New Space = New Look!

It all started with a comment from Madame Samm, that my new space needed a sign, a name that is reflective of me, the space, what I do .... you get the idea.  You know Madame Samm don't you?  She blogs at Sew I Quilt where you will find all the buttons for blogs that have recieved some very special MS TLC!  She  also manages the Sew We Quilt - Stash Manicure blog   She is indeed both very generous and unbelievably talented.  Honestly, how can somebody 'know' you, and be sew right? 

I truly LOVE my new look, it reflects me, how I feel about my space, both the disbelief it's in my garden, it really is, and how I feel when I'm inside creating!  So Quilting Prolifically continues as an activity, in a Happy Daize!

A very big heartfelt Thank You Madame Samm!

Houston - We Have Lift Off!

Don't you just love a dependable tradesman you trust  :) Yup, the electrician was here at 9 am this morning and now we are all fired up and connected to the mains  :) 

All lit up like a Christmas tree! 

I moved the frame round and also put in my sewing machine.  The low voltage lights work really well I barely needed the daylight lamp I use on my frame. 

I had a rummage in the debris of the old office and found some thread, pins and my machine maintenance kit, and had to have a little play!

This is a table runner I've quilted up for a friend.  I hope she likes it!

Tomorrows task is to buy a new ironing board  :) 

I had visitors today too!  Not only did the electricians wife call for a looky see |(they only live round the corner), but Sweetiepie and Angela from Fenland Textile Studio came over for a catch up too!   Lots of chat and tea drinking, with great exchanges of idea, brilliant!

Happy Quilting! 

So Excited! - It's almost Electric!

I ran out on Wednesday morning and snapped these, it was dark when the Teenage Diva and I had move the frame and a few of the storage boxes out to the new studio! 

My friend Jean insisted we get a couple of quilts thrown up to see what they look like...

The frame looks pretty lost, this isn't it's final position...

cos the electrician will be here in the morning to connect up the supply!  :)  More happy dancing!

I got home Wednesday to find that my partner had moved all the stacked baskets around in the old office, so I have to work on creating my own version of a quilt cave.  Speaking of which, do you know Teresa over at Fabric Therapy?  No, oh, you are missing a real fabric cave treat!  She is the queen of organisation for sure!

Check out this post! 

Teresa, sweetie, you need to visit soon!

To Frankie - The Textile Tardis just may stick!

Happy Quilting!  I'll be back really soon!

They came, They built, They left ...

What can I say!  They arrived again at 7:15 am this morning, they finished off the building and were gone before 1 pm.  It's finished ... almost!

The electrician is due on Saturday, so hopefully we can be operational by Sunday!  Yippeeeee!  (and the blinds are to follow)

A very big thank you to all the guys at Booths Garden Studios for all their hard work to make my quilting studio a reality! 

The Teenage Diva helped me move my frame and a few things in there tonight, but it was dark so I'll try to grab a quick pic in the morning before I go to work.  Especially as my friend Jean visited this afternoon and insisted we put up a couple of quilts to see what it will look like! 

I have a plan for the old office space, and need to instigate that before the electrician arrives, so there will be lots of tooing and froing for a while till I'm settled :)  I'll be sure to keep you posted on how it pans out. 

I couldn't resist the urge to splurge on fabric any longer, perhaps it was the temptation of the up coming sale at the LQS.  Anyway, these arrived in post today, courtesy of Courtney at Seamstar!  Thanks Courtney, they are fantastic!  No regrets at all!

And while I was supervising the Studio this morning, I got a little work done on this top from the LQS workshop I attended last week.

Just borders to add, and I have a cunning plan!

Other exciting news, I've been asked to teach at a quilting retreat specifically aimed at machine quilters!  Thank you Martha!  You can find all the details here. 

D-Day! The Eagle has Landed!

As you know, I have a little sewing room, I've shown you pictures before, but just to remind you how tight 8' x 6' is....

So for a long time now  I've been hankering after a little more room.  And the Teenage Diva has been begging me not to take over any more of the house!  So I did something about it!

At 07:15 am this morning, two large vans pulled up outside my house and 3 very polite gentlemen proceeded to unload their tools and equipment.  Within two hours, the walls are going up!

I needed to pop out into town, it was about 11 am ...

And when I got back ...

It didn't take them long to start on the roof ...

And by 4:30 pm we are watertight, and they'll be back in the morning (yep, 7:15 am!)  to finish off!

So my guilty little secret has been a new quilting studio! 

All 20' x 10' of it,  can you see my grin?

In fact I'm still doing the happy dance!

And that's not all....  today is my Blogiversary!  2 Years today!

I even managed to fit in a little sewing and some cutting of these pretties ...

Seems my mojo might not be too far away!

Happy Quilting!

D-Day -1

Only one more sleep till the big day!  Can you tell I'm excited?   What?  you don't know what I'm talking about  ....  remember my garden .... well this was it earlier in the week.....

(photo courtesy of the Teenage Diva's phone)

Sweetiepie and Mr Shedman came over to dismantle the old shed, and very kindly took it away for re-purposing.  Thank you both so much!

So now it's all gone, (well apart from my pile of rubbish!) tomorrow is the Big Day! 

I'll tell you more tomorrow!  hehe!

Sewing has been somewhat slow, to say the least! 

See!  It's all still in the bag from class on Tuesday!  If anyone can find my motivation, please let me know, I'm sure to find you something special as a reward!  LOL

On the stash front:

Bought this week:  0

Bought this year:  0

Used this week :  0

Used this year:  25 Meters

Net Position:   -25 Meters

Happy quilting, I'll be back tomorrow with more news!

Quick Blocks and a Stash Report

A busy weekend of procrastination, shed clearing and a little last minute sewing.... and by last minute I mean tonight!  (In fact I've still got the ironing to do, I guess it will be last minute ironing of school uniform in the morning!  Ooops!)

Annie's Choice blocks for Elizabeth, a member of the Many Jeans group I belong to... lots of half square triangles but well worth it imho!

The start of another set of Anita's Arrowhead blocks made with a layer cake.  The colours are slightly off, that's a definite Wedgwood blue.  (or for those of you who know what the blue of RAF shirts is,  that's it!)

I've been reading over the last couple of years, yes it's really been that long! many stash reports, and I figured it's time I took responsibility for my stash.  Perhaps make it work harder for me, maybe try a little self justification over the amount of fabric I buy.  I'm aiming for less this year, though I can't promise  ... :)

So with the pink strippy quilt, the Anita's Arrowheads quilt (that I'm sewing binding down on) and the fabrics I cut for my round of The Bees Knees vq bee, I can happily report there is no stash in, that's right zilch, zero, nada!  And a grand total of 25 meters busted this year!  Not a dent to be seen anywhere!  LOL

Unexpected Angel Gift

I've been a sucker for swaps just lately, and having just received my swap partner info today for Scrappy Mug Rug Swap 3 today, and posted off a 2nd round of Pork Chop Swaps - both through Flickr groups, today was no exception.

Except today I received a package from Carol aka Mamacjt, an 'Angel Gift' to replace the package from my swap partner that still has not arrived from round 2.  It was definitely sent back in late November, unfortunately, the postal system has let us both down  :( 

Anyway, back to my package ...

Mug Rug, FQ's and an original Zentangle by Carol too!  And you all know how much I love feathers!  LOL

I love this mug rug, bright and beautiful!  And who can resist cupcakes?  I have to tell you, the Teenage Diva could not believe how loud I squealed when I saw I'd received a package from Carol, I think she thought I'd gone mad.  I'm hoping her hearing loss is not a permanent thing!  he he! 

And we baked cookies tonight...

... Mmmmm. delicious!

Thank you sew much Carol!

Happy quilting!

Just a little catch-up ...

Not a great deal has been done, I'm afraid my mind has been elsewhere as the state of the economy and the availability of funding hits home and has the potential to affect my job.  Hey ho!

This year I've decided to keep a record of my stash and have set up a spreadsheet to record my progress, with the aim of using more than I buy.  Hopefully that way I can keep focused to use it more.  Though I can't say I will NOT buy any fabric this year, my aim is to only buy what I absolutely need!   Yeah right!  LOL


So this wouldn't be a quilting blog without some quilting to show you would it!

This is my block for Sherri for The Bees Knees virtual quilting bee.  This one is 24" square!

And January is my month for The Bees Knees vqb, and I have gone for a sort of pink lemonade with a splash of lime colour theme using Hourglass blocks.  You can find a tutorial of how I made them over here on the Bees Knees blog. 

I've been chopping fabric for another Pork Chop Swap, and had planned to get this quilt trimmed, ready to put on the binding, but alas I never got to it today ...

Now to tackle the ironing...... sigh!

Happy Quilting!

Guess where I am today?

I'm over here! 

Madame Samm asked me to do a post about these ....

If you want to know more, you'll have to head over to the Sew We Quilt (formerly Stash Manicure) blog !

I'm just sayin'!

Finally a Finish!

Just a quick post ...  cos I finished a quilt!  Yaayyyyyy! 

I made this quilt ages ago!  Only it's taken me the last 6 weeks to sew the binding down! 

Shocking!

This one came about seeing how far a Jelly Roll would go, using this strippy method. 

Quite a way I see.

I thought I better let you know I've been busy, just in case you thought I wasn't doing anything!  LOL

Come back tomorrow and I'll show you more!

Happy Quilting!