Picture Perfect Sunday!

Mum's quilt was today safely delivered and loved, even if it was the hottest day of the year and a bit of an odd present in that respect!

We had a BBQ, and the Raspberry Fizz sent by Sarah with her Bee package...

Concentration!

... and lots of sun and play in the garden...

The kids were on surprisingly good form, which will no doubt deteriorate by the morning when I am left alone with them, but it was the perfect end to the month xx

Sunny Sewing Saturday!

Well much of today has been taken up with finishing Rhonda's prize, but if it's going to remain a secret, I really wouldn't trust her to look away if I showed you!  So you will all have to wait until it has arrived in Tennessee!

But one thing I did discover is that prescription sunglasses are the business!  I have never had them before; my vision hasn't really been that bad to bother, but now I have literally seen the error of my ways.   I sat in the sun sewing and I could actually see what I was doing without squinting!  Bloody marvellous!

So in trying to think what I could show you this evening I found a few of pics I took this week and didn't get to include already...

... this £2 linen Western Australia souvenir table cloth from a charity shop just begging to be cut up and rearranged into something else, (which will probably just look like a bigger table cloth... eventually!)...

... these childhood favourites in a local bakery, which the kids thought were hilarious!  Cornets, without ice-cream but marshmallow instead!...

... and to counteract the above, the apples in the garden are ripening quite nicely, (I've killed the strawberry plant and the sunflowers, so I take no credit for these!)...

Off the Kent to deliver the birthday quilt in the morning, so I will report back tomorrow xxx

Mixed emotions!

Today I have been happy, sad and proud, mostly revolving around it being the girls' last day of nursery and the end of an era for the whole family.

The last pre-school breakfast!

We have been going there almost daily for the last 5 1/2 years; firstly just with dear son, then all 3, then just the girls.  We have lived in 3 houses, had big highs and horrible lows, endured changes at work, and mixed fortunes, but all with the security of nursery 'being there'.

The girls were stars, hugging and telling their favourite staff that they would miss them so much; I obviously had to start everyone off crying; but it's all good.  We moved house to get them all into a lovely village school, and soon they will all be there, and our plans will be fulfilled.

So whilst they played and dressed up this morning, poor son watched the final tweeks on the bionic woman rebuild for the week, new glasses...

When we got home....  woohoo!!  Parcels galore!

Japanese Fabric Swap...

August Brit Bee Package...

Sewn Spaces Needlecase Swap...

I didn't really know what to look at first! 

The charms are excellent and I can foresee the girls demanding many of them, but that's OK, I owe them!

Sarah's Brit Bee plans have been left wide open, but after last months' I can do anything!  ('ark at me, and my famous last words!); and so many goodies with the fabric, I'll do anything Sarah asks!  Look at her inspiration mosaic...

And my fantastic 'turquoise' needlecase from my mystery partner Blue Bellbird, with the most brilliant extras; that made me smile, a lot!  Some you will be crossing paths on the Sew Bee Blissful - small world!  I loved this case as soon as it was posted in the group pool, and for it to arrive here, chuffed to bits!

After all the emotion, I have managed to get Rhonda's prize almost finished - I just have to hand finish and I will get 'it' in the post to The Gap!

A real pain the the neck!

Today's fun came in the form of an appointment with a physiotherapist for the pain that I have had in my shoulder since we moved in January.  It turns out it's not arthritis as my doctor suspected, but a not-so-serious problem with my neck.

So I now await my appointment to be pummelled, re-aligned and re-postured, I can't wait!

In the meantime, I have cracked on with Rhonda's prize, and I am excited to say that it is almost complete.  I won't spoil the surprise, but as I checked already with Rhonda if 'pink' was OK, here are a few progress pics...

Taken as the day progressed, hence the changes in colour and light! 

Tomorrow is the girls' last day at Nursery, and the final of this week's 'make-over' with the opticians; so hopefully my teary eyes will be able to focus properly!

That's a bit more like it!

Here we are again and this time, some serious quilting for you!

I finished my Mum's quilt last night and ran it through the machine and tumbler this morning.  Here it is in all its crinkly wonderfulness!

It consists of a Moda 'Rose Parade' layer cake, a Lily Ashbury 'Summer House' charm pack, the remnants of the Cloud9 polkadots from my Dad's quilt, bound with some Klona Blush Pink, and backed with some unknown local fabric shop vintage style print.

It measures up at a grand 50"x 65".

I straight-line quilted, mirroring the D9P pattern, and basically it has turned out better than I dreamt it would. 

I am not sure that my Mum will spend much time standing holding the quilt to the sun, but look at the effect if she does...

Very pleased, relieved and happy to have this one in the bag!  Handover on Sunday.  Tick.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present...

... the full reveal of this little beauty...  Day-wear perhaps...

-

... and full-on Evening wear...

Isn't she a stunner?  She has the most textured hair ever, and likes nothing better than to hang around the loo!  If you hadn't guessed, she is indeed a toilet roll cover; so classy!

Now this pretty lady has arrived with her new Mummy Laura, I hope she is happy in her new home!

For me, today has involved the dentist, a temporary filling, and the full works to look forward to in September, oh joy!

So the day has included rather a lot of web browsing and other distraction techniques; I have entered giveaways for fantastic fabric bundles at It's All About The Fabric and Ellison Lane Quilts, filled in dear son's passport renewal application and my driving licence change of address online, sewn a bit more of my Mum's binding and paced back and forth, a lot!

Now I am in the midst of a headache from hell and would rather be tucked up on the sofa than getting ready for bed wars with the urchins.  Only day 2 of the holidays and I am shattered!

Good for your heart...

After a binding session and whilst the wonder machine was still threaded with pretty pink from by Mum's quilt, I thought it was as good a time as any to get my heart made for Caroline, and her All Heart Appeal for Cancer Research. 

If you haven't seen Caroline's request for 8" blocks, then please please please have a look at her blog for the full details of this very worthwhile cause.

Armed with some of my leftover binding strips and some pink Boutique flowers, I got this made up in about half an hour...

... this is my first real attempt at proper machine appliqué and I am rather chuffed at the result; I used my freezer paper, wonderweb and the zigzig stitch, a winning combination, and now added to my teeny repertoire.

If I can make one so can you, half an hour, that's all.

So now as I have attached the 5 miles of binding to my Mum's quilt, I am off to settle in front of the TV and do my favourite bit - yay!!  

Honestly this quilt is not that huge as far as quilts go, but it is the biggest I have ever made, and as it has been the hottest couple of days in absolutely ages, it has all seemed like a bit of a sweaty struggle!

Day 1 of the summer holiday is drawing to a successful close, sweet as.

God Save The Queen and Julius Caesar!

I spent Saturday evening and most of Sunday morning quilting my Mum's D9P quilt with 'straight' lines that echo part of the pattern.  If you look hard enough you can work out the my rationale, but life's too short!

Either way, some of the squares now look like this...

... and some like this...

... and others are completely different.

So once I was done with the mammoth wrestling match to get this all through the machine to produce relatively straight lines, I was left with literally hundreds of threads to sew in, as I stopped short of the edge, leaving the border un-quilted.

What a palarva; it took me the best part of two hours to bury those babies, but I have to admit that leaving the border free of stitching does look great, and it was worth the effort.

If it hadn't been for the Queen, albeit that she broke down half way round, and her even better replacement, Julius Caesar, I would still be straining my eyes this time tomorrow trying to get this quilt ready for binding.

So this evening I am hoping to at least get the binding pinned on...

... and everything is on schedule for delivery to the birthday girl this time next week - hurray!

A Winner!!!

Without further ado...

Tempted obviously as I am to do a re-draw, as this means I've got to go and listen to the podcast all over again to make sure I get it right, I think I am going to have fun with this one!  Congratulations my friend x

Rhonda's son is getting married today, so lets hope this is the start of a wonderful day for the Mother of the Groom.

Thank you everyone for joining in, and making it all feel worthwhile; I've had a great first year, and here's to many more x

Looky looky look!

Look at this strange phenomenon!!

It seems like a long time since we last saw shadows!

The sunshine enabled the girls and I to quickly nip to town for new phones, for me and Daddy, not them...

This is just the box, unfortunately I am not in Barcelona!

... pop into the fabric shop for the right pink thread for my mum's binding, and get home and out in the garden to spray baste the birthday quilt.  All this before the last school run for 6 lovely weeks!  So I am pretty happy, and I am now off work until September too!

My lovely fabrics for the Rainbow Swap 2 were also waiting when we got home, so I can get on and cut my 112 charms this evening...

So it should be the beginning of good times round here - the mind is so willing, but the body is resisting; next week I already have the dentist, opticians and a physio session booked!

Thank you for all the guesses yesterday - one guess was quite close, but does not encompass the whole gory glory of the finished article!

For those not lucky enough to be embarking on the summer holidays, it's still the weekend, and you could still be the winner!  See you tomorrow, bright and early, maybe x

Want to see something funny?

Now a week or so back, lovely Laura, Needles, Pins and Baking Tins (Hi Lolly!) sent me a few red scraps just in case I didn't have enough for my Project 51 blocks.  Well, to pay her back for all her hard work, Queen Mother Bee-ing and other good deeds, I promised I'd make her something using some of the aforementioned scraps.

What do you reckon, something small, beautiful and paper-pieced to perfection?  Oh, no, no, no!

Today, just a sneak peak of the 'gift' I made last night; and once I know it is safely in her hands after the weekend, I will do a full reveal.  Until then...

OK, so it may not look that funny here, but trust me.  Can you guess what it is yet?

I promise that this little project is no way representative of what you could expect for this!  Unless you want it to be!

After that, we had a visitor...

 

Man, those hedgies are fast!