Busy as a bee!

There was some of this ....

thanks to the Diva and her friend whilst I was out at a Guild meeting last week ...

and, believe it or not, I was in some serious need of retail therapy ...

these are in anticipation of an expected baby ...

some lovely Cape Anne ...  well because it's just so lovely  :)  he he

and maybe a little Ruby, I've been eyeing this up for a while and being as some yardage arrived at the LQS, well, it would have been rude not to, right?

and these batiks ( oh sorry I forgot to warn you to avert your eyes)  have been gifted already :) 

and whilst I've been busy buying, I have been busy stitching too ...

just one or two more bags ...

and a dumpling pouch (enlarged) for the Diva ...

I feel there may be an order or two from her friends very soon, I also think I can add just a tweak or two to the pattern ... maybe next year

gotta love gingham  :) 

 

There has been other sewing too, but I can't show you the rest ... sorry

So as of today I have one more stitched gift to make for Christmas, all the shopping is done (read as - that I am going to do!)  still a package to arrive by mr post man who has been very absent, and just the small matter of house tidying, table clearing and spare room to sort out...  oh and the leeks and parsnips to go dig out the ground ... and we'll be ready for some food prep

oh, and wrapping ... I can do wrapping :) 

How are you doing? 

Every cloud ...

... has a silver lining. 

or a pink birdie one!

And today my silver lining called, and made my day!

It all started a couple of weeks ago with a reminder e-mail from a friend ...

(thank you Honey :)  you know who you are!)

you know how it goes with good intentions, right? 

well, time is slipping through my fingers faster than water at the moment, and organised I was not, no matter how good my intentions were...

So on the day it should of arrived, I toodled off to the Post Office with package in my sweaty little mitts..

I was a little surprised to find no ques, but stepped up to the counter to be greeted with ...

sorry we can't post that - the systems are all down, and also in all the surrounding Post offices! 

Nooooooooo!

I needed this to arrive before today, because I knew this person would be out, chillin' at the Chemo Bar!

But sods law intervened and there was nothing I could do.  So back I toodled yesterday and posted my package, praying it would not be hidden by the postie, or worse, ... but we won't go there.

So, one little cloud, I had to live with ... but today I had the mother of all days at work ...

and feeling just a little sorry for myself, I was a little surprised by my phone ringing ...

Squeeeeeeeeeal!!!!!  Terri!

it's arrived!  And she loves it!

and after a right natter about the up and coming FQ Community Retreat, and the Brit Bee, and ... and ... and

oh, Happy Birthday Terri! 

You turned a truly cloudy day, back into bright sunshine, you never cease to inspire me, with your cheery excitement and exuberance. 

Stay well Sweetie!

p.s.  I used this Tute for the bag, and it is sooooo easy!

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!

Christmas Quilt Along Party!

Gosh, where did the year go!

Well today Sue, at Quilt Times is hosting the Christmas Quilt Along Party, so I've dug out my party frock, and am going celebrate along with all the other wonderful ladies that have quilted along over the year

Did I make some makes?  You betya!

a couple of notebook covers, one has already been gifted ...

a stack of coasters ... hmm, might have to whip up some more of these!

and a mug rug, again gifted already :)

an experimentation with pincushions and selvedges ... one already gifted ...

mmm, strawberry jam, fresh from the allotment, ready for some Christmas giving  :)

and the quickest quilt ever with Charlie hosting on a Sunday!

a Card wallet ...

lanyard,  hmm again, more on the cards of these ...

and my Sassy Christmas Stars ... still in need of a little border treatment ... 

mmm, medlar jelly ... (aka rotting fruit jelly!)

a cheeky little zippy pouch, gifted already :)

my goodness, I learnt a lot of new things over the year,  and whilst blogger has taken all day to load some of these pics, I'm sitting here watching Strictly, thinking 'Didn't I do well!' 

Don't forget to head on over to Sue's blog to check out the Linky and see what everyone else has been up to over the year. 

Thank you Sue and Cathi for being such wonderful hosts, we couldn't have done all this without you!

Happy Quilting!

Pick Four - Revisited

Back in August I took part in a Blog hop for this book

for my friend Sue of Quilt Times

You can read my original post Here

Finally I sewed the binding down of this quilt last night, and today, whilst we had a little window of opportunity - sunshine, I dragged the hungry one outside ...

but sadly not for long, he took himself off to town to do Christmas shopping, but I got to stay home and play ... more of that in a bit ...

not my best quilting when taken in isolation like this, 

but overall, not bad imho

This is about 80" x 80" ish

(I haven't measure it exactly)

I know you like to see the back!  This one is just for YOU!

Despite the problems I had with my machine whilst quilting this one, I was pleased to finally get it done.

Especially as it was completely from stash, including the 5.5 meters of backing fabric!

Sweet!

Edited note:  I'm linking this up with Clover and Violets Stash Project here:

So, back to today, and I got to play! 

just a little :)  I'll tell you more about this in the new year! 

I did get my ORB Quilt Along Dresden pillow made today ...

sorry about the awful pic, it was dark by the time I finished it, but I was in too much of a hurry to show you :) 

This one is now going in the Christmas box to be given as a gift ...

aaah, now that feels better!

Happy Quilting!

Shop-ability!

Whilst there is some stitching going on, none that I can show you just yet, there has been just a little shopping too!  Seems I don't have a problem in that area ... or perhaps I do!  :)

Just a couple of lovelies picked up at the Pea Room meeting last month ...

and some lovely, lurrrrrvley Lotta Jansdotta arrive courtesy of The Fat Quarter Shop ...

and just one or two sips from Zipit ....

and these lovelies are part of the Fat Quarterly Designer Challenge ...

I have a cunning plan!

and this little lot is just half of my thread order from Martha of Machine Quilter ...

and just a little bit of this to finish off my ORB Dresden pillow, which has now made it onto the Christmas Gifts list ....

I better get busy!  (before the next batch of packages arrive!)

Hello December!

Wow that was fast wasn't it?  Did you blink and miss November too?

It was another busy month, with 2 swaps done and almost dusted, I'm still waiting for one package to arrive at it's new home.  So more than a couple of finishes, some purchases too,  (oops!) 

Looking back visually, I'm pretty pleased ...  I'm linking this up with Lynne's Fresh Sewing Day, so head on over and check out what everyone else got up to during November.... 

Be quick, it's almost Christmas!

Happy Quilting!