Update

Once again I ended up spending far too much time at work, when I could have been at home, playing with fabric and ignoring the housework.

At the start of May my sister and her family came to visist, and as the weather was so glorious, we travelled to Castleton:

This is Winnats Pass.

Of course, when you go out with two lively children into the hills, it's compulsory to try to climb up as high as you can.  I'm not as fit as I was, or even as I should be, so only went a short way, but had a lovely view of the pass itself:

That teeny tiny dot is a car making its way along.  There were also a number of (very) keen cyclists out and about, huffing and puffing their way along.

As far as sewing goes, there's not been a great deal going on.  I went on a course to learn about freemotion quilting, and this is my attempt:

To be perfectly honest, I had no idea what to do with it once completed - there's a couple of glaring errors in it, and I'm not too keen on the colour  - it seemed a shame to use some of my favourite fabrics to practice on - so I bound it and have given it to the 5 year old daughter of a colleague to use with her dolls.

I attended a workshop run by Ineke Berlyn, making a bag out of a pair of jeans:

I didn't have enough material to make the bag the correct size, so had to scale it down a bit, but it's still ENORMOUS.  It was designed to be big enough to put a sewing machine in to take to classes (though I'm not too sure that I trust my sewing skills to carry that much weight!!).

I managed to get to Malvern quilt show, and saw this:

I bought the kit to make this two years ago at the NEC - but have never got round to doing it.  Seeing it 'in the flesh' has given me a kick to get on with it now.  I still love the colours, but I'm not sure about the appliqué - this one has been needle turned, and more of a Bond-a-Web kind of person. 

It had been long arm quilted in the USA, and I know that there's no way that I will be able to manage anything similar:

Cowardly lion ...

.. is probably what I am, not having posted for a long time. 

The reason?

I've been procrastinating about quilting the present for my grannie's birthday.

It's taken me about a week to gather up the courage to do it, and I'm still not pleased with it.  The free-motion quilting is somewhat erratic, and sewing through the top of my finger didn't help either.  Mind you, I was very impressed by Mr Z&Z, who rushed to my side when the accident happened - to make sure that the fabric was okay - he has been VERY well trained!! 

I think the fear comes from knowing that grannie, like my mother and my aunt, is a very talented needlewoman, and will be able to spot loopy stitches and uneven sewing at 100 paces.

So all I now have to do is to finish sewing the binding down and make a label - ready to hand over at the weekend. I've used a very lightweight wadding, to make it as portable as possible for her, but I've also added a hanging loop in case she wants to display it.  To be honest, I wasn't convinced about buying the more expensive wadding, but it really does drape beautifully and is so cosy and warm.  The one that I made for my mother some time ago and in which I used polyster wadding is a lot more rigid by contrast. All the other things that I've made have either left the family or are up in the loft, so I haven't been able to carry out a very scientific comparison!!

And as part of my procrastination, I also paper pieced this.  It's waiting for a border, or two, and then I'll quilt it up (and practice some more free-motion quilting on it).  It's the Princess and the Pea - the scene where the princess is able to feel the presence of a pea beneath a whole heap of mattresses, thereby proving how sensitive she is and therefore of royal blood.

Apologies if you have no interest at all in our new kitchen - but my mother and sister will - so here are the photos to show progress so far.  It's all now been replastered, and Mr Z&Z has painted the ceiling and the top 6 inches of the wall bright white.  The idea behind doing the top 6 inches or so is because once the cupboards are in place, it will be nearly impossible to paint behind them, right at the top of the wall.  I'm tempted to have the whole room white, as it's so dark in there - but as the units are ivory, I think they may end up looking dingy.

But then the units were delivered......

I had though that they were arriving in flatpacked - apparently not!

This is quite a daunting pile of boxes and bits and bobs.  It's so tempting to open some and have a look, but I feel that I need to restrain myself!

Has spring sprung?

Friday was the first day this year so far that has felt like spring. The sun was shining, and as I was pottering about the garden, getting despondent about just how much work needs to be done, it was heartening to see some shoots starting to come through. The sky was blue (although yesterday was a return to rain - but blue again today - hurrah!!) and there is an almost tangible sense of a new start.

Jenny is having a giveaway on her blog, about what the first signs of spring mean to you. It's hard to quantify - yesterday there was 'something in the air' and for the first time in a long while I wanted to get on with things / get weeding / get rid of the winter clutter / fling open the windows and let in the sun.

A day's sewing yesterday, then, and two quilt tops completed. To be fair, both had already been started, but they needed spring in the air to make me get the last few bits put into place - otherwise I knew that they would just sit about for an inordinate amount of time and that I would fall out of love with them.

I got the blocks done Sunday, whilst visiting my sister (who oversaw all block placements decisions),

to this, yesterday.

It's for Grannie's 95th birthday next month, and I've tried to incorporate as many photos of family as I can, but I've been thwarted by the inactivity of too many people. Suffice to say, my sister and I, and two (female) cousins have rustled up everything between us, and unfortunately a number of key players are missing - I just couldn't hang on any more waiting for digital pictures to get to me.

And this is the second top completed:

It's for a friend's daughter, and the colours are really lovely for this time of year. It's made from the Jelly Roll that I bought cheaply a few months ago, and to a pattern in Nicky Lintoft's book. It is truely much bigger that I thought it would be (I MUST learn to look at dimensions properly) - and the pattern calls for 3" borders as well. I fear that this quilt will actually be too big and heavy for a 4 year old - but then again, it should last her a LONG time.... I will probably leave this to one side for a short while, and speak to my friend to see what she thinks.

I also bought these fabrics:

to start making this quilt:

The range is Midnight, by Fabric Freedon, and the pattern, by Sally Ablett can be downloaded from their website.

This isn't my progress - I'm still cutting out - but I thought that it was nice to see a black and white quilt that is actually in grey instead - it's much softer on the eye.

Jo made this for her sister-in-law:

Today I had to go to a branch of a well known chain, to buy 1/4 metre of a fabric to bind a quilt, as I'm trying to finish off a number of UFOs, and after completing the transaction, I was asked whether I'd be interested in some remnants of fabric. Of course I said 'yes', dreading what they would produce, and how much it would be. To my amazement, an enormous plastic bag was pulled out, and after a bit of umming and ahhing - they suggested £10.

When I got home, I sorted it all out on the garden table, and this is what was in it:

Some of this is felt, and some is nylon - but the vast bulk of it is cotton - with the manufacturer's name on the selvedge - it's all Makower and Moda..... The smallest piece is about 1/4m, and the biggest is about 1/2m.

Included in the bag were several panels as well:

....maybe not my taste, but will make up into something useful - a bag? a cushion?,

two of these stocking panels, so I could either make 2 stockings, or 4, if I use a plain fabric for the back of each one,

and finally, an Advent Calendar panel!!

I recovered from the shock of this bargain by doing some pruning. Unfortunately, I was a little too enthusiatic in cutting back the honeysuckle - and now this archway has collapsed.....

Third Delivery!!

I was away for the weekend, at Mrs F's house in Yorkshire.

We like to pretend that I've gone to visit her - she is my mother, after all.

But really, this is who I like to go and spend time with:




I think we were watching 'Strictly ' at the time, and so he's curled up on the sofa (forbidden!!) but a blind eye has been turned .....

But just before I left, I had a third delivery, aptly, of three packages:

This one, from Shelly:

and I really liked the bag as well:

(Mr Z&Z wanted this....)

This one, from Denise:

and this one, from Carolyn:

who had also include some extra little things, which was really sweet of her!
Last Wednesday we had a 'Well-being Day' (more to follow later), and I was able to get a lot of my red strips sewn together, as well as about 100 of the half square triangles - only another 360 or so to make..... I've decided that I'm going to use the swap fabrics for the main strips and squares, so that I can really appreciate the variety that have arrived.

Normal viewing has been restored...

So where to start?

I've now spent far too many hours working out how to load the photos up. Part of the problem was the fact that the manual was electronic.

Call me old-fashioned - but I like to be able to read a manual - and by that I mean carry it about with me, read in bed, flick backwards and forward through it when I feel like it - not after I've turned on the PC, booted it up, and then looked at a flickering screen.

Would it more economical to have a print version? Possibly not to make - but certainly to use....

Now, if I update you with everything that I've been doing - this post will last for several days - so best to pick out a few highlights, I think...

Firstly - today. I went to a workshop on stack and whack. The tutor provided us with some fabulous fabrics - okay, they may not have been to everyone's taste, but the idea was that you went from this:

to this...

These aren't the same fabrics, BTW - but you get the idea of what is supposed to be going on here.

I'm so unhappy with my final blocks that there is, at present, no picture to show you.

All was going really well, and I was getting quite carried away - until we came to sew it together, and the pieces just wouldn't fit smoothly. No way. Even with pinning, resewing, and pressing. So time to re-think, I feel...

I'm determined to get this one cracked - I KNOW I can do this - I just need to work out where it was all going wrong. I sneaked a peak at the book that the tutor was referring to - and the book seemed to indicate that some triangles should be cut 1/4" larger than the diamonds in the pattern. I'm going to scout about a bit more in my own books here at home (because I seem to have rather a lot - so hopefully there will be something in one of them) and then try again with a slightly larger piece.

Last weekend was Grannie's 94th birthday party, which she held in the Cotswolds. Well, my aunt and cousins orgainsed it, and those of use from the frozen North drove down for the day.

To be fair, I do often argue with people that Yorkshire isn't the north - to me, the North of England starts at Newcastle - but I think it's really a matter of perspective. I grew up in North Yorkshire, in a small market town between York and Scarborough, but had to move away for university and then for work. I was very pleased to be able to move to Sheffield, as at last I felt that I was getting closer to home - it's Yorkshire, albeit it South.

But I digress.

Grannie had a fabulous time - lots of grandchildren and great-grandchildren there.

I'm hoping that grannie won't mind me posting a picture of her blowing the candles out on her cake, ably assisted by small children:

And finally - here's my contribution to the BQL perpertual calendar challenge for March:



I read about this in P and Q magazine, and thought it looked interesting - so signed up.

I have to say - it really has been a challenge for me - but hey, I got something finished for once - it's 12" square - but at least it's a project completed!!!

No posts now for about 10 days - I leave for Stuttgart tomorrow - 20 hours by coach, for a school trip - and although internet access is possible, it's not always easy.

I'm taking some hand appliqué with me - I should have plenty of time at various points to get on with that - and also some needlepoint (nice big holes to poke a needle thorough - no worries about stitch size there).

Last year I overdid it on the shopping front - this year, the strength of the Euro means that I shall be reduced to windowshopping only.

Still here - but still busy

No posts for while now - the PC at home has been playing up a lot - it now takes over 20 minutes just to turn it on, and accessing the internet is alomost impossible.

Any plans for shopping / blogging / working have to be carefully planned - picnic lunches have to be made and taken upstairs, and I often plan to do things like phone my mum while I'm fighting with technology.

I'd planned to get a better base unit (is that what it's called???), but then the fuel bill arrived yesterday. According to the fancy schmancy graphs that they've included with their demand for money, we're using far less gas and electricity than last year - so why oh why did I nearly collapse with shock when I opened the envelope??? The 'updating the kitchen' budget has already been diverted to the 'summer holiday' fund, and the decorating fund is periously low - so nothing else for it - no new PC this month..... (and, more worryingly, no updating of stash...)

No photos either - I left my camera at home this morning - but there should be some up soon (I have a new camera, and I can't wait to see what the photos look like... - I know you can see on the little screen at the back, but it's not the same as on the PC monitor.

So what have I been up to?

• I've been to a workshop with Sandie Lush - incredible - can't recommend it enough. More detail later.
• I also went to a workshop on folded patchwork - hmmm - think I need to work on this a bit more.
• Took 90 11 and 12 year olds to Boulogne in France for the day (yes, from Derbyshire - we left at 11.30 at night, arrived at 8.30 - spent the day in france, and got back at about 10.30 in the evening...).
• Made a 'quiltlet' with a photo in it - pictures as soon as possible!!!
• Spent Mothering Sunday with my grannie and about 30 of her descendants (ie mum / aunts / cousins / siblings / nieces / nephews) - a beautiful sunny day in the Cotswolds!!!

And I leave for Stuttgart on Sunday, for a week - not much time to get projects completed by then (but plenty started!!!).

Back again...

Hmm.

It was halfterm lastweek - so I should have had plenty of time to get things done.

Including updating my blog.

But in fact I spent most of the week out and about, catching up with friends and family.

And sewing (a bit...).

First up - a visit to Marsden, near Huddersfield, to catch up with an school friend. Hard to believe that we first met in 1980 - because it actually feels like only a few years ago...




The weather was still bad - walking along the canal was great fun though, and it was VERY tempting to see whether the ice would bear my weight (but I did manage to resist) -

probably because I was hoping to eat this -

a scoop of chocolate ice-cream, a scoop of lemon curd ice-cream - oh yes, and a scoop of 'creme-egg' ice-cream.

Interesting.

That's all I can say about that last one.

And then down to the Cotswolds to to see Grannie - still going strong at 93. She's having a birthday party next month - it used to be one every 5 years or so - but now she feels that she may as well have one every year - and why not??

She's still sewing away, but she says that she doesn't like her work anymore - because her stitches are too big (and believe me, I'd LOVE to be able to sew with such fairy stitches as she still churns out).

She's been cross stitching this winter - mum gave her a pile of kits from her stash, as grannie can't get to the shops easily to buy embroidery supplies to do what she really likes to do - but grannie is steaming ahead, and at this rate mum 's stash will no longer be in existence.

This was something that she managed to get done in a couple of weeks...just in time for the latest great-grandchild.

Then the labradoodles came to call, along with mum:

I'm not too sure what they made of the animals at the local park....

Last of all, I managed to get some sewing in. I signed up for the Thimbleberries BOM, and the first package arrived last week (and the next arrved today - so much for one a month :-) ).

Last year's is still incomplete - but this one looks much more achievable - it's one 12" block and 3 6" blocks each month - so doesn't take too long.

And then it was almost a relief to get back to work on Monday morning .....

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....