Knitting and stitching show Harrogate

Didn't we have a lovely time the day we went to .... Harrogate. My first visit to the Knitting and Stitching show at Harrogate this weekend was a treat. Early on Friday morning we braved a snow shower to set off on our bus trip. This was the first year I had been and was armed with a list, comfy shoes, lots of bags, paracetamol and plenty of money. In great company at the back of the bus we chatted all the way there.

The show was really busy with lots of exhibitors, loads of knitting stalls, patchwork and quilting, notions, needlework of every description and exhibits form the local Art school degree course.
There were other strange things too such as this crochet coral reef.


It was good to look out for old friends Louise on the Woolfish stand, there for the first time.

And to meet new people too, Debbie from Letters tied with Blue on the Fat Quarters stand

We also saw local Yorkshire lass, Philippa Naylor, well known for her vivid contemporary quilts.

Lots of the visitors were seasoned exhibition goers, ready to fight tooth and nail for what they want. Particularly seats in the restaurant. Margaret lost out on seats in the coffee shop as the winner was armed with a stick. Having finally secured her seat she is not letting anyone have it!!

Having tried to keep up with Margaret all day Janet and I were just pleased to sit down!! She shops at the same speed as she quilts !!

I got nothing on my list but still managed to get plenty of bits and pieces.

Tea at Betty's was a much more civilised affair but the 3 hour journey home was a bit of an ordeal.

Saturday and Sunday I was still recovering but did find time to sew another apron. The pocket is still a work in progress.

Scenic Christmas Shopping

Decided this weekend I must get on with some Christmas shopping. On Friday night we went to the Metro centre. It was awful - so on Saturday we went off on a different track, Christmas shopping in Corbridge. The weather was mild and sunny so we enjoyed the walk across the bridge into the village. There aren't many places where you can find scenery like this to accompany your shopping.

In the village we had a lovely lunch and were able to get everything we had on our list. The only down side was the walk back across the bridge carrying all the parcels.

On Friday I started on the stitchery for the Friends Needle case. The fabric, Durham quilting collection by Lecien, is so lovely I bought another metre off the bolt. I think it will be another apron, watch this space.

Jenny has completed another of her crazy patchwork bags. This one for a friend who is crazy about frogs. The fabric is fab, Creatures and Critters by Amy Schimler and we didn't want to cover up the frogs, hence the small patchwork piece. We are getting quicker making the bags now, this one only took about an hour to stitch.

Finally this afternoon the weather was dry and sunny again so we set off to Ryton to walk by the river and check out the exhibits at The Christmas Art Tour at Ryton community centre. It was good to chat to Trish Turnbull who taught us how to do clippy and proggy mats at the Herb Patch a few weeks ago. We also enjoyed meeting Janet Rogers of crushed chilli who told us all about her hand made contemporary stained glass.
Happy Quilting xx

Bloggers come visiting

Its always great fun to meet up with other bloggers and those you know who read your blog and leave comments. Therefore it was super to meet up with Mandy on Friday at The Fat Quarters. Here to stay with her mum Margaret for the weekend, she came to share in the fun of the Friday afternoon class. Don't know why I didn't take a photo of you both. Thanks for the comments Mandy.

However this week's prize for the most beautiful quilt goes to Irene . She has worked hard on this lovely Be Attitudes Art to Heart design by Nancy Halvorsen, the applique is so neat and its beautifully quilted by hand too. A wonderful gift for her granddaughter who just couldn't wait and slept under it with the quilt pins still in it.


This is Irene's favourite block - look at that cute button nose.

And this is my favourite. The colours are gorgeous for a little girl too.



My efforts this week are poor by comparison, lots of machine stitching got the first of the Christmas aprons finished. The name is covered just in case she looks in.

Happy Quilting xx

More Koalas from Melly and Me

Bonzer and Beaut are finished. As the leaves have all fallen from the apple tree they have moved into this pot plant in the dining room where I guess they are going to set up home for the winter. If they breed successfully I will have to open an etsy shop to sell off the babies, watch this space.

The next project from the Fat Quarters club was out last week, The Friends Needle Case from Rosalie Quinlan designs is lovely. On the finished sample Kim has in the shop, Rosalie's stitches are so small and neat, I don't know that mine will look the same. She uses a product I haven't seen before , Weaveline, it is an iron on backing to give the stitchery more stability and to hide all the knots and threads. I have found that stitching through a backing of wadding keeps the stitches neater but it is sometimes too bulky, so I am looking forward to trying it.

Leanne Beasley also recommends using iron on Weaveline on the back of the stitchery pocket for the Apron Strings pattern. Unfortunately I had started before I knew Kim was stocking it so I have used iron on Vilene. It is nice to sit all cosy on these dark damp nights doing a bit of hand sewing, just wish I could keep my stitches neater, any handy hints?
I can only show a snip of this because it is a Christmas present.

And finally, our Halloween picture, a bit belated. jenny and her friends decided they were too big to go trick or treating and so had a Halloween sleepover. We still had lots of little trick or treaters to our door, By 5.45pm we had run out of sweets so we took down the decorations, put out all the lights and went out. Spoil sports!!

Happy Quilting xx