Time for a change

So, as you all no doubt know, Google reader is going, and I'm switching to Bloglovin along with a multitude of others. So here's this linky thing...


Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Hope to see you there soon :-)

I count myself very lucky....

to have such wonderful quilting friends. Today I had two fab girls keep me very busy...... I'd like to say sewing, but actually I did a lot more gassing than stitching!!!

I had chance to play with two stunning sewing machines, a Husqvarna Viking Topaz and a Janome Horizon with a full 11.5" of throat space which I saw put to fine quilting use this afternoon, had my first go at FMQ which I loved - so exhilarating and liberating - and was given free run of a fab scrap box where I managed to find loads of scraps for both my planned Melody Miller and Welsh flag quilts. My two fur-kids were very ably and affectionately entertained by the two resident gentle giants, although the least said about Daisy sneaking off upstairs for a quick nap on our hostess's bed, and bringing a sock back down with her to greet us at mid-afternoon snack time, the better!

Some things I also learned this weekend were:

1) the first idea I have of how to achieve something is almost always wrong....

2) when using a tutorial and going off-piste, as it were, with different fabric, it's probably best NOT to slavishly buy all the notions asked for in the tutorial beforehand, in the blind belief they will just be fine with the amendments - ie buy a 14" zip only to find you need 20".....

3) it's best to realise your catering size brownie pans won't fit into your domestic oven BEFORE making the mixture to go in them. (Don't panic, brownie devotees, I bought new ones!)

4) it's best not to think too much about where the dog found the roll of Sellotape she just deposited on the spare bed because it will either a) raise too many questions about the standard of your housekeeping or b) raise too many questions about which cupboards she has now worked out she can open, to the point you become too paranoid to ever leave her in a room on her own again!

All in all, a nice, relaxing, distracting weekend. And I'll leave you with a picture of the box bag made this weekend as a very, very belated birthday present for a lovely friend, from Aneela Hoey's oval box bag tutorial, adapted to use Melody Miller's Ruby Star Vinyl records.

good grief!

I've been kind of sleepwalking through life lately. I can't believe I haven't blogged since the 16 January. I missed my blogiversary and everything!

However, I've decided that's enough time spent feeling sorry for myself, and it's time to get back into the swing of things, doing some sewing again, and generally enjoying myself.

So I started with a to do list.  I didn't manage to link up with any of the FALs and I've missed a lot of trending QALs, and although I can't believe it's March already I'm hoping it's more than 100 days till the end of the year.  So I'm on my own with this, and here goes, my 2013 plan:

Quilts:

1) I still have my Cherry Christmas quilt to finish for my sister and her two kids - I think this will be one to get done early ready for Christmas 2013. Shouldn't actually take long to finish.




2) Another sister has asked for a quilt for the new house she is finally getting to buy with her childhood sweetheart.  Originally she asked for burnt orange and the 'b****' word, but I've mysteriously managed to win her over to Melody Miller love and now we'e excitedly planning something completely different, using a pattern from Modern Patchwork.

3) Macho quilt - I think I'm fairly safe in mentioning this here as although he says he reads it, I'm not convinced!  I want to make a quilt for my other half, as he loves snuggling under the raw circles one at the moment.  I did want to do a t-shirt quilt with vintage football, rugby and band tour shirts, but some research has proved that might be too expensive! So time to think again...

4) Welsh flag quilt - our nephew Dylan, brother of Megan who got the two-sided quilt last year, would like one of his own - a Welsh flag , no less.  So I thought I would collect lots of different red, white and green fabrics and make the background from 5" squares and the dragon from 2.5" squares which I would then applique on.  Ambitious?  Yep probably, but this is one I'm really looking forward to.  If anyone has any of the aforementioned fabrics in pieces that fit those measurements that they'd be willing to swap for FQs or something, please get in touch.

5) My baby sister has adopted the quilt I made for mum as her own now, so with quilts planned for 2 of the other 3, I need to make one for sister number 4.  I think a hopscotch quilt from a jelly roll, or possibly Tula Pinks Love Pattern, can't decide that yet, but that will be one for later in the year.  It also needs to be munching-spaniel proof...hmmm.





6) One of my work colleagues has commissioned me to make a quilt for her 4 year old son in blues and greens.  I've got the fabrics for the top based on the Havana range and supplemented with lots of different Kona solids.

Other things I want to do are some boxy pouches which I could sell, I've got one to make this weekend for a friend's birthday which I'm adapting from an Annela Hoey tutorial, so that could be interesting.  I have a couple of wallets and a make-up bag left over from Christmas gifts when my machine was sick, so they also need doing this weekend and delivering to the patient recipients.

Lastly I have some lovely Melody Miller Vintage flowers fabric that I am desperate to make into a messenger bag, but I haven't yet found the right pattern.  So at some point, I'm going to have a go at developing my own.

There's lots of other things, a weekender for instance, a t-shirt from gorgeous Nani Iro jersey, another hopscotch quilt, a pluses quilt from a layer cake and a couple of charm packs.....

not to mention all the other things that will no doubt crop up over the course of the year.

So looks like it will be a busy one.  I'll try and post a monthly update on progress.

Covet revisited

A while ago I did a bit of a mass covet and covetted 3 fabrics at once - just plain greedy, eh?  I've valiantly resisted the temptation to order Melody Miller's telephones from the States, (ostensibly to be loyal to Annie, but really because it's January, and with 6 weeks and Christmas between pay days, who can afford to splurge on fabric??)  What has helped with this is the little stack of one of the other covets sitting on my sewing table readily available for stroking and drooling.

However, I've discovered today that just being my fabric dealer for the last 10 months is no longer enough for Annie, she's now turned active pusher!  And I am going to have to resort to crime or selling body parts, as that other covet, Lizzy House's Pearl Bracelets, is now on pre-order as a fat quarter bundle.... at a discount!  

Just £60 will get you one of these scrummy bundles by the end of the month.

and I really, really, really want one.....  Click here if you do, too!

Amazeballs

The generosity of my bloggy quilty friends never ceases to amaze me. Look what the postie brought today for my new gizmo, from the lovely Kelly, who just can't bear the thought of a 'nekkid' iPad!

Last Christmas...

I promise this will be my last Christmas related post for a few months! I spent this weekend with two of my sisters, exchanging Christmas gifts as we didn't see each other during the festivities. I managed to finish some gifts for them in spite of the grumbly machine, and we got some lovely things in return.

Somewhat poignantly however, there were gifts from my mum. She was always very organised, and so there had been presents all bought for us, although not wrapped. Amongst the stock pile of things found, more amusingly, were set after set of Christmas chutnies! We've no idea who they were for....

We received a lovely ceramic garlic roaster and super-industrial garlic press. Because of our catering business she nearly always bought us food or cooking related items. Needless to say, there were tears!

One legacy she has left us is a determination, now we've lost our family's 'hub', to make more effort to spend time with each other - we're all so busy and geographically dispersed its not always easy to find time to get together. But we had a wonderful weekend with all our dogs (6 people, 4 dogs!) & we've already got the next gathering planned.

Wish it could be Christmas everyday!

At the ripe old age of 17, I had my appendix removed. While I tried to downplay the pain and other symptoms in a bid to avoid surgery, my dad was berating the surgeon who was suggesting the appendix be left to 'grumble' in the way that they liked (notwithstanding the risk of bursting and causing peritonitis....... I never understood that logic).

"Where the heck is she going with this and what does it have to do with Christmas?" I hear you ask. Well, I had to abandon plans for Christmas gifts in the week before the big day because I have a grumbling sewing machine. It only does it when there's fabric going through it (ie not when winding the bobbin or pulling the bobbin thread through) so I'm guessing it's something to do with the foot. It clearly needs a trip to the chiropodist!

I've noticed today two blogging friends talking about Cherry Christmas and one of my abandoned projects was a simple 10" square quilt for one of my sisters and her two children. It pieced ok, but the quilting made it look like the Himalayas!

So it had to be unpicked, which then lead to a tear and a tear or two of frustration! Luckily, it's near the edge so I can hopefully quite simply unpick it and replace the torn square. I've decided that as I replaced the quilt with DVD at Christmas, I have all year to get it finished, and so I'm going to hand quilt it.

I've got a couple of other Christmas gifts that need finishing by this weekend though, and so I'm hoping my machine will just get those done before it goes for a service. Think I might need to invest in a spare!