Tulip

We had a quiet time for the first week back at the quilt class last Thursday. Let's hope the nasty winter bugs are being beaten back by our lovely antibodies and we're back up to full strength next week - get well soon Karen!  It was lovely to introduce a new Mystery Quilt to the class.  This is Tulip - the first part (well nearly Tulip - I ran out of thread). 

We just had a fairly plain cake with our coffee this week so that I didn't tempt anyone away from possible New Year Resolutions. As usual I forgot to take a picture.

I am a little bereft at the moment, now I have finished my crochet-along project. But not being one to sit with idle hands I have started a new little blankie for the baby. It's cream cotton and is incredibly soft and drapey. It's only little - enough for a pram blanket - because I am not the world's quickest or most accurate knitter.  

We are currently without garage.  Will and his friends demolished the old, rather fragile, garage today and the ground is being prepared for the new model which will be much more secure.  I'll keep you up to date with building progress.

Isn't it nice just to get a cushion and lie down for a little nap when you feel like it. Ahh.

Can you see his little dog getting a cuddle too?

I spent three hours sitting in my car last Friday morning after the motorway was shut.  I tuned in to the local radio to find out what had happened.  A lorry had shed its load - no I misheard - a lorry carrying a shed had shed its load. It looked like a mobile home type of shed.  It had blown off the lorry on the Northbound lane and bounced into the Southbound Lane. I don't think it caused any injury although were some skidmarks on the south bound side. The article isn't that accurate.  It must have just happened when I pulled on to the motorway at 7.25am and I didn't get going again until gone 10.30am. All I will say is I'm pleased I went before I left.

I've spent a lot of time indoors this weekend, the weather has been pretty nasty.  But there are little compensations.  A little knitting and sewing, some nice things to eat. I had an incredibly fresh poached egg  for breakfast yesterday

with thickly buttered toast and a cup of steaming hot coffee,

and a luscious lunch today - avocado and bacon on a little square pitta (Warburton's Thins) and a lovely smoothie, spinach, kale, tomato and pear.  The pear was so sweet and ripe it was the dominant flavour. Yum. 

There's been some nasty things happening this week which I find deeply disturbing - all I will say is "Je suis Charlie"  and that I am grateful to all those incredible people who stand up and speak for freedom.

Keep safe.

2015 - Bring it on!

It is the most beautiful crisp morning here in the North East of England. Cold and bright. I love it. Work starts tomorrow after a two week break.  I say break rather than holiday because I think the Christmas break is a time of rush and recovery.  The Autumn Term was 15 weeks of hard, hard slog but there is no time to recover before the Christmas Day. Recovery starts on Boxing Day. I am now officially chilled.

Can you remember this?

Well it has grown a bit since then.

This has been one of the most relaxing projects I have ever undertaken and I'm sorry it is finished. The colours on my computer make it look a lot brighter than it is in real life.  It is much more subtle and autumny.  I will now be able to devote some time to the rest of my life now as this project has been very hard to resist. The thing is you just need a crochet hook and yarn, you don't have to get lots of equipment out, or measure and cut, or prep and paint, or weigh, measure, bake and wash up.  Although there is a very long list of projects for 2015 I must say I am looking forward to every single one.

The best will be the arrival of grandchild number two in June - ahh.  Steph is going to find out what it is in the next couple of weeks.  In the meantime I have started on a few bits and pieces.

The bootee is for age 3-12 months. I only made one as I am going to make them on smaller needles as it is huge. I think it would fit Ben. I'm actually going to knit some larger sizes for the winter months as I'm hoping it is going to be far too warm for knitted things in June.

The quilt class I am teaching (in the loosest sense of the word as it is more a gathering of friends) is going to be held once a week instead of once a fortnight so I have been busy planning for the next six weeks. I'm breaking things into chunks so that I don't get overwhelmed or leave things to the last minute. We are also going to have a monthly workshop on a Saturday and I have a wall hanging designed for that (currently in its component parts - ie I haven't started it yet although it is designed and written.)

What do you think of John's Christmas present?

Clue - it's the tiles behind Ben who is raiding the sweetie jar in his underwear (oh to be two again!). We went very practical this year. I gave Steph some Clinique lotions and potions and Will a tool kit for his bike and some work jeans (he asked for those - really!)   I got a spare wheel from Will and a wool winder from John.

My 'To-me-with-love' was a scarf kit.

Be still my quivering heart. I really don't feel as though anyone spent money on something unnecessary this year and for that I really grateful. I haven't cracked the overload of meat though. That is my Christmas 2015 resolution. Don't buy so much meat!!! I'm glad to get back to a less meaty diet and more of this luscious stuff.  I will keep you updated with my rainbow drinks.

This afternoon, after I have done the ironing (resolution number 645 - don't leave any ironing in the basket thinking I will do it when I get back from work during the week) I am going to finish updating my blog with a different design and some more links to blogs I read.

2014 wasn't the best year I've had.  A lot of sad things happened to me and some good friends, in and out of work,  and the year's parting gift was a burglary. Someone took both Will's bikes (the ones he spent hours and hours building) and the nice alloy car wheels which he takes off his car in the winter to protect them.  The burglars broke into our garage and two others. We are insured but it was a poop end to the year, knowing that some snivelling little gits (I have paraphrased my original comments for the sake of decency) have had other people's hard earned, tax paid things.

So,  I am drawing a line under 2014 and looking forward to 2015 with the words of Samuel Goldwyn to guide me -"the harder I work, the luckier I get".

Is being on holiday more stressful?

This post was partly was written during the half term break - I took the whole week but oh my I didn't get half the stuff done I wanted.  Ok it was nice to get up the first Sunday morning and have a leisurely breakfast, even though there were only crusts left - and they were hard.  The day didn't pan out well though. After I hung the washing out to dry John came to borrow my car (prearranged). Half way through the morning it started to drizzle but my back door key wouldn't open the door - a little bit of it must have broken off. My other key is, of course on the key ring with my car keys. Wet washing and no way to get out of the house.

I am making a table runner for a workshop which I had hoped to get finished yesterday but a certain young man had other ideas....

Ben stayed the night on Saturday - you know that night where you sleep for an extra hour? He was awake between midnight and 3am - I watched the digital clock click back from 2am to 1am. He wasn't bouncing about but he wiggles and wiggles. Here he is eating his toast from my little coffee table, using my kitchen step as a seat. He's smiling but behind the camera I look like I've been pulled through a hedge backwards. No change there then.  So that extra hour was sort of lost for this year.

When I make something I start with the fabric to get ideas from that,

Then I get out a pencil and paper and do a few sketches of what I would like it to look like, then I start drafting the pattern pieces.

Even the quirky shapes have to fit into a certain space.  Sometimes I just draw the shapes and then fit them in later though. Depends on my mood.

I love drafting the shapes because that satisfies the mathsy bit of my brain. Maths is a passion rather than a talent - I love the way you can explain the most beautiful of things through maths. However I digress. Then I sew and sew and sew - that satisfies the creative part of me. 

Oh I tried my hand at buttons - not perfect but I can buy those in the shops can't I? I think I need a bit more practice though. 

I worked my way through my to do list never reaching the end of course! I ended the week rocking gently in the corner of a darkened room. A gentle and prolonged weekend of crochet has relaxed me though. Fabric, yarn, I love you.

My hexagons are coming on. I'm sewing all the ends as I go. The threads you can see are the joining up threads. I really don't know what this is going to be. Probably not something really big because it is pure wool and would be difficult to wash and dry.  I absolutely love the natural colours.

I've also joined Attic 24's Crochet Along although I've only done 13 stripes and Lucy is up to 45! I did have another stripe almost finished but while I was hanging out the washing yesterday Ben discovered the delights of pulling out crochet. I'm so pleased the stripes are tied off otherwise it probably would have been reduced to a big knot of wool. Lucy is making a blanket to fit a single bed but mine is going to be a square throw. It should end up about 50". My stripes are much more random - Lucy plans hers and I just pick a colour from the basket that I think goes with the last stripe I did. I love the way she wraps her yarn round pegs.

A lot of the quilting I have been doing lately has been with a very small palette of colours so the rainbow of crochet yarns is acting as a balm to my poor addled brain.

We are having a very special guest to open our newly refurbished school and we couldn't gather together a good set of china for all the guests so I volunteered to get some from Ikea. (Clever - my lips didn't even move). So at half past eight on Friday night I bought what we needed. Loading loose china and glasses into my boot (two trolley loads) in the pouring rain - well that answers the question about the stress in the holidays compared with being at work. How did I drive? Very gently.

This afternoon I am going to add some more stripes to the blanket (no concentration required) whilst I watch the last Grand Prix of the season with fingers crossed that Lewis Hamilton makes World Champion,  but this morning I am going to make a start on fifteen togas for one of our primary schools.  I 'volunteered' for that too. 

Roll on the next holiday!

Where HAVE I been?

I think I've been out of the habit - that's where I've been. So I'm going to run a quick picture gallery of what's been happening and then try to organise myself properly at the weekends so that my weekly blog will restart.

Making zillions of garlands - thank you to all my friends who so graciously accept these as presents - thereby stopping my house from being overrun with garlands.

The start of a little poncho to keep my back warm whilst I am quilting first thing in the morning during the cold winter months when all are fast asleep - love that quiet time.

 The finished poncho

With a lacy edge - this was inspired by Lucy's poncho. I must say she is dedicated - mine covers my chest and back just down to the waist. I decided not to put the pretty flower ties she has on because I think they would get in the way when I'm quilting.  The acrylic yarn comes in some gorgeous colours but I prefer the feel of the natural yarns.

Bit sick of the sight of cushions I didn' realise they would be so popular.

This was a batch of ten for people at work.

Inspired by Karen's lovely quilt and another she has underway,

I decided to make a "Quilts for Comfort" top from a block called Cotton Reel

Which now looks like this - ready to quilt.

We had a team building day at work. All the teachers and teaching support staff went across to the lakes but we had to stay and look after the school so we made another quilt top for 'Quilts for Comfort' - even the caretakers did a block.

I've just got the border fabric for this so may get that sewn on today - visitors permitting.

A little painting

Testing Annie Sloan colours for a new coffee table - I ended up blending some of the yellow ochre with the white.

A thank you present for Janet- most apt!

A little baking:

Chocolate cherry cupcakes and lemon curd tarts. I'll have to take more pics of baking because I make something every week - banoffee cupcakes are a favourite at the moment. Had a great time making stuff for our Macmillan coffee morning but forgot to take pics silly me.

I went to Milton Keynes with John (he was at a conference of chiropracters). I dropped him off and went to a quilt shop I had looked up. Ric rac mmmmmmm

 Walked along the Grand Union Canal

 They crochet here too!

 The lock keeper's cottage

Then went on to Stowe House - it was too far to walk all round the grounds in the time I had, but it was so calm even though I could hear racing cars in the background - it was Silverstone!

Steph and I went to the Busy Bees Studio Open Day. If you ever get a chance to visit do go - I think she is living my dream! Ben loved the donkeys.

 They were right over the other side of the field though

 He ran up and down the hill but didn't wear himself out....

I went to Yarndale a couple of weeks ago. It was stunning. although very crowded. For some peace I went to Bolton Abbey later that day - think I might make a weekend of it next year. I've got some pics somewhere I'll share next time.

I spent all the money I had saved from the cushion sales!

Lovely hand dyed wool from British Blue Faced Leicesters.  Some lemon curd for John and a ceramic heart garland for Steph. Will had eaten his Bolton Abbey Fudge before I took the pic.

These hexagons were made from the Blue Faced Leicester wool and were inspired by the ceiling of a building I saw at Stow House

They are tiny though. I'm also making another cotton blanket which is double knitting.  These centres are the same pattern - I've put a penny next to them.

The cotton squares will become a blanket one day.

And the hexagons will be a Grandmother's Flower Garden.

 I love the little cream jug I bought at Yarndale - it's just the right size for my crochet hooks.

So if you've not been bored out of your mind and have made it this far I promise I'll try to be more organised and blog weekly.  I love reading other blogs - I'm going to redesign mine over the half term break so I'll add the ones I love reading - they give so much inspiration.