twice in one week

Yes indeedy.

Two posts in one week.

That's because the football is on downstairs, and so I've been banished to the end of the house. I had thought about sewing, but decided that I'm too tired after a day at work to get anything meaningful done.....

I bought a magazine yesterday - Sew Hip, and this was in it. I'm wondering whether I'll have time to make her over the next few weeks....
It suggests using fusible wadding - but that seems to be very hard to come by in my local quilt shop- so I think I'll use fusible interfacing instead and see what happens...
I'm thinking the brighter the better.

I did think about making her over the weekend - but we're going awayto Devon - about 280 miles away - and I think taking the sewing machine isn't really an option. Oh well - at least the hand sewing can come along....

A day late..

I've been making an effort this year to post at least once a week, on the same day (Sunday) - but already this year, I have missed my own targets...

My only excuse is that I've not been feeling too well.

And so all I have to show for this weekend is this half quilted throw, which is a WIP, and which is progressing VERY slowly.

Hmmm.

The reason for the slow progress is the small error in the symmetrical layout....

..which I didn't notice until I had started quilting.

Oh well.

(For those of you who haven't yet noticed, the bottom right red triangle is in the wrong way...).

Of course, I am very little further with the 20 blocks needed for my swap - and tomorrow will be a long day - I have a meeting which starts at 8.00am, and will probably last all day - meaning that precious sewing time will be lost (as I'll be too tired in the evening). Grrr.

Autumn in January.

In a moment of madness I signed up to a block swap with Threads and Patches in Milton Keynes.

It was in the middle of last year, with a deadline some 10 months away.

And of course, I kept meaning to get round to it - and somehow didn't.......

So, as I have to produce 20 blocks (each 12 1/2 square) by the beginning of April, I thought I'd better make a start.

The only criteria are that the fabrics used be batiks, and that the colours used be autumnal.

I looked through my (way tooooo big) stash - but couldn't find anything that seemed to fit the brief (but did find lots of other lovely things.....).

So I decided to get in touch with Hannah's Room, which is a shop about an hour's drive away - I figured that it would be more economical to do mail order rather than drive up to the shop, overspend, and then drive home again - not to mention the fact that I would only be able to go on a Saturday - and they were absolutely FAB. I emailed on Tuesday afternoon - and my parcel was delivered on Thursday.

That really is service - and I would recommend them to anyone and everyone.

So yesterday, when I was at my monthly quilt class at my local shop, I got on with making my first 6 blocks. They are Balkan Puzzle, inspired by one that I saw on Anne-Ida's blog.


Okay, so it's not completed yet, but I'm set to finish them by the end of today - and then I'll be 30% of the way there.

But now I'm having a massive crise de confiance - are they autumnal? Are they too orange? (To me, autumn is a more gentle shade, and I would include purple as well as a autumn colour - but I haven't included it here, as I thought that maybe that would be too personal a choice).

And should I be making something more complex?? I really don't know if I have time, although to be fair, I do have a week off work in February for halfterm.....

I should have completed them this afternoon - but instead, I went for a bit of light Bondawebbing. This is a block for the Nancy Halvorsen quilt 'Love is...', which I'm hoping that my sister will like for her house... I need to blanket stitch and embroider - which I'll do at quilt group tomorrow evening.

Oh, and some Tana Lawn fell into my shopping basket yesterday....

First pieced top of 2009

Wooooooo.
What a great start to the year!!!!

I have already pieced a quilt top.

ButI haven't even thought about quilting it - because , as we all know, it will take me several months to get around to even basting, never mind quilting it.

Actually, I'm not sure about this top the way it is. I think it needs

a) another black border top and bottom, just to 'frame' it.

and

b) perhaps another border of some sort. The original Clothworks pattern, that I'm adapting it from, had a 6 1/2 inch wide border all round, in the animal print design, with the animal faces looking out. It's quite busy, and I wonder if it will detract from the pieced centre.

I was wondering about some pieced blocks, using up the scraps that I have left over. Or maybe even something like flying geese??

We also carried out part of our joint New Year's resolution - to get fitter - and so went for a 3 1/2 mile walk . Now, I appreciate that that doesn't sound like a lot - but it was raining - and we really are unfit. It took us about 90 minutes, which is reasonable going, over typical White Peak landscape:




We set off from Eyam which is a renowed tourist spot in summer. In 1665 - 1666 (I think that's right!), when the plague was spreading across the UK, it arrived in Eyam in a parcel of cloth sent up from London. Several people died very quickly, and so the villagers decided that the best thing to do was to put themselves into quarantine until all danger had passed. They had no contact at all with anyone from outside the village for about 9 months - and during this time whole families were dying - but no-one was allowed to leave.

As you walk around the village there are little plaques telling you about the history of each cottage and the residents from that time, and there is more information in the church (but as it was Sunday morning, we didn't go in to take photos).

I suppose that if you were cynical, you could argue that the action of the villagers had very impact on the spread of the plague in Derbyshire - but I think that misses the point - they were prepared to foresake seeing friends and family in the hope of helping the wider community.

Anyway, we had a great walk - if a little wet....

First proper post of 2009

This is what I've started work on, using a Clothworks pattern. But my local quilt shop didn't have exactly the same fabric, so I'm having to adapt it a little in places.....

It's not really looking great - throwing bits of fabric onto the bed probably isn't the best way to photograph anything......

Over the weekend I hope to get the top pieced - 'all' LOL that I need to do now is to put some sashing strips in.

When my sister and family came to visit, we went out to the Peak District, about 20 minutes away, and had a fabulous walk on Curbar edge.

The pictures look impressive - but the rocks aren't really as high as you might think....

...though Jim makes it look very impressive....

Unresolved resolutions

SO...

the cake did get iced - on New Year's Eve.

The mince pies were consumed, with much relish and smacking of lips.

And very little sewing was done......

....various friends and relatives descended, some with only a few hours notice, and stayed with us - necessitating much moving of furniture and rearranging -and no access to sewing machines :-(

But it's a timely reminder of what is really important in life - I think I would rather lose a week of free time to spend it with family than have plenty of time to complete an immaculate piece of work to show off.

Three years ago, in January, my father died unexpectedly - he wasn't ill, he was relatively fit and young (62). It was an enormous shock to all of us - and a reminder to spend time with people that you love.

For the last 2 years or so, I've taken to working late more and more - and I need to stop this in 2009. I realise that leaving for work at 6.45, and getting back after 20.00 isn't good and it isn't healthy - I hadn't seen many of the people who came round since the summer holidays - 4 months ago - because ' I don't have time - I have to work'. I barely see Jim from Monday to Friday, and then spend the weekend asleep.

So once again , my new year's resolutions- which I failed to fulfil in 2008 but will try again in 2009 are:

• to lose weight
• to get more active
• to make more time for family and friends
• to complete projects / finish off WIPs and UFOs
• to leave work by 17.00 at least twice a week
• to keep things in perspective

Oh yes, and to remember to photograph things so that I don't post text only......