Sunday 9 November 2008

Sunday 9 November 2008




Guess what! We just had another holiday! We went to Normandy for a week with our two grandsons, Brad and Dominic. We hired a gite for a week with its own fishing pond straight outside the patio doors. The boys absolutely loved it.
We went on a two hour train journey from Caen to Paris and walked and walked and walked a bit more but it was a brilliant day. We saw the Eiffel Tower, The Place de la Concorde, the Jardin des Tuileries, the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe - and we were exhausted!
I took my Cathedral Window patchwork with me but it never even came out of the bag! I've been busy since I got back though. I still have two full size bed quilts, one lap quilt, five pj cases and a Father Christmas door panel to finish before Christmas. Not funny!
I have loads of patchwork pictures to post but can't till after Christmas. They are all surprises. I'll put a couple more France pictures on, and then it's back to my sewing.
Peace to all.

Wednesday 3 September 2008

Wednesday, 3 September 2008



We've had yet another holiday! In July we went to Cardigan Bay, Wales, in a fabulous converted cow shed. Nine of us went - Sian, John, Dominic, Cerys, Kirsty, Nicky, Brad, Dave and myself. The weather was lovely all week, yet more suntan on top of the Egyptian suntan - my cancer specialist will be real mad at me!
I've done loads of patchwork; cleared lots of UFOs, finally made the top for our ruby wedding quilt (although still not put it together as a quilt sandwich) and AT LAST have completed my wholecloth lap quilt. The funny thing is I miss it so much now.
Tomorrow we are having a sewing day. Sian is making a hungry caterpillar quilt and I am starting a quilt intended for a Christmas present.
I went to NEC at Birmingham for the Festival of Quilts a couple of weeks ago with a few friends. I had a quilt entered as well as a two person quilt entered with my friend Janet. I am putting pictures of them on this blog. The cross stitch one is mine, the smaller one is the joint one.
Peace to all.

Tuesday 29 April 2008

Tuesday 29 April 2008



We had a really good weekend - went to the Harrogate Flower Show and bought loads of new plants for the back garden. Dave is working on turning the front garden into a football pitch for Brad and Dominic - the lads object to having plants anywhere near their pitch, so slowly we have moved any precious ones to the back garden and cleared extra space for their football practice. When Dominic achieves David Beckham status I expect this kindness on his Nan's part to be repaid....
We have made a table runner in class this week and everyone seemed to enjoy it. The next project is a Japanese kimono created by paper piecing, with my ladies then having homework to do in the form of making something with the paperpieced finished product. I made two and turned them into cushions - very pleased with the end result.
Hope you like the pictures!
Peace to all.

Wednesday 26 March 2008

Wednesday 26 March 2008




We have been back from Egypt for two weeks now and the tan is fading, but the memories are awesome! This is me doing something that will NEVER be repeated - riding a camel. I loved the whole Bedouin experience but camels are not the most graceful or most comfortable animals in the world. We climbed a mountain to see the sunset, shared a Bedouin meal, saw the stars from deep in the desert, saw wonderful coral reefs with millions of beautiful fish, went on a shopping trip to Dahab accompanied by an armed guard - and loved every minute.
The sun rises at 6 am, sets at 6 pm and is HOT.
I am posting a couple of pictures of the view from our terrace and then I'll shut up about Egypt. Just GO, it's wonderful.

So, what have I been doing apart from riding camels? I have been working on my wholecloth quilt. It's not a massive project - 1 metre x 2 metres, but I'm doing a huge amount of cross hatching on it and I love it. I'm also preparing another ten week course for my ladies. We'll be making a bag, doing some bargello, making a table runner etc. I like to keep them busy!

I'm also trying to think ahead to Christmas. My plans are to make three king size quilts and two lap quilts for presents. Watch this space.....

I have designed one or two items that I intend eventually marketing. When they're completed as real patterns I'll show them on here. I guess patchwork takes over your life!

Peace to all.

Thursday 21 February 2008

Thursday 21 February 2008


I used this design to teach my ladies how to do a medallion quilt. I made mine king size and love the lovely spring colours of pink and green. I took the design from www.blockcentral.com and it's called The Many Designs of Friendship.
It went together brilliantly, every round fitted perfectly.
It took about 15 weeks to finish - a two hour lesson every week, plus working at home for the ladies who made the larger size quilt.
I've been cutting strips today for a log cabin quilt. I'm using foundation piecing to make it. I will post a picture when I have a few blocks to show.
I picked up tickets today for our holiday in Sharm-el-Sheikh. We travel 6 March from Manchester and we're getting excited about it now. We've had a really stressful three months since we found out Dave was to be made redundant, and we really need this break.
More soon,
Peace to all

Monday 18 February 2008

Monday 18 February 2008

What a wonderful weekend! Saturday was Dave's birthday and I bought him two tickets for the Lyceum Theatre in Sheffield to see South Pacific. Good job he took me with the other ticket! We really enjoyed our night out - we had a superb meal at Damons then on to the show.
Back to work today though. I taught Log Cabin blocks to my ladies at the quilting class this morning and they thoroughly enjoyed it. I'd like to place a bet that most of them will have completed the requisite six blocks by next Monday morning!
Well, we have finally made up our mind where we want to go on holiday in March. Last Friday I booked us an all inclusive holiday to Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt in a five star hotel with a room upgrade so we have a jacuzzi bath! Brilliant!
We also bought Dave his 'new' car this weekend, a little Suzuki Swift, great for getting him backwards and forwards to work. I need our bigger Mondeo for all my patchwork stuff! It's a smart little sporty model. Think my 63 year old husband is turning into a boy racer.
That's it for the moment - will try to put more patchwork pics on tomorrow.

Wednesday 30 January 2008

Thursday 31 January 2008




Had fun playing around with my blog and decided to have a go at uploading a picture. This a sunbonnet Sue quilt I made for my granddaughter Cerys, for her fourth birthday, May 2007. All the Sues had a name embroidered at the side of one of Cerys' friends. She loved it but pointed out there was no Dominic on the quilt. He is her older brother (6 then) and her best friend. I made her a cushion to go with the quilt with Overall Sam on it and embroidered Dom's name!

When Dom saw both the quilt and the cushion he threw a wobbly because his quilt (the very first one I ever made - makes me cringe when I see it now!) is extremely tatty so he had to have a new one as well! He trains at the Sheffield Wednesday Academy (English Football) so I made him a quilt in club colours. Quite amazing what we do for grandchildren, isn't it!
Peace to all.

Wednesday 30 January 2008

It's a very cold, windy Sheffield tonight as I write my first post for this new blog. I haven't a clue what I'm doing but I'm sure things will become clear as I carry on.
I've started this blog because of my passion for patchwork and quilting. I have a large number of UFOs which will be finished one day but I am currently working on a Dear Jane quilt - very early stages!
Ok - that's me up and running - I hope to post pictures of quilts, bags etc tomorrow.
Peace to all.