Shades of green

Girls on tour - a little bit of pre-match training

Trying out the scrummage machine on the indoor crumb

The beautifully manicured pitch prior to the onslaught

A London Irish shirt amid a row of yellow

The victors heading over to thank their faithful supporters

The delightful and talented Mr Kennedy looking earnestly for someone - sadly not me :o)

('or me' adds the daughter)

Another photo of himself, just because - well why not?

Another day dawns on the beauty of Welsh Bicknor

The tranquility of a country church

Early morning sun lights up a humble nettle

The Forest of Dean in all its glory

Matching nail varnish from the afternoon's opposition

And gum shield to tone - all the best dressed rugby players sport them you know

Funky tour socks on a less pristine surface - well there were some green ones in there




And finally the humble beginnings of quilt - maternity leave beckons for someone - better get my skates on

And back to something more quilty........

When my attention was drawn to this by Clare at Dordogne Quilter I thought what a lovely idea

But which quilt to choose - although not as prolific as some I have made a good number of quilts over the past 12 years or so

Each one I make tends to be my favourite at that moment in time

But I guess the first really big quilt I ever finished will probably be my all-time favourite

It was a wedding present for my brother about four and a half years ago

I asked him if he'd like a quilt for his wedding present and he reacted with enthusiasm

Knowing of his love of celtic knotwork made the design type a bit of a no-brainer

However his original colour choice of red knotwork on a cream background scared the life out of me, and him when I explained just how unpredictable red fabrics can be on washing

So we chatted round a few ideas and decided to go for cream knotwork on a pastel ground

108" square and three years later - the result..........

I have blogged about this quilt before - some time ago now - and here is my write-up about it at the time:

These two pictures show the quilt I made for my brother and sister-in-law for their wedding present in October 2004.

It measures 108" square and was machine pieced in space dyed cotton (some dyed by me and some bought in) with yards and yards of cream coloured home made bias celtic knotwork.

It took three years to make in all and I worked on it in three different countries. In the middle of its construction I had a serious illness which kept me off work for over five months and working on the coloured square blocks around the edges kept me sane - not to mention that, without that gift of time to work on it when I was fit for nothing else, I probably wouldn't have completed it on time.

The celtic knotwork is all hand appliqued and I wouldn't mind having a pound for each inch of it - I'd be one very rich girl!

The photos are taken in our local church as I didn't have a large enough floor area to lay it out otherwise.

Once I'd completed it I felt that strange feeling you have when your baby is born that you're not pregnant any more - a real anti-climax.

Sadly my sister-in-law's ideas on decor didn't fit at all well with my brother's choice for the quilt and, as it doesn't comply with with her choices of cream and taupe, it has stayed in a cupboard for it's entire life and never seen the light of day

In hindsight I should have asked her - but never mind, who knows, when the current fashion for safe neutrals eventually fades maybe she might bring it out of hibernation

This close up shows a little more clearly all the knotwork that went into it - every single inch was made of home-made bias tubing and every inch appliqued by hand. Each of those pink, lilac and blue outer postage stamp type squares set into the pale green border measures 12" square - so from that you can guess there is some yardage of tubing

My only real regret is that I quilted it in an allover lines and swirls type pattern which completely disregarded the knotwork - although I did include in that freestyle quilting their names and the date of their wedding

Should I have the opportunity to relive the process I would use the skills I've acquired in the subsequent years and probably quilt it to complement the knotwork

However it's been a treat for me to revisit it and I hope you've enjoyed it too

England rocks!

Well if she never gets another game of rugby in (which obviously isn't likely) nobody can take away from her the fact that she's run onto a pitch sporting the white shirt and red rose of England - and it was the first pitch at the Exeter Chiefs ground which, while it's not Twickenham, is still an honour as rugby clubs are notorious for relegating their female teams to practice pitches in case they mess up the grass for the big boys!

Mind you as the shirts are the same type of fabric and construction as the current vogue for men's stretch fitted shirts I can't say they're particularly flattering - here she is on the left with two of her Taunton team-mates who look even less comfortable in their shirts

I'll gloss over the fact that the England Colleges squad were stuffed by the RFUW National Talent Development Group squad 52 points to Nil

Although I will just drop in the nugget of information that the RFUW wanted to draft her in to play for the opposition but her coaching mentor suggested that, as her parents (you know The Bank of Anne and Nigel) had paid £300 for her playing fees for England Colleges, she should be given the chance to wear that white shirt with pride

Sarah, being Sarah, played the entire 80 minutes at 110% effort - the first quarter in her natural position of flanker and the latter 60 minutes at INSIDE CENTRE! (a position she has never played in her life but actually looked pretty handy at) to cover for injury and the coaching staff's poor bench selection.

Fortunately the match was recorded for the RFUW so her efforts will be seen and probably analysed at length and hopefully stand her in good stead for the future plus her mentor will be able to point out just how much of the match she played out of position. I may sound like a biased mother here but she certainly looked a class above virtually all of her team mates.

However she is now nursing a very sore knee so it's lots of R & R to ready herself for our club Tour weekend on 25th/26th April when, among other things, we'll take in a premiership match at Sixways between Worcester Warriors and London Irish (will be thinking of you Mrs M) and then of course the next two England Colleges matches against the seriously stiff opposition of Welsh Colleges away on 1st May and at home a week later on 8th of May

Mum on the other hand has managed to fit in a little stitching - here's a hint - more to come.............

Such proud parents

What a weekend!

Ok so before we get down to the details firstly let me thank everyone for their kind emails about my arthritis

My doctor has given me some tablets which seem to be starting to do the trick - long may that continue

The four children in my house (and I include the 48 year old male in that grouping deliberately) have eased off slightly on the squabbling - again long may that continue

And finally I've broken up for two weeks for the Easter break so the work pressure's off me at least for a little while.

I'm not in sewing mode yet - can't seem to find something to inspire me - although I have lots of things I could be getting on with but just don't feel like it

So I'm pottering - giving the house a once-over as it feels like it's not been touched for months and I might fit in a little freezer stocking these holidays too

So back to the weekend

Sarah had been selected to represent the South West Colleges squad along with four more girls from Taunton plus others from several Sixth Form Colleges in the south west of England.

They were to participate in the British Colleges National Championships at Loughborough University

So she set off on Friday morning on one of a fleet of minibuses carrying students from her college who would play a variety of sports from cross country, through basketball, hockey, trampolining and tennis to swimming, badminton and rugby to name just a few.

All in all, over 2000 kids between 16 and 19 years of age took part in what is essentially the 'Olympic Games' for 6th Form Colleges in the UK

We followed later in the day once Nigel had finished work and we'd broken up from school for Easter

The kids all participated in a grand opening ceremony on the Friday evening and then the sporting events got down to business on the Saturday

Despite Loughborough Uni being a huge campus quite a few of the events had to take place off site and the mens' and ladies' rugby took place at Welbeck College, a military 6th form college just south of the town.

As one would expect from a military establishment the pitches were immaculate - like a bowling green and a real pleasure and privilege to play on - although I have to say that as our taxes were paying for the facility it was nice to get something back from the government for once.

The girls had five games through the day and the medal positions were decided on a 'number of wins' basis with points difference acting as the tie-breaker if necessary

Although the championships had previously been made up of just English regions, lately a Welsh and a Scottish squad have participated and as you would expect the Welsh ladies rugby team (essentially a national side) was a force to be reckoned with.

Much to her delight and to our pride Sarah was selected to be captain

Our girls only lost one of their games, against the Welsh side, and drew another against a strong East region side from SEEVIC college in Essex

This meant that our girls' last game, which also happened to be the final game of the day, was a nail biting decider.

The Welsh team had been unbeaten throughout the day so were guaranteed the gold medal but we went into that final game against West Midlands on the basis that a win would give our girls the silver medal but a losing outcome would put them in fourth place.

The 12 minutes each half playing a fast paced tens game (ten players on each side) seemed like an eternity as every time we scored a try the opposition answered with one of theirs. Fortunately all our tries were grounded under the posts which made the conversion kicks almost a formality, whereas the opposition tries were kept out in the corners and they didn't manage to convert any of theirs.

When they went one try ahead of us, with still 5 minutes to go, the score board almost levelled at 21-20 to us and our hearts were in our mouths as our girls defended as if their lives depended on it for the final phases of play

I don't honestly know what was strongest when the final whistle blew - the relief in the hearts of the spectators or the joy in the hearts of the players

So here are the silver medallist squad (Sarah is at the left hand end of the centre row)

The five girls from our rugby club (with Sarah far left) striking that ever-familiar 'Where's the beach' pose

A very happy bunny who's just been dowsed by her team-mates

And finally our girl receiving her medal at the awards ceremony yesterday.

A wonderful experience all round.

Now onto her first match for the England Colleges squad on Wednesday 15th April playing on the first pitch at the Exeter Chiefs ground at Sandy Park, Exeter - bring it on!!!

A bit of a hiatus

Things are a little strange at Chez Bebbs at present or should that read strained



The girls did so well at the rugby the other weekend - third from the whole country - the best result the SWS U18s have ever attained - and they were beaten in the semi-finals by the eventual champions so every reason to be proud of their achievements



But the usual air of busy contentment at home is sadly lacking at the moment:



I'm currently playing 'piggy in the middle' between all the other four members of the household who seem to argue constantly in any combination - usual father v teenager stuff, but seriously wearing me down



The insurance company are playing fast and loose over the accident - we are being falsely accused of creating a very small mark on the hire car we were provided with and now we are fighting a bill of £250 - what a scam!



The accident, although minor in personal physical terms, seems to have knocked me sideways somewhat - I just can't get the 'but it wasn't my fault' whinge out of my head every time I think about it and it seems to be having a somewhat disproportionately detrimental effect on my own personal feelings of wellbeing



To top all this off the arthritis I've suffered with for years in my fingers has flared up quite alarmingly in both my fingers and more worryingly my hands, wrists, elbows, knees and feet - they are sore even when at rest, driving is difficult, writing is painful and many other things are unpleasantly too uncomfortable to contemplate



The net result of this is - yes you've guessed it - not much stitching happening right now



This then means, in real terms:- Anne + no stitching = not a very happy bunny! My stitching is usually my sanity saver - the thing I bury myself in to cope with life's other unpleasantries.



I have a doctor's appointment this evening - maybe he can do something to alleviate the pain in my joints



Only time will tell..............

Oh for a return to stitching tranquility eh?

The weekend to come.................

I'm so sorry everyone searching for quilty content - this posting will be unashamedly non-quilting!

On Saturday and Sunday the great and the good of girls' rugby will congregate in a small Staffordshire town of Lichfield for the National Championships

Sarah, as a member of the U18s squad for the South West South region will play her matches on Sunday, the U15s on the day before.

The weekend is a culmination of the year leading up to it.........................

The disgusting freezing horizontal hail

The glorious sunshine

The faithful supporters

And on this Sunday......

Balls will be presented

Tackles made

Conversions will be kicked

Scrummages will be pushed with all their might

There may be boredom for some of the camp followers

There may even be a little eye candy for the more discerning ladies on the sidelines - although sadly this particular yellow shorted coach will be with the U15s on the other day - sob!

And ultimately, win or lose, that glorious cry of "Where's the beach? will ring around the club

and the girls will have had a ball!

I never needed................

justification for my hobby of patchwork and quilting.

The fact that it keeps me sane is good enough for me.

But here we are in black and white.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7896441.stm

The BBC website claims that participating in a hobby like making a patchwork quilt delays the onset of dementia.

Well that's good enough for me chaps :o)

Mixed blessings

Another hectic and not always pleasant couple of weeks...........


These are some beautiful flowers I received on Wednesday - a rare occurrence in this house as my husband is not a flower person under any circumstances.


However these were from his boss - wishing me a speedy recovery from what could have been a very nasty car accident last Tuesday


As I was heading to work another car left the roundabout I was slowing down to join, crossed the grassy central reservation taking out several road signs on the way and hit me on my front passenger corner eventually coming to rest about 20 yards behind me.

Amazingly both of us got out of our vehicles and walked away.

Luckily I was taking a different route that morning or else I would have been in the lane to the left of me and taken the impact head on which would have been altogether more serious.

Fortunately I was only sore and very shocked and have lived to tell the tale which is more than can be said for my poor car - but at least you can replace a vehicle and we hope it will be mendable. It has knocked my driving confidence somewhat though.

Onto stitching...............................

In and amongst the madness that has been car accident, flat completion, work, family and general busyness I've slotted in some stitching for others -

A handful of red and white blocks for Clare for her Leukaemia quilts

And a block for Tracey for an Australian lady who has lost everything in the terrible bushfires

By comparison what's a little car accident eh? I should get these posted off towards the end of this week once we've completed 'Operation Move the Outlaws!' - wish me luck!

Much excitement at Chez Bebbs

I've got quite a bit of stitching done this week in and amongst the taxi-driving

I've appliqued an entire panel of sunflowers for the garden quilt - this is the back of a recycled man's shirt so you can see how big these flowers are.

Plus I'm having a play at a surprise for a friend who lives a little further afield.

Sarah has spent plenty of time in the car this week.

Tuesday evening saw me taking her up to Bristol for her TDG (Talent Development Group) rugby training.

Nigel drove her over to Northampton on Friday for her England Colleges trial.

I took her down to Plymouth for Regional training again yesterday - she's subsequently heard she's in the starting 15 for the first Regional match next Sunday which is exciting enough.

But the most delightful news this week is that she has been selected for the England Colleges squad. She is the youngest in the squad at only 16 years and 7 months and because of this will not be able to play all the matches especially those against the older opposition teams.

But I know she will be so proud to pull on that white shirt (incidentally this isn't Sarah but a member of the existing England Ladies team - the picture is courtesy of the RFU website).

It's not quite her ultimate ambition - that is to play for England Ladies at Twickenham - but another big step along the way...................... and all in spite of that thumb :o)))

Woohoo the painting's finished!!!

We spent a good proportion of Saturday painting and got to within spitting distance of that wonderful light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.

Then, bless his little cotton socks, while I was driving Sarah the 85 miles to Plymouth and back again for her Regional trials, Nigel went back in on his own and completed the job.

What a hero!

On top of that, to cap the day nicely, Sarah has been selected for Regional again this year - despite her broken thumb earlier in the season.

She is one happy girl now getting ever so slightly nervous about England Colleges trials this weekend over in Northampton.

The other girls from the college will go up for the two day session early on Friday morning.

Unfortunately Sarah has a totally unmissable chemistry practical exam scheduled for 1.30pm on Friday afternoon. So good old Daddy is taking half a day holiday on Friday to take her up straight after the exam. She has been assured that only participating in one of the two days won't disadvantage her in the selection process. Another £50 on petrol though - can't even begin to think what our carbon footprint must be like.

I've managed a little more applique for the garden quilt.

I started the hollyhocks and got as far as two tall straight stalks - they're now sitting patiently for me to look at a few hollyhock pictures and decide how large the leaves and flowers have to be plus how to place them - work still in planning that one.

However I managed a couple of toadstools

An apple and a pear - coincidentally the symbols for the counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire, two English counties we just happen to have close links with.

And three flitting butterflies

Just a handful of blocks to add to the pot - or should that be potting shed :o)

Tonight I'm playing with some sunflowers and then I really ought to return to those hollyhocks but there's a watering can in my head just calling my name.

Three very different applique pieces

I've been fitting bits of applique in this week between everything else

Nigel has been over to the flat a couple of times but without me - tonight I drew the taxi service straw as Nick had football training.

I've worked four full days this week too - year end is creeping up on us and we have the added delight of nurturing in a new accounts package County wide - whichever clown decided to schedule that around year end really ought to be shot - the person's probably on 5 times my salary too!

But back to stitching..................

I promised to show the finished baby quilt top

and here it is - a little on the pale and delicate side but pretty for a little girl - I already have a blue one finished for the alternative eventuality.

Then completely different - an African style design for a block for the birthday swap - reverse applique this time - the black fabric is behind the orange. The blue borders are authentic fabric from South Africa just to complete the ensemble. I haven't done any reverse applique for quite a while - I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it.

And last but not least the hollyhocks had to move over for the quick fix of a row of apples - still for the garden quilt but an easy speedy contribution - the hollyhocks may well be next although there may be a design for some tulips germinating in my brain - if you'll pardon the pun :o)

I'm fitting it in somehow :o)

This picture belies the fact that I have actually completed the top for the baby quilt - this numpty forgot to take a shot of the finished top before downloading the contents of the camera

As my old boss used to say "Planning and preparation prevents piss poor performance." Never a truer word.

So this sneak preview only gives you the flavour of the quilt - you'll have to imagine the borders complete with further flower applique that I'll show you next time

Speaking of flowers our regular supply teacher at work has been having a torrid time recently.

After complaining to her landlords about an infestation of tiny little black invasive bugs, they gave her notice to quit. Obviously took exception to the Environmental Health Officer's report. Nice people!

The poor lady has been stuck between a rock and a hard place looking for somewhere else to live without the security of a permanent job. I won't go into the reasons for this employment situation but it's unavoidable at present and she's been frantic with worry.

Anyway to cut a long story short she's finally found a new place to move into probably during February half-term (lots of house moving going on then) but is very upset at all the plants she will have to leave behind in the garden at her old place.

So I thought a garden themed lap quilt would cheer her up

Here's a row of daffodils to make a start

I foresee lots of different flower and garden associated blocks separated by floral fabrics

Right, I'm off to see if I can design some hollyhocks...............

We watched President Obama's inauguration at teatime here in the UK - I made my kids sit and watch history being made.

A normally incredibly composed man stumbled over his oath showing an endearing human side to his usually polished exterior

But the most moving part for me was explaining the significance of all this to my children

As a 1960 baby I can only slightly remember the notable events of the 1960s

But I am still overawed at how far things have come in 40+ years

Long may that progress continue

A truly momentous day

Oops - spot the deliberate mistake

In between being busy painting countless walls and balancing monthly reconciliations at work (Month 8 balanced first time - yeah!!! Month 9 a WIP - mmmm) I have managed to start constructing the baby quilt centre.

For some reason though I only made enough 6" blocks for a 5 x 5 design - no idea why, I really wanted a 5 x 7 layout so I have 4 more flower blocks and 6 more QST's in the pipeline.

No stitching today though as both football and rugby were cancelled because of the torrential rain and high winds last night which had waterlogged the pitches. Not a good idea taking the girls or boys swimming!

So we left Nick and Lou to their own devices with friends and Sarah came along with Nigel and I to paint, paint, paint.

The flat comprises of lounge, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and large hallway.

The gloss is all in pretty good condition so as time is of the essence we decided not to touch that up so it's been emulsion, emulsion, emulsion

We've made such great progress this weekend that we now only have a final coat on the kitchen walls with once round their edges, plus once round the bottom edge of both lounge and bedroom and a final coat plus edges in the hallway left to do. It's so much easier painting an empty property with no furniture to move or carpets to protect.

Great strides - it's all starting to come together. Mind you I can't half feel my shoulders!

Sarah was a total brick today spending all day laid on the floor doing the first coat round the bottom of the lounge and bedroom - a job I hate as I'm such an ungainly lump that getting on and off the floor is a noisy and cumbersome operation - Nigel laughs at me grunting about down there - she just made the job so easy by comparison.

As for the baby quilt - well all was going great guns until..............

I realised the 'deliberate' mistake

The bottom left hand QST is orientated incorrectly - oh poooooooo!!!!!!

Guess that means some reverse stitching - oh how I hate unpicking :o(

Total glee!!!!!

Last Sunday Sarah and I spent a chilly windy afternoon near Plymouth in Devon watching her team mates trial for the Regional squad. Because of her thumb Sarah will trial on 25th at the first Regional training session. She should be assured a place as she's an existing member of the accelerated talent group but we're not counting our chickens yet.

The wonderful outcome of the afternoon was that 6 of the 8 girls from our club at her age group who trialled have been selected - this is a huge step up from last year when 3 were selected and Sarah was the only one to go with the final squad to the National Championships in Lichfield.

As you can imagine, for a girl who lives, eats and breathes rugby, all this standing on the sidelines, keeping a smile on her face and cheering on her team mates has proved a huge personal challenge and character building exercise for her.

But last night Sarah got the chance to get back on the pitch for her first training session in 7 weeks

I wish I could have captured on film the enormous Cheshire Cat grin on her face as, covered in mud, she walked through the door with her father last night after training

I guess this picture gives you a little flavour

The mucky little pup!!!

As for sewing - very slow on that front as we've been wielding paintbrushes in any spare time we've had endeavouring to get my parents' flat ready for their move in about 5 weeks time - progress is slow but sure - we WILL be finished in time.

I have managed to sneak in a few QST blocks to join the appliqued flowers for the baby quilt - but precious little else

Right off to work and then the Salt Mines (or should that read Paint Mines?)

A bit of a wash up

In the post before last I showed you the Spring Fling Round Robin 2 quilt I received from this swap.

Looking at the SFRR2 blog it occurred to me that, because we weren't allowed to show anything other than a hint of what we'd added each time in case the final recipient managed to guess which quilt was hers, I hadn't shared with you the works in progress

So here we are:

The SFRR2 consisted of four rounds: a centre, two borders amd finally the quilting & binding

These are my contributions pictured in the finished quilts:

My centre which I thought was a little Delft like - it's just the white area with the applique.

My first round - more applique plus some triangles and a little butterfly

My second round - a saw-tooth star in the corner to echo its predecessors and some celtic knotwork applique. I rather enjoyed working on this as an off-set border which gave me lots more width to play with and fit in the knotwork.

Finally, one you've seen already - the piece I got to quilt and bind - this one was quilted to within an inch of its life

And last but not least the quilt I received after all the hard work and love and attention of four other stitchers.