In March this year Brit Bee celebrated 10 years! I have loved being part of this amazingly talented group of ladies. We have done a lot of life together, losing one of our original members to cancer, weddings, divorces and lots of new babies!!
While we no longer make and swap blocks each month, we have remained true friends and are still very much committed to our Brit Bee identity.
To celebrate our anniversary, we decided on a pillow swap + a small stitchy gift.
It was such fun being involved in a swap again, eagerly anticipating our secret swap partner, posting inspiration boards, stalking the posts & preferences of who we are making for!!
Now that most of our cushions have been swapped and received I can reveal who I was making for and who was making for me!!
I was given Ange @heartofcharnwood to make for and her inspiration board reflected her love of bold colours, improv, strong shapes and solids!
So I pulled a bright colour palette from some of my solids, threw in a few co-ordinating scraps and set to 'playing' with a few shapes! Two ideas came to mind and I liked them both equally, so I decided to make a double sided cushion and incorporate them both!!
Both the 'Square Arches' and 'Improv Log Cabins' were so much fun to make. I know that Ange loves stripes too so the navy/white stripe centres seemed to pull both designs together.
Both sides have been quilted with a free motion meander, and a discreet zipper in the bottom seam completes the construction.
I had considered binding the cushion in the same stripe, but it just didn't float my boat, so I thought colourful pompoms would give it that finishing flourish instead!
Ange has 2 young daughters and they were also in my mind as I was making the cushion. Since receiving the cushion she tells me that they are just as delighted with it as she is!!
My little stitchy extra for Ange was a denim and mixed textile pouch. Sadly no photos of that one!
And who was making for me?
This stunning cushion was made by my very good friend Trudi @quiltingprolifically. Trudi knows me so well, especially my love of Tilda fabrics and all things linen!
I absolutely love everything about this cushion - the pretty needleturned petals, the big-stitch hand quilting, the linen background and the quilted back too!
Such a lot of work has gone into making this cushion. Thank you so much my lovely friend! I can't wait even more now to get my new house so this beauty can take pride of place!!
And my stitchy extra from Trudi is this adorable dumpling pouch, in more Tilda fabric, with the sweetest zip!
What a lucky girl I am!!
It was such a joy to reconnect with my Brit Bee mates again this year. Everyone's cushion is a masterpiece (search #britbee on Instagram to see more) and we've been reminded once again of what a special little team we are! #britbeeforever
Happy quilting!
Such prettiness. I absolutely love the Tilda cushion.