Au revoir!

We're off to France tomorrow for a few days with our dear friends and their three wonderful daughters. I'm so looking forward to it. Lots of WW1 battlefields to tour and we're staying in a farmhouse in the Somme Valley. I haven't ever read much about the Great War so am expecting to learn a lot.

We had our dear niece and her fiancé visit us this week - it's almost rejuvenating being in the company of a couple of 24 year olds. We're very lucky they want to spend their precious days off with us 'old folk'! Or maybe it's just the hot tub they're keen on visiting :)

So no sewing to share with you. Not a jot. Nothing. But some exciting news ... the Strip Bee quilting retreat I was going to host - but had to cancel because of my accident the day before everyone was due to arrive - has been rescheduled! Yay! So stay tuned because there will be lots of sewing stuff to share very soon - can't wait to see the 6 different quilts we've made! 

And it will be the last lot of sewing in my lovely sewing room (loft) before we move house. I shall miss this room :( here's one of my aforementioned friend's wonderful daughters when she came to play last year:

Also, am really hoping my arm will continue to get stronger and I can get around to basting these lovelies when I get back. They're waiting patiently on my table:

Hope you have a great weekend ... à bientôt :)

I did tidy up!!

Fellow quilters, you make me smile!  Your humourous responses to my last post definitely confirmed we all make a mess when sewing and that I really shouldn't worry :)

I did tidy up though - you saw the 'befores' and here are the 'afters':

And so today, I could make a new mess! I made two more Pants Bags (for my cousins in Germany), a cushion for my sewing room and I started a new lap quilt. 

The Pants Bags were made out of my scraps and stash so I never quite know what design they'll end up as until I put the fabric piles together. These are #4 and #5 ... just two more to make before my Mutter goes to Germany next month:

And this little cushion was made for me from the leftovers of Aunty Ruth's layer cake quilt:

Please pardon the fugly chair - it's vintage Lloyd Loom :)

I'll post more about my new lap quilt later but here is the fabric I've chosen for it:

That's enough for one day. You can tell the evenings are drawing in - I covered  my legs with my lap quilt and look who joined me a minute later! I can count on both hands how many times in 3 years this little rescue cat has sat on my lap. Thank you, Nell - each time is precious:

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend.

You decide!!

Oh dear, my fellow quilters - do you think I had better tidy up a bit before I start on the following:

• 4 more Pants Bags for Germany
• At least 3 new cushions for my SIL
• A quilt for my 'maman spirituelle' in France
• A few mug rugs for work colleagues
• A charity quilt for a McMillan fundraising event

In my defence, we have had a busy few weeks :)

Satisfying Saturday ... Shattered Saturday :)

We've finished the loft /sewing room (apart from a few bits and pieces) this evening and are now enjoying a well-earned glass of wine :)

Thank you Nick, you're the best DH in the world xx

Tomorrow, I will be back sewing up there for the first time in weeks and will tell you all about a little Quilting Bee (my first!) I've been invited to join :)

Playing with fabric :)

Slowly but surely, I'm moving my supplies back into the loft / sewing room. I could leave it until the weekend but I'm hoping to do a little bit after work each night so that I can spend ALL day Saturday sewing :D

Thank you from me and DH for all the lovely comments you left about our decorating efforts - the pink Annie Sloane 'accents' were a hit with you too!

So, tonight I moved all my fabric back - I was up and down the ladder 6-7 times ... erm, there is quite a bit of it! I know I don't have the largest stash (go and Google 'large fabric stash' and look at the images of some very very large stashes!) but I was quite flabbergasted to see it all piled up:

And shame, there was even some I had forgotten about which I really need to use up:

Everything over 1/2 yard went back into the hanging baskets (wrapped around comic boards) and my fat quarters went back onto the cd shelf:

So far, it's all looking good up there. I'm not allowing myself any new purchases (fabric, storage or furniture) until it's all unpacked and I can assess what I need (not what I want!) Tricky ... very tricky :)

Best I get creating sooooooooooon!!

Linking up:

Sewing room ... we're getting there :)

DH and I have been hard at it since yesterday morning and all our hard work has paid off ... we have finished decorating the loft / sewing room tonight and I can start moving alll my stuff back up there next week ... yay!!!

He's an absolute star ... as I am writing this, he has just popped out to buy us some chocolate ... well, I reeeeeeeeally needed some:

You'll remember before all the fixing the unsafe roof-building work began, we had to empty the loft and the room looked like this:

And this was where we'd got to when we stopped at 7pm tonight: 

Whilst DH pva glued the new plaster yesterday, I discovered an amazing new painting experience - Annie Sloane's chalk paint ... in pink - of course! My new blanket airer (quilt holder?!) got the treatment first:

Followed by my last year charity shop find cubby hole display unit:

Then a cheap old TV table we'd forgotten we had:

The walls are painted 'apple white' and whilst I had that pink paintbrush in my hand, the door trims got a coat too!

It's amazing stuff - one coat covers all (except the dark brown varnished display unit - it needed two) and so nice to use. DH even gave the inside of the ugly old windows a coat:

Very happy ... very proud of what we've achieved ... oh, and very very tired :)

No time for sewing :(

Busy busy busy week so no time for any new quilting projects :(

Have finished FM quilting the Snooker Table Quilt, though:

And the builders have finished the loft / sewing room. Can't wait to get back in there with all my sewing loveliness:

Nell hid in the cupboard when the builder came for his money (I did feel like joining her ... yes, take all my money - ouch!)

Dear SIL and hubby are visiting us for a long weekend ... Yay! After a couple (or four!) of these:

Deb and I ended up in the hot tub:

We may have a painting party today, we may garden or go out somewhere for the day ... whatever we do, I know we'll have fun :) Wishing you all a happy weekend too! 

Linking up with Amanda Jean @ Crazy Mom Quilts - Finish it up Friday and Karen @ Sew Many Ways - Find a Friend Friday :)

WIP Sewing Room ...

You will know from this post all the tidying and clearing we had to do to empty the loft / sewing room for the arrival of the builders on Monday. Our house is in upheaval but we have brilliant builders and they are really cracking on with it.

This was the room all tidied on Sunday evening:

And yesterday - see the lack of insulation in some areas ...

and no vertical supports ... 

those bolts are new ...

In brief, between the two sets of builders over 15 years who created the original loft room and the extension, they didn't build it properly and worst case scenario - the roof coud have collapsed. Thankfully, this wonderful builder crossed our path at exactly the right time and we've been able to get it fixed. They've worked hard again today:

I cant wait to get to the fun part when we  I get to choose paint colours, furniture placement and rebuilding my sewing space ... can you see a potential design wall here ... I am a lucky girl :)