Diamond Jubilee

Lets all celebrate our Queen, 60 years on the throne.

Marathon Thread

I am so excited I won this case of Marathon thread on EBay last night.. had to set an alarm so I did not fall asleep in the chair! before the item took its final bid.  Husband said go to £130 but I got it for £72... 333 small reels of thread. Yippee

Tree of Life

This is the first row of the Tree of Life, an Embroidery machine pattern by Anita Goodesign.. There are 70 blocks in the complete Tree with extra leaves to hang  on when it is completed. I'm loving the colours and using Moda Trade Winds fabrics for the applique. Marathon threads for the embroidery, white on white main fabric and a thin poly batting as a stabiliser.

Preparing for Linus Day

fabric piles

Cut piles of fabric

Next Saturday I am organising through my Church a Linus Quilting day.. no idea how many ladies are coming.. so thought I'd start cutting fabric ready for sewing into three designs I have thought of.
Much of the fabric has been donated through Yahoo groups and friends.. thank you all so very much. Plus Pauline and Christine came  to help me cut the 2 1/2 inch strips, 6 1/2 inch blocks and 3 1/2 inch blocks.. A donation of the batting, and some large pieces of fabric should see quite a few quilts made.

Chaos reigns

Looks like a jumble sale!

Chris to the rescue



New worktop and cupboards

 There has been a shake up in my "Happy Room". A large desk has been removed and a 9ft long worktop installed with filing cabinets at both ends and cupboards underneath. This meant my computer and embroidery machine had to be removed and all the junk precious stuff that lived under the old table had to move across the room.

The new worktop, computer and embroidery machine are back in place but I need to have a serious sort out of everything else.

BSK 5th BOM

3 umbrellas



BOM 5

 Another great day at BSK machine embroidering the 5th block in a series. This one went fairly quickly so I managed to ME three umbrellas onto fabric to make into bags. Now all I need is the time to make them!

Pat Archibald workshop

What a wonderful day, last week I attended the Pat Archibald workshop at Hamtune Quilters, along with 13 other ladies. Pat is such a good teacher and very free with her knowledge.
I chose to make the blue version and used silver foil for the moon. Layers of black net make the shaded areas. I still have a little more sewing to finish it.

http://www.patarchibald.com/

The Charity quilt

Hamtune quilters decided this year to make a quilt for our Autumn Fayre Raffle
with proceeds going to the Alzheimer's Association.

Many of the members took part making a block and I put them all together.. it has now gone to one of the members to be backed and quilted.

The Gravestone

A year has passed since my father-in-law died, so Chris and I made a trip to see the gravestone that took eight or nine months to be put in place.

He is often in our thoughts.

Gilbert & Sullivan

Yesterday Chris and I attended a Seniors Activity at Church, it was Chris's first "over 60's" event ;-)

A BIG thank you to the organisers Sister's Goodwin and Mace for arranging with John Ryan for the wonderful Gilbert & Sullivan afternoon yesterday.

As we all met in the hall before the performance we wondered what to expect, and then the doors opened to a wonderful set of small tables decorated with dainty cups and saucers and plates of cup cakes. A fire burning in a fireplace with candlesticks and photos added to the atmosphere.  Interval was dainty sandwiches and more cake!

John read us the life story of G&S mixed with songs from the shows.
This is going to be a hard act to follow but I look forward to the next Senior Activity.

Hamtune Quilters celebrate

7th birthday

Some of the group

Last night was the 7th birthday of Hamtune Quilters, the group I am Chairman of. We celebrated in style with a beautiful cake made by member Jenny based on a quilt she had seen at Uttoxeter Quilt Show.. delicious.
Joan gave a presentation on Linus Quilts, and a couple of free door prizes made for an enjoyable evening.. see www.hamtunequilters.blogspot.com for more details.