For the love of Ivy

Things have been busy here as our annual panto is looming.  (It's 'Aladdin' and will be very good, so make sure you have your tickets!)  I've been sewing sparkly stuff, taking in, letting out, lengthening and shortening, as well as driving all over to collect cow costumes and dame costumes etc.  Fun times!  

But of course I've still been doing some other sewing - it keeps me sane! 

This beauty is finished and once I've sewn the label on, will be winging its way to Ivy in Stoke on Trent.

Hope she likes it.  I'm very satisfied with it, especially since I only needed to buy half a metre of fabric for the border, and that has been just about used up!  

I know we all say it, but I am on a mission this year to buy less fabric and use what I have.  I've decided to put it in writing, so will be confessing every time I purchase, and will try hard to buy what I need, rather than what I want!  Having said that, I did buy some gorgeous fabric with bees on it at the weekend. 

My excuse is that I'm always on the look out for novelty neutrals, they're such fun.  Plus we had Jeannie from Quilteez as our trader on Saturday at Rocheberie Schoolhouse Quilters, and I wanted to support her, as a small trader.  I only bought a fat quarter, so that brings my total fabric purchases this year to 0.75 metres.  Not bad so far. 

I didn't have to look outside my stash for fabric for these two blocks. 

My challenge group are looking at historical fabrics this year and using some examples in Pat Sloan's BOM for 2016 Botanical Garden.  Since we're away in February, I thought I'd get my two blocks done so I'm ahead of the game.  In the left hand block I've used stripes and toile from the early 19th century, and in the right hand block stripes and seaweed designs from the same era.  Check out Pat Sloan's blog as she has several BOMs still available plus a new one for this year, Children's Library.  All free, so what's not to like?