Needlecase swap

A little while ago I joined a Yahoo group organised by Kathleen Tracy. She is the owner of several lovely books dedicated to making small quilts. Just as I joined there was the starting up of a needlecase swap and of course I signed up. My partner was Donna ( no blog ) and this is what I received.

And here it is opened up showing all the lovely pockets.

Donna told me she was quite a new quilter and was a little nervous about doing this but as you can see she had no need to worry as it is just brilliant. It is in use already as I took it to a workshop last week with all my bits and bobs in it. Thanks Donna. She also included some little extras - scissors, needles and fabric but I don't have a photo for some reason.

Anyway here is what I sent to Donna.

She requested modern fabrics which stumped me a little as I don't really do trendy stuff but anyway this is what I came up with. I tried to do modern with traditional and so turned to paper pieced hexagons and then hand quilted it.

Here it is inside.

I also chucked in some extra pieces of the fabrics I'd used for Donna to do with what she liked.

This was a nice swap - no pressure and I've also made a new friend as Donna is a lovely lady and we are keeping in touch.

Thanks for all your encouraging comments on my last post. I just don't seem to be able to get time to reply and that makes me feel a bit guilty. My DD is quite poorly at the moment and I am a bit side-tracked I suppose. Hopefully she is on the mend now - fingers crossed xxx

A few finishes

My poor neglected blog - lol ! The more I thought to update the busier I seemed to become and my blog suffered. I am going to try my best this next week to get up to date and see how I go. I must admit I have toyed with the idea of finishing blogging - I am into my fifth year now - and just don't seem to have the enthusiasm I once had for it. For now I am going to carry on and have a think about it.

Anyway here is my cross stitch picture all finished.

And here it is after having it professionally framed. I haven't done a lot of cross stitch really so I am beyond thrilled with how it's turned out. This photo looks a bit light - the top one is truer.


It is called Midnight Moggies and was great fun to stitch. You may know I am a cat lover and have 3 real fur babies of my own. I have a spot on the wall lined up for this - just need some bits for fixing as it weighs a lot and is quite big. I think it took the best part of a year on and off but I'm glad I perservered. My last big cross stitch took about 10 years so a definite improvement - lol.

Next up my Mum asked me to make a baby quilt for a neighbour's grand-daughter. With no plan in mind I raided my pink fabrics along with a bit of green and cut some rectangles. Which I turned into this ( or rather 3 of them )




Added some white as the pink was just too MUCH pink ! And hey presto

A shot of my very boring machine quilting - the usual meander and swirly stuff in the sashing. I really enjoyed doing this braid design - grows like mad and before you know it you have a huge long strip. Good fun !

Onto baby quilt number 2. I wanted to use this as I've never had one before.



Bit fiddly cutting all the odd size strips equally but after adding a few of my own fabrics it came out like this.

Awful photo I know - think I need a new camera as mine is old now.

Close-up of some of the cute fabrics. Lollipop by Moda. Really simple straight line quilting on this one. I also discovered when working on this that I far prefer to sew with pre-washed fabric. The first thing I normally do when I buy fabric is wash it but I know many of you don't. Personally I don't really like cutting and sewing the unwashed stuff. Just my preference.




I have a few more things to show but blogger seems to be playing up a little. I'll just show you what I spent a couple of hours doing yesterday.




Removing papers and tacking from a whole quilt that I want to get ready for hand-quilting. Going to piece the backing over the weekend and get going on that next week.

have a nice weekend - we are supposed to have glorious sunshine xx

Stitching away

I am currently stitching my fingers away trying to finish a cross stitch picture so if I'm quiet for a while you'll know why. I have shown this before on my blog and the last time it looked like this.









I have done loads since and the end is in sight. I haven't done an awful lot of cross stitch - think I'm too impatient as it's very slow going - lol ! I would like to have this finished as soon as possible as I have lots of hand work lined up.







For a bit of fun I have entered a quilt into the weekly Quilting Gallery Competition Click the link to see all the quilts.













I have entered my olympic Challenge quilt which has appearred on here several times. It was hand-pieced during the Olympic Games in 2008 and contained a piece of every fabric in my stash at the time. I'm sure if I did the same again now it would make a far bigger quilt - lol ! Think my stash has grown somewhat since then :-)

I have never done this before and I am just hoping I will not be last in the voting - argghh - lol !!




With a bit of luck I will be able to show you my completed cross stitch next time. I have lots to show you too but am trying to limit my computer time to get this done. Fingers crossed

A well overdue catch-up post coming up.
I am feeling so much better due to a combination of decent painkillers and physiotherapy - can't wait to get proper back to normal. I have actually managed to get some quilting done but first want to re-cap over my other stuff that I have done whilst my back/leg was really bad.

First up a little knitting. Couple of baby cardigans and a hat for DD Jess's boyfriends new little brother due to be born tomorrow ( Easter Sunday )



This is a really pretty lilac cotton yarn ( not photographed terribly well ) This went to my friend Julies new grand-daughter ( Amber Lily - who I made the little wall quilt for )



A crochet UFO that had been hanging around for a while with about a half-hours work left on it. DD Jess is now the owner of this.



A new crochet project started - this was one I could do when I was flat out on my back. The instructions for this came from Attic24 blog. Not sure of the exact address as it's on my other pc but you will find it if you google it. She has some lovely tutorials on here and it is the only crochet blog ( amongst hundreds of quilting ones ) that I read.




Just using up some odds and ends of a cheapie acrylic yarn for this. I would love to do it again some time with some soft cotton. But haven't got too far with this yet. Think I have 35 hexies done. I will know how big this will finish when I run out of yarn - lol ! Haven't worked on this for a while but feel in the mood to do a few more since I pulled it out of the bag to take a photo.

What's next ???? Oh yes...

Bought a new metal tumbler template to try out and was very brave and decided to cut into my precious Japanese fabrics.

Only a small quilt this - doll size. Really enjoyed it as I had not done sewing on my machine for a while.

Pressed seams open for a change and they lay lovely and flat.

Trimmed and bordered..

This has been hand quilted now - I will show you soon.

A forgotten about cat block was dug out and had the stitching finished off. A couple of little borders added and this is ready for quilting. Might layer this up later and have it ready to take to my Quilt Group.

And lastly for now - you may know that applique is not my friend. I love the look of it but am not too good at it. This year I want to do more using different methods to see what I like the best. I don't mind machine applique but really want to do more hand work. So I made a few basket blocks using a freezer paper method. They came out ok but after 14 blocks I'd had enough. These will NOT become a big quilt - lol ! Maybe a bag or wall-hanging !

Well I've run out of time and I wanted to tell you about a little swap I've been involved in and a giveaway I've won but that will have to wait.

Hope you all have a great Easter - we have a busy couple of days ahead but I'm hoping to find a bit of stitchy-time here and there...

Take care xx

A finish !

I actually completed this a couple of weeks back but am just now getting round to showing you. It has appearred on my blog in various stages of completion but is now D.O.N.E - hurray.

First of all I quilted in the ditch with invisible thread but decided I wanted to add some hand-quilting. If you click these pictures you can see some detail. Please remember some of this quilting was done when I was flat on my back with this slipped disc so be gentle with me - lol !

I think I will put a hanging sleeve on this and find a spot for it somewhere - not sure where yet.

For anyone interested it is called Log Cabin Sampler by Bareroots. It measures 34 by 38inches.

I have quite a bit of stuff to show and will try to catch up over the next few days. I have been very unsettled and done lots of bits and pieces here and there - you will see what I mean soon :-)

I only have a few minutes here so will quickly show a little bag I made for Floss as a little giveaway thing from a while back.

And here is a lovely little surprise I received from Karol-Ann for guessing how many 4-patches she made before attending a workshop with Bonnie Hunter ( lucky girl ).

Now that's the sort of post I like to receive - great fun ! Of course the very delicious bar of chocolate is long gone . . .

One last thing - I received an email a while back from Pameladownunder who I would love to answer but unfortunately is no-reply. If you are reading this Pamela perhaps you could email me again with your email addy so I can answer you.

Next post will be a proper mish-mash I assure you - need to take some photos.

See you soon xx

A bit sad

I have been doing quite a lot of sewing lately ( I am now on Morphine tablets which although not ideal in the long term are bloody marvellous at taking some of the pain away until things improve ) but I am not showing you what I've been doing just yet as I want to tell you all of something very thought provoking that happened to me this week.

I attend a small quilt group every Tuesday night and although I hadn't been for a while - with these new pills I have been feeling so much better I managed to get there last week and the week before.

Anyway we had visitors on Tuesday night - a couple of ladies from a locallish quilt group selling fabric. You see one of their members sadly died just after Christmas and this fabric belonged to her. When she passed away her husband did not know what to do with all her stuff and was actually going to dump it all in the land fill site. Her friends came to the rescue and decided they would sell it for her and then her family would donate the proceeds to charity.

When they were due to come on Tuesday we knew these friends had already been to a few venues and had held a sale in a church hall so we were not expecting too much. Well when they arrived we were all absolutely staggered by the sheer quantity of fabric they brought in. I wished I'd had my camera - it was amazing. The ladies told us that this was only about a QUARTER of what they'd started with !!!!

The lady who'd died had also had 5 sewing machines, cutting mats galore and anything else you could think of to do with quilting but many of them. I think she was a compulsive buyer.

I obviously bought some fabric and I kept thinking how sad it was that she never got to use this fabric although of course it was good that at least it would be bought by quilters who would love it and use it to make beautiful quilts with. What a shame it would have been for it all to be dumped.

It certainly made me think about how much fabric we own. My stash is a good size but really I could see how it could so easily get out of control. Before this I was thinking I would try and use more from my stash this year and this has seconded it.

Here's what I got

To date her friends have sold over £8,000 worth of quilting stuff - I think that's about $13,000

Makes you think doesn't it ?

Simple is good.

No I haven't forgotten my blog- just I am still having nerve trouble with my wretched leg. It is getting sooo painful now nearly all day long. At the moment I can stand or lie down ( quite uncomfortable ) but am literally unable to sit- at all !! If it can be done standing or lying then great I'm fine but sitting is out of the equation. I am awaiting physiotherapy but my doctor has told me there is a 3 month wait for that. Last week I was sent for x-rays just to make sure it is nothing worse than a trapped nerve. My husband had to drive me to the hospital while I gritted my teeth and slumped in the passenger seat.

About 2 minutes from the hospital my mobile phone rang. It was my son Patricks school to say he had been involved in an accident at lunchtime. He was fine but was missing a couple of teeth !!!! Whaaaaattt ???? Apparently he had been drinking a can of Pepsi and another boy had killed a ball at him ( completely by accident ) the ball hit the can - the can hit Patricks mouth with some force and this is the result.

An emergency trip to the dentist for a lovely session of root canal work. Because the teeth snapped at gum line my dentist believes the roots will be strong but obviously he will have to have work to build up on what he's got. I'm completely gutted as of course they are his adult teeth and he hasn't had them long. I have always nagged both my kids to clean and look after their teeth - they will thank me in the long run. All those times they used to say they were too tired to do them at night and would give them an extra clean in the morning just didn't wash with me !! Anyway with a bit of luck Patrick will be happy with his false ones and it could have been a lot worse.

After all the drama - I cancelled the x-ray that day and went the next - I was really in the mood for some nice stress-free simple sewing. My friends little boy was having his second birthday the week after and I decided to make him a quilt for his new big-boy bed.

I started with a few I-spy squares that I had cut out a while ago.

There are 20 here but I managed to find another 4 for a 4 by 6 layout.

His bedroom has just been re-decorated in red and blue so I picked some nice bright ones from my stash to frame each block. I also used a bit of this for the inner border.

If you can't see the selvedge it is marked 2003. this pre-dates my quilting days as I think I started the following year. This is probably one of the first fabrics I bought then.

Here is a close-up of some of the fabrics

And here is the finished quilt.

It turned out good and even the quilting went well. Straight line quilting in the blocks and a swirly border. Isn't it nice when it all works out fine with no hiccups ( or hiccoughs - lol ). This quilt was very well received by young Ewan and his parents. I hope he has fun with it - spotting all the different things.

One last thing - whilst sorting out my photos I came across this picture that I don't think I've shown. It was an orphan block that I quilted and made into a cushion as a gift for an elderly couple that DH Jason has as his customers. He took it to them for Christmas and it has pride of place on their sofa I believe.

Well off to pop a few more pills - I am so trying not to moan about all this and I'm sure once I get moving on the physio I will see some improvement There are a lot of folk far worse off than me. I have also ordered a DVD from Amazon called Pilates for people with Back Pain. I'll give that a go too.

I also have something else to show you but have no photos yet so that will be for next time.

Bye for now xxx