new york beauty

Today I set to and stitched that eight foot strip of greaseproof paper that is going to be the border on two sides of my quilt ,it took a bag of skittles and a roll of fruit gums to get it done,
I love the precision of foundation piecing, but the long piece of paper was a tad unwieldy!

REMEMBER THIS?

The long paper border took me 10 hours with three short breaks,because the points were different widths,it made it difficult to cut more than one strip at a time.I am looking forward to joining it and then quilting it--the best bit!

quilts of shame.

I cant show my current quilt as its going into a competition, however I thought I would show you one of my quilts of shame... it started life as 18 tiny little intended pincushions ,meant as christmas presents for all the staff at school ,all lovingly pieced and stitched over those long winter months, every one is different. Wasn't that kind and nice of me .......however as I stitched them I got fond of them, they became my babies and sadly for the school I couldn't part with them. OH NO PLEASE DON'T TAKE MY BABIES.. nine days before the end of term I had to frantically make eighteen small covered books to give away, and the babies sat in a box for a while. then I had a good idea--- extend the blocks with strips of cream and natural silk strips and do even more stitching and quilting .... good idea! Last week I found them in their box and pinned them up to get to know them again, they are all wadded , backed, and quilted ,I just have to join them ,they are actually old enough to go to school by themselves now , how shamefull is that?

new born lambs

new born lambs

I went along to a quilt group today that meet in a converted barn.I cant show pictures of my latest quilt because its been entered in a competition...... however never mind the quilts, look at the new born lambikins ooooh so cute only a few hours old, and my deepest sympathy to these very expectant mummies -all in early labour--- panting hard and looking uncomfortable oooh I so remember that.And arnt the crocus,s lovely.

I bought several bargains on the sales table, fabric and books and then an entire kit of a block of the month, patterns fabric ,everything. I liked it because every block was differant and it was about women and their friendships -its called the breast of friends, and as I finally got my all clear from my breast cancer 2 weeks ago,finally discharged after 10 years, I thought it was very apt. I am hoping to piece the blocks and then get some of my friends to help me out with the applique.

we had a good day today with some good friends...life is good.

during show and tell, an amazing lady called Elaine Smith showed us her marvellous quilt ,called Hawaiian sunset. She had used a range of lace and bridal fabrics, and had space dyed each and every piece and then extensively stitched into this quilt over a period of 6years. I was absolutely stunning and we all encouraged her to show it at the festival of quilts,so, hopefully, you will all get a chance to see it.

A GOOD DAY

Today was quilters guild day for region 10. We all met up at Long Bennington and had a whale of a time. We listened to an amazing talk given by Barbara Weeks, she told us about her visit to Australia and the inspiration behind her work, and the techniques and materials she uses.

another day in the saltmines

Another day in the salt mines comes to an end.I have sewn numerous badges ,onto scout/brownie/beaver uniforms and stitched up school trousers,sewn buttons back on, restitched a fallen hem and then sewn the trimming back onto my favourite handbag--a lot of sewing but no real stitching! aaagh grrr nash nash.

And just to make things worse,- I have struggled for hours to make the laptop put music onto a cd for the kids and failed...grrr nash nash.

A just to ruin the rest of the day, the sock basket has overflowed,... so --- should I spend the rest of the evening sock sorting or doing some lovely quilting?......hmmm[ thank god I brought home a really wonderful carrot /sultana/walnut cake with thick icing yesterday ,or I would lose the will to live] nighty night.

vintage fabrics

I went to a local village hall yesterday to visit a charity sale of vintage fabrics, books and sundries,brilliant! I bought some interesting fabrics and some threads and some beautiful handmade Victorian lace and an old book on Durham quilting. I also managed to force myself to nibble on a very pleasant slice of chocolate cake with thick creamy chocolate icing...yum yum...p.s. top right corner is three fine silk handkerchiefs..