Hot & Cold (& A love affair with Sharon & Bernie!)

Yesterday, we made a trip to Tropical World in Leeds for a bit of warmth and a look at the flowers that make me truly homesick...









And the snakes which make me another kind of sick LOL...



Today was supposed to be the first day of school, but it snowed overnight and we couldn't get out again. In fact, the school was closed due to the weather so the boys went sledding again and the sheep tried not to get too cold...

The other night, I basted the monkey baby quilt using Sharon Schamber's basting method. I love it!! (I have also basted DS1's Dog quilt with the same method, but am yet to quilt that...)

I used 'basting' thread that I found at a Village Fair... (it came with the pink watering can LOL)



So now I have quilted the monkey quilt using Vicky's wonderful Bernina (Bernie!) and he's the man! I love it too, in fact the combo of the basting and a great machine are just so much more fun. That walking foot is so cool. Thanks so much Vicky for lending me your extra man!

When there's some decent light I'll take a photo of the completed (and labeled) monkey quilt before it goes on it's long journey to the East...

Sometimes she sows?

I read this on Yahoo news:

(Start quote)

"Showbiz knitting trend set to catch on

According to editor of The Lady magazine, Rachel Johnson, it is what all the celebs are doing.

She said: "Knitting is really trendy, everyone from Lily Cole to Madonna knits and sows.''

The writer and Mayor of London Boris Johnson's sister says there has been a real resurgence in the womanly skills that her magazine champions.

From jam making to arts and crafts, 2010 is set to be a productive year."

(End quote)

I wonder what the celebs will be 'sowing' this year then ROTFLOL!!!

EDIT: I followed the yahoo link today (Monday) and see that the spelling error has been corrected. Perhaps the journalists realised that gardening isn't as trendy as sewing after all :-D

Sometimes she quilts!

It doesn't seem to be very often these days, what with all the gifts and swaps I've been making, but I do love patchworking and the occassional attempt at quilting :-)



I have made a start on a baby quilt for some friends who live very far away. The monkey fabric is from a very lucky win on Vicky W's blog. (See Vicky, I'm not just stashing it LOL.)



It is such gorgeous fabric and although I wanted a more complex design, I didn't want to lose the monkey's. I used a pattern from Ursula Reikes' book, 'More Quilts for Baby'. I have used this book several times before and it's great for quick quilts. It's almost a top, but now I just need to work on the borders...



I need to finish this quickly so hope to be able to show more soon.

Sew Many Thanks!

Wow! What a wonderful quilty Christmas it has been this year!

Jenny of Elefantz made me a beautiful cushion cover and pincushion (both almost too nice to use) and included a Melly & Me pattern for the Chookyblue Secret Santa Christmas swap.


Such exquisite stitches!!


Jenny's gift was wrapped in awesome Christmas fabric. Thanks Jenny (and Thanks Donna for hosting this great swap again!)

From the BQL 'made' Christmas gift swap, I got this great bag!



Thanks to my Secret Santa and to Kandy for hosting this swap again!

My BQL 'purchased' present was this cute vintage-style tin with threads and some mini-charms...


Thanks Secret Santa and thanks again Kandy!!

This is a gift I made for my DSIL's dog. He seems to need a lot of stuff with him when he gets taken out so I made him a big bag :-)



My dear friend Vicky gave me this for Christmas...



A Robin bag filled with polka dot delights! Love them!!! Thanks Vicky!



Some unexpected fabric arrived from another dear friend...


Thanks Josie!

And from the Advent swap, my 'big gift' from Ailsa...


Thanks Ailsa, and thanks Jo for organising the swap!

Another snow day

I have not left the house since Thursday! I know DH has not done any Christmas shopping and with my little car we won't be going anywhere for a while...



So we'll just enjoy the snow, survive the cabin fever and hope that we get a Christmas dinner this year :-)



Some people enjoy the snow more than others...

A White Christmas!?!

This is what it looked like on Thursday morning when I set off to fetch my youngest from Nursery....


That afternoon after doing the shopping and (thankfully) fetching DH (who did the rest of the driving for the day) we were stuck in the snow on the A65 for 2 hours trying to get home on tretcherous ungritted roads! We are very thankful of our neighbours and some local farmers who helped us get home. Maybe all I want for Christmas is actually a 4x4 and some snow driving lessons ;-)

DS1 had been on a coach trip to a panto and only got home after 7 pm as the bus also encountered many delays with the snow. He was starving and very tired, but had a great time seeing his first panto. Thanks to our neighbour once again for rescuing him from school. My little car doesn't 'do' snow and I was so worried about getting the little chap home!

The next morning, we woke up to this...




If as they forecast, we get more snow, we may even have a white Christmas!


Merry Christmas everybody!!

Not much computing = Lots of sewing

I have made many gifts this year and under our tree are the teacher's gifts waiting to be delivered...

They'll be receiving a selection of covered notebooks (for the ones who didn't get them before), shoppers, lavender sachets and/or cosmetic bags.

And I finally made myself a bag...



Believe it or not this bag was originally these trousers...



They were far too short, so they got recycled...


The heart pin on the bag is one of my advent swap gifts from Ailsa. Thanks Ailsa!

Some overdue thanks to Nicolette! I won a giveaway on Nicolette's blog and she included so many wonderful things that I was absolutely amazed by her generosity....


Nicolette kindly included some awesome rose fabrics which have come at the perfect time for me. Yes, it's almost hexagon time again :-( because in the New Year, all being well, I will be undergoing yet more corrective surgery on my femur. So I'll be digging the hexagon handwork out and keeping myself busy...


These will be perfect! Thanks Nicolette!

Sonnja of Beertje Zonn also sent me a wonderful parcel! A beautiful pincushion!


Thanks Sonnja.

I was recently given this bag and asked to make a 'boy' version...

This is what I came up with...


It was fun to do and hopefully the young man likes it..

On a non-sewing note, I was in yet another traffic jam...


This farmer bravely got his sheep across an 'A' road at about 4 miles an hour LOL.

A photo of some of the 'paddy fields' around here...


This photo was taken quite a few days after the heavy rains.

The boy's had their first nativity shows this year. I got to make my first ever shepherd's costume (and wise man's cloak for a friend).

This is the older children's show held in the beautiful village church...


Both boys starred as a shepherds in the Nursery version held at school :-)



The lights have been up in local villages for a while...


It's starting to feel Christmassy around here!

All I want for Christmas...

.. is my own computer!

While the cat was away I had a computer to use, but he's back! So my darling 'cat', if you're reading this... help... I am computerless and it's driving me bonkers!

xka

While the cat's away...

The mice may have played...
The 'mice' may have made me order a few books online...
This one may have arrived today...


(The rest to follow soon I hope)

The 'mice' may have turned the living room into a fabric explosion...


(The 'mice' and I may actually be embarrassed to show this photo LOL)

But, the big bad cat is back LOL. So the fabric has been packed away (well most of it), the book buying spree has stopped and life continues as before EXCEPT!!!
My Chookyblue Secret Santa arrived from Jenny of Elefantz....



I was 'allowed' (according to the rules) to open the first parcel and I love it!! Thanks Jenny, it's gorgeous, so modern and the colours are fabulous for our kitchen where it has been hung up already!!


And I shall wait until Christmas for my second parcel, I promise! (especially because it's so beautifully wrapped that I like it just as it is LOL)

Why does it always rain (on me)?

Rain, rain, rain... and lots of hail too!

Today the bridge flooded again and I was worried we wouldn't be able to get home from school! Luckily we could get under the other railway bridge so I'm home to tell the tale:-) Sadly, I had no camera with me, so I have no photos to show the water levels around here which are thankfully not nearly as bad as in parts of Cumbria.

Well, it's been a long time no blog, but all the secret swaps have kept me underground however I can show one...


I'll not say anymore, but I hope they like it...


And look what I received from Ailsa for the Advent Swap....


Looks so amazing that I can't wait until the 1st of December! Thanks Ailsa!

Also received: (along with some other cool bits including something yummy that disappeared pretty quick!!)


Thanks Kandy, I can't wait to try this pen out on my butterfly quilt... (I believe the marks also disappear pretty quick LOL)

Last time we were stuck in with the weather, the boys and I made Gluten-Free mince pies (And yes, I ate all (or most of) the pies!!!)

I'll try not to leave it so long between posts, but as I'm now working on Christmas presents, I can't promise anything :-)

Flood Day

No school today because the rainwater under the bridges left the road to school impassable.

Luckily I sent out 2 swap parcels and my giveaway parcel last week!

Amy from the Calico Cat likes blue, so I sent her a blue parcel which included a blue cat bib for her little boy, a tote bag, a bag charm, fabric, ric-rac, fabric to make a dinosaur bag....



...and it has arrived safely so that's a relief.

Hoping to have the kids back at school tomorrow!! (Perhaps it's time for a canoe LOL)

Wanna win a quilt?

This is the quilt you could win....


Andrea is raffling a quilt to raise money for her daughter's trip to Africa. Pop over to her blog (www.welshquilter.blogspot.com) to buy a ticket!