Not Quite The Adventure I'd Signed Up For........

Yesterday saw me back at the hospital, for yet another hernia repair. It would appear that in the Battle of The Bulge, whereby the Bulge is supposed to be kept at bay by Stomach Muscles, said Stomach Muscles are losing. Pathetically. That or I have Herculean Strength Bulges.....Hmmmmm.....
So there I sat....

....attractively doing what I do best. I got all of these basted......

.....and even managed to get some of them sewn together, before I was called for my operation.....

......and that's where the sewing stopped, and The Adventure began.

Apparently, Hernia quite liked it on the "outside" world, and was quite loath to be pushed and pulled back from whence it came and held there, against it's will, by surgical gauze, which meant that Mr Surgeon had a tougher fight than he'd expected, which in turn lead to a longer operation than anyone had anticipated. And that's where the real excitement started.
For those of you who don't know me, you won't know about my funny heart. When I say "funny", I mean that I have very low blood pressure, and a low pulse rate, which is erratically erratic. For the most part it doesn't bother me, and I don't bother it, though one day I may well need a pace maker, I'll cross that particular bridge when I get to it.
However, yesterday, My Darling Heart decided it didn't want to play ball with the anaesthetic. When I came round from the surgery, all was not well in my world. My pulse decided to slow right down to 40......I could have tried my hand at that very, VERY deep sea diving, where you descend to where the wild things are, had I not been feeling quite so rough. Coupled with that, my blood pressure couldn't be bothered to get up from the floor. The doctors and nurses were having a party, tipping my bed so that my feet were waving down at the rest of me, taking blood pressures and ECG Readings as if they were going out of fashion. Suffice to say, that I was not let out yesterday for good behaviour.
Today dawned brightly at 5.00am, when they decided to remove my catheter.....always a joy, and SO glamorous.....and hoo and haa a little more over various readings. Until finally it was decided that my lack of blood pressure wasn't that exciting after all, and I was sent packing.
Very, VERY sorely, I arrived home to find a beautifully wrapped present waiting for me.....

Thank you, a thousand times thank you, Jane! It was JUST what the doctor ordered.
See you all soon. xx

Of Farmer's Wives and Throwing In The Towel........

Have you ever been working on a project, and the more you worked on it, the less you liked it? I'm afraid to say that that is exactly what has been happening on a Secret Quilt Project that I've been spending every spare minute on, recently. I've tried to like it. Truly I have. I'm not even sure what it is that I don't like about it. Everything started nicely. For a while, things even rolled along swimmingly. And then the rot set in, when I started working on the borders......
It's an EPP project, so progress is understandably slow. I don't mind that. I love EPP. It does, however, lull you into a false sense of security. Because I enjoy the process, I can sit all evening, sewing happily away, convincing myself that all is well with the world. Also, due to the lack of speed, you need quite a while before you see the full effect of the bit you're working on. Anyway...you get the idea....lot's of work, becoming less and less sure that I'm happy with said work.
Finally, last night I Threw In The Towel. I can't show you the thrown article, as I may one day resurrect it, and as I said earlier, it's supposed to be a surprise.
It was inevitable, really, as this has been waiting in the wings, softly calling my name.....

I've wanted to make a Sampler Quilt for a while now, and loved the history linked to this book. I then thought I could make it predominately in blues and creams, with small red accents, as a nod to it's ancestry. Once I'd put the Offending Piece Of Work out of sight (and mind!), I eagerly set to printing off templates and cutting out fabrics. (There are 111 x 6" blocks, so I'm fairly confident that my stash will take quite a beating)
I finished Block No.1 last night......

(It's not really wonky, just a little camera shy, and nervous about lying flat.)

Today I managed to find a quiet 10 minutes, and cut out Block No.2......

I'll give you a wild guess as to what I'll be doing later.....

Thanks for popping by. See you soon. xx

Oooo....Errrrr......Mrs.......

Well, that's that, then. The Partner has been promoted, and from now on shall be known as Husband Dearest.... He's thrilled. As you can imagine.
I'm afraid I have nothing to show you, needlework wise, because of these.....

Daughter No.1 did an amazing job with a French Polish on my nails, for the wedding. (My nails, her talent!). They still look great, so there is NO chance of me wearing a thimble just yet, and risk scratching it. (Them?)
So instead, I'll leave you with a photo of my flowers, that the FABULOUS Jane did for my special day.......

See you soon. xx

Three More Sleeps.......

......until I get married. There are probably 101 Things I Should Be Doing, but as we're having the lowest of the lowest key weddings in history, I'll show you some of my treats from last week's Festival of Quilts instead.........

These beautiful Liberty lawn pieces were just £1 each, and I simply couldn't resist. I have no idea what I'll do with them, but traditionally, I'll keep them for AGES, looking at them, stroking them occasionally, pop them away again...you get the picture....

These mellow scraps were a billy bargain too, at just 50p each.....and will probably be treated in much the same way as the Liberty prints.....

And then, just as I'd given myself a stern talking to, involving much pointing out that I don't need any more fabric, I walked past a stand selling Mini-Charms........

These squares are all from the same fabric collection, measure just 2.5", and are just TOO cute for their own good. Again, I have no thoughts as to what to do with them, but I defy anyone to resist their charm.....hardly my fault then, that a pack made it's way into my bag of goodies....

Well, that wraps up my spending spree at the FOQ. Quite restrained, wouldn't you agree? Of course, I haven't mentioned the fabulous new machines that I drooled over, longingly-but as I need a Lottery win in order to further those particular dreams, you've got off lightly!

Thanks for popping by, my last post in my present maiden state. Just think...the next time we meet I'll be a Mrs..........Oooo....Errrr! xx

Oh Happy Days......

A couple of weeks or so ago, I was lucky enough to win a ticket to The Festival of Quilts, when the lovely Janet ( janetclare.co.uk )was hosting a giveaway. I was so excited, as I NEVER win anything, and had also resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn't be able to attend the festival this year.
Then reality hit The Soon To Be Husband, that he'd be car-less for the day.....followed swiftly by reality hitting The Son, that he'd be stuck in for the day....I'll pause for a moment while you imagine the mithering......
It was at this moment that I had one of my moments of Sheer Genius (I don't get them very often, so I DO try to make the most of them). Football! The Festival is held at the NEC in Birmingham.....throw a stick from there, and you'll be bound to hit a football club or two. A quick search on the internet, showed that Aston Villa were at home to Malaga for a friendly match. Hooray for there being a match nearby. Double Hooray for it being The Soon To Be Husband's national team. Serendipity!
Fast forward a couple of weeks, and yesterday was The Day. I was dropped off and left to my own devices, to browse and linger to my heart's delight, for 6 1/2 hours. And browse and linger I did. To Olympic Gold Medallist Standard.
I made my way straight away to Stand G4, where Janet Clare had her stand, as I was keen to buy her latest book, and to see her before she went off to teach......

If you don't know Janet's work, pop over to her site, and take a look.....it's so PEACEFUL, and VERY pretty. Her work "in the flesh" is SSSOOOO neat......I'm wittering....
Book safely bagged, it was time to look at some quilts.....
This next photo shows a big winner. It won Best Amateur AND Best in Show. It's called "Thank You Father", and was HANDSTITCHED by a Japanese lady, Kyoko Yamauchi. The photos do it NO justice whatsoever.....the craftsmanship is EXQUISITE....

And look at this one, called "Little Stars" by Jean Ball. She absolutely deserved the Highly Commended award beside it....

There was also one that made me think of Loved Ones, not a million miles away, enjoying an entirely different day........

"Football Crazy" was stitched by Kathleen Moore...and made me smile.
By now, I'd walked up and down aisles for AGES and was reaching Awestruck Overload, so lunch was next on the agenda. At this point, I was feeling a teensy bit disgruntled. I follow a lovely blog called Fabadashery ( fabadashery.blogspot.com ) by Frances Meredith, and had watched her progress on a quilt called "Red and White Pinwheels". I knew from her blog, that she'd entered it into the Festival, and was really keen to see it. But I hadn't been able to find it.
I finished lunch, and trundled off again. And walked straight into this......

Yippee! And it was truly lovely.
There was a lot on offer, and I have to admit to more than my fair share of retail therapy (well, it would have been RUDE not to....)...but I think I'll save those photos for another day. This post is already quite long, and I've spotted a couple of you about to fall off your chairs in boredom. Plus the fact that we're going camping in the morning, and the packing needs to be done....back to earth with a bump.
Thanks for popping by. See you soon. Hi De Hi and all that..... xx

A Lovely Billy Bargain.......

Today, I had a day to do as I pleased with. Daughters 1 and 2 were at work, and The Son was dispatched with Grandma, to visit a stately home. Which left only The Partner, and he's been playing nicely recently, since his surprise proposal, and organising our wedding for less than a months time. Bless him....I think he's in shock!
Anyway, I took this alignment of the stars as an opportunity to get some fabric shopping done (I've got 60 metres of bunting to make for a client's Golden Wedding Anniversary party), and then to visit www.mollys-den.co.uk . I've wanted to visit for a while, but with my feet firmly planted in reality, I knew that A) I needed to pick my moment, and B) I needed to be Energetic Boy Child free.
It was BRILLIANT! There are two warehouses, filled to the brim with vintage paraphernalia...You name it, they probably have it. Had I won the lottery recently, I could have spent a small fortune. As it was, I came home with a Billy Bargain.
For the princely sum of £2, just look at what I bought.....

It shows a selection of the quilts held at the V & A Museum, gives a synopsis of each quilt's history, and then explains how to make them yourself, with the templates clearly printed.

The work involved is amazing, the patterns intricate, the pieces tiny....and most were made in the 19th century. It makes me feel very small....just a tiny link in the wide world of patchwork.
There was one design that caught my eye, as being strangely familiar.......

If you pop over to a blog that I follow, quiltsalott.blogspot.com , you'll see what I mean.....
Catch up with you soon. Enjoy the sunshine. xx