Woohoo ....

Okay, am I the only one? ...

I've cleaned the house from top to bottom, all the washing and ironing is done, I've changed all the bedding and there are clean towels everywhere,

What's going on?

Well, we're off on a steam train holiday tomorrow, and I always worry that any burglars who broke in might think I'm a really bad housewife if I didn't leave the house looking good.

Handy Household Hints 2 & 3....

.... here is the next in my series (well OK, I have written one before) of Handy Household Hints.

Handy Hint 1
If you are planning to pour some disinfectant down the drainpipe in your shower room, do not leave a dark red bath mat right in the firing line, otherwise you will end up with a two-tone mat like this:

Handy Hint 2

Do not simply turn the mat over and then do the same thing again, 

Bloglovin vs Feedly - part 2

A couple of weeks ago, I told you I couldn't decide if I wanted to use Bloglovin or Feedly to help me keep up with what everyone's up to out there in the big wide bloggyworld, so I said I was going to run with both of them for a while and then make a decision.

I have decided.  I have found that for me, Bloglovin is more convenient for various reasons and here are my conclusions:

Bloglovin

•  It was very easy to transfer the information from Google Reader, but I did lose the groups I had things sorted into although it was very easy to put things back into the groups I had used before
• I liked that I could click on a post and comment on it from within Bloglovin, rather than having to go to the actual blog to leave a comment
• When I had read a post it was greyed out, which made it very easy to see my list and see what I had/had not read
• It was easy to mark an individual post or a complete blog as read
• I found the whole site easy to navigate
• I love the option to have a daily email showing the new posts

Feedly

• It was easy to transfer the information and it kept the groups
• I did not find the site so easy to navigate, although once I worked it out I liked the layout options

So there you have it.  I promised several people that I would post my thoughts (only about these 2 sites, nothing else!)   Now for the small print:  These are only my thoughts and conclusions, someone else might think completely differently about the whole subject.

So, having made my decision, I have now put one of Bloglovin's cute little buttons at the top of my sidebar to make it really easy for anyone who wants to, to follow me this way.  It looks like this,

and all you have to do is click on it,  so go on, you know you want to!

There has also been some confusion about whether you will loose your blog if you don't sign up to one of these readers.  As far as I know, that won't happen, although I am now seeing vague suggestions that our follower lists might disappear, which is why I have put this button on the blog.  I am not sure if my followers will disappear into thin air or not, but I would hate to lose someone, so I thought this might help.

Oh my word ...

... it's already 1 April, which means it's time for the Country Charmer quilt update.

If you remember, the Country Charmer quilt was designed by Lovely Lynn, over at Sew'n Wild Oaks, and this do-it-at-your own-pace quiltalong is being hosted by Laissez-faire Lesley the Cuddle Quilter.

So, what I have been up to this month?  Well previously, I was cutting the pieces for one block, then sewing it together before cutting for the next block as this seemed to work best for me as a non-scrappy quilter.  Then I had a brainwave.  Why not cut one set of pieces from each fabric I planned to use, then use the layout sheet to mix and match them up for a block and put the block in a bag, then repeat for another block and carry on until I had all the blocks I needed.  This is when I had another light-bulb moment.  I remembered that Mr Fixit had made me a cutting table of sorts a couple of years ago which I had not been using cos I'd forgotten about it.  I knew that my back would just not put up with the sort of cutting marathon my plan was going to involve so I asked him to set it up for me, then off I went, wielding my rotary cutter at the speed of light and ending up with this:

which soon became this

then all those little piles went into their own bags.  Now all I have to do when I want to work on the quilt is pick up one bag, and I'm ready to start sewing.  While the table was up by the way I also cut out another quilt and several smaller projects, which is my way of trying to explain why I have not made much progress on the blocks this month.  This is where I am so far though, and I still love the quilt.

Our hostess, Lesley is having a Linky party today, so to see more Country Charmer quilts in progress, just hop over to here.

Bloglovin? Feedly?

... which should I choose?

         

As you probably know by now, Google Reader is disappearing in  a few months, so I decided I'd better try and get to grips with another reader before it goes completely.  Question was, which reader?  It seemed to me I had two choices, either Bloglovin or Feedly. 

I am the type of person who learns more from using something rather than just reading about it (and yes, I am also the person for whom the phrase "if all else fails, read the instructions" was invented) so I am currently conducting a test.  I am running both systems in parallel for a few weeks to see which I prefer.

So far there does not seem to be much to choose between them, but there are a couple of niggles I have with Bloglovin.  Firstly, from what I can see, any posts which I have not read after a couple of weeks will disappear from my reading list.  This is not really a problem, but it might be if I found myself in the middle of the Sahara with no electricity or internet access for a month - not at all likely, where would I be able to plug in my hair straighteners and sewing machine - then I might miss something really important that one of you have written.  The other thing I'm not happy with is that they tell me I must "claim my blog" (I'm not sure why, but I did what I was told, and lo and behold, there is this little button thingy that appears, that looks a bit like this:
Follow my blog with Bloglovin
and that annoys me, cos you may not want to use Bloglovin but may not realise that you can still follow in other ways.

Any way, I will carry on using both, and will report back in a couple of weeeks.

Somebody's telling porkie-pies ...

... it's spring, "they" said.  So how come, this is what I see when I look out of my window this morning?

Where are all the lovely spring flowers like daffodils, and where is the beautiful cherry blossom on the trees?  Come to think of it, I'm still waiting for the crocus and snowdrops, which should have been flowering in January and February.

See why I think someone's not telling me the truth?

Production line ...

Previously, as I worked on my Country Charmer quilt, I have been cutting the fabrics for one block at a time, but today I changed my process.  I've now every single piece cut for all the remaining blocks.  All I have to hope now is that I don't lose any pieces.

Now my legs and back are killing me and I'm looking forward to a night in front of the television with my feet up.

Once upon a time ...

... a long, long time ago, (1943 to be exact) a young sailor in the Merchant Navy, sailed across battle-torn seas, and eventually arrived in Halifax, Novia Scotia.  While he was there, he visited a cafe where he had the most wonderful pie he had ever eaten.

It was called Butterscotch Pie.  He has never forgotten the taste of it but has never seen it or eaten it since.  Now, he wants to eat it again and he has asked his daughter to make him one.

His daughter has never heard of this pie, so she hunted on Google and found a number of recipes, some with meringue on top, some without, but they all seem to be different.  So his daughter, (yes, that'll be me then) who is not a good cook, thought she'd better ask for help.  Please can anyone tell me where I can find the proper recipe for this pie?

I'm boasting ...

...  At Christmas  the Professor (DGS1) took some exams which he would normally take in June 2014 and he got his exam results yesterday:

Chemistry: B
Physics: A
Biology: A*


Of course, he got his brains from me, you understand!

Country Charmer progress ...

Due to circumstances beyond my control (I decided to go down with flu turning to a bronchitis type of thing cos I felt that it was my turn for some sympathy) progress has not been good this month. I have not even been near my sewing machine for two weeks.  Excuses, excuses!

That changed yesterday, and I made another block.  Today I am hoping to get at least two more blocks done.  This month several people have mentioned the "puzzle page" that Lynn has provided with the patterns, so I thought I'd talk about it too.

Here's a picture of it naked, and you can see that all the block pieces are shown.  The idea is that you can then cut the fabric for your block and lay them out on the sheet so you can see what your finished block will look like and also so you can keep track of the 53 pieces that are needed for one block, like this

It is such a clever idea, and I have found it very useful in helping me to decide which fabrics to use where.

Here is a picture of my progress so far.  As you can see, I've still got quite a way to go to catch up with some people, but I will get there eventually.

There are people all over the world making this quilt, called Country Charmer, designed by Lynn from Sew'n Wild Oaks.  You can buy the pattern here, and join us.  This is a very laid back sort of quiltalong, being hosted by Lesley, The Cuddle Quilter and a couple of times a month Lynn is writing a post with some handy hints and tips on things like colour choices, etc, and on the 1st of every month Lesley is holding a Linky party, so do hop over to both of them and see what's going on.  There's a Flickr group too, so as you can see, there's lots of places to go for hints, tips, encouragement and inspiration.  Thanks Lynn and Lesley.

Thank you ...

... Mary Berry.  I followed her recipe for a sponge cake, and look what happened.

For the first time ever, I have produced a Victoria sponge which looks good.  It could almost have been made by my daughter, Mrs Nomad.  Anyone for tea and cake?

Hello again ...

... thank you all so much for the help with my butter. Now I have the answer, I will be able to make all sorts of yummy looking things.  I started by making some Snickerdoodles, using Sunny's mother's recipe, which she kindly sent me.  I took some with me the next day when I went to play with my friends J and F, and we ate them all within a very short space of time, so there are no photos I'm afraid.  They were absolutely delicious, thanks Sunny,

On Saturday I went to a Sew-In day with a fairly new group called the Yorkshire Modern Quilt Guild.  This is a new group, started by my friend QuiltHaze, and a friend of hers, and this was only the second meeting of the group.  There were about 14 of us and it was great fun.  Most people had brought some show and tell items, but guess who forgot her camera?  Still, if you follow the link above, you can see photos there.  Most of the day we all worked on our own projects, chatted and ate cake - one of the members, Liz, brought some delicious cakes for us all.  I made two blocks over the course of the day, and managed to get one of them wrong!  I've shown both of them in the photo though, so you can see how they will go together to make diamonds in the quilt.  Anyone think the fabrics look familiar?

Help needed ...

... I keep seeing yummy looking recipes on the internet, but I have a problem.

Often they tell me that I need a stick of butter.  Here in the UK, we don't use sticks, so I wondered if someone would kindly weigh a stick of butter at some point and let me know the weight either in grams or ounces?

I have tried looking online and different sites tell me different things, which is very confusing and guarantees disastrous results!

By the way, have you noticed the new quilt in my header?  I reluctantly decided that my Crazy Christmas Trees had to be put away now we're in February, but couldn't decide what to replace it with.  Then I realised that February is Valentine month, so I really should have a red quilt.  So what did I do?  Turned Crazy Christmas Trees over!  Simple.  I have a reversible quilt that I am very happy with.  Mind you, It had been like this for several days before Mr Fixit looked at it last night and said "when did you make that quilt?"  It's good to have someone so observant around.

Lucky me ...

... and bad me too.  Over the past couple of months, I have won several giveaways, and received several gifts, and I haven't told you anything about them.  Today I will put that right.

I won this great little wall hanging from Rhonda at QuiltNut Creations.  Rhonda had a giveaway for it, which I did not win.  The winner however did not get in touch with her, so Rhonda re-drew, and this time it was my name that came out of the hat.  I was so happy, cos I had seen it before on her site and absolutely loved it.  I was even thinking of making one myself, and that's saying something, since there's applique involved!  Thank you so much Rhonda.

I have also been lucky enough to win a 6-month membership of The Quilt Show from Sue W Sews.  Sue gave this away to celebrate her birthday, but really, I am enjoying the shows I am seeing so much I feel like it is my birthday instead, thank you Sue.

Speaking of birthdays, it was my birthday recently, as you may remember, and just look what Trudi from Quilting Prolifically gave me.  Loads of gorgeous Christmas fabrics. I have already had some fun in EQ7 playing with ideas for these, and I think I have just the project.  Trudi called in with these, and it was lovely to see her, thank you Trudi.

I received these great kitchen towels from Joanna at Needle, Thread, Happiness recently.  They were a Christmas present but they must have taken the scenic route to get to me, cos they took about 6 weeks.  I think Joanna must have secretly flown over and had a look at my kitchen, otherwise how would she have known that all my "bits 'n bobs" are in red?  Anyway, I've put these away until next Christmas, when they will be brought out, but only for show - they're much too cute to actually use.  You can even see the pretty Christmas card that came with them, thank you Joanna.

Mary from Quilt Hollow sent me this cute little candle mat at Christmas, and I love it.  The colours are just perfect, and it's a wonderful size.  This little cutie has two photos, cos when I took the photo of it in use, I realised that you wouldn't see it properly although I have included that photo too so you can see what a perfect size it is.  Thank you very much Mary, I absolutely love it

There's really no doubt about it, bloggy friends are wonderful, aren't they?

Have you been thinking ...

... I've fallen off the face of the earth?  Well, I am still here, but we have had a sort of medical week, which has kept us a bit busy.

Mr Fixit had to see two different consultants this week, at two different hospitals.  The first one was really good news.  His scans have shown no changes to his pancreas, so no operation is needed, and they don't want to see him again for two years.  The second visit was almost as good, the biopsies following his operation last month have shown there is no cancer, so he has to go back next week for more tests and another scan, then we're hoping this consultant will also tell him to go away.  I have also had two appointments, one for the annual review of prescription drugs that our health service insist on, and one for blood tests as part of my annual diabetes check.  Even Mr Fixit's car got in the medical mood, and was due for it's annual test and service.  So a busy, but very positive week has kept me busy.

Hopefully, now I'll be able to get some sewing done - my Country Charmer blocks are calling me.

Country Charmer, Plan B ...

... or "if at first you don't succeed ..."

    Reading clockwise from top left,  I started with these and I made these, which didn't work, then I added the orange fabric to the mix and I made this, which worked,  followed by this, which worked, sort of.            

Try as I might, I just could not make those lovely fabrics work properly in myquilt.  My friend J came over to play on Monday, and we spent ages crawling round on the floor trying different combinations of the fabrics, different backgrounds, etc, and nothing worked.  We came to the conclusion I had two problems.  The first was that the fabrics did not have enough contrast, which I'd already worked out, but also the scale of the patterns on the fabrics were too large.  We therefore rejected several, and I was left with about three that would work, plus the background, which isn't exactly going to give me much in the way of scrappiness. (I did see the funny side of that, when you consider I wrote a quilt book called "Pick Four").  

So I decided to change direction and try again with my red and blue repro-type fabrics.  So far I've made four blocks.  I am using a plain cream background throughout, (mainly cos I've got a lot of it, so I don't need to buy anything) and have made four blocks so far.

I know we're only supposed to make Section A, but I couldn't do that, I had to see what they looked like as blocks!, Then, I had to see what they looked like as several blocks laid out together.  

I love them, and am having loads of fun with the pattern designed by Lynn at Sew'n Wild Oaks.  

If you want to see other people's posts about their Country Charmer adventures, then hop on over to our QAL hostess, Lesley, The Cuddle Quilter, where there is a Linky party going on.  I think I'm going to call my version "Charming Plan B".

Just as a little PS: I have promised my friend J that if I ever intend to buy fabrics for another scrappy project, I will take her shopping with me!

WHAT did she just tell me?

If I didn't know better, I'd think that Mrs Nomad could not possibly  be my daughter.  Today she was telling me about something that happened that had stressed her out.  So what do you suppose she did to calm herself down? Apparently she got out the Hoover and started vacuuming! That's just not normal is it?

By Jove ...

... I think she's got it!

My first block for the Country Charmer QAL, hosted by Lesley, (see the button on my sidebar) is what I'm on about.

I have had problems with my fabric selection for this quilt, and yesterday, after completely throwing all my toys out of the pram and wailing "I can't do it", my friend Bilbo came to the rescue.  Unfortunately, she lives over 150 miles away, so she didn't physically ride in on her white charger, but telephones and digital cameras are wonderful things.  She talked me through what the problems were, and then it was obvious.

All my fabrics co-ordinate beautifully, but there was no contrast between them, so everything was sort of mooshing (if there is such a word) together.

So then I dragged out some hand-dyed fabrics that I dyed last year plus a bright (very, very bright) orange to throw into the mix.

Photos sent to Bilbo again, and we rejected the green as there was no other hint of green in my fabrics.  The pink and red went next, as they were too similar to the other fabrics - me co-ordinating again, so that left the orange.


At first, I thought I'd use the orange for the chains in the design, but Bilbo persuaded me to try it in the triangles instead and to keep that as a constant through every block.

So if you're still with me, here is my first block, and I LOVE it!

It's not right ...

... is it?

This is the block where I used the squiggly fabric around the centre square.  When I sewed it together, I didn't think it worked after all, so then I made another block going back to Plan A, ie using the background fabric round the centre.

It's definitely better, but it's still not right.  I am thinking that the scale of the pink fabric is too large, apart from the fact that some of the squiggly squares are pointing in the wrong direction.




I think tomorrow I'll try again, and just use the smaller scale patterns.  Or maybe tomorrow I'll try again using completely different fabrics, like the ones I showed the other day.  The trouble is, I really love these fabrics!

Got it ...

I think.

I started playing with fabrics for my Country Charmer quilt today for the quiltalong (see button on my sidebar for more details), and after much taking out and putting back of fabrics, this is what happened

Yes, I like it, but it still needs a little something, so I swapped the plain triangles surrounding the centre piece for something a bit louder

and I love it.  So, decision made.  Not Christmas, not repro, but loud, jazzy, pink, red,yellow and orangey.