Second Finish for 2012

The last time I was in hospital with this pesky leg of mine

I appliqued these hearts onto the neutral squares...

Then I decided to 'square in a square' them

with contrasting rose fabrics

(I was still deep in my rose fabric stage here LOL)

and then I decided set them on point

with teal setting triangles.

2 years later it's finally finished!

This quilt is a gift for a special girl and won't be given

until it's her birthday, however, I doubt that she

reads my boring ol' quilt blog

so I think I'm ok posting photos.

Plus quilts ALWAYS look better in real life!

I tried to get the cows in the picture above,

but they were awfully far away...

The die-cut hearts used in the quilt

were a gift from Donna

who owns the thespiderswebfabricshop.com

I should have taken a close-up of the panto,

I think it's hearts and loops and was quilted

beautifully by Chris at Fathers-Heart.

I used a lot of leftover rose fabrics to piece the back

so that you sort of get 2 quilts for the price of one...

... and teenagers, being as they are, can have a choice.

I may go visit and find she prefers the back.

And that's ok with me :)

Red, White & Blue

I finished sewing down the binding on a quilt.

But the lovely sun we've been having

has been replaced by cooling rain

so I couldn't photograph said quilt.

Instead here are a few photos

of my flowers that have decided to flower

despite being neglected by me this year...

Fitting colours for the Queen's Jubilee ;)

I believe (could be wrong)
that this white flower is a type of perrenial Geranium...

I caught this bee, flitting among the wallflowers

like a whirling dervish :) ...

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...

*****

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..

*****

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)

*****

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 :)

*****

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.

Cast Number 4...

...And choccies to cheer me up!

'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 :)

Nice Light

There's nothing like a bit of sunlight

to give you just the right natural light

to take photos that are sharp

and true in colour

This is the first proper sunny day we've had in a while!

It looked like it was nice outside...

Doing Things By Halves

I have been making halves...

To square up my rose star hexagon blocks...

I thought that I would 'fill in' 2 sides with halves

and work out from there...

But I needed DH and his manly logic

to show me that the sides need different halves...

Can you spot the difference?

Some halved this way:

And some halved this way:

I also had to figure out how to make a quarter:

Now, I just need help to get to my studio

to scratch in my scraps

to make more halves and 3 more quarters :)

Matchy Matchy

I was sewing some of my rose-star hexagons

when I noticed that my pyjama top

was the same colour and pattern

as my fabric...

You can find the pattern for these hexagons here:

http://summerfete.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/rose-star-tutorial.html

I am in the process of squaring 2 sides up

and will work outwards from there...

stopping when I've had or made enough...

Plaster Class

Well I am back from the hospital.

Home after my fourth and hopefully final

correction of my bothersome leg.

If 17 years ago, my femur had been pinned correctly,

I wouldn't be lying here, in a cast from my ankle to upper thigh,

writing this sorry tale...

But it didn't get pinned correctly, all those years ago,

when I broke my femur, while living in Germany,

And I have had no end of trouble with my leg since then.

However this time, the consultant seemed happy with the operation

and now only time will tell how it all heals

and whether my leg is 'fixed' once and for all.

***

It was so lovely having the boys to visit in hospital.

Sadly there was an outbreak of Novovirus in the hospital

and so we were advised not to bring Baby-Kalico in to visit me.

(My operation nearly didn't go ahead

as there were no 'clean' beds on the ward I needed to be on!

This was remedied at the last minute and I was lucky enough

to have my own room and my operation!!)

(The black brace was replaced with a cast
which was then replaced by another cast
after I twisted my knee in the first cast!)
***

Oh boy! Did I ever miss this little face!!

Not sure she missed me as much

as I was told that she was very happy

the whole time I was away!

*****

At the last minute, while we were driving to the hospital,

I grabbed the handwork from my car

and shoved it into my hospital bag

so I worked on my rose-star hexagons

a little bit while recuperating from the operation.

It did cause quite a funny incident...

A 'nurse' who came around in the evening serving tea

saw what I was sewing and said

"Oh my little girl is sewing these"

Now I am sure her 'little girl' was probably sewing hexagons,

but I doubt they were as complex as these,

however far be it for me to say otherwise....,

but the cherry on the cake was when she picked one up,

looked at it disdainfully,
and when she tossed it back down rudely on my bed she said again:

"Yes, my little girl is sewing these".

It probably wouldn't have annoyed me if the tea she'd just served me had been in a clean mug!! :)

Studio Move

Well, I'm off to hospital to get my leg done

so in order to leave things so that

all can survive without me ;)

I made a very quick move into my studio.

I've not moved in completely,

some of my stuff is still in the laundry room,

but at least now the laundry is not competing with my fabric and

I have made a start on being in my 'special place'.

We still need to move in work tables

and set up an ironing station,

but that will happen when I'm walking again...

My friend Vicky came to help

(and bossed me around LOL)

and between us we managed to get rid of a really huge bag of

fabric that I will not live long enough to use.

Obviously, none of my precious patchwork fabric

went, but some very dodgy bits of polyester,

crimpoline and some serious uglies etc. are looking for new homes :)

I have binding on a quilt ready to sew down, so

as soon as I'm home from the hospital, that will get done.

I am not actually taking any handwork

this time. I plan to just rest,

something I don't seem to have done for a while.

The Moors Near Us

Wordless Wednesday - That Darn Cat!

Another day, another bed... :)

Getting My House in Order

This morning I dropped my rose hexagon quilt off 

with Chris at Father's-Heart Longarm quilting.

While I was discussing pantos with Chris,

Baby-Kalico sat aound with a few of Chris's gorgeous quilts

around her to catch her if she toppled over.

She did :)

Chris showed me a quilt she did with a gently scalloped-edge

which was very inspirational as an alternative to my usual straight edges

and would look great with my rose hexagons -

quilt food for thought!

*****

There is nothing sacred in this house!

Nothing that can not be slept in...

I guess our little kitty who was once called baby

(by her previous owners)

thinks the baby stuff is hers :)