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.....

Glad of a rest!!

As you can see, it's been a bit chaotic here this week chez Z&Z. This is a photo of our kitchen - or how it was when I left for work this morning.

We're having a new one put in, but before it can be fitted, the whole room needs to be replastered (Hum - wonder why - perhaps it's those enormous holes in the wall....).


And of course, the plaster needs to thoroughly dry before any cabinets can be brought into the space. And before the plaster can be applied, the whole room needs to be gutted.

I'd lke to point out that the lurid yellow on the walls is nothing to do with me. It was there under the wall paper that we stripped off. And that dark spodge at the bottom of the wall? That's where Mr Z&Z decided to remove the radiator - 'just because'. It's now cold in the kitchen, on top of everything else....

Hence the chaos. And the poor diet of recent days. There's only so much you can produce on a very small cooker, with no washing up facilities.

Actually, I could have probably produced more, had it not been for the announcement on Tuesday that OFSTED would be arriving that very afternoon. OFSTED are the school inspectors who can arrive with 4 hours notice, examine all paperwork, wander willy-nilly in and out of lessons, make judgements and decide the fate of a school, the staff and the students - all within the space of a day and a half.

Still, it's over now, and they're not expected back for another year or so, all being well.

Two weeks ago I went to visit my mother, to try to persuade her to make some curtains for me. She declined, but did instead offer to teach me how to do it myself.


This is the fabric I've chosen - Laura Ashley were having a 25% off everything sale, so I rushed an bought 4 metres of this tulip fabric. It's a linen and cotton blend.

All was going very well, until we realised that neither of us had any suitable thread to sew with. Embarrasing, but true.

'Not a problem' cried my mother. 'Let's walk into Malton (the small town in North Yorkshire where she lives) - there's a shop there where we can buy some'. So we duly set off, accompanied by the labradoodles - only to find the shop shut - it being Saturday, it closed at 1.30.

The joys of living in a small town!!

So the curtains are still in a pinned together state. I had planned to do them last weekend (but was too poorly to even pick up some handsewing, let alone puzzle out curtains...).

After the debacle of the curtains that never were, I came back to Nottingham to go to a workshop on using Fat Quarters.

All you needed were 6 fat quarters (or an assortment of scraps, and this was the result.

As you can see, the different fabrics used gave completely different results. I have a LOT of fat quarters to use up - I think I'll be using this pattern again!

Over the last few days (besides trying to cater amidst plaster dust / write detailed lesson plans and policies...), I've been putting together a quilt for my grannie's birthday.

This is a dreadful picture - I apologise - it's getting later, and there's a strange light in MrZ&Z's study, but you get the general idea.

Dithering over the pattern took me a long time, and I've finally gone for an Attic Windows. I'm still not sure about it, but shall carry on. So far I've put 9 blocks together.

The plan is to do some more together, step back and reassess.....

Into the Twenty-First Century

Just spent about a gazillion hours on this PC trying to order a NEW PC. How ironic.

Mind you, the process was held up by painstakingly entering the individual codes from a pile of vouchers - the result of three years of birthdays, Christmases and anniversaries.

Delivery date is Saturday.

I can't wait (I'm out at a quilting thing all day) - hopefully Mr Z&Z will have it all set up by the time I get back. It wil be so nice not having to switch on the PC, wander off for 10 minutes, and then come back to see if there's any flicker of life yet, not to mention being able to use the internet without having to set aside at least 90 minutes for something as simple as emailing....

The gasman cometh..

Life chez Z&Z has been somewhat fraught this week. I came home from work last Tuesday to find this adorning my cooker:



Mr ZZ had noticed a funny smell in the kitchen, and had called out the emergency gasman, only for him to condemn our hob and cut off the gas supply to it. We thought we could manage for a while with just the oven, but by the weekend had succumbed and bought a little table top oven with 2 tiny electric rings. This will have to do us until funds permit the fitting of a new kitchen.

Jubilation at the new addition, and the possibility of having rice and pasta again, was somewhat tempered by the discovery that the boiler had also seized up: 'it's the PCB' I was informed somewhat loftily by Mr ZZ.
All I can say is thank goodness that we have plenty of half finished quilts to snuggle under, until the next gas man comes in a fortnight, hopefuly to get the boiler running again, so that we can have heating.

In the meantime this is what I've been doing:



This is half a top for a lap quilt: here's what it should look like, albeit in different colours, when completed:


I really regret choosing white for my background - cream would have been much better - the white just seems to 'kill' the colour.

And here's my bargain purchase from the Quilter's Guild Bring and Buy stall at the recent Regional Day:


It's a Thimbleberries BOM from c2003 - all 12 months, as well as borders and bindings. At present, the Thimbleberries BOM retail at about 15 pounds a month - I paid 50 for the whole lot (and had a free cloth bag thrown in!!), so I think that represents a bargain.

I put the first 2 blocks together on Saturday:





and by Sunday had completed another 2:


Apologies for the yellowish tinge - that's what happens when you take photos under artifical light in a room with no windows.....

A few days away...

.. were great!!!

When we arrived at the hotel, they told us that they were very sorry - but they'd had to upgrade us to a fourposter room. Now, I was very excited about that - and then a little less excited to see that in fact, yes the bed did have four posts - but no lovely drapes / curtains etc. Still, it was very comfy, but I think I would have felt a little cheated had I deliberately booked such a room.

Still, we ventured into the cold autumn and visited the local National Trust property:



no problem getting in...

I took a lot more photos - but now my card reader thingummybob isn't working. Lots of green lights flashing, but no sign of work.

A bit like I will be tomorrow - back to school after a week off.

A depressing day today - very gray and overcast. The plasterers who came yesterday have very kindly left plaster over every available surface - including the stairs / carpet /door handle - so today has been spent in cleaning up after them.....

BUT

a quick faff about on Google revealed a new quilting product - 'turnovers' - apparently they are 6inch squares cut into triangles........

Hooray

Something to look forward to....

chickens

This is what I worked on yesterday. It's called 'rennende Hühner' (running chickens), and I purchased the pattern in Heidelberg, Germany, earlier this year.

For some reason it appears to have come out with a very blue tinge - the background fabric is in fact light green (perhaps taking photos late at night isn't the way to go???).

I found it really tricky at first - the templates were in centimetres, and I'm too used to working in inches, so I had to redraft some bits of it.

It's now waiting for borders, and embellishments in the form of legs / beaks etc.

And what else has been going on?

Let's recap -

1) We have no bathroom to speak of - basic facilities, yes, but no more - and I'm getting fed up of wshing in a small basin. The plumber can't come back until the plasterer has been - he's due this weekend - and then it has to dry out for a few days.

2) Because the bathroom now needs plastering, we will be left with the large hole in the bedroom ceiling until the plasterer can fit us in again - I'm keeping my fingers crossed for sometime before Christmas

3) The sewing machine shop didn't send the carrier for my Bernina 440QE yesterday - so it's getting less and less likely that it will be sorted by the end of the week.

We are therefore throwing caution and frugality to the wind .......

.......and running away for a few nights!!!!

Yeah!!!

We're only going about an hour away, but I am so looking forward to being able to have a shower / sleep in a room that doesn't have a (very cold) hole in the middle of it. The only downside is that I've been told I can only take one piece of sewing with me.

Decisions, decisions.

What will it be???

Not a lot accomplished...

So this is what I've made this week.

Six sawtooth stars using some Kaffe Fassett scraps. I'm going to put them on point, but thought I should take a photo to monitor progress this far. I've cut out the pieces for another six, but they'll have to wait until I get back from France next week. I leave early Thursday morning with 31 teenagers, all set for a bracing week on the north French coast, near Bayeux.

Of course there's a compulsory visit to the tapestry on Friday morning (I say of course because I've devised the itinerary.....)

And this is what Jim's done this week. If you're wondering what it is - it's a hole in the bedroom ceiling, casued by him putting his foot through the plasterboard. The hole is about 50 cm across, and I think I may have to ask someone to come round and repair it - I don't think I can bodge anything together

I'm grateful that he only hurt his ego, and that it was the bedroom and not the sewing room that got covered in bits of plaster, and loft insulation, and lots and lots of filthy black bit sof who knows what - but at the same time I'm more than a little annoyed that this incident happened at about 10.00 am - and when I got in from work nine hours later, there was still dirt and grime everywhere - he claims that he 'hadn't noticed it'.

Grumble grumble.

We're having a new bathroom installed, and tonight there is a) no heating and b) no hot water. When I watch the make over shows on television, it all looks so easy!!

No more posts until I return from visits overseas. By then I hope that the bathroom is in - or at least that I can get washed and keep warm!!

UFO challenge update

I have so MANY unfinished projects, so I've signed up to the challenge at Finn's website because I HAVE TO FINISH SOMETHING.

So by December I hope to have finished at least four things:

a) Hallowe'en quilt top - I started this last October, and have done about 3/4 of the top
b) Day lily lap quilt - in the same state as the Hallowe'en quilt
c) triangles lap quilt - this has been basted and I've started to quilt it - BUT progress has slowed since I realised that one block was in upside down
d) nativity wall hanging - the top is nearly done, and I've purchased the backing...

Maybe this way I'll get them finished (or at least a little further along....).

BUT

all the best laid plans go awry.

I went out yesterday with Jim to buy a new bath...

and bought two new sofas as well. Ooops.

The delivery charge was too much, so instead I hired a van this afternoon, we drove to the shop, loaded them up and then unloaded them into the only room with any space in it - which is the kitchen. Even then, not everything went smoothly - the smaller sofa was ridiculously heavy - when we tried to lift it out of the shop, we found out that it was in fact a sofa bed - but the shop told us to go ahead, take it anyway, even though it wasn't supposed to be in the deal. By the time all this was over, there was no time (or space) left to get everything out.

So much for resolutions.

Wedensday evening is my next free evening, and I've now written 'sewing time' in my diary, to make sure that I get some done.

Today's picture therefore, is another one from the Festival of quilts. I think this may have been the one that won best hand quilting, but I couldn't be certain....

Update

I know there are some (well, a few) people who do read this, and so I'd like to reassure them that no, I haven't fallen off the end of the world, although the blog hasn't been updated and emails haven't been answered.

It's been very hectic though.

So hectic in fact that very little sewing has taken place.

The new windows went in, although with my reluctance to let anything go which could come in handy later, several panels of stained glass are now in the shed 'just in case'.

But while they were going in, an awful lot of plaster came off the walls - to be fair, it's because the windows had rotted, and the damp had spread to the walls.

What that means is yet more upheaval, as we now have to peel off the wallpaper in rooms, and then arrange for a plasterer to come round and patch up the gaping holes that have appeared. I though I could do it myself - until I saw just how widespread it was....

Added to which, the new bathroom is (finally) scheduled for the start of October -

and term started again last week.

I always think that I'll be better prepared each September, but no, every year it's the same - rush, rush, rush.

So instead of showing you photos of my crumbling plaster, my lovely new windows, or the forlorn heap of fabric waiting to be transformed, I've posted a photo of a quilt I admired at the Festival of quilts instead - I liked the use of colour.

Quiz

I don't usually do these - but I couldn't resist this one:

You Belong in 1988

Wild, over the top, and just a little bit cheesy. You're colorful at night - and successful during the day.

What Year Do You Belong In?

And it's scarily accurate - 1988 was my second year at university.......

I've been playing with my new toy (see photo from my last post) but alas, there have been many tears and tantrums, most of which were solved by actually reading the instruction manual...

Sadly, we're having new windows fitted next week, and so all sewing has to cease while surtains are taken down and furniture shifted about, so that the window men can get to work. I'm hoping that it'll all be worth it - especially given the 26% price rise in gas and electricity - hopefully I won't hav to put the heating on ever again (I really must finish some quilts before winter sets in...).

I originally decided to get the new windows when we moved in and found that none of them opened at all - immediately my imagination went into overdrive, wondering how we would escape in the event of fire / burglar etc. Jim was more concerned about keeping cool over the summer, but as it's rained non-stop, no need to worry there.

Ironically, I did manage to force a window open a few weeks ago, in the spare room, only to find that the rain made the wood swell up, and now it wont shut (and still it keeps raining...).

Our house was built in 1932, and still has the original wooden frames and stained glass. I got quotes to have them replaced like for like, but it was coming in at over 26 thousand pounds, and uPVC was priced at under 6 thousand, including replacing the stained glass. A no-brainer, I suppose, and I guess it will look better and be better insulated - but I shall miss the look and feel of the wood (even if it was a potential death-trap!!!).

Still, that's a lot of money saved to be spent on other things like FABRIC and new SEWING MACHINES!!!!!!! Oh yes, and bills.....