No comment ....

Him: Darling, do you need help?

Her: Yes dear, you see that bag of potatoes?  Would you peel half and put them in the saucepan please?

What can I say?

(A friend sent this to my husband, but there is no credit so I don't know where it originated, sorry.)

Hexies and runners ...

... yesterday I spent the day at Scrappy's and the intention was to eat, chat and sew.  Well we did the first two items on the agenda, but the sewing didn't happen somehow.  By the time we'd had coffee and cake, chatted and compared quilty purchases we'd made since last time we got together, it was time to eat again. This time it was lunch, which was a wonderful pasta dish with salad (very good for us) and yummy home-made bread (maybe not quite so good for us as the salad?) Then we decided to sew.  Well that was a mistake.  I was going to finish some applique prep work and then actually start putting it together, but ... I had forgotten my little applique iron and felt that using a full size iron was just a recipe for burnt fingers.  Scrappy meanwhile was busy making a Heartfire block - yes, I seem to have passed on my love of that pattern - until she realised she'd just cut and sewn a strip that was 1/8" too narrow.  Out came the seam ripper and we both decided we weren't meant to sew that day.

Anyway, here's a picture of her hexies so far.  The picture quality isn't great cos I was taking them with my phone, but I think you get the idea. Aren't they wonderful?

This next photo is of a wallhanging she's making.  The pieces were cut using the Go cutter and in real life the colours are much more vibrant. I absolutely love this.  Do you think she'd notice if I "borrowed" it when it's finished?

Thank you ...

.. Woww, thank you, I now have enough volunteers to act as pattern testers.  I have been gobsmacked by how generous everyone has been with their time.  Blogging friends really are great.  Now I must stop playing on the computer and go and get writing.

Help wanted ...

I need one or two willing and unpaid volunteers who would be willing to test a couple of patterns for me.  

A friend wants to sell them in her pop-ip shop and obviously I am thrilled at the idea, but there is a snag. The designs have never been written up as patterns as I just drew them up in EQ7 and then made them up as I went along, so this is where I am hoping a couple of you might step in to the breach.  Is there anyone out there who would be willing to test the patterns for me? My friend Scrappy has already volunteered, but I can't expect her to do everything.  

The two designs are Red Sprinkles and Wimbledon Squares and could both be done from jelly rolls, FQs or even scraps from your hoards.  Both quilts are quite simple to make, and the main requirement is that you would need to be able to set to work quite quickly.

 

Happy Valentines day ...

... and Happy Anniversary to Mr Fixit and I.

Handy Household Hint ....

... number something or other.

I don't know about you, but whenever I buy stuff from the supermarket, I always put the new stuff behind the old, to make sure I use it in order.

Well, it's just occurred to me that I don't really need to do that with toilet paper!  Doh!!  I've been carefully doing that for years.

Red and White ...

... Inspired by the Red and White Quilt exhibition in New York a few years back, and also by the EQ challenge, SewCalGal is holding a Year of Red and White Quilt Challenges during 2014.  You can follow the link here to read all about it.

Between 3 Feb and 9 Feb, she is hosting a linky party called Show It where people are invited to show any red and white quilts they have which were made prior to 2014 and you know me, I can never resist an invitation to a party, so I thought I'd join in.

This quilt is called Red Sprinkles and I apologise to my regular visitors who have seen it before.

I designed this quilt using EQ7 during 2013 and used some red fat quarters I had bought a few years earlier when I was on holiday in New England. It measures about 50" x 72".  Originally it was going to be larger, but then I realised that I did not have enough of the border fabric for a larger quilt. See, that's what happens when I buy fabric just 'cos I like it - it's much safer to design the quilt first, and then buy the fabric. I (or rather Big Bertha) quilted it using a sort of bubbly pattern with a variegated red/purple/gold thread and here is a close up so you can see the thread I hope.

I was going to show you my Snowmen quilt next.  This is a redwork quilt which I made a couple of years ago, but would you believe I cant find any photos of it, nor can I find the actual quilt, but I can show you a picture of it as I was assembling it,

I wonder which cupboard I've tidied that into?  

Thinking of redwork, there is this one too

Finally, I was going to show my Red Rings (formerly known as Red Wreaths, and before that known as Christmas Wreaths,) but I realised there were two problems with that one.  Firstly, the border is not just red and white and secondly I finished it just last week, so I cant. I did blog about it a couple of posts back though.)

Today is ...

... 2 February, which means that it is Candlemas Day here in the UK and Groundhog day in the US.

According to folklore here

 If Candlemas Day be clear and bright, winter will have another bite

and also

If Candlemas Day be dry and fair, half of winter's to come and mair

It's also Groundhog Day and US tradition says that if a groundhog peeps out of his burrow and sees his shadow then he'll go back into his home and winter will continue for another six weeks.




Uh oh, when I look out of the window, I see blue skies with some little fluffy white clouds - not good.

FF, FFF, and ...

...  an NS.

No, despite what the title of this post might suggest, I haven't gone completely nutty, I just liked all the alliteration.  So the title could have read Finally Finished (quilt), Finally Finished (flimsy) and a New Start, all of which I thought I'd show you now.

 So, first up is my Finally Finished quilt

     

I started this quilt in June 2011 and made it during our Christmas Quiltalong days that year. It is based on the pattern Over and Under from Scrap Basket Sensations by Kim Brackett .  I did not achieve my aim of having it ready for Christmas of 2011 and nor was it ready by Christmas 2012 or even Christmas 2013.  Why?  Well, first let me explain that I have an interesting approach to tidying up the house when I need to. What I do is I gather up things that need to be put away, and walk around and open up a cupboard as I pass, (almost any cupboard will do,) and as long as the "thing" fits in fairly easily, that's where I put it.  That means that I don't always find things easily later on of course, but that's another matter altogether.  Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I opened a cupboard, took a couple of things out, and there, in front of me, was this quilt, which I had completely forgotten about.  I pulled it out and discovered that all I needed to do to finish it was hand sew two sides of the binding down and bury all the ends.  So that's what I have done during the past few evenings.  I have renamed it Red Wreaths and it is adorning a chair in the living room now.

Next is my Finally Finished Flimsy

 This is my version of the Big Stars quilt that Missouri Star Quilt Company designed and showed as a tutorial on YouTube, here.  I started this quilt last year during the summer, before I went on holiday.  When I came home again, I had the pattern for Heartfire and a bundle of fabrics which were calling (shouting actually) to me, so I started that quilt instead.  I must say that before I pulled out Big Stars again last week, I decided I didn't like it so I was just going to use some of the blocks and make a throw instead of a king sized bed quilt.  However I changed my mind when I found that I had already made ten of the twelve stars I needed, so I got on with them, added the sashing, and finished it.  The photo is not very good cos I put it on the bed but couldn't really get far enough back to get the whole thing in the picture.  I am very glad I finished it though, and now it's in the box with Heartfire, Country Charmer and several other flimsies all waiting till I get Big Bertha out to work her quilting magic on them, and that may happen after ...

My New Start

becomes an FFF.

Yesterday I had a lovely day with my friend Scrappy.  She came over for the day, and brought a couple of dies to use on my Go! cutter, so she spent a lot of time cutting out leaves, pumpkins and acorns.  I had also shown her my Heartfire and she loved the hexie blocks, so she has now ordered the pattern for that, and then we also saw a bag pattern that we both liked, so that's on order too.  She also brought some yummy flapjack with her and a delicious lemon cake, and I am ashamed to say that we were so busy having fun that I did not take one single photo!

Heartfire ...

... is now a finished flimsy.

I decided to just go with one border, in the red tone on tone, as you can see, but I was worried that the red might be a bit overpowering, so I thought it'd be a good idea to put another, smaller hexagon block in each corner.  

When I had that bright idea, I didn't think it through very well.  How do you turn a 5" hexagon into a 6" square?  (The answer is :with difficulty and quite a bit of waste of fabric by the way.)  After several false attempts, I did it by adding oversized 60 degree triangles to four sides, then cutting them down to a 6" width and adding strips to the other two sides.  It may have taken me a whole day, and a lot of fabric to do it, but I think it was well worth it.  

Now all I have to do is decide how to quilt it.  Any suggestions anyone?

She's already a star ....

.... but soon she's going to be an even bigger star.  Who?  Why Lovely Lynn from Sew'n Wild Oaks of course.

Lynn is going to be appearing on The Quilt Show talking about her Patchwork Math system. If you haven't heard of it, Lynn has produced a reference manual, called Patchwork Math,

which contains all the basic equations for making various components (ie HST's, square in a square, etc) and also for changing sizes so you could design your own blocks easily.

She taught this class for the first time at the Quilting in the Garden show last summer and Alex Anderson got to hear about it.  Lynn was teaching this class again last Saturday and Alex Anderson herself sat in to see how it could fit into a segment of the show.  I rather think Lynn had butterflies (or flying geese as Naughty Nancy said) but she obviously did a great job cos it's now official and the news can be shared - pheww, keeping this secret has not been easy.  Lynn will be filmed in June of this year, but the show won't go out until 2015.  That gives you plenty of time to make sure your subscription to the show is up to date so you don't miss Lynn becoming a great big STAR.
Congratulations Lynn, this is a well-deserved recognition, and I couldn't be happier for you.

Ha, flipping Ha ...

... it was my birthday the other day and I got 2 cards I thought I'd share with you

The first one, from my father, but chosen by my daughter said

You know you're getting older when

• Your shoes get more and more sensible
• You don't tick the first age group box in questionnaires
•  You'll pay anything for a pot of anti-wrinkle cream
• Your mirror refuses to lie
• Your natural hair colour is only available in a bottle
• You can put weight on just thinking about chocolate
• Hangovers last 3 days
• By the time you're ready to go out, it's time to come home again 

Thanks Dad, and Mrs Nomad.

The second card was from my son and said

Mum had just read so much about the terrible effects of both chocolate and alcohol that she immediately decided to give up reading.

Thanks Son.

 I share my birthday with Chatterbox, so on Sunday we all went out for lunch.  I had asked the restaurant to arrange a birthday cake, which they did.  At the appropriate moment, ALL the waiting staff processed through, with one of the waiters carrying a cake with a huge sparkler and they were all singing Happy Birthday and then almost all the diners joined in too.  How to embarrass a 12 year old.

Sorry Chatterbox.

My clever friend ...

... previously referred to on here as Mrs Flummery, but known to Amazon regulars as a reviewer called Ignite, has just had her first book published. Here's what Amazon have to say about her

Kath Middleton is no stranger to the writing world, having had several of her short stories published in anthologies and many of her drabbles published online and in 'Beyond 100 Drabbles', a collaborative book alongside author Jonathan Hill. 'Ravenfold' is Kath's first foray into longer fiction, a book which she describes as mediaeval noir. Her many hobbies and interests include reading, gardening, geology, archaeology, patchwork and quilting, and keeping chickens. And, of course, she continues to write. Watch this space!

(Confession:  I copied this picture from Amazon without their permission.  Hope they don't mind.)

I haven't read it yet, as I am reliably informed by someone who knows (ie the author herself) that it probably isn't my sort of thing, but you can click here if you would like to know more.

Disclaimer:  I've not been paid to write nice things about Kath, or her book, but it's never too late Kath!

My New Year's resolution should be ...

... to listen to myself.

Why do I say that?

Well, do you remember these

which then became these

Well, yesterday they became these

and today they are becoming these

In other words, when I started adding the connecting triangles I did worry that the fabric was too busy. After joining the whole top together, something was not right. The blocks weren't standing out the way they did when I had them on the design wall.  

Christmas was coming though, so the whole thing got put away and then a couple of nights ago I had a Eureka moment when I realised what the problem was.  When the blocks were sitting on the design wall looking beautiful, they were on a plain white background, and using a print as I then did, was completely wrong for me.  

So I then spent 24 hours or so wondering if I was going to leave well alone, or if I was going to take the whole thing apart and start again with a different background.  

Now I know me well enough to know that if I was not happy but went ahead and finished the quilt, I would then bury it at the back of a cupboard and never use it, which would have been such a shame when I loved the design so much.  So, out came the stitch ripper, and I set to and unsewed the whole thing.  I am now starting to put it all together again with my favourite Kona Snow, which I love for backgrounds, and I am a very happy person again. So maybe, just maybe, next time I am doubtful about something, I will listen to myself before going too far?  

Hmm, maybe, but then again .....

PS Any one have any bright ideas about what to do with about eighty 60degree triangles?

To all my friends ...

Happy Christmas ...

 . . . to all my friends

Now, the party's over ...

.... and I guess that today is the wrap-up post for the 2013 Christmas Quiltalong and Challenge.  Boohoo.

Happy Hazel and Jolly Jo have been the most wonderful hostesses this year, and have given us lots of fun each month as they invited us to join them.  There have been games, party foods, drinks and even some competitions and I'm sure you would like to join me in saying thank you to them both as we put away our party hats and streamers.

Thanks too, to everyone who joined in the challenge I set this year.  I have enjoyed seeing the quilts that people came up with.  and if anyone missed them, you can go here to see the entries.  As I promised, I asked Mr Random to select a winner from among the entries and he chose

and number 8 is .............

Sunny

Congratulations Sunny, and thank you all again for taking part in the challenge.

Music ...

Here's some traditional Christmas music to listen to while you are browsing through the great Christmas Challenge entries, which you can find here.

Just in case "traditional" isn't your favourite, here's a very new Christmas song, that will bring back memories to those of us who were either kids in the 80s (I wish) or parents of the kids of the 80s.

Christmas QAL & Challenge

It's here.  It's now.  What is it?  It's the Grand Parade of Christmas Challenge quilts we've all been working on this year.  You know, that easy-peasy challenge that someone dreamed up to make a small Christmas quilt without using red or green. Well, today's the day to show the world your creations by simply linking up  here:


You can link your entry up to the end of Monday 16 December, and on Tuesday I will use Mr Random Generator to choose an entry to win a prize.  It's easy to do this.  Just write a post about your quilt, you know, things like how you made it, where the idea came from, etc, and put your blog address in the link so we can all come and visit and admire your quilt.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go out as I am due to stand outside one of our large supermarkets for a few hours, with a collection tin in my hand.  I'm hoping the festive shoppers will feel generous and put lots of money in to help our local hospice.  I'll be back at lunch time, and will link up my own entry then.

Scrappy's Christmas Challenge

This is my friend Scrappy's entry into the Christmas Challenge.  I'm posting it on my blog, as she does not yet have a blog of her own.

Anyway, as soon as she heard the details of the Challenge, an idea popped into her head, and this is the result.  Her vision was a gift box bursting open with all sorts of sewing items flying out, and who wouldn't love a Christmas box just like this one?

This is a completely original design idea, with Google helping her to find a picture of a box that she could base her design on, and the gifts are all applique, embroidery, etc, all embellished with buttons.  Here are a couple of close ups - I have to say, I love the books.  Wonder why?

I can't remember the exact dimensions of the quilt, but I was there when Scrappy cut the background fabric, so I can assure you that it is well within the size restrictions somebody set for this challenge.

I think this is a brilliant entry.