Whew! What a scorcher!

Just kidding - it's been a day for all seasons today, rain, snow, wind, bright sunshine.  It's been sunny all weekend in my heart because I've stitched, baked, chatted to my lovely friend from Surrey and had Ben sleeping over:

Checking out the breakfast situation

and road testing the strippy quilt.

Yesterday I had my quiet time at the start of the day. Loving this particular quilt. I've worked out it will take about three hundred hours to finish.  Three hundred hours of peace and contemplation. Perfect.

However, on a more practical front, or should I say behind, I've been doing a fairly common repair on No 1 son's jeans.  All that bouncing about on a tractor wears even the toughest fabric.

The denim is so lovely and soft now. Jeans that old are a pleasure to wear and I"m not surprised he likes them repaired even in this day of throwaway clothes. Puts me in mind of my first pair of Levis - back in 1969.  I could only afford one pair (my Saturday job paid ten shillings or 50p) and they were washed to near destruction.  I was walking along the sea front in Brighton and some random biker offered to buy them from me for more than twice what I'd paid. I didn't succumb though!

Alison and I spent Saturday morning putting the world to rights and stitching this and that.

Which colour to stitch with? Dark Green.

I sat with this project this afternoon whilst Ben was having a nap.  I don't drink a lot of tea but when I fancy a cuppa I don't think you can beat tea for thirst quenching pleasure.

For some reason I can't find my stash of calico (can't see the wood for the trees I think) so I still need to put the back on this but it's nearly done:

I have uploaded the March block of the 'Picture the Year' quilt which this mini quilt is part of.

The little chooks are getting used to their new home but they are coming back in if the temperature drops below freezing.

Tonight I will be mainly ironing - what an exciting life I lead. But for now the internet connection in playing up so I'm going to press the publish button while I still can.  Have a good week everyone.

Paint, stitch, housework - in that order

Saturday morning was our first sortie on to the Hill this year and we're raring to go.  It's been a few weeks since we painted and what a lovely time we had!  I wanted something pretty to store my crochet hooks in so I chose a little pot that would become a flower.

This is the first coat but will have to wait until next week because I had a huge list to get through today - mostly on account of sitting yesterday afternoon stitching my strippy quilt and watching rugby. It's a hard life. Anyhoo I washed the dishes from the night before (naughty girl) painted until nine, got my shopping list together and scraped the frost off the car. After I dropped off the shopping I went to Dainty Crafts to get some bits and pieces for bag making with my Year 10 class. John, Steph and Ben came round so I put the ironing on hold (no hardship).  Anyway that's all done now and the chicken is roasting away happily and the house is quiet.

Talking about chickens - 

They are looking particularly scruffy at the moment as they start to grow their fluffy feathers but how big are they growing? We have acquired a rabbit hutch for their transition from warm house to chilly garden, via the sun lounge. Could I just say that these are not destined for the table!

The first Mavis and Gladys class of 2014 took place last Thursday and the ladies started on Picture the Year.  If you want to take part the first block is ready to download here.  There is also a bonus pattern if you want to make up the blocks into a Mini-Quilt.  That is the part of the to-do list that I didn't reach today.  There should have been a finished picture of the Mini Quilt but I'm afraid it's still in its component parts.  Next week....

I made some choc chip mint cupcakes for the class but actually I didn't like them very much.  I like After Eight Mints but not Mint Chip Ice Cream or cake. I don't want to make only the ones I like though.  John has suggested sticky toffee cupcakes.  I think I'll make something savoury too for those ladies who don't have a sweet tooth. 

So now I'll serve the dinner and then get into my jammies.  The weekend has gone so quickly, as it does and I haven't got to the bottom of my to-do list again, but hey ho.  

I hope your week is productive and enjoyable, in whichever order pleases you most!

Not a good day for photos but Picture the Year starts today

I'm having some trouble importing photos.  No sure what the problem is but there are some lovely ones of Ben going through his Daddy's rucksack that won't upload.  I was going to show you what was in the said rucksack - A lap top power cable, two pens, a butt bungee, a neck exerciser, two satsumas and an old ipod! I'll just confirm that John is a Sports Physio and the Butt Bungee is an elastic band which helps to strengthen "Glutes" - bum muscles which have become weakened and unbalanced and are giving back pain - just for the record.

This is the only one and is quite blurred.  Ben is not well at the moment and we spent last night in the emergency room. He has croup which frightened the bejeezus out of his Mammy and Daddy and Ben too I think. He had some steroids and they let him out about 2am so everyone is a bit tired today. He is still very wheezy and pale.

The lamp I have been shabbying up has been a bit of a disaster!  The paint wouldn't dry properly.  After two days I decided to paint over the Dulux One Coat  Three Coats with some acrylic craft paint.  That worked great.  I shaded the edges with some pinky lilac to go with the new shade and decided to give the whole thing a quick spray with the sealer. Look what happened:

A bit too shabby I think.  I sanded it down again but it is not the best effort I have made. However it has been salvaged now and is lighting my bedside.

Tried a new recipe today for custard creams - they were yummy and pronounced fit to bake for the quilt class on Thursday. They went in a flash. (Edd Kimber's recipe). They were really crisp and light but I do think they ought to be square!

Quick update on the little chicks - they are really growing strong now and can perch on their own.  They had some delicious dried mealworms today. Mmmm.

The quilt which I marked up during the summer holidays was on my to do list and I had forgotten how wonderfully relaxing it is to just quilt. It changes a piece of flat fabric into something really special.  I'm going to enjoy this one very much.

So, if you're wondering when I am going to get round to publishing the fabric requirements for 'Picture the Year' you will have to go to www.strawberrypatches.wordpress.com  because I couldn't get a downloadable pdf file into blogger and had to set up a wordpress blog.  I'm still working on it so will put a link in every week until I've got it figured out. There will be paper copies available at High Street Quilting from this Friday onwards or if all else fails email me at strawberrypatches@btinternet.com and I'll send a copy that way. The pattern is free - yipee!

I'm looking forward to seeing all the lovely ladies at the first quilt meeting of the year at High Street Quilting on Thursday but it's back to work tomorrow and I find myself yearning for the time when this is my work. Sooner rather than later I hope.

2014 - The year to say No!

I expect everybody knows what it feels like when someone asks you to do something - your brain says "no" and your mouth says "yes".  This is going to be the year when my mouth follows my brain.  "No" to working late when everyone has gone home.  "No" to working a weekends when I should be with my lovely family or chilling out in my little nest. "No" to the fast food because now I will have enough time to make something with real, delicious ingredients. "No" to sitting down staring into space when I can be creating instead of wishing I was creating.

I expect everyone can think of lots of things to say "no' to - go ahead - give yourself permission.

A little while ago I bought a lampshade to make over a lamp which I've had for years.  The lamp is going to be shabbied up.

Am I going to get the get the paint out and put it away a couple of days later because I couldn't be bothered? "NO!"

Bring it on 2014.

Relaxed enough to knit

I've been trying my very hardest to stay calm and not overdo things this Christmas.  If something doesn't get done or bought, then so what? I didn't get every christmas decoration I possess out this year either.  So what have I learnt from this?

1) Christmas doesn't need to  be a headless chicken act, BUT
2) I will get all my decorations out next year (I didn't get the sherry feeling**)
3) I will prep my vegetables the night before.
4) I will put aside boxing day for doing nothing.

** That sherry feeling.  I only drink sherry at Christmas and it goes straight to my knee joints and ear drums.  I feel wobbly on the feet and everything goes quietly hazy.  The Christmas lights are fuzzier and my face assumes a gormless grin.  I missed that because I didn't have any sherry and, even if I did, there weren't enough decorations to twinkle.

STOP PRESS....
Inflation has hit the Christmas Stocking Market.  When I bought the little chocolate coin bags for my 28 and 26 year old babies they had 'notes' in.   Commonly referred to as square dosh in our family.

The little silkie hens are coming on a treat. The picture below was taken on Christmas day 

 And this one was taken at lunch time today.

They are so beautiful - their little legs are impossibly thin and their little necks are just like miniature pipecleaners but they are growing before our very eyes. I'm not sure how big they will be but I think about the half the size of my laying hens.  The black one was smaller when they arrived but has grown much faster than the little lavender grey one.

So now the house is quiet (apart from Karin and I putting the world to rights and the clack of our knitting needles).  Can you guess what this is going to be?

Yes you're right - it's a bunny.  I'm getting ahead for Easter. (Just kidding I was supposed to have this ready for Christmas).

Ben came to stay on Saturday.  He sleeps with me. Sometimes he lets me have a little corner of the bed.  He is so cuddly in his little sleep-suit that I have to squeeze him all the time.

So now I preparing for next year's classes.  

I will be making the pattern for 'Picture the Year' available to download on the blog with a new 'month' each week so stand by for the first one on 9th January 2014. A paper copy will be available at High Street Quilting each week as well. Each pattern will have the design to trace and the verse to embroider as well as the dimensions of the pieces.  I'll be posting fabric requirements this coming Sunday.

Happy New Year to everyone.

It's the cheepest Christmas yet

Would you look at this?  My Christmas present from Will arrived a few days early yesterday in all its fluffy glory.

Sorry the picture is a bit blurred - they wouldn't keep still! They are little Silkie Chicks - two weeks old and absolutely gorgeous. They are in a hamster tank at the moment with a special heater and I can hear their heartwarming little 'cheep cheep' as I write.  When they grow up they will be even fluffier. They won't be going out to join the other hens until they are a few weeks older though.  Lucky them - it's horrible outside and although the sun comes out every now and then, the rain and wind are winning at the moment. 

Work was manic up to the end on Friday but I have a week and a bit of peace before I start up again, not the two week break I intended (she says between gritted teeth) as I have to return to work early, but I am going to make the most of my time at home.

Last Saturday I started a little wooden tree at our regular session on 'the hill'.

I covered the wood with some paper I had and then I photocopied a page from a lovely magazine (Father Christmas is getting a subscription for me).

It's called Simply Vintage and it now comes in English but I decided to get the French version still as I like to keep in practice in case my numbers come up and I can afford that little stone cottage in France.  Anyhoo...

The papers are painted over with dark green (Plantation Pine) and then rubbed back.  A few buttons and some 'shabbying'.  I love this - thanks Sandra for another great design.

The vitamin packed smoothies are working their magic and I feel as fit as a fiddle now.

The predominant flavour in this Vitamin C delight was the strawberry, despite the other robust ingredients.

The green version always make me feel good - this little lot was less than 250 calories and packed with good things.

Juicy tomatoes, tangy cheese -  all toasted on a pitta bread. If you haven't tried Food Doctor pitta bread and like seeded things do have a go, they are very tasty.

I painted a last minute gift for a lovely friend at work:

Good old Ikea mirrors and one of my favourite floral patterns - another thank you to Sandra for great ideas.

Most of the shopping is done and my friend and I are off the the hairdresser tomorrow.  The presents are to wrap (Christmas Eve Tradition where possible).  I'm off the put some toad in the hole in the oven for tea and tonight I will be finishing a Cotton Rabbit for someone special.  I might even have a little tot of red wine.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Many a stocking was stitched

There was a Mavis and Gladys Workshop at High Street Quilting on Saturday 7th December.  The night before I got some paints out (bearing in mind I haven't been painting on 'the hill' since 23rd November and am suffering serious withdrawal symptoms).  I had some white bags for the patterns so I thought it would be nice to decorate them for the ladies.

I painted on a coat of gesso to seal the surface then washed a thin coat of Winter Blue over that. The snowgirl was painted with Light Buttermilk and decorated with yew boughs. A few snowflakes were added with my lovely dotty tool and a little bit of pen-stitching and a cinnamon heart finished the little scene.

I laid out all the parts of the pattern - there is nothing worse than forgetting some element.  Sadly I very often do because I am a bit of a last minute person. (New Year Resolution I think).

I decided not to bake for the class because some generous person or persons unknown had given me a nasty cold. Cupcakes from the kitchen of viral plague did not seem appealing.  So I schlepped down to Aldi for some award winning Mince Pies and a choccy Santa for each bag. Oops did an extra one find its way into my shopping basket?  It's ok I destroyed the evidence later that night.

After a lot of fabric choosing and little bit of machine maintenance:

 everyone settled down to sew.

A bit of machining, a bit of tracing, 

 Quite a lot of hand sewing,

 Nearly there...

I have to say it was one of the most industrious group of people I had worked with. I hope everyone got far enough with the stockings to finish them - some were very close, but it had been an intensive session and I think there were some sore fingers at the end!  How different they all looked too. The variety of fabric choices and interpretations always amazes me.

Sunday saw John fixing my tiles in the bathroom which needed some attention. I fell asleep on the sofa and when I woke up Steph had washed the dishes. Just love 'em for looking after their mammy. Ben was his usual charming self despite being a bit under the weather. Although I did find a lemon and a stock cube underneath the sofa after they had left.  He is into cupboards, literally, at the moment.

I've had two colds this winter.  Normally I get one every 5-10 years - very thankfully I've never had to suffer during every winter season.  I have decided I'm not eating enough veggies at the moment and have paid the price.  Easily rectified though.  Get home early enough to prepare a decent evening meal, don't stress over work so much and (my favourite bit) eat/drink your greens!

I think I would get bored before I ate all these but a quick zap in the liquidiser produces my green goddess drink. 

Please ignore the state of my glasses - I reckon it's a small price to pay to have the dishes machine washed!  Actually this was a bit bitter with the savoy cabbage so I added some apple juice and it was lovely.  The small glass will be my afternoon pick me up.

So - halo polished I am ready to meet the day.  I need to keep energy levels up because it's only 16 days to Christmas - argghhhhh.