#friends – Michelle aka Creative Blonde

This year I signed up for this new and exciting challenge – 2018 new quilt bloggers, in the hope it will help me improve my blogging skills,

And it starts today – 16th April – Introductory Post about myself and I’m one of the 8 bloggers to post during this first week…

Do I know what I’m doing? not so much!… so please bare with me

I do know I’m with 8 other bloggers in a hive called ‘Quilt, Blog, Repeat’ Here is our button

Here are the members of our hive:

Michelle (that’s me!) – creativeblonde.co.uk

Nicole – handwroughtquilts.wordpress.com

Karen – thequiltrambler.com/blog/

Sarah – 9658textiles.blogspot.ca

So lets get to the introductory bit…

My name is Michelle AKA creative blonde, my name came from a my dads love of The Beatles. oh wait, you guys meant my blogger name, well… this was chosen by my husband, who decided this was ‘awesome and catchy’ after a lengthy chat with each other about how i though i was never really ‘clever’, i just loved creating things and i have also been know to have many ‘blonde’ moments… So along came creative blonde (my husband designed and created my logo too)

I added a few of my favorite quilts/makes below, i love to work with blues, and my favourite stitch, is machine blanket stitch

I thoroughly enjoy taking photos, not just of the finished item, but the fabrics, and the process along the way. My Instagram page reflects this …

I got into quilting a few years ago, as my children (4 boys) started needing me less – sob… I took a City & Guild Diploma in Quilting & Patchwork, I’ve always been a ‘stay at home’ mum, and wouldn’t have it any other way, i’m so very proud of my boys, even though everyday brings new challenges, and stresses, so this worked out perfectly. I can still be around for my boys, but focus on something to keep me sane. I guess quilting, sewing, embroidery, cross stitch and crocheting is my stress relief. I get a real buzz when i finish a project, and i’m always so excited to share my new pattern/ design here on my blog. I love to show photos on Instagram and Facebook of new fabrics, projects and challenges i’m involved in too

My best bit so far, is meeting all the lovely people on social media, everyday someone makes me smile or laugh, by a comment or photo

My Quilting Tip:

Accurate cutting is key…

And whenever you think ‘oh that will do, or as my husband says when doing DIY – ‘get away with that’, always go back, unpick and re-do, because it will take a few minutes and look so much better, or you will be forever seeing the mistake in the finished item, and wish ‘why didn’t i go back and re-do that bit’

Whats your best Quilting Tip? i would love to hear from you…

Huge thanks for reading my post today, please hop around all the lovely bloggers in this blog hop, up this week with myself are and who knows you might pick up a tip or two

Gail http://quiltinggail.wordpress.com

Rachel http://rachelrossi.design/blog

Tracie H http://www.ricefordstreams.com

Wendy T http://www.piecefulthoughts.com

Jan http://cocoaquilts.com

Michelle (that’s me!) http://www.creativeblonde.co.uk

Terry http://tlcquiltsblog.wordpress.com

April http://jandabendquilts.com/blog

Happy Sewing

x creativeblonde x

I’m so excited to share my very first project as a Island Batik Ambassador.

The products featured in this post were given to me by Island Batik.

‘Galentine’s’ is a day to celebrate our best ‘Gal’ friends, on 13th February. Sadly my Batik Ambassador box took a little while to travel from California to Kent in the UK, but i think we can celebrate good friends everyday, so here is my Galentine’s Day Mug Rug…

Materials

Two pieces in pink 12″ x 8″
Wadding 12″ x 8″
60″ length of binding
Aurifil threads colour 2479, 1246 and 2026
Scraps of batik in cream, pinks and reds
8″ square of interlining

Haberdashery items

Hearts template in various sizes from 1/2″ to 4″
Wine glass template 5″ tall
Free motion quilting foot
Basic sewing supplies

Let’s begin

Start by fusing all the applique pieces onto the interlining, temporary baste them in position on one of the 12″ x 8″ pieces of fabric.

Attach the free motion quilting foot, and drop the feed dogs on your machine, thread up the grey cotton, and begin sewing around each applique, 2-3 times.

Create your quilt sandwich, and using a heat erasable marker pen, draw diagonal quilting lines 2″ apart. Increase stitch size to 4.0 and using the gorgeous pink thread, stitch along these lines. add your binding and hand sew on to the reverse of your mug rug.

Your beautiful Mug Rug is finished…

Perfect excuse to invite some gal friends over for a catch up

Hope you’ve enjoyed my Galentine’s Mug Rug, the next project as an Island Batik Ambassador is just around the corner, so be sure to hit the ‘follow’ button here on my blog (scroll up and down a little and the ‘follow’ button will appear)

You can also find me on Instagram and Facebook @creativeblonde66

Happy sewing

x creativeblonde x

Below is a list of all the 2018 Ambassadors, click on the links to see what we are all getting up to…

Alison at Little Bunny Quilts
Amy at Sew Incredibly Crazy
Anita at Quilt in a not-Shell
Anna at Ark Angel Creations
Anne at Sweetgrass Designs
Barbara at Bejeweled Quilts
Bea at BeaQuilter
Carole at Carole Lyles Shaw
Connie at Freemotion by the River
Connie at Kauffman Designs
Dione at Clever Chameleon
Geraldine at Living Water Quilter
Jackie at If These Threads Could Talk
Janet at Whispers of Yore
Jeanette at Inchworm Fabrics
Jen at Patterns by Jen
Jennifer at Curlicue Creations
Jennifer at Dizzy Quilter
Jennifer at Inquiring Quilter
Jessica at Desert Bloom Quilting
Joan at Moosestash Quilting
Joyce at heARTs Creations
Karen at Sew Karen-ly Created
Karen at The Quilt Rambler
Kathleen at Kathleen McMusing
Laura at Slice of Pi Quilts
Leanne at Devoted Quilter
Mania at Mania for Quilts
Maryellen at Mary Mack Made Mine