September Sunset

More Red & Green Appleauce (and a Traffic Jam)

42 blocks...

Untrimmed...,

so I can see why the pattern calls for so many.

Once trimmed and then sewn together

they will get lot smaller.

I am only getting time to sew on them now and then

so this quilt is not growing particularily fast!

*****

If I am not reversing out the way of a tractor

or a milk lorry, it's the neighbour's sheep...

Honestly, the 'traffic' around here is terrible :)

A Start, A Finish and a Few 'Bits' Inbetween

The problem with blogging infrequently

is that when you do come to write about

your projects, you have too much to say...

So lots of (words and) photos in this post.

Recently a school friend passed away.

I've not seen her since school,

but thanks to connecting again through

social media I had a chance to catch up wth her

over the last few months... so I felt particularily sad

that she has passed leaving such a large hole

in all the lives she touched with her music

and her fighting spirit...

Her passing coincided with a week (or 2!)

of nothing seeming to go right.

Troubles with the longarm,

the opressivemess of my general clutter,

teething babies, sleepless nights,

the list goes on of many many small things

that I just couldn't control

or direct in a positive direction.

So what do you do when the world

weighs heavy on your shoulders?

Why, start a new quilt of course!!!

Mindless cutting and sewing IS the cure for all that ails you!

So a new Bonnie Hunter quilt it is:

Kate you'll know which one it is!!!

(especially as you are largely responsible

for reminding me of what a great quilt it is!!)

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And a finish:

Although I longarmed this top,

I didn't piece it.

It's a Kate special and I just love the colours and design.

Thanks Kate! Hope you like what I've done ;)

The panto was from Plum

(Thanks Plum!)

I think it's called Peacock Meander,

but to be 100% sure I'd have to go to the studio to check...

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Then here are the WIP'S

(works in Progress for the unquilty):

First borders are on my Purple and Green Oceans...

Outer borders to follow...

Nearly a 'cat-astrophe' here!!

The ground was so muddy

from all the recent rain we've had

and Abby decided it would be a nice place to

keep her paws dry

so the photo shoot ended rather promptly after this shot

of her walking the quilt top into the mud:

*****

I love Tonya's wonky letters

and I have her 'Word Play' book,

BUT I've never tried any until now.

Only thing is I didn't have the book next to me

when I tried these...

They're probably not wonky enough just yet.

*****

This little table runner is on the longarm...

Just to practise on...

There is only a tiny bit left to do,

but of course the bobbin ran out

just before the end.

(this was after I'd had a few tussles with the machine anyway

so a break was needed!

I'm sure now that I've had a little Longarm holiday

and 'sorted' most of the issues that

work will commence with vigour.)

*****

And finally, here's my house block with the sheep added.

I just freehand drew them and like how they turned out...

Hopefully no more additions before I quilt it!

Because I had thought of adding our cat...

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And a parting shot of all the seagulls on the fields.

they are grub-hunting after the fields have been sprayed.

*****

Phew! that was hard work,

I really will try not to leave it so long between posts,

but life does seem to get in the way lol.

Wordless Wednesday

Focus on Felt

My local village craft group organised a trip

to the tiny village of Hardraw, near Hawes,

to visit Andrea Hunter at her studio:

'Focus on Felt'.

we could not have picked a better day for it.

Not only is the countryside beautiful,

 

but Andrea's original felt artworks

are awe-inspiring...

 

Shelves packed with beautifully dyed

Merino wool, just waiting to become artworks...

 

Small artworks for sale...

And Andrea!

A very generous artistic spirit,

who kindly demonstrated her technique

and had us all in amazement!

She (and my fellow crafters)

kindly allowed a little Kalico to see what was going on...

(until luckily she fell asleep in her buggy!!!)

 

Andrea's demonstration piece...

 

The technique...

 

The rolling...

 

The rapture :) ...

 

Ah! So that's how she does it....

 

A splendid day out...

... in a beautiful studio...

Thanks Andrea.

We hope to see you again sometime soon...

Wordless Wednesday - Yorkshire

Wordless Wednesday - Snow & Sun

Counting Sheep

More sheep

caught on the new camera...

It's still really frosty out.

Just 'Messing' Around...

A quilty friend suggested I join the

rose star block party

hosted by summerfete...

I have only made one block so far.

(Thanks Andrea for a very pleasant distraction

from my UFO's (and nappies LOL)!!)

Today, DS1, baby-kalico and I went for a walk

so that I could 'mess around' with my new camera...

We walked up our farm track...

and quite a way down the road...

it was really frosty out
and we had to go 'off-road' a few times to

let a tractor, a learner driver and a neighbour pass....

I admit, I just had the camera on 'auto'...

...but I'm still really pleased with it!

The Forbidden Corner

I can't even begin to describe this place...

It's magical (even in the rain)...

It's unusual...

It's full of surprises...

It's too much to take in and do so taking photos is almost impossible...

It kept the boys entertained and excited the whole time...

It's well worth a visit!