A Little Break.....

It's half term here in England, and we decided to take Vera The Van for a little trip away. The Husband, The Son and The Dog were loaded, along with a few provisions, fresh clothes and some soap.....indispensable when travelling with males!! Off we toddled and a lovely time was had, exploring small villages along the South Wolds.

I didn't take any needlework with me, which is unusual, but sometimes a little break is needed to fire up my imagination and drive again. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that. Am I alone in this??

When we take The Dog, she behaves herself, and on the whole behaves as she would at home. When at home, she is NOT allowed on the furniture. EVER. So I think she looked particularly guilty, when I returned to Vera The Van and discovered this.....

She remained absolutely stock still, as if she imagined that if she didn't move, I would perhaps not notice!! Hmmm.

On our last evening at the campsite, entertainment was provided. This is unusual at Caravan Club sites, but before long, we'd been overrun by energetic men in white.......

......and very good they were, too. They are looking to recruit, so if you fancy something a bit different in your free time, I'm sure they'd be delighted to hear from you! Apparently, no previous experience is needed. Oh good.

I shall finish with my latest acquisition.....

Bud vases from the fabulous Susie Watson Designs susiewatsondesigns.co.uk . I've been looking for the right bud vases for ages....and as we all know, good things come to those who wait!!

See you soon. xx

Hooplessly Hooked.......

...on quilting without a hoop!! I LOVE IT!! The freedom of it! And my stitches are smaller and easier to control...what's not to love??
For years I've wanted to try, but each time I did, I had trouble with the quilt sandwich shifting under my stitches, resulting in a rucked up backing...not a pretty look, and VERY frustrating. But now, thanks to my Wonder Frame Basting, I'm stitching away happily on a shiftless sandwich. Yay!

Because hand quilting obviously takes much longer to do than machine quilting, I've not got anything else on the sewing front to show you, so I thought I'd leave you with a pretty walk I took today, with The Husband and The Dog, whilst The Son blasted 6 bells from his friends during a paint ball party.

Hope you've had a fabulous Bank Holiday weekend. Thanks for popping by. xx

It Never Ceases......

.......to amaze me, how, as a relatively well educated individual, I can remain such a NUMPTY at times!! Just no common sense!!


How long have I moaned about the fact that I hate basting a quilt sandwich? Since FOREVER!! All that crawling around on my hands and knees, pinning my way from the centre to the edges, with my back close to breaking. I LOATHE IT.


Since having the frame, I've not had to baste, as you feed your sandwich onto the rollers. This has been wonderful for the quilts I've machine quilted, but hasn't solved my problem, when I've wanted to hand quilt.


Now. I've often read various articles, where people have said that they sent their quilt tops off to a Long Arm Quilter to be basted, and thought how lovely to be able to afford that particular luxury. I've thought that thought recently. With my Quilt Frame sitting quietly upstairs. Late last night, you'll be pleased to hear, the penny finally dropped.


Et voila!!

One machine basted quilt sandwich!! Hooray!! So now I can spend the BEST evening watching back to back episodes of Outlander, (I'm only mildly addicted!) whilst hand quilting this Foxy Loxy beauty. Heaven.

Enjoy your Sunday evening. See you soon. xx

A Little Behind.....

.....or in my case, possibly a big one. Both metaphorically and physically. I'm coming to the conclusion that I'm not much cop with this blogging business. It's the whole multi-tasking bit ( that we women are supposed to be so good at).....if I'm sewing (and therefore creating fodder for my blog) then I'm not blogging, if I blog then I'm not sewing. You see the problem. How do all my Bloggy Friends do it? Bearing in mind that I'm not Wonder Woman (in spite of the Little Voices in my head) and DO actually need to sleep occasionally!

In an effort to catch up.....and stop wittering....I thought I'd just show what I've been up to.....

The fox pattern is "Fancy Fox" by Elizabeth Hartman ( ohfransson.com ) and is truly a delight to work. I'm looking forward to some hand-quilting on this one. Did you know that the collective noun for foxes is "skulk"? Fabulous word!

I've also got another finished quilt, currently to be found in the washing machine, on it's first cycle, with obligatory colour catcher sheets, so you'll need to wait till next time to see that one. Bet you can't wait.

Thanks for popping by. See you before Christmas. 2027. xx