SSCS 2011

For whatever reason I have been unable to access my blog for a few days ( I think DH has been fiddling with settings on our server though he is admitting nothing - lol )

So I have been unable to show my bounty from Chookyblues annual swap.  Don't worry though I sent a thankyou email on Boxing Day to my partner Deb for my wonderful goodies.  Here's what I received

All I can say is - how fantastic !!  Such lovely items - gorgeous fabrics and beautifully stitched.  I feel very lucky indeed. 

Close-up of  " Mary " - even down to the little painted shoes.

Was well worth waiting til Christmas Day for... Thanks Deb xxx

And here's what I sent to my partner Tracey

Machine pieced and hand quilted Mini.

Scrappy zipped bag and hand knitted welsh wool hat.

Little felt tree ornament.

What a great swap yet again.  Many thanks to Chooky - she is taking some well-deserved time off to herself just now and who can blame her - can you imagine how many hours she has put into organising this ?

I was going to end the year by listing my UFO's but that was too much like hard work.  For now I am simply saying I will NOT start anything in January and work on some of my many WIP's.  I just could not resist joining in with the quilt-a-long on Jeanne's blog. I do not plan on making one a day though as I know I will never keep that up so will probably just stop when I've had enough.  I am making mine a bit bigger too - 5 inches.  I have re-drafted the block and made plastic templates and have been going through my scraps tracing out the little pieces.  I have quite a few ready to go.  Was a bit naughty and stitched one up just to test it out.  Which was a good thing as I had stitched the door unit and window units together wrongly - silly me.  Have re-done this now...

so technically as this block is done the project is now officially not a January start - haha - have I convinced you ?

Have a very Happy New Year folks and look forward to seeing what crafty goodness 2012 brings !!!

A lovely package

Hurray - my SSCS parcel arrived a few days ago ( been meaning to post but my DH has "man-flu" and we all know how that goes - lol ).

The main present is tucked away safely for Christmas Day but I was allowed to open this

A cute gift in itself.  Inside was this very sweet little bag.

What a beauty - lovely, lovely, lovely !!

I am debating whether to snoop around Chooky's blog to see who my partner is but I think I will wait and see til I am allowed to open the card that came with the gift.

Thanks mystery partner - I look forward to opening my pressie - not long now.....

The best laid plans...

Now my SSCS is off on it's long journey ( 3 days before the deadline I'll have you know - lol ) I cast my eyes around my sewing area in search of something to do. Remember those half square triangles from last but one post ?

I have been working on those and decided to make 35 blocks for a 5 by 7 setting.  I did not have enough little units for these so have spent quite a bit of time making more.  Added some side strips and here are 2 blocks.

Was going great guns when I realised I had mis-calculated and only made 34 blocks.  Decided to call it a day and make the last block the next morning before sewing them altogether. However next morning I was checking my blog list and came across this tutorial....What fun this looked - haha

Casting my mind around I remembered a pile of fabrics I had put together when I was unable to sew due to my back injury.  These were all fabrics that I loved but would they actually go together ?  I think my painkillers were at work when I put these together in a basket as there was quite a lot of clashing - lol !  Oh well - I would either love it or hate it and so off I went.

I have spent a very enjoyable Saturday afternoon making my blocks and have 12 all ready to go.  Funny thing - I showed Jason a few together and his very words were " It's a bit busy love "  haha - great fun this quilting business.

See you soon xx

IF . . .

If I were a more organised person....


If I didn't leave things until last minute...


If I didn't change my mind at the drop of a hat....


...... I would now be busy cutting and sewing quarter square little-bitty blocks for Bonnies new mystery quilt - Orca Bay...


Instead I am stitching my fingers to the bone finishing my SSCS gifts for my partner.  I can hear Chooky cracking her whip.  I have never been late for a swap before and don't intend to start now.  I'm sooo nearly there....just a bit more to go and then - the mystery beckons - lol !!


Hope you all have a nice weekend.  Any more SSCS participants doing the last minute thing ??

A special quilt.

Here is some of my secret sewing which a secret no more.  Let me show you what I used some of my precious stash of Bliss fabric for.

I have been blogging for 6 years or so and in that time have made lots of wonderful friendships - they may be with people I have yet to meet - someday - but are none the less special for that.  One of these has been with Karol-Ann and over the years we have swapped many emails along with fabric, gifts for each other and our children and so on.  We have nearly got to meet several times but not quite managed it - I'm sure we'll get there in the end - lol !  Anyway Karol-Ann was recently very clever and gave birth to a beautiful baby girl ( actually on my birthday ) and so I wanted to make a quilt for her.  Karol-Ann and I both share a love of hexagons ( her rose hexagon quilt is stunning ) and so it was the obvious choice.  Here it is

and a close-up.

Hand and machine pieced and mainly hand quilted - the border was machine quilted though as I ran out of time and we all know babies wait for no-one !! 

I had the most lovely thankyou email which I have saved.  Karol-Ann has posted pictures on her blog of the little lady herself wrapped in my quilt which made it all worthwhile.  What a little beauty she is - bless.

More secret sewing has been going on but this I can't reveal yet as it it for my SSCS - almost done which is a good thing as mailing time is almost here.

My latest project is going to involve a bag of leftover half square triangles which yesterday looked like this

stay tuned for this - I have a plan.

And also today I bumped into my oldest friend ( we met on the first day of school when we were 4 years old )  She had a baby girl last year - also coincidentally born on my birthday - whose name is Charlotte.  She was born when my back pain was really bad and so I never got around to making her anything.  Obviously that will have to be rectified too - best get busy.

Take care xx

A new start

to regular posting I hope.....

First up the winer of my birthday giveaway was number 6 ( random number generated ) and that turned out to be Mereth - which is serendipity as we actually share a birthday.  Please send me your address and I'll have a wander up to the post office.

As I have a lot to get through I think I will add a bit at a time and show you what I did yesterday.  Occasionally I dabble in a bit of cross stitch - a while back I finished a little piece and it had sat in a box for ages.  I was out in town yesterday and came across a place selling frames.  I bought one with the intention of getting this cross stitch in the frame even though I couldn't remember the size.  Really I was just hoping it would fit and hurray - it did !

A couple of weeks ago I was inspired by Lucy at attic24 to pick up my crochet hook and start a rippley blanket.  Now my quilts are normally scrappy but for this blanket I chose just 3 colours and started.  I bought a couple of balls of each colour just to see if I liked it.  I loved it and here's where the saga began.
Jess ( my daughter ) went back to the shop for me 2 days later to get some more for me ( as she was close by ) and could only get 2 colours as the other one was now out of stock.
No problem - I went online and ordered more.  The website stated it was in stock and would be despatched the next working day.  As I ordered it on a Saturday night I was expecting it to arrive no later than Wednesday.  After the postman had been - with no sign of my wool - I gave them a ring.  They said they were out of stock of one of the colours ( nice of them to tell me ) but would send the rest.  The out of stock colour would be in 2 days later and would follow.
The first parcel arrived with what they had and yes it was the same colour missing.
So I phoned a place where I get my fabric ( Abakhan Fabrics ) and they said they had the whole range in stock.  So off I went in my car to discover that actually they were out of just one colour - guess which one it was .......... Unbelievable.
  The online shop still has not sent the rest of my order after another week and are not answering my emails. Just marvellous.  Anyway here is where I've come to a halt on this...This isWendy Sorrento yarn and is a cotton/acrylic mix and is so soft and gorgeous.

And here is the other one I started out of sheer frustration.  This is using the lovely design Lucy is using..

This one will be a present for my son Patrick who feels the cold as he is so skinny ( more meat on a butchers pencil )

I have enough wool for this one so have learned my lesson - lol !

And after my disappointment with the Bliss fabric I have been tracking a bit of it down - here's my haul so far.

Well that's enough for now - more to come later in the week xxxx

I'll be back later in the week to show you what I've been up to in my absence.  May do lots of little posts because I've been flitting about like mad - bit of this, bit of that and lots of stash enhancement. 

 On my travels I picked up these nice feedsack repro fat quarters and bought them to giveaway on here as it's my birthday today and I wanted to say thanks for coming here to read my posts.  Over the last year I have not been as committed to my blog as I was for the first few years - this was mainly due to my back injury.  Although it is still not quite 100% it is so much better now and I'm feeling a bit more like my old self. 

So if you want these leave me a comment and I'll pick a winner on Wednesday night.  I will also post anywhere xxxxx

The fabrics are much nicer than the photo - had to take it with my phone as my camera is playing up.........