Happy Dance

I am very fortunate to have met some great friends through blogging. I was completely taken by surprise when one of these friends sent me a 'Just because'.

Just because... I am African (ok, South African, but I'm still African)...

Just because... Andrea saw this pattern of African Ladies doing a happy dance...

Just because... Andrea thought of me...

Thank you Andrea. I love it, it gives me a very happy feeling when I look at it and I think it's just stunning!

ps Andrea is also known as Welsh Quilter and when the card said 'to remind you of your other home' I wondered if she meant Wales (as my Dad was born there), this was obviously before I'd opened the parcel LOL

Rudolph's hat

We had a BBQ (braai) yesterday and I managed to sunburn my nose! Unheard of, if you know me, but I have a cold so I guess I must have blown all my sunblock off! SO I decided last night to make myself a sunhat from one of my great sewing books (I won't say which one just yet, because I will not do it justice as I adapted the pattern. Note to self: Do not adapt the pattern until you have tried the pattern as is!!!)

Anyway, it's a bit big, but I like it...

It's also reversible...

Big enough to keep the sun off my nose... (and everyone else's... )

And DH likes it... (not neccessarily on him though LOL)

So it's not all bad :-D

*Sniff*

My computer is broken! I have to borrow DH's old and very yukky one to check email.
*sniff sniff* I liked my dear old computer. I guess I shall just have to sew instead :-)

On Sunday, I was feeling full of cold so decided to stay home (while DH and the boys went to visit Grandma) and screenprinted some fabric using the silkscreens my brother made up for me while I was in Cape Town. I really enjoyed the instant gratification you get from making a print. Then I painted the printed fabric and when I figure out how to load photos onto this horrible pc I'll show my efforts.

In the meantime, I found a photo from simply ages ago on this computer, of when DH and I used to first come here:



Gordale Scar if memory serves (taken on a gimmicky mini-mini digital camera)... And today is another beautiful sunny day in Yorkshire so I'm off to lie on the sofa and watch Wimbledon LOL.

The week that whizzed

(Blocks in this quilt are from various Blockbuddy swaps as well as many kindly donated by Kate)

Where did this week go? I know I managed to finish my two Linus quilts, but I can't remember when...



I know the boys got taken on a tractor ride on Tuesday which they loved.



I know on Wednesday I went on a farm trip with the boys and DS2's playgroup.



I know it was wet.



I know it was cute.






I know it's almost the weekend. and I know I am ready.
Have a good weekend everyone!!

Hexs, scraps, angels and devils

Today I got on my hands and knees (!) and laid out my rose hexagon quilt. Not much left to do if time's no limit :-)



Now I know where I am again and have handwork for travel. I will put the paper-pieced rose in before I assemble the two halves. I am working on currently getting it to the 2 halves stage. I really love this quilt and am looking forward to revisiting all the rose scraps to piece a backing (I will attempt the backing at some point in the very distant future! And hope that it doesn't take me as long as the front)


Yesterday, after trimming the scrappy blocks from the previous post, I laid them out and they are BRIGHT so they will be a kid's quilt. I had a few spares and put them together as table toppers, BUT I'm thinking they are a bit BRIGHT even for me!



(Did I mention they were a bit bright???!!)

I have sewn the rows, but not sewn the rows together, but I'll do that shortly. At the same time I am putting a border on my Linus heart quilt (photo to follow - when it's done)



A special thanks to an angel, Jo in Tas, who sent me this gorgeous sewing bag. Very nifty for all your bits and bobs.



Thanks Jo, very naughty! But very very nice! (and you know why!)


And lastly that blinking red (devil) pen!
Looks innocent enough...



Even looks quite clever really...





But 3 baths, lots of scrubs, a swim in the local pool and it's still with us!


Some reds can be very colourfast!

Scrap therapy

I was clearing my sewing space and decided to just finish some 'stuff' up before I start anything new (What?! You've heard that before??!!) Well anyway, my plan was going well as I had a few handbags cut out and almost ready so they were quick to think about :-)
But then suddenly a bag of scraps caught my eye...



I decided I couldn't throw them out. I'd make blocks, blocks are better that strips... and blocks became more blocks...


I made 52 or so of these very scrappy log cabins. They work out a 6" finished size. Not sure what I'll do with them yet...


But once I started I couldn't stop. Definite scrap therapy and fun to do :-)



On the homefront, I awoke this morning to a small child chatting away about something. When I opened my eyes he was colouring....



his legs, his hands, my bed sheet, my elbow...

Let it 'Shine Shine'

Fact: I love textile design!

Fact: I wish I did textile design!

When you see someone who does such bold and engaging designs it reminds me of these 2 facts.

When you read that they are in Cape Town, South Africa at the same time that you are in Cape Town, South Africa and they invite you to come and see what they are doing, you go! I went!!

Here's a glimpse of some Shine Shine fabric that came back to Yorkshire with me in my suitcase that according to DH was just far to heavy (I recall a conversation about men and mice... say no more!)



Tracy of Shine Shine (sitting behind her desk here), does great textile design and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting her in her Bo-Kaap studio in Cape Town.


Shine Shine also turns great textile design into fun products: bags, cushions, aprons...!


If you are in Cape Town, and they ARE in Cape Town, pay them a visit, I thought it was wonderful.


On another note:
Here, in Yorkshire, the sun will not 'shine shine' this weekend, but it did the other day and the boys just love getting out in the sun and the river with friends...

And the cows and I enjoy watching them :-)

Enough about me, but never enough roses!

Last night I cut out hexagons from the gorgeous fabrics I gratefully and thankingly received from:
Tracy at Shine Shine,



(My visit to Shine Shine will get a whole other post though!)

Katie Z. of Zana's Ninis,



Carline of Lady of the Cloth,



and Wendy (no blog)

(Wendy and I swapped some Shwe-Shwe fabric for some quilt magazines).

I thought I would get a chance to baste these fabrics to the hexagon papers while I waited at the hospital today, but I barely sat for a minute: consultations, manipulations, x-rays, discussions, referrals... and not such good news. As DH says "it's not life-threatening so get on with it". So enough about me, let's get that hexagon quilt going again I thought!

So I got the 'bits' out and realised that I don't know where I was and what I had planned when I packed it away. Looks like I'll need a bit of time to put it together properly, maybe even permanently this time, to see which areas need filling etc. (Hence this hasty photo before I quickly packed it away before I find myself trying to get it together now.)



Then one day, hopefully not toooo long off, I will lay me down under my bed of roses and feel better, because every hexagon will tell me a story, remind me of someone or sometime and that's pretty cool me thinks!

Mielie Bags

Curious as to how the bags are constructed, I made a visit to the Mielie* bag shop at Montebello in Newlands, Cape Town.



I was told that if I visited the next day I would be able to see the ladies and the technique in person. Of course, I made it back the next day! Thursdays are when assignments are given out and finished items are brought back to be made into bags, pencil cases, cushions, ottomans etc etc.

The boys and I braved the steep stairs and entered a wonderland of colour and activity!













Adri, showed me their new laptop bag



as well as this gorgeous ottoman.



Of course, I managed to spend a few $$$$$ in the shop! It was well worth the visit!



*Mielie is the South African word for sweetcorn. The rug-hooking technique used resembles this vegetable and makes it a very suitable name for these gorgeous bags.

Next to the workshop and shop is a great place for a cup of coffee especially if you need to let the kids run off that energy.

Home again, home again...

We'll, we're back in sunny Yorkshire and the weather is fabulous. We stopped over in London for 2 days on our way back home which included a visit to the Science Museum. This picture sums up the Museum visit for me:



The boys were a blur of excitement and activity.

Unfortunately the friends we stayed with were burgled while we were there and a lot of their possessions were lifted through the broken window. DH was also badly affected and had his laptop, camera, driver's license etc stolen.
3 months of holiday photos are now sadly in the hands of thieves which makes me wish I'd blogged more... so here's a gratutious rose photo taken on our friend's street...





Thankfully Sonnja's bear's were released a few days before our departure so Ruth and I were able to deliver them. I had never seen a Beertje Zonn in person and they are stunning!



Thank you to Sonnja for making them for sick children and for allowing me to spread some joy by delivering them.

Not long now...

and home will be another place.

Cushion: www.veldtdesign.co.za


The boys are counting sleeps, remembering friends and toys back home...
and I am wondering if I will remember how to sew, how to wear socks and how to open mail...


3 months of being in South Africa is almost over. 3 months of seeing the sun

and the lagoon

and the sea...



This week we will drive to Cape Town for the last time for a while and spend the last few days of our time in South Africa preparing for the onward journey to the UK...

bags will need to be packed (fabric secreted between clothes), goodbyes said and life will change again.



Sadly, it has taken almost the entire 3 months to release Sonnja's bears first from Customs and now the Post Office... I am hoping in my last few days here that I will able to deliver them to the children at the Red Cross Hospital with Ruth. But TIA (this is Africa)...


I feel sad to be going, but I have not properly unpacked my suitcase in 3 months.., I have lived the moment, but not the life.., I am ready for routine, but not complacency..., I feel nervous for the journey, but not the destination... Perhaps I am just ready to sew...More likely though I am ready for our new kitchen (!!)

I have missed friends, but will miss others that live here... I will miss my family, but have family there too. This is the life of one who has African soil in their soul and an Englishman in their heart...

I guess that's why I'm always covered in threads... Threads of these 2 lives. Fabric that sews me together and keeps me from falling apart. (And if I'm away from my friend Angie's cakes I'll not fear bursting at the seams either LOL)

And what will you read on this blog when I return? Perhaps a return to creativity? A finished project or two? Perhaps. But then that would be telling ;-D