A Good Day at the V&A

Wednesday I met two lovely bloggy friends at the V&A Museum in London.

We had arranged to meet in the main foyer, but the main entrance was closed as they were putting up an amazing entrance display. Silly me, I sat and waited in the wrong foyer, but soon sorted it out (once I'd caught my breath LOL)

While we waited for the '3rd Musketeer' who needed to arrive later. Vicki and I wandered around the Arts & Crafts display and stumbled upon these poor squashed, yet exquisite brass instuments...

This William Morris Textile design was a highlight for me in the Arts & Crafts section:

Once we were 3, and had explored the very interesting 'Art of Making' exhibition, we spent a long time in the courtyard drinking coffee and chatting.

Then we wandered around the bookshop:

What a great selection,... some people couldn't resist tempation ;o)

Another pitstop needed to be made at the gift shop!

For a hat girl like me, I loved this display....

All in all a great day out. Thanks Vicki and Kate!

London Calling!

I have just returned from a mini-break in London
where I stayed with good friends who spoilt me rotten: 

I was collected from the station

and then taken to a sewing shop on the way to their home!

Fantastic! My friend had spotted Raystitch

on the Essex Road and thought I might like to pop in...

Of course I wanted to pop in!!!

They have a wonderful selection of books and sewing patterns.

It's a very beautiful shop with Japanese cottons

(at £19 a metre though!)

and other lovely fabrics and sewing notions.

They also have a cafe so you could stay a while

and then be tempted to shop a lot!

We resisted temptation and had coffee

'for the girls' at a deli across the road

only because we needed space for the baby buggy,
a crutch and a bump LOL.

Although if the weather had been better 

we would have 'dined' there as they have outside tables.

Mmm... babychino!

Crochet One, Knit Two & Quilt Five

My unborn baby is already being spoilt!

Katie Z. from Zana's Nini sent baby a beautiful crochet hat

with a choice of 3 colour flowers...

So cute! Thanks Katie Z!

Check out her Etsy shop!

As the season has turned, I have knitted

the boys new hats for school

(I can't crochet at all!)

2 obvious things happened with the hats...

1) I couldn't get the boys to let me take any sensible photos..

And 2) The little guy has already lost his hat at school!!

Kate N. very kindly sent me some quilt tops

to hand over to Vicky for Project Linus...

Kate is amazingly productive

and I am so looking forward to catching up

with her again... soon!

We will be meeting another blogger

who I have admired for some time too...

soon!

I'm sure you'll get to read all about it on our blogs...

soon!

Another bad photo of the top below

(the borders are straight in reality!!)

And this red, white and blue top is my favourite from Kate,

but it's not a great photo either :(

Thanks Kate for five fabulous tops for a great cause!

(and see you... soon! ;oD )

Wordless Wednesday - Blackberry (and Plum) Pie

'Square'-ing Hexagons

It seems that once a project reaches a certain size

and needs borders or just general finishing

it just slides into the UFO pile...

Then sometimes a comment from someone

asking if I had indeed finished a particular project

is just what I need to get going on it again...

Well I would really like to finish my hexagons

and have it on our bed, but it was just getting so bulky

and I was stumped with how to 'finish' it.

Then I had a brainwave LOL.

I thought if I want to get it longarmed by Chris 

I need to put some borders on or square it up...

I love cream on cream fabrics

and so I just started putting some cream scraps

over irregular sized papers.

The papers are 3" in width, but vary in length...

I sewed a few cream pieces together

and then attached them to the hexagons

which I squared off just by folding them over...

As I was photographing the borders,

I noticed this 'rogue' fabric.

I thought it was sufficiently neutral,

but alas it sticks out to me....

Although I have almost finished one and a half sides,

I have only used it twice so far

so I think I am going to unpick it

and replace it with one of the other neutral ones...

I am planning on piecing the backing from left over rose fabrics.

I have already started cutting them, but not machine piecing yet.

I also am planning (once it's quilted)

to bind it in some red spotty fabric or something of that ilk...  

I love sewing hexagons together by hand

so I imagine I'll either be doing another one

or something else with papers

(or I may even finish my Carolina Lily

- now wouldn't that be something LOL!)

Back to School (is rainy!)

Today marks the start of 'big' school for my littlest boy.

He starts reception... and his older brother goes into Year 2.

I didn't cry, they just looked so content to be going back to school that I was just really happy for them..

I did think last night when I saw my little boy sleeping

that he was too little to be in school all day

and that I will really miss having him at home in the afternoons!

He's good fun, great company and gives the best cuddles!

But they were all set and ready for the bus.

I managed to finish their PE bags last night (in the nick of time -

never mind that I had 6 weeks to make them!)

Of course, it rained like mad this morning

when I wanted to get some 'First Day of School' photos!

And we all got soaked waitng for the bus

 which was delayed behind some cows

(the traffic around here is terrible LOL)

Somehow having the children around for 6 weeks meant I got very little done,

so although I shall miss them I shall now be able to clean, nest and sew

 without any interruptons (well, here's hoping!)

The Great Northern Crowds

Actually it's the Great Northern Quilt Show, but it was the first day and the crowds were overwhelming for the bump and me...

Trying to look at the vendor's wares was neigh on impossible, but later in the day it thinned out and I did buy a few bits. Not as much as I could have, but I had to be sensible and remember that firstly I have a lot of UFO's and secondly I am about to have a baby and sewing will be limited!

I was a very bad photographer and almost forgot to take photos.

However, I did take a few photos of this quilt made out of old ties.

I love quilts made out of old ties and would love to make one, one day!!!

Probably also in a Log Cabin design...

I met the lady who made this lovely quilt called 'Whirligig'.

It's a fun quilt:

I also bumped into Chris, my Longarmer and looked at her 3 quilts on show.

It was great catching up with Chris,

And hearing the story behind her prize-winning quilt.

I haven't got a photo of my purchases which included some cotton thread for piecing, a scrap bag, several half metre cuts of cream tone on tones and some pink and yellow gingham...

I was very restrained and now very tired :o)

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!

Diapers, Dinosaurs, Lego & Lambs

With now only 9 weeks to go, I thought I had better get a nappy/diaper changing bag made. Especially if I suddenly have to make a dash for the hospital ;o)

As it's custom made for me by me, I put in 5 internal pockets for keeping all the baby junk...er... I mean stuff separate =)

And I have finally started nesting, I thought I'd work on the house first before I tackle the 'nursery'. I bought the boys dinosaur curtains and a rug to match for their room and today from 2 of their old t-shirts, I made these pictures:

Making these entailed 2 old pictures on wooden frames, my handy staple gun, interfacing on the backs of the t-shirts and camouflage fabric. And Voila! 2 DIY bedroom canvases.

The boys were very pleased.

**********

For Tonya and her Lego quilt:

Barely a day goes by without some new Lego creation in our house!

Roaaahhhrrr!

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And a parting shot of some local scenery.

I had to pull the car over to let these stragglers go by...

Beautiful Yorkshire!