Yes, it has been a long time. And no, it doesn't mean I haven't been crafting - quite the reverse! Somehow, running my other blog over at Hound Mistress, my Twitter feed, Facebook, PLUS life - all the stuff that happens before we write/blog/tweet about it - just meant something gave, and this was it. Anyway, as part of my New Year's resolutions, I've decided to restart this blog for craft related activities.

So, here is what I have been doing over the past couple of days. Some time before Christmas, I picked up a gorgeous little box of loveliness over at Busy Bees (my local quilting shop). It's a Moda box of little Honey Bun rolls - essentially like a jelly roll but the strips are 1.5" rather than 2.5". The little box is a sweet thing, and I loved the pretty fabrics. So, home it came. Then of course the tsunami of Christmas related activity overcame me and every time I went into the spare bedroom the little box would look at me, I'd look at it, and I'd say to myself - not yet.

Now that Christmas is over, I was in the mood to have fun and make something pretty for me/the house, not for anyone else. I'd also been looking again at log cabin quilt blocks as I had thought about maybe making another log cabin chicken. Anyway, I ended up making three little log cabin blocks from one little roll of fabric. For the traditional red hearth centre, I found a charm square I hadn't previously used that was a bright cherry red - perfect. For a novice quilter like me, log cabin blocks are great. They are not complicated, and also they are very good practice for sewing straight and ensuring nice, square blocks.

So yesterday, I made the blocks and today I used some of the strips for sashing. A dig around in my stash found a very pretty fabric for the backing. I quilted it in the ditch, then used the last few strips to make the binding. With these little boxes - you get two sets of fabric, usually one pastel and one bright. This one was a soft pastel - the "Aviary" range from Moda. I think that over the weekend, I might make up a similar runner in the bright fabrics as a birthday present for a friend - I think she'd like it. The pastel fabrics I used with soft blues and pinks work wonderfully in our guest bedroom - the walls are a sky blue, and we usually have white and blue (or white and lilac) bedding in there for guests. It has also become a bit of a repository for various craft items - there's a cross stitched coaster beside the bed for drinks, a pretty cushion I stitched then had made up sits on the bed and a stitched, framed sampler on the wall. This now joins them. Guest bedrooms don't tend to get as much wear and tear as other rooms, and I think having home made items in the room adds a welcoming feel.