You will never guess

who has bought more fabric.  

I promise you I really needed this.  I bought some
already from Natasha who owns Skye Reve
in the States because I want to make another  quilt
like the one that I am making right now
which shall be revealed when the top is finished

This is what I am using it for and I am using Kaffe Fassett's gorgeous prints for the heart in the middle:

and I bought this too but I bought this from LiMaSews on Etsy

Linh owns this store and she is just so lovely
and I was introduced to her by somebody else's blog
Linh also has a wonderful blog
and for those of you in the USA Linh is also a Long Arm Quilter
I have asked Linh to move over here but it's doubtful :-(

I know I shouldn't have because I already have so much that I haven't used.  But it will be used.  I want to make so many different things.  I want to make an improv quilt sort of like two you have seen before, the one by Lu Summers or the one made by Chase which you can see on the back of her couch or this one

which was made by Maureen Cracknell and
on this link you can see all the quilts Maureen has made

I've signed up for Lucky Stars from Don't Call Me Betsy but shall do that in solids of which I have a huge amont, I mean why do anything by halves.

I'm just waiting for some fabric, yes more, from The Fat Quarter Shop to compliment the Navy prints I have already and they are creams and navy and whites and navy to start this Block Of The Month from Open Gate Quilts.  It wasn't until I saw Sherri's version that I fell in love with it and thought to myself 'hey I have some perfect navy small prints that would do this beautifully'.  If you look at all five (I think) girls (women) who are doing this you will see very different versions of the same blocks.  So here is Block 1 and here is Block 2, Block 3 will be out on tomorrow as Monique is very prompt I think.  I did buy Moniques rulers I must admit (like I needed more NOT).

I also joined a class that Rachel Hauser was teaching called The Hand Stitched Class but realised quite quickly that I should have joined the other class which was her Curves class but I shall wait until that is released again and join it and join in really.  But I did buy a lot of fabric for the Hand Stitched Class which I shall use for something else.

I am also currently making a quilt for my, ok our youngest granddaughter and I just have to sash the blocks and join them up and then I can reveal all of this one.  I suppose I could reveal a block if I could get myself into gear.  I really need to stop using my phone to take pictures and start using my camera again.

And I've saved the best news for last.  I have finally learned how to nest properly and now everything meets as it such do. YAY ME!!!

See you soon
Patti xxx
American by birth and MOUTH
but British in every other way

A New Store

Do you remember when I told you I'd found a new store here in England?  Well this post is about my finding this new online store.

I don't know how new it is but as you know I live here in the U.K. and have done for many years - a lot more years than I have been quilting that's for sure.  Anyway it's not that I'm mean because I'm far from that, in fact I'm a really good spender.  But I hate wasting money.  Buying fabric in England is very expensive and I do understand, sort of, why.  The stores here have to pay postage from the States which is expensive - even more so now since the US really hiked up the price of international postage charges plus they have to pay VAT (Value Added Tax) at 20%, so we in the U.K. end up paying £s for $s which I really hate.

So since the rise in postal rates I decided I needed to find another source of cheaper fabric that was as good as Robert Kauffman's Kona Solids cotton which is my preferred type of solids as it is thicker than Moda Bella which I found that you could see the seams through.  Picky I know I am but I like what I like.

So I typed in Kona into Google and got taken to this website Backstitch Fabric and I found that they had, what I thought was Kona Solids, at a reduced price.  So I ordered some and wrote to the owner of the store thanking her for her reduced prices upon which she wrote back to me telling me that it wasn't actually Kona but Klona Cotton solids.  I wondered why there wasn't the same amount of colours and I wrote back and said too late I've ordered some and I'll let you know what I think when I get it.

So what did I think?  It's wonderful fabric and if anything it's a teensy weensy bit thicker than Kona and stitches up beautifully.  Not only is it cheaper at £5.80 a meter but it's way wider too because instead of being 42" wide it's 53" wide.  So you are getting more for your money as well - almost a whole extra foot x whatever width you've ordered.  The only downside is that apart from the bundles Alice (that's the name of the lady that owns the store) sells which are in fat (very) quarters she only sells in 1/2 meters which is no biggie as I tend to order solids in way larger pieces because I go through so much of it.

This is one of Alice's Fat Quarter Bundles of
Klona that she sells and this one for almost
3 metres of fabric is only £16.00

I shall be offering some of this fabric as a giveaway soon.  So keep watch on here because one of you is going to get some of this (not necessarily these colours) wonderful fabric I found.  I love it and I don't say that easily - okay maybe I do.  But I really love it and if you can't wait to get some then just go here and order some like what I did (good English or what).  I am not just saying all this stuff about this store because Alice has become my latest Sponsor but because I truly love this fabric and will continue to shop at her store for this great fabric.

Alice also sells other American Fabric and some are on sale right now.  On sale is in at a reduced price.  I still remain so darn American it isn't true.

See you soon
Patti xxx
American by birth and MOUTH
but British in every other way

I got something wrong and THE WINNER

I got a letter from Scott today who told me exactly how Ecolux Lighting came to be and I want to share it with you all.  So here is what he wrote to me:

Here's the whole story. 

Kim has been quilting and sewing for about .... well since she was a little kid. So its been a while. She bought a new Elisimo machine that has built in LED lighting. Should have been good, right? Well the light was horrible. She called me on the phone, I was on a contract engineering job away from home, and started venting. She asked if there was any way we could come up with a light that sticks under the throat of the machine. something with a better light qualtiy so people could actually see what they were doing. No pun intended but the light went on. So I started getting prototypes put together for her to look at and approve or not.  Well, 3 proto's later and she decided that this was the one. Being too analytical myself, I would not have gone with the current product. So, long story short, I want to make sure that everyone knows Kim is the inventor and she is the owner of Ecoluxlighting.  I think this is important for people to know that the light was developed by a quilter who understands the requirements. 

I do like getting Kudos, but only when its my idea :)

Finally here is the winner according to Random Sequence Generator:

Random Sequence Generator
Here is your sequence:

81
58
 8
83
52
93

Who is:  Terry@ a quilting blog17 February 2013 03:50

Visited their site...love that you can get just the right size for the machine you own. 

Well I've email Terry so she knows she won.  Congratulations Terry.  

See you soon 

Patti xxx 
American by birth and MOUTH 
but British in every other way

A Giveaway Like No Other I've Had

A couple of months ago whilst I was doing a Craftsy Class, in fact it was the Craftsy class I gave away, where Cindy Needham suggested it would be a really good idea to have Ecolux Lighting as it made her life so much easier because it lit up her sewing area like nothing else she had ever used.

So, if you know me, I simply just had to have it because it was something new and Mrs. Gadget here needed it.  But first I had to check and make sure that it would work in England, so I phoned up and spoke to Scott Stewart who owns Ecolux Lighting with his lovely wife.  I told Scott I lived in England and wanted to know if his light would work here.  He replied that yes it would and all I would need was a plug adaptor and voila it would work just fine.  The light came in really good time but unfortunately the darn adaptor didn't!!

So I got the light and it sat for a while until the adaptor arrived.  I then hurridly plugged it in to see if it was as good as Cindy said it was and was so impressed with it that I phoned Scott again and asked him if he would please sponsor me for a giveaway as I was pretty sure that unless the quilters here in the U.K. did that particular Craftsy Class they wouldn't know about his totally brilliant light.

Here are some photos showing:

This is my sewing machine during the daytime
here without the light on

This is my sewin machine during the daytime
with the Ecolux Light on

This is tonight without
the Ecolux Light on

And this is tonight WITH
the Ecolux Light on

To say it has made a difference to my sewing is, well, putting it mildly to be honest with you guys.  I was so impressed at the difference I just had to call Scott up.  I am getting nothing from this apart from a giveaway and I am just one very very happy customer.

Comments that have come up so far are:
1.  What about the lead at the back of the machine.  It clips onto your machine beautifuly and doesn't leave any wires that would get in the way of your sewing
2.  If you have more than one machine you can just buy extra 'strips' because this is how the lights come as strips that stick on your machine and reuse the cable that you already have.

So do yourselves a huge favour and go and get one if you don't win it here.  This competition is open to all whether you live in England, Australia, the USA or anywhere in the world for that matter. So come on and enter and win yourself this wonderful new gadget that I, personally, would hate to live without.  The light is not cheap but then again anything worth having never is and my old saying always stands me in good stead 'You Get What You Pay For'.  Buy cheap and you get cheap which breaks really fast, buy good and it will save you money in the long run.  I love love love my Ecolux Light butI think you guys have realised that by now.

All you have to do to enter is
(1) become a follower of mine and leave me a comment telling me and
(2) go and see Ecolux Lighting's website and leave me a comment about me what you thought and finally
(3)  (Optional) If you leave a comment on your blog about this giveaway and leave me a comment telling me you have done this you get a third chance to win this wonderful prize


I have the 5 light size because that was the size I needed for my Janome TXL 607 and if you need to know what size would be best for your machine just email Scott and ask him because he is just a delight.


This competition will be ending on Monday night February 18 at 21:00 my time which is I have no idea what time it is where you are.  I do have a huge idea if you live in the USA because that's where I came from.

So good luck and I'll let whoever has won this great prize on Monday night.

On another quick subject I remembered what I forgot the other day.  I know why quilters use the flat headed pins and not the smaller ones which I thought I preferred.  Because if you use a flat headed pin and you turn your work over and sew on the other side you can sew right over them without any lumps or bumps.  You can also sew right through them as I will show you in my next post and it didn't even damage my needle.

See you soon
Patti xxx
American by birth and MOUTH but British in every other way

Of All The Quilts I Have Ever Seen ...

both in real life and on all the blogs I troll this one is by far my favorite

It was made by Lu Summers and I saw it IN REAL LIFE last Spring and to say it is gorgeous is putting it so mildly.  It is truly the most beautiful quilt I have ever seen.  It's not a bed quilt but it hangs on her wall above her sewing machine.  She had made lots of other things that were splendiferous too.

This has Reverse Applique 

and this

and this

I will share what I've been working on later on this week.  Believe it or not I am about to finish a quilt top. Now what I need to know please is if I use Minky??? or whatever it's called for the backing do you use wadding too?

I had something else to tell you guys but I've forgotten what it was.  I know it was kinda important for the newbies amongst us so when I remember I will tell you.

Thanks for putting up with my not giving you a giveaway yet but I still have to wait.  It will be this week (hopefully).

See you soon
Patti xxx
American by birth and MOUTH but British in every other way

I was going to give you guys a ...

... really great giveaway all darn week but I have been waiting for an adaptor plug to arrive.  I ordered the adaptor plug which will turn an American plug into a British one via this adaptor thingy.  Anyway I ordered it on Thursday of last week and it was from a company here in England and at the same time I ordered a car charger for my cell phone from Hong Kong and a Supreme Slider from the States.

Well the Supreme Slider arrived from the States this morning as did the Car Charger from Hong Kong but not the adapter from England.  If it doesn't arrive tomorrow I shall phone them and give them what for.

Hopefully it will arrive tomorrow and I can let you see my wonderbubble giveaway.

On my name front I have decided to quit trying to get anyone here to call me Patricia.  It just isn't working so I quit.  I will remain either Pat (which I hate) or Patti (which I don't hate but I'm too old for it) until then end.  Only my Aunt and cousins call me Patricia.  Just thought I would let you know.

See you soon
Patti xxx
American by birth and MOUTH
but British in every other way