Mojo is Back!

Well it seems I'm not the only one to have lost my quilty mojo.  Sometimes it's very difficult to get motivated when life is difficult.  Family always comes first but it's so difficult to get the balance just right. Everyone has their times of difficulties to overcome and we all have our different ways of working through them.  K came to the rescue again!  We have both had a difficult few weeks and last Saturday we had a day of therapy. A new, exciting, different for us, project in hand, we set off to Kaleidoscope for some fun.  A day of looking, playing and choosing fabrics.  I needed two sets of backing for projects which had been lying for a long time.  Anyway I digress.  

First stop coffee and scones as usual in Dobbies Garden Centre, yummy!  A trot across the car park to the delights of the fabric shop.  Susan was very welcoming as always and our plan was put into play.   I quickly chose my backing fabrics, a nice batik for the Oakshott Interlocking squares and a Moda Marble wide backing for Toes in the Sand (no it's not finished yet!).

The Two Backing Fabrics

Interlocking Squares - almost done just to finish the binding

Our joint project is a Craftsy Class, one K has had for a while, and desperate to start - I was not convinced - seemed a bit complicated and fiddly but I agreed we should make a start to it and hopefully my uncertainty would be banished.  We choose appropriate fabrics - K gave me that look - not green again?  Ok it was put back.  Choice no 2 was approved! We had a look at the books too and I made a purchase - lots of inspiration here and food for thought for the next project.

The second choice - burnt orange and grey. -  I love crackle fabric

A most enjoyable time and of course lots of encouragement to tackle a new project and blow away the dark clouds looming over us.  Here are some of my purchases.

Lunch at the Tickled Trout rounded off our day.

We agreed to make a start to this new project yesterday.  I cleared my diningroom and turned it into a mini classroom.  What a buzz.  We spent the first 2 hours planning, cutting and chatting.  A quick lunch and then the sewing machines started humming.  We did get a bit bored sewing strips so decided to call it a day and finish them off as homework.  

Progress so far

Hopefully my mojo is back to stay, I really enjoyed my sewing day yesterday and it's so nice to have a buddy to encourage you and push you to get things going.  So if you ever feel in a rut, find a buddy to sew with and embark on something new.  Thanks again K, you are a star!

As time creeps up on us and November is almost gone I hope you are looking forward to the festive season taking time to spend with family and friends and of course finishing off all those crafty Christmas gifts.

Another Hectic Week

Dad has now been discharged from hospital and seems to be on the mend.  It's been a very busy week visiting hospital each day which coincided with the worst November weather, cold, wet and windy. The surprising phonecall from the hospital telling me he was ready to come home and I could come to collect him on Thursday morning was a bit of a shock to me.  His house was not quite ready for him coming home but we managed to get everything back in place, his bed made up and the shopping done.  I think this UTI has been working on Dad for a wee while, but the antibiotics seem to have cleared it all up.   Today he was bright cheery and moving around much better than before.

I am in dire need of quilting inspiration - I have lost my mojo as they say and need a new project to make me think and get the grey matter working again.  I still have a few WIPs lying around but not quite so many.  I really need to find the opportunity to take a photo of my Disappearing Pinwheel Churndash which was completed last week to let you all see.

This week I didn't think I would make the quilting class due to hospital visiting but.......thankfully I managed to get there in time to take part in the tutorial Chris had organised for us.  Now as you all may know I'm a topper, a piecer,  a quilter and not a bag maker.  I don't think I have ever made a bag, this was a tutorial on making the One Hour Fabric Basket.  This uses the new fusible Bosal R form double sided fusible stabiliser.  Interesting stuff to use and I'm sure there will be plenty of uses for it found by the class.  I didn't quite manage to get it finished in the hour but I did finish it the following evening - I knew if I didn't finish it it would lie in the bundle of WIPs.  However little grandson now has a basket at grannie's house, to put his cars and books in.  I am sure it will find lots of uses over the years.

I hope you all have a quiet relaxing week - I certainly hoping mine won't be as hectic.

Sorry

Apologies for not posting last week and no sewing news today either.  Last weekend was rather hectic to say the least.  Dad became unwell and was admitted to hospital on Sunday evening.  He is responding well to antibiotics and hopefully it won't be too long before he is on the mend.  

Needless to say there has been no sewing done, naturally I have been spending most of my time visiting Dad in the evenings as no visiting was allowed in that particular ward in the afternoons.  He has now been transferred to another ward and life is not quite as manic.  I have managed a few late evenings after visiting trying to switch off, sitting under my Autumn churndash pinwheel quilt sewing on the binding.  Very relaxing after very busy days.  I know we are not out of the woods yet but I'm hopeful things will continue to improve this week and I might just get another quilt sandwiched.  No photos I'm afraid - maybe next week. 

No Sewing This Week

Gosh where is this year running away to - I cannot believe it's November already.  I hope you all had fun last night - don't gorge yourself on all the sweets, apples and peanuts left over from the guisers.  We had a quiet night, not my favourite night of the year and thankfully the children have all grown up and no longer come around trick and treating.  I did have just three of my pumpkins and gourds on display in the hall though.  Hubby brings them from the market mid October and they bring a nice bright splash of colour to the house 

.......... they usually last right through till Christmas until it's time for the festive decorations.  We will be counting down soon I guess.

As it says on the label no sewing this week but as I sit typing this I realise that's a lie.  I finished sewing down the binding of my Racing Minis at class on Tuesday night!  This is a bright easy and very simple pattern, the top has been finished for ages and has been waiting to be quilted.  All done now and will be a good teenage boys gift.  It's quite a big one measuring roughly  50 X 70ins

I did also manage to sandwich another of the tops sitting in the bundle waiting for the final push to completion.  This one first appeared here way back on the 1st of August!

It's another biggish one for me around 70 X 70 which was pieced with the practice blocks for a tutorial I gave at class.  This is another Missouri Star pinwheel design which used up a lot of my autumnal scraps.  The sashing background strips are Kona espresso and sets off the blocks quite nicely.  Sorry not a great photo.  The backing for this one has been pieced with lots of biggish scraps too - I had gathered a lot of brownish fabrics from my early days of fabric collecting so I took the opportunity to use them up in this very autumnal quilt.  Now the next challenge (always an issue for me) is to decide on the quilting.  Again watch this space!

It's a beautiful day today the sun is shining and making the Autumn colours glow.  It's been a challenging and very busy week for me and I know it's been a difficult week for my friends and family too.  As we start another busy new week hopefully you will find a little down time for yourself to sit and sew, craft or read or indeed just time to stop and look at the lovely colours of nature before they fade for the winter.