Forgetting Myself for a Minute

I decided to walk down to the village

with Baby-Kalico in the buggy.

Unfortunately I forgot myself for a minute...

I forgot that it takes quite a long time...

And I forgot how bad my leg is... So it was quite hard work...

But I did get to see my tree!

I love this tree and I always enjoy looking at it,

as it shows the seasons change,

when I drive to and fro from the village.

Baby-Kalico had a great nap while I hobbled along

I did make it all the way to the A-road,

but then I had to hitch a lift home :)

(with DH who was coming to fetch one of the boys from school.)

I do love the scenery around here

And all the sheep...

And of course, the company on my 'walk'

was wonderful too!

Today's walk made me realise

that this next leg operation

will be just what I need

to be more active

for and with my children,

so although I am nervous,

I am also certain that needs must

and perhaps once I've recovered,

I'll manage a walk to the village

AND back! :)

Cathedral Stars - A Finish for 2012!

At last the Cathedral Stars

quilt that I started last year

in February in Germany is finished!

 Even the sheep were impressed

(or hungry!)

I pieced the back and used left over 2" squares

to 'stretch' the fabric to the size needed...

This quilt was started during the Bonnie Hunter Workshop in Schonaich,

so I shall always remember watching Bonnie unpick my blocks ;)

and I shall also remember how I sewed the one block wrong,

but left it as I had done too many that same wrong way already,

and I shall also remember how all my German quilting friends

have nagged and nagged me to finish this quilt

(And I shall look forward to nagging them about something in future! ;D )

 

It was Longarmed quilted by Chris at Father's Heart

and I love the swirly quiling design she suggested.

Now to finish something else before I go into hospital on the 8th of May :(

Daily Traffic Jam & Studio Update

I was driving home today and had to wait for the neighbours

to move their sheep so I just quickly snapped this photo

of the kind of traffic we get around here :)

*****

This morning I had been showing a friend

the floor that DH has laid in the studio...

Just as well I went back in later to get a photo

as I had inadvertantly closed kitty in!

She was pretty pleased to see me again :)

Getting in a Bind on my Birthday

YES, everyone who did the Cathedral Stars workshop

with Bonnie Hunter LAST February!

Yes, I have attached the binding...

But, NO,

No I haven't had a chance to stitch it down just yet...

*****

I received some really beautiful flowers, fabric, chocolates

etc. for my 40th birthday.

Unfortunately, I spent the day on the sofa and in bed

as I had some sort of stomach bug,

but hey at least I got some rest as my wonderful husband

looked after the kids and left me to wallow...

These are the flowers my Mom sent me.

Thanks Mom, they're lovely!

Lakes & Likes

We had a lovely trip to Bowness in the Lake District,

the weather wasn't warm enough to actually go out on a boat,

so we had a little stroll past the row boats
and into town for ice-creams,

while some of us slept...

*****

I have been enjoying some pre-birthday spoils

with many thanks to a very special friend:

Only Birgit will know that there were actually more chocolates

in the box. BUT I can explain :)

I was reading an article about how woman OVER 40

have a tendency to put weight on more easily...

so I thought with just a few days to go,

I had better hurry up and eat them all up LOL

Dolly Number Two

I made another doll,

(only my second)

for our neighbour's little girl.

This time, I didn't make the dress.

I upcycled it from some baby clothes.

I had to adapt the collar,

and I watched a video on you-tube

to try a new way of making the hair

so it's a bit different to the last doll I made.

Baby-kalico loves her doll

so I'm hoping dolly-number-2 makes

another little girl very happy.

What's on YOUR (guest)Bed?

Bonnie was getting her guest room ready for her son's visit

and incredibly I was getting our guest room ready

for my dear friend Helen who arrives tomorrow...

I am so looking forward to her visit!

On the bed is my 'Orange Crush' quilt -

one of Bonnie's Mystery quilts,

which I entitled 'Berry Crush' as I did it in red ;)

On the bedside cabinet is a little quilt

made by another dear friend Anne.

*****

Quilty visitors always welcome! 

More on Ricky Tims in Oldham...

I apologise that the blogging of my hand

(which is healing nicely, thank you)

may have made it seem like I hadn't had a good time

at the Ricky Tims talk, but I did. I really did.

I loved hearing all about his life,

his work, and seeing his quilts, right there

in Oldham, Lancashire,

which are AWESOME!!!

So I thought I'd show

my Ricky Tims Convergence quilt

made in 2008

for my friend Toni, The Quilting Pirate:

- hence the 'converging' of pirate fabric ;c)

Ricky had some great suggestions about convergence quilts...

unfortunately he didn't have any suggestions

about how to find more time in my days LOL

Here are a few more photos from his talk

on Caveman Quilting:

 As I was taking this photo,

someone flipped up the quilt to look at the back...

 Loved these flower quilts

and really fancied making one, but I can't.

I really can't!!

 I need to make a dent in my UFO's first!

But I have come away feeling

very proud of my hobby

and very grateful to all the people

who create and inspire all of us who enjoy it.

Thanks Ricky.

Right, now, who's next?! LOL

Happy Easter

Part of the Woohoo Nation

Considering that I live in a remote part of North Yorkshire,

bordering on Lancashire and Cumbria,

I find it amazing that I have, in the past 2 years,

had the pleasure of meeting Bonnie Hunter (in Germany), 

And today, the very entertaining Ricky Tims.

I very much enjoyed Ricky's talk on Caveman Quilting:

Baby-Kalico enjoyed the bright colours

and gorgeous swirly quilting ;)

She even got an affectonate greeting...

Perhaps you can see my lovely sodden clothing?!?

Well... Unfortunately, there was quite a lot of snow in Oldham today

and when we parked in the parking lot

there was lots of slippy wet slushy snow...

I bought my parking voucher

and when I went to put it in the window it blew away...

So I went to chase it and unfortunately I went flying...

I basically skidded on my stomach across the slush,

grazed my hands and fingers, bruised my knees

and to stop myself skidding into a parked car,

I flipped myself over and sat on my bum

and so ended up with very wet trousers, shirt and coat :(

Never mind, it didn't dampen my spirits,

nor the beauty of Ricky's stunning quilts...

Below is Ricky's 'Bohemian Rhapsody':

Vicky enjoyed them too!

Hello England:

(Ricky talked Caveman, Convergence & Rhapsody quilts)

Hello beautiful quilt details!!:

We enjoyed learning about Ricky's Rhapsody quilts:

How to design them,

How to make them,

How to use 'Ricky's Poly-Stable-Stuff',

Double (and regular) blanket stitch,

Bobbin threads, Freezer paper etc...

Really amazing stuff and very interesting.

*****

The lighting wasn't great for this photo of his Log Cabin Bears:

The colours are amazing in the flesh!

My hand, to give you a sense of scale:

My hand, after my fall:

Regardless of my fall,

I had a wonderful day and really enjoyed

meeting Ricky Tims in the flesh.

My favourite quote of the day

when asked if narrower seams needed

smaller stitches:

Yes, but...

"The smaller the stitch,

the harder it is to pick it out"

Ricky Tims

Nearly, Nearly...

Collected 2 quilts that had been longarm-quilted

by Chris at Fathers-Heart today

so...

Nearly, nearly a finish (or 2) for 2012!

Just need to get the binding on them first!

*****

And the other nearly...

one more sleep until I get to hear Ricky Tims speak about his quilts

I'm really looking forward to it!

And of course,

another gratuitous baby-pic (for Granny!)

Baby Doll

Some pictures of Baby-Kalico with her dolly.

I have been making a dolly for our neighbour's daughter,

so I was looking at the one I had already made,

to see how I had made it - 

(so that I didn't have to read the instructions again LOL)

I managed to convince Master Kalico to get in the picture :)

(I will be honest...

these are actually just gratuitous baby photos

taken at 23 weeks!)

(Spots, spots spots! Especially if they're red ones!!)