Sunday 21 July 2013

Oh, the pressure :)

My dear niece and her fiancé went home today :( we miss them already. We have had such a fun week with them, they do make us laugh and keep us young!! (Not that we're that old!) We met up with them for dinner and drinks in London after work on Thursday:


We took Friday off work and had a picnic down at Hever Castle:


It's such a cute castle - the childhood home of Anne Boleyn - beautiful gardens too - the photo on their website does it far more justice: 


It was so hot, the water maze was a must and I made a friend:



And we bought these beautiful flowers for our garden there:


Yesterday, we got the train to Rochester and dear niece tried on wedding dresses! I cried! I would love to show you the photos of her in the dresses she tried on but I can't ... you'll have to take my word for it - she looked GORGEOUS :)

After a bit of charity shop and book shopping, we had a bite to eat (oh, and another drink - they're such a bad influence!)


And then got the train home. We watched 'Beautiful Creatures' last night - a film we probably wouldn't have chosen for ourselves but really enjoyed. Young adults' choices are good! Great cast and a lovely story:


After they left today, I did a little sewing. I wanted to complete the next strip of my Strip Bee Quilt ... I'll admit to feeling under a lot of pressure to make my strip to properly compliment Fran's. And even though the lovely Fran (@PatchyRose) told me not to stress, I was! This was as far as I had got in a week - just picking out fabric from my stash that I might use:


I really was getting myself into a tizzy over what pattern, blocks and fabric to use. After the wise counsel from DH (who really has got an eye for colour), I chose some different colours, went with a 3-block design and I cracked on this afternoon for a couple of hours and I have now finished it! I can only show you a sneak preview, otherwise it'll spoil the surprise for Fran:


So no more pressure and I'm weeks ahead of schedule ... yay! I can do some more of this next week:

1) sash Swedish Quilt block
2) complete a Farmer's Wife block
3) hand sew some Hexies
4) crocheting a blanket

What fun will you be getting up to next week?

9 comments:

  1. Oh, are you sure you don't want to flip it over and show another photo?!? I'm sure it will be lovely. I finished Maria's last night too, get us so far ahead of the game!! I was concerned my idea wouldn't work and would have to resort to plan B, but it's worked out fine. I'm nowhere near as clever as you with the sneaky photos though!

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  2. You are such a teaser! Love your first fabric choices.... Perhaps they will end up becoming something else? Glad to hear you had a great time visiting with your niece and her guy! You know we'll be back to see the full reveal!!!

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  3. Love the stars, and your fabric choices are very pretty. It sounds like you had a wonderful time with your niece and her fiancé.

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  4. Did you catch any of the jousting going on this weekend. That is something I don't see everyday. Your trip sounded like a great time.

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  5. Aagh! Teaser photos are so frustrating! I keep checking back to see if I can work out what it is! And yes, you are WAY ahead f the game - haven't even thought about mine yet!!

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  6. Glad you had a lovely weekend.
    You and Fran go straight to the top of the class for finishing your strips. I've not started yet but hope to get going very soon.
    The colours you've chosen for Frans go perfectly with her strip.

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  7. I wish I had your writing skills. Some blogs, mine included, are wordy and I have no desire to read. You are entertaining and I always want to know what you have to say about the pictures. I enjoy exploring the UK with you as a guide.
    What a wonderful week and can't wait to see what you've done with the strip.

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  8. Glad you had such a wonderful time with your niece! Now that our son's wedding is past and happy tears are shed it's time to pull out the quilting again. This week I need to design a small quilt as a give-away at our Lake Association picnic the first weekend in August. Not much time! And congrats on your new little Royal.
    Jean @ QuiltAwhile

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  9. Sounds like you had a lovely weekend. The castle looks like a great place to visit and have a picnic. So jealous :)
    I'm loving your star blocks. They are fab!

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