Bean Salad

I couldn't think what to title this post,

but I thought because it's a bit of a mix

of things, it's a bit of a bean salad ;o)

 

First up:

My first scrappy Corn and Bean block

a-la Scraps & Threadtales!

These blocks are such fun to make

and I plan to make them super-scrappy

thanks to Sio for getting me itchy to make them

and another friend who gave me the most awesome scraps!

(Yes, it's true - other people's scraps

are always better than your own!!)

 

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Another 2 rose-star half blocks:

And loads more cut out!!

 

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I was rather penniless

at the Great North Quilt Show,

but these came home with me:

As did these gorgeous Owl fabrics.

I'm sure I'll make something out of them

for Baby-Kalico

 as I rather like owls at the moment:

And a ruler - made out of perspex,

but bought with plastic ;o)

The pencil case was bought at a local supermarket

(couldn't resist!)

 

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This week was 'Back to school!'

My baby boy started Year 1:

I think they were both almost as happy

to go back to school

as Mummy was to send them! :)

 

Walking up to the bus on the first morning:

Baby-Kalico misses them terribly

when they are at school...

But she's a joy to have around.

(Rose-) Stars in My Eyes

I'm still sewing away at these
rose-star hexagon blocks...

And I'm trying to square up the sides

so I needed more halves...

I confess, with some blocks,

I just wing any colours together!

But they're still fun to do!

So Behind...

My blog is stuck in traffic!

My mind is full of thoughts...

mainly concerned thoughts for a sick friend,

thoughts for a friend with a troubled marriage,

happy thoughts about my children...

So I am behind on many things.

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The summer comes and goes here

so we try and make the most of

any sun we can get...

Last week the children had a great day out

at a water park

and the handy thing about crutches

is that Mummy gets a seat

to sit and watch the children play! :)

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We had a lovely bloggy/quilty visitor

and her family to stay

which was a lot of fun.

The men got on like a house on fire,

the teenage visitors were fabulous with baby

and the boys played well together.

Here Kate and I are sewing

(Kate is doing Cross-stitch and I am EPP-ing)
at one of our picnics where the sun eluded us...

Both of us, were wrapped up under quilts,

while the men and boys climbed the Fells.

I managed to finish another rose-star...

And I have African blocks to show

(in another post!)

from Kate's visit.

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5 houseguests means a lot of shoes :)

(I have a shoe ban upstairs on the cream carpets

so the bottom of the stairs was a good place

to pile them up LOL)

Not that many considering there

were 9 shoe wearers in the house ;o)

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Now that things are back to normal here

we can spend time being silly again...

When I grow up, I want to be a quilt...

... said the rose star block

as she was pinned to her friends :)

Quilt Inspection

I'm still sewing these rose star hexagons....

I'd like to be sewing more in the studio

and on a sewing machine, but time is limited...

Miss Kalico has given the latest block her approval :)

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Lately, I have managed to do quite a lot of basting

and sewing while being the broken-legged passenger...

We are about 45 minutes from

anywhere 'big' so I can get quite a lot done,

as long as I don't look down for too long...

Well, Actually I Have Been Patching...

I worked so hard to get those bags made

for a local shop and completely forgot

that I have been slowly,

(very very slowly!),

working on my rose star hexagons...

3 more finished to go into this quilt.

Did I mention I'm making it single bed size?

Thinking it's for when Baby-Kalico

gets a 'big girl' bed in a few years time.

With any luck I will have it finished by then ;o) 

I only work on these blocks every now and again.

Sometimes I'll get lots of pieces basted while waiting

for a hospital appointment.

Other times, I might manage a few stitches

while watching (the rain delays

during) the Wimbledon tennis.

Somehow, as I try to do more

with my leg, I get less time to do anything else...

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And rain! Boy have we had rain...

non-stop rain. And when the sun shines

you can't hang your washing out

because a few hours (minutes!!) later

it WILL rain...

Yes, the UK weather is a sad state of affairs!!

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Little people, keep me cheery though!

Baby-Kalico is still toothless,

but we have had all the symptoms

(for weeks now) of teeth! :o(

So for a while now she not been feeling 100%,

but she still manages lots of smiles!

And she never says no to some fun food.

Here she's eating her favourite sweetcorn rings ;)

Wordless Wednesday - More Rose Stars

How do you Like Them Apples

I think this may be my favourite rose-star block so far...

Since having a little girl pink and red

is becoming a favourite colour combination...

Of course these blocks

do lend themselves

to trying other crazy combinations too :)

Here's another half star

in a wild assortment of scraps...

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Somebody in their little apple playsuit

is figuring out that their behind needs to go up to crawl...

With the boys I positively encouraged crawling,

but with Baby-Kalico I am leaving it up to her.

We can't have her crawling before I can walk!!

Just checking you're still there Mum...

Yes, I'm here.

Although my nose has lost some skin ;)

What Have I Done To Deserve This?

I am not sure what I've done,

but after many weeks of a distinct lack of interest in me,

'her lady-cat-ship' has deemed my bed

acceptable for napping again :)

She was even happy for me to photograph

my rose star hexagon progress laid next to her..

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This was the first photo, but the sun (!!!)

streaming through the window caught

all the dust particles in the light of the camera

(does that make sense? I mean, the circles are dust

that my camera has caught reflected...

or something like that... LOL)

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Yesterday's hospital visit saw me get my 4th Plaster cast,

this one now includes my ankle as the last few casts

kept slipping down like a pair of old tights

that had lost their elastic ;)

Luckily, it's only for another 2 weeks

and then I should be fitted with a brace

which will allow me to bend my knee - woo-hoo!

Boy did my favourite chocolates

from my friend J come at just the right time!

Sleepless nights, a phantom itch under plaster...

all gone with a nibble of marzipan :)

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This photo is specially for Granny-Kalico

it shows Baby-K at 7 months old!

Yupp!! 7 months already! Slow down!

Unfortunately, the very next day she was really poorly

and we've now had 3 sleepless nights

with her battling very high temperatures

and sickness. I'm pretty sure she's teething

as she's trying to chew everything!

Poor little poppet :(

So here she is on the mend (hopefully)

and feeling a little brighter,

but still not 100% her chirpy self...

The vest was a sweet gift from A.

'Bed-in' With Baby-Kalico

Make no mistake, I love looking after Baby-Kalico!!,

but it's really hard work when you can't put any weight on one foot,

you walk with crutches

and you are lumbering a huge plaster cast around with you

everywhere you go...

I knew it was going to be hard work so

I carefully worked out the household budget

and decided that if we were very careful

and had no extras (i.e. NO luxuries of any sort!!!!)

we could just about afford some help for a few weeks

to get me over the worst of it.

Unfortunately help needs days off

and today help was unwell :(

I have been getting up in the morning to look after baby,

I put her to bed at night and I play with her

as much as possible during the day,

but if I am alone in the house with her,

we have to do a 'bed-in'.

This means that I can feed her,

put her down for naps etc

without having to carry her around,

an impossible feat with crutches!

If I'm not sleeping at the same time as her,

I try to do a little hand-sewing...

I have found making the two different halves
for my rose-star quilt quite addictive...

Obviously they come together much quicker

and I have been trying some wild colour combinations...

Who knows, a few more weeks of bed-rest

and I may even be 'half' way :)