A Quilt Show

At the Chapel in Great Doddington has been planned to raise funds for their "Windows Renovation Project".

The LQS had asked their customers for items to exhibit. And they poured in.  There were lots.

Friday evening saw some very good friends (and two very handy husbands) turn up to help set the exhibition up. It is not a large building, and maybe the light was not ideal but here are a few pictures for those of that were not wise enough were not able to attend.

Doreen's  beautiful hand embroidered quilt

 

Michele's Christmas quilt

Fiona's  beautiful appliqué piece. Her second (YES SECOND) quilt

 Jo's bright Round Robin Quilt (you can read the story behind this one here)

 There were other items on display too

 The rocking horse was made by Beverley , a member of Higham Piecemakers . On Monday he will be winging his way over to meet a new arrival in New Zealand
The Candlewick Embroidered rabbit was made by the talented Fiona. Amanda made the Caterpillar and the book, Susannah the Giraffe and Lynda had the little bed made to fit the miniature quilt she had made. 

 Lots of Christmas cards made at PP

 A bevvy of cushions of all shapes and sizes

 

This one was done at a workshop recently

International fame Nicholas.

 And this fabulous knitted patchwork quilt made by the lovely Gina who can knit faster than I can sew! This was done as a Mystery Block workshop I think at this lovely shop . I may be wrong, but it is still a lovely shop that has classes and groups of knitting ladies.

 Bella had entered a couple of quilts. This is her lovely sampler

 My VERY good friend Lynda supplied a host of items for the Christmas corner

And these three came only for the tea and cake I think

the old chap seems to have fallen asleep

 Carol ( who worked her socks of setting up and taking down- Thank You Carol) also had a couple of items, and this is her Seminole quilt, again done in a Workshop at PP.  You can read about Carol's exploits (and there ARE exploits) over at her blog
"Once Upon A Thimble"

I love these bright colours

 Lynda also had this lovely hanging to keep her pin badges, purchased at the quilt shows she visits 

 And there was a great grange of prizes to be won on the Tombola table.

Pauline's patchwork tablecloth

Lots of lovely people came along to visit this little show, and the comments received were super.  I don't know the exact figure, but the Chapel raised in excess of £400  so hopefully those windows will be repaired shortly.

I have done very little sewing this week, pictures of the many hanging sleeves attached are not inspiring.

Son in Law is taking part in the Great North Run today for Anthony Nolan (the UK's Blood Cancer Charity and Bone Marrow Register) . Good Luck Lee!! (glad its not me!!)

I am travelling south a bit for my quota of cuddles with little Miss O .

Happy Sunday!

I dont understand it!

I have been dashing around like the proverbial all week and when I looked to see what photos I can add to the blog this week and I have no evidence of productivity at all!


I did add the face to "Bobby" on the baby quilt made for a friend.

And I forgot to take a pic of the baby burglar that I added to the back of it. Made me laugh!

I have been backed into a corner  asked to make a quit for my nephew for his 40th birthday. I love said nephew and will do it willingly, but his wife wants me to use 23 years worth of Liverpool football shirts!

Not my favourite fabric and I will have to keep them away from the football fans in this house because Liverpool is NOT a favoured team. This could help with the cutting up of the shirts?

Anyway - the shirts will be handed over and I will have to make the best of it. Nephews birthday is mid October so there will be no time to try to avoid starting this job.

We have been looking after another nephew for a couple of days before he flies out to Cape Town to meet his ship (HMS Protector) and then head off for the South Atlantic. He is VERY tall, and I have noticed that he has to duck when going through our doors. It must be like living with "The Borrowers". Anyway we will be taking him to Heathrow tomorrow. 

I have charged up the batteries on my very nice new camera and I will make a point of snapping some interesting things this week.

A Quick Pit Stop

As I am busy busy busy trying to catch up with loads of bits and bobs, but a wet Bank Holiday weekend has helped me out with some free time for homely things

 A baking session on Sunday morning so there was something nice for Mr T to graze on

Which left me free to work on a project for a very good friend, Her God Daughter has a baby due any day now, and the parents are both in the "Force" so a police theme was asked for
 A bit of sketching and the trusty Bondaweb helped to conjure  up these blocks

 And a few other pictures and lots of bright prints resulted in a finished quilt

I do quite like this!

 And I pieced the back too

But now have a heap of threads to sort through!!

why can I never find the one I want?

 And another Finish! well, nearly . Remember the Mini Challenge that I was sharing with my friend Jo ?
Well mine is finished too, but now I am not sure about the colour of the binding, so this may be replaced with navy or orange - I will sleep on it and see.

 It certainly was a challenge! Those little pin-wheel blocks measure one and a half inches . The whole thing is 13" x 15" !

 There was a lovely reddish hue to the sunset this evening, I wonder if that means good weather tomorrow/

We have a second bloom of Delphiniums, which are looking a bit bedraggled after the weekend downpour.A warm day will see them perk up I am sure

 Oh! and the knitting is coming on. I am on the third set of pattern repeat, so only 25 more to go!

so soft to knit.

Another knitting friend has this amazing gadget that winds the skeins of wool into a ball and she was kind enough to let me have a play.

aren't they neat?

**********

Baby has been born so label can be finished. Welcome to the world, William Harvey "B"

A Heady Trip

 The quilt that I am making for Makower fabric is from the new

Downton Abbey

"Downstairs"range.  They are pretty vintage designs and the quilt top is now complete ready for quilting. These fabrics are not in the shops until next month, so I get to play early!

 We had a trip to the big city with Son and his lovely wife, and of course the gorgeous "O"

The day started with a bit of a hiatus as Bedford station had no systems working so were unable to take payment for tickets by card.  I had a nice bunch of cash in my purse (well - I was hoping to do a bit of shopping) so I strode past the long queue waving notes at the nice young gentleman and purchased my tickets and hopped onto the next train

 We agreed to meet at the entrance to Tower Hill tube station as we arrive in London at different main line stations.
A call when we arrived found the other party already in the little park outside the station entrance.
So out we went - and no family?
 Another call. "right outside the entrance MOTHER!"
But so am I?
"Look MOTHER - can you see the Tower?" (getting frustrated with me)
Yes
"Which side of the road are you on"
 Station side
"Well, we are in the park!"
Not the park I am looking at...... Lets both go across the road to the tower and we will meet where the poppies are flowing down the wall. (trying to keep him calm)

"So meet there NOW?!" (calm not working - he must be hungry)

Well, I will get there when your Dad gets back - he's wandered off and he has no phone.

Hang Up....

Did we all know that there are THREE entrances to Tower Hill Station?   We do now.

But we did find them and the Poppies are a lovely sight

 The queue to go into the Tower was HUGE!  Remember not to do "the sights" when it is still school holidays.

We wandered across Tower Bridge

 and had a bite to eat

 before we made the trip up The Shard (we had been given the tickets at Christmas by some very good friends)

It was worth the wait

 The views are spectacular

 

though it made my knees a bit shaky 

  

And embarrassed myself just a little bit when listening to a man try to tell his wife where to spot Buckingham Palace

"see the London Eye?"

 "yes" 

"well 10 o'clock from the Eye "

 "no still cant see it " 

"10 O'clock" 

'...eer no"  

"10 O'clock - 10 O'clock!! It's there!"

At this point I had to join in  - I cant see it either!!!

"10 O'clock like on the face of the clock!!" (he's getting cross... and we had drawn a crowd)

Oooooh! 10 O'clock (me) I was looking at 10 past!!!

(Wife) Oh yes! So was I!

we then had to listen to a short(ish) lecture on spacial awareness. 

He wasn't happy that we both couldn't stop giggling

can you spot it?

We spent a couple of hours spotting landmarks and trying to find all of the London football stadiums and trying not to show the family up.

And being entertained by a very cuddly little one

  

After which, we stopped here for a spot of shopping

it really is a beautiful building

even the entrance is impressive

 I bought a small gift for my new Son in Law (feels funny to call him that)

 then strolled down here before heady for home.
A long and tiring but really good day out


I have also started on a project which will be a gift.

 It is beautiful wool (Alpaca and silk) and was a silly price but I think the
recipient is worth it

 And I did get a shiny bag to carry it home in......

Have a great weekend
x

Flippin Tired!

After a really busy few days at The Festival of Quilts in Birmingham
It was packed!
People were spending money like there was no tomorrow.

It was great!

 I spent most of the time helping friends from New Zealand on their stand. They have the most beautiful selection of patterns for making quilts for children.

 I did get to have a bit of a look around at the Quilts.

But... I was disappointed at the lack of traditional pieced quilts that had been entered and on display, compared to the "art" style quilts.

It's not that I don't appreciate the work that goes into any piece, but I really do wonder "Why?" at some of the entries.
I didn't take pics of those

Here is a selection of some that caught my eye

 There was a lovely selection of miniature quilts

 And some clever ideas too

 This one was very effective

 And a close up

 Simple, but lovely

 A pixelated portrait

 More traditional pieces

 A very nice beach scene, the hand stitching brings this to life

Philipa Naylor won the Traditional category

 which had some exquisite free motion quilting.

This was my favourite

and it has given me an idea...

The rest - well - maybe you saw them for yourself.

 Anyway - that's all for another year and a quick recovery before the next exhibition - a MUCH smaller one - at the beginning of September in the village.

The quilt blocks that I started in the previous post are all done and are ready to join together but I have more important things on my mind...

Tomorrow I am of to catch up on MANY hugs and kisses from this little squidgy thing, who has been in France for three weeks and MUST be missing me!! 

Off to prime my lips now. Poor little thing.....