Twister Complete

K and I met up for coffee and a blether yesterday afternoon after a particularly difficult week for us both.  It was good to relax and chat, share concerns and woes and talk of quilty things, drink coffee, eat biscuits and enjoy a little time for ourselves.

The quilting of the twister quilts is now finished so I can now share my photos.  As I have said before this was a particularly fun quilt to make and I loved everything about it.  The pattern and fabrics were chosen way back in the spring in Cochrane and the piecing of the top and back was done in Canmore.  I brought it back home to sandwich together and that's when, as usual, I got myself stuck.  It all lay for a while as I mulled around different ideas for quilting.  I had thought about taking it to the longarm quilter but I hadn't left the obligatory 6ins all around on the backing.  One evening I laid it all out again and the inspiration I needed came to me.  So here it is all done! 

I may still add a few more smaller circles but I will leave it be for now. K was spurred on by my jibe in my last post and she has made a fantastic job of her quilting and as I said more adventurous than mine.

Our quilt group is having a little outing next week to Kaleidoscope so I'm looking forward to some quilty retail therapy and fun choosing fabrics with others.  We have rather large appliqué project in mind for the class next session and although we all agreed on making it I think there are a few having second thoughts.   

Mark II of Squaring the Circle is sandwiched and quilted so just about on target to get it finished this week.  I'll have to give it another name though as there are no circles in this quilt!

Until next time enjoy your long days and hopefully a little crafting too.

A Small Finish

The weekend has gone by quickly again and a very pleasant one it was.  The gardening jobs were done, grass cut, plants planted and most of the dreaded weeds have gone until the next batch sprout forth.  Time spent in the summerhouse was lovely and relaxing drinking coffee and watching and listening to the birds.  

I don't feel as though I have been very productive sewing wise recently however I have managed to get through quite a few items which have been lingering on my to do list of household chores, so I feel good.  I have also gone though some boxes of photographs.  The sorting process has begun but it will be a long one and time runs off with you when you are sorting and eats into your day.  It's difficult to know the best way to organise this huge task, I think a little at a time in small batches is necessary.  One thing I do wish is that dates and places and even names had been put on these old photos.

I did manage a bright and cheery finish this week a little I-spy quilt for the Linus Project it only measures about 28 inches square but I think it will be ideal for a little one to enjoy.  

 

 

 

What do you think?

 

A Gift of Caring - A Lovely Lady

I met a lovely lady last night for the first time who has a wonderful gift.  The gift of caring. We have spoken a number of times over the past year but I was so pleased to finally meet up.  T nursed Mum last year, she is one of a wonderful team of Marie Curie nurses who devote not only their working hours but many of these ladies fundraise for the charity and help others in need of care outwith their nursing hours.

Whilst clearing out aunt's house the family felt quite a lot of the household items could be used and given to charity.  As well as being a MC nurse, T helps people who have nothing, or very little, set up house and add to their meagre possessions.  I delivered a number of boxes to her last night full of linens, towels, crockery, cutlery and kitchen goods. She was delighted.  

I also delivered these. five quilts which I have made over the last few months.  These will be used specifically for Marie Curie either in fundraising events or as a little comfort for people like Mum.  As the anniversary of Mum's death draws closer I hope she would be pleased that I have managed to help in a very, very small way.



Crazy Paving

 




Lavender Lane

Limes Leaves and Lovehearts

 

Churning it Up - 15 Minutes of Play



Baby Blue

 



Twister is finished but I don't have a photo yet.  I will not reveal this one until K has finished hers.  I know her quilting design will be much more detailed than mine but I don't want to influence her in any way.  This has been a great project which I really loved doing.  The little bright Linus quilt is almost finished too it just needs one edge of the binding to be stitched and a label.

It's great that the sun has been shining this week - I may manage to sit in the garden today and finish off that binding!

Jersey

Back home to grey skies and drizzle after an absolutely stunning week in Jersey.  I don't think we have ever had such good weather on holiday.  Eight days of constant sun on our backs and long evenings sitting in the garden.  We had such a relaxing holiday and our batteries are recharged for now.  We caught up with old friends and visited our old haunts, we thought we knew the island reasonably well but discovered an area which we had obviously missed on previous visits.

 

 

 

We had hoped to bring some sunshine home with us and get in to our garden to do a bit of weeding and planting however not to be at the moment.  I hope it dries up later.  Today the washing machine will be working overtime instead.

I am looking forward to my sewing again in the evenings understandably nothing was done while I was away other than my knitting and even that was limited.  I am knitting a blanket of squares - Rowan Mystery Afghan, a weekly pattern which is published on their website.  I thought this would be in ideal holiday piece, a change from socks, and it will knit up nicely into a blanket to keep someone cosy.  I have only managed four squares so far so I've got a lot more to do.

Where are We?

Off on our journeys again!  Enjoying a short break on a beautiful island a short hop from home.  An island to which we were regular visitors when the boys were small.  We spent many memorable summer holidays here. Elder son learned to kayak and Techie learned to swim in the outdoor pool at the hotel.  Wonderful times full of happy memories.

We haven't been here for so many years but I feel as though it was yesterday.  All our familiar places just the same - some small changes here and there but on the whole the island remains as friendly, sunny and warm as ever in more ways than one. I think though the roads and lanes appear to have become narrower but then maybe it's my memory playing tricks on me.

We spent this evening down on one of the beaches where the boys spent many many happy hours, paddling and playing in the rock pools - it's still idyllic.  Only one other person playing on the beach with her dog then a group of kayakers paddled around the headland.  Just perfect!

As you can imagine no quilting getting done this week.  I do have my knitting with me and my hexis though.  I'm not sure if there is a quilting/fabric shop on the island. I will have to look into that - just in case we get a rainy day.  I hope the sun is shining for you this week. 

Wet, Damp and Dull

What an uninspiring title for a blog post - sorry I'm in need of some inspiration here.  

What a miserable wet day it has been here today.  Not what it should be in June - the garden looks thoroughly miserable and all the little new fledglings look somewhat bedraggled.  It has been raining all day and it is still drumming on the skylight window in the hall as I write this.

More hand stitching was done on the binding of Twister this week and I quickly pieced together a Linus top yesterday afternoon as a sample piece to show one of our novice quilters at class.  I had hoped I might manage to sandwich it together tonight but I ended up doing other things.

It's one of these evenings though which would have been ideal to sit in front of the television under a cosy quilt and stitch the rest of that binding but that didn't happen either.  Well tomorrow is another day, hopefully it won't be quite as wet as I have lots to do in the morning.

Hope your week is as busy as mine but you can manage to get more time than me to relax and do what you like to do, be it drinking coffee, gardening, stitchery, knitting or crafting of any kind.