Catch up.

No pictures today, the camera batteries are charging.

I finished stitching my little tiger friend. It's really nice to have him finished, it feels like an achievement. I've made a start on the gorilla and will continue with him tonight.

I got lots of cutting and pinning done for my quilt this afternoon so tomorrow I'll get the sewing machine out and make a start, I was hoping to put it off until after my birthday, then I would have my new machine to play with..........Hmmmm.

I promise I'll have pictures tomorrow.

Gina, you really should treat yourself to one of Pams treasures, trust me, photos do them no justice, they are much prettier in person.

An early birthday surprise.

Yesterdays mail brought an early brithday gift. What a wonderful surprise. My dear friend Janet had sent me this wonderful Pam Kellogg purse as a gift. I'm a fan of Pams and now own 4 of her works. Thank you Janet, I can't express how much it means to me.


See below for my other Pam Purses and be sure to take a look at her blog and her Etsy shop, she really does make some wonderful treasures.

More Purses.

I have to post across two sessions today, it seems three pics is my limit.

This green cell pouch is the first one I acquired, Hunney bought it for me, for Christmas. It's just big enough to hold a cell phone and a little cash or a credit card.

My second cell phone pouch, I bought recently, Pam hadn't even finished making it when I said I would purchase it. I love dragonflies, there is something magical about them I think.



This last is a piece I commissioned. Pam had made a black and white cell phone pouch, which I thought was very pretty, but I wanted something larger. Pam agreed to make this piece for me. It's beautiful isn't it?
This is not the end, I will be buying more of Pams purses.

A successful Day.

I had a good morning, I got all of the plates finished, except for their centres. Time to start cutting my blocks. Yes, I've settled on the block sizes and a layout, I did all of that before going in to work at 2pm.
Time for bed now, but I'll be busy again tomorrow.
Night all.

Ere,ere

Well my little friend has an ear. I've actually stitched more than this picture shows, I've filled in a lot of confetti style stitches around his face and been back down by his paws to stitch some more of the ground. I'm glad my plan for a rotation didn't work, I really didn't want to put him away.



As for getting on with my quilt during the day when there is no chance of disturbing Hunny! My sister keeps visiting, how come she gets to sit and do her embroidery while I get to surf all over the net and do her shopping online? Never mind, I'm expecting NO visitors today, so I'll get on and finish cutting the next lot of plates and may even get time to make a start on sewing them up. These are the first 8.


I'm not sure how many I'll need! Yes, I know, I should have decided this already, but well, I keep changing my mind. I have three plans here, all beautifully drawn on graph paper. I measured my bed countless times, measured the sheets, measured the two handmade quilts my hunny bought for me, then debated for and against putting my 11 inch plates onto 12, 14 or 16 inch blocks! Mind you, I've been planning on making it longer than it is wide, Hmm, where's my tape measure?
Happy Thursday.

Strike plan A

Well it seems plan A won't work! I had intended to rotate between my quilt and my cross stitch, but, thats not going to work. Hunny says I'm too noisey when I'm working on my quilt. He is studying for a degree, I think thats far more important than my quilt, so I've had to have a rethink. Quilting when he is not home and cross stitch when he is. At least for the time being. Makes me really glad I work shifts.

Does anybody know how long it takes to be accepted onto these blog ring things? I've been looking at some of them and reading one or two blogs, it's nice to feel part of something.

Thats all I have to say today, I'm off to stitch!
Take care.

All Fixed.

Some major work has gone on with this little lap top since last I wrote. It was refusing to upload pictures, nor would it download updates for windows or my anti virus. Bad, bad, bad.
I couldn't even get it to talk across the network to the other puters in the house. So we reformatted, still had no effect! It seems the problem was with the router box! Why it should suddenly decide to go wrong is a mystery. My Hunny read on a windows forum that he should try to change some of the settings in the router, which he did and hey presto! Alls well again. Phew! What a relief.

I had my shift at work this morning, it passed fairly quickly as I had plenty to do. I've watched the Formula 1 Grand Prix, yes sorry I like my motor racing. Now I get to stitch for an hour or so before dinner. Just my Hunny and I today, no kids, no Dad and no guests, so we're having a treat, fillet steaks. Yummy. Nice and quick to cook too, so more stitchy time for me.

This is my last day of cross stitch, tomorrow I'll rotate back to my quilt top and hopefully get some more plates made up. The cotton fabrics I plan to use as back ground squares and backing fabrics and the wadding have arrived at last so I could if I wanted too get on and make the first completed squares, but a little birdie told me that my Hunny may be getting me a new sewing machine for my birthday (Which is very soon) so I may just hang on and see what happens. ;-)
Take care.

The eye of the tiger.

Well, it's eyes actually! I'm glad I decided to leave the ground alone and get on with his face, I feel like I have some company now. Isn't he a sweetie.


Getting him to you took a great deal of effort! There seems to be something amiss with the network here at home, I tried to go about things in the normal way, but had no success! My little computer just wouldn't play. I ended up starting up deep thought, my Hunnys 'big' computer to get things done. What a pain!

I've had another day off work today, yes I know, thats two this week, but I'll have to work until 10pm on Saturday and be up at 7am on Sunday to make up for it. Never mind, I'm off to my nieces 21st birthday bash tonight and I'll have next weekend off work entirely. I love working shifts, I get lots of time at home without interruptions, weekends are not so bad, there are no bosses in, well technically I'm a boss, but my bosses are not there! I do miss out on family time though, for me that is the only downside.

I'm going back to my tiger, see if I can't get his ear completed before they arrive demanding food!
Have a good weekend.

Another bad day.

I had another stinker at work today, I really don't like the place much at the moment. My line manager is not the nicest of people and I find it very difficult to talk to her. So, I waited until I knew the big boss was out of his meeting and spoke to him on the phone. I feel a lot better for it, the man could win medals for prattling on, but today I appreciated it. Thank you boss.

For those who wonder, I'm a senior suppert worker in a Leonard Cheshire Home. I work with disabled people, enabling them to live independently, we're not a nursing home, we don't do everything for them. They have their own little flats in which they live, they are responsible for paying the bills and keeping their homes clean and tidy, they must shop for their own groceries, in short, they must be independent. I'm there to assist with the things they really can't do. For example today I assisted a wheel chair user to clean the tops of his kitchen cupboards, I climbed a ladder and took some curtains down for the same chap, he put them in the washing machine, and then took them to the washing lines himself. Another gent who has Parkinsonism was having a really shakey day, and really needed to cut his fingernails before he took his own eye out, so I chopped them for him. My job can be incredibly varied. That was the nice stuff, I could do that kind of stuff all day, thats why I took the job. It's easy to do work you enjoy.
I have no picture to show today, I think it will make more of an impact if I wait until I have more done.
Have a good day all.

A few changes.

As you can see I sat last night and played! I found the wonderful background at squidfingers, I fell in love as soon a I saw it and knew it would be perfect. My Hunny helped me to find the right place in the template code and to make the necessary changes. The panoramic picture I've used as a header is one Hunny and I made two years ago, it shows almost the whole North of our island. Ramsey and the North are said to have more Sunshine that the South of the island. I took the changed title from this song.

TWAS once I loved a lass,
I swore I loved her true.
And that I did so long as we
Held Ramsey still in view.
And that I did so long as we
Held Ramsey still in view.

Chorus:

Ramsey Town, 0 Ramsey Town,
Shining by the sea.
Here's a health to my true love,
Wheresoe'er she be.

Her hair was like the gold,
Her eyes, like cloud, were grey.
We sailed for the blazing South
All on a summer's day. - Chorus.

There are more verses butI can't remember them just now! I haven't had occasion to sing it since I was about 7 and haven't heard it sung for almost as many years, soI think I did ok.
Ramsey certainly lived up to the myth yesterday, here I had open windows and sunshine all day while I stitched, while my Hunny at work 16 miles South of here in Douglas had a dark miserable day under threatening rain clouds.

Speaking of stitching, inspite of some interruptions I got quite a lot done yesterday, I did a little more of the grass under my friend, then decided it was time to give him a face, I don't think I'll get his whole head completed this week, but I can certainly try. I work a 2-10pm shift today so as my chores are already done, the next 3-4 hours are for stitching. Yay!

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Cross stitch

As promised I took a photo of my WIP. I'm fairly pleased with what I achieved yesterday.
Before I started I substituted the off white 14 count aida and replaced it with an 18 count Silkweaver solo. I think it's going to look much better on that. As you can see I've barely started this project.
It was designed by Carol Bryan and published by Candamar and is entitled 'Endangered Species Collage'. I managed to scan the model image all by myself, with no profanities! And no help from my Hunny. So I'm feeling rather proud of myself. Aren't they so sweet?


Your help would be appreciated here, there is nothing to tell me who all these little critters are, I know all of them, except the little guy at the front, tucked inbetween the two cats, who is he? Could he be a beaver? Are they endangered? How about an otter? He has some pretty fearsome claws on his rear paws and a appears to have a largish tail if thats any help.

I have a whole day off work today, I have done most of my chores already, I still have an errand to run in town and then I plan to spend the rest of the day curled up with my stitching. Time to say goodbye for now and put some music on methinks.
Take care.

A party and other things.

My DD was 19 last week and had asked if she might have a BBQ in the garden on Saturday. All week I looked to the rain and shook my head, when on Friday, the sky got darker, the rain got heavier and the wind picked up too I started to plan a small indoor bash, no way would I have believed that we could eat out doors on Saturday! My pessimism was unfounded, I awoke on Saturday to beautiful beaming sunshine, the wind dropped and by late afternoon the BBQ was lit and friends were gathering. We had a wonderful time.

I didn't get much sleep on Saturday night, it was soooooo hot, so ended up going to work exhausted on Sunday morning, (I work shifts in a Leonard Cheshire Home) when I came home my Hunny cooked dinner and cleared up afterwards. He really is a Hunny.
After an early night I was up bright and breezy this morning, I've gotten loads done already. The floors have been vacuumed and the washing machine is whirring away, so my time is my own.
I'm itching to get on and make my first quilt block, but not only am I waiting for supplies to arrive, I also decided to work on a rotation, quilt one week, cross stitch the next. Today being Monday, it's the first day of Cross stitch week. I started this piece about 3 weeks ago, it's been languishing in my cupboard for about 10 years, I watched a colleague stitching it and fell in love instantly. I bought it within weeks of first seeing it but never got around to stitching it. It's called 'Endangered Species Collage' I can't find a pic of it online at the moment, I'll scan the kit front later to let you have a look, I'll take a photo of the orange blob that will become a tiger cub too.
Happy Monday.

Sew much better.

My books have arrived, and my first 8 plates are pieced, except for their centres.

I purchased two books, 'Quick and Colourful Quilts for Beautiful Beds' is, as the name suggests very colourful, there are 14 different patterns and each one has 4-5 different colourways demonstrated. There are 6 pages of tools and techniques, which I'm sure I'll be looking at more than once.

The other book is a little less pleasing to the eye, 'Traditional Patchwork Quilt Patterns. With Plastic Templates.' It has 27 designs to offer, but no colour pictures, only black and white diagrams. I'm sure I'll use it though as I can't help picking it up and wondering how this or that pattern would look done with this or that colour.

After doing a lot of cutting on Wednesday I spent yesterday and this morning piecing together my first 8 plates, I'm back to cutting now, more slices of plate, I've ordered my back ground and backing fabrics as well as some wadding, I'll need all the layers as I plan to quilt block by block, I don't think I'm ready to try quilting a full size quilt just yet. I could have started with some cushions or a small throw, but I'm the kind that jumps in at the deep end! LOL

Thank you for your nice words after my bad day, they are appreciated.

Bad Day

I had a bad day at work today. It left me feeling extremely low. I didn't want to do anything when I got home, but a talk and a cuddle with my Hunny, while we prepared dinner together helped a little. Some gentle music and an hour spent with my fabrics and templates has made me feel better still.

On a lighter note, I see that Pam Kellogg has finished her Breast Cancer Awareness Purse front.
I do love her crazy purses and own three of them.
She has also been teaching herself a new technique, while working on these little bag fronts.
I can only hope that my efforts to move on with patchwork and learn new things along the way is as successful as Pams forays into new things.
Ribbonwiz pulled out her Dresden Plate quilt and posted a photo on her blog 'Camille's Place'
It looks wonderful. It's nice to look at other peoples work, gives me ideas and inspires me. As well as giving me new heights to aspire to.

Pictures.

I hope, I've been off, got busy with the camera and took the promised pictures before I popped all the fabric pieces into the washing machine. They will be ready to iron when I get home from earning a living tomorrow.

Yippie! It worked. This first collection of 5 fat quarters is called English Porcelain.


Another nice collection, this one is called Crackle Porcelain.


And last but not least, spectrum.


As soon as I saw the Dresden plate examples I knew I wanted to do the plates in blue, how appropriate then, that I found blue fabrics entitled Porcelain. Trust me, in real life they look much better, and blend well together. I plan to mix and match them throughout the piecing process not sticking to the original collections or any set pattern. Though I may save that particularly dark blue piece for the centres of the plates.

What counts as Stash?

My understanding of the term stash means to buy fabrics just because we like them, we may have a plan to use them, we may even manage to use them. (Though it may be in a few years time!) but basically we buy them, because we can and because they are there!
The fabrics I ordered arrived today, but I'm not sure that they are stash, I plan to use them up, very soon and, in the next few days rather than the beginnings of a vast and colourful stash, I'll have the beginnings of a scrap box, the first few pieces towards my first scrappy quilt!
Does the scrap box still count as stash?
I've dreamed and daydreamed about this quilt I plan to make for about a week now, finally my fabric is here. I can fondle it, wash and iron it, and very soon I can start cutting. I suppose I should take pictures too, then any expert stumbling in here can cast a learned eye over my choices. Which means that very soon I'll have to learn how to post a picture. So much nicer than links.

I've been looking in on a few more blogs lately, looking about and gaining inspiration and hoping to spot helpful hints and advice. I have to say, inspiration is plentiful thank you.

To those of you who took the time to pop in and say hello and offer words of encouragement. Thank you also.

Frustrations.

I'm incredibly frustrated at the moment, I've decided on the Dresden Plate pattern for my quilt, I've ordered my fabrics and some books, but because of the postal strikes in the UK I have no idea when I'll recieve them.
I have tried to get on with my cross stitch, but I just can't settle to it.
I spent hours surfing in countless patchwork and quilting sites before I finally found the Dresden Plate pattern at Quilt Blocks Galore. I had no idea there were so many different designs, the lovely Marcia Hohn has collected many, many designs together and posted them along with some of her own originals, on her site. Each block comes with a printable template or paper piecing guide and easy to follow instructions. Many of the blocks also have examples of full sized quilts. I found the site to be a huge inspiration and thoroughly enjoyed browsing it's many pages.

Beginnings.

Lets try this again. I've started a blog once before but it ground to a halt after 2 posts! LOL But I didn't believe I had anything worth writing about. This time I believe I just may have. I've just started a new cross stitch project and I've ordered fabrics to make a patchwork quilt. Am I foolish or just plain mad? Time will tell.
I guess I'll have to learn how to post pictures and links.
I'm off to play, wish me luck.