A finish at least!

I have so much to catch up with for blogging

But at least I can show you a finish.  

Remember this from my FAL list?

I know, its only been on there all year!

( Know that because that fabric loaded on the long arm was the first fabric loaded up on it when it arrived back in January!)

 I first started this quilt way back, on my very first visit to Lynne's, and finished the blocks in July 2011!

Anyway, back in September, in between customer quilts and before the teaching started back, I hunted down a suitable backing and loaded it up for a little 

special me time!

look, all fancy rulers and everything! 

and this Aurifl 2026 was just perfect for those soft buttery yellows

so before I went off to the Brit Bee Retreat, I found fabric from my stash, lets face it, thats not difficult, and I may still have a good selection of Sunkissed by Moda in there, and I got this baby to the point of hand stitching the binding down.

so I could sit, listen to all the chatter, eat cake, because its never a retreat without cake!

And finished this baby off!

And I love it!

So there you have it, 2 blog posts in a row after a noticeable absence!

Lets see if I can catch up on few other things that have been happening too!

Keep your eyes peeled!

Sunday Sitrep

Is it really over a week since my last post? 

I've been doing 'stuff' ... you know how it is ...

I HAVE been working on these for Sarah, but I'm still working on getting my head round them ...

and I did rustle up ...

another scarf, fabrics from Tracey at Quilt Me Happy ...

and I managed to pull fabrics ...

and unsurprisingly, started something new! 

X & + blocks to follow :) 

and I did manage to get a monster Ripple Nipple block for Hadley for the Brit Bee

and there has been the small matter of some quilting, now delivered

and of course, not forgetting the enormous amount of time spent on my tax return,

I am happy to have it filed and done :) 

and today I have been giving a trunk show at the Petwood Hotel, as part of a retreat weekend

run my Martha for Frame Machine Quilters

the sun shone, and it was a balmy 8.5 celcius!

How was your week?

I'll be back soon ...

not wanting to dwell on the point, but my bags are packed and just the necessaries to bung in in the morning! 

So a quick round up of the week so far ..

Monday, sewed on binding ...

Tuesday ...  Brit Bee Blocks for Miss May  ...

I also delivered my sewing machine with Laura ready for the weekend

Wednesday  ... work

today ...

well, everyone else was producing bags like it was an easy thing ...

hmmm, I'm no bag lady ... but it is reversible ...

and just how long does it have to take to iron on the interfacing!

so I then thought I should do just few other little things, after all it was only mid/late afternoon ...

so a little playing ...

and now I have these to finish off on the train in the morning ...

and because it's the end of the month ... and there is no way I am going to be up in time to do another post let alone get it linked in to the Sew Fresh linky dinky ....

a finish .... ta daaaaah

Holiday Hoops is finally done

and I'm pretty darn pleased with it :)

so I'll be back sometime next week to see what June brings and to maybe do a post on the Fat Quarterly Retreat ... we'll see ...

Happy Quilting!

Time ...

... is precious, so we learn to make the most of it ...

precious time learning new skills, or building skills ...

which means it's time  ... for another Retreat! 

it's all about feathers!  You know you love them!

so come and join us this weekend at the Petwood Hotel, Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire,

for some precious time ... devoted to YOU!

If you would like to learn how to use a frame to quilt, learn feathers, expand your own skills,

you can find all the details here ...

If your time is precious, why not talk to Martha about joining us for Saturday

I promise to bring plenty of inspiration, so you leave with new skills to make the most of your precious time.

Re-Treat!

There's something about a little treat, isn't there, so after my last little jaunt on the shopping front, it didn't take too long to take advantage of the Cyber Monday sales, AND a Fat Quarterly discount code ...

behold ...

I re-treated myself to more fabric! 

I knew you'd want all the details ...

and who am I to deny you ...

your own treat ...

wonderful eye candy! 

Nothing like like a Retreat, is there! 

So, if you found me here at Festival of Quilts ...

and were tempted to treat yourself to a frame of your own ...

or you already have a quilting frame ... how about getting up close and personal, on your own

Machine Quilting Retreat  ...  for a little one on one to get the best out of your frame,

all the details are here, go on, treat yourself! 

Martha, Anne and I will be there to guide you  :) 

And finally, for a little down time, and a great meet up ... 

I'm also heading out for a little retreat here too! 

And the best thing about this one, is all the ladies of the Brit Bee will be there, together!

How cool is that going to be! 

Can you tell I'm just a little excited ...

You can get your own ticket to retreat here

in the mean time ... Happy Quilting!

Friday?

Already?

And another thing!  Did you notice March snuck in?

Well, life has been a little busy lately, work, work, and a little extra work.  Now that was nice!  More than nice, in fact!  I'd been asked by Martha of Machine Quilter to help with a quilting retreat aimed directly at enabling quilters learn skills to quilt on their New English Quilter frame.  As I've been quilting prolifically on mine for the last 3 and a half years, and living only 30 minutes away, of course I said yes!

We had a wonderful, full and productive weekend spent blissfully drawing, quilting, playing and exploring.  I can highly recommend the hospitality of Chaplin House bed and breakfast if you are visiting Lincolnshire, we were fed and watered with the most mouth watering, delicious food, that was organic and local, and always where possible, home made, including the most marvelous jams, and a fruit pavlova that personally pushed me over the edge!

And we even played with feathers!  What a star you are Emma!

And we learned a lot about threads  :)  Great Threaducation from Martha!

Gosh has a week gone by already! 

And in other news ....

I got all my threads in one place ... and my little angel has a little perch to watch over me whilst I sew.  A very special gift, hand made by a friend, Sarah.  Such a talented lady  :)

Happy Quilting!