Have you missed me?

From London one weekend to Scotland the next...We have traveled up and down the country and We have seen the M6 from jct 1 to jct 44 in both directions! (I can take that off my to-do list!) Our destination in Scotland was the beautiful Loch Lomond to witness the wedding of two dear friends. And as Scotland is a good 6 hours from here (thanks to Google maps directions) we decided to stretch out the journey stopping at Lancaster on the trip there and Kendal on the way back.

As Morecambe Bay was close to Lancaster we headed there to eat our sandwiches on the seaside. It was a little bit windy..ok it was a LOT windy and cold, but it was still fantastic to be by the sea looking over to the Lake District mountains in the distance.

Thanks to a huge mountain silhouette we could just about figure out the names of the peaks...that and have a great time playing hide and go seek!










So what else is there to see in Morecambe Bay...well if you are an Antique enthusiast there is a Huge Antique market and for the book enthusiast there is the most amazing book store! Think Harry Potter and book store and you have The Old Pier Book Store. Every surface had books and there were rooms upon rooms of books. Books over doors, books piles in corners...heck even the fellow at the cash was surrounded by books. I have never seen anything like it in my life and I could have spent hours perusing the books...but alas I had the DD2 with me and just as I was selecting a 1956 copy of a Good Housekeeping cook book I heard those ever familiar words..."Mommy, I need the toilet!"



Here's a picture of the shop...

So armed with reading material we headed up the rest of the M6, Through the Lake District (see next picture) up the M74, through Glasgow (thanks TomTom!) and finally to Luss and Loch Lomond.

Luss and Loch Lomond are so beautiful...just look at these pictures...

The Church

The stain glass in the church

A view looking back at Luss

The beautiful cottages

Quite the idyllic place to get married...look at the happy couple...

And finally I'll leave you with a picture of her flowers...

Thank You - The Red Boot Quilt Co.

I couldn't let the day go by without saying a great big THANK YOU to Toni for the 2 patterns I won in her recently giveaway.

There are some lovely patterns for sale...visit her HERE.

Personally I can't wait to try the star one...It looks like so much fun to make.

Trip to London - Part II - The Science Museum

Ok...I hope I won't bore you...but here's a few more pictures from our day in London..

Next stop: Science Museum

A fantastic looking motorcycle at the entrance



A working steam engine...just loved the colour red with the steam bellowing behind...



Red Punch Buggy on the Wall



And this great picture is straight out of the camera...no effect here, just blue windows at the back of the Science Museum



And always looking out for interesting used for fabric...have a look at this old poster...
Have you got 7 minutes and 1 3/4 yards of fabric to spare for your fridge?



And don't you just love the History of Mathematics...
Look at these two fine examples of Patchwork in action...




I'd love to try this in fabric!!

Trip to London Part I - Dr Who?

One of the great things about blogging is that you can see all sorts of sights from around the world without ever leaving home. I hope you'll indulge me for a moment while I show you some pictures from our trip to London yesterday.

My DH surprised the family with tickets to see the Dr Who Exhibition at Earls Court...as parking at North Ealing station is free on Sundays we parked there.

After a few stops on the tube we were at Earls Court



We saw the Face of Boe



The molds for making the Ood



More Ood



Rose Tyler's shoes from the episode called The Idiot's Lantern



Cyberman



DON'T BLINK



and of course A Dalek

It was a good exhibition..especially if you are a Dr. Who fan

Got the girls stitching...

Nothing makes me happier than when my girls take an interest in what I'm making. Normally it's a "ah that's nice mom..." or "is it for me mom?" But this week, both girls asked if they could do some stitching! So I dug out some plain fabric and my embroidery floss and we got creating.

The DD1 wants to make some bibs for her teacher who is expecting...so she drew some designs on paper then transfered them to the fabric.

DD2 decided that her first attempt would be freehand. I figure at age 5 just getting the needle to go up and down through the fabric would be an achievement...Imagine my surprise that she stitched "I Love You"

Feeling inspired by her domestic skills...DD1 decided we needed cupcakes. (No complaints here)

After completing her design the DD2 thought it should be made into a quilt. So I got my bin of 2" strips and allowed her free choice. It was her idea that the 4 sides would be colour co-ordinated! I was really impressed with that as I would have just gone scrappy...

I'm so proud of them both. I had a super day sharing my skills with them and I think they just might have gotten bitten by the sewing bug. Happy Day!

A bit of quilting going on...

A couple of lazy summer days have allowed me a bit of time to sew...

A couple of little quilts for Leicestershire Project Linus

and finally I've started the hand quilting on my Irish Chain.

Busy creative weekend...

Last April Karol-Ann sent me some charm squares to cheer me up when I was going through a difficult time. I really wanted to be sure that I used them in something special..something that would be a constant reminder of her kindness...and the kindness of all the bloggers who helped me through that time. So I've made myself a new handbag. It's larger than my old one and I'm so thrilled with how well it turned out. It will be big enough to carry all the supplies one needs when moving around with children...the wipes, the tissues and the wallet..

There have been a few other people making bags too...must be something in the water. Check out this one and this one.

While on my creative streak I finally glued together the needlecase kit I bought at the last Rocheberie Meeting. It was great fun to put together and even more impressive to use. Just put your needle through the felt, place the felt in the wallet and when you open it from the other side the felt is magically under the ribbons. It's based on these instructions.

Saturday also saw the arrival of this sweet treat from Verry Sherry. Thanks Sherry!

Saturday was also the day my DD2 had a birthday party to attend and after looking at this post, we decided on a fancy hairdo...

and lastly I had to share this goofy picture of my DD2 working on the garage!! LOL

P.S. A few people have asked about the frames. If you want an online and easy way to spruce up your pictures...try Flauntr.

Holiday 2008

As promised a few photos to explain where and what has been keeping me busy... As I mentioned yesterday we have been away on holiday to North Wales...specifically we stayed at the Llyn Gwynant Campsite which was positioned just at the top of the lake Llyn Gwynant as the river Afon Glaslyn joins the lake.

As you can see the DD2 got inspired and within minutes of her crayons being unpacked she started to draw the landscape.

Llyn Gwynant was also location to the filming of Tomb Raider 2 and Merlin...which was kinda neat to find out..more details and pictures are on their website. It was a very well maintained site with clean toilets and friendly staff. They also had a boat hire on site where you can rent kayaks or Canadian canoes to paddle on the lake..great fun!

...and in the evening you could have a camp fire


...perfect for roasting marshmellows.

There were plenty of walking trails to be found.

We also spent some time in Beddgelert, which was very quaint and had the BEST ice cream shop!

And since we were in the area, we spent a day in Portmeirion...


...which was so inspirational..not just for our garage but also for the patterns we found underfoot!

Along the way...we found of series of tree stumps that had coins hammered into them!

And the DD2 thought we found God...LOL..

The place was great for taking pictures...

And was full of beautiful flowers....just look at these hydrangeas!



We will definitely go back there!