Am still here :)

I have not been sewing ... I have not been blogging ... I have not been following blogs - for 3 weeks! 

A combination of life's distractions and poor wi-fi service in the new house have come between me and my favourite things. But I have been enjoying my new early morning walk to work:

And my walk back to the hotel at night via Parliament Square:

London is beautiful in the Summer. I'm working long days and living there in the week so that I get to come home to our lovely new home in Wales on a Thursday afternoon:

But it does mean I'm not spending much time in here:

It's certainly a change in the pace of life and we're spending lots more time with family ... it's been a while since she was lit up:

This weekend, I have continued making some table mats from Cath Kidston fabric, which I will finish off on the train this week or in my hotel room:

Quilted with wiggly lines:

And I have made a start on the million yards of bunting (maybe not quite that much!) for dear niece's wedding which is next September ... so plenty of time, hey?!

I still can't baste and quilt anything sizeable but I resumed physiotherapy today after a 4-week break so that's good.

I'll pop around and see what you've all been up to - lots I bet :)

Table runner WIP ...

I am slowly getting back into being uber-productive! Within obvious limitations. Remember the Cath Kidston bundle I bought a few weeks back?

 

I started cutting it up at the weekend: 

 

And then made the table runner and  place mats:

 

Nothing fancy - just 10 1/2" squares bordered by the 2" red polka dot. But what to back it with? DH's suggestion was, 'big green spots'!

OK! Ordered some linen-type fabric online, it arrived today and is perfect:

Thanks hubby  - fancy some basting??

I've also made drinks' coasters from the leftovers:

 

 

I have a few little finishes which I'll save until Friday but here is a sneak preview of a carrier bag holder in progress for dear niece made out of leftover fabrics from her mats and table runner:

Linking up - this week's WIP Wednesday is being hosted by Lucy @ Charm About You:

and with the ever-lovely Lorna:

It's going to be a perfect day :)

It's been a pretty good week too ... I made this quilt in January for a Hurricane Sandy survivor and look what came in the post on Thursday:

Made me do a big gulp! A letter of thanks was more than enough but a pack of batik squares too! Huge heartfelt 'woo hoo' to you, eQuilter and  Timeless Treasures ... you're amazing and I'm glad to have helped just a tiny bit.

This morning, I have finished making the back and basting Aunty Ruth's quilt, have cleaned my sewing machine, changed the needle, wound my bobbins, fetched myself a glass of iced water, got the radio playing some disco tunes (my favourite band ABBA have just come on as I'm typing ... life doesn't get much better than this!) and I'm now ready to start quilting:

DH is out all day (and night) with his football friend (first day of the new Premiership season) so I can sew sew sew ALL day long ... yippeeeeee!

As well as covering my sewing chair with Cath Kidston fabric this week, I also made a new peg bag and a pouch for Nell's treats ... I swear it's the only reason she spends so much time with me in the loft :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Ah Paris ... c'est très magnifique :)

I have started a new quilt today - don't know who for yet :) I have only ever bought one Moda Layer Cake:

I actually bought this one two years ago (I think) so it was high time it got opened, don't you agree? And how pretty:

Had an idea in my head for a pattern  - must have got it from somewhere but could not find any images / patterns / blog posts so just went for it! I knew I'd need some 'blender' fabric and was lucky to find this cream 'Dimples' in my stash:

Once I'd worked out which order to sew in and made the first block, it just flowed:

I think it needs sashing to frame the blocks and stop them getting lost in each other so have ordered some sage green ...  hope it matches!

Oh and I spruced up my old pink (sun faded) chair with the Cath Kidston fabric I bought last week. Now it matches my radio ... yay!

... it's the little things that make me smile!

A day trip to Canterbury :)

I love our family coming to visit, I love weekends, I love days out hunting for amazing finds and bargains in charity shops, I love buying presents, I love unexpected pleasures, I love finding new quilt shops ... I ticked all the boxes today :)

DH drove me, his Mum and Sis to Canterbury, Kent today ... it's about an hour from where we live ... and we enjoyed the 6 hours we spent there today very much. 

Canterbury is most famous for its Cathedral and Archbishop ... and it is the birthplace of Orlando Bloom (such a pretty boy!):

It is also a vibrant shopping area with a mixture of old and new, cobbled roads, cute cafes and a nice sprinkle of charity shops. Dear SIL is the 'Queen of Finding Bargains' ... I am but a mere amateur in training! These were my bargains today - a 1980 book for £1:

2 metres of Cath Kidston fabric - half price at £10 a metre - but still a bargain:

And 4 yards of fabric in a vintage shop which I may use (at some point) to re-cover our dining room chairs: 

Our unexpected pleasure was a short boat ride with the Canterbury Historic River Tour. We had a lovely young man (Tom L), who graduated last month with a degree in military history, row our boat and entertain us along the River Stour for 45 minutes ... he narrated very well and told some awful jokes - 'Those trees over there in cages are the most dangerous trees in England - they committed treason (trees on!) and were caught by Special Branch!' ... well, we laughed ... you probably had to be there :)

There were a lot of street musicians; some good, some not so good - my favourite was a young trumpeteer who played Somewhere over the Rainbow beautifully * sigh  * ... made me smile.

After lunch and a bit more shopping, we found a patchwork shop ... yay!  Did not think this day could get any better! Hello, The Sewing Shop :) I needed some batting / wadding for my Swedish Quilt (finished the top this morning, basting it tomorrow morning, aren't we DH?!) and I bought some Advent Calendar panels (which I'll write about another day.) Very friendly staff and much to my disappointment (but not to theirs or DH's), it got really busy 5 minutes after we got there ... never mind, I shall return :)

A wonderful day was had by all. Even DH and Mum shopped and this was our collective haul:

Everything we needed, I promise :)

Everything happens for a reason :)

You'll know from my post on Wednesday - 'Lost my (sewing) Mojo' or, as called by Liz and Karen - my 'Sewjo' ... that I was a bit upset that I had messed up the handles on my SIL's birthday bag and had no more of the Cath Kidston fabric to play with. Well, thankfully the bag workshop tutor (the lovely Kate) realised where I had gone wrong. In short, because I wasn't cutting the fabric from a half metre on the fold, I should have reversed the fat quarters when cutting ...

... it still didn't solve the 'no more CK fabric' problem but thanks to having had to move everything out of the sewing room, I had come across an old bag of curtain / fabric remnants and remembered seeing some light denim fabric that I thought would be perfect ... and it was!! AND there was just enough to make the handles. To keep it in the CK theme, I sewed some of her pretty ribbon down the middles:

Well chuffed with them, I can tell you, and then it didn't take me long to get it to this stage ... I love it when you look at this and go, 'No way, that's never going to turn into a bag!'

But it did and I actually think it's turned out better than if I had used the original fabric for the handles: 

And I added a little flower to the other side:

The inside:

And the best bit? I'll get in the post tomorrow and dear SIL should receive it on her birthday on Monday! Thank you for your lovely, funny and supportive comments on Wednesday - it all worked out for the best in the end :)

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday - loving Amanda Jean's Wonky Log Cabin Quilt - it's so bright and summery!

And for the first time, please Can I get a Whoop Whoop?