Oh noooo ...

....

There I was the other night, Mr Fixit was out, there was nothing on TV, just the perfect evening to wrap Christmas presents I thought. So I put some suitable music on, got things organised, wrapped the first couple of things, and then realised something.  I had forgotten to buy any gift labels.  Without them I could still wrap everything, but I wouldn't have a clue later which package was for whom.  That could have made for an interesting Christmas Day couldn't it?

Last night ...

... I went late night shopping with Mrs Nomad.

We try to have this girly-Christmassy expedition to a fairly big shopping mall near us every year.  We always start with a visit to the chocolate fountain, where we have strawberries dipped in the warm chocolate.  We get very messy and sticky at this point.  Then we do our shopping.  We make sure that we only need one or two things, so it becomes more about the social side,  then we finish off with some sort of coffee or hot chocolate drink with loads of cream.  Yummy.  This year - disaster.  The chocolate fountain wasn't there!

Oh well, we'll just have to do the shopping then.  I didn't need very much, just one or two stocking-filler types of presents.  I'm not sure if I had a successful outing or not, cos the only thing(s) I bought were these.  Happy Christmas to Me!

On another topic, I have just seen that my bloggy pal Lynn has entered a quilt, called "Untitled" into the Quilting Gallery's contest this week.  It is a beautiful quilt, and you can see more about it if you go here and scroll down the post a little.  I know she'd be thrilled if you went and voted for her, here.

So how does this work then ...

... this weekend I decided it was time to write the Christmas cards.

I got the cards out, I printed off all the addresses, I put them all on the table and went off to make coffee.  Along comes Mr Fixit, who sees the cards and says "Oh great.  I'll just write mine first, then you can do yours."

Mr Fixit writes cards to 3 particular friends of his. So can you explain to me how come the ones I write to everyone else, friends or family, are "mine"?

Bilbo told me today that I have to put a photo of my Christmas tree on my blog, so here it is.  It actually looks far better in real life.  The lights are all small, so they are not showing up properly in the picture.

Here is a picture of my new "Christmas tree" too.  I went out to buy a small tree to put in the bay window in the lounge.  This is what I came home with!

Christmas QAL Party - Post 4

OK It's now 8.30 here, so I'm about to settle in front of the TV with my stitching, but before I go, I would like to do two things.

First I want to thank Cathi for volunteering to co-host the QALs this year.  When she did this, she did not realise just how successful her business was going to be.  Despite being so busy, she did a great job as a host.  Thanks Cathi.

Secondly, I must thank everyone who joined us this year.  It has been great fun and I have met some lovely new people who I now call friends.

Thirdly (OK, I can't count, can I?) I want to tell you about the Christmas QAL plans for 2012.  As you know, we asked for people to act as guest hosts, and have been delighted with the responses.  We will have a different host each month, which will be great fun I think.  The QAL's will still be held on the 2nd Saturday of each month, and will run from February to December.  Here is the list of our hosts:

• February: Hazel at Hazel's Quilts
• March: Joanna at Needle, Thread, Happiness
• April: Lesley at The Cuddle Quilter
• May: Lynn at Sew'n Wild Oaks
• June: Paulette at Sweet P Quilting & Creations
• July: Sharon at Vroomans Quilts
• August: Cathi at Shakerwood Quilts
• September: Maureen at A Quilt Complex
• October: Elizabeth at Sand and Sunshine
• November: Janet at Caribou Crossing Chronicles
• December: Me, here

I'm sure our new hosts will have lots of fun planned for us, and I'm looking forward to travelling to different places for our QALs.

So, I'll see you in February if not before.

Don't forget to sign up for the party here by the way.

Christmas QAL Party - Post 3

It's time I showed you all what I achieved during the Christmas QAL days.  This will be a photo-heavy post I think.

 This flimsy is a Christmas present for myself.  I have always wanted to make a Drunkards Path quilt, but was put off by the cutting of all those curves.  Then I got my Go! cutter and borrowed the DP die from my friend QuiltHaze and the cutting was done so quickly it was great.  This is still a flimsy, but I have made the backing and the binding, so it's all ready for quilting now..

 This is my version of Scatty Christmas stars, which I know quite a few of you have been making.  I'm ashamed to say that mine is still unquilted, although the backing and binding are ready and I've even cut the wadding for it!

This is my Christmas Wreaths quilt.  I saw the pattern Over and Under in Kim's book (Scrap Basket Sensations) and knew I had just the right fabrics for it.  Guess what though?  It's not yet quilted, even though the backing, wadding and binding are ready.

All of my snowmen have been put together in a quilt top,

which I'm ashamed to say is still not finished.

 This little quilt has been finished and sent off to a friend.  I hope she likes it.

 Another one finished and on its way.

 This is also a present which is in the post.

 I decided to treat myself to a wreath topper too.  I will hopefully finish this one today.

 These cute little stitcheries are probably going to become a couple of wall hangings.  The patterns were from Lesley Boost She issued a pattern each week as a sewalong.  Thanks so much Lessley.

Finally, this is what I intend to work on this evening. This is a pattern from Michelle and the rabbits.







Crikey, just writing this, I am exhausted! I must confess, I am seeing a bit of a pattern here though.  Perhaps I should make next year the Year of the Finishes?

Don't forget to join the party by signing up here.

Christmas QAL Party - post 2

I saw this and thought you might all enjoy it too.  

 Don't forget to sign up for the Christmas party here.

Christmas Quiltalong party

Just write your post showing all the wonderful things you've been creating during the 2011 Christmas Quiltalong days, sign in with your blog address on the Linky-thingy here, get your party frock on, and follow me as we dance along to visit everyone else who's signed up. La, la, la, la, la, la, LA ....

Tomorrow ...

...  is party day.

Just write a post with photos of what you've been working on during the Christmas Quiltalong days this year, and sign into the Linky which I will put on my blog tomorrow.

Then off we go in our best party frocks, to have fun....

Where have I been ...

... and what was I doing while I was there?  I have been so quiet that I just know you're all wondering.  I've even had a couple of emails from people and a phone call from my friend Bilbo, to check that I was OK. Thanks for caring enough to be worried.

Well, to be honest, I've been around, but very busy.  Every day almost for the past 3 weeks, I've had appointments ranging from hairdresser to Financial Advisors, shopping (food, not Christmas) to waiting for various repairmen to turn up and do their thing. I've also had a few days down south to go to Little Person's school Christmas concert.

Speaking of the repairmen reminds me, we had to pay a call out charge of £91 for someone to come and fix a broken burner on my cooker.  When he turned up, he was not in the house for more than 5 minutes - that works out at £1092 per hour!  I think I was in the wrong business when I worked, I could have earned a fortune as a cooker fixer-upper!

Now I'm back, and hopefully, normal service will be resumed.

Christmas Quilts.

Woohoo, SewCalGal's Christmas Quilt Show is open, so here are my entries.

This first quilt could be considered a shameless plug for my book, Pick Four!

It is one I designed for the book and was made and quilted by my friends Lis and Drew.  Almost every woman would love to be given diamonds as a present, but I also had a wish for a red and gold Christmas quilt, so I called this design Diamonds for Christmas.

 This close up shows the gorgeous quilting that Lis did, using a gold thread.

The other quilt I want to show is this one, called Christmas Wreaths, which I made during our 2011 Christmas Quiltalong days.  As soon as I saw this design (called Over and Under) in Scrap Basket Sensations, by Kim Bracket I  imagined it done in red.  I had hoped to have it quilted before the show, but that has not happened, so I'll show it as a flimsy.  Hopefully if you come back in a couple of weeks I'll have it quilted, bound and displayed on a chair.

I hope you are enjoying all the wonderful quilts that will be on show, thank you for visiting, and thanks too to SewCalGal for organising the show and to the generous sponsors who have donated some great prizes. Don't forget to visit SewCalGal here to see the details of how you could win a prize just by looking at quilts, voting for your favourite, etc.

Christmas Quilt Show

... yes, it's that time again.  Tomorrow sees the start of SewCalGal's annual Christmas Quilt Show.  The show is not a competition, and any one can enter quilts of any size (even those you haven't had time to make yet but have designed in EQ6 or EQ7).

Be warned though, there will be loads of great quilts to look at, and you will not get much else done while the show's on.  (Hmm, wonder how I know that?)  Although the show is a competition, there are prizes to be won.

So, I hope to see you at the show some time next week.  To get there, click on the button on my sidebar.

Happy ...

... Thanksgiving to all my American friends.

One day last week ...

... J and F came over for a playday, and just look at what they did:

F set to work making coasters, and I love the fabrics she chose.

J started this table topper, which she finished off at home.

She must have enjoyed making it, cos she's started another one.








As well as becoming a brilliant quiltmaker my the way, J also bakes fantastic cakes, and we enjoyed a wonderful coffee cake this time, sorry, it's all gone so no photos of that!

They both also wanted to say thanks so much to the people who generously sent some markers for them to try.  They will be playing with those and have promised to report back through my blog soon.

I may have been quiet ....

... but I've certainly been busy.

Look what I've done to my snowmen.

Then I made a Christmas wreath.

And as if that wasn't enough, I did this too.

Oops, you're not ...

... mind readers, are you?  Your crystal ball may be a bit cloudy.

Do you remember that at the end of last Saturday's Christmas QAL I suggested that I could set up a Flickr thing or we could all post on our own blogs showing everything we've done, finished or not (mainly "not" for me), and I'll just set up another Linky in my blog so we can all sign up and go visiting.


Well, as Hazel pointed out, not everyone has a Flickr account, and also someone suggested it might be good to hold this Parade on the 2nd Saturday in December, (when we would have had a QAL if we were having one in December).  So, it seems that a Linky Party on Saturday 10 December would be good.  See you all there, or rather, see you all here on your way to the party.

Puzzle solution and winner ...

... I did say that the puzzle I set for Saturday's QAL might be slightly more difficult than others, and it seems I was right.  There were only 5 correct entries who worked out that the coded message was

See You All in 2012 I hope.

The blocks (all from EQ7), were
Spinning Star, Economy block, Economy block = See
Yankee Puzzle, "O", Uneven Nine patch = You
Art Square, Lady of the Lake, Lady of the Lake = All
Irish Chain, Nine Patch = In
2012, Irish Chain = 2012  I
Hovering Hawks, "O", Pinwheel, Economy Square = Hope

and no 4 is Hazel, 

who will be receiving a small gift from me for being such a clever-clogs.

Her Majesty ...

... Princess Dot, packed her spotted handkerchief and left yesterday.

Mr Fixit & I are going to miss her, but the Nomads are very happy to have her in their new home with them.

Christmas QAL - Post 8

Now, just for fun, here's a message for you.

(I did warn you last month that I had had a fiendishly difficult clever idea for a competition.)  All you have to do is take the initial letter of the name of each block, and that will spell out my message.  Once you've solved it, just email the message to me and I will draw a winner on Tuesday, who will receive a small prize.

Christmas QAL - Post 7

I've been thinking!  Shall I set up a Flickr thing so that we can all post pictures of our Scatty Christmas Stars quilts (doesn't matter if they're not finished yet) and all the other things we've all made during this year's QAL days?

The other idea would be for us all to do one post where we show everything we've done, finished or not (and it'll be mostly "not" in my case), and I'll just set another Linky in my blog so we can all sign up and go visiting.

I thought it might be fun to try and do this, say next week, before everyone really gets too busy.  What do you all think?  Good idea?  Bad idea?  Prefer one option over the other?  Please let me know.

Christmas QAL - Post 6

Did I ever tell you one of my best memories of Christmas?

 One year, when the kids were about 5 and 3, we had gone visiting on Christmas Eve. It was quite late (about 8pm) and dark when we headed home in the car. We got to a pedestrian crossing about a mile from home, and we had to stop to let someone cross the road. Who was that someone?

It was Father Christmas, all dressed up in his red suit and boots, carrying his sack of toys! The kids could not believe their eyes. I wish I'd had a camera with me.

Then they panicked and wanted Daddy to drive home really fast so they could get into bed before he came, otherwise, they knew he wouldn't leave them any presents!

I am sure that never before have two children gone to bed so willingly on Christmas Eve.

Christmas QAL - Post 5

I think this is just fantastic.  I hope you enjoy it too.

Christmas QAL - Post 4

I finally made a decision, I am going to turn my snowmen into a quilt.

I don't seem to have got very far today do I?

I won't be doing any more to it today as it's now evening here in the UK, and it's almost time for Strictly Come Dancing, so I am going to do some handwork in front of the TV this evening.

Oh, and here is the Lancashire Hotpot.  Several people have asked what it it.  It's lamb, carrotts, onions, mushrooms and potatoes in a rosemary gravy, cooked for a looooong time on a low heat.

It's yummy.

Christmas QAL - Post 3

OK, once I'd sorted out all the domestic stuff (including 2 loads of washing for the Nomads, who may have moved into their new home, but they haven't got their washing machine plumbed in yet), I was ready.  All I had to do was decide which of these 5 projects to work on first.

Or maybe I should finish this?

Of course, I had wanted to set Big Bertha up to quilt this, but since Princess Dot is still in residence, I can't do that.

I also wanted to finish this, but the same comment applies

Nor could I quilt any of these.  So I wonder what found myself doing?








Don't forget to sign up on Linky on the Christmas QAL page, so we all know who's at the party and we can go visiting each other.

Christmas QAL - Post 2

 Before I draw up the final timetable, is there any one else out there who would like to host the Christmas Quiltalong for one day during 2012?  I still have a couple of months free, so if you would like to be our hostess-with-the-mostest for a day, please would you email me at sue.abrey@gmail.com ?  The format of the day will be entirely up to you and it's not at all hard work (believe that if you will!) but it is a lot of fun.

Christmas QAL - Post 1

Yes, it's party time.  The last QAL of 2011.  Keep coming back for lots of fun, and don't forget to sign in to Mr Linky, which is on the Christmas QAL tab at the top of the blog.

I'm off to put a Lancashire Hotpot in the oven for the day, then I'll be back.

It's nearly Saturday ...

... and what does that mean ?

Well, here's a clue.

Got it?

No?





OK, here's another clue:


Got it yet?
Yep, it's the last Christmas Quiltalong of 2011.
See you here on Saturday.

Haven't I been quiet?

This time last week my 3 friends and I were all together, chatting, eating, laughing, but the one thing we weren't doing was taking photos. Not one of us thought to take any cos we were too busy chatting, eating and laughing. The weekend went much too fast, and it seemed very, very quiet when they all went home. I spent a lazy couple of days doing a lot of nothing after they left. 

Then, it was time for Mr & Mrs Nomad to move into their new house. The problem was, Mr Nomad was working away this week, and won't be back until tomorrow. Luckily, they have some very good (and very strong) friends on hand to move all the furniture in. I supervised! I can tell you, I now know for sure that I am old. All that supervising (OK I did drive a car which they kept loading up with "stuff", from here to there more than a few times) over a few days, is tiring. I hope I don't have to see another packing box, ever!

So that's why I've been quiet, but don't worry, normal service will be resumed soon.

Boo ...

My stupidest ever question ...

 ... so there we were, Bilbo and I, chatting on the telephone after she rang me.  Remember that, it's important.

Bilbo:  I'm just emailing you my new mobile number as we speak.
Me:    OK, got that.  Have you got my number?

There was then a deafening silence from Bilbo, followed by a question of her own:

Bilbo: What are you holding up to your ear right now?
Me: Oh yeah .......

See what I mean?  Probably the most stupid question I ever asked.

Only 3 more sleeps ...

... until my friends Bilbo, Sewali and Mrs Flummery arrive.  We haven't all got together for just over a year, and I am so excited about it.  None of us are really ones for planning what we're going to do, but we do seem to have a plan this time.  The plan is in several parts:  we've planned what we're going to eat for dinner on Friday, we've planned what we're doing for breakfast and we've even planned what we might have with our tea and coffee.  You're probably all amazed to read that a plan from me includes food!