Happy New Years Eve

 Did you see my new 'header'... yes it's Easter.. I figure I may have had the vaccine by then and be able to start going out again, at the moment we have been moved into Tier 4, which means no contact  with anyone, and no shops open other than food! Chris is back 'Shielding'

This is how I am spending New Years Eve... just hanging around waiting for better times in 2021.

Happy Room Projects for 2021

I have a number of projects started that I will work on in 2021.

Sewcialites blocks are released weekly, free from the Fat Quarter Shop. 

13 completed and 26 more to be released in 2021 I am using Dimples fabric for the colours and trying to use as many different colours as I can.

I love this fabric and it blends so nicely with almost any other fabric. I have been collecting it for many years and it is still available.

Snowflake Top
 

Top completed earlier this year and I ‘went off it’ but having left it unfinished I would now like to complete it.

Hand sewn Hexagon top

I have had enough of hand sewing hexies, and have decided it is large enough for a garden tablecloth, not sure how I will back it and finish it.

The Little Village quilt along  designed by Jessica Dayton

Decided to make this in just different colours. I have always loved red and thought this an ideal project.

The Leader and Enders project [in left hand corner of photo] is by Bonnie Hunter. I have a drawer full of them, it ends in July.

Pat Sloan is offering a ‘sew along’ weekly to make Elephants from Wendy Sheppard’s pattern called Stomping Ground

This started yesterday [29th Dec] so I have made a test block.

I may continue using the Dimples fabric or switch to more ‘jolly’ fabrics.

Women of the Bible is a new project for me. 

I ordered the CD from Stitchin’ Tree Quilts it was quite expensive and then I got stung for customs, so probably the most expensive pattern I have ever bought. If only they had it available in a download format!

Each block has a story of the different women of the bible [something I have wanted to study for a while] 

The blocks are different sizes which always adds interest to the finished quilt.

I decided to make it in Blues and I am debating using the grey/beige fabric on the top of the pile for the background, I need to come out of my comfort zone of always using white or cream.

Finished size of quilt is 110 x 125 inches.

I also have on my ‘to do’ list, caravan placemats using the caravan fabric I bought while on a caravan trip to the East coast.

Love to hear from you if you feel you can comment, all messages are read by me before they appear on my blog.

Happy Healthy, stay safe New Year.

Goodbye 2020, Hello 2021

This has been a most unusual year, and I wondered what I had achieved so took a quick look back and was amazed!

We started the year with almost 6 weeks in Spain, that seems a life time ago as when we returned the country went into lockdown and Covid 19 shook the world.

My first start and finish in 2020 was Mrs Duck made in Spain.

 Plus I attended a glass fusing workshop while on holiday.

Then came the lockdown and the thoughts of a few weeks of just sewing seemed great, until it went on and on and is still going on....

However I searched the internet and found some inspiration from quilters offering ‘Mystery Quilts’ ‘Quilt Alongs’ etc etc..

I am particularly grateful to Pat Sloan and her daily YouTube messages plus Bonnie Hunter’s blog posts, both so full of inspiration.

Quilts I made this year:

Moda Blockheads in purples and greenLabyrinth in yellow and greens, both colours out of my comfort zone but work so well together.

Jelly Roll pattern from the Fat Quarter Shop

Birthday Cake quilt 

Cozy Quilt based on Hygge lifestyle

Jason ABC quilt for my neighbours first grandchild

Bringing Home the Christmas Tree a Christmas gift for my son and daughter in law.

I also completed two quilts that had been UFO’s for far too long

USA States I have visited and my black, white and a dash of red.

Three Christmas cushions were made for gifts.

Three pairs of socks and a fourth started kept my knitting needles busy.

A black bag made from Charity Shop jeans, that has been in use all year.

A Christmas Santa and sleigh banner

Easter banner

Seascape banner

Halloween banner

Table runner and place mats

Banner for the new Summer House

Mug Rugs for the new caravan

Too many Masks to mention

And probably a number of things I have forgotten.

It has been a great time to have a Happy Room and food delivery to the doorstep most of the year.

On my next blog I will make myself a note of things I have started that will be completed in 2021.

2020 Christmas

Happy Christmas everyone, hope you day is full of blessings.

We started the day with a 90 minute Zoom link to our family, opening presents and smiling at silly jokes [via Richard!]

Although we cannot physically be together as we are staying safe until after the vaccine, we had a fun time together.

Managed to ‘cast’ the picture to the TV to see the family.

Just love the picture ‘borrowed’ from Facebook.

Once again Happy Christmas and lets look forward remembering the good times as we move into 2021.

Santa arrived

Last night Santa arrived and he parked right outside our house for about 20 minutes.

It was fun watching them set up to travel around the Estate collecting for the British Heart Foundation.

It was raining so the picture is not brilliant as I didn’t want to go out and get wet!

Yo Ho Ho, Santa is just out of shot!

St Marys Church Burton Latimer

After my visit to the dentist this morning I needed a treat, so we went to St Mary’s Church at Burton Latimer, so closely related to my family.

First we visited my Dad’s tree, when he was interred we were unable to have a head stone but we could plant a tree with a stone.

Next to see my Mum and her four siblings plots.

Yellow Polyanthus were always her favourite plant and yellow the easiest to see as she was blind towards the end of her life.

 

The Church with a tree decked out with homemade sayings.

A few of the very many painted stones that line to path to the church and around the corner.

A life size Nativity which is lit up at night.

Well worth a visit and such a lovely scene.

The Coffee Table Adventure

Yesterday Chris managed to buy a Coffee Table on Ebay that we had be searching for, for quite some time, as it matches our other furniture.

New it costs about £560 but his offer of £100 was accepted. PROBLEM! The table needed collecting from near Colchester, a five hour round trip.

We decided to make a day of it, as we have been house bound for so long.

My VW was in for a service so we dropped it off on our way out, which turned out to be a blessing.

The journey was very uneventful until we came to junction 8 off the M11 and had to take side roads to find the farm. The floods were everywhere and I am not sure I would have liked driving through them in the VW but the Range Rover had no problem, the flooded roads then turned into a very pot holed muddy track before coming to a stop at a large metal gate ! A quick phone call to the seller and she opened the gate and we finally picked up and paid for the table, which ‘just’ fitted into the back of the car. We were told they had snow a couple of days ago and very heavy rain which was causing the flooding.

A quick call into a Garden Centre to use the facilities and buy a hyacinth! We drove home via a Brewers Fayre resturant for lunch, which was very nice, picked up my VW and put the table in place.

The day before this adventure I had made a cake and a slice went down very well with a cuppa.

The Poinsettia was a gift from a friend, thank you Ann.

Jelly Roll Ripples

I tried and tried to resist, but my Pandemic brain gave in !

I’m blaming everything on the Pandemic!!

Pat Sloan suggested making a Jelly Roll Quilt on her blog page and I was in the middle of my Red Barn quilt so thought I would pass. Little did I know there would be lots of people making it and I already had a Jelly Roll and plenty of other fabric, so yesterday I started it. 

The pattern called Jelly Roll Ripples is free on the Fat Quarter Shop website, with lots of other freebies.

The Fabric Freedom Jelly Roll is called Farmyard Green and I thought would make a great quilt to donate to either a boy or a girl.

There are five different designs in the Jelly roll, which is perfect as 35 blocks each use a strip [the 5 I have left over will be used in the binding]

I cut out a few Jelly roll strips and a few of the contrast strips from a piece of fabric left over from another project.

Man O Man did this sew up quickly, within a short while I had nine blocks made.

The five different jelly roll strips.

Really recommend this project if you want a quick and easy quilt, especially if you have a jelly roll lurking  in the back of your fabric stash.

Nature and a tree skirt

Nature really put on a show for us this morning

Such beauty

Decorating the bridge over the pond.

Not sure this spider knew where he was going!

Took me a week to find my tree skirt, for some reason it was not put away with the Christmas goodies.

Barn Quilts

Yesterday the terrible tooth ache that I have had for the past four weeks and kept hoping it would go away had me phoning the dentist.  

He has given me a course of antibiotics and an appointment at the end of the course. 

Antibiotics never really agree with me so I thought it best if I have a sewing day with some lively music to take my mind of it all.

A few days ago I started preparing for the Red Barn Quilt I want to make.

I sewed the roof and door and cut out the 16 Barn Doors, all of which are different.

The pattern is by Jessica Dayton and called The Little Village Quilt Along. It is free on her web site.

I caught up with the Sewcialites block of the week and the Cozy Block of the week, plus producing a number of Leader and Enders blocks.

Today I worked on the barn doors, I am so loving this project and absolutely love the red fabric

Eight blocks made, eight more to make. Even more Leaders and Ender blocks, it is amazing how many of these I have made.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

1st of December time to decorate. It’s hard to get in the Christmas mood with everything that is going on, but so pleased we made the effort.

Our new TV set up, yes we are watching a Christmas movie

The train was machine embroidered.

My little house display, tree in the garden lit up, New Santa and sleigh banner and dear old Santa made about 15 years ago.

My favourite Nativity scene, given to me by my friend Jane in the USA

The Christmas tree, full of memories.

Old faithful Christmas quilt made by me

The best news of all they have a vaccine and I will be first in line when it’s my turn.

Maybe 2021 will be a better year for all of us. Yo Ho Ho.

IAM Christmas gifts

The IAM craft group that have been meeting in my house for the past 20 years are unable to meet due to the Lockdowns and Covid 19 disruption.

Each year the eight of us always have a really fun Christmas party. Each person buys 7 x £2 gifts and we enjoy unwrapping so many different little presents, plus play silly games.  All change this year so I thought it might be nice if we all bought the same 7 x £2 gifts and I would collect them and play Santa as soon as I am able, delivering them to the groups front doors [social distanced of course].

I managed to get everything sorted and ready to deliver.

Wow they look so exciting and I hope everyone enjoys their gifts and cards on Christmas Day.

Sewcialites and my Jolly Box

I have been playing catch up with my Sewcialites blocks

.

Each one is in a different colour of Dimples fabric

The picture towards the top shows the completed quilt, with block patterns due every Friday it will not be completed until June!

I will probably have to double up on the colours as I do not have enough for every one to be different, but think that’s OK.

 It is using up some of my stash.

Today I received my Jolly Box from the Fat Quarter shop in the USA. I joined their subscription service for their monthly boxes and this was an extra Christmas box. Due to the high cost of postage I am not sure I will continue using the subscription, but it is fun receiving them through the post and I love the contents.

There is a panel and charm pack to make the Reindeer pattern, to spools of thread, a note book, pair of socks and a fun package to make three Infinity scarves.

The Cozy Quilt blocks

Pat Sloan [www.Patsloan.com] started a quilt along a few weeks ago called Cozy Things.

I started the quilt along using a layer cake with black for a background, it felt anything but cozy! Rather than abandoning the whole project I unpicked some of the fabric I could re-use and chose a different background but the same Layer cake.

The project is based around the Danish lifestyle called Hygge.

 I bought a little book to read up on the subject, How to be Happy and Healthy in Your Daily Life. 

A most interesting read and I intend to incorporate as much as I can into my everyday life, even in these Pandemic times.

Four blocks with the new fabric background.

Three more blocks. Just two more to complete the quilt.