My stash busting is so busted!

It's never a good idea to visit a quilt show the day after payday, but I did it today! My local show is an hour's drive away, and Mr Kwilter volunteered to be driver and bag carrier, so not wanting to refuse an offer like this, I ordered a roll of wadding from Lady Sew and Sew...expensive, but no postage to pay, and the roll will last me a good year to 18 months. I'd planned to browse the exhibits, pick up my wadding and a new cutting board, then head home...How wrong I was!!

First some eye candy:

Just a few of my favourites in the show. The standard's definitely getting higher each time I visit. South West Quilters had their recruitments stand, They'd put an appeal out for banners to decorate the outside of their drapes, and our new group decided we needed to get our name out there, so made a banner:

I love it!! Jan B pieced the background, I appliqued the lighthouse and words, and Helen quilted it. Our name and contact details are on the back, so if people attend the show and would like to join us, the info's all right there. We'll get it back after the AGM in mid April, but the Guild would like to have them each year for their stand. I think the general group agreement is that we'll be making another one to hang at our own meetings, coffee mornings and shows.

Naturally, I did a fair bit of stash enhancement...numbers to follow in the side bar, but first pictures.

Bundle of 8 neutral FQs (stash replenishment) bundle of 8 dark FQs (because they were 2 bundles for £20). Metre of golf print fabric (stash enhancement, but possibly for a bag for a work colleague who's a golfer and going through a rough time right now) 4 sets of Moda charm squares. No excuse at all for these...not even the "Use Your Charms" meeting coming up at Sound Stitchers next month. But, they were only £5 each...I saw other ranges priced at £9.50 today, so total bargain. I've got plans for these involving the yo-yo maker I bought last month, and a bag pattern. Mini bolt of blue batik, backing for Hannah's Guide quilt

This pic shows a metre of calico for labels and hanging sleeves, a bobbin of fine thread to use in my bottom bobbin, 3 new rotary blades, essential replacement, a skein of sashiko thread to go with some blue batik to make a slouch bag with. (not the blue batik above, some I bought in Bovey Tracy). Diane Gaudinski machine quilting guide, I bought this for my former quilt group, and loved it so much, I wanted my own copy. The cutting board everything's lined up on is new as well, my old one was getting just too warn and warped.

Finally, the roll of wadding, not very glamorous, but certainly essential equipment.

Numbers going on the sidebar now

Short but sweet

Just a quickie before dinner time, here's my BQL monthly challenge for June. Can't believe I've finished it by the 2nd. I'm 4th in the photo gallery for the group too. Nice easy one this time, for the quilting, I used my walking foot and just did squiggly lines in a Madeira Lana thread I got in a goody bag at the FoQ last year.



The thread broke a few times, mainly when the machine was tying off at the start of lines, but the texture is lovely. I used a slightly longer stitch length and took it nice and slowly. I don't think I'd use this on a big machine project, but it would be fab for hand embroidery and it worked well in this small piece.

Quilt group tonight with a sale table from Janet so hoping to buy some green and some red from her. When I was in Exeter, I bought some Japanese charm pieces, and finally decided last night what I wasnted to make with them. Obviously a charm quilt, but I didn't want to go for just sewing them in rows. I found an old quilt I'd designed on EQ6 with snowballs and think it'll work well with these squares and the green/red borders.

Exeter Spring Quilt Festival

We got there way too early after a clear journey up. I think we were the 5th car in the car park! I'd taken a list to remind me what to buy, but forgot to take my camera so couldn't get any shots of the exhibition. This turned out to be a big shame as there were some great quilts on show. I particularly liked a 3-D poppy on a bed sized quilt, the collection of women's suffrage quilts in green white and violet, and the collection made by a group on the theme of "book titles". I've stored that idea away for a possible group challenge next year. They were 12" square, so not too big for even a beginner. I liked the entry for Moby Dick, a 3-D whale fluke with beads strung off it to look like water.

I needed to pick up a pre-ordered bolt of wadding from Lady Sew & Sew, and also bought a mini bolt of jade marble and a roll of pink and chocolate swirl from them. The jade thread is for a quilt I'm planning with the fabric from the BQL Secret Santa swap. I was given 10 pieces. I thought they were FQs but they seem bigger, possibly quarter metres? Anyway they're chocolate and pink, so the jade will give a nice vibrant contrast.



The creamy batik is for the backing of the two baby quilts. I've forgotten which stall I bought it from though.

Also for the baby quilts is this Moda Layer Cake and Jelly Roll. The range is called "Fig and Plum", and I've used 12 pieces from each of them, so plenty left for stashing and other projects. The other things in the photo are a pack of 99 4" squares from Susan Briscoe. All of them are different, and I'm thinking of doing a hand pieced Japanese folded patchwork piece with them. I'm pondering between all muslin backgrounds or varying between white and red.



The final pic is a metre of so of a lime green and chocolate piece. It was an impulse buy from the batik stall, and I've no idea why I bought it! I'm thinking of including it in my bag for the {top secret} with my quilt group on Tuesday.



Finally, but not photographed I bought Valori Wells' Vibrant New York Beauty book. This is to give me more practice in making curved paper pieced blocks ready for making a proper start on the mariner's compass quilt.

Off now to carry on with the Carol Doak March BOM and the baby quilt for Mrs M at school.