 8 rectangles

Getting the idea? Can you see what comes next?

I bet you can work out the rest now :-)

TA DAAA!!!!

You are well on your way to making your pixel quilt.

Happy pixelating!!

Andi xx

Not my usual pallette

2 matching cushions for my niece and her husband (who each had birthdays in recent weeks).

Their house is decorated mostly in neutrals.
I used a newspaper print for the backs.

And I couldn't resist a touch of red!!!!

Happy birthday Kim and Stu!!

Andi xx

My day with Kaffe and Brandon (and 30 other squealing women!)

Get ready for a long post with LOADS of photos ....

Kaffe and Brandon are in town and I was lucky enough to get into a workshop they ran today at Amitie, the happiest land of them all!

This image above is of the original bordered diamonds quilt from the book Simple Shapes, Spectacular Quilts. It was our focus for the day.

There were so many lovely people there today:

That's me with Jenny, owner of Amitie

Miriam, Me (and my chins) and Cathy

Melissa, Cathy and Me

Blogless Sue and Judy

And so many other awesome women........

..... who brought with them LOADS of delicious fabric:

Lisa was obscenely neat and organized.

We ate well:

And drank well ...

But mainly we worked hard!!
There were design walls everywhere:

Here are some of the wonderful designs that were created today:

Here I am hard at work:

Check out the progression of my design wall:

It eventually became this:

After all the designing (and eating and drinking and singing and laughing and chatting) was done, Kaffe went from design wall to design wall offering insights and lashings of praise and encouragement.

Here he is critiquing my design:

During the day, Kaffe was generally quiet, measured and a bit serious.

The only real 'smiley' shot I got of him was standing in front of Linda's quilt ... my favourite of the day:

Brandon on the other hand ...

What an amazing day!!
Thank you to EVERYONE who made it possible.

Andi xx

Well, maybe just one more quilt

Even though I have summed up and signed off for 2010, I got my hands on a fat quarter stack of Momo's "It's a Hoot" and a charm pack of "Just Wing It" by the same designer and a quilt instantly designed itself in my head.

I had to sew it IMMEDIATELY. You know when you get into the flow and can't stop until the thing is done?

I am hoping to teach some classes next year at Amitie (the happiest place of them all) and one idea is to have a class aimed at sewists who don't want to dwell on perfect points and following rules. This would be a class aimed at people who want to learn the tricks of fast and furious (but still rather gorgeous) quilt making.

Patchwork where your mistakes don't get re-done. They get hidden away or simply embraced. Besides, who will ever actually notice???

 

This is the quilt I thought I'd teach. Would you be interested in a class like that?

Andi xx

I'm in love

with Squint Design ...

The most amazing patchworked furniture I've ever seen.
Treat yourself and go have a look!!

 

Truly a feast for the eyes!!

I'm inspired!!!!

Andi x

My new favourite recipe

Take one canvas in desperate need of a makeover:

Add a generous helping of some gorgeous fabrics:

Take one fabulous tutorial (but with significantly increased quantities), a bloody big staple gun ... and you have this:

Best enjoyed with a freshly made bed:

Sleep well!!

Andi :-)