Got my ticket!

Last year I went to the Stitch Gathering.  It was a fantastic event and a great opportunity to learn new skills.  I had a lot of fun in the two classes I took and was really inspired.  The first class was Sheila's one on crazy patchwork which gave me the confidence to try these (top left is the mini I started in Sheila's class.)

My second was with Fiona, who taught how to make this beautiful quilt which she designed and had published in Creative Quilting.  This resulted in Big Red Triangles.

Both teachers were lovely and are coming back this year.  Maybe I will see you there!

A picture, a moment

Work has picked up as it does at this time of year, but I am making creeping progress with Leaves, little by little.  I wasn't sure how which colour thread to quilt the leaves before the obvious occurred to me (duh) - these are Oakshott cottons from the Rubies range, and all shot with red.  So I am using the same red Aurifil 28 I used on Big Red Triangles and Walk Don't Walk and didn't have to buy any thread.  Aesthetics with economy, yay!  That spool is going a long way.

It's often quite difficult to catch the iridescent quality of Oakshotts in a photograph, but I like this one.

Linking up with Martha!

City life

Could anyone not love robins?  

Linking up with Martha:

Slow Blog Linky

On the 15th of every month we have a linky party here, or on another blog, for bloggers who are creative at a more leisurely speed - whether out of choice, or necessity.   It's a place to share triumphs and disasters, connect, and give encouragement.  If you'd like to join in, just link up a post, and then support other Slow Bloggers by visiting as many other links as you can.  And if you'd like to host, do get in touch.

This has been a very slow month for me - work is kicking off again after a winter break - but I have a handful of WIPs, and have made one thing which I love, so that's not too bad!

Walk, Don't Walk

What about you?

<a href="http://www.knottedcotton.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Knotted Cotton" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Ce7nLPi7CfsfK0jst2iV0kfnUkH0NJTyWBgov5NIdWwlUw8-9uHswjxOGoXXo6njrUF3fkpNINJ7rBcHflJG4K-t8cjxD9n3-9HvaCPVk3Helaa-9niPh33kAoUY-wqES6ZxYBll7Yjp/s125/snail-with-title%2520copy-004.jpg"/></a>

WIP...Thursday

I've temporarily reached a bit of an impasse.  Leaves quilt is progressing but I am having a small crisis of confidence.  I hope that quilting and the border I have planned will make sense of it.

I have also been working on a very small quilt for the Pantone challenge and have made a mistake in measuring a key piece and have cut it too short with no fabric to spare.   And it is not very exciting.  And it looks very similar to someone else's quilt.  And I'm not even convinced that the colour is Radiant Orchid enough!

This is not really a shameless trawl for validation, you are quite within your rights to send me a virtual kick in the pants if you like - I'm just wondering: what do you do in this situation, power on through, or move guilt-free onto something else?!

Slow Blog Linky Party will be here on the 15th (thank you to Moira for being our lovely hostess last month) - if you are a Slow Blogger feel free to join in!