Still here!

I cannot believe it's been nearly 3 weeks since my last post but I haven't been sewing and I didn't know if non-quilting events would be of interest to anyone but, in the absence of anything creative to share, I'll bring you up to speed. 

I may not be sewing but I am still shopping! Look at how happy the arrival of  this bundle of gorgeousness from Craftsy made me: 

Although why do I need more fabric when I'm not using up the vast amounts I already have?? Hello, my name's Jennifer ... and I'm a Fabriholic!

DH is still overseeing the various workmen coming and going at the house and he even did some brick carrying last week up and down the ladder for the chimneys to be rebuilt. Here's him having a little break:

And I attended a school reunion the week before last - 28 years after leaving the sixth form, a crowd of about 40 of us got together at a hotel back on Anglesey - the place where I grew up: 

I loved school (most of the time) and made some very good friends over the years - here's me with two of my best friends (from then and now) just before we headed out for the evening:

New boots to go with a new dress - apparently it's  the footwear of choice these days ... who knew?!

What fun, catching up with old mates, reminiscing about teachers and big events - was a little apprehensive, I'll be honest, about whether I wanted to go and take that trip down Memory Lane but I'm so glad now I went as it really was an enjoyable evening. I think we'll be doing it again in a few years when we all hit 50!

Last week and this week, I'm away from home having physio on my shoulder (hence no sewing) and am staying in this glorious place:

Happy hydrotherapy classes, daily delightful physio, wonderful walking; I'm swimming, reading and relaxing - indeed, it's a little bit of heaven on earth!

I'm not fixed, it will surely be a little while longer before my shoulder is fully mended but this stay is getting me there and I will be basting very soon as I'm desperate to finish some quilts.

Thank you for staying close, normal service will be resumed soon :) 

Busy Bee!

Busy at work, busy at home ... so busy that the deadline for this round of the Strip Bee Quilt jumped out at me and I had a bit of a panic when I read everyone's emails on Friday night saying they were ready to post ... how did that happen?!

Just a reminder, there's six of us involved - from all over the UK - who have never met (hoping that might change one day), each adding a 40.5" strip to each others' quilts as they get passed from one quilter to the other. This was my strip  - which I passed on to Amy @ Cloud CouCou Crafts:

Round 2 - I received Fran's @ Patchy Rose strip - stars from a star:

And tonight, I finished adding my strip (Round 3) to Maria's quilt @ sew love to sew which had been to Fran before coming to me. Aren't Maria's houses the greatest? 

So, next week, I think I'll be receiving either Julie's @ Mack and Mabel or Sarah's @ Quilt Candy quilt and will have 6 weeks to add my strip ... it's such fun! I can only say that now I've finished - this time yesterday, I wasn't so calm but I only have myself to blame. 

We're not supposed to put pressure on ourselves but when I received Maria's strip from Fran, what she had added was so amazing, I just felt I had to 'step-up' and decided I wanted to paper piece either bird or butterfly blocks. Yes, I know - silly woman!

It's not like I've paper pieced that much before - a couple of square in squares cushions and Pants a Bags so ... SERIOUSLY ... what was I thinking?? I bought this pattern off Craftsy (very reasonable) by Linleys Designs:

and it worked very well but the first block was wayyyyyy too big for the quilt and some of the pieces were so small, I didn't see how I could reduce it in size - that was yesterday morning! So, back to ye old faithful Google Images and I found a couple but they weren't quite what I was looking for. You know what they say about necessity being the mother of invention? I made my own! 

We're only supposed to post sneak previews of the strip before passing it on but I don't think Maria will mind if I share with you the ingredients of just one block - I drew my pattern, cut out some templates for the wings and background, sorted through my scraps, paper pieced the wings, unpicked LOTS and made a heck of a mess:

But, it was worth it - all done before dinner tonight and it will be in the mail tomorrow! I have really enjoyed my sewing this weekend - I pushed myself, I found a solution, I had to take my time but I cracked on with it and am really really pleased with how it all ended up - hope Maria will like it! Just need Glinda to wave her wand again and for my sewing room to be tidied!!

A new WIP for my 'maman spirituelle'

I have started a new lap quilt! This one I am making for one of the sweetest ladies I have ever met. We shared a hospital room in France for 5 days in 2011 after I broke my ankle skiing ... ouch:

My 'roomie' was Lydia; a very elegant, petite, loving, spiritual lady who had slipped on an icy pavement and had broken her femur. She didn't speak any English and I only knew a little conversational French from school but during those 5 days, we became friends. We laughed, we cried, we told stories we prayed, we sang ... she made those 5 days a truly memorable experience. 

She had no children (like me) and told me that she felt I was the daughter she never had (gulp!) and called herself my 'maman spirituelle' which means spiritual mother. Since then, we have written lots - Lydia is much better than I at keeping in touch and I owe her a letter or two. So, I decided I'm going to send her a special gift with the next letter.

I chose this fabric from my stash as I thought the colours were 'elegant' enough for Lydia but I couldn't think of a pattern:

By chance on Saturday morning, I opened an email from Craftsy (offering up to 80% off my first course) and went to their website. Having looked around the different classes (you can have a sneak preview at both the tutors and their classes, which is really good), I liked the style and energy of Nancy Smith and joined her class:

Over the last few days, listening to Nancy on my iPad whilst sewing, it was almost like having a friend in the room. I must try and get an actual group of quilters together one day *sigh * for some quilting - anyway, here was my first block:

Happy with that, I cut all my strips (just about had enough by cutting 2" strips and using the smaller fat quarters of fabric first) then I kept checking against the first block to make sure I sewed in order:

I wasn't sure whether to add another row of the green so waited until I had finished all 4 blocks: 

And I'm still not sure! I can add the 2" strips now or add a wider border ... hmmmm, I'll decide on Saturday. Linking up: