What I've been up to...

Using up some more crumbs and scraps I've been making tote bags for the teachers at my daughter's school.  The stitching was done with variegated perle cotton and the handles with faux piping were inspired by this tutorial over at Bloom and Blossom.  It was a great way to introduce a bit of detail on the handles.  I'm sure the teachers will love them. (I hope)


In other news..just look at Mrs Squirrel!  We recently changed our bird feeder to this post and although I thought it might put her off she has seemed to find a way to eat and balance at the same time!  So elegant in that second picture don't you think!


Until next time...

Etsy Update

I just wanted to let you know I've updated my Etsy Shop with some new postcards and new note cards.  Many of the images are new and haven't been seen before until now.   As before the postcards include plain white envelopes as do the note cards.  The note cards are A6 in size (roughly 4" x 6") and would be perfect for that little message to a fellow quilter or needleworker.  :o)

Here's a preview of the images...

Look forward to hearing what you think :o)
Until next time...

Happy 20th anniversary of my 18th birthday!

Somehow I think that makes me sound older than I am, but it does make you stop and do the math :o)

As I was doing my grocery shopping this morning I was thinking about a way to creatively blog about my birthday.  The best idea I came up with was to share some pictures from previous birthdays.  So upon my return I got the scanner out and dug out the old albums.  Surprisingly there aren't that many birthday pictures as I was expecting...or the ones I did find weren't very good!  I did find two that I'm not too embarrassed to share.

Here I am on my first birthday.


and this one was my 6th birthday.

The one I had really wanted to share is too dark to be recognizable, but the memory of the day was quite special.  It was 1979 and we had not long moved into a new house and therefore I didn't know many of the neighbour children.  I did know one girl that lived a few doors down and somehow my father had managed to get her to rally up some friends so that I'd have people at my party.  I'd forgotten about that until this morning and it made me smile.  I didn't realize what a special thing that was at the time, but now it's a lovely moment in time to remember.

Until next time...

Wordless Wednesday

Can you stand another squirrel picture?  This girl is getting use to coming by everyday and I can get quite close before she flees for the hedge.  If nothing else it gives me a chance to try out some "sport" photography as she moves quite fast!

Until next time...

A Pink Challenge

When we went down to London a few weeks ago, my youngest daughter selected this fabric when we were at the quilt shop.  At the time I had said I'd make something with it..though I hadn't decided what and more importantly I hadn't promised what.  Like much of the fabric that comes into this house, it gets washed and put in the cupboard with the rest of the stash. 

It must have been sometime last week when my youngest realised that there was a difference in the number of quilts that were hers compared to the number of quilts my DD1 has.  This, of course, raised the issue that my eldest has at least one more quilt than the youngest and that it was my duty to put things right.  It was at this point that the carefully washed and folded fat 1/4 became the inspiration...and the challenge of making a whole quilt using one fat 1/4!  I umed and ahed for a few days jotting ideas down between making meals and going to work and finally I came up with a design which will showcase the fabric in the centre of stars and be surrounded by Chinese coins made from a collection of pink charm squares that have been waiting in the cupboard.

Until next time...

Country Club Quilt Progress #2

I have done well this week.  Not only have I managed a blog post everyday I have also managed to make another block for the Country Club Quilt.  I don't think that would have normally been achieved, except I saw Stina's post about her progress and the replacement flag block she made and inspiration struck.  It make perfect sense to draft a Union Jack and include that in my quilt instead of the American Flag which is included in the pattern.  Luckily I had the perfect fabrics thanks to my shopping spree at the carboot 2 weeks ago.  I used the image tracing feature in EQ6 to get the design and I paper pieced all the slanted bits.  I couldn't believe how easy EQ made the process.  For more Union Jack and fabric combos have a look at this and this.

Until next time...

Friday Flowers

Caught these pictures on Monday between raindrops.





Until next time...

Country Club Quilt Progress #1

I've got the first block done! Yeah!



Although I started to prepare the pieces for tradition applique, in the end I opted to do heat and bond and sew a blanket stitch in matching thread on the machine.  I've decided this for 2 reasons, first I was struggling with the flower petals and secondly there is a much better chance that I will keep up this way.  I forgot how quick this method is and how satisfying it is to get a block done in an afternoon.

---

Lastly, I had to share this notice I found on the toy box...

Guess I better find a new place for the ironing pile and the quilting magazines and the...

Until next time...

Almost Wordless Wednesday

This caught my eye as we were walking around Stratford-upon-Avon last week...looks so quaint.

Until next time...

A little sewing going on...

With things getting back to normal after out half term break, I've managed some quality time with my sewing machine.  These blocks are for Flutterwheels, a group I attend with Lynda 6 times a year.  The challenge was to try our hand a New York Beauty block in 2 different sizes.  I really love how the batiks work so well with the pattern.

Next I have been working on reducing the number of strips in my scrap baskets with this Chinese Coin quilt.  After seeing Kate's Chinese Coin quilt at the meet-up (as shown on the last picture on this post) I decided to move away from white and use red.  I think is is very striking.  I have planned for a pieced border...so this is just the beginings.

Until next time...

Going to the Birds...

There has been a great amount of activity at the bird feeder and I'm glad to see that our Goldfinches are back.  Look at this fellow posing for the camera!

One day after work I came home to find this little guy was hopping around the garden.  It is a baby Jackdaw.  I could hear the mother squawking as she tried to encourage it to fly and finally after an hour or so of swooping into the garden she got him out. 

Until next time...

From a Miss to a Mrs...

It was Caroline's big day yesterday and I popped over to the evening reception to say hello and best wishes.  Quite comically, I walked into a different wedding reception first and wondered if I got the day wrong!  Luckily the staff pointed me in the right direction and I found the happy couple.  Although the weather of the day was dreary, Caroline and her new husband certainly found the silver lining in those clouds and didn't let the weather dampen their mood.  The rain stopped long enough for pictures by the lake at the beautiful Dunchurch Park where they had their reception and Caroline tells me some quite funny pictures of her in wellingtons (boots) were taken too.  I look forward to seeing those!  But for now you'll have to settle for one of me and Caroline.  It's very rare that I get in front of the camera..so many thanks to the DD1 who took the picture :o)

Until next time...