Almost there



BOM 2012

 My BOM 2012 quilt is almost finished, just a little more binding to sew down.
Chris is home from work today so thought I'd take the opportunity to get him to hold it while I took a photo, but it is very cold and windy in the garden so not a brilliant picture.. but at least the sun is shining!

Family fun

Last week the family came for dinner and Abigail insisted they play Twister to much fun and laughter. Richard was the only one willing to bend out of shape with the girls!

Little cushions

Abigail's

Eleanor's

Some years ago before Eleanor was born a friend made Abigail a little cushion, so yesterday I made Eleanor one, both are 8 inch square.

Side panels added

Due to the bad weather we are having, I stayed home all day and managed to sew the side panels to my 2012 BOM, The photo is not very good as it had to be taken in the lounge as it's too cold to go outside. Today I want to work on the backing, quilting and then the side borders. I think it will end up suitable for a single bed, but not sure yet.

BOM 2013 Cushion #1





This is the first of a series of cushions I intend making. It was hard finding the right colours to go with my suite but I am now pleased with the final choice.

2012 BOM

Started to put the blocks of my 2012 BOM quilt together. Started by cutting the middle block wrongly and having to make a new one, but I changed my colours and prefer the new one. The maths test to get the middle in place caused me a headache but Chris came to the rescue and everything worked fine. I now have to put the four blocks and sashing to each side and then decided on my borders.   The blocks are 15 inch square and the middle 33 inch square with 3 inch sashing.

Blueberry muffins

http://www.patchworktimes.com/2013/01/15/blueberry-muffins/    Fancied something sweet today and although I rarely do any cooking I found this recipe on Judy Laquidara's blog and thought I'd have a go. Being an American recipe I was not sure of my sizes, but luckily I had a set of USA "cups" and was only stumped when the oven temperature said 400 and my oven only goes upto about 250 ! I guessed at 220 and it seemed to work OK. In fact they taste great, love the crunchy topping.

Snow



Back garden


The last couple of days have seen a lot of snow falling. This has made the roads and paths terrible as the snow has fallen on top of ice in this really cold spell we seem to be having.

Only good thing is its good sewing weather.

Birthday Postcard swap






 

Having joined a Postcard swap for this year with BQLPC yahoo group, these are the first three birthday postcards that I have sent.

I used Rufflette pelmet vilene which is very sticky on both sides and enjoyed making them for Janet, Lesley and Pascale.

I've gone bag crazy

Yesterday I made 7 of these bags.. no idea what they will be used for, but I think they will come in very handy to use instead of wrapping paper for giving little gifts.

A clean house

Just love this sign...No idea where it came from to give credit to the designer.

Out with the old / in with the new

What a busy few days Chris and I have had. Decided to make the larger spare room into a twin room for the girls when they come to stay. The first thing was a new bed, and luckily I managed to match the one we already had. A trip to Ikea for new cupboards, and a lot of sorting out has made the room look really nice.

Today was a trip to Emmaus with a car FULL of recyclable items.  This is such a worthwhile charity.  http://www.emmausvillagecarlton.org.uk/
Emmaus Village Carlton is a homeless charity based in North Bedfordshire offering active support to formerly homeless people and we provide what we think of as a real workable alternative to homelessness. Our site is located in Carlton, Bedfordshire ten miles from Bedford and also right on the border of Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire, less than 20 miles from Milton Keynes.


We Offer a Home. At Emmaus, homeless people find a place where they can enjoy companionship and support. Each person has their own room whilst living in the Community. When a Companion wants to move on, he or she will be assisted to find accommodation and work.

We Offer Work. All Companions (residents) work full-time and there is work for everyone. The Shops and Bistro provide a commercial setting where skills can be learnt in a friendly atmosphere.

We Offer a New Beginning. Emmaus offers homeless people a fresh start in life with the support of the community around them. They can stay as long as they wish and are offered opportunities to acquire skills. When a Companion wants to move on, he or she will be assisted to find accommodation and work.

Mini IAM

Dress up fun

Mini IAM



Olivia, Abigail, Eleanor Jenny & Penny



The results

The girls have been staying with me for three days, and yesterday we had a sewing day [Mini IAM ]. It was a busy day with lots of bag making and quite a selection of Owl hand warmers.. a brilliant but tiring day.
For Eleanor age 5 it was only the 2nd time she had used a sewing machine, but she managed two bags and one owl, while Abigail 9 hand sewing for the first time made three owl handwarmers and a bag. Needless to say I didn't make anything just gave lots of help.

Happy New Year

Happy Room in a mess

Three wheels on my wagon!

Happy New Year Everyone. How are you spending your New Years Day?

Mine is in my Happy Room which needs a big tidying up ready for the grandchildren to arrive tomorrow and a workshop with 6 of us on Thursday.

Chris is making the most of a dry day and under his Land Rover sorting something out!

Pridmore family party

Chris and I were invited to my cousin John's family party yesterday. We arranged to take his lady friend Joan with us and the cold sunny bright day was a pleasure to travel in. 1/2 hour from home on the M1 we came to a stop and sat there for TWO hours while fire engines and ambulances etc raced past us. The scene of the terrible accident was really shocking, five cars one with its roof and doors cut off littered the road. We estimate we were only [2 miles] 1 1/2 minutes behind this accident and thank God we were OK.

Everyone had eaten their lunch when we arrived but as it was a carvery we could still eat.
Then a large cake was delivered to celebrate Joan's 96th birthday next week.
Thank you John for inviting us so we could get to know your children and grandchildren a bit better.

Joan's 96th birthday cake

John, me and Chris

Some of the many Pridmore clan.

Just heard on the radio there were actually 8 cars in the pile up and four people taken to hospital, but none [ not even the ones cut from the car] too seriously hurt. What a blessing.

Time to think about the New Year Projects /UFO's

While my Embroidery Machine [Innovis 4000D] is busy sewing out butterfly blocks, for a swap I am in early 2013, I started thinking about UFO's and projects I want to make next year.

Swap exchanges:
1] Machine embroidery swap with http://quiltwithus.connectingthreads.com/ "Machine Embroidery Buddies" .. so far 17 butterfly blocks needed!

2] Postcard swaps with http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BQLPC .. so far signed up for a birthday swap throughout the year and a "Naked" swap in March.

Patchwork ready for quilting:
A single bed size made from exchange Lotto blocks. [Already safety pinned]

Items in progress [ UFO's ]
Large size Machine embroidered BOM from 2012 [all blocks made needs completing]
Christmas machine embroidered blocks.. need to do something with them!
USA stars, almost all blocks finished.. need to make into a quilt
Cowboy picture quilt.. needs the pieces blanket stitched down and finished as a lap quilt
Birds and flower blocks from a ME exchange.. need making into a small quilt
A set of foundation pieced birds that need completing and making into a wall hanging
I am sure there are a LOT more UFO's lurking in drawers, boxes, cupboards etc...

New items I'd like to work on
Black and white log cabin quilt with a red accent, I've been collecting the fabric all year.
A set of ME cushions to match the new suite
Two Owl Drawstring bags
Back to Square One Mystery quilt [see side link]
Two lap quilts for use in the Land Rover
Ten Santa napkin holders [ promised for a friend]

Christmas Day



Early Christmas Morning



Abigail and Grandad





Goodies on the table



Eleanor & Jacq [Mum]





Looks like there were not many of us on Christmas day, but I guess I just didn't take enough photos.

We spent the day at our son Richard's with the grandchildren [ always a delight] Jacq's mother Heather and her sister Karen and her partner Jackie. It was a wonderful day with a fabulous lunch cooked by Richard and lots of presents and laughter.







The Sewing machine

Abigail age 9 has been using one of my sewing machines since she was 5 years old.
Eleanor was 5 in October so it was time to let her "have a go". She soon got the idea of how to work the machine and was happily sewing strips of fabric together with a little help. Abigail used my Pfaff to sew strips ready to make a project when they come for three days after Christmas.
Well done girls.

Christmas Tree Festival

In front of the Hairdressers tree

The Fire Brigade tree



Abigail Eleanor and Grandad



Eleanor Abigail and Grandma

The granddaughters came to stay for a couple of days and on Saturday we went to Weedon Bec Church to see the Christmas Tree Festival. A wonderful display of  33 trees decorated by local groups.

Hamtune Party



Hamtune quilters





Presenting the cheque




Enjoying the food



Yesterday the new committee of  Hamtune Quilters presented the cheque to Alzheimer's for £1221. This money was raised at our Quilt Fayre in October.  As a past Chairman it was nice to take a back seat and enjoy the Christmas food, games and companionship.

Peace

4 eleven inch blocks make this wonderful wall hanging. It was such a nice machine embroidery project.
Happy Christmas everyone.. Diana

Food Food and more Food

Christmas is obviously a time of eating, Tuesday I was invited to Betty's, with a group of ladies from Church, for lunch. Delicious soup and rolls followed by rhubarb and apple crumble..

We watched a DVD of Natalie Cole singing Christmas songs with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.. there was dancing and story telling a really nice way to start the Christmas festivities.

Last night it was dinner at Church with the over 60's [ I'm well qualified to join!] the tables were set beautifully and a lovely turkey dinner was served with all the trimmings. The youth of church served and sang carols. Someone had set up a TV with their iPad connected showing a burning log fire.. I have to find that app ! it was so real and really added to the atmosphere.

Christmas comes to IAM group

FQ game and Steal or Keep game gifts

£2 presents

Christmas mice workshop

Macrame Bracelet workshop

Show and Tell

Present time

A day of laughter

Yesterday my IAM group had our Christmas party. This started with a making a mouse workshop followed by a bracelet making workshop [ thanks Ann for doing this]. Lunch was quickly eaten so we could have Show and Tell.. the bra I made for the Breast Cancer competition caused much laughter ! Everyone had something for the show and tell and we all admired each others work.
Next came the gift opening, with a £2 limit it is amazing what everyone found to give to the other seven in the group. We then played the Santa Right / Left game where we all had a FQ wrapped and as the story was read passed from left to right. There are lots of versions of this game on the Internet.. here's one http://www.santalady.com/xmasgame/leftright.html .
We then played a gift game and got totally confused, but it was fun.
Everyone left with a smile on their face, and we look forward to our 13th year in 2013.

The Granddaughters prepare for Christmas

The girls put up their Nativity and Advent calenders.

The Nativity scene belonged to my Mum who passed away earlier this year so it is really nice to see her tradition being passed onto her Great Granddaughters.

The Advent calenders were made by me and contain small items that then hang on a small Christmas tree each day.

Cousins

The family

Christmas lunch

Yesterday my cousins got together for our annual Christmas lunch at Overstone Manor. John & lady friend from Derby, Mike & wife from Leicester, Norma & daughter from Loughborough, Christine from London, Helen from Bristol and Chris and I from Northampton.
Great food and great company.