Chick, chick, chick, chick, chicken......

.......lay a little egg for me...Or in my case, sew a little egg for me!
I've signed up to have a stall at a forthcoming, local Mother and Daughter Evening, selling some needlework goodies. In my (rather limited) experience, it tends to be the smaller, less expensive items that sell better. Which could well explain why I'M still here-petite and cheap I am not!
As the date of the evening is pre-Mothering Sunday and Easter, I thought I'd make some spring/Easter bits and pieces. So I now have 11 of these, in various colourways.......

What do you think? I'm quite pleased with them.....but I could well be the only Sad Muppet who decorates her house for Easter. And Birthdays. And Congratulation Days. And any other Occasion That Merits A Bit Of Bunting.....But I DO think these will look pretty hanging from some pussy willow branches in a lovely vase. I'll let you know what the Mothers and Daughters think!
See you soon. xx

One Down....Nineteen To Go.....

Yes, it's been a week since my tearful goodbyes to Daughter No 2, as she jetted off to new adventures in Chicago, and you'll be pleased to hear that I have at least stopped wallowing! I obviously miss her like billy-o, but we've managed a couple of Skype sessions, and I can see that she's just fine, which means I can relax. A little. And continue the countdown for the remaining nineteen weeks.....
So. What's new in my little world?? Not a lot, I'm afraid. A while ago, I bought (amongst other bits and pieces) a charm pack of lemony-neutral-unisex fabrics. I bought them, because I felt my work was all a bit same-y (either pink and flowery or red, white and blue bold), and that the lemons and greens would make a nice change.
I now know why I haven't been drawn to this colourway before. I find it completely uninspirational. That pack, pretty enough in it's own way, has sat for weeks, if not quite months, while I look at it and fiddle with it. Nothing. Nada. Not a single eureka moment. Normally, when I feel like this about fabric, it gets consigned to storage, perhaps being picked at over time, perhaps being forgotten.
But not this flippin pack. It's a bit like a sore tooth that you keep worrying at with your tongue, just to see if it's still sore.....I open up the pack, fiddle around a bit, discover I'm STILL not keen on it, and pop it away again.
 This weekend, I was DETERMINED to do something (ANYTHING!) with it, just so as not to admit defeat. This is what I achieved......

.....I've got 16 of these little blocks........and have come to a standstill. Once more.
Do I add a border to each block, before piecing? Do I just piece them together, using a basket weave process? Do I cut them into strips and make a scrappy quilt, with the smallest squares I've ever seen?? (Which may send me Doo-Lally.........all those seams to match!) Polite answers only on a postcard, please!
(My guess would be, wait a bit before finding the bottom of a storage bucket....)
On a happier note....only 5 more sleeps til my HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Yippee! Those of you who know me well, will know that this particular countdown has been going on a while, and that I'm RIDICULOUSLY enthusiastic about ALL my Happy Birthdays. I shall save the explaination as to why, for those uninitiated amongst you, until nearer the happy date.
See you soon! xx

Down In The Doldrums......

......where The Sad Mums Wallow. That's where I can be found. Sorrowfully Wallowing. Although to be fair, I haven't actually cried since just before midnight, last night. Even though I HAD been crying, on and off for the majority of the day! "Cry me a river" took on REAL meaning, and flood warnings were issued.
But NOT without reason, I hasten to add! I had to take Daughter No2 up to Heathrow, and bid her farewell, as she left for a four and a half month Uni exchange programme, in Chicago. Now. I KNOW I went to America at the same age (19 years old). And I KNOW that I went for far longer (2 years). So I SHOULD understand, better than most, that she'll be fine, and will have an AMAZING time. But what you're all failing to understand here, is, that when I was 19, I was a GROWN UP, whereas she's my BABY!! Hmmmmm......
Those of you who know me well, will absolutely know that I HOWLED for most of the way home, and should be more than grateful you weren't sharing motorway space with me. Still, I'm more composed now. I've had a couple of emails (I'm actually THRILLED someone invented them now! Who knew!!) letting me know that she arrived safely, and that all is well, and I'm eagerly awaiting our first Skype Call Thingy. .....Yes....ok....very funny....you can pick yourselves up from the floor, replace chins etc.....Yes you did read that correctly....I AM going to be Skype-ing regularly over the next few months. I've had a couple of lessons, and feel fully prepared for the event.
Now. Just in case you're starting to think that I've taken leave of my 18th Century Senses, I shall leave you with some photos of what the weekend brought, before the Wallowing commenced.......

And Joy of Joys, Cherry On The Cake.....Blog World let me put the photos on, in the usual way. With no shennanigans. And the words are in the right place too!
Ok. I'm off for a little more Wallowing now. See you soon. xx

Keeping I t Simple.....

I thought I'd do just that, this evening, and do a photo-less post. I keep meaning to contact "Blogger" which is the host thingy, but then I forget to look up the contact details, and so the problem just rolls on. It's more than likely I've pressed some button or another, or even clicked on a box which says "Click here if you'd like constant trouble with uploading photos on your blog, for the forseeable future." Most of you, knowing my Computer Prowess, are possibly laying odds on the latter option. Hmmm......
At the moment, I'm working on the softest scarf, for a friend's upcoming birthday. I first saw it here, www.quiltwhileyoureahead.typepad.com , a month or so ago, and thought I'd find the pattern. And I'm so glad I did. I'm loving it. It's one of those lulling patterns, with an easy repeat to it, which is ideal for the End-Of-The-Day-Mindlessness-Watching-TV-With-One-Eye evenings that I seem to be enjoying more and more. (I'm now quite relaxed about the idea that my Inner Party Animal crawled away and died peacefully, some time ago, while I wasn't paying attention!)
So, there I sat in my allocated spot on the sofa, working away on said scarf, happily minding my own business, while various people came and went through the latest Star Gate they'd just discovered, goodness knows how many light-years away, when, The Partner DRAGGED his eyes away from his 50" screen, looked at me, and asked "Since when did you crochet?"
The answer to that, my friends, is since my Gran taught me, when I was 6. A mere 41 years ago. Needless to say, that wasn't QUITE the calm reply I gave my most observant Partner.....
See you soon. xx

Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder.......

Or so they say. Which means that by now, you should all be reaching the Heavily Besotted Stage. However, in my somewhat limited experiences with affairs of the heart, it's probably more the "And Too Much Makes It Wander" part of that particular phrase. Terrific. I'm blogging for just myself and The Partner....Although, if I'm brutally honest (and there are those amongst you, who know that I absolutely can be!), I force read my posts to The Partner. And question Him afterwards, to make sure He was paying attention. (Hmmm.......I've just read that bit back to myself, and now I'm unsure about using the "H"'s. Don't want anyone thinking I'm reading to/questioning a deity. But "The Partner" becomes a bit lengthy after a while, so I'll let the "H"'s stand. Or sit....Lie down, for all I mind. Right. Moving on....) Just me then...
I have finished hand quilting my Cath's Stacks quilt, that I'm keeping just for me, and I'm so pleased with it.....
Ok. The photo was supposed to appear here---> Pesky, PESKY flippin thing! Well, I suppose I should be grateful that there is at least a photo. I've backed it with the last of the pink sheet that I bought in France last summer.

Oh. So now the photo is where it should be! No rhyme nor reason to this system! As you can see I've trimmed the quilt, but not edged it yet. That's because I'm not sure which fabric I'm going to use yet. Decisions, decisions!!

Well at least you can now see why I wanted to call this quilt "Cath's Stacks"...Cath Kidston fabric...Stacked. How very original. And now the words that I'm typing in to this wretched machine are now coming out from the centre. Go figure!

See you soon. xx

 

 

Halle-Flippin-Lujah!!

 

Nothing more to say!! You CANNOT BELIEVE the hoops I've had to jump through to post these photos on here! And I STILL don't know why I can't upload my photos in the usual way! I've probably pressed some button or another, but heaven only knows which one, when, or why!  xx

I'll Try Again......

Right. After yesterday's disaster in the Photo Department, I thought I'd try again.
So I did. I fired up The Dinosaur that is "my" laptop (The Partner's cast-offs), and tried again. Nothing. De nada. Rien. It simply did NOT want my Star photos on my Blog.
Aha, I thought....I can be one step ahead of the silly machine....I'll try and upload said photos onto my Flickr account. So I did. And it did. SUCCESS!
Back to my Blog, smugly confident that I had, indeed, beaten The Dinosaur's system. I tried again, smug look firmly in place. Complete failure.
So. I'm now on The-All-Singing-All-Dancing-With-Bells-On-It Computer. If the photos don't work this time, I give up. I will officially be A Giver-Upperer. Here goes.....

Ok. I give up. I'm going BALD with frustration!!!! SERIOUSLY! I had this SUSSED! Click on little picture thingy, choose photo, click on "select" and VOILA....photo appeared. WHY IS THIS NO LONGER WORKING???????
AAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!
Going off to sulk now. In a darkened room. With several bottles of gin. And I'm tea-total! xx