No words needed ....

Remember this? ...

Well, it really looks like this box on the right.

Due to the fact that I can be a real idiot at times, I used the wrong picture!

Luckily Dave, who makes them, noticed my mistake.

I'm very sorry Dave.  I think it's still a beautiful little box.

A friend who is blogless, and who I'll call Roberta (after all that's her name) has just finished her version of Chocolates for Christmas and has said I can show you all.  I call this one Oranges, Lemons and Limes.  Isn't it gorgeous?

Three ....

... done.

Chocolate for Christmas is now quilted, as you can see!  The next one will be Paulette's quilt, once I've worked out how I'm going to quilt it.
  
I also thought you might like to see a little video of Bertha at work - look mum, no hands!

I'm sorry about the quality of the video, but isn't Bertha clever?

Christmas Quiltalong - look at this ....

Isn't it a gorgeous little box?  It's been made by a very clever man called Dave, who handcrafts several different sizes of wooden boxes with traditional quilt blocks on the top. Since they are hand made, no two are ever identical.  Go and have a look here  to see more of his boxes. They are not only lovely, but you can even put things in them, so they're useful too.

Now wouldn't one of those make a wonderful present for someone? (My birthday's in January, in case you need to know).  Or what about a gift to yourself?

Well, guess what?  You could win this one in the Christmas Quiltalong next month.  I have decided to draw a winner from amongst everyone who has taken part in any of the Christmas Quiltalongs to receive this box.  I've also decided that since I've been hosting this, my name goes in too, once for every other name - that's fair isn't it?   

Two down ...

... two to go.  I've just finished quilting Christmas Stars, which I started piecing on the first Christmas Quiltalong.



So the score is, 2 Quiltalongs = 2 quilts pieced and quilted.  Yippee.  They still need binding, but that's OK, I do that in the evenings or on a cold or wet day when I can put a lovely girly film on at the same time.

Who's a lucky person then? .....

... Yes, me!

I had a great time over the last couple of weeks blog-hopping all over the place in the Fall into Fall event organised by Debi.
There were about 150 blogs to visit, and they were all offering giveaways.  It was great fun, but very tiring, as you can imagine, hopping all over the world.  I entered some of the giveaways, and guess what?  I won this fantastic prize from Heather from Creative Confessions.  I haven't received them yet, so this picture is from Heather's blog (with her permission).  There are loads of FQs there including some Jo Morton fabrics which I love, and some yummy flannels.  This is an amazing prize, as you can see and I am so happy.  Thanks very much Heather, and also to Debi for organizing it.

Tracey at Tracey Perreira dot com has written a very interesting article about how many of us tend to underprice our work if we are selling anything.  Do go and read it - I certainly found it very thought-provoking.

Come back tomorrow for news of the next Christmas Quiltalong.

One down ...

... three to go.

Here is the nameless red and yellow quilt that I made on one of the Christmas Quiltalong days.  I have mixed feelings about this quilt.  I love the design, and I have always wanted a red and yellow Christmas quilt.  These fabrics were brighter (much, much brighter) than I wanted, but I had to use them as I didn't have time to get any more before the Quiltalong.  Anyway, being me, finished making the top, and decided I didn't like it at all, it was much too bright.  Being me though, I decided it was going to be quilted and finished, even if it then spent the rest of its life in a cupboard.  So yesterday, I set Bertha to work on it. 

Now I've finished quilting it and taken it off the frame, and guess what?  I love it now.  When I looked at the photo, I could see what looked like Christmas Crackers in it, so that's what this quilt is now called, and we'll have no wisecracks about Sue's Crackers, thank you.

It's a funny world ....

.. when a 69 year-old man is asked at the supermarket to confirm that he is over 16 when he buys a packet of indigestion tablets isn't it?  That's what happened to Mr Fixit this morning.

On a different topic altogether, can a person get a divorce from her satnav?  You remember I had troubles with Tom last week when he MADE me drive into the big scary city?  Well, earlier this week he caused me even more trouble.  We decided to go to the Royal Horticultural Society place at Harlow Carr for lunch at Betty's.  (I went there with my friends Bilbo, Sewali and Mrs Flummery a couple of months ago.)  Anyway, it is about 25 miles north of here, and in the past I've always ignored Tom completely and gone my own way to get there, but this time, for some reason, I thought I'd do what I was told.  That was a BIG mistake.  The route he took us was about 40 miles!  That meant we got to Betty's late and there was a queue for tables.  We don't do queues.  We turned round, came back home and went to a nearby hotel restaurant.  Now, don't you think I have grounds for divorce on the basis of unreasonable behaviour?

Latecomers ...

There were 2 more people taking part in the Christmas Quiltalong but they couldn't get to computers until after Saturday to tell us all about it, so I thought I'd pass the word around. 

Jaytee was travelling, but she still found time to do some stitching.  She has joined a nine-week block of the week, called Stitching for Christmas, and completed block two this weekend while on the road.  I just hope she wasn't driving at the same time. The blocks she has shown us look so cute, do go and have a look.

Gina has started work on a gorgeous table runner with reindeer on it.  This is going to look wonderful when it's finished.  She also spent time unsewing (oh noooo) the borders on a quilt she's been working on and found time to hand piece four star blocks!  By the way, her blog comes with a health warning. You will put on weight if you visit regularly!  She keeps showing pictures of wonderful things like lemon cupcakes she's baked and gives us the recipes to really tempt us.

This month's winner is .....

... This month, instead of just putting all the names of people with the correct answers to the puzzle in the draw, I put all the entries in.  I did this to make it fair to the people who entered this time even though English is not their first language. So there were 12 entries, I pressed the button on the random number generator thingamebob, and this is what it said:

So, congratulations to Number 2,  SIV please could you email me your address so that I can send your little prize out.  Thank you everyone else who played.  Now I'd better get my thinking cap on and come up with a puzzle for the next Christmas Quiltalong day. 

It's off ...

... on it's travels.

I've completed all my proof-reading and revising of the manuscript, diagrams, etc and today it's going back to my editor.  (Hey doesn't that sound good?  Almost like I'm a real writer!)  See it sitting on the doormat waiting for someone to come and collect it?  Bye-bye manuscript.  Have a safe journey.

The next time I see it apparently will be in mid January when it will be sent back all laid out complete with photos etc, looking very much like a real book.

Good morning ....

... everyone.  I hope those who joined in the Christmas Quiltalong yesterday enjoyed themselves?  I've just spent an enjoyable time catching up on everyone and thought I'd give a little summary of what I've seen.  This is quite a long post, with no pictures, but if you follow the links I've put, you can see everything I've been chattering on about.

Edited to add Ali, who wasn't able to play yesterday, but who has been quilting the Christmas quilt she made last time. QuiltHaze is also here now and she has been quilting a really cute panel today. Now Tracey's here too - she nearly sneaked in without me noticing!  She's been making chickens and they're great.
Another edit, this time I wanted to tell you that I've changed the name Diane a bit further down in this post to Elizabeth since that's what she's really called!  I'm very sorry Elizabeth!

Trudi has made some beautiful blocks and I can't wait to see what she is making with them.  She also uses the "leaders and enders" method to make another quilt at the same time.  She's promising to give us a lovely recipe for mincemeat today too.

I know that Paulette was busy yesterday, and I think she was working on her snowman quilt.  Hopefully she'll post some pictures of it today.  I've seen the pattern and it is gorgeous.

Have you ever thought of spending 2 hours fussy cutting?  No, me neither, but Caren did, and has made a gorgeous CD cover.

Pat wasn't sure if she wanted to work on some blocks, or the binding for a lovely looking quilt for her grandaughter.  I wonder which she chose in the end?

Reenie has been working on a christmas tree skirt in the last couple of Christmas Quiltalongs.  This time she finished the quilting on it and it looks wonderful.  Have a look at the holly she quilted on part of it.

Suely has been making some beautiful looking blocks, in just my colours.  Although her blog is in Portugese, I found that if I go to Google Translator here, I can just copy Suely's post, including photos, into the box, choose translate from Portugese into English, press go, and hey presto, I know what she's been saying.

Elizabeth  finished off a lovely Christmas tree wall hanging in the morning and spent the afternoon knitting christmas presents.

There is a lovely wallhanging on Joanna's blog, and she has almost finished two tops during the Quiltalong days so far.
Sue is making some great tablemats, (which need to come and live in my house) her flying geese are awesome.

Rosa shows some awesome blocks on her blog, I really loved the reindeer.  Her blog is in Spanish, but Google translate can come to the rescue again.

The Zany Quilter is making loads of star blocks, in plaids, and I am really looking forward to seeing them all set into a quilt.

Shellie is making a really cute Snowman runner, and the surrounding fabrics are just my colours.

Siv has been hand sewing a wonderful eight-pointed star tablecloth which she is planning to hand quilt too.  Her points are just amazing on the star.

Don't forget there's still time to enter the competition.  Email me the answers.  If you don't have my email address, go to "about me", just below the Christmas tree button on the right, click to "view my complete profile, and just below my mugshot is a button which says "email".  Click that, and you're off ....

Now I'm off to turn the slow cooker on, then I'm going to carry on with the blocks I was making yesterday.

My blocks so far ....

... I've had a brilliantly productive day, and this is what I've done.

It's now getting close to 10pm, so I'm going to sign off for tonight.  Don't forget to go and visit everyone else to see what they've been doing today. Also, do enter the competition and add your christmas memories if you would like to.

Goodnight everyone, and thanks for joining in.  I hope you've had as good a day as I have.

What? No baking? ...

... nope, no baking today.  Why?  Because I found my favourite christmas biscuits in the supermarket yesterday.  So, at coffee time this afternoon, this is what I enjoyed.  'Scuse me, I didn't hear someone mutter "greedy"  did I?  No, I thought not.  I didn't really eat all those, don't worry.

Now, while Strictly Come Dancing is on, I'm off to visit everyone else.  Don't forget to all do the social rounds will you?  Mr Linky-Thingy is here so you can go visiting easily.

Time for a puzzle ....

Mr Linky-Thingy  is here , please do add your name so we can all visit each other.

A message for Sunbonnet Sue:  I can't reply to your email, but you are very welcome and I'm looking forward to seeing what you are working on.

OK, I reckon it's time to exercise our little grey cells now.  So, see if you can unjumble these words.  They are all on the theme of Christmas.  Just email your answers to me by the time you go to bed on Sunday, and I will draw a winner on Monday.  
If you don't have my email address, go to "about me", just below the Christmas tree button on the right, click to "view my complete profile, and just below my mugshot is a button which says "email".  Click that, and you're off ....

1.   hmsscirta                     

2.   aqtuliognl                

3.   lyhlo                 

4.   viy                              

5.   stinle                        

6.   eeedirrrn                 

7.   astna                          

8.   scraol                     

9.   stperens                      

10.  besalt                        

11.  cifknnnserae           

12.  sletmoeti

13.  eoaindcrtos          
14.  etre                  
15.   vatytini      

16.  lenga                         

17.  abbleu                    

18.  ingsckot                 

19.  rifay                          

20.  wnos

Amie Soto Blossom

Mr Linky-Thingy  is here , please do add your name so we can all visit each other. There is also a message for Sunbonnet Sue underneath the link.

Amie Soto Blossom

Presents this recipe

For us to make

A yummy cake

To eat for Christmas tea.

Amie Soto Blossom

Can’t type too well with paw.

So she asks Midge,

(Her 2-legg’d pet)

 To help her with this chore.

Amie Soto Blossom

Hopes you like her recipe.

But if you don’t,

You’ve time to make

Something else for tea.

Since Midge, her 2-legg'd pet can,t be with us today, Amie thought she'd like to join in the Christmas Quiltalong fun.  Her recipe is on Midge’s blog, here.

Progress so far ....

Mr Linky-thingy is here by the way.

... this ....

... and this ....

... plus this ....

...equals this.

I thought you might enjoy this .....

... with your morning coffee/afternoon tea.

Do you have ....

... any special Christmas memories you'd like to share with the rest of us?  

I have two specially great ones, so I thought I'd share this one with you.  When I was a kid, I was very ill one year and had to spend Christmas in hospital.  I can remember oh so well, that at midnight (well, it was probably about 9pm, but I was just a kid) everything was very quiet in the ward, and it was dark too.  My bed was positioned so I could see down the corridor, and gradually I started to hear the sound of Silent Night being sung.  I could see candlelight too.  It was the nurses, who were going from ward to ward singing Christmas carols.  They always had navy capes as part of their uniform with red linings, and they had turned the capes round too.  It was absolutely magical.  

Oh, and don't feel too sorry for me - it was a great Christmas.  All the parents were told to bring in a pillowcase beforehand, and every nurse on the ward put a little present in each child's "stocking", the doctors came and did things like conjuring and magic, the nurses all dressed up, and we even had a visit from Father Christmas with more presents.  My parents and my sister were there too and Father Christmas had a present for her too.  It really was a great Christmas, and a lovely memory to have of what could have been a miserable time.

Happy Christmas everyone ....

Ho, Ho, Ho.  It's time - at least it will be after I've had my shower.

Just as before, I've added this Linky-Thingy.  If you're taking part in the festivities put your name and blog address in there, then  clever Mr Linky-Thingy produces a list of the names for us that we can click on to go visit each other.  How clever is that?

By the way, you don't have to leave a comment if you don't want to, even though Mr Bossy Boots Linky-Thingy tells you too. 

Oh yes, and here's a message for Sunbonnet Sue.  You're set to no-reply on your comment, but we'd love you to join in.  I hope you see this, or the comment I left on your blog.

A message also to Lynn Wilder, you're also a no-reply blogger, but I'm glad you're going to join us this month.

If there's anyone else out there in blogland who would like to join in, just grab your Christmas project, and sewalong with us whilst singing Christmas carols out loud.

La la lala, la la lala,

lalalalalaaa

la lala la

I'm ready .....

... for tomorrow's Quilt-along.  Are you?

Decision made ....

... thanks to everyone who came up with suggestions.  I allocated a number to each one and got Mr Fixit to choose a number.  That didn't work.  He chose the wrong number!  Then I decided to go with my friend Bilbo's suggestion of deciding to think about whether I'd feel happier next week if I got some tops quilted or if I made something else.  That was easy.  I'd definitely feel better if I got a couple of those tops done, so .... tomorrow I'm going to make another quilt top!  There, that was amazingly logical wasn't it?  What are you all going to be working on?

Oh dear .....

... what shall I work on on Christmas Quiltalong day?  I have 4 quilt tops, two of which are Christmas quilts, and several other things all waiting to be quilted.  I have a bag pattern I want to try.  I have a table runner I want to make.  I have a layer cake of Christmas fabrics and a Schnibbles pattern I want to use.  Oh dear, oh dear, how do I decide what to do?

4 days until ...

... the next Christmas Quilt-along.  Who's going to come and play this time?

 Bilbo and Sewali worked it out yesterday and Reenie got it tonight so I thought I'd own up now.  Had you all wondering though didn't I?

4

..yes, four

Four

FOUR


Or should I say quatre, čtyři, quattuor, quatro ..........


Have you worked it out yet?

5 ....

.......Five,

FIVE,

FIVE!

or to put it another way, cinq, cinco, cinque .....

Edited specially for Siv, to include "fem", which is Norwegian

Is it only me .....

.... who can use a satnav and still get lost?  Yesterday I needed to go somewhere the other side of the big scary city where I live.  I have been to this place before, but not often, so I took the satnav with me.  Near to my destination there have been roadworks and alterations going on for years, but that was OK.  Except, yesterday I found "they" have finished the roadworks, and closed off the road I wanted to go down.  "They" made me turn left. I could see where I wanted to be, but couldn't get there.  I turned left onto a new dual carriageway.  Tom, the little guy who sits in my satnav and reads the maps for me, was not happy.  His map didn't have this new bit of road on.  He told me to do a u-turn immediately.  Not possible Tom, it's a dual carriageway with a barrier between me and the other side of the road.  Then he told me to turn right.  Not possible Tom, there were no openings in the barrier.  Then he told me to take the next left.  Not possible Tom, due to the idiot sitting on my rear bumper on the left hand side.  So I just drove for a while without a clue as to where I was.  Tom sulked.  I drove.  Eventually, after a couple of miles Tom stopped sulking and decided to help.  Pheww, he finally got me there, but what should have been an 8 mile journey ended up being over 15 miles.

Whoops ...

... I am very sorry, but I have just noticed an error in my Chocolate for Christmas pattern.  Step 3 should tell you to cut 46 segments, each measuring 2 ½” x 4 ½” and not 2 ½” x 3½".  I have corrected it on the pattern page, and I do hope this hasn't caused any problems?  If it has, let me know and I will come up with a workaround solution for you.

At last I can tell you my big secret ..........

..... Remember how busy I have been this year?  

Remember how I couldn't tell you what I was doing?

Remember how I couldn't even show you what I was making?

 

Well, ta da, drumroll, fanfare, waving fat quarters in the air, at last I can share my secret.  

 

This is what I have been working on like a thing possessed since the beginning of the year:

 

12 quilts, 12 brand-new designs, together with this:

 

 I can now tell you that my first book is making its steady way through the production process with those wonderful folks at Martingale Publications. 

 

It doesn't yet have a definite title or publication date, and I haven't seen the front cover design yet, but the manuscript has been checked and proofed by the Copy editor and the Technical people, the illustrator is nearly finished with her bit and the photographer will shortly be working his/her magic.

 

Excited?  Oh yes, you have no idea how excited I have been or how difficult it has been not to let anything slip before now. 

 

As soon Martingale tell me more then you'll be the first to know

 

(and before anyone asks, I already have more than enough designs for the second book .......)

The winner is ....

... actually, before I tell you that, I owe you all an apology.  I bet you have all been sitting by your computers all day, just waiting for me to tell you who the lucky person is, haven't you?  Well, I am very sorry, but I completely forgot until a short while ago that I had to draw this today.  Luckily, I did remember eventually, and what's more I've worked out now how to show you all the results of the draw.  I knew I'd be able to work out sooner or later how to do this, so, without further ado, here it is:

Now, I guess you'd all like me to confirm who that is?  Well, I could make you go to the Giveaway post comments, and count down, but cos I'm feeling kind, I've done it for you, so here it is, the winner is

Congratulations Cheryll, I'm sure you're going to love this book. Cheryll actually says on her blog profile that she loves to make Christmas items.   Please would you email me your address so I can get this fabulous book in the post to you?

Thanks everyone who entered this giveaway, I wish I could have given a copy to each one of you, but on thinking about it, it's as well I can't - just think what my postage bill would be!

Anyway, keep visiting, there's going to be another giveaway soon, and this one is also a great Christmas-themed item.

I'm perfecting the art ....

... of prevaricating.  I now have four quilt tops all ready for Bertha to come out and play with.

They are Paulette's quilt from our barter, Christmas Stars, Chocolate for Christmas and the yellow and gold one (well OK, that one still needs a border, but it could be ready by now if I had put my mind to it.)  So why isn't Bertha out and working her magic on them?  Cos I'm trying to decide how to quilt them.  Usually I have an idea, check it out with my quilting software, and get on with it.  This time?  Well, after the week I've had, do I have to explain?

If you're looking for the giveaway, it's here.

I'm not safe ....

... to be left on my own at the moment!  After my idiocy the day before yesterday, I remade those blocks yesterday and they're fine.  But ....

I then went back to another project I had started and got it wrong again yesterday.  This project involved printing some hexagons from the internet with 2" sides, cutting some cardboard at 2" x 4" , sewing hexies together, covering the card pieces and inserting them into the hexie "tube" I had made.  All went well until that last bit.  There was no way the card pieces would fit.  No matter what I did.  I went to bed.  Got up this morning, measured the card pieces, yep definitely 2" x 4".  Puzzled over it a bit, then thought I'd just check the hexies.  You're all there already aren't you?  You're right, those 2" sides had shrunk to 1 1/2" while I wasn't looking!

Final proof that I'm loosing my marbles came a couple of hours ago when I pressed the wrong button on my coffee machine and used hot water to make an iced cappuccino.  Aaaaggghhh.

If you're looking for the giveaway, it's here.

Spot the Difference ....

The block on the right is 1/2" smaller than the one on the right.  That's what happens when I sew when not feeling well!  5 blocks, all wrong.  I only discovered it when I tried to sew them alternately with the other, correct, blocks.  Eeekkkk.  What had I done?  Well, see those pinwheels in the centre?  They're the problem.  I made them, pressed them and before I trimmed them I checked on the computer exactly what size they should be.  It said 6", finished, so what did I do?  Cut them to 6 " UN-finished.  Today was spent making more blocks to the right size.

If you're looking for the giveaway, it's just below this post.

Giveaway spotted right here ............

We all know winter's coming, (unless you live in the southern hemisphere of course, in which case summer's on the way) so I'm giving away this book which could help you decorate your home for the cold times ahead.

 

There are some great projects here from lap quilts to table runners, wall quilts to cushions.  

Just take a look at this quilt, which is my favourite,

or this fun cushion being beautifully modeled by Mary's cute little dog Rufus.

Need a present in a hurry?  How about this table runner?

What child wouldn't love to have this wall quilt hanging in their room on Christmas Eve?

Love working with wool?  Then this is just the project for you.

This book has been given to me by Martingale & Company, to give away to one of you.  So, here's the deal:

1) leave a comment on this post for one entry

2) become a follower and tell me that you have done that (or tell me if you already are) for a second entry

3) post about this giveaway on your blog and then come back and tell me you have done that, for a third entry

I will keep this open for seven days, and will close it at midnight BST on Saturday 25 September, and announce the winner on Sunday.

I've got ..........

.... shopping envy I think.  Yesterday my father got the new Kindle he had been waiting for.  I played with it last night and now I want one.  My daughter has just bought a pair of Ugg boots, and guess what, now I've seen a picture of them, I want some!  My son is in the process of buying a new car, but this time I don't want one. Pheww.

On another topic, 2 people, Ms Shell Creations and Ms Zany Quilter,  have given my blog a Sunshine Award, which is really lovely of them.  I should pass it on, but I can never decide who to give it to, so I am posting the award on my sidebar, and want to give it to  all of you who come and visit me.  My blog wouldn't be the same without you, as I'd feel stupid talking to myself, so thank you all.

The winner is .....

.... someone, who must have an amazing vocabulary.  She submitted a list with 160 words on it! I came up with about 45 - yes, this time I could play along with you all, since I didn't really know the answers.  Hmm, maybe it's a good job I didn't win though, or you'd all be accusing me of cheating. 

The best word though was submitted by Midge, who came up with  AQUITACHRILMONGLIST.  Guess who actually fell for it and was about to Google it to find out what it meant when she told me her husband made it up?  See, told you I'm stupid! 

Anyway, if the winner would email me with a snail mail address, I will get the little prize in the post.

Oh yes, I haven't told you who it is, have I? 

Shellie from Shell Creations step forward and take a bow.  I do suggest you might all like to go and have a look at the snowman she made during the day - he is gorgeous.

Since I'm an idiot ..........

... I forgot to take the time differences between UK, US and Australia into account, so I am leaving the word puzzle open for another 24 hours I will close it at midnight , GMT, tomorrow, Monday.  If you're not sure what time that would be for you, this  is a useful site that works it out for you.

Thanks to everyone who joined in yesterday's Quilt-a-long and helped to make it fun.  I hope that you enjoyed yourselves and that you'll be back next month.

I'm stopping .........

.... for tonight, but thought I'd just show you what I've achieved today.  I have always wanted a red and gold quilt for Christmas, so this year I thought I would actually get on with it.  I played around on the computer, and came up with this design.  When I   have done enough blocks, it will have a narrow red border, a wider yellow one with red corner stones and red binding.  I would have liked to make it bed size, but haven't got enough fabric, so it will be a throw. Now I am finishing for tonight, thanks everyone who came and played along with me.  I hope you've enjoyed your day and got lots done.

It's a puzzle ........

.... not a quiz today.  When you feel like having a break from sewing, see how many words of four letters or more you can make from "Christmas Quiltalong". Names and plurals are not allowed.  Email your list to me and tomorrow about this time I'll announce who has won the "puzzle prize".

I should have said about the recipe that I used a quarter of the quantities by the way, which gave me 14 cookies.

PS Don't forget to add your name to Mr Linky's list.  If you have trouble doing it, please let me know, cos he is obviously not full of Christmas spirit today and is really playing up.


PPS This is Post no 5 today so just scroll down if you want to see any more.

It's time .....

... for tea.  The cookies were made from the recipe Pat gave us last time round.  Apparently these were originally made by Pat's father, who had a bakery and were one of his best-sellers.  Pat's brother now makes them, and I can tell you they are DELICIOUS!  (They should have been iced, but I was too impatient, so I skipped that bit.)  If you want to try them, go to the comments, here.

Not quite ......

  ... so tidy now that I've made a few blocks, and a lot of mess!

A little music ......

.... to put you in the Christmas mood. Go and have a look here to see the brilliant video that Midge from Soggibottom has found for us.

I hope you're having a good and productive time? I have got some fun planned for later, but I'm trying to give everyone time to wake up first.

Good morning everyone ...............

........ well, I had a disasterous start to the morning!  You know that I frequently change my backgrounds (I get bored easily!).  So I wanted a nice Christmassy one today, but it all went wrong!  All sorts of things happened, almost everything on my sidebar went,  my page with the Chocolate for Christmas pattern disappeared, the layout was all different, etc, etc.  I didn't worry though, I went straight into P A N I C K mode.  So I've just wasted the last 2 hours recovering everything.

Anyway, I'm good to go now and just like last time, I've put Mr Linky on here, and I hope you'll all add your names to the list so that we can go visit each other from time to time during the day.

I'm ready ...........

.......... to start first thing in the morning. I'm looking forward to it and hopefully we're going to have some fun.

Do you like my new cutting table/ironing table?  It's part of the old frame I had, and is the perfect height for me.  Being tall, cutting on the dining table was quite a struggle, but this is brilliant.  No more backache, whooppee!

Little Person ..........

 .......  thought he'd just ride in to remind you that there's only two days to Grandma's next Christmas Quiltalong Day.

We're back ....

.... from our train tour of the east coast of Scotland.  It was everything we hoped it would be - wonderful scenery, wonderful food, wonderful weather, a wonderful time.  This was not the first time we had taken a trip with this company, but previous excursions were all day trips.  We had quite an adventure, with one major mishap.  The engine that was being used to take us to Oban, couldn't get us up the hill out of there, so they had to send for another engine to come and help.  That night we should have got to our hotel in Glasgow about 7.30 - we arrived about 3.30 am!  Still, we were comfortable, well fed, and Oban is very pretty.  Here are some photos for you, and the viaduct in one of them is the very one that is in one of the Harry Potter films.  Don't ask me which one, I am not a fan, but that's what I was told!  Enjoy the photos.

Free slideshow created with Smilebox As you can see, there were no photos of the food - it didn't last long enough!  To give you an idea, breakfast was fruit juice, cereals/porridge/melon, followed by egg, bacon, hash brown, mushrooms and beans or kippers, then toast/croissant and coffee. Lunch was a light meal, such as fresh salmon with aspargus and then there was dinner.  That was a choice of soup or something such as haggis and neeps, followed by fillet steak with madeira sauce, mangetout, carrots and potato dauphinoise, then there was a chocolate torte, and to finish off cheese, biscuits, grapes and celery and coffee.  Are you hungry yet?  Imagine a menu like that every day of the trip.  Now we're home and eating light meals!

Bossy Boots is back ....

....... from her holiday to remind you that it's a Christmas Quiltalong day on Saturday, so get your projects out, your rotary cutters or your Go! cutters at the ready, your machines oiled and ready to go cos there's just 3 days till the fun starts.

Choo Choo ..............

.... tomorrow we're off on our short train trip to Scotland.  We'll be back on Tuesday, and I am not taking my laptop.  Well, steam trains don't have internet connections, so there's not much point is there? The steam bit is for Mr Fixit who is very happy that our train will be hauled by four different engines (no, not all at the same time!).  What's in store from my point of view?  Well, I get to sit in a very comfortable armchair type of seat, while somebody brings the scenery to me and fantastic food at least three times a day.  Seems to me a holiday doesn't get much better.

Yesterday ......

.......... I met a bloggy friend for the first time.

Ms Quilting Prolifically called in with her daughter.  They had been to Harrogate to deliver two of her quilts to be hung in the Northern Quilt Show this weekend. To get there, they almost had to go past my front door, so they called in.  We have tried several times before to meet up, but the fates always conspired to prevent it, but this time we beat them.  It is lovely to meet people you've got to know through blogs, and we had a lovely chat.  She also had a giveaway on her blog recently, which I won, so she delivered my prize personally. 

There were 2 quilt pins which I sort of collect and a kit for a really gorgeous little pincushion.  The other thing she gave me was a wonderful mug rug, which she made specially for me.  Just look at the quilting on this

Apparently, this little beauty was made and quilted in a morning.  When I grow up, perhaps I'll be able to quilt like that?

At last ..........

........... here it is ......

..........what you've all been waiting for.......... 

..........the pattern I said I would post for anyone who wants to use it. 

I have called this design "Chocolate for Christmas", which I thought was quite clever, since I used chocolate coloured fabric, and it's a very suitable project for a Christmas Quiltalong Day. Yeah OK, well I thought it was a clever name anyway.

"So where is it?" you're wondering.  Well, that's why it took so long.  I've been waging war against Blogger, so I could put the pattern on a separate page.  Well I managed that OK, but Blogger took an instant dislike to my diagrams and wouldn't let me put them on.  I got there in the end though and now if you look at the top of my blog, just under the header, you will see the name of the pattern, and if you click on that, you will go to the page where the instructions are.

Please be kind though and respect my copyright.  If you do make the quilt, I would love to see a picture of it.  Thanks.

I may be a bit quiet ......

...... for a day or so.  My EQ7 arrived yesterday and I've been playing trying to learn it.  It is very, very different from QuiltPro, which is the software I've been using for years.  I know that software inside out, and can make it do almost everything I want, BUT it didn't like working on Windows 7, which is what is on the laptop I now have.    I thought I'd try and draw up the pattern some of you want, and work out all the fabric quantities and cutting requirements in EQ7 and then compare it to the answers from QuiltPro.

I've also been having a go at paper piecing, which is not something I've ever done much of.  It makes a lot of mess, doesn't it?  The jury's out on whether I will carry on with it.  Tomorrow I am intending to have a serious go at machine applique, which again is not something I've really done before.

  I'm getting quite adventurous in my old age aren't I?

Freebie anyone?

You know the quilt I finished the other day?  The one I made using a jelly roll which I won?  The one I talked about here.  Would anyone like the pattern for it?  I promise to only give instructions for nice, simple, well behaved borders, not for troublesome, pieced borders with bias edges.  This top could be made in one day, as long as you can cut strips of fabric and know what a sewing machine looks like.  It occurred to me that it would make a wonderful project for one of the Christmas Quiltalong days, so, if anyone wants it, let me know, and I'll post the instructions on here for you.