Dresden delights

I'm sitting here kicking myself because I haven't taken pictures of some of the really lovely things I've done this weekend.

I ran a Durham Quilting workshop at High Street Quilting on Saturday morning. Bumped into someone I hadn't seen for years . Went to Max's second birthday BBQ on Saturday afternoon - no pictures - silly me. So you won't be able to see the lovely things that the ladies produced between the first class and last Saturday. Or the smiley (sun-pinked) faces of everyone at the party. Lovely food, good company, a glass of beer on a sunny afternoon - oh that last bit doesn't work for me....

So to the pictures I have taken.  For our Quilt as You Go I decided to do a Dresden Plate block:

I chose 20 different fabrics but could have gone for fewer. But I reckon if I have so many different fabrics in my stash, why stick to a few!

I did the cop-out design! No curves to make. I do prefer the curved version but it's very time consuming.

A break in the middle for a jam tart from the corner shop - yummy pastry - half biscuit, half pastry, soft and slightly almondy and gooey jam.  I couldn't make one like that. I love strong tea! Good tea requires perfect timing, not just for how long you leave it to brew, but for how long you leave it to cool.  I like to wait until I can take big gulps without burning my mouth.  There's a very small window to achieve the perfect temperature.

Back to the dresden plate:

It's always difficult to choose the centre circle when you have so many different fabrics but, if in doubt, go for purple!

Pinned on to the black background suddenly makes the colours zing.  An unfinished dresden plate with bright colours on a cream background shows just how much black adds to the drama.

I must finish this one - it's only a couple of hours away - the background is going to be cross-hatched.

Sometimes I wish I were brave enough to put all my unfinished quilts and projects into one cupboard and work my way through them systematically. Actually I'm not sure that one cupboard would be big enough.

We've got British Gas roadworks outside the house at the moment (is it me or are the roadworks taking over the entire transport system?).  They managed to cut the electricity off and when it came back on the boiler wouldn't fire up.  It turns out my fan was shorting out.  Oo err - what a thing to happen at my time of life.