A well-deserved rest.........

.....after all the excitements and exertions of the past week, I think we all deserve a rest, so, ever mindful of the fact that this blog is called "Quilt" Times, I thought I'd give you a chance to see some more of my quilts.

This was made in 2004 for my sister, who loves my quilts. Blue and yellow were her favourite colours at the time. Because she uses them all the time, she actually reckons that she wears them out (!) and therefore needs a constant supply of new ones. She's not daft is she?









This was made in 2004 (I think) for Mr and Mrs Teacher. It is cotton fabrics on top, backed by a gorgeous soft brushed fabric. Very snuggly. The design was my own, and it is hand quilted.







I think I made this for myself in 2002. It is another of my own designs and it is made entirely with brushed cotton. I think it was also my first attempt at machine quilting. Nothing adventurous, just straight lines, but it did tell me that I do not like machine quilting!








I adapted this from a commercial pattern because I wanted to try using fusible bias tape. It is a centrepiece for a table which I called Going Round in Circles. It was made in 2004.







I liked the pattern, so then I made this one in Christmas fabrics. Showing great originality, I called this Going Round in Christmas Circles!







I was in Christmas mode by now, so then I made these placemats. The design was my own, and they are all the same, and all made from a collection of 6 or 8 christmas fabrics. All I did was to make one with 3 fabrics, and then make another with the same 3 fabrics in different places. The "reversed" mat can be seen underneath the original. The 2 mats at the left were made for The Professor and Chatterbox with children's fabrics. This year I'll need to make another one so that Little Person has one too.




Luckily I finished all of these by mid-December, because by the 18th I was in hospital having my gall-bladder out! I vowed then never to leave my Christmas quilting till the last minute, but guess what? I still do.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing these quilts, because I've got loads more for you to look at in the future.

Well, guess who won?

.....and it wasn't the dealer!

When I didn't hear from them by lunch time, I rang to tell them to forget it, but the salesman was with a customer, so I left a message to call me. Then I sat and waited. (sounding familiar?) 2 hours later, he hadn't called, so I left another message. I was pretty cross by then. Oh, OK, that's an understatement, I was VERY cross by then. I rang another branch of the same company and was told they had exactly what I wanted (you remember, a certain spec, that dealer 1 told me the company hadn't got, and if I ordered it, delivery would be December, at the earliest?) So guess where I went this morning? An hour after arriving, I had bought the car I wanted (oh yes, and I even had a choice of colours), for the price I wanted, paid the deposit and was on my way home again. I felt that I had been treated like an adult this time, there was no posturing. The salesman came up with figures, I said no and told him what I wanted, he checked with his manager, and said OK. Simple! So by this time next week, I should have a new car. Whooppee. Guess which garage I'll go to in the future?

See? Told you I would not be beaten!

PS Tomorrow I'll post photos of more quilts, just in case you're thinking I might have forgotten what this blog is supposed to be about.

How to Waste Time......

........ as I promised yesterday, here is a lesson about how to waste half a day!

Go to a garage and try to buy a new car.

I don't need a new car. Mine is less than 2 years old, with a mileage of 5500. BUT I wanted a new car. Actually I wanted this particular new car;

I already have a Honda Civic hybrid, and this is the Insight hybrid. I had A figure in my mind, as the maximum I would pay so, yesterday morning, off I went to the Honda dealer. Luckily, I had put dinner in the Slow Cooker before I went.

When I got there, they had 2 available. One was a very top of the range demonstrator, and the other was a brand new almost bottom of the range one. I wanted the model that was one step down from the top. So now begins the pantomime.

Salesman pops up and finds out what I was looking for. He knew my current car - well he should, he sold it to me 18 months ago! But, we still have to go through it. I tell him what I'm looking for. He shows me what he has. I don't listen - I know what I'm looking for. In the end, I know that really either of the cars he had might be OK, so I ask him for a PX valuation. That's when it really starts. Up till now we've just been playing. He goes off to look at my car. I sit in showroom and wait. He comes back and returns keys and goes off to work out figures. I sit and wait. He comes back with figures, having added in all sorts of things I didn't want, like extended warranty, internal and external "scotchguarding", etc. I don't like the figures. He goes off to talk to his manager. I sit and wait. He comes back with his manager and slightly revised figures. I don't like them. Manager and salesman go off to try and do better. You know what I'm doing. They come back. I still don't like their numbers. I tell Manager in words of one syllable exactly what I am prepared to pay, and that if we can't get to that I'm walking. Manager goes off to phone his area manager. I.. well I'm still sitting. He comes back, having got close to my figure, but still not there, so I walked. That all took three and a half hours.

Why, I ask, can't we cut out almost all of the silliness, they tell me their "well-it's-worth-a-try-someone-might-go-for-it" price, I say no, they tell me their real price and that's it. It makes me so mad.

I think the garage were surprised when I left without buying! Ha, don't mess with me! This afternoon I had a phone call from the salesman to see if I'd changed my mind. I told him I hadn't, especially as neither of their cars were actually the model I really wanted. He's going to talk to his manager tomorrow and see if they can find anything else within their group. I told him which of their group did have what I wanted and suggested they follow that up.

I WILL NOT BE BEATEN BY A CAR SALESMAN!

Choo, choo...........

.....well, I left you reading the menu for breakfast, so here I am to tell you lots more about the day.
Here's Mr Fence sitting at the station, waiting for the train and probably dreaming about breakfast.

Here comes the train, hurrah.

Only kidding. This was at Carlisle station, isn't it cute?

This is a look at our carriage as we walked in, and a picture of breakfast (well some of it anyway)

Off we went and were happily eating our way through some great scenery in Yorkshire on our way to Carlisle. Unfortunately, there was a problem. They must have been giving us all too much tea and coffee, because we stopped as the engine had run out of water. We were only about 5 miles from our scheduled stop to take on water, but there was no way we would get there. There were lots of groans when we were told we might have to be pulled the rest of the way by diesel. But, no, the fire brigade came to our rescue. They came out with sirens and blue lights, and. most importantly a hose and a pump.

Our driver had very cleverly stopped on a bridge over the river, so the firemen ran their hose from the water to our engine and got enough water in to get us to the proper water stop. We were delayed for about an hour and a half, but why would we mind? We were comfortable, and we had plenty of food and coffee or tea on board, and some beautiful scenery to look at.

Then we were on our way again, and it must be lunch time by now? Lunch was a Ploughmans which was tasty and not too heavy.

The scenery was beautiful, but it's impossible to get decent photos through the window of a train, so you'll just have to take my word for it I'm afraid.

When we arrived in Carlisle, we didn't have much time, and so went for a short walk. I must say I was less than impressed with what I saw of Carlisle!

After an hour it was time to get back on the train. I managed to get a photo of the chef in the tiny area where he worked to produce this superb food for us.
Now we're off on the homeward journey with more stunning views out of the windows and a fabulous dinner to look forward to. We saw loads of sheep and cows on both journeys, and on the way home we had a good view of a herd of deer and loads of flocks of geese.

This was the main course for dinner:
as well as the chicken, the starter was crabcake with a chilli sauce, pudding was sticky toffee pudding with caramel sauce and this was followed (if you had room) by cheese, biscuits, grapes, coffee and chocolate!

Now I'm on a diet - well I'm not actually, but I jolly well should be!

And this is the engine that took us on this great journey:
Tomorrow I'll tell you how I wasted half a day at a Honda dealership!

To everyone who is waiting to hear about my trip....

..... I apologise for the delay in posting. Life has just got in the way for the last couple of days, but I hope to post tomorrow.

Just to whet your appetite: breakfast was Bucks Fizz, choice of porridge, cereal, melon or muesli. Followed by either kippers or a plate of cholestrol (!), toast, tea or coffee.

We still had lunch and dinner to eat.............

All Aboard!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow is our steam powered train trip to Carlisle. Does anyone know of any quilt shops there? (One track mind? Me? No.) I think we will have about 3 hours there so I am wondering what else there is to do that won't involve Mr Fence in too much walking. Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

It's F R E E!

Who wants a free digital subscription for 6 months to Down Under Quilts?

I can't see any catch in it, and I've just signed up for it. The link, for anyone who is interested is http://www.creativelivingmedia.com.au/info/digital. I'm off now to read my first copy.

Yippee, and a question for you all..............

I've just heard from the Editor of Popular Patchwork that Leaves Around the Cabins has made it into the September issue, which will be available at Festival of Quilts from next Thursday.

Being a bit of a big-head, I LOVE seeing my work in a magazine like this!


Now for a question: next month my daughter, Mrs Nomad, is having a significant birthday, and no, I'm not telling you how old, cos it makes me feel ancient. She has decided to have a 1980's themed party (leg-warmers rule OK?) and wants 80's food with it. She doesn't want anything with chicken or prawns in case we poison the guests and so far we've come up with vol-au-vents (but don't know what to put in them, cubed cheese and pineapple on sticks stuck into foil-covered grapefruit halves, cocktail sausages, also on sticks, garlic bread and Black Forest gateau. Can anyone else think of anything else that's appropriate?

Cinnamon Snickerdoodles.

It seems there is some sort of a problem with the last 2 posts, so I have deleted them both and will re-post the recipe again here.

Ingredients:
300 gm or 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
450 gm or 2 cups brown sugar, packed
225 gm or 1 cup softened butter
2 eggs at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla

For the topping:
2 tablespoons sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon (not sugar, as I originally wrote, sorry all, and thanks Ms QuiltingProlifically for spotting it) mixed together

Optional:
500 gm or 2 1/3 cups cinnamon chips. (Note: I did not add these as I don't think we can get them in the UK. The recipe did not seem to suffer from the lack of them.)

Method:
Preheat oven to 180C or 350F and lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch pan. (Note: don't use a very shallow pan as the mixture will rise during cooking.)
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar then beat in the eggs (one at a time) and vanilla until smooth.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon, add it slowly mixing until well blended.
Stir in the cinnamon chips if using.
Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and evenly sprinkle over the sugar and cinnamon topping over the batter.
Bake for 25 mins or until the surface springs back when gently pressed. The mixture will rise during cooking. Stay around to enjoy the wonderful smell!
Cool slightly. While still warm, cut into squares and remember to reserve one for me.

These are delicious served warm or cold, with or without cream!

Did you miss me?

Well, I'm back now. I haven't actually been away, just busy with visiting family. Mr and Mrs Teacher and Little Person arrived on Monday afternoon, so we didn't really do much. We made up for it the rest of the week though.

On Tuesday we made some cakes. I had found a recipe online for Cinammon Snickerdoodles (love the name) so we tried them.

Little Person enjoyed the mixing,


but oh dear, look what happened when Mummy and Grandma both turned their backs at the same time. You'd think we'd know better, wouldn't you?





When he saw the finished result he was convinced it was chocolate cake, and couldn't get enough of it. Mind you, we all loved it. They were sort of like a cinammon brownie, and were wonderful.

On Tuesday we went to a place nearby called York Maze. which is a great place to take 3 energetic boys. There is a large maze planted from, would you believe, maize, and I think they do a different design every year. It had been raining (yes, again) overnight, so it was very muddy. We took the other 2 grandsons with us, and all enjoyed ourselves. We were all rather muddy when we got home though!






This is a picture of the boys at lunch time.








Blogger is obviously getting bored with me and my pictures now though, so I will leave the next part until tomorrow, when you can see us at Diggerland.

Here's a question for you..........

............can anyone explain to me why the state of Kansas in the US is pronounced can-sass, but Arkansas is pronounced R-can-saw?

Amazing the things that float through my mind when I'm not busy isn't it?

Visitors

Woohoo!!

Today, Little Person is bringing his Mummy and Daddy, Mr and Mrs Teacher up to see us. I think they are staying until Friday so we'll have to find lots of things to do. I hope the weather is OK as I've already thought of several things, but they all involve being outside, so please, would everybody STOP doing their raindances until next weekend? Thank you very much.

OK, so who's an idiot then?

The answer has to be ME!!

Why?

I have done something so stupid it is almost beyond belief.

"What have you done?" I hear you all cry.

Well, I'll tell you.

It all started earlier today when I was downloading a zip file which contain ed several different files (some text files and some diagrams). Somehow I have changed a setting so whereas before I would automatically save anything as it downloaded, then go back, double click and the zip file opened so I could extract everything, now when I try and open the folder the computer (which obviously thinks it knows better than me) is trying to open in Adobe and says it can't do it which is fair enough. So then I try to change the default program it uses to open my files and it's all gone horribly wrong. I have wasted almost all day trying to sort it, so nothing constructive has been done and I am not happy.

Look what happens.........

..... when I start playing on QuiltPro.

my friend Quilthaze and I were talking about using the Fibonnacci Sequence to design a quilt. The above pictures show what happened when I took a normal Jacob's Ladder block and redrew it using the Fibonnacci Sequence. Both of the above "quilts" are made of 4 blocks by 4 blocks. You can see what Quilthaze took a different approach, and you can see what she came up with on her website.

Archie is growing up

Remember Archie?

Well, he came to stay on Saturday night, and he really made me laugh when I took him out for his late night and early morning constitutionals because he has now worked out that boy dogs are supposed to cock a leg when they need to answer the call of nature. Only trouble is, he now tries to cock his leg and squat at the same time! He looks so funny when he keeps on almost falling over. I hope he gets this worked out soon.

You know me........

......I don't like to complain. (Yes, OK, stop laughing those of you who know me really well!) but I don't think this is good enough.

A while ago I bought a complete roll of wadding. It was one I had used before, and I really liked it. Unfortunately, when I used it on my Leaves Around the Cabins quilt, it bearded. Badly. Very badly. I did not realise just how badly until I took the quilt off the frame when I had finished it. I had used a cracked-ice sort of fabric on the back in a gorgeous rust colour, so it showed. Really, really badly, but I was not about to undo all that quilting.

I have used this wadding a lot in the past, but only ever with light coloured backings, so I don't know if this had been happening all the time with this roll or not.

Anyway, I decided to email the manufacturer about it. I got no reply within about a week, so I emailed again. Still no reply. I emailed for a third time, and then a fourth, with the same response each time.

Guess who won't be using any waddings from this company again? Am I being unreasonable in expecting a reply? Specially in the current economic climate.

So tell me, is it me?

Slideshow

As promised, I have now worked out how to put a slide show on here, so this shows a few Linus quilts I made in 2001 - 2002. There was a Linus day near me, so I went along and started a couple of tops, using donated (mainly orange) fabrics, plus some from my own stash. These are the results. I hope you enjoy them, but be warned.... now I know how to do this, there will be more quilt shows in the future.

More introductions

You've met Little Person (remember my insomnia cure?) who is GS3 (son of my DS and DDIL, Mr and Mrs Teacher) so now I thought it was time for you to meet The Professor, GS1 and Chatterbox, GS2, the sons of Mr and Mrs Nomad.

It's still quiet on the quilting front as this week has been so busy with family things. Tomorrow I am going to lunch with the Ladies Who Lunch. We are all ex-committee members of our quilt group, Tuesday Quilters, and we used to have so much fun as a committee, that we decided we would continue to get together from time-to-time after we resigned from committee duties. This time we are all going to one person's house, taking either a starter, main or pud with us instead of going out.
Next week I am hoping will be a bit quieter, and who knows, I might even have time to get a sewing machine out.
As I haven't really been posting about quilting, and that's meant to be what this blog is about, I am going to try and post a slide show of some of my earlier quilts later today.

New Blogs

Ever wondered what happens round here when I don't want to go quilting, it's raining and I've got some spare time, which I am certainly not going to use to do h****work!

Some of you may have noticed that I have been extending my list of blogs I like to visit. They are almost all quilting sites written by some great people who are fun to "visit". There is some variety in my choices, but they are mainly people who make traditional quilts, and some of them are even people who concentrate on scrappy quilts. (Eeekk, what's happening to me?) It will probably not surprise you to see that one or two of them are mainly about longarm quilting too.

Meanwhile Mr Fencepost (alias Husband) has been painting in the garden again. This time he decided to do the decking, which I must admit did need it. Now I would have popped out, bought a tin of preservative, slapped it on and job done. Mr P is a perfectionist. He has jetwashed and cleaned it all, rubbed all the wood down with sandpaper, and is applying a proper decking paint, - twice!! Talk about making work for yourself. I must admit it's looking good though, even though it's raining now so the 2nd coat isn't going to get done today.

Good news time.....

I forgot to tell you that Husband heard back from the DVLA last week, and they said that as long as his condition doesn't get any worse, he does not have to give up driving. Yayyy.

Quiet Times.

Perhaps I should rename my blog as Quiet Times!

I haven't been doing any quilting recently, I've been far too tired, but I have been reading about it! I got the latest issue of Quilters Newsletter last week. Am I the only one who thinks it has gone right downhill in both quality and quantity? On the other hand, I also bought a new book, called Legacy which I have just started. It is the story of a quilter from Alabama who made between 200 - 300 quilts during her lifetime. The book has been written by her granddaughter, and has lots of factual stuff about her grandmother's life and about her quilts. Just the sort of book I enjoy. I was amazed too at the speed with which I received the book. Amazon did not have it in stock, but several of their partner stores did. I ordered from one of them on Thursday evening, it was posted to me on Friday, and I got it Saturday. Amazon aren't that quick! Anyway, I'm off now to read some of it.

Hope you're all having a good weekend?

Introducing................

..........drum roll please .....................


My son, Mr Teacher. He went for an interview yesterday, and got the job. Hurrah.

Oh botheration.........

I am an idiot - and that's official.

I intended to show two quilts in the Great Northern Quilt Show in Harrogate this September, but, even though someone reminded me, I forgot to send in my application forms in time. How stupid can I get?

The quilts I was going to show, would have been Leaves Around the Cabins (if I got it back from the publisher in time) or Sunny Days and either True Scrappy or My Flannel quilt.

For those who have not seen them before, here are photos of Sunny Days, before it was quilted with an allover 4-leaf clover pattern,








and My Flannel quilt

oops...

Remember this quilt?

It's the mystery quilt I had published last year in Popular Patchwork.

It lives on a chair in the lounge, and a few days ago I was just sort-of looking at it while talking to a friend on the phone, when I suddenly realised that one of the blocks is the wrong way round!

Oh well, no-one's perfect!

Sisters

This afternoon we went to visit my sister, and, most unusually, she agreed to have her photo taken, so here we are, my sister and I.

This evening we went to a barbecue. The weather was very kind to us, and the food was great (especially a trifle someone had made). The garden was big, so Toddler Teacher was able to run around a lot and get rid of some of his energy. He is in bed now, fast asleep, and we are all sitting here feeling very full up.

Celebration!

My son heard today that he has passed his teacher training course. Yeehaa. To celebrate, we went out for a meal this evening. This is a picture of them taken at the restaurant.

Insomnia cure!

I've discovered a cure for insomnia: looking after a very lively 3 (on Saturday) year old grandson!

Here is a picture of my "cure".

I have a feeling his mummy might not be too happy with me when she gets home. We've been playing with water at the kitchen sink, and there is a very wet t-shirt in the laundry and a wet chair in the kitchen now.

Cumbrian Scenery.....

I just can't understand why anyone would want to live in the middle of this, can you? (gg)

I've been travelling again.............

......... and now I'm down south, in St E, to look after Grandson 3 while his mummy and daddy work this week. Posting may be intermittent this week, but I'll try and let you know what I'm up to.

I have brought 3 quilts with me, all of which need the ends sewn in and the bindings sewn down, so I might get something done in the evenings, but I doubt I'll get the chance during the day somehow.

Big Bertha has a sister, Ten Ton Tessie

Until very recently, Big Bertha was the only one of her kind in the UK. (If you want to call her a machine, you must whisper, very quietly, or she'll get upset.) Well, a couple of months ago, her sister, Ten Ton Tessie arrived here. In case you're wondering, Tessie is the spitting image of Bertha. Quite amazing really how alike they look! Congratulations to her parents Lis and Drew. Yesterday, they spent the day bonding together (as I stood by and watched) with the result that after lunch they stopped playing with calico and put a REAL quilt top on their frame. When I left them, they had almost finished the 2nd pass on this top and it was looking great.

What the $%&*.........................

Cos it's so hot, I thought I'd just remind myself of the view out of my front window one day in February.

Honey I'm home!

I have spent a fantastic couple of days in the Lake District with my friend Bilbo. It was only a short visit, but we seemed to pack a lot into the time. On the Monday afternoon she took me on a tour of part of the area. The scenery was amazing, and I have got some photos to share with you, but they are on my camera, and guess where the camera is? Husband has sneaked off with it to his club. How dare he? Anyone would think it was his camera! So I'll have to put the photos on tomorrow.

In the evening she tried to teach me how to draw feathers - she is brilliant, and I am not, but she was very patient with me. Lots of practice needed before I can draw decent feathers I think.

The next day I had a private quilt show. Bilbo has been quilting for about 15 years, and she is a great longarm quilter. She showed me lots of her quilts, probably about 50, and there are still loads more. Some of the quilts were absolutely amazing, but I have to admit that I found her scrappy food themed log cabin was too much for me! A couple of the others however have really inspired me and given me some good ideas. Oh heavens, more time needed in a day. Actually someone once told me how to get more time, and that is that I just have to learn to sleep faster!

The most important thing was that I got to meet her wonderful dog Mr Hairy Four Paws. He definitely does not like this weather.

Now I'm home for a few days, then on Saturday I'm off to a friend for the day to try and help her get Big Bertha's new sister Tessie set up properly. Tessie's suffering from tension problems like I did the other week when I was about to start quilting BarJelly. Let's hope I can help her.

Sunday I am going down to my son's to look after their son for a week while they are at work and their childminder is on her honeymoon, so all in all, I'm quite busy not quilting at the moment.

Two posts in one day!

Here it is in all it's glory: True Scrappy. (Remember, as always you can click on the photos to enlarge them and then get back with your back button.)

This quilt has been a first for me in several ways. It is the first scrappy quilt I have made, and I love it! The back was a first too because I have never done a pieced backing before. The quilting was done eventually in cream thread and uses an edge-to-edge pattern I have used before called Double Bubble Trouble.

I have now finished quilting tops for a while. I do have one more top ready, but in my usual organised way, I have now run out of wadding and haven't got the backing for it yet. Still, I do have a bit of time in hand on that one as it is destined for my sister for Christmas.

So now I shall go back to piecing for a while. Now shall I do the neutral one? Slight problem might be that I haven't decided what design to do that one. I could do the red and tan? Same problem. What about the yellows I was going to use for a Dresden Plate? It's just dawned on me that that might look too much like sun with its rays. Perhaps I'll do the paper pieced Jinny Beyer one? Oh dear, so many decisions. Suggestions anyone?

This time tomorrow.......

.........I should be in my car on the way to visit my friend Bilbowaggins. She lives in the Lake District and, although she is only about 130 miles away from me, according to the route planner it's going to take me 3 hours to get there. Crazy really, since my son lives about 180 miles away and it takes 2 1/2 hours to get to him. I guess the difference is motorways, since I am about 8 miles from the relevant one, and then he is only about 2 miles from the same one at the other end?

Now, here is my Handy Hint for today: when you are quilting and are feeling tired, do NOT attempt to do "one more pass/motif" cos then it's finished. You will only end up unquilting! Now ask me what I spent yesterday evening doing? At least I could do it while the Andy Murray match was on. He won, which I am sure was due to my support.

By the way, you remember my petrol consumption problem? Well, husband suddenly said to me, "have you checked your tyre pressures? That can make a difference" Checked tyre pressures? How do I do that? Course I haven't, that's what it goes in for servicing for isn't it? Well that and valeting. I wouldn't know if they were right or not and certainly don't know how to put air in/let it out if needed. I've never done that in my life. Spose I'm going to have to learn now aren't I?

Determined.........

......not to be beaten by them! Here are the missing photos from yesterday. You can get a better view by clicking on the photos. The colours haven't come up very well. The light, and the background on the backing are a lovely buttery/clotted creamy yellow, and the pink is a vivid raspberry. Can you guess how this quilt got its name?
P.S. The blue fence is no more! It's wooden fence colour, hurrah.

It's finished

Raspberries & Cream is now finished and off the frame and blogger won't let me put the photos in to prove it! I have still got to bury all the ends (yukk) and then sew the binding on. Perhaps by the time I've done all that I will be able to show you!

I wasn't going to put another quilt on the frame today, but, well, you know how it is.......so True Scappy is now on there. Mind you, I did suddenly remember, after I had put the backing on, that I had forgotten to get some more wadding. Duhh, idiot. Then, I realised that this quilt was going to better with a black wadding, and I had this feeling that somewher, deep in a cupboard I had some black left over from another quilt. Oh boy, was I lucky, it was just the right size. This quilt has a batik backing, lots of seams and a poly wadding - talk about asking for trouble. I am using an edge-to-edge pattern on it, and I have done 2 rows with no problems so far. Keep your fingers crossed for me everyone. I also couldn't decide what colour thread to use. The borders of the quilt are plain navy, the centre is multicoloured (very) and the back is light blue marbled batik framed by dark blue marbled batik. See what I mean about thread colour. In the end I went for my usual cream - largely cos I didn't have anything else that worked with it, and I was too impatient to wait and order some. PPP (and no, that doesn't stand for practice, practice, practice) seems to be the motto for the day doesn't it? I really must do better.

I'll try and creep up on blogger later and get those photos on - watch this space.

She won!

My very clever friend Sewali, entered a challenge at quite a big quilt shop in the UK. Everyone who entered was sent a piece of the challenge fabric, and they were free to add whatever else they wanted and use whatever design they wanted, to make a quilt. The results were all displayed over a number of days up to last Sunday, and she has just been told that she won the Visitors' Choice award. This is a picture of the winning quilt. You can see it in better detail on her blog here. This is the second time she has won this annual challenge. She also said I had to tell you all it is a small show, but don't believe her! Anyway, well done Sewali.

P.S. regular readers will note that I have, at long last, learned to use the "links" facility on this blog! and just to prove it, here's a link to Sewali's online shop, ASding. What she doesn't know about wadding just aint worth knowing and if you're ever not sure what to use, go check out her Waddipaedia and you'll soon have all the information you need.

He's a mystery, I've got homework, and I'm full up

It's official - Husband is a mystery to the neurologist he's been seeing. After a year of MRI's, lumbar punctures, blood tests, X-rays, etc, etc, they have told him they don't know what is the matter with him. It's not multiple sclerosis, it's not Parkinsons, but it might be that he has been having strokes. Scuse Me? It might be? After all this time, and all these tests, it might be? The consultant is still waiting for the report from the brain function tests ( that consultant decided to go on holiday before sending his report) which, although it won't explain the reason for the brain scarring, may show the results of it. So much for our health service.

This morning I took my car to the doctor - should have known better really after the above, but no, my life these days seems to be a triumph of hope over experience. The garage don't know what the matter is! They don't seem willing or able to listen to me when I explained that on the sort of driving I do I should be getting about 50 mpg, even though I have never got over about 42, but over the last few weeks I am only getting 30-32. Now, to me, that means something's not right. To them, I'm a woman. So now I've got some homework. I have to fill the tank right to the brim, drive for 60 miles, top up the tank and go back to the garage and tell them how much fuel I had to put in. Now, I'm wondering, how do I make sure I end up at the petrol station after driving exactly 60 miles? Visions of having to drive round the pumps on the forecourt to make sure I get to the magic figure. What if I get to the figure and I'm nowhere near a petrol station? Then I'd just have to refill and start all over again. This could go on for a long time if I'm not careful.

Lunch time today we went back to the pub I mentioned before for lunch, and I had a lovely meal. It was called Carribean Chicken, and it was chicken (obviously) cooked in a sauce of cream, coconut, Malibu and pineapple. It was gorgeous, but I really did not need (or eat) 2 chicken breasts, or the chips, and I don't think I'll eat again for days.

Now I'm off to watch the rest of the Andy Murray game.

Sneaky peekies.......

.............of Raspberries and Cream. I had to take the quilt off the frame to turn it so I can do the side borders, so I thought I'd take these photos before I put it back on.

I hope you can see the motifs I have used in the Raspberries and the green triangles as well as the border (of feathers, what else?). The other one is of the back of the quilt.


I'm not sure how well these photos show up the quilting, but I've taken the photo now, so it's going in here! So there!

Archie went home last night. Mrs Nomad came round in the car so she could take all his "stuff" with her, plus him, in one go, rather than take his stuff then walk round to get him so he didn't have to go in the car. He definitely does not like cars. It took both of us to lift him in, and one to hold him in while the other closed the back of the car. Apparently he was delighted to see his humans again, and also his cat, but I gather Kit was not quite so pleased. I can't think why?

Tomorrow I have to take my car for a check-up. It is a hybrid engine, and I am suddenly getting about 15 miles per gallon less than I should be. Not good. Thank goodness it's under guarantee.

Husband is busy this afternoon planting up pots with the bedding plants we bought last week. We decided that an Archie weekend was not a good time to do them - he'd either have eaten them, (most likely), dug them up (quite likely), or sat on them (also likely), or any combination of the above. Husband knows that now it's Wimbledon fortnight I'm not likely to anything much (I think he's learnt that from years of experience), and he doesn't enjoy tennis so he's doing them. Reeeesult!

Guess who came for dinner?

and stayed for breakfast? And will be having dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow?

Yep. Archie. The Nomads have gone to visit some friends in Wales, and Archie hates even going a mile in a car, so he invited himself to stay with us for the weekend.

Disaster............

has struck. I think my computer that I use for running the PCQuilter has just died.

I finally made the decision to put a heart in each of the triangles (and at 4 triangles per block, that's a lot of the durned things. So, this morning, while Husband was at hospital, I started. I did about 6, then had to stop. When I went back to them this afternoon, I did one and then the computer went on strike. No, it did more than go on strike. It stopped completely and I had to to force a crash landing to get out. So I just switched it off, then back on again. It lets me log on, goes through all it's boring little waking-up procedures, gets to the point where I think I can select a program and get going, and what happens? Nothing. Turn it off and on again and repeat the hanging around waiting bit - I'm really too impatient for all this. Result this time? Nothing. Repeat it all again. NOTHING. I've walked away for now, but I'm going back in a minute to see who is going to win, it or me. Any bets anyone?

So, very little quilting done, and a very annoyed me. What a waste of a nice, quiet, child-free, quilting day.

Boo. Hiss. I hate computers.

Raspberries and Cream again

In case any of you are interested, I thought I'd give you a progress report.

I finished quilting the blocks this afternoon. I have been thinking about those green triangles, and I now have about eleventy-seven ideas about what to quilt in them. I think tomorrow I will have to stop playing around and make a decision. Then there's still the question of what to do with the borders. Ohh, all these decisions............

The things they say.

Not much to report here, so I thought I'd share this little gem from my (almost) 3 year old grandson. The other day Mrs Teacher asked him what he had done that day at the childminders. He looked at her, shrugged and said the classic word: "nothing". He's obviously in training to be a teenager.

I'm not stupid, really

Want to hear a funny thing?

A couple of months ago we bought a new, wireless printer. It lives upstairs in the study, but I use my laptop downstairs, so it is fantastic to be able to print from down here. I just wished it could be a bit neater in it's habits. Every time I printed, it threw all the pages on the floor, and I then had to collect them all up and put them back in order. Why hadn't it got a thingy that would keep the printed pages neatly together, I kept thinking to myself. Well, today I went to pick up my printing, and guess what I discovered? It DID have a thingy. I just hadn't realised that I had to pull out a bit on the paper tray, swivel it and flip it, and hey presto - a paper catching/tidying thingy. Whooppee.

More Raspberries and Cream

Just a sneaky peek at the cream.

I have just finished quilting the second row of blocks, but I can't decide what to do in the borders yet.

I have also decided that these blocks need something more. I think they need something in the dark green triangles, so I'm thinking about that too.

It seems the quilting design on this quilt is very much a work-in-progress.

Raspberries and Cream anyone?

This afternoon I put Raspberries and Cream on the frame and sewed a straight line across as tacking, then I had to go babysit for a while, so that was the end of quilting for today. Tomorrow is housework morning, but then I think I'll plan an easy cook dinner for the evening, and hopefully I could then get cracking. I have tested all the patterns out on scrap, and I think they will all work OK and the tension looks good.

I wish I had taken my camera with me when I went to the Nomads'. Mrs Nomad had taken Archie for a long walk this afternoon and he met 2 of his friends and spent a long time playing in the field with them. When they got back he was so tired. When I saw him he was flat out on their patio, lying with his head on an old covered sandpit, like a pillow. He looked so uncomfortable, but was fast asleep. He just looked so funny, but no photo, sorry.

Good news, bad news and a good book

Today I have had some great news. Popular Patchwork magazine are going to publish my pattern for Leaves Around the Cabins, probably in September. I am VERY excited about that. They are also interested in an article from me about my "hands-free" quilting system, so I am going to have to get writing again for that.

The bad news is that the DVLA have finally come to life again. Boo. When Colin was first diagnosed with his sleep apnoea thing, he was told he MUST tell the DVLA and that they might suspend his driving licence until his consultant said it was under control. Well, being a good, law-abiding citizen, he did just that. After filling in 3 forms in quick succession, he has heard nothing from them now for a couple of months. Until today. Our doctor's receptionist rang to say the GP needs to see him tomorrow, as he has had a form now from the DVLA and they need to fill it in and discuss it. He has an appointment for tomorrow mid-morning, so keep your fingers crossed that they're not taking his licence away.

On a more positive note, I am about to go and put Raspberries & Cream on the frame ready to start quilting. I have today checked all the patterns, cos some of them are my derivatives of other patterns, and also I am using different threads, so needed to check tension too. All being well, I'll start that one tomorrow.

I had a new book delivered today, courtesy of Mr Amazon.co.uk. Those of you who know me will know it's not at all my usual sort of thing. It's called Scrap-Basket Surprises by Kim Brackett, who is a follower of my blog, and is from Magnolia Bay Quilts. This book has made me start itching to go sort through my fabrics, or maybe go buy a jellyroll (or 2) and start piecing. If you get a chance, have a look at it on Amazon to see the quilts in it - yes even you Sewali!

One down........

3, or is it 4, to go.

Big Bertha and I have bonded again, and to prove it, here are photos of a quilted BarJelly. (By the way, if you ever want to see a Iarger photo in my blog, all you have to do is click on it, then use the back button to go back to normal.) haven't trimmed or bound it yet, but I wanted to show you all. I was worried about quilting this one as there were so many seams to contend with, but I should have had more faith in Bertha. There were about 3 skipped stitches, but hey, who's counting? It could have been much worse.


Now all I have to do is decide who to give it to - Little Sis is always happy to get my quilts, Mrs Nomad won't want it, Daugther-in-Law (aka Mrs Teacher) might do. I might just sit back and wait and see who asks first, or I might just put it in a cupboard. I still don't like it, although I do quite like the reverse of it.

I WON!!!!!

I had an ah-ha moment in the middle of the night. I was running Big Bertha too slowly. This morning I did do other things first like changing bobbins, needles, etc, as several of you suggested. I also took the tension thingy apart in case there was some thread or something caught in it. Then I turned up the speed, started up the PCQuilter, and off I went. What happened? It worked! What worked? Not sure cos in my usual impatient way I did several things at the same time! OK, the tension still wasn't perfect, but a few tweaks and together we were making beautiful stitches.

I have now put BarJelly on the frame and completed 3 passes on it, and the stitching is pretty darn good if I do say it myself. Tomorrow I will take some photos to prove it.

Thanks to all who made suggestions, I was very grateful.

Big Bertha...............

...........is NOT behaving herself today.

Husband set up the frame this morning and I gleefully got Big Bertha out. (For those of you who have not yet met her, Big Bertha is my 17" throat long-arm machine.) I gave her a good clean, oil to drink, and a nice shiny new needle. Was she grateful? Was she heck!

As she hadn't been used for a couple of months, I decided to do a trial run before I put a quilt on. I am sooo glad I made that decision. At first the tension was so bad that the top thread was just lying on the top fabric, then I started to get loops of bobbin thread showing on the top. Fiddle with tension, try again, and again, and again. Some improvement, but not enough. I was trying to use So Fine on the top as well as the bobbin, which I had never done before. I was also using prewound bobbins, which I usually use. OK, I thought, I'll go back to using my usual, King Tut on the top. Exactly the same problem as before. Change the tension, and again, and again. I just can't get a decent stitch top and bottom. The top stitches seem to be loose somehow and there are almost loops of top thread on the top. Got fed up. put her to bed for the night and walked away. If anyone has any suggestions as to what to try I would be very grateful to hear them. Please? Anyone?........

Happy Birthday Mr Methusulah............

..............also known as my Dad

(just in case any of you are interested, clockwise from the top left the photos are my parents on Dad's retirement in the 80's; husband and I plus both sets of parents on our wedding day in 1967; Dad in 2008; my boys - is husband, father, grandson and son in 2007; Dad in uniform c.1945); my parents, sister and I about to go to Buckingham Palace for Dad's award of an OBE, early 70's;my parents, husband and I setting off to Royal Ascot, early 80's.)

Yesterday was his 85th birthday, so I thought I would make up a photo collage of him through the years. May there be many more of them Dad.

The day before was my sister's birthday, so I thought I would do the same for her. I failed though as she hates having her photo taken and goes into hiding as soon as she sees a camera! Happy birthday anyway Little Sis.

I was hoping Husband would set up my frame today so that Big Bertha and I could bond again over some quilting, but he was so busy on THAT fence, trying to get another panel finished before it rained, that I didn't feel I could nag! So no quilting despite the good intentions. Maybe tomorrow. (and for anyone who is about to ask, NO the oven hasn't been cleaned yet. Maybe tomorrow?)

Ladies Who Lunch

It's been a busy day today. First I went to the hairdresser to have my feathers fluffed. Now I can see through my fringe again. I must confess I had trimmed it myself about a week ago, when I realised it was becoming very difficult to see out. I confessed to the hairdresser, and she very nicely told me I'd done a good job of it. I took Father down with me as he had made an appointment at his barber to have his hair and beard trimmed too. Then I went on to a meeting of the Ladies Who Lunch group. There were only 3 of us this time, but we had a good time with loads of food and loads of gossip. Then I came home, and I must confess that what with the food and the heat, I spent the rest of the afternoon with a book.

Tomorrow morning I hope to actually get the backing pieced for True Scrappy. I have cut the pieces out, so made progress. I couldn't bring myself to do a true scrappy back like I had intended, but am just using 2 colours. I think it will look OK, but we'll see tomorrow.

The kids are back at school after the half term, so it's back to normal again now, collecting them from school, overseeing homework, etc. That's why I can only quilt in the morning tomorrow.

If any of you are still wondering about the blue fence - there's been no progress today. The thing is, to do the rest of it Husband will have to be in the sun, and I don't think he'd enjoy that much. Maybe he'll do some more tomorrow as the temperature is set to go from about 74 the last few days down to 61 for a few days. Good old British summer's here!

Wandering Star and Blue fences

You remember the "unquilting" I have been doing recently? Well, this is the quilt, Wandering Star, with no quilting now. It's very crumpled after the quick was I gave it today, so that's something else to be added to the ironing pile.

I have also made the backings for Raspberries and Cream and for BarJelly today, so they need ironing too. I was on a roll until I discovered I haven't got enough of the fabric I wanted to use as the backing for True Scrappy. Still, in the tradition of "scrappy" quilts, I am going to piece the backing too. I've never done a pieced backing before, so wish me luck with that.

For those of you who are waiting with bated breath to hear about the fence - the latest installment is that Husband went off to B&Q this morning, bought some more paint and a very big paintbrush and attacked the gate. He'll just keep on, even though it's not covering beautifully, till all the panels have been done, then we (actually, he, cos I just have this feeling he might not let me get involved this time round) will spend the next year considering what to do next. My answer would be to pay someone else to come and do it, but then Husband always says I have more money than sense! Don't know what he means.