Decision made

OK – time to put the past few weeks to bed I think. I’ve decided to ride out whatever storms arise at work, thanks to this strange positivity that’s arrived over the past couple of weeks I now feel a lot more positive and optimistic about the future – just hope I can keep it up!

Moving on to other things of a more domestic nature. Matt seems to have settled in Brisbane, he’s been there for about a month now and has his ‘white card’ to enable him to work in the ‘construction’ industry, which seems to be a generic term for odd-jobbing here and there. Apparently there’s a large music festival in Brisbane in a couple of weeks and they need people to work on the site and stuff. We have a regular weekly phone call with him and he seems to really be enjoying himself – which is a huge relief after the first few days.

Yesterday, I had a select ladies who sew day, not intentionally select but only a few people could come – bad me took not a single photo! The reveal of the day was that Isabel has lovely hand sewing skills! She was rummaging through my purse frames and picked one with greeny coloured bobbles for the clasp, the challenge then was to find some fabric to go with it and here is her photo of her bounty!

It’s the small purse from issue three of ‘Molly Makes’

I made another frame purse yesterday, I’ve decided to just make a few so I have some to hand for that impromptu last minute gift so set out several matching fabrics – they only take about a quarter yard of each fabric which helps to mitigate the cost of the frames!

Finally, here’s some of the bags I’ve made lately and haven’t got around to sharing yet…

I’ve moved away from my safety net of plain lining for this one!

I’m off then, time for a quick shower before I phone Matt!

Ladies who……

Earlier today I had a really catchy title in my mind for this post, however the sieve that has replaced my memory in recent months has let it leak out and it’s lost!

I hope as I’m writing I can come up with something that tells you what a great day I’ve had today! A few weeks ago I had the brainwave of inviting some likeminded ladies to spend the day being crafty and today was the day we settled on. I suppose I expected maybe two or three friends would say yes please but we ended up with eight of us – and John!

John very kindly rearranged all the furniture a few days ago so that we could open up the space available and this morning we got ourselves ready. We opened up the dining table, laid out the cutting mat and sewing machine, pulled out a box of yarn and awaited our guests. I’d said 10 o’clock for a start time but slowly messages started coming in about people being delayed. The best one has to be the text that said ‘Please tell me it’s tonight we’re sewing’! Poor Trish had got 6 on her mind not thinking that was the date and not the start time! She and her daughter arrived just in time for lunch much to the amusement of those already gathered!

So here is the day in pictures – I think we all enjoyed ourselves, Isabel sort of learnt to crochet with Janet’s help, Sian made one of Nicky’s lovely boxy bags, Julie and Steph enjoyed a bit of show & tell, Trish wasn’t having a good day – instead of bringing her dress to finish she bought the remaining fabric, John got a few photography tips from Trish & Sian and me, well I did some crochet and marked out the half square triangles for my next project.

 

The sewing end

Elevenses!

The other end!

Yes – I left the ironing board out! The sewers amongst you will know that this is an important piece of equipment!

She need a bright colour!!

Don’t show my face!!

See – Nicky used that so important piece of equipment!

I’m not looking up!!

Always happy teaching!

The final result!

Thank you all for coming – shall we do it again?

Another week , another reveal!

Another first for me this week – a bag on a clip frame, I’ve always wondered how these work and now I know. This one is called Easy Peasy Purse and came in kit form from U-handbag. I have to say it was very easy to make although I struggled a little getting getting the fabric into the frame – but it will be easy next time!

In other news I took myself off to Dunelm on my day off as I had read on Catherine's blog here that she’d got an absolute bargain roll of fabric – 10 metres for £9.99. I had to have a look didn’t I? So was I as lucky? No of course not! Although I did get four end of rolls for £2.99 a metre, all a slightly heavier cotton, not really quilt weight but will be great for bags. And it will make a lot of bags. I bought 10 metres. Yes, I know who can make that many bags? Perhaps I’ll share it…..

Son 2 finally booked his flight to go to Australia. He was going to fly in October but has become so disillusioned at work over the past few weeks he’s bought it forward to early September. He’ll fly to Melbourne and go where the fancy (and the work) takes him. Good luck to him, he’s young enough to get the best from it and I hope mature enough to make it work for him – and before you ask, of course I’ll miss him!

And finally, the reveal – here it is my first clip frame bag (the fabric is Amy Butler ‘Tumble Roses’)…

 

Just off to order some frames I think……

VRWP!

What a weekend! It started off with that wedding on Friday and just disappeared really!

So what have I done? Friday saw me up at 6.30 to make sure I got a front row seat at the Virtual Royal Wedding Party (VRWP) I’d foolishly volunteered to host. The word ‘Virtual’ is the giveaway here – on line attendance only, but never let it be said that I don’t push the boat out for my guests. People came from far and wide, err well Lincolnshire, Kent, Ipswich & Missouri anyway! It didn’t quite attract the numbers that I’d been hoping for but we were a select gathering!!

We all sat in our respective corners of the world, linked by Twitter & Facebook, sharing our feelings on those outfits, especially the younger Royals – somebody should really have taken them somewhere else to buy their outfits and hates, sorry girls you were wide of the mark in the fashion stakes!

And then we saw her. Catherine Middleton. She looked, in my opinion, absolutely amazing! I think William felt the same judging by my limited lip reading skills. As they left the Abbey as the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge I couldn’t help recall that my late father-in-law always referred to my late mother-in-law as Queenie – because she was his Queen! It got me thinking would William refer to Catherine as Duchess – a good old London term? I guess we’ll never know!

So Friday spent glued to the TV (apart from the two hours of champagne induced slumber during the afternoon!!) watching the wedding, the highlights, the news bulletins and looking on line for images. I was productive as well though, following Son 2’s request for garden cushions last week, I decided to convert nine squares that I’d already crocheted into a cushion cover – but I needed to make up the back. It’s still a WIP so you’ll have to wait a few days to see it!

Saturday was the last home game of the football season – I’m not sorry to see the end of this season and, probably against our better judgment, we have renewed our season tickets. Next year will be the last though if it’s anything like the previous three years – where have I heard that before!

Which brings me to Sunday. Sew day. John went out really early to geo cache so I had the morning to myself. i have to say I love time home alone to do ‘me’ things. I made a cake (wanted to test the new oven) but forgot to grease the pans (I used my new silicone pans and it just didn’t occur to me to grease them) so first attempt at getting them out meant that the tops cracked, I decided to leave them in the pans to cool down then turned the pans inside out and scraped the cake out with a spatula. Thank goodness for butter icing to stick it all back together – it tasted delicious though!

So back to sewing. I had a pattern I had downloaded and was eager to try for the first time. I knew just what I wanted to do and who I wanted to make it for. I can’t say it was easy but that was possibly because I decided to adapt it – note to self never adapt a pattern the first time you try to make it – and used iron on wadding instead of a sew in interface – it was too much I think and the zip didn’t sit as nicely as it would have otherwise. Still, never mind, lesson learnt and here it is!

I made it specifically for Janet, in her colours, in exchange for some plants that she had grown for me in her little ‘greenhouse’. We exchanged yesterday over coffee and scones – she has even blogged about it here!I think her photos are probably better than mine as well!!

So that just about sums up the weekend – when’s the next long weekend? Oh yes – next week for me, so if it’s not the same for you!!

Welcome to 2011!

Happy New Year everybody! It seems that this years ‘thing’ is to have a photo montage of the past 12 months – I tried to choose one photo per month but found that was difficult as some months I’d taken more than others but here is my contribution – in no particular order!

2010 was a good year, we had three great holidays, I completed loads of crochet projects and I learnt to quilt – mostly self taught and through books but also with help from Nicola both remotely and in person! I haven’t blogged as much this year but I’m getting the impression that this is a natural progression from newbie blogger to feeling more comfortable with only the occasional update. 2010 also saw us become empty nesters as both boys left home which has taken some getting used to – as Son 2 has so recently left it’s something we’re still learning to cope with! In my mind I have a post prepared about what I miss about him – I’ll try to commit it to the keyboard in the next day or so!

Today we’re off to friends for our belated Christmas/New Year celebrations – before I go I just need to finish quilting my latest project so I can show them!

Here’s to another great year in Blogland – hope it’s a good one for all of you!

Can you tell what it is yet??

Naughty Nicola posted this on Sunday as a teaser for me! Those of you that have visited her blog already will know just how talented she is with fabrics – I think she has a real knack of putting colours and patterns together but she denies this!! Yesterday she revealed the whole thing to me and here it is in all its glory.

The light isn’t very good and doesn’t show the lovely colours at their best but I hope you get the idea!

It’s a one off and absolutely gorgeous – thanks Nicky and thanks for the inspiration, 2011 may be a very colourful year!!

Deliveries!

I’ve had some lovely deliveries this week! Whilst I was blog hopping last Sunday evening I came across this site which has some lovely fabrics! Well, I looked at it for at least 15 minutes before I decided that I really did need some more fabric for my stash, I ummmed and aahed for a while before settling on my fabric bundle of choice, placed my order and quickly moved off before I found anything else I wanted!

True to their word on Tuesday the postman delivered an unassuming black package to my door

Which, when I opened it revealed a beautifully wrapped package

It got a bit dog eared because I kept unwrapping it before I took the photo!

Which contained this lovely stuff…

Which smells just beautiful – I love the smell of new cotton fabrics! It’s a bundle of ten ‘fat quarters’ which I will make into something – just not sure what at the moment!

And then, on Thursday, the same postman bought me this….

which I will be turning into a baby afghan blanket with some mint & white which I had already bought. Sadly the pattern that I wanted to use just won’t work for me, I’ve unpicked it twice now but still can’t make it work so I’ll give up and revert to a ripple instead!

I fear that I am turning into a real craft-aholic as all I seem to write about these days is what I’m making! When I look back over the years I can’t help but feel  I’ve wasted so much time just staring at the TV screen – I need to make amends now. One thing I have noticed about myself is that I’m more patient, which surprises even me, with sewing now. If the seam isn’t straight I will unpick whereas back in the day I would have said ‘that’s the best I can do’! Last week I mentioned the log cabin pattern quilt that I had made with Nicky and I can now reveal it in it’s almost completeness – almost because I haven’t quilted it yet. Last night I tried to had quilt it but the back was an absolute mess, this morning I started to machine quilt it but that too was a mess. I have decided that the machine I bought just isn’t up to much other than stitching the fabrics together – it doesn’t really cut it for the quilting.

So, without further ado here it is…

It’s only 15 inches square and was intended for a ‘Blanket of Love’ we even had some sunshine  this morning!

This was my first attempt at binding the seam – I didn’t do too bad!

 

Close up of one of the squares

I think I mentioned that I’d agreed to help Nicky with a blog when I wrote last week, well I don’t have to now because her sister designed her a website and a blog as a birthday present – isn’t that a lovely idea? Please have a look here at the amazing things she makes, not just quilts but bags as well. She’d love to have you visit – you can tell her I sent you!

Just in case anybody is worried that I haven’t had a holiday for a few months, we are going away to Tenerife next week with our good friends Linda & John. Just for a week, recharge the batteries before the winter really sets in – then when we get back it will be time to think about Christmas, how time flies!

Better go now, been sitting at the sewing machine most of the day working on the next project – using Christmas fabric no less, I will share when it’s finished!

Thanks for reading….

Aww – somebody missed me!

You see dear readers, when I fall outside of my fairly regular blogging pattern people start to wonder why! OK – one person wondered why – you can’t blame a gal for trying to make it sound more than it is can you?

So I’m late this week (or last week), I have no real reason, yet again, for failing to post news of scintillating life other than I couldn’t be bothered! Yes – that’s right, just couldn’t be bothered.

Last week was very busy at work, I spent Tuesday & Wednesday on a training course – all about working smarter, improving processes, adding value – hey, wake up – I haven’t finished yet! Now while all this may seem yawningly boring we did actually have quite a few laughs, not least when we played ‘Two truths and a lie’, we had to write on a post-it just that – two truths and a lie about ourselves, the results were hilarious. Mine were 1)By night I am a hooker(!), 2) I have a season ticket at Ipswich Town & 3) When I was a teenager I screamed at an Osmond’s concert! Most of you will have no trouble working out which is the lie – if you can’t I’ll tell you at the end!

After Wednesday’s training I went back to the office only to find that a huge amount of work was required by 9.45 on Thursday – and I mean a huge amount, gathering reports and other evidence for a Very Important Meeting with a Very Important Regulatory Body – by 5.45 I’d decided I had no more to contribute but instead went in early on Thursday to do a pile of photocopying, let me tell you there is no end to my talents!

I had the day off on Friday and had arranged to go to Nicky’s house for a day of quilting lessons which she had offered in exchange for help creating a blog! I have to say that I was the sole beneficiary of the exchange as we never got round to the blog! I’ve left Nicky thinking of an original name for her blog which will feature her amazing quilting exploits – don’t blush Nicky – she is amazing and you should see the bags that she makes! When the blog is up and running I’ll add a link for you all!

I’m not going to post a picture of my creation until I’ve finished it, but I can now make the log cabin pattern, ooh get me!

The day flew by and when her husband arrived home I was amazed to find that it was 5 o’clock! Time for me to wend my way home through unfamiliar roads – I’m glad it wasn’t too dark!

Saturday morning saw me making a lavender cushion for this month’s secret Blog Swap – nothing like leaving it until the last minute! This is going to wing it’s way to Germany – I hope it makes it safely!

These fabrics were in a ‘scrap’ bag – ideal for small projects like this!

I love the Michaelmas daisy print – takes me back to my childhood garden!

Apart from that I have not had a creative moment – not even picked up a hook (in fact not picked up a hook since last Wednesday). Football was awful – we lost 1-2, Saturday evening TV was OK, Sunday morning I took FDIL to the Vintage Market at the Waterfront which was nice although there was less craft stalls than usual which was a shame and Sunday afternoon passed by in a flurry of ironing type activity – you know, really exciting stuff.

And that’s about it – I need to make more of an effort this week especially as I have two parcels to look forward to – more later!

Oh – and which was the lie? Number 3 of course – I was 49 when I screamed at an Osmond concert!! What’s that? Hooker? You didn’t think? Surely not? No!!!

Hooky stuff

Bonkers busy week at work, been feeling completely shattered but, strangely, in a good way! I’ve been asked to help another department out of a bit of a sticky situation whilst still keeping my own stuff going as well, but it’s OK at the moment – probably a touch of adrenalin rush!

After revealing my ‘Blanket of Love’ last week I knuckled down to finish the blanket that I’d agreed to make for Julie – she’d seen the pink & blue baby afghans I’d already made and asked for the pink one if I didn’t need it. To be on the safe side I made another just for her! This one is a little different because I used UK double knitting (I think it’s 8-ply elsewhere but don’t hold me to that!) and a larger hook – then when I was almost finished realised that I had done too many rows of pink between each white row – should have been three but me being all clever didn’t bother too look at the pattern properly! So, to use a good old Suffolk description, it’s come out huuuwuuuggg (can’t spell check that!!) but it’s pronounced just the way it’s written, with soft ‘Gs’ at the end!!

It’s a bit difficult to square it up because of the weight!

I joined the centre blocks as I made them which I think has given a neater finish!

I’ll leave it to Julie to decide which one she wants as I know she will have to post it overseas!

So what next? I’ve got to have something lap sized to do in the evenings, all those years I spent just plonked in front of the TV now seem such a waste now that I’ve rediscovered the life of a hooker! I thought I ought to use up the odds & ends of yarn in my stash so this week have been making random 6 inch squares from Jan Eaton's 200 Crochet Blocks I’ve only used block number 117 ‘Granny in the Middle’ so far and tried to keep to the colour order but I don’t think I’ll have enough scraps to maintain that. I think the whole idea of the book is to mix and match anyway so I’ll give it a go!

A bit blurred but you get the idea!

Oh yes, almost forgot that the hoarder in me surfaced again last weekend and I did actually order more of the Kool Kotton I used in the baby afghan, this time in Mint Green which I thought would be a little different – I was actually quite surprised when I got home to find the package last night!

Now where was I?

Oh that’s right – I’d finished the top of the quilt! I proudly took it into work on Monday last week knowing that I had one or two people who, despite having a laugh at my expense the previous week, were actually quite interested in what I’d done. There was just the one detractor who simply doesn’t like things like this! She nobly looked in the opposite direction whilst I showed off my handiwork and no offence was taken!

Friday was my day off and I met up with Janet to visit Wickham Market for coffee, a natter and a quick trip to spend my voucher form Quilters Haven! I needed to get the batting and backing fabric for the quilt and couldn’t resist the opportunity to buy a couple of fat quarter bundles while I was there – baby blues and baby pinks.

After the excitement I was exhausted and made my way home for a sneaky snooze! Son2 was off out for the evening so I’d taken the opportunity to buy some fish for dinner as it would only be me & John – until Son1 sent a text asking if we fancied company for dinner! Er OK, not enough fish for four and he wouldn’t eat it anyway so I offered a takeaway, the reply surprised me ‘We’re shopping so we’ll bring dinner with us’! Result – that’s the sort of visitors I like! And it was a healthy-ish meal of chicken in sauce, baked potatoes, beans and baby corn!

Saturday loomed fine and dry and football beckoned for the afternoon, rumour had it that the game was a sellout so we nipped to town early to make sure we could park, just had to while away the extra couple of hours shopping and eating! Turned out not to be a sellout after all but I got myself some lovely tops for work for the winter! Oh – and we won! Ipswich Town are now second in the league – let’s hope we can sustain it!

You can tell the seasons are changing because X Factor is back on our screens (sort of American Idol but different) we’re coming to the end of the auditions which give us all, more often than not, a real good laugh on a Saturday night. Twitter was alive with comments begging the ‘singers’ to stop and wondering who ever had told them they could sing!

Which brings me to Sunday, my new found day of creativity! After being a good wife & mother and having finished the ironing I set about plucking up the courage (yes I know that sounds feeble) to make the three pieces of the quilt become one. I asked John to help with the cutting of the batting and the backing – I was too much of a wimp to to do it myself! I called upon my trusty ‘Quilting for Dummies’ book and opted for an ‘envelope’ method to finish it off – again I was too cowardly to try a bias edging!

So here it is, after a couple of hours hunched over the machine and a few curses on the way as the batting decided to stretch over the top of the quilt and I managed to stitch over the masking tape I’d used to pick out the diagonal stitching lines (yes – I know I could use tailors chalk and I will next time!), the finished article. Am I pleased with it? Hell, yes! Will I do more? You bet!

Looking slightly crumpled in the late afternoon sunshine

 

The backing is greener than it looks on here

Thanks for the lovely comments on here and on Facebook – I really appreciate it!

The Lost Charm

Thought I really ought to have a little update – I’ve been getting so carried away with being Mrs Needlewoman that I’ve neglected the Ramblings again lately!

Last time I wrote, I told you about the quilt walk, showed you my cushion and mentioned the voucher that I’d won. Well the voucher was for a stonking £20 which I thought was pretty darn fine considering I’d had such a fab time winning it! I carefully placed it in the kitchen cupboard, ready for the next trip to Quilters Haven.

In the meantime I decided to take the bull by the horns and make a start on my first real project. If you remember I mentioned that I had a pack of ‘charms’, 40 five inch squares already cut and ready to go. I’d used four that I wasn’t over keen on, to experiment a few weeks ago which, do the maths, meant I had 36 left. John needed to be sure that was right so, last Saturday afternoon he made me count them again. Yep – 36. I moved from the sofa to the dining room table (all of five yards) and laid the charms out in blocks of four – and one block of three. Somehow, in that extremely short journey I had mislaid a charm. Of course I was sure I’d had 36 – why would you doubt me? Yeah – I know I’m getting on a bit but my ability to count remains intact! We looked everywhere, under the sofa, under the table, checked it hadn’t become attached to another charm. No luck. I searched through the stash for something that was remotely suitable and unhappily settled for a neutral looking fabric.

So, moving on with trepidation I started joining the charms together – I had an idea in mind of what I wanted and didn’t actually follow a pattern. John very kindly (not in an interfering sort of way you understand) decided that I really needed a guide to follow for a quarter of an inch as my foot was in fact three-eighths of an inch which was why things had not worked so well last time. With masking tape in place it was so much easier and, puffing my chest with pride, I managed to do a pretty fine job of squaring them up – if I went wrong I disciplined myself to unpick and start again!

So 36 squares became nine and needed a little extra to make them become one! Over to the precision of John and a jelly roll (40 odd two-and-a-half inch meter long strips) and hey presto we have strip edging – two short sides and two long to avoid the need for mitres on the corner (took the cowards way there).

Time for food so I retreated to the kitchen and guess what I found – yep, the lost charm! It was sitting on top of a (fortunately clean) dish cloth! I vaguely remembered John had wiped the table when we started and he’d obviously picked the charm up at the same time! I was so pleased to be able to unpick several seams to put it into it’s rightful place! The other fabric just didn’t cut it!

It was about 7pm now and I really couldn’t sit for any longer as I was starting to ache – yet I didn’t want to stop! Reluctantly I packed up for the night and took up with the hook instead!

Sunday morning saw me back at the table, intending just to join the rest of the edges as we were off out for the day – but I couldn’t stop! I ended up finishing the top (just as well I didn’t have the battening and backing!!) so that I could take it to show off to my friend!

So here it is – photo taken in quilters time honoured way hanging from the washing line!

So here you have it ‘The Lost Charm’

I think I’ll leave the rest for later – I like to leave you wanting more!

Not quite a silk purse from a pigs ear!

I’ve had a great day today. Day off and all alone so, after waking early, I set about finishing the, ahem, ‘creation’ that I started last weekend. Although I knew it wasn’t anywhere near perfection I’d decided to finish it off anyway. I started the day with nine squares – none of which were actually square! I trimmed them the best I could and joined them together to make one big square – which still wasn’t actually square! I had it in mind to trim all of the sides with a contrasting fabric and then to finish it off with wadding and backing so I could quilt it. When I added the border it took on the appearance of something resembling a square and I started to feel optimistic. And then I had a eureka moment – I’ll turn it into a cushion! I have a lovely cushion that I bought from a craft fair a few months ago so I 'deconstructed’ it to see how it had been made and worked out how to back it with an envelope-style backing! I already had some calico that I had bought more in hope than anything else which would come in handy.

I had other things to do as well as sewing so I went off to the chiropractor, then dropped a couple of pairs of Son2’s old shoes into a shoe bank, nipped into the little Tesco and headed off to Dunelm for the cushion pad – fortunately I realised I hadn’t a clue what size I needed so called into home first! I needed a 20 inch cushion and hadn’t measured it in metric – of course they measured in metric but a helpful assistant helped my befuddled brain to work it out!

I also decided that I needed a ‘stash storage unit’ (SSU) and had an image of stacking boxes – I was delighted to find exactly what I wanted!

Off I went home all excited wanting to make up the cushion and to fill the SSU with yarn and fabric. I am easily pleased it seems! I now have a feeling of achievement as something that looked completely useless at 9 o’clock this morning now looks quite good and it will be useful as I need a cushion when I’m sewing because the dining room table isn’t really the best place to sit but the cushion will help!

Ta-dah – the Wonky Cushion, hopefully as I get better I’ll look back at this and smile!

 

I still have more yarn than fabric but I fully expect to so more crochet than sewing as I’ll do that in the evenings – sewing will be a weekend job!

And then (yes I know I shouldn’t start a sentence with ‘and’) I had a phone call form Quilters Haven to say I’d won a prize in the Quilt Walk from Saturday – I never win anything so I am really chuffed about that, I didn’t like to ask what it was but I think it’s probably a voucher, I’ll let you know when it arrives!

So that was my day, with the addition of washing and cooking a winter-type dinner, I’m exhausted! The weather has been great for most of the day but is just turning with the expected rain and strong winds – I hope this doesn’t signal the end of summer!

Getting better!

After posting last week about my quilting attempts, I persuaded John to come with me to Quilters Haven with a promise that I would do a couple of geo caches with him (he’s easily bribed!). The shop is in a small village, Wickham Market, just a little way from home – in fact so much closer than I thought it was that I’m wondering why I’ve never been there before! Anyhow, it turns out that there was to be a ‘Quilt Walk’ yesterday which pleased me as it would give me a chance to see other people’s efforts. We pulled into the village and soon saw a derelict piece of land surrounded by ugly wire fencing which had some of the most gorgeous quilts pegged to it – I thought that was a really novel idea!There was an elderly lady looking after the quilts and I confessed to being a true novice and in turn she confessed to not being a quilter at all – had tried it a few years ago but couldn’t take to it!
We wandered around the different locations that housed the various quilts and stood looking in awe at the handiwork involved. However, I am pleased to say that nearly every quilt had something that wasn’t quite right about it – a wonky seam, a triangle that had lost a tip, fabric not quite cut on the square – that made me feel sooo much better about my early efforts!
As a fundraiser for village facilities there was a competition which led you to almost every shop in the village to look for the quilts that were inside and answer very simple questions about each one, this was a very good idea and everybody in the village seemed pleased to be taking part.
By the time we actually got into the shop, John was so fired up with the belief that he could quilt we ended up spending a flipping fortune! I needed a longer ruler as I found out to my cost last week, however I also ‘needed’ all the fabric pictured below! I am please to say that I now have a fabric stash to add to my yarn stash! As the friend that I call Julie said, a girl’s got to have a stash!

The fabric in the blue banding was ‘free’ because we spent so much! It matched some in a bag of scraps that I bought as well which is a bonus!

The owner of the shop has written several books and took the time to show John and I how to make her famous ‘pineapple’ and here is our first attempt! John and I have just spent the afternoon making this square – he cut and measured and I sewed, he can’t quite bring himself to use the machine yet! It got better as we went on – the middle looks very wonky but that’s what makes it unique – by the time we’ve made, I don’t know, another 20 they should all look pretty good!

This was actually a very easy square to make – as I have discovered all quilts have a name this one will of course be called ‘Come on you blues’!!

I’ll leave you with a few of the quilts on display (they were even in the church which was a great place to show them off) I didn’t take many photos in the end because I was too overwhelmed by the quilts!

 

Oh nearly forgot – John found two geo caches as well!!!

It’s out of the box!

Well, I finally got around to unwrapping the sewing machine. I had mentally promised myself a few hours to get started on the quilting, well patchwork at the moment but quilting ultimately.

 

Last week when I was off work I found an amazing YouTube channel here which offers tutorials for quilting – they make it look so simple!

I’ve also bought several books which I hope will inspire me – they make it look simple too!

I’ve never been a great one for needlework and sewing machines so I was a little cautious when I started. Trying to remember all the things my Mum tried to teach me. I’m a bit pragmatic when it comes to learning things, so I tend to fiddle around before I read the instruction booklets! I managed to load the lower bobbin and thread the machine in readiness and then I set about deciding what I was going to start with. I had a ‘charm pack’ which I bought in the US when I was on holiday, these are packs of around 40 five inch squares, just ready for you to make a start in whatever way you want to. I decided to try and be clever and start with a ‘pin wheel’ pattern, on reflection that may have been a little ambitious. I chose the four squares that I was least attracted to and started my new hobby!

 

I was very impressed that I managed to stitch straight lines at a quarter of an inch all the way round – that’s an improvement as I can’t generally sew in a straight line! I was feeling quite proud of myself until the time came to use the rotary cutter against the edge of the ruler. The first cut was disastrous. Somehow I managed to move the cutter away from the ruler – I have no idea how it happened but I know I will be a lot more careful with it now!

So here are my first attempts – spot the one that I cut wrong! I don’t think I did too bad for a first attempt, the points of the pin wheels are almost spot on, I think I’ll perhaps sew some strips and squares to get some practice in!

I’ve just come back to the laptop to find I hadn’t finished this post so here is another ta-dah moment! I’ve spent this afternoon sewing as well, this time I started with fat quarters and cut the fabric into strips to make a nine patch square. I’m still not happy with the way I’m finishing – I don’t know if it’s because I’m slipping with the sewing and not keeping straight – I think it probably is that if I’m honest! Anyway, as my mother used to say practice makes perfect – onwards and upwards!

Here’s today’s efforts – John decided to help with the initial cutting ‘cos he thought that was where I was going wrong – it would seem not though!

I think my key word has to be patience now – this is, after all, completely new to me and I mustn’t beat myself up over it!