And then off on a completely different tangent

Well we're heading off to sunny Herefordshire tomorrow teatime. I've put together lots of hand stitching to take with me for those quiet spots you get when you're relaxing. I have my Christmas wallhanging in redwork to crack on with - I managed to refrain from stitching most of it during this week - and I also traced off some bluework snowmen too.

Sarah made some Lemon Curd (or some people call it Lemon Cheese) in Food Technology the other week and it was so delicious I suggested she might like to make a jar to take for our friends, Jon in particular is especially partial to lemon flavoured things.

So this afternoon she rustled up a jar full and we dressed it up with a pretty lemon coloured fabric cap - just right for a present.

Our own lemon curd jar from the other week is still well over half full and as it's not one of those preserves you can keep for too long and I seem to be the only person in the house spreading it on my toast I thought I'd use some of it up in some baking to take with us tomorrow too.

I've no idea what the name of these is - if in fact they have a name - I just made them up as I went along............... shortcrust pastry on the base, a layer of lemon curd and then a thick layer of victoria sandwich cake mixture with added lemon zest and juice and finally sprinkled with copious quantities of caster sugar to give a crunchy sweet topping - then in the oven on 180 degrees C for I've no idea how long as I just kept adding another 5 or 10 minutes until the cake testing skewer came out clean. Jon's farm work involves plenty of physical exertion so he never needs to worry about what he eats and cakes are always welcome - hope he likes these

Then once I'd finished the baking I was surfing around the blogs and came across this beautiful table runner on May's blog - how beautiful and springlike

So it set me thinking - my dining room table has a row of three black granite blocks down the middle to put hot dishes on - we have never had much luck with place mats so bought these as they looked pretty indestructible - indeed they are but they're also a bit dark and dreary.

Just what I need then - a nice bright table runner to sit on top of them when the table is between meals.

So in the winking of an eye I cut out some 3.5" squares and stitched them together.

Two tulips later I've made a good start and I shall take the rest of the leaves and flowers with me tomorrow and might get some of those done too. Needless to say the tulips will take a little longer than the pieced background!

Who knows I might make a whole series of runners and change them with the seasons like some of you girls do with your quilts

Finally here's a sneaky picture taken by the 'Lemon Curd Cook' of me lumbering onto the floor to lay out the tulip WIP for photographing - not the most flattering photo with me specs on the end of me nose - I'll get her back tomorrow :o)

Yet more soft and faded - fed up yet???

The weather here is absolutely beautiful at the moment - around 15 to 20 degrees centigrade with not a cloud in the sky. Unprecedented for this time of year - global warming may well be manifesting itself. Totally unusual for a British bank holiday too which generally automatically signals rain. But the 5 day forecast on the good old BBC shows sunny intervals and similar temperatures right through into next week - yippee! and it looks like it could be even warmer over in Herefordshire which is somewhat fortuitous as I know DH plans to take a few canoes with us and canoeing in freezing cold weather isn't fun for either paddlers or bankside spectators.

I've finished another soft and faded applique block and played with a little bit of piecing making this strip of HST diamonds from some left over flying geese bits and pieces. So here they are to bore you yet again..........

I thought I'd lay what I'd accomplished so far out on the floor to see how far I'd got but there doesn't seem as much as I thought - surprising when you start laying it out how much it does take for a full sized quilt. Still I'll keep plugging away - a bit of applique here, a bit of piecing there. After all it's not destined for anyone or anywhere in particular and there's no deadline for it either. So it's just add another bit as the fancy takes me.

I had thought after wandering through the net and looking at lots of quilts on loads of different sites that I might like to outline each of the blocks and pieced sections with a thin maybe half inch border in the light blue but I checked and I only have about a yard and a half or maybe a little more - probably not enough to be able to do that. The fabric was bought at a little P&Q shop in Tavistock in Devon when we were on holiday last year and for the life of me I can't remember the name of the shop except that it was in the pannier market part of the town. Frustratingly there's no identification on the fabric selvedge either. Maybe I should get my detective hat on and try and search it out the shop and buy a couple more yards mail order. It would be quite nice to use that fabric as I sort of plan for thin borders and to bind the quilt - we'll see.........

On a roll now..........

Well here's another soft and faded applique block done with yet another one part way through stitched last night.

Nigel is home tonight after two days in Madrid for work. So taking full advantage of the house to myself yesterday evening (once we'd all got back around 9.15 from the two eldest's swimming lessons that is) and coupled with the fact that for some reason both televisions were on the blink this meant I could just sit and stitch peacefully (or should that read piecefully) away to crack on with the soft and faded blocks.

DH's impending return means that I really ought to at least spend part of the day today clearing various detritus from around the house so it looks like I've not just sat and stitched all the time.

However that's for this afternoon - last night I had a bit of a brainstorm about what to take with me stitching wise when we go away on Saturday. I had so enjoyed doing my bluework sewing notions that I subsequently bought a few skeins of both red and blue embroidery thread and stuffed them away in one of my sewing drawers for the next time the urge came over me.

Yesterday while searching in vain for the wooden heart buttons I found the threads and thought I'd sort out some redwork for the holiday.

I had a ferret around on the internet and adapted a christmas design I found and traced it through onto some nice sand coloured fabric. I've just been brought back some red and sand checked fabric by a quilting friend who's been out in Florida for a few weeks so I shall use that to border this christmas embroidery once it's done. Now I just have to stop myself from stitching it before we head off at the weekend :o)

Of course all this then brought me back to those bluework sewing items so first thing this morning saw me rifling through my scrap drawer to pull out lots of blues for 1" squares to border them.

And here is the result..................

Ok I suppose I'd better stop playing now and get on with some housework :o(

What a busy little bee

You know how it is - get the feel of a bit of fabric between your fingers and you're away..........

Have I ever been a busy little bee.

Another block for my soft and faded quilt - I thought I'd do a long horizontal one this time - I'll just keep plugging away making lots of various applique blocks and eventually I might even start thinking about some more pieced joining areas. This project is nice and portable and so usually goes with me to quilting on Monday mornings - hence I keep just trickling on with it.

On Saturday teatime once Sarah has finished work we are heading off to stay with Louise's godparents over in Herefordshire until the following Thursday. You might recall I told you about their run of bad luck a few weeks ago and showed you the start of a wallhanging I was making for them with the apple tree on it.

Well the fact that we're going there on Saturday has acted as sufficient catalyst to get me off my lethargic behind and finish the hanging.............

I've added plaid borders, quilted around the skeleton of the tree and echoed the outer edge of the leaves and apples, quilted in the ditch where the borders join and then quilted a little apple in the middle of each border. Apologies as the colours are a little strange in the photos - the greens look just a bit too far over onto the blue end of the spectrum, maybe it's an optical illusion with the carpet tiles in the conservatory - who knows.............

Finally some little terracotta hearts in the corners finish the job - I know I have some little wooden heart buttons squirrelled away somewhere that I would've liked to use but I'm blowed if I can find them.

Of course they are bound to turn up the day we return - the law of Sod in full force again!

'Opposites' blocks all done

Well the creative juices are back and running again.

I've completed all my opposite blocks for the next row of my Ostrich.

The top row will be ones I use - for some reason they just feel better with the dark background on the left. Their opposite numbers will go into the orphan block pile and probably go into another quilt similar to the one I'm planning to use all my soft and faded applique blocks - but that's another day another quilt.

For the Ostrich I just need to put them into a row with a border fabric all round as the other rows have been done and add them to the bottom. The lighter fabric in the centre block is a little busier than the others but it's some I've just bought to use in one of the narrower outer borders so I did also want to include it somewhere in the main body of the quilt.

This morning my ladies all pulled a face somewhat when I told them the next round was to be 'Opposites' - that will certainly make them think - teehee!

The final row will be 'triangles' - loose enough for them to incorporate all sorts of things - hst's, qst's, flying geese etc etc etc - the possibilities are endless. I think I may make scrappy maple leaves to balance the scrappy stars in the top row - we'll see.

The weather here has been beautifully spring like - very sunny but with a chilly wind - so nice if you can be in the sun but find a sheltered spot. As you can imagine the conservatory has been a delight - I've sat there for hours on end stitching away at those hearts to my 'hearts content' groan.................

However as in all the best plans sometimes things don't always work out quite as you expect.

When we planned the conservatory we wanted to use it as another sitting/chilling area and decided that the second tv along with dvd player and the house's only video player would be moved there from the 'work room' which houses the computer and my sewing area.

All fine and dandy until someone wants to watch a video on the aforementioned sole video player while the sun is out - the reflections from all those windows make viewing a little challenging -

unless...........................

you use a little initiative :o)))

Here is Sarah watching some rugby videos she's just been given - now that is dedication to your sport.

TGI Friday!!!

I can honestly say I've never been more glad to see a Friday come round than I am this week.

During March I have put in about 35 hours overtime when I would normally only work 64 hours in total so you can imagine I've been pretty busy and the work has, in the main, been a steep learning curve so needed me to expend lots of brain power - not that easy when there's little there in the first place :o)))).

Little surprise then that I've not felt much like concentrating on stitching too.

However I have managed to drum up a little enthusiasm for the next row of my Ostrich.

I was vaguely aware that by now all my ladies were almost caught up with me and so I ought to make some progress with Round 6 which I've titled 'Opposites'

I had started off playing with flying geese in two fabrics using the two shades as geese or background but I really wasn't impressed with how the block had turned out - it didn't shout 'OPPOSITE!' enough to me.

So I had a rethink and plumped for hearts in positive and negative opposing each other.

Here are the first two blocks - I will probably only use one of them and do others in other fabric combinations as there are seven in the row so somewhere in the middle I would have an odd one out.

Then here are the next two initial blocks ready for cutting down the centre and rejoining.

It feels great to pick up some fabric again although I have to say I think it will take a little while to get back into full swing again and recover some energy and enthusiasm. Good job I have two weeks off work :o)

Total Exhaustion!

This is just how I feel right now - I won't even begin to go into detail about last week at work and this week will be no better until the end of Thursday.

I'm taking Friday off this week instead of my usual Monday - just too much to do before deadlines and of course it means I miss my usual Monday quilting fix with the ladies. :o(((

Never mind once Friday comes around we break up for the two week Easter break - Hurrah!!!

To illustrate how little stitching I've done over the past week I had to go hunting for my glasses in my 'Monday quilting bag' last night just to stitch a swimming badge on DD2's swimming towel. I haven't picked up my specs since last Monday - speaks for itself.

Have a good week all of you and I hope to return to Stitching Land on Friday

Mothering Sunday and a breath of summer

Over in the US and on mainland Europe (well certainly France) mothers are honoured with their own special day sometime during May.

However here in the UK we mark the second Sunday in Lent (yesterday) as Mothering Sunday. Originally apparently this was the Sunday that everyone went back to their Mother Church, but over the years it has come to denote Mother's Day as well.

I was woken yesterday morning with a cup of tea in bed and some lovely gifts and cards from the kids.

The rest of the family had asked me earlier in the week what I'd like to do. My only request was a roast dinner cooked without me having to enter the kitchen - the weather for the day was destined to be very cold and windy so a walk on the Quantocks up behind our house didn't have quite the same appeal as if it had been mild and sunny like earlier in the week.

So I was happy enough to spend the day in the comfy chair in the conservatory stitching and reading while the rest of the family looked after the kitchen. A phone call to my own mum was slotted in later in the afternoon too.

Finally a roast pork dinner in the evening completed the day - lovely!

Today I've been busy stitching my four summer blocks for my 'four seasons' block swap and will post them off in the next day or two. I've picked the 'paths and stiles' block from Quilters Cache and used a lovely 'sweet pea' fabric for the centre - just right for summer.

Tomorrow and Wednesday will see me putting in two very full days at work grafting away with my finance officer working out the school's budget for the next twelve months. If I have any brain left after that it will be a miracle - wish me luck and some extra grey matter!

International Quilting Day - Taunton style

Well here we have the net result of all those plaits from yesterday - Wild Hair or what?!?!?

She loves it though - mad child :o)

As no doubt the vast majority of you are aware today is International Quilting Day. This isn't something that has hit the same celebratory dizzy heights here in the UK as over there in America. However when, about nine months ago, I suggested to our Monday evening speaker group that we maybe should consider an event to mark the day it was met with pockets of enthusiasm.

The net result of the suggestion and a huge amount of effort and organisation by Lin (another member of the group) was a lovely day for about 20 of us.

A local hall was hired, copious quantities of fabric and wadding amassed from people's generous donations and about two dozen children's lap size quilts was the outcome.

Lots of us didn't even know each other well enough to say hello to at the group so today was a wonderful way to get to know each other a little better.

The recipients of the quilts will be the children who, through no fault of their own, end up arriving at the local Women's Refuge, often in the middle of the night with only the clothes they stand up in, generally as a direct result of horrific domestic violence.

As the co-ordinator from the refuge said these little quilts will mark the start of their new life giving them something soft and cuddly with no previous history or memories. A real loving hug!

Here's mine - I've spent the evening hand stitching the binding in front of the tv - Today's simple piecing and quilting has made a welcome change from Spencer's Stars which is now about two thirds quilted.

Red Nose Day!

Some years ago here in the UK a group of comedians got together to raise money for needy causes both here at home in Britain and in Africa. This event was christened 'Comic Relief' and the public were encouraged to wear red noses and do funny things to raise lots of cash.

Over the years this has been thoroughly adopted into the British calendar as 'Red Nose Day' and usually falls on the Friday nearest St. Patrick's Day in March. The BBC host a huge tv marathon all evening and encourage people to ring in and donate.

Lots of schools hold non-uniform days and the kids pay a 'fine' to dress up or wear their own clothes or silly hair do's or all three.

Here are my two youngest who have to wear something too big for them and have silly hair! Their elder sister just had to wear her own clothes so did not look quite as ridiculous.

Thank goodness it's only once a year - it took me the best part of an hour this morning to put all those plaits in her hair!

Spencer's Stars - let the quilting begin...........

The 'hessian quilt' has been renamed - 'Spencer's Stars'

And I thought that as it had a proper 'Sunday title' I really ought to get on with the quilting

Here is the result so far.

For both the four leaved clover design and the circle for the basis of the feather ring I used freezer paper gently ironed on and stitched round for the guideline - I have a psychological aversion (probably partly based on bone idleness) to marking quilt tops - I'm always frightened the marking medium won't come out and this method with the freezer paper seemed an ideal solution. I'm sure I'm only reinventing the wheel here and loads of people will have used it before me but on this application it's working well.

I did do the feather loops round the circle freehand.

I was reading the comments left on my last posting about books and it suddenly occurred to me where I'd seen the picture of the books in real life. It's the barrel roofed library in Trinity College, Dublin - this is also place where they hold 'The Book of Kells' an ancient illuminated manuscript. If you ever get the chance to visit you must do so as both the library and the book are very impressive - lots of quilting inspiration there girls! In fact Dublin is a fabulous city to go for a city break.

Right back to a little more stitching before I head off to work.

Are you a book slut?

I'll own up to it - I most definitely am - any time, any place, anywhere.

As a kid I would read the back of the cereal packet at the breakfast table - even now if I'm in the middle of a particularly engrossing tome I have to stop myself from bringing it to the table when eating dinner with the rest of the family.

I came across this meme on Clare's blog

An eclectic list of 100 books - I've only read a quarter of them - as I constantly have a book on the go what have I been reading all these years?

You'll notice I haven't marked any of them in italics - probably because there's absolutely nothing there that actually catches my eye. I also have the uncanny knack of almost immediately forgetting most of what I've read so that I can re-read a book only a few weeks later and most of it seems new to me. Maybe that's why I haven't read many on the list - I've been too busy rediscovering the ones I have read already :o)

Have a go at this - and if you spot any you think I really should have read tell me which one(s) and why........

Look at the list of books below:
Bold the ones you’ve read
Italicize the ones you want to read
Leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in.
If you are reading this, tag, you’re it!

The DaVinci Code (Dan Brown)

Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)

To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)

Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell) - one of my all time favourites

The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien) - tried and tried but gave up in the end

The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)

The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)

Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)

Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)

A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)

Angels and Demons (Dan Brown) - a far finer book than The Da Vinci code

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)

A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)

Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)

Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)

The Stand (Stephen King)

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)

Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)

The Hobbit (Tolkien)

The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger).

Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold).

Life of Pi (Yann Martel)

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)

Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte).
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis) and the other 6 books in the series – just reread them all yet again

East of Eden (John Steinbeck)

Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)

Dune (Frank Herbert)

The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)

Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)

1984 (Orwell)

The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)

The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett) loved this - so different from his usual books

The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)

I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)

The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)

The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)

The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)

The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)

Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)

The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)

The Bible – only bits and bobs

Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)

The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)

Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)

The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)

She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)

The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)

A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)

Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)

Great Expectations (Dickens)

The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)

The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)

The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)

The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)

The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)

Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)

The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)

War and Peace (Tolstoy).
Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)

Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)

One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Ann Brashares)

Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)

Les Miserables (Hugo)

The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)

Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)

Shogun (James Clavell)

The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje) tried and tried to get into this but just couldn’t

The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)

The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)

The World According to Garp (John Irving)

The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)

Charlotte's Web (E.B. White)

Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)

Of Mice and Men (Steinbeck)

Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)

Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)

Emma (Jane Austen).

Watership Down (Richard Adams)

Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)

The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)

Blindness (Jose Saramago)

Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)

In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)

Lord of the Flies (Golding)

The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)

The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)

The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)

The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)

White Oleander (Janet Fitch)

A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)

The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)

Ulysses (James Joyce)

The real reason for the conservatory!

I will have to be very careful that my DH doesn't find out the ulterior motive for our conservatory.

He thought we had it built to add another sitting room to our house.

I know deep down inside that the 3.5m x 6m floor area was really designed for sandwiching quilts tee hee!!!

You can see from the photo that we have the flooring in place. We've gone for carpet tiles in a mid teal green - my favourite colour and one that follows on from the duck egg blue and deep teal on the walls in the adjoining dining room. The carpet tiles will be practical as we can move them round if they fade and have spares if any meet any particular trauma. Kids/gardens etc - need I say more.

The room is not quite finished as Nigel hasn't fitted the skirting board yet (hence the mitre saw in the background behind the ironing board - from pressing the quilt top and backing - honest!)

We've purchased two chairs like the one in the picture - they are so comfortable, easy to move and not as bulky as normal armchairs. They will be joined by a terracotta bed-settee along that back wall and this along with moving the portable tv in there will complete the picture.

Not the easiest of processes to get it to this stage (what building work ever is?) but now we're almost there it's already worth it's weight in gold - especially for the sandwiching!

Welcome Spencer to God's wonderful world

We've been on tenter hooks since Wednesday in our house.

The birth of the baby to receive the 'natural hessian' quilt (above and still to be sandwiched and quilted) has been on the cards since mum-to-be was taken in with a serious risk of pre-eclampsia.

To cut a long story short after failed attempts to induce it was decided to perform a caesarean section this afternoon for the good of both mum and babe - not necessairily the desired mode of birth but there's alot to be said for a healthy outcome for both parties

My new baby nephew Spencer Ross arrived into this wonderful world at 3.55pm this afternoon weighing in at 7lb 2oz

Here's the closest I shall get to seeing him for a little while as they live at the other end of the country. Apologies for the standard of photo courtesy of my baby brother's mobile phone

So, despite feeling a bit sorry for myself as I've got no chance of getting up there to see him for a few weeks, I'd better get that quilt finished.

On the stitching front I've done another block of my soft and faded applique - inspiration courtesy of Jane's turkey stars

I've also now got all four of the Spring blocks for our four seasons swap so I'd better get a wiggle on and stitch my summer blocks to post out.

Off to stitch then :o)

On Top of the World

I woke this morning to that telltale sound of heavy rain and howling winds. Good to tell it's rugby this afternoon.

Sarah's team has finished third in their local league. When I say local I mean covering the two counties of Somerset and Gloucestershire. Girls rugby teams are fairly sparse so we think nothing of travelling up to 80 miles each way for a 'local' league game. This afternoon we don't have to go quite that far just half an hour's drive to the home of Yeovil's rugby team Ivel Barbarians. This will be the play offs taking the four top teams to work out the league winners etc.

The other three teams are very strong, one of them only being lower than us in the league because they've played less games than us so it will be a tough afternoon - and obviously very wet and muddy if this morning's weather holds.

Yesterday, however, was a whole different story. Beautiful blue skies and mild spring temperatures. Sarah was working in the afternoon so we took the two youngest out to Ham Hill Country Park, also near Yeovil.

It's a huge iron age hill fort which gives the kids every opportunity to run around like complete lunatics and wear themselves out.

Here are the two youngest giving a mole a headache. The weather was mild but don't take my son's shorts as an indication of that because he wears them all year round regardless of the weather.

And here's my baby in pensive mood considering a descent.

The views from the top are awesome.

On the edge of the escarpment is monument, a war memorial I think, providing the opportunity to rest some weary legs while enjoying the views. Here you can see loony kids on the top step, and a less than amused Daddy on the bottom one!

The whole park is full of hills and dips, ancient fortifications I believe, but great for haring up and down letting off steam. Yesterday Daddy drew a line at them slithering down on their bottoms getting muddy - We'll save that for another time when he's not there to apply the brakes :o)

Obviously precious little stitching got done but lots of fresh air and even a bit of exercise.

Oh my - over a week's gone by

Well back to school this week :o(

This particular five week half term is the shortest in the school calendar this year but for me it will be the most hectic. Preparing the budget for next year (the first time I've done this) and prior to that ensuring everything is smack bang up to date before the Area Finance Officer comes in for the aforementioned budget will keep me on my toes, ready for bed and probably on my way to the local asylum for the next four weeks. However today was the very first day, since I started the job last September, that I actually achieved all the tasks I'd identified on my mental to-do list and then did one little one more - so I must be making progress. AT LAST!!!!!

Lois asked to see all my applique blocks so far in a picture together - so here you go.

The background on the long thin block next to the star looks whiter than its neighbours but only because it has three layers of fabric folded over as I haven't cut it to size yet.

As you can imagine I have a long way to go and I think I shall use the title 'Soft and Faded' as a work in progress name for now. I aim to make lots of sashing and block border edgings in geese, HSTs, pinwheels etc so it has a real random feel about it.

For my next block I spied a lovely ''trumpet stars' applique design on Jane's blog - I think I'll pinch it for the next bit of the quilt - oddly enough the colours are similar but that's merely a coincidence.

I have been busy on another little project over this past few days. Quite a few of you have been stitching lovely 'bluework' snowmen calendar blocks - sorry too tired tonight to look through old postings and put a link on here now. I thought I'd like to have a go at this technique but scoured the internet for something a little different and came up with some sewing notions instead.

I also liked the teapots on this European blog and particularly liked the postage stamp sashings - I have loads of blue fabric so may well make a wall hanging for my stitching area in this kind of design. The linen she's used for the redwork designs is gorgeous. I know I have some old linen tableware I rescued from my MIL when she cleared out her own mother's things and was going to ditch in the bin but I have to locate them (suspect they're in an awkward access box at the back of the cupboard under the eaves in our bedroom - a Nigel job then that one). Maybe I'll persuade him to locate them for me this weekend.

I really enjoyed squirrelling away on this bluework embroidery so I may well do some more as it's easy to pick up and put down again in front of the tv in the evenings

We are getting very close to completion on the conservatory - at long last - we have had a heated discussion over paying the last 4% of the purchase price which we feel is a fair discount to cover all the grief and aggravation because of their delays. However they have set a debt collection agency onto us and won't budge an inch on the money front. Until we pay the lot they won't send us the 10year guarantee either so our hands are tied. Both Nigel and I have a whiter than white credit rating and it's too precious to jeopardise for a principle. As much as it sticks in our throat to make that final payment we will do it and learn from the experience. We don't have any plans (or room for that matter) for further building work but should we enter into anything like it in the future a penalty clause for delayed completion would be a definite possibility.

Nigel will put down the carpet tiles we've bought this weekend which only leaves the skirting board to complete the job. We've picked a lovely mid aqua/teal colour for the floor that echoes the colour scheme in the adjoining dining room. My brother has been storing a terracotta bed-settee for us which we bought to use at my parent's old house and reclaimed when theymoved house, so that will make a lovely contrast to the floor. I'll take some photos once he's finished playing carpet fitter. It really is starting to feel like a proper room now.

Right I'm off to bed - or should I say back to bed as I fell asleep for two and a half hours earlier this evening due to sheer exhaustion from work. Have a good weekend one and all :o)

A little more applique and another sign of Spring

The weather changed today - and not for the better. The gorgeous mild sunshine we've had so far this holiday week was replaced with that revolting combination of wind and rain. Either of them on their own I can cope with - the two together are just not funny!

So it was a case of holing up indoors and keeping occupied as best we could. Sarah is working her way through a mountain of GCSE coursework. The size of the mountain may well bear direct correlation to the amount of time she's left certain pieces and their impending deadlines straight after the holidays - only she can work through that one. Hopefully it will teach her a lesson about pacing herself.

Lou got the paints out - she loves to play with watercolours - and kept herself fully occupied. Out of my three she has always been the one who could find something to do without the usual 'I'm bored' that I get from the other two

Nick was walking round like a bear with a chewed ear! Mainly because all his friends who live nearby were otherwise engaged today. Eventually I managed to find something he fancied having a go at...................

I know this will be difficult to believe but he wanted to try doing some ironing. Yes you heard that right.

Now there may well have been an ulterior motive for this - mainly because ironing in our house is a lucrative occupation. For some time it has been Sarah's way of earning extra pocket money. Well at a fiver a basket it's good value and to our way of thinking we would probably only end up funding the extra credit on her mobile phone anyway so we might as well get something productive for it, plus she gets to learn the value of money too.

Of course now she has a part-time job netting her a good £60 or £70 per month, a basket of ironing for £5 isn't quite as attractive or as essential to keep the cash flow going. So it does seem to pile up a bit more than it used to.

So the mantle may well fall to her younger brother and sister eventually.

I had already ironed about half the basket this morning and then took a little time out to show Nick some simple things like pillowcases, handkerchiefs and school polo shirts.

I've probably mentioned before that of my three he is undoubtably the most clumsy particularly with his hands on the fine motor skills. He's excellent at sport, has good ball handling skills, but give him drawing or anything craft wise to do he's at a complete loss - I've never seen anyone so cack-handed.

However much to my surprise he gave it a pretty good shot (maybe it was down to the teacher) and polished off quite a few items before he singed a fingertip and decided he'd had enough.

When I told his dad on the phone he was amazed that he hadn't done it the moment he picked up the iron - maybe we give him insufficient credit.

So he's earned a pound or two to add to his slush fund and it kept him quiet for a good half hour or more. We will definitely build on this at a later date.

While he was ironing I managed a bit more applique and here is another block I've completed. I just keep making them at random as the fancy takes me picking up different design ideas as I go along with no particular finished item in mind except I'd like it to be a soft pastel version of the sort of Robert Callaham quilt you used to and still do see the patterns for in McCalls Quilting

I shall do some HST's, stars, pinwheels, geese and checkerboard effect pieces to infil between them as I go along.

And finally the mini daffs are just starting to come out in the pots in my garden - I managed to snap this one in one of the few sunny spots between the squally showers today

Just for Fiona

These are initially for Fiona but they serve to remind us all that thankfully Spring is just around the corner albeit a miserable chilly one.

I couldn't believe my eyes when we returned to the car and spotted this vinca (periwinkle) bravely flowering away too

What an awesome day!

When asked what she would like to do for her birthday our youngest announced she didn't really want a party this year but would rather go out as a family for the day taking a couple of her closest friends.

During further discussions it was agreed that Bristol zoo was to be the likely destination

This was until a news item appeared on television about a rare shark that had been caught and older examples of it preserved in alcohol in glass jars were shown at the Natural History Museum in London

Louise is probably our most interested news hound and watches most current affairs type programmes with great fascination. She can always tell you what is currently in the news and this particular article really took her fancy. Wistfully she said quietly to herself 'I'd really love to go there'

So it was decided - a day in London with the purpose of visiting the Natural History Museum it was.

We drove to the outskirts of London and took the tube in arriving at the museum at around midday, just in time to eat our picnic lunch.

We'd browsed the website previously so I knew that it would be possible to visit the museum's neighbouring building the Darwin Centre to look at just a handful of the over 22million specimens in their care.

Having to book in advance I phone from the train on the way in and arranged a visit at 3pm. This was the part of the museum Louise wanted to see most.

Unfortunately there was a bit of a mix-up and our guide failed to collect us at the allotted time - there were some glum faces thinking that we'd missed our opportunity but the museum staff were fantastic and organised a special curator to take us round on an individual tour. An italian lady called Carmen was our guide and she was terrific with the kids pitching the commentary at exactly the right level to keep them enthralled.

This all just happened to coincide with a private visit by a lady who had worked for Speedo swimwear - she wanted to see the basking shark specimens on which they'd based their 'sharkskin fabric' for competition swimwear. She was accompanied by the Fish Curator Oliver Crimmon who had helped with the fabric's development.

On the back of their visit then we got to see some of the larger specimens in the stainless steel tanks which the general public never usually set eyes on - awesome!!! And on the subject of large the long glass tank behind the scientist houses a giant squid caught off the Falkland Islands measuring in at 18 feet long - amazing. This building, as the name implies, also houses a good number of Charles Darwin's original specimens from the voyage of The Beagle when he wrote 'The Origin of the Species'. Sarah is currently studying this area of science at school so it added real pertinence to her visit.

It was a wonderful day - the building which houses the museum is more like a cathedral than anything else - in fact for adults they do a tour solely to look at the finer features of the architecture - another time maybe...........

All the kids (big and small) thoroughly enjoyed the visit - they had to throw us out at 5.50pm when they were locking up and we still had probably seen only just over half of it. I do so wish we lived a bit nearer the capital so could take advantage of all the free entry museums in the city without a major expedition to get there

Pizza Hut all round once back at the car meant the journey home took us until 11pm - so as you can imagine there are some very tired little bunnies draped round the house today.

Sunday afternoon saw Louise at cub camp, Nick with friends and Sarah with her boyfriend which freed Nigel and I up to go off for a walk completely on our own. We love our kids but everyone knows you can have too much of a good thing, so it's always great to have a little time together on our own - especially if it's something a little more interesting than a trip to the supermarket.

On the edge of the Quantocks up behind our house the National Trust and the Somerset Wildlife Trust jointly look after the gardens of a demolished mansion Fyne Court. We tend to use it as our 'extended back garden' as it is less than 10 minutes drive away and there is only a nominal donation of £1 for parking so it's a lovely wander with little expense. They do make the most awesome cream teas there during the summer so it's a good job the walk cancels out some of the calories.

At present the snowdrops are beautiful and we actually managed to remember the camera - a feat in itself :o)

On the stitching and blogging front I've been pretty quiet - life has been so hectic this past week - but in and among it all I have managed to do a bit more applique on my green and pink random quilt - sorry this next photo shows up that I didn't bother to press this particular block

I keep reading round all the blogs and saving some of your pictures to work as inspiration for more blocks and panels for this particular piece of work.

As my sister-in-law's baby is due in just over three weeks I really must get myself organised to sandwich and quilt the 'natural hessian' number in readiness - where is that sandwich fairy when you want her?