Wonky Geese.....

......is officially finished. Washed, dried, labelled finished. I've not named my quilts before, but now that I'm trying to be a little more professional.....and let me tell you, the effort is nearly killing me....I thought it would be nice, if my little creations could go and greet the world, with a little bit of history behind them. And you can't know your story if you don't know your name. (Deep and meaningful moment, just there!)
So, due to an error (I'm a natural at this "nothing this side of Heaven is perfect" tradition, that the early American settlers practised) my Flying Geese blocks welcomed a wonky block to the gaggle, and the name was born. Easy peasy this naming milarkey.
Anyway, I quite like it. And it's the first quilt that I quilted on my new toy, so Wonky will always be a little bit special.

The backing is one of my go-to favourites from Ikea. I just like the bright (bright) bright  sunshiny day feel to it....and it goes with EVERYTHING.....

Now to see if I can sell it, which will be the BIGGEST challenge to the whole "I'm being more professional" idea. I'm COMPLETELY pants when it comes to asking for money.....I'm much more a "no...really...it's nothing....have it" type of business mogul. HELP!!
 Thanks for popping by. I hope you have a fabulous weekend. xx

A Day on the Blocks.....

.....I've had a lovely needle-worky day, thank you very much!
I managed to get two of these done.....

....for Judith at  judith-justjude.blogspot.com who is part of the "Bee Blessed" group, which put various blocks, made by various people, together for those in need in hospital. For a little while the pink one looked like this.....

.....spot the deliberate (???) mistake!! Fortunately, my best friend, The Un-Picker, was at hand to help sort things out.
Then, after a lovely dog-in-the-forest walk (Thank you, Sarah!) and between dealing with The Sunday Roast, I had enough time to put an example block together, which I tweaked from an original from Amy Ellis (I think!), for a commissioned quilt.......

It will be shown to She-Who-Will-Decide tomorrow, so watch this space as to whether it stays as a lonesome block, or makes it to a fully fledged quilt.
I'm off to do some hand sewing now, on some binding on some blocks that DID make it to a fully fledged quilt. More on that at a later date.
Happy Sunday to you all. xx

New Toys

I've been playing with my Christmas present! Hip, hip, hip, hooray! I tried to tell you about it before, if you remember, but I was having relationship problems with The Laptop. Now that we're best buddies again, I can show you in better detail.
The Husband bought it.......technically anyway, as he footed the bill!....from www.machinequilter.co.uk and it is their NEQ2, And it is fabulous!! Up until now, I've just been doing test runs on old sheets and random bits of wadding, but today was the day that I was rolling out the big guns. Well, a quilt top, at any rate.
Normally, I try to avoid machine quilting as it brings me out in hives. And short temper. And aching shoulders. However, I'd tried the NEQ2 at The Festival of Quilts, and felt that with it's help, I could possibly manage to make quilts on a more commercial basis. Basically, it allows you to use your domestic sewing machine as a long arm quilting machine. It even negates the need to crawl around on hands and knees, for AGES, basting a quilt (my least favourite part!). What's not to love??
There had been a very slight hiccup with the Nifty Grip handles, but the Brilliant Martha and Wonderful Paul, who are at the business end of The New Love of My Life, had it sorted in no time....in spite of the fact that it was between Christmas and New Year, and Paul had been poorly. I cannot praise this small company enough. The craftmanship of the actual frame is second to none, and the customer services are astoundingly good. I truly recommend that you take a closer look.
So. Back to the quilt top. I was so nervous! It's one thing practising loops and swirls on a bit of old sheet.....quite another to loop and swirl on something that took you time and effort to create. But I did it! Yay!
Would you like to see? Of course you would.

The top is a generous lap quilt, or perhaps a cot quilt-either way, it only took me a couple of hours to quilt. With no loss of temper. Or aching shoulders. Hip, Hip, Hip, Hooray!! Now, all I've got to do is find a binding to set it all off.
Thanks for popping by. See you soon. xx

S(l)ew Progress

As many of you know, I spend half my life racing around like a headless chicken (as most working mums do!) and the other half standing around on football pitch sidelines. To maintain a little sanity (and to prevent me from becoming a Permanent Screaming Banshee) I try and fit in a little hand stitching every day....usually too late at night to manage a lot.
My real love is EPP, but progress can be really slow.....however little by little I inch forward, and one day these will be a quilt....

Watch this space....but please don't hold your breath whilst doing so!
Thanks for popping by. Football beckons.....xx

Testing...1...2....3....

Well, I've just spoken to Absent Daughter. Shall we see if she's right? Understanding that if she is, I may never hear the end of it....I almost don't want to try!!
Here goes.....

Well....there you go. Apparently I needed Google Chrome. Who knew??
Off to eat some Humble Pie now....hope she's got some custard!! xx

A Warm Welcome to 2015.....

Happy New Year to One and All! May you all stay safe, happy and healthy.....and if a few hopes and dreams come true along the way, then so much the better.
I've had a lovely day, thank you. There was some of this.......


Please imagine a photo of  patchwork blocks here, as The Laptop is still misbehaving. Although, I have to say, it seems to have NNNNOOOO problem putting the EXACT same photos on my Facebook page, of the same name!!! Any Computer Wizards out there that can shed any light? (My own Resident Computer Wizard, is sadly no longer Resident, as outrageously, she has decided to continue residing in London, now that Uni has been completed!!)
To be honest, I only popped on here quickly, to try and sneak a photo on, and see if The Laptop Gremlin had nodded off. He hasn't.
So....there isn't really much point continuing, as I'm sure you're not TOO interested in reading about the lovely dog walk we had on The Forest. In The Drizzle.
I shall love you and leave you, and try phoning my Non-Resident-Daughter-No-2, to see if she can shout down the phone at The Laptop. (In the meantime, if you need to see some photos, there is always Facebook!!) xx