Charity Begins At Home.......

A little while ago, you may remember I showed you a little pile of trimmings.

(I thought I'd be kind and refresh your memory!)
Well, that project was one that had been asked of me....a quilt to donate as a raffle prize, for a national charity. The project came together nicely over the last couple of weeks, and now looks like this.....

 

I do so love a pretty Tanya Wheelan print. Or two.

 

For the back and binding, I went a little dotty..........

 

 

It would appear that I also love a polka dot. Or two. Too.

But what I really love, is that something that started so simply, here at home, with a little bit of time, knowledge and skill, is now on it's way to help others that do so much in helping people at bad times in their lives, and will hopefully bring a little happiness to whoever buys the winning ticket................

Now that this particular project has been completed, stand by your beds.....Christmas Projects here I come!!

Must dash now.....running late. For everything. Again. xx

Let's Vote On It.....

Between now and Christmas I've got 5 birthdays, UMPTEEN Christmas presents and then 3 more birthdays before the New Year is even a week old. I also have 2 quilt orders hovering in the wings. As you can imagine, my "To Do List" (if I was a List Maker...which I'm not...but if I WAS....) is full to overflowing. Logically I should be knuckling down......however....
Just look at this little pretty.....

...I made it using the "Bento Box" pattern that I bought from www.tikkilondon.com last week. I couldn't help myself. It kept whispering to me from underneath the To Do List. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed making this little mat. It's mostly origami with fabric and some fussy cutting thrown in for good measure. I changed how I attached the squares and am glad that I did, as it made my stitches more even on the back.
However....this is NOT a birthday present. Nor is it a Christmas present. Nor can I think of anyone to give it to. Nor do I use mats. But it is pretty.
And that brings me to this post's title....I'm sure I'm not the only one aboard the I've Got So Much To Make And Not Enough Time To Do It In Boat (though I may be the only one daft enough to spend time working on something that doesn't earn a tick on The Imaginary List), so I propose we take a vote on postponing Christmas until around the middle of March. Sheer Brilliance. What do you think??
I'm going to finish this post now, in case you vote against me, and I do actually have to get a wriggle on. See you soon. xx

A Day In The Country.......

.....well, not quite, as yesterday we left The New Forest, and headed for London, to meet Daughter No 2 for the day.
I'll let you into a little secret: a 20 year old daughter who loves to shop and a 9 year old son who doesn't, aren't always the easiest combination to share your day with. Surprised? So I came up with another idea.
We met my daughter at Kew and had a lovely cuppa, before strolling along the road, where, what a coincidence (!!!) there just HAPPENED to be a fabulous little quilting shop. Let's just say that I was brought up to do my homework properly.
So, a lovely few minutes was spent browsing in Tikki ( www.tikkilondon.com ) where it's JUST possible I may have made a purchase....or two.....

There was a very sweet little quilt on display, that was in a design that I'd not seen before, so obviously I was FORCED to buy the pattern....you know how it is....I'd have regretted it forever amen had I not bought it.........

 

............more on that later, I'm sure.

And that was the sum total of any retail therapy, because then we headed for Richmond Park. None of us had ever been before, and as we had The Lovely Belle with us, it was the ideal solution to keeping both my offspring content. I really had no idea that it was sssssoooooo large! A large slice of peaceful heaven sitting just outside the hustle and bustle of our capital city..........................................

Richmond Park, as most of you will know, is a Royal Park, and if proof were needed........

 

 

There were also some new playmates for Belle. If only you could have seen how keen she was to make new friends!

 

 

I'd packed a picnic, so we could spend the whole day exploring. I also remembered to take The Lovely Belle's mat that I made recently, as her highness doesn't like to sit on a chilly floor, so a fabulous day was had by all.........

 

 

If you get the chance to spend a day happily wandering, I can thoroughly recommend this particular little jaunt.

 

As for other news, a friend has just given birth to twins. I've secretly been working on baby quilts, and was planning on giving you a sneaky peek, until the quilts had been given to the two little recipients.....

 

 

However, being the complete muppet that you know and love so well, I COMPLETELY forgot to photograph the finished quilts. So sneaky is all you're getting!

Well, that's me done for this post, so I shall love you and leave you. See you soon. xx

My...Doesn't Time Fly??

Not necessarily because I've been having fun.......more to do with my excellent impersonations of The Headless Chicken. I promise you, one of these days I'm going to open my front door, only to find myself walking back through it!
In a previous life, when I lived in France and Daughters Nos. 1 and 2 were still at that lovely age when the only opinion that mattered was mine, I was A Kept Woman. I ran the household and raised my children, meals were cooked from scratch, laundry baskets were empty. I even had a social life. I EVEN, on occasion, had time (lower your voice here, please) to feel an eensy weensy bit bored.
Hit the Fast Forward button for a decade or so, slowing down to have The Son, speeding back up past The Divorce, and believe you me, there is not a spare nanno-second in my day to have so much as a fleeting glimpse of boredom. I dream of days where I'll have the time to sew.....to peruse patterns to my hearts delight.....However, as I'm a reasonably realistic sort of person, I DO realise that that day will, one day, be mine.......The fact that I'll be 93, blind as a bat and unable to hold a needle has very little to do with it!
I'm aware that I'm wittering. I'm also aware that you, too are very busy, so I'll show you what I have managed to do over the last 2 weeks........

I know that the photo quality is pretty poor (camera is doing that odd blue spot thing in the middle of the image again) but I have got 16 of them. Wonky Star blocks, not poor quality photos. Though if you add up all my poor photos over previous blog posts, I'd probably have 16 of those too.
And now I'm going to leave you, and desperately try to find some more sewing time to squeeze in between now and Christmas....any ideas anyone?? xx

Grey October Day.....

So once the football was over, lunch served and eaten and The Son bullied into finishing his homework, there was only one thing for it....English Paper Piecing.

I'm making progress on my Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt, and really enjoying it. This is the latest addition.......

Then I worked on a mug mat, for a beginners EPP class next Saturday. I needed to find a simple pattern, but had no particular wish to do anything too traditional, so adapted a Nine Patch. What do you think?

The trickiest bit is to remember to time myself, as obviously the pupils will want to take a finished article home with them at the end of the class, and not just a few scraps of material sewn together. This 7" block has taken me an hour and ten minutes from cutting out the paper templates to finishing the last stitches. Now I've got to sandwich, baste, quilt and bind. I've got another 5 hours available to me, but an hour of that is allocated for lunch. I'll see how I get on. The idea is that the class is completely hand sewn, but I may cheat a little and take my sewing machine along for company....and to attach the binding. A lot will depend on time. Watch this space, and I'll try and remember to show you the finished mat.
And if you're having a bit of a dreary day, look at these.......

...aren't they just lovely? I got them from here.....

I'm positively ITCHING to make something with them....I'm thinking of a Giant Star that I've seen over at judith-justjude.blogspot.com but need to find some solids to go with them. In the meantime, I shall content myself with patting!
But the best news of the day, is that this little lady.......

....REALLY doesn't like walks in the rain! Which means even more excuses to stay snuggled in the warm and dry, stitching happily away......
Thanks for dropping by. See you soon. xx

Just In The Nick Of Time........

I've been so busy, doing nothing much in particular, but lots of little things strung together....you know how it is.....Added to that The Son being off school for 10 days with shingles (bad mother that I am, thought it was just some mosquito bites to start with, and told him to "man up, Princess"!....Hmmm! Not winning Mother Of The Year Award this year, then.....) Also add to the mix severe sleep deprivation, on account of new "puppy" with separation issues, and hopefully you'll understand my lack of blogs recently.....
Anyway...onto what I HAVE been doing. Friends got married yesterday....

......it was a lovely day....a true celebration of love, laughter, families and friendships, and for it another friend, Emma, and I decided on a quilt/picnic rug/throw as a gift. I set to work, but in typical Kirstie style, left it a bit close to the wire.
I hadn't factored in being ssssoooo tired that I couldn't see straight enough to stitch. Traditionally, I stitch late in the evening until the early hours, but Belle has scuppered that routine for a while. I actually managed to sew down the binding about 3/4's of an hour before we were due to leave for the church.
Then came the worry of whether to take the time to wash it or not....but I really love a crinkled quilt, and also live in horror of it running on it's first wash, so it was bundled into my machine on a quick wash with the colour catcher. "Quick wash" my foot! NEVER in the history of man has 1/2 an hour taken sssssoooooo flippin long! And then it needed tumble drying. Even by my standards it was touch and go. I was pulling it from the dryer as The Husband was reversing off the drive!
As the song sort of goes "we got to the church on time", with just enough time to show Emma the finished gift, before popping it in the gift bag.......and B-R-E-A-T-H-E....
So here is the finished article.....

 

 

With feet, apparently!

 

 

 I love this material from Ikea that I used for the back- a real outdoors-y picnic feel to it.
And just because I can, here's a photo of The Sleep Depriver, Belle. It would appear that she is a sun worshipper.....though how she can be comfortable on the bottom stair like that, beats me. Perhaps if she slept a bit more AT NIGHT.......

Thanks for popping by. See you soon. xx

It's Been A While.....

......and I'm sorry about my lack of posts. Sadly, while I was recuperating from my operation, I had to say goodbye to my loyal companion of 11 years, George.......

He was absolutely fine one moment, and paralyzed in his hind quarters the next. As you can imagine, heartbreak put paid to my blogging mojo for a while.
Until today...... Meet Belle.....

Here she is on the journey home from our local RSPCA Centre....a very relaxed young lady! She is a 5 month old Lurcher, and as I type she's doing battle with an antler bone.....The start of a new relationship....and a lot of time-wasting cuddles while she settles in!
But, just in case you think that this has turned into a doggy-blog, let me assure you that I HAVE been doing SOME needlework...even though what I've been working on is secret and I can't really show you yet.....I can at least, show you these.....

Can you see them? They're pins from Clover, for those of us who like to press our seams open. Yay!! I have been using them on my last project, and I can THOROUGHLY recommend them.
Well, I'm really sorry, but I need to go and work on a few more cuddles now. Thanks for popping by.
See you soon. xx