Hello Blog My Old Friend....

.....It's time to talk with you again!

I don't quite know what's happened to me.

I've always been busy, but my life has reached new levels of busy-ness.

February just flew by with a trip to sort out my Mother's flat

which turned out to be a mammoth task...

We're awaiting a shipment of sentimentality soon...

[I was reading with Miss Kalico the other night

and she saw a picture of an aeroplane and she said:

"Mummy went on an aeroplane to Africa. It was sad" :'( ]

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I keep wanting to take photos of things I'm doing,

but the change in Seasons means that if you blink you miss photo weather....

(Spiderwebs get worked on now and again....:)

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The biggest change after my Mom passed away

was that I got a part time job.

I needed a job, the lack of sleep 

and the horrible flashbacks were making the days and nights very difficult.

I think Mom would have been pleased....

It's just a few hours a week with a lovely bunch of people

and a great boss (this may sound a bit creepy,

but when you've spent the last decade looking after your kids

you need a special job with great workmates 

and an understanding boss to break you back in ;o) )

Sewing has taken a bit of a back seat,

except I still sew pretty much every evening (as I always have).

I have been working on 2 tractor quilts....

And I finished my 'Luna Lapin' kit

from coolcrafting.co.uk

 I don't normally buy kits, but this one is so cute.

She's been adopted at work,

so I have made her a 'work' outfit:

 with fabric from our Spring/Summer ranges....

and tiny heart buttons on the back.

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There has been much Easter crafting in this house:

And Easter baking:

I love letting Miss Kalico decorate the cake herself:

And 'to the victor the spoils' so to speak

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I will try not to leave it so long.....

.....until next time xx

Sorting Fabric

I have been trying to sort out some fabric

as I move it into the new studio...

I had help with the little pieces...

"This one's my favourite" she said!

Then low calorie refreshments were served...

Before fabric was stroked, twizzled

and sorted....

 (Obviously) only after she went to bed

was any fabric order restored.

(And inspected!)

Butterflies & Boys. Befores and Not Quite Afters...

For some time now I have been appliqueing these butterflies

over papers and making them into cushions.

(2 such cushions got donated to the Village auction

in aid of school funds.)

I'm a real English Paper Piecing kind of girl

and that's how I like to applique too...

As usual, a few grew into many 

so I'll probably put them together into a(nother) quilt.

I thought I'd make a few blocks for quilts

for boys.

So I have been playing around 

with a tractor design that works well over papers....

I think this one should work.

Now to make a few more....

In the meantime,

my wonderful DH has been working on my new studio..

 Whitewashed walls, new floor....

I'll share the space with the utilities...

But there's plenty of room for my Longarm quilting machine.

(All 12 foot of it!)

and storage for fabric.

And the view will be very pleasing!

When we lived on the farm,

I always joked that I wanted to escape FROM the country.

I do love the country, but being in the village is so convenient.

Looking forward to being able to post the 'After' pictures of my studio.

Wordless Wednesday - (New/WIP) Studio View

Snow days and 'No' Days

We've had a bit of snow,

not enough as far as the children are concerned.

Enough for me!

And not enough for snowmen

(hence our snowman's nose being eaten ;o)  )

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Miss Kalico's friend had a birthday 

- apparently the birthday girl liked her custom bag!

BUT Miss Kalico is not so sure 

about some other things..... 

I told her that I had made her another dress....

 Her response: "Why?"

Oh dear, guess I'll not mention 

that I made her 2 skirts as well!!

Kids, eh?! At least the hugs are worth 

the lack of interest in my garment sewing!!! ;o)

Making More Memories

I have so many wonderful memories of my Mom,

so many little things that make me think of her...

I hope my daughter will have the same...

She likes to sit on my lap when I sew...

But more than that she loves to 'snip'!

Crazy, but true, I trust her to 'snip' the chain threads

on my quilts and blocks.

Start them young! :o)

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I have been trying to get another UFO to flimsy stage.

These are the blocks laid out for Bonnie Hunter's 

Criss Cross Applesauce pattern

from her book: Scraps & Shirttails II

And here is the top

(without borders)

laid out over my sewing machine.

The snowy and wet weather is not great for photos,

but I'll get one soon I hope.

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I'm also trying to get another UFO finished.

This is my BQL Ostrich started in 2006.

I started hand quilting this years ago

and I had contemplated finishing it on my Longarm machine,

but I'm just sitting in front of the TV in the evenings

adding a few stitches to it as and when I can.

Hopefully it will get done soon

because I remember now why I don't like hand quilting!!!

Keeping Busy

Thank you for all the kind and thoughtful comments

on my last post.

I'm not standing still at all

at the moment...

I just can't.

I'm feeling the need to just be busy 

and so I have finished my Grand Illusion Mystery quilt top.

The geese came to look and 'honk' at me

and my little quilt helper brought her friend 

to inspect the quilt top.

I won't be able to quilt this top for a bit 

as my studio is under construction.

and my days are full of someone 

doing their very best to cheer me up!

This was a very thready quilt top...

My clothes look worse than usual!

(And the kids and carpets are covered too!!!)

Those Who Grieve Sew?

In my mind I have 'written' so many blog posts,

but actually typing up the words is just so much harder...

I wanted to thank everyone who has been so kind,

and your words have been some comfort because

when my Father died I was told 2 things.

1. You are only crying for yourself, so stop it.

and

2. We don't want to hear about it, ok?!

For anyone who doesn't want to hear about it, that's fine,

but if you don't want to hear about it or see my tears, just move along,

it's my blog and I am trying to deal with my family's loss right now....

On the 28th of December my Mother arrived from South Africa

to spend Christmas and 5 weeks with us.

A few days later after an evening of knitting together on the sofa,

 she went to bed in a very cheery mood,

reminding me to wake her the next morning.

A few minutes later I heard someone call out.

When I went to her (our) bedroom

she did not look good.

We immediately phoned the emergency services,

and I held on to Mom while she tried to get comfortable.

For a few seconds I thought I might have overreacted 

by getting my husband to call for an ambulance,

 but then all of a sudden she was gone.

We were instructed to perform CPR on her,

but I just knew she was gone.

I ran out to get the ambulancemen in

and they tried and tried for ages,

but to no avail.

The shock, the sadness, the unbelievable disappointment

has been very hard to bear these last few weeks.

Mom was cremated and I flew with her ashes back

to South Africa for a Memorial service

with some family and friends.

It was all so rushed,

everything so unexpected.

I am still struggling to sleep,

still feeling panicked and stressed,

still trying to remember the good and forget that awful night

and so I have been sewing again.

I had selected a few fabrics to do Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt

before Mom died, but changed my mind about doing it...

then when I could find no peace, I started to sew...

and sew and sew and sew...

I always thought my Mother was constantly criticizing me

and I would tease her about her constant 'helpful hints and tips'.

It was only in the last few years that I'd realised 

that she wasn't trying to pull me down, but help me up.

My harshest critic had been my biggest ally

and I miss her so much.