Shall we say "messy"?

... When I worked, I had to have a tidy, almost empty desk to work on, so wouldn't you think it'd be the same when I sew?  Wonder what happened?

Harvest time ....

.... today was the day for our apple harvest.  Just look at how many apples we had:

I put the coffee mug next to it so you can get an idea of the size.  We did have 2 apples earlier in the summer, but the birds had the other one.

I won ....

... do you remember this?

It was my entry into the EQ7 design category for the Pets on Quilts show a few weeks ago.  Well, thanks to everyone who voted for it, I WON.  Woohoo.  My prize was very kindly sent to me by Michelle and her rabbits, Hannah and Harrington from The Raspberry Rabbits.  Well, the prize arrived yesterday, and here it is.

Look at all this loveliness, there is a lovely pattern to make 2 small woolly hangings and a stitchery one too.  Also Michelle has included a gorgeous little quilt hanger and all the wool and thread I will need, plus some sweets.  I've never worked with wool before, and I am really excited to start.  Thank you so much Michelle for your generosity, and thank you to Snoodles and Padsworth from Lily Pad Quilting for organising the fun quilt show.

Christmas QAL - post 4

I couldn't resist it earlier.  I laid some of my blocks out to see what they would look like.  I'm happy.

I have actually finished all the blocks now.  Next step will be to trim them all to the same size, which I will do tomorrow.

Christmas QAL–post 3

I made some blocks earlier this week, and Mr Fixit stopped dead when he was passing and saw this block laid out. 

I sat, smugly waiting for the compliment that I just knew he was about to utter.  What did he say?  "Have you done it wrong?  It's all wonky, and doesn't match up at the edges."  I had to explain that the pattern actually says these blocks won't line up, and that you have to trim them all when you've finished.  I don't think he was convinced.



This is the pattern I am using.  Whatever was I thinking?  It calls for 10 red, 10 green and 10 beigey-creamy FQ’s.  That’s 30 different fabrics.  In one quilt.  I must have been mad.

It was made a bit easier when I saw a FQ bundle which I loved.  It was very expensive way to but the fabric though, by the time I’d added on postage and taxes and duties, so I decided to google and see if I could find it cheaper.  I did.  I found it at CrazyQuiltGirl Fabric Shop.  I was absolutely amazed at their prices, and the customer service.  I asked if they would undo the bundle and lay the FQs as flat as they could so it would all fit in one envelope that would go through my letterbox.  That way, I sometimes don’t get charged the duties that almost double the cost.  They did that for me, and what’s more, I had the fabrics in my hands 4 days later.  Usually post seems to take 10 days from the US to me, so I don’t know what they bribed the postal service with, but it worked. 

Christmas QAL - post 2

Uh-oh!!!  Serves me right for being so smug and organised earlier.  I decided I did not like 3 of the fabrics I was using, so a little (?) un-sewing has been going on, now to resew the blocks with substitute fabrics.

By the way, I forgot to tell you that the party is over at Hazel's, here.  If you go and visit her, you will find the Linky where you can sign in if your joining us, or just visit everyone who has signed up, to see what is going on.

Christmas QAL - post 1

Do you like my fancy dress costume?  I was going to come as Father Christmas, but then Hazel pointed out that everyone would want to sit on my knee and tell me what they want for Christmas, and that might stop me from boogie-ing along to the music so I dug out my snowman outfit instead.  Do you like it?

Anyway, dinner's defrosting, pudding is planned, housework's done and washing's on the line and now I'm ready to sew.

There's a party ....

.... at Hazel's place tomorrow,

so why not dig out your Christmas projects, and come and join us.  This was going to be held over at Maureen's, but following some serious health issues, she really should not be rushing around trying to control a bunch of unruly quilting party-goers, so Hazel said she'd be happy to have us all.  She also said there will probably be some baking going on, and maybe a quiz, and also some music and she thought it would be fun to make it a fancy dress party.  I already know what I'm going to be working on, and I know what I'm going to wear.  

See you tomorrow.

Happiness ...

is finished, although it did get renamed as "That" quilt by my friend J at one point.  You know, "That" as in "how are you getting on with "that" quilt now?  I did have some problems with it once I got to the quilting stage.

Firstly, why did no-one tell me not to cut the scallops until after I'd finished quilting?  That is why the borders have been done with a sort of motif in each scallop, but I can tell you, it is not easy to attach the quilt to the backing and wadding in order to quilt it.

The other thing that happened is that I quilted the whole thing using just straight lines about 1 or 2 inches apart (can't remember which) got to literally the last line before the border and realised I didn't like it.  So I took it off the frame and unquilted the whole dang thing and then put it back and went for a sort of curly E2E in the middle.


While I'm wittering on about this quilt, I want to also tell you about the fabulous service I received from Tracey at Quilt Me Happy when I was trying to get some backing for the quilt.  I didn't know exactly what I wanted, so I emailed her a photo of the top and asked her if she had anything suitable, preferably that would work well with the border.  So Tracey ups and takes photos of a load of fabrics for me to choose from, then later she took photos of some different fabrics.  So I made a decision and place an order that evening.  Overnight, I changed my mind and I decided to go with a plain Kona in Snow.  Tracey didn't bat an eyelid when I told her, and my fabric arrived the following day all beautifully wrapped in pink tissue paper and tied with ribbon, just as if it was a gift.   I'd hate to have me as a customer, but do want to say thanks to Tracey, she really provides a service way above what is usual.

Lone Star day, post 2

Well, there's bad news and there's good news.

The bad news is that I won't have enough of the red fabric if I do the pieced border I want.  The good news is that I have found that one of my favourite UK shops seems to have some in stock still, so I have just placed an order. The shop are now closed for the weekend and I am reluctant to start cutting into what I have, just in case there is a problem and the shop can't supply it, so I will not be able to start the pieced blocks today.  I'll leave you with a picture of what I am planning, and hope to have made some real progress before the next Lone Star day.

I've just noticed that if I look at the picture slightly skew-wiff, I can see white "z"s instead of red stars!  Perhaps that's a sign that I need a snooze!

Lone Star Day, post 1

Oops, I'm late - again.  Today is Lone Star day, and it's lunch time for me and then, I'll get on with my Lone Star quilt.

If you're joining Jayne and me, please sign in on the Linky, so we can all come and visit each other.
I think I'm prevaricating again, cos I have a horrible feeling that I may not have enough red fabric.  If I haven't, then it's back to the drawing board (aka the computer) for yet another re-think.  What I will have to do is get everything out, find a tape measure, engage brain and do some calculations - wish me luck.  I'll be back later to let you all know the result.

Yippee ...

... Saturday is Lone Star day

I can't wait cos I have, at long last, finally, definitely, for certain, decided on my pieced border.  I will be hosting the day this month, so please join Jayne and I then, and I'll show you what I've decided on - unless, of course, I change my mind between now and then, which of course, won't happen - I don't think!

Calling Nancy ....

... last night I received an email from someone called Nancy who wanted clarification of the cutting instructions for Rick Rack.  I replied, but the email bounced as undeliverable. I did try several times.  So

Nancy

http://www.clipartheaven.com/

if you are reading this, please could you contact me again with a different email address as I hate the thought of you feeling that I could not be bothered to reply.  Also, if any one else thinks they know who Nancy is, please could they contact her on my behalf?

Thanks everyone.

Saving money ...

... can be expensive, as I have discovered.

We had a holiday booked during September, so, being the clever-clogs that I am (?) I decided to book our train fares to and from the starting point of our tour, plus hotel rooms for the nights at either end of the holiday well ahead.  If you book these things early enough, you can save quite a lot of money,after all.

So why do I say it cost us money?  Because the holiday has been cancelled, and I can't get the money back for the fares and the hotel.

I had travel insurance, which included cancellation cover, so I promptly phoned the insurers for a claim form only to find that we're not covered.  It seems that the cancellation was for if we cancelled due to ill health, etc, not if the holiday organisers pulled the plug. They said that the holiday organisers were liable, so then I checedk the small print on the booking  form.  Guess what?  They say that if they have to cancel due to being let down by a 3rd-party supplier, (which is what happened) they're not liable either.

So I'm not going on holiday in 3 weeks and I'm out of pocket by about £300 because I wanted to save money..  

The morning after ...

... the night before.  In other words, the day after the Christmas QAL.

Well, as I said, Mr Fixit fixed Big Bertha, and I finished off the quilt that was on the frame.  My intention for today was to put Festive Mystery on and start quilting it, but I managed to divert myself.  so now I have a beautifully trimmed, scallop edged quilt, ready for it's binding.  Because of the scallops, I will need to use bias binding, so I have made that and it's all ready to be attached.  Wish me luck.

Meanwhile, I also want to thank Cathi for being such a welcoming hostess yesterday.  Have you seen her beautiful cherry and chocolate biccies?  They really had me dribbling over my keyboard.  Cathi also showed us some of her previous Christmas quilts, including a gorgeous snowman quilt.  Thank you for having us over Cathi.

Sort of Ho, Ho again. Christmas QAL post 3

So Mr Fixit comes home, I start cooking the potatoes whilst whingeing for England (and wee're talking gold medal standard moaning here).  I walked past Bertha to go and bring some washing in, and try turning the wheel on my way past, still with no luck.  By the time I've got the washing off the line, Mr F has gone to Bertha, turned the wheel, and guess what?  Yep, it turned.  So we ate dinner, then I went to try Bertha, and she purred away like a very contented machine.  I have therefore managed to finish the quilt I had on the frame this morning, and taken it off, so now I'm ready to put the Festive Mystery on tomorrow.  I can't do it tonight, Mo Farrah and Tom Daley need my help!

Not so Ho, Ho, Ho! - Christmas QAL Post 2

Before I could start quilting my Festive Mystery, I just needed to finish quilting another quilt and take it off the frame.  I reckon I had 30 mins work to do on it.  Now look at this photo.  Yep, the front plate is off, the paintbrush I use for dusting is out, the screwdriver is there, you can't see it, but the oil thingy is out too.  Why?  Cos Bertha was merrily sewing along, and suddenly made a horrid noise, and has seized up completely.  Wheel won't turn, needle won't go up or down, nothing.  I am quite good at cleaning and oiling my machines, but thought I'd better do it all again.  No difference.  Aaaghhh.  Of course, Mr Fixit is out for the day.  So now I'm at a complete standstill.  I hadn't got anything else planned to do.  I'm not happy.  Ho, flipping Ho!

Ho, ho, ho. Christmas QAL post 1

... Happy Christmas everyone.

No you're not going mad, and nor am I really, although there are many would question that last bit!  Today is Christmas QAL day.  I even know what I am going to work on today.  I am planning to quilt my Festive Mystery quilt, and then get to work on a secret. To see who else is sewing along today, pop over to our hostess, Cathi, here.

Oh wait though, there's just one thing before you rush off to the party.  Do you remember the quilt I designed for the Pets on Quilts show?  Just to remind you, it's this one

Well, the voting is open until tomorrow for your favourite quilt in various categories.  If you vote, you might win one of many great prizes, and if my quilt wins, I will win a prize too. Here's a subtle hint:  my quilt is number 85, and is in the EQ7 designs category. You can go here to place your vote.

Hands up if you know ...

... what day it is tomorrow?

Yes! It's Christmas Quiltalong Day, and Cathi is our hostess.  If you remember, Cathi was my co-host last year for the QAL, but this year, her business has really kept her busy, so she hasn't been able to come to our parties, but she will be at her place, over at Shakerwood Quilts, waiting to greet us all.  I'll be there and I hope to see you all there too.

and the winner is ....

.... OK, I know I'm late, I am so sorry, but I just completely forgot to post the name of the winner of my Think Christmas blog hop giveaway.  I really don't have any excuse, except to say that I forgot to do the Random.org thing.  So, without further ado, the winner is

Thearica

who will shortly be receiving four fat quarters of Christmas fabric.  Congratulations Thearica, and thank you to everyone who took the time to visit me and leave a comment.

PS Thearica has a friend who has recently lost her home and everything in it, in a fire.  As a result Thearica is asking if anyone could help restock her friend's sewing supplies by donating an unwanted quilting item, be it fabric/notion/tool/etc.  Please go here to read about it.