A little rest and recuperation...

Well I stayed off work again today, and the anti-biotics are starting to work their magic; hopefully I will feel much better by tomorrow, otherwise I will be shuffling around Earls Court at granny-speed, and chest infection or not, you know that won't impress me much!

But all the home-rest had it's non-medicinal benefits too - I got the trial quilt top finished - I know, another quick and simple one, but actually the most complex I have tried, and I even pieced it 'properly' and ended up with matched seams, that is definitely a first!

It's just a shame I don't particularly like it, though it is definitely a grower!  It will probably be destined for the play room, or the playhouse in the summer, so I'm on the hunt for some relatively inexpensive backing and binding - village shop, you may be my saviour!

Sick note...

Normal service will resume as soon as the anti-biotics have kicked in x

A little something for the weekend...

I know I am a little early, but on Saturday I am going up to the Ideal Home Show, (I know I don't need a selection of novelty vegetable peelers or a Sunseeker yacht, but hey!).  This will involve over an hour each way on the train and after the frustration of my wait at Pease Pottage the other week, I figured a bit of prior preparation and planning was in order.

So back to my trusty Quilting In No Time, and I thought I'd try some real, paper-pieced stitchery!  There's a cute baby's ball that, with 12 pieces, I figure I can't go too wrong with!  I totally fell for the quilts at the V&A that still had those old papers attached, but I have never actually tried any real patchwork before.

This afternoon I got busy with my pieces and iron, (my new one, finally rescued from a box in the garage at the weekend), and created a little pile of 'spots' to happily stitch together on my journey.  I will even take 2 needles just in case!

I had toyed with the idea (well, for about 3 seconds) of taking the HUG - but could you imagine if I left it on the train!!!

Stash-bashing!

Today I started a quilt top and a little project for the weekend - but more about the latter tomorrow!

I have so much fabric, and am lusting after so much more at the moment!  So I thought I should use up some of what I have to justify any future purchases, and ease my conscience.  When I first decided to start 'quilting' I went a little crazy buying fabric that, if I had just stopped, breathed and thought about it for a while, perhaps I may have passed on.

One such purchase was a Moda Boutique layer cake - the print on the top of the pack seemed like fun, but there are a number of prints I really dislike, and I am just not feeling the colours any more.  So I am going to do a little experimenting - deviate from safe charm squares and see what happens without the worry of spoiling something I love.  Does that sound ruthless?

I am still having 'cutter's angst' about the Laurie Wisbrun cushions - I need to work on them in the daytime, not just rushed after tea, so maybe on Sunday...

Happy Pancake Day everyone!

Anyone got plans for June?

Well if you are planning a few day trips out and about in the South East, you could do a lot worse than popping into some of the Open Studios.  Ulterior motive alert;  I will definitely be mentioning this again!

Untitled-5, Oil Pastel 23 x 15cm

I know it is a long way away, but if today's weather is anything to go by, it's almost summer.  OK the frost is a bit out of season, but hey, let's pretend!

Lazy Sunday...

Today involved a trip to the park, a stop by the pond to feed the ducks on the way to get the papers, and back for a snooze in the garden with the first outing for the deckchairs this Spring.  Lovely.

On Friday dear son came home from school with a carnation in blue water, a little mishap involving daddy meant that yesterday more flowers and food colouring were bought for experimenting with.  I prefer them white, but the kids are all amazed at the results.

I am suffering with joint pain in my hands at the moment, so in the name of taking it easy, I sorted out a bundle of fabric destined for cushion covers - I now just have to decide if I dare chop into those Laurie Wisbruns or just simply use each FQ whole - I feel some inspiration surfing is in order.

Ready for another one?

So I ran out of snap fasteners last night, and I couldn't get this one finished until a quick trip to the goldmine, that is my local stitching, crafting and fabric shop in the village!  I got the original pack from eBay but I am surprised and glad to say that the little local lady was cheaper, and after a quick phonecall to check she had what I was after, I was there and back in 10 minutes... Oh I love living here!

Fab Friday Feeling...

It is now the weekend - the sun has been shining all day, I sat on the deck whilst the girls sang their hearts out for about an hour before the school run; (the boiler service man got a few tunes for his trouble too), and I managed to make up another, smaller, change tray from some more lovely Echino!

This time the fab pink cars!  It's all good.

Where's Wally... and other successes...

Well, can you spot him? 

He loved his outfit, wore it until bedtime, and I obviously thought he looked the best - we even spotted a Wenda in another class!  It is going to fit him for years!

Last night I finished the 'H' - looking good eh!

I think I am going to work the bottom rows as I move along, as I don't want to be left with days of straight stitching to do after I have completed the 'G'.

Then this afternoon I got the samples stitched and stapled to the canvases, with the minimum of re-stapling and fuss!  The panel now resides on top of our bedroom chest of drawers until we sort fixing it to the wall... photos will follow, but for now, the sunshine was too lovely to miss.

And just so they don't feel missed out - the girls made a Belle and Rapunzel...

A bit of this, and a bit of that...

It feels like I have had a bit of a disjointed day. 

Disappointingly the Where's Wally hat and glasses I ordered have not arrived in time - so I have made a bobble and put some red wool round one of my hats and hopefully that will do the job tomorrow; a pair of Dr Who/David Tennant plastic specs will look just as daft!

I have re-laid out and cut all the fabric squares for the bedroom 'picture'; hopefully I will have the time to sew tomorrow.

Poor son fell over on the walk home from school and cut under his nose, so I did my best with some Savlon and a piece of kitchen roll, but he wasn't happy.  Then the pair of us endured enjoyed about 3/4 hour of the twins 'performing' some Christmas songs and ballet, both dressed as Tinkerbell.


I now have a pile of new magasines to peruse, and I want to get that 'H' finished this evening... wish me luck.

All change...

Poor hubby has the man-flu, and has been hinting for a while that he needs somewhere to put all his small change, so thanks to a well-timed Sew Hip project (issue 27), I decided to be nice...ta da!

Although my fabric selection, cutting and stitching were all interrupted by cooking, eating, getting 3 ready for bed and a quick phonecall to NZ, I reckon I could have got this made in about 30 minutes!

I used some linen and Echino, and a bit of hubby's favourite 'spider-pig' print.  Please note my shaky shadowy photos make my shaky stitching look a bit worse than it really is!

The pattern is simply a square, 3 rectangles and poppers!  I will definitely make more - I think I have found my calling!  There are adaptations to be made.

Credit for the pattern goes to Jo Ebisujima, and I've just had a quick look at her lovely blog and etsy store, hmmm, I spy lovely Japanese linen!

Never one for the easy option...

Thursday (oops amended from Friday - good job I re-read the letter!), as I am sure most of you are well aware, is World Book Day.  So dressing up as a favourite book character is the name of the game for dear son.

So although we had the whole of half term to think of and organise an outfit, did we?  Oh no.  Was I thrown into panic this weekend and then prepared to go into town after work today to buy something?  Almost.  But no, instead of taking the easy option, I have ended up spending the best part of this afternoon and evening doing a bit of deconstruction-reconstruction to produce possibly the silliest thing I have ever made!

From these:

To this!

I still need to give it a good press and tidy up all the lose threads, but little Wally should be impressed!  I will take photos on Friday.

Girls, girls, girls...

Today I spent a lot of the time with a lot of 4 year old girls, ball pits and cake, and I am pleased to say it wasn't quite the horror I was expecting, but I still have a headache as a souvenir.

The dollies took their slightly freaky-looking photo-call to show off their quilts.  Without measuring a thing, I somehow managed to get the perfect size from those scraps - fate!  It has taken a while, but I have learnt that things have to distinctly different but remarkably similar, to avoid confusion and arguments; I think I pulled it off!

I am glad to say they don't remind me of the girls when they were first born... well not too much!

Another Lovely Award...

Woo-hoo and great big thank you to Tracee of Farm Gate Creations who has deemed me and my little old blog worthy of a Liebster Blog award!

And in the tradition of such awards, (I have cut and pasted) the 'rules':

1) If you are tagged, and you want to accept, then create a post on your blog and add the leibster blog pic.
2) Link back to the person who gave you the award and say if you accept.
3) Choose 3-5 of your favourite blogs to tag, link these in your post too and tell the lucky people they have been tagged.

The aim of this award is to bring unknown good blogs to light, (less than 50 Followers is ideal), therefore, please don't tag somebody with 3000 followers!

 

So I have 'ummed and arghed', and discounted all those 'numerically popular' folk, and award another fantastic four an award to love and pass on as they see fit...

 

Take a bow:

Lindsey - Fine Linen and Purple  

(Gorgeous grandchildren and a nice eye for furniture!)

Sheila - Bluepatch Quilter 

(A new blog to me, but the current 'My First Quilt' posting is a great idea.)

Victoria - She's Crafty 

(Check out her new baby pictures!)

Mandy - Mandy Shaw - Dandelion Designs 

(That Union Jack quilt is only one of Mandy's fantastic creations.)

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Ice to see you ...

This morning dear son and I went ice skating - the real cold stuff, at the temporary outdoor rink in Worthing. 

It was a little murky and rainy down by the seaside, but we had fun, no slippages and we topped it off with chocolate milkshakes and cake!

The trip to town also meant I could get my Comic Relief bag and a silk handkerchief for hubby, hurrah!

This afternoon at home we all settled down to watch Despicable Me - much smarter than the below average bear Boo Boo!  I also finished the first dolls' quilt binding.

Well that was half term!  Another Inset Day on Monday, but it's Daddy's turn to have a day off, and I'll be back at work, boo boo hiss!

Mighty mitre...

Look at this, my most perfect corner ever!  OK so you are all yawning now, but this has taken me forever to master!

I started binding both doll's quilts this morning and will hopefully get a little more done this evening, but the HUG is getting first dibs on my sofa time. 

It was so beautifully today, I hope you got to make the most of the sunshine!  So where was I all afternoon?  Stuck in the cinema watching Yogi Bear that's where.  Please just don't; if you only ever do one thing I ask, it's stay away from the bear, life is too short!  

I spoke too soon!

So this morning was great; the sound of the rain on the conservatory roof as I got out my sewing machine and got busy.

I decided to use up the real scrappy It's A Hoot scraps, offcuts from the bunting that had already been used for the pin cushions, and now destined for my new spec-mat.  I tried a technique that I had not attempted before - quilting as you go - joining and quilting at the same time.  I saw this on a larger quilt-scale over on Rebecca Merry's blog ages ago, and lodged the idea in the back of my mind until now.

I used a scrap of yellow for the backing, and figured pink cotton would be a nice contrast, and a full piece from the layer cake for the binding.

Unfortunately I didn't have any bright yellow cotton, so came to a halt after attaching the binding...

I moved on to the dolls' quilts, cutting 8cm squares from the largest scraps, and ran up the tops pretty quickly.  I found some perfectly sized wadding pieces ready and waiting and some lovely sunny yellow polka dot yardage for the backing.

So the plan was to stop off at the fabric shop in the village, to get some yellow thread for both projects on my way to pick up dear son from Pease Pottage services, mid-way/30 mins between my parents and home, and then being home in about an hour and a half to get on with the stitchery.  Hmmm...

I arrived to hear on the radio that a 'serious incident' on the M25 had shut the motorway between the 2 junctions the others were travelling on.  My first reaction was a lot of swearing and urging my mum to quickly answer her phone in complete panic mode, followed by relief when my she answered saying there was a bit of a traffic jam!  Phew...

Do you carry an emergency crafting kit with you where-ever you go, or maybe just a needle and thread?  Well I don't, but I will from now on!  Armed with both the unfinished spec-mat and new thread, I spent the next 2 hours, (should have been 15 minutes), cursing the fact I was needle-free and refusing to spend £6.99 on a travel sewing kit from the newsagents.

However we all met up and got home safe and sound in the end, and I have just completed the spec-mat binding.  I am quite pleased considering I was probably just going to chuck those tiny pieces in the bin!

The dollies will have to wait until tomorrow, but they haven't complained!

Famous last words...

Tomorrow I have a whole morning at home to myself.  Just me, my sewing machine, pots of tea, packet(s) of biscuits, peace and quiet!!  What on Earth could go wrong?!?!

After the success of the scrap pin-cushions, I am planning to make some more 'little things' with the It's A Hoot layer cake scraps.  I am veering towards another mug rug-come-glasses mat (spec-matular!), maybe a couple of dolls' quilts, or cushions for the girls.  Decisions, decisions...

Gimme an H...

Just a quicky tonight as I am embarking on the 'H' and I am too excited to stop and chat!  I am so loving seeing the HUG 'turning the corner'.

Now, I am hoping that by the summer I will be well into the KISS, so lets see if I get done before this comes out to distract me!

7 things about a Stylsh Blogger...

A great big thank you to lovely Verity of Miss Ginger Makes - she has deemed me worthy of a Stylish Blogger award, how about that!

So, the name of the game is that I now tell you 7 things about me, and then pass the award along to others, then these recipients do likewise...

I can't promise interesting, but these have sprung randomly to mind...

1.  I like Katie Price, and I'm not sorry.  I know that's not stylish, and sometimes she can be downright irritating with a mouth that fires off before her brain engages, but if you saw last night's Let's Dance for Comic Relief, you'll see why!

2. I own every Smiths single, ever.  In my youth I was such a total 'fan' - now I don't think I could name anyone in the charts, except Take That!

3. I don't drink anymore.  Since having the children I have had a real aversion; I probably had more than my fair share before though!

4. My girls favourite story is the tale of when I got a stone stuck in my ear!

5. I hate tangled coat hangers!  The noise, the random and impossible untangling is just my idea of hell!  Arrgh!!!!

6. I once got picked up when hitch-hiking in New Zealand by a couple of girls with guns in the boot of their car!  We let them drop us off anywhere they wanted!

7. I've been slowly eating my way through most of my children's Easter Eggs from last year - they had so many they haven't noticed - there are still 2 remaining which survived the move!

There are so many blogs that I love and follow that I could just put a link to Google and let you find them all yourselves, but that is just too easy.  So I decided to narrow my choice to just 4, otherwise I really would just list all of my Followers blogs and all those I Follow.  Please please please don't take offence if you are not one of the Fantastic Four.  Maybe one of my '7 things' should have been that "I am paranoid about offending the people that matter to me!"

So in alpha order...

http://adventuresinquiltingandsailing.blogspot.com/
http://auntyhennys.blogspot.com/
http://merrymadequilts.blogspot.com/
http://slikstitches.blogspot.com/

Spreading the love to Marguerite, Helen, Rebecca and Benta xx