Been Cross stitching

You know, you ladies and the odd gent, have led me astray! I used to be a cross stitcher but I was lured over to quilting about a year ago. Some of you may remember I harboured the idea that I could alternate between the two, quilting this week and stitching next week! HA! What planet was I on? This is the point I was at when I slipped away from my cross stitch this image is dated 31 July 07.......

And this one, taken just a few moments ago, 31 May 08, exactly 10 months later.

Not much has changed huh? I've slowly crept across the grass, a few stitches here and there, but in the last couple of days I've finished the grass, the grey brown blob is the beginnings of a wolfs paw, I've done that over the last couple of evenings while watching TV. I've enjoyed working on this again and hope to stay with it, plodding away slowly while I also manage to get on and make a little mystery quilt.

Julia over at Camille's Place is having a give away to celebrate that she has had over 300,300 visitors to her blog. She invites us all to enter and to spread the word.

Like Julia, I have a stat counter on this blog and I'm always amazed at the number of people who visit me, the comments never seem to match the numbers though! LOL Maybe every one is shy.

Have a great day.

Dragons are done.

I did it, I finally finished the Dragon Quilt. After work yesterday I put the label on and called it done!

I gave it a trial cuddle, and it will do just fine for my Joe. He can have it once it's dried, I whipped it into the wash quick before it disappeared.

I forgot to say for the back I used, the last of the grey dragon fabric with a top and bottom panel of the black.

So, on with new things, I've been doing a little cross stitch and I have a couple of other ideas I want to pursue.

Have a great day.

Great find

There are two charity/op shops very close to where I live, (in fact one is right next door,) and it has become a habit of mine to wander into them on my way home from work, or if I'm out shopping in the mornings before work. I look for cotton bed linen that will do for quilt backings and sometimes find a little yardage that someone had left over. You know me, I like to recycle and reuse if I can.

Today was my lucky day, I found a quilt batting, I have no idea how it used to be used, it's a bit too thin and made of the wrong stuff to have been the innards of a modern duvet, nor is it like any batting I've purchased recently, it feels a bit different, it was definitely manufactured somehow the edges are over locked. There is a label,

but it is all washed out and there is no sign of any fabric scraps on it, or of it having been quilted at any time, but at £3.00 for a 76 x 76 quilt batting I wasn't going to leave it there.

I was so excited in fact that I did manage to forget about a king size brushed cotton sheet I had seen! Oh well maybe it will still be there next time.

You know, you can go off people!

I recently had a big turf out and gave quite a few crafty items to a colleague of mine. Needless to say she was delighted, well wouldn't you be if someone doubled your stash overnight? Anyway, she had a turf out of her own and came across this little beauty. A sequined tree skirt. Sorry the pic is naff!

All the work is done in stem stitch, beads and sequins. There are only those five snowmen and the garland goes all the way around. She says she won't mind if she never gets it back, but I happen to know that her daughter gave it to her for Christmas one year and she never had the courage to have a go herself. Looks like that is my job at some point. Has anyone ever done one of these? Are they quick? I asked her not to hold her breath. I'll ask you to wish me luck.

While in my favorite shop yesterday stocking up on birthday cards I spied this lovely bag and just had to have it.

Isn't it gorgeous? I just couldn't leave it there. And yes, it's already in use.

Finally, to some quilty content. I have a two tone binding on the dragon quilt, Joe couldn't decide if he preferred red or black for the binding and asked if I could do both one long side and one short side of each. Well that's all on and it only remains for me to add the label, I'm off to work this morning so it will wait until this afternoon. I'll take a final pic then too.

Have a good day.

Swap has arrived.

Finally I can reveal pictures of my take on the Another Little Quilt Swap!
My Partner Lisa Jo at The BlackBear Cabin has received her package. As she correctly guessed I didn't want to post pictures before she had received it as I know she reads my blog and often comments. I was delighted when Kate let me know she was to be my partner, and a little relieved, it was nice to know I could make a quilt for someone I've gotten to know a little about through our blogs.

I called the quilt Friendship, I hope for obvious reasons.
I was determined to do something more creative than quilt in the ditch or a basic meander so pushed myself to these little waves.

I know they are not perfect, but they are my first ever and I am soooo proud of them.

Thank you again Kate for arranging the swap, I love the little quilt I received and I'm pleased that Lisa Jo likes my efforts. This was the first time I ever did anything like this and it has been a very positive experience.

Well, thats me, I'm off to make the binding for the dragons.
Have a great day.

I hope I got this right.

Yay!! Two mornings off! I don't start work until 3pm today and tomorrow! I love the late starts, I get plenty of time for sewing and Housework (Spit).
I now have two job interviews, early next month! (VBS :-))) )

I hope I interpreted Joe's meanderings and mutterings correctly, cause I'm halfway through quilting the outer border on his quilt. I had in mind to try to reproduce the yellow flame there on the right in the black fabric, sore of over and over again, growing out of itself each time.


( I'm really not sure what happened to the yellow fabric, it does not look like that!) However, this is what Joe's interpretation of flames looked like on the black fabric the other day. Strangely my best efforts are the ones that occur when my mind wanders and I loose concentration. It's going quickly and I should easily have it finished this morning and be able to piece the binding and maybe even attach it before I get to work later. Yippie!! Joe has had to wait quite a while for this one.

After receiving the cross stitch stuff from my service user the other day I had a hankering to do a little to my own cross stitch so sat for a couple of hours yesterday and the day before, needless to say just a few hours has made little difference to such a large project but I'm sure things will change there over the next few weeks. It's been a long while since I put in more than a dozen stitches at a sitting. I may post a before and after pic in the next few days.

Have a great day.

About A Boy,

And his quilt!

Joe was keen to know what happens next. So we sat down and I showed him how to tidy away and bury all the threads left from the in the ditch quilting. I'm not sure if that was too boring, or maybe it was just a bit beneath him, ( ;-) but he decided he didn't want to help with that.

Instead he wanted to show me how to make flames! So I set up the machine with the dogs lowered and all ready to go, we sorted out some off cuts and I let him loose.

He concentrated hard and made some great flames, unlike my ideas he just meandered all over his scraps and produced flames. I had a very regimented and tidy flame in mind, but he tells me he wants his meander style flames. That's fine with me, much easier and far less time consuming!
Don't know if you can make out his flames here, they are very simple really.

He went with me the other day to the shop and selected his flame thread and this morning after his play, insisted on getting it threaded into the machine ready for me to start! "As soon as possible please mummy".

Well that's me told. All the threads are buried, but the flames will have to wait for another day, I just have time for lunch before I head off to work.

It's nice to have an assistant, he's almost as good as his Auntie Moya.

Enjoy the sun,

Yesterday was hard.

Yesterday was a difficult day for me. A service user to whom I had become very close, in a very short time, left the island. She is going somewhere that can give her so much more than we can here and we both know it is for the best, but it was a difficult goodbye.

She became disabled through injuries and a stroke, but prior to those times she was a crafter, she did lots of cross stitch and made home furnishings, even after her accident she continued to craft and has only recently admitted defeat after her stroke. I tried to encourage her and pointed out that a good Occupational Therapist and Physiotherapist could help her out and with the right support she could keep on cross stitching, but she would have none of it, maybe in time she will realise that I was right, I do hope so.



I helped her to sort out her belongings and to pack, she is going from a small apartment into a single room at a rehab centre so had to be brutal, she left many of the staff with happy memories and small tokens of appreciation, but it was the cratfters among us who seemed to benefit the most. I was presented with some fabrics, all of which she had utilised in some way after her accident, but before she was disabled by her stroke.



The bears and the Paddington fabric she used in her daughters bedroom. Somehow she ended up with two Humpty Dumptys! I'm not sure what I'll do with him, but I'd better find a use, she wants pictures.

She also left a lot of cross stitch stuff, I inherited two UFOs, (Un Finished Objects) Santa being my fave. There are no threads for him, but I have his pic and a chart which lists the DMC threads.

There are a few others which came my way, as well as a bunch of threads and a hoop holder which clamps onto a table. Another colleague also took some UFOs, a couple of brand new kits and a few charts. She also took a roller frame and a table top stand. There is still a bag full of stuff which we will donate to the local hospice shop.

I shall miss my service user, she has become a very dear friend.

On the quilty front? I've done nothing but dream.

On the job front? I have an interview on 1oth June and another on 11th. EeeK!

Have a great weekend.

More from Tuesday

As Moya and I were sharing a sewing machine on Tuesday, I didn't start quilting the dragon quilt once it was ready. Instead I got on with something else.

I had a pack of bright charms and a pack of coffee and cream charms.

I feel a split nine patch coming on, but I think I'll have to invest in some more charms!

I've started quilting the dragons, so far I've only done in the red ditch, once I get all those threads tidied away I want to try to work some flames into the yellow border. (Peep down at my last couple of posts if that doesn't make sense) Then I'll bind it and call it done. Poor Joe has had to wait a while for this at least he can see progress now and it's starting to look like a quilt and less like "a pile of scraps" as he put it!

Hey Ho! Off to work. :-p Have a great day.

Sisters!!

Have been busy again! Make the most of it cause I don't know when I'll be getting another day off. Though I do have the morning off tomorrow.

Here's the dragon quilt all layered and ready to quilt, it's sat now looking sad and neglected while I figure out how to quilt it.

In the ditch? Criss crosses through the blocks? Flames in the red? I'm thinking about it ok.
In the meantime, I've hand stitched the label, not quite as nicely as the one for my ALQS, but I've done it. I wrote on the fabric and stitched over it again, that seemed to meet with approval last time, and I like the effect so I think I'll stick with that.

I dunno what happened to the eight! LOL It went a bit wonky, well if we can have wonky stars and wonky houses, why can't we have wonky eights? LOL

Moya has been busy too, my poor sewing machine and iron must have wondered what was happening on Tuesday, as soon as I was finished with the machine for a moment, Moya was on there, then we were racing each other to the iron!

We had a good time though and both achieved a lot. This is the little quilt Moya is making for her daughters ballet class, it is to be raffled.

I also put together some 5' charms, I feel a split nine patch coming on, I'll get a pic of those soon.

Did I mention I have the morning off tomorrow? First stop the job centre, they update on Thursday, then it's on with the quilting.

Have a good day.

Ooops!

Who ever thought it would be a good idea to let me loose on the Fons and Porter website?
Of course when I went there yesterday to get me a subscription I had to register, so today I get me an email telling me about all the special deals they have.
Yep, you guessed it, I've been spending more money!
I just bought the CDs with a whole years worth of back issues on them! And a couple of magazines.
All up $60 ish dollars, that's before they put the international postage on. Shh, don't tell Hunney. LOL Time I think to make a bit of a hole in this stash of mine, yes it's grown a bit. I have three maybe four projects sat here waiting to be started, I shan't run out of things to do, but I just know a subscription to the magazine and all those back issues is going to inspire me. Keep me going girls.

Speaking of keeping going, yesterday I got 3 hours to sew, so sew was what I did. I got the sashing and corner stones cut for the dragon quilt, then I set to and chain pieced the lot, and my assistant was nowhere in sight.

After playing with the layout I put it all together and cut the first round of border and got that on too. So here's where I'm at now.

I'm hoping to get a second border on today, it's in the same gold colour as the corner stones, I may even get a start on the quilting, then all we have to do is audition black and red for bindings and make a decision. I say maybe because Nerine stayed over last night, and I think Moya may be coming along today, I'm really not sure what is planned, I may have less sewing time than I hope for. So I'm off to make the most of it.

Have a great day.

Birthday Party

Yesterday the whole family gathered at Moyas house for her oldest daughters birthday party. I forgot to take my camera so these pics were taken with Hunneys phone, they are not the greatest but I think they tell the story. As usual Loulee has got the pictures in the wrong order!

The sun was shining and there was a gentle breeze, Hunney and I are a little pink this morning.
It wasn't just the little boys and girls who played! Moyas Hunney and mine playing swing tennis. A boy must take his dinosaurs on the tramp you know. This is Kirstys son Alex. Kirsty is the sister in between Moya and I age wise.

And because I can't upload pictures correctly, a pic of my beautiful swap quilt from Annette. It matches perfectly the African Violet in my dining room, they were made for each other. Thank you again Annette.

Big cousins are an essential at birthday parties, they can pick you up and throw you around! There is the birthday girl sat on the edge of the tramp.

Big cousins can also dive into the bouncy castle after you and get beaten up and bounced on. The even bigger boys were pleased about that, cause in years gone by that has been their job.
Katy and Lauren, getting a turn on the tramp. They did do some bouncing, but had to stop so Katy could eat hot dog.

And taking turns on the slide.

All up there were four sisters, 3 brothers in law, (Nerine isn't attached) eight cousins, one friend and his mum, oh and last but not least, two nanas.

We had hot dogs and chocolate cake washed down with lemonade. We drifted home tired and sunburned at about 7 o'clock.

Today I get to sew, I have one application form to fill in, must run to the post office, then my time is my own. Time to cut sashing for my boys quilt top.

Have a good day.

A stitchy time was had.

I finally got to get to my machine and do some stitching. :-)

While the big monsters were playing Jenga,

And doing the dominoes thing once they got bored!

I was able to get on and sew, and sew and sew,

aided by my assistant and future owner of this quilt.

He was snipping as I was chain piecing. Needless to say this was the very last piece in the chain. Personally I wouldn't have put these two fabrics together, but this is what he wanted, remember he helped to design his own quilt and he chose the fabrics. So now I have 24 blocks made and need to cut sashing, I have yellow and red for sashing, more black dragons and yellow for the borders.

Tis Sunday, the one and only day I do a cooked breakfast, so I'd better get to it before they try to eat me instead.

Have a great day. I will, it's my nieces birthday party today.

Perfect timing.

I'll get to the timing thing later! Although a day out with my sisters yesterday went a long way to improving my mood.
Our baby sister Nerine is on the island, she escaped to uni a few years ago and has managed to stay away, except for summer visits.
At less than 5 foot she packs a whole load of personality into a tiny body! She is fun to be with and has an infectious entheusiasm for life.

As I think I mentioned we visited Port Erin so Moya and I could go quilty shopping. I was very restrained and bought only a couple of fat quarters to go in with my swap quilt. We had lunch just over the edge of the cliff there in a cafe that was practically on the beach. We saw one man who was brave and sat outside, loose his lunch to a cheeky seagull.
Before leaving Port Erin Nerine had a look around and did the touristy thing, lots of pics and photos. We also wandered into a few shops, and in one of them Moya and I were delighted to find 7 yes, seven different quilty magazines!! That is unheard of this far north! LOL I bought Fons and Porters Love of Quilting, then promptly subscribed this morning, what a great mag. (I have seen one other copy which Janet sent to me last year, I loved that too.) There are at least two patterns in the May June issue which I'd love to make.
On the scenic, for Nerines benefit, drive home we stopped to take this pic, looking south over the East coast of the island.

Now to the perfect timing.

On my doorstep this morning as we were off out shopping I found a package, look what was in it!!

My share of the 'Another Little Quilt Swap' I think, I have to admit to being a little confused by the label. Isn't it pretty! No way would I ever have choosen these colours for myself, but I love it. I gave my unknown partner a totally open brief, no colours, no styles, surprise me. And thats exactly what Annette did.
Thank you Annette for a beautiful little quilt. I treid to get close up on the quilting, Annette has echoed the shape of the appliqued flowers and done some meandering hearts, perhaps you can see it better on this pic of the back. See what I mean about the label?
My own version is here all wrapped up and waiting for the post office on Monday morning. It is on it's way to the united States, I hope it arrives swiftly and safely with it's new owner ........?


Oh Yeah and I have Monday and Tuesday off work! Monday is half claimed, more application forms.......Tuesday is half claimed, more sisters time. Maybe I'll get a little work done on DS2 quilt.

Speaking of DS2 I took a break from cutting his quilt to catch up here, I'd better get back to it, he'll be home soon!

Have a great weekend.