Friday 31 August 2012

And so it starts....

Sad muppet that I am, I always let The Partner have first viewing of my blog, before I share it for public consumption. Yesterday, his comment went something like this: "Most people write a blog....you write a book..."
Hmmmmm.......
Here's the next one starting....
....The End. xx

Thursday 30 August 2012

Feeding Donkeys Strawberries.....

I'm so sorry that I didn't blog yesterday! I bet you were all REALLY concerned!! I bet, if I were to look at my emails (a pretty rare occurance), I'd find it jammed full of all your concerns as to my health and well being......Actually, I'd probably find it rammed with Groupon offers selling me garden gnomes, and notifications from some poor misguided soul, who feels honour bound to tell me, that my Personal Pension Fund is under performing. It isn't UNDER performing at all.....it isn't performing, full stop....I know this for a FACT, as I don't posess a Pension Fund...... Personal or otherwise.
Anyway, part of the reason that I was AWOL yesterday, was that I had nothing to show you. Part of the reason was that I was out buying football boots, because obviously the 372 pairs (mild exaggeration) that The Son already owns, aren't the LATEST ones worn by Rooney/Messi/Barotelli/Maradonna/Keegan/Van Persie/The Boy Down The Road.....And part of the reason was that I was sulking. I'm ok now, so I don't want to go into all the details, but suffice to say me joining the Quilting Group that I was sssooo excited about, is now in jeopardy....One word....Football.....Watch this space (with all fingers crossed, please!).
But TODAY.....(drum roll)......TA-DA.......(trumpet fanfare).....I have this......
That's right, I finished my first machine-quilted quilt! There are some hand embroidered details....
.....and the centre panel is hand quilted, just because I like doing it.....

....and all in all I'm quite pleased with it!
I backed it with some sheeting that I found while on my hols in France, that I thought was zingy enough to match all of the front, and busy enough to hide any dirt, if being used for pinics........

Other than that, most of the fabric is from my stash, apart from the donkeys and wellies fabrics, which I bought from here,www.fluffysheepquilting.com  but could't tell you what it's called! You should pop along and visit Cindy's shop-lovely, lovely fabric, and she's REALLY nifty at getting it all into the post quickly!
Anyway, hope you've enjoyed today's offerings. See you soon. xx

Tuesday 28 August 2012

Whizzing....

In the whizz, bang, race, crash, wallop of the day, I managed to catch up with my bestest friend over a cuppa. We've known each other for 42 years (gulp!), we now live closer than we've ever lived, geographically, but because we both whizz, bang, wallop through our days, catching up only ever happens when the stars are aligned, and usually only if there's a "y" in the month!
There was also a lovely, "lazy" (in as much as spending time with four children can be!) picnic lunchyafternoony time, with friends from Eastbourne. This friend I only ever really get to see once a year, maybe twice, so catching up is always fun.
Then drop The Son and The Partner off to play football, before dashing off to yet another friend's house (look at that- three friends! And I don't pay any of them!!) to meet some friends of hers. And such lovely ladies they were! Quilters! They'd been to the Festival, so we had a good chat about that, reliving our best bits, and then, THEN, one of them mentioned a local quilting group, that still had a few places left for new members! With the next meeting on Monday. At a time I can make!! Do you have ANY idea just how long I have waited for such an opportunity? Of course you don't, because obviously you're not me-there are a few blessings there, my friends! But I can tell you.... a LONG, LONG, LOOONNNNGGGG time!! That's real serendipity!
Now I'm this close (I'm making tiny finger distance spaces with my fingers) to finishing my donkey quilt, with my new sewing skills (I use the term "skills" optimistically!), so I shall scurry off, and hopefully have some photos to show you tomorrow.
See you soon.xx

Monday 27 August 2012

Progress!

Well....rightly or wrongly, I'm feeling quietly smug! I think progress has been made!! After a lovely morning yesterday, spent having elevenses on the Forest, with great company (Thank you, Emma! And not forgetting Woody, obviously!!), it was off to Tesco for a quick grocery shop, before plucking up my courage and facing The Machine again....
And I'm sssoooo glad I did! These are efforts one and two.....


......then I thought I'd have another attempt at "stippling". All these new technical terms-you'll soon all be fluent in Quilt!! Bet you'll sleep better at nights now!
Anyway....TA-DA....


Please "oooo" and "aaaah" in all the right places! It took me every last ounce of concentration to achieve this. And I shall probably need intensive massage on my shoulders and neck for the next three weeks! And there was me thinking I might be able to do a whole quilt! Ha!
Hope you all have a fabulous Bank Holiday. See you soon. xx

Friday 24 August 2012

New tricks.....

Well. After my fabulous day at the Festival Of Quilts, I've hummed and haaad about venturing into free-motion quilting. I've watched umpteen clips and tutorials on You Tube (yes, my friends, there are hundreds!), and researched various techniques (there are quite a few of those, too!).
Up until now, I've always hand quilted, which I enjoy, but it takes FOREVER, and if I'm ever going to make more than about 5 quilts a year, I simply MUST go faster.......
So....how hard could it be? Well let me tell you: blinkin', flippin' very hard.....

....this was my first effort. The lady on one of the video tutorials, said that the technique could take a while to perfect. A WHILE?? No s**t, Sherlock!! Pardon the Francais!
But, not one to give up easily, I persevered, and tried out different speeds, and this was my 5th attempt...

Obviously, it's nowhere NEAR good enough to get anywhere NEAR one of my quilts yet, but there IS definately an improvement, don't you think?
I quite like doing the loopy, joined-up "eee's", and seem to have grasped the ability to make them quite smooth, and to go more or less where I want them to go.
Tomorrow, I might get ahead of myself, and try some linked up heart shapes....well ....let's just hope that this particular dog isn't TOO old......
Thanks for popping by. Have a lovely weekend. xx

Thursday 23 August 2012

Finally!

Hello. I've had SUCH a lovely day today. All positive and sunshiny. The only minor blip, was that I had to get up at the crack of sparrows. Actually, that wasn't the blip, as I'm always up early...if it's not the kids, then it's the dogs.....The blip was that I had to be washed and dressed, ready to leave the house by 8.25am, instead of my usual holiday mode of taking a cuppa back to bed, reading for a bit, getting up in time to give my son his second breakfast, then pondering the day for an hour or so, while still in jimmy-jams.
Anyway, small miracles happened, and I did manage to leave the house on time (clean AND fully clothed!) so that Son could be delivered to his Soccer School. Obviously, the world would cease it's twirling, if there wasn't a football involved, somewhere, to help it spin! And once the Son had been delivered, it was time to hit the delightful village coffee shop, and put the (now happily twirling) world to rights with friends. Which we did.
A quiet lunch followed, at home, with just The Partner. I'm always a little surprised at how calm feeding times at the zoo can be, when I'm not having to churn out 8 different sandwich varities. For only 3 children. And 1 Partner. So quiet was it, that I managed to research several sewing machines, and plan my whole, new quilting empire.
Finally, FINALLY, I even found time to sandwich my quilt top! HURRAY! I'm really loving this one at the moment. It has come together so smoothly, and I like the brights, which are a step away from the norm, for me.
Time for a quick work meeting (I love the fact that I work for a properly sensible, practical lady-you're a good egg, Mikki!), before collecting the Son, and back to reality with a bump......
So, I've got to seriously dash now, as if I don't feed the Tribe within the next 3 nanoseconds, at least one of them is going to fade COMPLETELY away. Apparently.
See you soon. xx

Wednesday 22 August 2012

Speeding past....Again...

Whizzing. That's all I ever seem to do these days. And the older I get, the more I whizz. Something wrong there somewhere!
Today has been one of those days, where you race around-places to go, people to see, things to do-and are in great danger of opening your front door, only to meet yourself coming back in.
So. No sewing today. Again. Still....hair has been cut and coloured (not ready to do anything graceful just yet). Friends have been visited. Petrol has been put in car. Chocolate has been bought, and sneakily eaten.  Meals have been cooked. Some tidying up has been done. And football club committee meetings are about to be attended.
Perhaps tomorrow I'll get to sandwich that quilt top.....
See you soon. xx

Tuesday 21 August 2012

Just a Quickie....

Hi. After yesterday's blog, I thought I'd be kind, and just post a very brief one today. After all, I don't want to put you all off, showing what an anorak I can be, when it comes to things that interest me. I get that quilt spotting isn't everyone's cup of tea.
So, I'll just show you the progress of one of my WIP's. The last time you saw it, it was a small piece of fabric, sitting in my sewing machine, and now....TA-DA.......


....it's a quilt top. Pretending to be a tablecloth. With detail. Bye. xx

Monday 20 August 2012

Blown Away....

I'm going to issue a very serious warning.....For Those Of You Who Read My Blog, But Don't Quilt, LOG OUT NOW!!!
Still here? Well don't say I didn't try......
So Saturday saw me heading off to Birmingham,all bright eyed and bushy tailed. I'd not been to a quilt festival before, but I had a vague idea of what to expect, from various other shows and exhibitions I'd been to at the NEC.
Let me tell you, NOTHING prepared me for the sheer volume of sheer, unadulterated talent. I started taking photos......

....each quilt taking my breath away, as I wondered at the hours and hours and HOURS of painstaking work involved. I got a bit trigger happy.....






Unfortunately, I didn't buy a programme, so I can't credit any of the artists that had lovingly slaved over these fabulous exhibits.
This one.......

....was big enough to cover a small double bed, and had been hand stitched. Each hexagon was no bigger than a penny. Can you IMAGINE??
This is the BACK of another quilt.....
...the FRONT of mine don't ever look this good!!
By now, both Linda and I were beginning to feel a little overwhelmed and decided it was time to re-fuel. Back down to earth with a loud, resounding bump. A chicken sandwich and drink cost £7!!!! Good job CAVIAR wasn't on the menu! House re-mortgages would have to have happened!!
All refreshed, we went straight back to it, and we saw this...

.....they were patched on both sides, and stuffed, before being colour graded and sewn together at the corners, to create this....

.....truly amazing. Then there was this.....

...TWO quilts making up the bigger picture.
OK. By now, I'll admit, I was beginning to feel a little despondent. If I live to be 274 (not particularly likely), I'm never going to achieve anything LIKE these masterpieces. My quilts had now been relegated to Betty's Bargain Basement level. But you just couldn't stay down for long. Everyone was so chatty and friendly. Everyone was happy to share. The place was HEAVING, mostly with ladies of all sorts of ages, and there wasn't a cross or rude word to be heard ANYWHERE. Not once. (Lesson to be learnt there, gents?)
I met Janet Clare-www.janetclare.co.uk- and bought her new book, which she very kindly signed, as I wittered on, starstruck. (I'm usually quite a normal, levelheaded sort of person. Promise!)
I met Trudi Wood -http://trudi-quiltingprolifically.blogspot.com-who gave some sound advice, and started me thinking......but that's for a whole other day!
The day, if you haven't twigged yet, was fantastic. Tiring. Inspiring. Humbling. I shall stop now, as several of you have glazed over, and are in serious danger of self-harming, as you fall off your chairs.
As we left the building, we walked by the Winner's Wall, and for me,  the quilt that won the section for Miniature Quilts, was the final cherry on a very glorious cake. Of the 5-tier, lashings of chocolate variety. It measured maybe 4"x10", and certainly would't keep you warm at night.....but, boy, could it's creator sew....


See you soon. xx

Friday 17 August 2012

Only one more sleep....

I'm so excited! Tomorrow a friend and I are going uo to the NEC, to visit The Festival of Quilts. I realise, that for a lot of you, this would probably warrant as much excitement, as if I were suggesting watching the grass grow. Or paint dry. But for me, it's a big deal. And I've managed to bully my friend, Linda, into thinking it's a great way to spend her Saturday, too!
Linda is picking me up, quite early, and then we've got the WHOLE DAY to wander around various quilts, and stands showing and selling the necessary ingredients needed to make quilts. And the very best bit, is that there will be no-one with me, urging me to look quicker, or moaning that they're hungry, or can we go yet. (Linda, you have been well and truly warned!!)
Another part to the excitement, is that I can go and meet Janet Clare (www.janetclare.co.uk) of "Freya & Fred" fame, and she'll have her new book available, on her stand. If you haven't seen her work, please use the link (if only because, as you know, it took me all my rocket scince skills to put it there!!) and go and visit. I was inspired to make this...




....for a friend's little girl, from an old tablecloth and some scraps, thanks to Janet's first book "Freya & Fred".
So I shall leave you now, to go and try the link. ( I've got all my fingers crossed that the darn thing actually works) I'll tell you all about the Festival, when I drop by here again, on Monday. Have a lovely weekend Everyone. xx

Thursday 16 August 2012

Just a Few Hours More, Please....

That's just what I've decided. There are simply not enough hours in my day. No matter how early I get up, and how late I go to bed, I seriously need just a few more hours, please, in order to do the things I'd like to do. I've even cut out the mid-afternoon power nap, and I STILL can't fit everything in.
When I say "everything", I'm obviously refering to the nice "everthings". There appears to be PLENTY of time to hoover. More than enough time to wash dirty dishes. Sufficient 10 minute slots in which to dust and sort out washing piles. Not necessarily in that order. The offspring seem to be thriving, which would suggest they get time spent on them. The Partner isn't complaining too loudly, which, again, shows ample time and attention are being sent his way. What I need is the time to sew. Preferably uninterrupted. And in good daylight.
What I get, is a few snatched moments, dotted here and there, throughout the day.....typically just enough to get the machine out, thread it all up, only to find that lunch time has come whizzing in through the back door, and mouths are clammering to be fed. Said machine then has to be put to one side again, while certain rules are followed-sitting at the dinner table, which just happens to double as my sewing table. This pattern (getting machine out, putting machine away) can be repeated under various guises, (children need dropping off somewhere, children need picking up from somewhere, children need feeding. Again.) until I finally get the time to do some serious sewing.
By now, it's usually around 9pm, and I'm banished to the kitchen, and my ironing board workstaion, as The Partner obviously needs to watch the latest space invasion in peace and quiet. Well....as peace and quietly as the surround sound can manage. And so I'll sew for the next few hours, left to my own devices, unless the extaterrestial happenings can be paused, while cups of tea are called for.
Variations on a theme may happen, depending on where I'm at in any one project, so the evening might find me working on needlework on the sofa, instead of machining in the kitchen. This is usually less enjoyable, because then I'm obviously having to share my space with marauding martians...
And these are the school holidays! I had such high hopes of all I'd be able to achieve over the 6 weeks that I wasn't required to show up at work. But no. I still find myself going slowly crosseyed, as I stitch my way, under bad lighting, towards the wee small hours.
Okay. Enough already. Until someone comes up with a brilliant new invention, 24 hours is all any of us will get in any one day, and I've just got to make the best of it.
And the best of it is just what I've been trying to do. Here is one of my WIP's at the moment. I found this delightful little book, while in France,



and set about working on this pattern,



in my infinite wisdom, reducing the count size suggested, as I have a frame already, and so need the finished work to measure no more than 9 cms square. This is the start of the larger heart in the center of the design,



blurred, I know, but it was the best my poor camera could do! If I EVER get this finished, and don't blind myself in the process, I shall ask the fabulous Jane to take a proper photo.
I'd best go now. A cuppa was requested a short while ago, and I think the most recent Invaders are becoming impatient to continue conquering the planet. See you soon. Take care.

Wednesday 15 August 2012

Friends

Hi! I've just got back from such a wonderful afternoon, visiting with my best school friend, and our families-thank you so much, Karen, Nick and Alfie! We were SUPPOSED to meet mid-morning, and spend the day picnicking and fossil hunting. However, heavy rain sort of put a dampner on all that...
We decided to be sensible (if only our old teachers had been here to witness!), and tweeked the day, so that we were to meet mid-route, early afternoon, and spend the afternoon squatting an unsuspecting Tea Rooms. Not, perhaps, the ideal venue, for two active young lads, and two men who would rather be ANYWHERE other than sipping tea, but Karen and I were happy to find a dry somewhere, and do some serious catching up.
I should explain, at this point, that Karen and her family live in Leicestershire (but are holiday-ing in Dorset) and we're in Hampshire, and we all have very busy lives, so we only really meet up every couple of years, or so. Fortunately, Karen and I have one of those friendships, that just seem to seemlessly pick back up, wherever they are left off. Thank goodness! And what is really lovely to see, is that our boys seem to have inherited the same talent as their mother's. Thank goodness! Again.
Anyway...LITERALLY as we drove down Wareham High Street, the rain stopped. As we made our way to a local pub, the sun managed a watery twinkle, and by the time we were ready to leave the rather pleasant pub garden, it was positively GLORIOUS! A decision was quickly made to visit Lulworth Cove, which we did, and it didn't disappoint. The sun shone, the tide was in, the sea was particularly blue, and the views as stunning as ever.
Sadly, as with all good things, our time together came to an end, and it was time to say our farewells. But it's truly great to know, that 34 years later, Karen and I STILL haven't run out of chatter and giggles. I rather suspect Mr. Chadwick would be unsurprised.....
Thanks for popping by. I absolutely promise a bit of needlework for tomorrow!

Tuesday 14 August 2012

A Day Off

Morning Everyone!
I've got a day off today! Sort of. Which is why I'm blogging now, as by the time I get in tonight, it will be quite late, and it'd be touch and go as to whether I'd get it finished before turning into a pumpkin!!
My children have just been dispatched with Grandma, to go and visit my sister (brave lady), and I've been left with just The Partner (hence the "sort of").
Our plans are to go shopping in Oxford, followed by a nice meal (thank you, Tesco Vouchers!) and then watching AFC Bournemouth play Oxford in some Cup game or another. You'll probably note from the last part of that sentence, that I'm not hugely into football, and you'd generally be right. Except where Bournemouth are concerned. It's a long story as to how I got so sucked in to supporting our local team, but suffice to say, it involved a football shirt being taken off, in celebration of a goal being scored. Ladies, I was hooked!
Unfortunately, all of that has very little (indeed, NOTHING) to do with needlework, and sadly, I think that's going to be the way of it this (very busy) week. I have got two WIP's on the go at the moment, and shall leave you with a tiny peek at one of them. See you soon.......

Monday 13 August 2012

Le Retour

Bonjour mes amis!
We're back! Did you miss me? We had such a lovely time, which just whizzed by. There were a few stressy moments, mostly involving map reading and road sign spotting.....
The problem I suppose, is partly due to the fact that I speak French, and The Partner doesn't (although he does systematically practise his "Hon Hee Hon Hee Haw"'s and his "Mange Tout, Rodney, Mange Tout"'s EVERY time we visit France. Loudly. You can only begin to imagine the shame.....) So, as I drove around the 1,400 miles of France that we covered, I explained that if he could just say the names of the various villages, as they looked, I'd work out what sign it was that we were looking for. Simple. Or not. Convinced that he had become fluent during his sleep, The Partner insisted on using a Sasha Distell accent (Google to the rescue for my younger friends!) , adding vowels and consonants willy-nilly, to his hearts desire. Therefore, "Hautot-sur-Mer" became "Hoseeneeriair-su-Murree", "Criel-sur-Mer" became "Crowtt-su-Monneeair". I kid you not. I could go on. But I won't-you've got the gist!
Instead I'll show you the view from our tent door...

Pretty, don't you think?

We had sunshine....


and culture.....


This is the Cathedral at Rouen, and was very truly breathtaking. Needless to say, there was not much time for sewing. Or reading of magazines. But a good time was had by all. And The Shorts got an outing or two....


I shall love you, and leave you now. Thanks for visiting. See you very soon....