Homemade Christmas - Move over Kirsty

This year my sister and I have had a bit of a homemade thing going on - Inspired by Kirsty Allsop and her Homemade Christmas TV programmes last year - we started early.
Helen made chocolate lollies - are they healthy if they have fruit and nuts on them?
I made her a knitting needle case .......
......and the i pinny. It has a special pocket to put her i pod in so she can listen while she cooks.
.....then Peter contributed with homemade chutneys.
I fought back with a knitted Dalek washcloth for Jenny! Exfoliate , exfoliate !!
And finally finishing her knitting on Christmas eve with these man mitts for Michael.
With these lovely gifts I hope I will be inspired to do more next year. And expect some changes to the blog inspired by that Blogging for Bliss book. ( If I ever get time to read it)
After the present opening there was a bit of tidying up to do. But aren't those wellies fab?
Not to mention a huge pile of washing up.
and finally a family portrait with a guest appearance by Auntie Sheila.

Hope you had a Happy Christmas too.

Happy Quilting xx

Christmas is coming

Christmas is coming and the tree is up. It hasn't yet fallen over but one of the sets of lights has gone off. This little ginger bread house is a ceramic decoration.
I like this new decoration I bought when I visited The Busy Bee studio last month.
Over the last couple of years we have gone away from the traditional baubles in favour of decorations that are just a bit different.


The nicest card I have received is this lovely robin from Irene. Good to see she is putting those free motion embroidery skills we learnt from Janet Clare to good use.I can't stop making these quilted hotties. With all this icy weather, I hope they will be well received as presents.
And a Christmas baby, little Harvey David, first grandchild for Kim at The Fat Quarters. Isn't he adorable?

Lastly, this weeks scenic shot is a view over the Tyne at Corbridge, yesterday was crisp and cold but clear and sunny too. A lovely day here when the rest of the country is covered in snow.

Keep warm and Happy Quilting xx

Library pictures

Don't worry , we haven't had any more snow YET, although it is forecast for tomorrow.

I have forgotten to take my camera with me when I went out this week so we don't have many photos to show you. So here are some snowy shots for a couple of weeks ago or library pictures as they say on TV when they have nothing to show us.


On Saturday Jenny and I went to Hexham to the Christmas market. We met Jill from Pixie Peg crafts and bought a Christmas tree decoration from her. I do like to meet other bloggers in person, you can check out here blog here and see the photos I would have taken if only I had remembered my camera.

Then we went out to choose our Christmas tree and still I forgot my camera.


At least I remembered it for class on Friday at the Fat Quarters. Margaret had been stuck indoors for 2 weeks with the snow and has done lots of applique on her Best of Friends quilt. Isn't it lovely?
And all those lovely colours make me think of sunnier weather.

Happy Quilting xx

Meeting Joe

Jenny was lucky enough to be invited to the Gala performance of the new Chronicles of Narnia movie , The voyage of the Dawn Treader and to meet the lovely Joe McElderry. He sings the title theme of the movie. Jenny says he was lovely, lots of time to sign autographs, photos and a cuddle.

Frrrreeeeeezzzing

I don't think I have ever known it so cold as it was on Friday. I went to Hexham on the train - roads too bad for the car. Had to scrape the ice from the inside of the train windows to be able to see the view. ( And that was with the heaters on in the carriage)
I have never been on a train before when the driver had to get out at the station and scrape the windscreen!!


Today it was a bit warmer - a balmy minus nine degrees CA delicious cheese and sun dried tomato scone fresh from the oven was perfect for warming up at The Chare in Hexham.
A little bit of knitting for someone special.

And just to warm us up. A reminder of this fantastic dolphin safari on holiday earlier in the year. At this point I was so hot I could feel the sun burning my legs and didn't know how I could stand it for the next hour or so!!


From one extreme to another , roll on summer.

Happy Quilting xx

And it snowed ....

On Friday there was snow.......On Saturday there was a bit more snow ....
and then there was today !!! We have had about 9 inches of snow overnight. But at least the car park at the office was quiet
and the roads home quiet too.
Ideal for a bit of sewing. When I bought the red ric rac the gentleman in RE where I bought it asked what I was going to make with it. I was just adding it to my stash in case I ever got snowed in and had a ric rac emergency. On Sunday Jenny had just such an emergency when making this Christmas stocking - can you guess Harvey is a dog?
I made yet another Quilted Hottie and Magic tried to run off with it to her hutch.

Happy Quilting xx

Something beginning with R

Something Beginning with R is the theme for a fancy dress party Jenny is going to in a couple of weeks. Unfortunately we are living with the box in the middle of the dining table until then.
The dining table also doubles up as my sewing table as it is too cold to sew in the conservatory in the winter. This is what has been on my sewing table this week. Another Quilted Hottie ...
....And another ...
and another apron.. a birthday present for Janet... as seen in last week's sneak preview.

And this weeks scenic shot is Prudhoe Castle taken through the autumn leaves a couple of weeks ago. Today it has been so wet and dark - not a day for the camera and SNOW is forecast- Oh No.

Happy Quilting xx
and another apron.. a birthday present for Janet.

Can you guess what it is yet?

Can you guess what it is yet? When I visited my DS last week I was intrigued to guess what on earth she was knitting.
...............................................A lovely pair of mittens ready for winter!!

.............................But last Saturday was a lovely Autumn day down by the river. Warm in the sunshine but cold in the shade!

.....................................................and those autumn colours!!


On Sunday we visited Helen again at Busy bees studio Christmas open day.

The trouble with going to Busy Bees is the congestion on the access road. These two adorable calves were causing a jam on the track down to the farm.


.................................................And lots of irresistible Christmas goodies.

.................................................And I have been doing a little bit of sewing.


Now I'm off to watch Kirsty's Homemade Home on Channel 4 - she's doing patchwork tonight.

Happy Quilting xx