Another parcel

My wadding has eventually arrived, so there is going to be some serious quilting going on come Thursday. I plan to sandwich the layers at quilting group tomorrow.

Central heating is on which is both a positive (it's working) and a negative (it's already warm in the house). However there's a problem with the solar panel, so I might not get rid of the plumbers today. Fortunately I should be out for most of tomorrow. Is it just me who feels restricted by having workmen around? It's not that I want to do anything scandalous, but I feel guilty if I put my feet up to watch a bit of daytime TV or want to have an afternoon snooze.

New inflatable pool is getting well used:

Proof, if proof is needed

I have finished putting together the two quilt tops I've been working on:
Red, white, black and grey quilt a long from PS I quilt
Jan Krentz Rainbow star workshop quilt

Just the small job of quilting them now. However before doing that I need to gather supplies:
* Wadding
* Backings Puchased from Ebay and despatched
* Thread
* Binding I think I'll use black for both.

A trip into Treadles is required tomorrow to see what, if anything they have to save me having to go online. I'd love to get started on Monday with the pinwheel quilt which I'm going to do with an all over feather design with hopefully black and white thread.

Happy post day on Tuesday

My border fabric arrived yesterday, less than 24 hours after I bought it from Country Threads in Bath and they charged the postage at cost. Today I'm going to cut out the borders ready for when I've finished the quilt middle which could be this week.

I also worked on my red, black and white quilt yesterday and the top is ready, so I'm just waiting for the backing from Ebay which has been despatched, I'll buy the wadding from Astra today, I hope, and then I just need some quilting thread.

I also received an order from Yankee Doodle yesterday of Yankee Candles sampler size candles. they are all delicious scents of fruitiness. We're burning cherry lemondae this week.

Fingers crossed for more parcels today. Off to quilting at 9 via the dump to get rid of some old tins of paint.

Sewing up a storm

It’s been 3 weeks since our Jan Krentz workshops and I haven’t sewn a stitch since then. Yesterday and today I have been beavering away at my black, red and white pinwheel quilt. I was pleased that my local quilt shop had some red and black stripe in so I bought that last week. At the same time I’ve been sewing some of the pieces of the Rainbow Star together. Fingers crossed that both will be finished up to the stage of adding borders tomorrow. Then I can cut my borders at our Chez Soi group on Wednesday and also buying some wadding off the roll for them too.

I’ve also been doing some Ebay shopping for three backings from the US. My renewed enthusiasm is due in part to finding the perfect border fabric for my Rainbow Star. One of my students brought in some dotty striped fabric that she’d purchased at Country Threads in Bath over Easter. I quickly noted down the details from the selvedge and one phonecall later and my parcel should be in the post tonight.

Hopefully there will be some photos of almost finished quilt tops tomorrow and some parcels starting to arrive.

Just in case

Just in case anyone else is as stupid as me and mistakenly deletes something from an SD card, which won't appear in your computer's recycle bin. I have recovered using DiskDigger from ehre http://dmitrybrant.com/diskdigger

Cybercrop Sunday

Saturday cybercrop

I scrapped with Joanne this morning and did two more layouts and one more which just needs some stitching which will be done later. Both of these layouts use the April 2010 gogo kit.




When I finished the layout of Elizabeth Joanne pointed out that the holiday was in Mallorca not Madeira, so a few amendments to the title were necessary!!

The table has been cleaned and set up in the garden ready for me to scrap at.

Cybercrop layout 2

I need to fiddle with layout 1, so here's the 11pm challenge from last night done this morning. Off to Joanne's to crop for the morning once I've sorted out some photos. The second class in particular is gorgeous. I have my April Scrapagogo kit out and I plan to try and use it up this weekend!!

Quilting marathon

We have had six days of quilty fun with visiting tutor from the US - Jan Krentz. This is what I've done over the last two days put on my design board ready to work on over the next few days.

Back from wet and windy Mallorca

And as we drove down Victoria Avenue in the taxi yesterday, we saw Mum sitting out on her balcony catching the sun. More than we did a few hundred miles away in the Med. Never mind we did enjoy ourselves. I missed the April crop, which Joanne ran and also Claire's birthday.

Firstly a couple of holiday shots:




Today I've been completing the penultimate pinwheel blocks in red, white, black and grey. I think they'd look good with more red in the quilt? This week is going to be a quilty week as we have a visiting tutor (Jan Krentz) over and she is doing two workshops totalling five days over 6 days with a day off for good behaviour on Monday. I'm not sure my body or my brain is fit enough, but it will be good fun.

Gogo Sunday

Well some people were rudely awakened at 7am (really 6am with the hour change) by the fire alarm. I was one of those not in that area so slept blissfully on. I got up very tired and did nothing after breakfast until our sixth class. I may have gone into the shop for one last look!!

I was lucky that for class 6 with Lisa again I had the perfect photo from Bronte's recent party especially with Eleanor's pink outfit. This is a page done on an acrylic sheet with sharpies and some patterned paper.


Last class of the day was only an hour long with Vicki, Gogo's resident digi and hybrid expert. The kit included the printed cardstock for four single page layouts and four packs of embellies, and three printed alphabets and several pages of digital elements. I have finished two layouts and will keep the other two for a forthcoming crop in May.



Along with Chloe from Guernsey, Liz and I took a taxi back to Gatwick airport. We got there in very good time and A kindly got us back home early too after all the uncertainty of the previous two weeks as to whether BA would be running or cancelling the flight.

We're now looking forward to Gogo Take Shape in September here in Jersey, for which there are only four spaces left.

Gogo Saturday

Up nice and early so time to do a quick page before our first class at 10. This is a colour challenge from Design Your Life.


At 10am our first class was with Lorraine and her original used a portrait photo, but I had this family photo which was landscape so I changed it up a little. I almost finished the layout in class but wanted a journalling block which I stamped and cut at home.

After lunch, my favourite class was with Sam and we got messy. We used paint overlaid with embossing powder. This layout is very effective. We fussy cut a New York skyline but hen covered up most of it!!


Layout 4 was very pretty and the only one I didn't have a photo for. I had left ordering my photos from Truprint until Tuesday and they didn't arrive until Saturday. I couldn't get this photo of Grandma to print on my printer but it looks okay from Truprint. Lots of sewing on this layout to pick out details from the papers.


Last class of the day and one which wasn't scheduled to finish until 10.30pm. Too late for me. Lorraine's original was on a base of corrugated card but I altered it to cut the two strips from the card and added them to the top and bottom.

Gogo Friday

My spending started at the airport where I purchased a new handbag which I'd looked at the previous weekend. I also led Liz astray!!


Liz's Dad picked us up from the airport and we got to Theobolds Park in good time for the crop room to open at 6.30pm. Our places were marked with an iced Thorntons Easter egg each and a toothbrush and flannel promoting March 2011's pyjama party themed event. And yes I have booked. After a welcome from the Gogo team and our first round of bingogo, which Liz won , it was time for dinner, after which I completed one layout.

9pm and our first class with Lisa. A bit busy for my taste but ir worked well. We had been told to take a black and white photo but thought that as Matthew's blazer is black, that this colour photo would work and it did.

Time for bed now.

You may be looking for Gogo layouts

But first here's Saturday's pinwheel blocks. More fabric purchased with Claire.

I know I should be packing but

The new fabrics I purchased with Claire at Stitch and Craft on Sunday were calling to me, so I made this week's pinwheels.

Added to the other four pairs of pinwheels it's looking lovely.

I am off to Scrapagogo on Friday but not sure when or how we're getting back at the moment as we had planned to come back with BA from Gatwick on Sunday night but may have to come back from Luton on Monday afternoon. We are trying to be patient and hope the strike blows over but it is difficult. Do I pack extra undies for Monday? AS always I'm planning to travel fairly light. My suitcase is mostly packed with Margaret's new Slice bag and card which gives me room for the return. An Artbin is already in my case which will be packing for my completed projects. Photos I hear you say. Ah yes that's the elephant in the room I've been avoiding. A school friend uploaded a photo of us in 1978 on a school trip to London so I may try and get a copy of that, but the main jobs for the rest of the day are:
1. Choose and order photos for the classes;
2. Make up four kits to take;
3. Pack my tools into an old ice cream container to save taking a tote.

My intentions are good but Jane has suggested lunch at plemont, so my packing will have to wait. Unfortunately that may mean my photos arrive after Friday and I have no-one to blame but myself.

I'll tell you more about my fun weekend with Claire once I've ordered my photos.
!!

More pinwheels

I'm enjoying making the pinwheels from Ps I quilt as they are a one hour easily achieved project. Here are the eight block so far.

More pinwheels

I have done this week's blocks and am making great progress on another project. This week sees the Eisteddfod opening on Thursday with prize giving on Wednesday evening. I have five projects entered and I had a call to ask if my green jelly roll quilt had been "professionally" quilted, which isn't permitted. I confirmed that it had been done by me on my home sewing machine and thanked her for the compliment!! I will go to see the exhibition on Friday after class as the Esitddfod is held next door at the RJA&HS.

Gogo take shape

It's official, Scrapagogo are coming back on 25 September. The 2009 event was great fun, so if you want to book go to http://www.scrapagogo.co.uk/shop.php?pr=67 and book now. you know you want to.

Enjoying just doing

After particpating in LOAD last month (more photos to follow) and finishing Eisteddfod work, I am enjoying just doing whatever I want. Yesterday I finished work on the WI anniversary book which had been put to the side during February, so the rest of the day was my own.

I decided to make up some pinwheel blocks for a Quilt a Long on Rachel Griffith's blog I picked out some black and whites and added some reds and greys and this is a picture of the first two lessons. I think I'll look out some more white with hints of black when I'm at the Stitch & Craft expo at Olympia in 18 days time.

Today's a bit busy with a doctor's appointment, sax lesson, funeral and meeting Matthew's teachers tonight, so I think the first job is to finish the ironing and then I need to get out some fabrics to plan for one of the two workshops we're doing in April.I'll start with the easiest one first.

Out of hibernation

My Eisteddfod entries are now all done, labelled and in the car ready to give to Astra tomorrow. Phew, I can do some of my job list now. Here's today's LOAD layout using photos taken in 2005 and 2010 at Suasmarez Park.