Thursday 28 January 2010

Some say .. He shouldn't be allowed to bake cakes


January is a very busy birthday month in our house

The Stig dropped by with a birthday cake for Michael.And I got a late present in the post all the way from Mandy in Switzerland. A lovely knitting bag. I am very impressed with the machine embroidered name on it. Mandy is a regular anonymous commenter on the blog and it was great to hear from her.This is Margaret's latest quilt. Margaret is Mandy's mother and a prolific quilt maker. It was inspired by Lynne Edwards sampler quilt books with a couple of additions.The Celtic knot block is Margaret's favourite.
This is our favourite block.
And the 4th edition of the tangled star block. The first three nearly drove her mad and all went in the bin.This is my latest project - a Linus quilt made from all the black and white scraps from other peoples quilts.
And my next project, the Star Pin cushion from Rosalie Quinlan's A Stitch in Time book.

Photos all the right way up this week. My Adobe photoshop has turned into Nero photoshop somehow but I have conquered it.

Happy Quilting xx

Saturday 16 January 2010

Another Year Older

Since we last me, we have had more snow...
And I have had a birthday....
I got lots and lots of lovely presents...
Knitting was definitely a theme and this week my DS and I joined a knitting group. I got some lovely flowers and jewellery too. Thank you all for the fabulous presents and the cards too.
I have finished the table runner for my aunt and uncle to celebrate their golden wedding. The scalloped border was a bit of a challenge but I managed, although it doesn't lie very smooth. I didn't quilt in the borders, perhaps this is why. After I had finished it, I found an episode of Quilt in a Day when Eleanor Burns showed us how to do a scalloped border, she measured carefully then got out a special ruler, curved in shape and measured in equal curves ...I used a cereal bowl to draw around!!


And finally , for Mandy, here is the full picture of the cushion I made for the caravaning branch of the family Down Under. The pattern came from A Family Album by Annie Downs of Hatched and Patched.

Sorry but there has been a technical hitch which means some of the photos are sideways today. Haven't a clue why and don't know how to put it right , please just put your head on one side and bear with me.

Happy quilting xx

Friday 1 January 2010

Snowy New Year

Let it snow Let it snow Let it snow. The new year blew in with a blanket of snow. Everywhere was white.


This was the view from my bedroom window when I opened the curtains this morning.
This post box looks like it has just stepped of a Christmas card with its topping of snow.
The riverside looks lovely too.
Just the weather for a new scarf. I started this over a year ago when I bought the yarn from Louise at Woolfish. Despite the gold thread in the yarn it was a bit boring until I saw a scarf in a book decorated with buttons and here we go - my own version. Tassels wouldn't have been right and I didn't have enough yarn for pom poms.

This lovely dolly was my gift from Secret Santa at the quilters Christmas party. I can't show you the photos - they were so bad I think you would all sue me. The sewing goodies have already come in useful. The off white embroidery cotton I am using to quilt the table runner below.

Made from one of the petite four pre cut packs I bought a couple of months ago , I got the pattern from the Moda bakeshop website. It is going to have a scalloped edge so wait and see how that progresses. The Moda bakeshop website is worth a look for free patterns all made with moda fabrics and precuts.

Wrap up warm and have a happy and healthy New Year.

Happy quilting xx