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!

And the moral of the story is ....

.... a couple of days ago Mrs Nomad gave me some cooking apples from one of the trees in her new garden.  So I've been pretending that I'm a domestic goddess, and baking.  I've made about 2 dozen apple and cinnamon muffins, 2 apple pies and a big apple cake.

So just what is the moral of the story?

Well, if you are baking, always make sure you wear your glasses, otherwise you could do what I did with the apple cake.  I put a tablespoon of what I thought was vanilla essence in the mixture, only to realise as I was pouring the essence into the cake mix, that I had picked up the almond essence instead.  My excuse is that the bottles are just the same, it's only the labels that are different.

Thank you ...

... to everyone who responded to my SOS in the previous post.  There were some very useful suggestions which I think we will be trying out now.

SOS

... I need help.  Yes, I know, I can just hear what some of you are saying...

Anyway, look at this great quilt.  This is  J's first quilt, and I think she's done a great job with it.  If you remember, I've been helping her and F to learn to quilt.  Yesterday we had another playday, but unfortunately F couldn't be there cos she's visiting her parents at the moment.  F, if you're reading this, we missed you.  Anyway, I'm digressing.  This quilt top became a sandwich yesterday, and quilting decisions had to be made.  After trying several things, J went back to her original idea of quilting an allover Baptist Fan pattern on it, which is going to look fabulous, BUT ... the problem is, how does she mark it?  We tried wash out pens, chalk markers, pounce, almost everything that has ever been invented for marking and none of them showed up on such a variety of fabrics.  Cos I'm not a scrappy quilter, I am at a loss, so I said I'd appeal for help here.  Any ideas anyone?  Please?

Another busy day …

Today I have made the remaining 2 quilt backings and their bindings. 
I know I said yesterday that I had 6 tops waiting, but I can't count.  I had five.  Anyway, they're all ready now for when Big Bertha comes out to play.





Do you remember this picture?  It was taken as we were having our back garden remodelled in December 2009.






 
 
Now compare it to this one.  Looks very similar doesn't it? Yep, this weekend, while I was having fun at the Christmas QAL and Mr Fixit was in his workshop, poor Ken, the gardener, started on remodelling our front garden.  Oh dear, what can I say?  Sorry Ken, is probably the only thing.

Christmas QAL Post 5

It's about 7.30 pm here now.  I've had dinner and am going to settle down now for the rest of the evening with my stitchery.

I've just finished block 2 of the SAL.  (Please excuse the marks that I haven't removed yet.)

Next up I shall go back to my snowmen, This is the 7th block so I'm going to have to start thinking soon about how I'm going to put them into a quilt.

Christmas QAL Post 4

 Three down ....

So, I take a piece of fabric that's say 40" wide by 200" long.  I want a piece which is 80" x 100", so I cut the length in half and sew the two pieces together.  Brilliant.  Then I measure it, and guess what I've got?  A piece measuring 40"  x almost 200".  Whaaaaattt????  Yep, I sewed the wrong edges together.  Am I the only one who is capapble of being so stupid?

Christmas QAL Post 3

A picture paints a thousand words, they say

so guess what I'm doing now?

Christmas QAL Post 2

You remember how I hate adding borders?   If not, go here to read all about it. Well, the next worst thing is making the backings.  I now have about 6 quilts that need them so I can get Big Bertha out to play, so I'm off to do that now.  Well, some of them anyway.

I have done some baking this morning, and it smells gorgeous and I'm having trouble leaving it alone till it's all cooled down!

Christmas QAL Post 1

Just hear those sleigh bells ringing 

and ting ting tingaling too.

Come on its lovely weather 

for a sleigh ride together 

with you.

Yes, it's that time again.  The last but one Christmas Quiltalong day for 2011.  Cos I'm in the UK I don't think our hostess, Cathi is up yet, and it would be very rude to turn up on her doorstep when she's still in her pj's, so I'm off to do some baking while I wait.  See you all soon.

I couldn't help myself ...

When I saw that the Quilting Gallery's theme for this week was "Fall Splendour", I just couldn't resist entering this quilt, called Autumn Sunshine.  You can go here to see all the quilts, and then vote for your four favourites, and hopefully one of your votes will be for me.

Even if you don't want to vote for me, there are some lovely quilts there to look at, which will help you to pass the time until the Christmas Quiltalong tomorrow.  Oh, and that reminds me, several people have emailed me about the word penultimate in my last post.  It just means "the one before last".

How many???

79 that's how many (or how few, depending on how you look at it).  

Are you ready?  Got all your presents made and wrapped?  Nope, me neither.  

Don't forget to join us on Saturday for the penultimate Christmas Quiltalong.  Cathi is our host this month, and don't tell her I've told you, but I think there's going to be some exciting news!  Sshh, it's a secret until then.  

You know what?

I think I've been robbed.

Someone has stolen two or three months from 2011.  If the guilty person is reading this, please can I have them back 'cos I'm not ready for it to be October yet!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Here is the first block from the Sew Happy Sewalong that I joined last week.

Isn't he great?  I love him and am looking forward to next Friday's pattern now.

Like I really, really need ...

... another project.

I've just joined this stitchalong, that I first found out about from Janet. There will be a new pattern every Friday for 8 weeks, and they are just so gorgeous that I had to join in.  I've downloaded the first one and plan to get stitching this evening.  To get there, just click on the button on my sidebar.

The winner ...

... of the Quilt Block Scramble from Saturday's QAL is

I apologise for not posting this on Tuesday, like I said, but this week has just run away with me somehow.  Does this happen to anyone else, or is it just me?

Because I asked you to email me with the answers, each entry was numbered as it came in, and number 8 is Lynda.

Thanks everyone who entered, I know one or two of the answers were tricky, and I did deliberately mislead you with my scrambled version of Anvil but I hope you enjoyed it anyway.  Just wait till it's my turn to host again, I've just thought of a really fiendish difficult  tricky fun contest.

Now I'm off to lie down cos my back's gone again.  Ouch.

For Sale ...

... I have a few copies of my book available for sale.

If you would like a copy and can't find one locally, just email me with your name and address and I will let you know the cost, including postage.  To make it easy, I have a PayPal account, so can be paid in £s, $s, Lunars (that's the currency they use on the moon you know) or almost any other currency you can name.

Here it is ...

... my version of Scatty Christmas Stars

Christmas QAL Post 6

Can you unscramble these 20 block names?

Just email your answers to me before Monday night, and I will use Mr Random-Generator to draw the winner of a small prize on Tuesday.

1. FPuoacrth
2. LgoaiCbn
3. LmoSenreyta
4. J'Lsodecbadar
5. Navli
6. FsnaehiirtpSdr
7. FlysigeneGe
8. IaisrChhin
9. BwoiTe
10. DldiedRguonWbeing
11. hoOSaitr
12. ActtnidiWow
13. oeWMnykhrenc
14. CurhDsnah
15. DedsePrlnate
16. MiaanmCsr'orpess
17. DdnaParrut'ksh
18. FeahttderSear
19. StoeAmtSra
20. CridarTck

Christmas QAL Post 6

Did you know

• The famous Illustrated News etching in 1848, featuring the Royal Family of Victoria, Albert and their children gathered around a Christmas tree in Windsor Castle, popularized the tree throughout Victorian England and the USA..  
• According to legend, a kindly nobleman grew despondent over the death of his beloved wife and foolishly squandered his fortune. This left his three young daughters without dowries and thus facing a life of spinsterhood.  The generous St. Nicholas, hearing of the girls' plight, set forth to help. Wishing to remain anonymous, he rode his white horse by the nobleman's house and threw three small pouches of gold coins down the chimney where they were fortuitously captured by the stockings the young women had hung by the fireplace to dry.
• The ancient Celtics believed mistletoe to have magical healing powers and used it as an antidote for poison, infertility, and to ward of evil spirits. 

Christmas QAL Post 5

Here I am again.  My day has been somewhat derailed because we have DGS1 and 2, (the Professor and Chatterbox), here for a sleepover tonight and Chatterbox keeps wanting my computer!  We've now had dinner and I've got my stars sorted out and 3 of the outer borders now on.  I will add the 4th in a minute, but there won't be any pics until I press it tomorrow.  I'm going back to stitching snowmen for the rest of the evening.

I'll be back in about an hour with a quiz for you.

Christmas QAL Post 4

Let's play a game shall we?

It's called "spot the odd one out"

I told you brain wasn't working today.

Christmas QAL Post 3

It's time for one of these ...

and some of this ...

Christmas QAL Post 2

So, I decide to be clever.

I decide I want to put little star blocks in the corners of my Scatty Christmas Stars border.  What a good idea.  Well, it would be, if only I could get my brain in gear and cut the pieces the right size.  I'm off now to see if it's 3rd time lucky.  Wish me luck.

Christmas QAL Post 1

Oops, I'm late, I'm late for a very important date, as the White Rabbit said.

It's 9am here in the UK and I'm only just posting the Linky thing which you will find by going to the top of the blog and clicking on the 2011 Christmas QAL tab.

I have to decide what I am going to work on today, but I'll do that while I'm showering, flicking a duster around, putting washing in the machine and deciding on what to have for for dinner tonight.

See you later everyone.

Christmas Quiltalong ...

... tomorrow.  I am the host.  I hope you'll be joining me?

Help me if you ca-a-an ...

.... In the words of the Beatles song (thanks Lynn) "Won't you please, please help me"?  Why do I need help? Simple.  I am feeling this overwhelming urge to make one of these

 (in four colours only, of course), but deep in my heart I know I'm mad.  So, can anyone please talk me out of this?

By the way, who's remembered what's happening on Saturday?  Yes, it's Christmas Quiltalong day.  Is it me, or are they coming round more often than once a month?

What an idiot ...

... I am.  Fancy going to a quilt show without a camera.  So this is a picture-less post, sorry.

OK, so I couldn't make myself do a post without at least one picture!
I set off this morning to the Great Northern Quilt Show.  Last year I missed this show as I was away on a steam train, so I had been really looking forward to this.  It opened at 10 am, but I deliberately planned to be there for about 11, so the queues for the car park, ticket office, etc, had all died down.  I was home again by 1.30 - and it's a 45 minute journey. 


This show has been going downhill each year, and in my opinion this year was smaller than ever!  I walked round the quilts twice and didn't see anything that stopped me in my tracks.  I walked round the traders twice and struggled to spend any money.  I met some friends and we had a drink and a gossip, then I met them again at lunch time so we went for another drink.  Then I met some more and we sat and had a chat.  So it was a good time but so disappointing.  Talking to my friends, I wasn't the only one who felt like this.


There were some quilts there that were technically very clever, but just not to my taste.  I did eventually manage to spend some money.  I bought 5 metres each of a white and a cream tone-on-tone cos they're always useful for backgrounds, and I bought a new rotating cutting mat since I left mine in the sun one day last year, and it re-shaped itself (ever tried cutting accurately on a wavey cutting mat?) but there was nothing else that insisted on following me home.  I think when I got home so early and without hundred's of bags weighing me down, that Mr Fixit was worried that I was ill!