New Year - New Start

Happy New Year Everyone - I hope 2011 sees all your dreams come true!  Thankyou for sticking with this somewhat spasmodic blog - I plan for it to be more regular during 2011. 

Of course this is the time of year for plans and resolutions and one of mine is always to be more organised, better prepared etc.  In fact I usually am fairly well organised but then life seems to just happen and complicate things.  I'm sure it is probably the same for most of you too.

One of the things I plan to do more of in 2011 is use my sketch book more and to get in the habit I have decided to take up the Sketchbook Challenge - more details on the right.  Hopefully by declaring this publically I will keep it up so if you do not see any evidence of it here please leave me a comment and berate me.

I also plan to make some ATC's for swaping.  As co-ordinator of the Embroiderers' Guild ATC Swap I should at least post some myself so I hope to have the first two up here by the end of the week.

Well, I think that is enough rash promises for now.  Until tomorrow..........

Baby, its cold outside............

Winter has come early to Northumberland!  We have around 12 inches of snow and when the sun shines it is a winter wonderland.  It is probably hard to believe but these two photos were taken this morning within 10 minutes of each other.  It is now snowing again heavily and I don't think we will be going anywhere for a day or two.

On the plus side we can sit by this

and get lots of stitching done.  Since the snow started I have finished Holly, the Christmas Elf

and am now working on Ivy.  It has been good to find time to blog again too.

Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:


Grab your current read

Open to a random page

Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Here is mine:-

"What would have happened if Henry hadn't vanished?  Perhaps, Meredith wouldn't have  grown ever more unpleasant, as she did"
 
From The Legacy by Katherine Webb.  This is an intriguing novel about two sisters and family secrets spanning three generations and set in both England and America.  A contempory and a historical novel rolled into one.

A Quilt for Sue

Sue is a very ill lady and her friend is collecting blocks to make a quilt for her.  If you would like to support a fellow stitcher please click here for more information and how to help

New Arrival

Meet Jack the newest addition to our menagerie.  He is a Border Terrier puppy and officially my elder daughters 21st birthday present but he had taken everyone under his spell.  Our other dog is getting used to him but as you can see below there is quite a size difference!  I hope they are going to be good friends.

The cats are not so sure about him though.  Holly has taken up residence on my printer

which is less than helpful when I want to use it!

Jack is into everything - wastepaper baskets are being emptied all over the house and nothing is safe from his needle sharp teeth -  but has very quickly made himself at home despite turning it upside down.  He is growing really quickly and has already grown into his collar which was slightly too big for him when he arrived a fortnight ago.

New Book

I had a surprise in the post today, a copy of Cloth Doll Artistry by Barbara Willis which I won in a draw at ukclothdollmakers.  It is a lovely book, a mix of clear instructions and sheer inspiration so thank you Jules who organised the draw.  Here is the link for it at Amazon

I am not usually lucky in draws but this week I also won a fat quarter of fabric at a Quilters Guild event.  It was a pie & pea supper at which American Quilter Faye Labanaris was talking about a series of quilts she has made entitled America's Stately Wreaths each one featuring the apropriate state flower.  The fabric is two William Morris panels - I'm not sure how I will use them yet but no doubt inspiration will strike sometime.  Any suggestions anyone?  Last Sunday Faye ran a workshop to create an applique block of British wild flowers using a variety of ribbons, fabric markers and ultrasuede.  This last was new to me but very nice to work with.  It was really enjoyable to spend a day hand stitching in good company.  I completed about a third of the block on the day and will post a pic when it is finished.

Back at Last

It has been an age since I last posted but at long last I have the internet connection (it took 6 weeks after our move to get connected) and the time to start posting again.  The last few weeks have been really busy trying to get the house straight (still failing on that one) and generally getting to grips with things.  There have been delays and hiccuphs - such as problems with our water supply which was so useless I couldn't use the washing machine and had to filter all our drinking water - but although we are still waiting for our shower to be plumbed things are slowly moving forward now and the water is now good and plentiful.  As you've probably guessed it is from a spring so no chlorine or chemicals which is wonderful.

I have managed some stitching time and have a split nine patch quilt on the go. The pic shows the blocks laid out but I want to make 3 more to make it larger.  All of the fabric has come out of my stash - I had to use some before I went to the Great Northern Quilt Show and added anymore! - and I have used some of the fat quarters which I couldn't resist when I bought them but then couldn't use.  It has taken less than a day to stitch the blocks so it seems like a good pattern when you need something ready in a hurry.  I came across it at http://www.justhands-on.tv/

I finally finished the above quilt which I call Goose Chase.  Well I had to because I entered it for the Great Northern Quilt Show.  It is the first time I have entered a competitive show and it nearly didn't get there!  As it had been so long in the making I decided it should be washed before it went on view and one of the colours in the central ring bled.  I managed to sort it but nearly had heart failure at the thought of all that work potentially ruined.  I don't usually wash fabrics before piecing as I like to work with the crisp fabric but this might make me make think twice. 

This quilt had also been on its travels.  I was delighted when it was accepted for the Quilters Guild Summer in the Park  Exhibition at Rufford Craft Centre in Nottinghamshire.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get to see it having just moved etc.

I will hopefully be posting more regularly now and still have lots of things to share so until then...........