Patchwork heaven....

As the weather has been so cold and miserable down here in Devon, it was decided that a day out would cheer us up so my good friend Lyn and I headed off into Cornwall and as luck would have it the sky was a pale blue and the sun was actually shining - a rare occurrence lately!  I wanted to see Cowslip at Easter, always a delight at any time of year but with the daffodils out and some yellow winter jasmine it looked particularly welcoming.

And the shop was full as always of wonderful fabrics and much inspiration: here is Lyn admiring this beautiful quilt:

Every corner is stuffed with quilts - I want to make them all!:

There was a wonderful Exhibition on in the barn with work by Sue Spooner and Helen Keenan:

We then drove on to Kilkhampton as Carole of Butterfly Quilters had worked express magic and managed to long-arm quilt my 5 baby quilts plus a double bed quilt in record time:  she is such a star, and here she is beside her wonderful quilting frame with my pile of "done" goodies!:

Of course I have been cross-stitching away every evening too, and have just finished another Scarlet Letter sampler - I have made it very personal by adding all our family initials, and it is sewn on a larger count of fabric than SL suggest, but it is sweet and once framed will find a home somewhere here at Ward Cottage as it is not as large as some of my recent samplers:

My followers will recall that we were off to my God-daughter's wedding last Saturday:  oh it was so so cold and bleak, such a shame - but it was a wonderful occasion and a good time was had by all once we had warmed up at the reception:  Annie looked beautiful and it was a day to remember:  here she is with her younger sister Lucy:

and with new husband Barney cutting the cake:

So now I have bindings to sew onto those quilts - that should keep me quiet over the Easter weekend. We are off to a party to celebrate Lyn and Bob's 40th Wedding Anniversary on Sunday, but apart from that a quiet few days so I hope to get the opportunity to sew plenty of patchwork and cross-stitch.
Happy Easter to all my followers - and let's hope that British Summertime brings us some warmer weather SOON - I am so tired of the cold and rain and grey skies, seeing a bit of blue sky and sun today, even for just a sort while, made such a difference.

Getting ready for Easter....

I have been busy these past two weeks sewing Easter runners - I love these, they are a Danish design on a big count, so they grow quickly and are easy to sew - and I think the end result is effective and just right for this time of year.  And it is fun to sew something light-hearted and different.

I have hung some Eggs from the kitchen light, and put a fun bright cloth on the table.  So whatever the weather outside is doing we have the beginnings of Spring in our kitchen:

I have been on a "quilts for new babies" run:  so carrying on from the two I have showed you on recent posts  I have now made 4 more:

 Now all the new babies (that I know about) are catered for - so once they are quilted they will be off to their new nurseries!

I took my Scarlet Letter "Log Cabin" to be framed, and collected the wedding sampler which is for my God-daughter Annie who is marrying Barnaby this coming Saturday:  I hope the weather warms up for them:

 I am really pleased with this - I took little bits from several different patterns and it has ended up so pretty.  All I have to do now is make them a wedding quilt...!

I am continuing with Nicola's wonderful SL Challenge, and sewing a small alphabet sampler:  the pattern states it should be sewn "over 1" on 40 count linen:  well sadly my eyes, fingers and brain cannot deal with that, so I am afraid I am cheating:  I am sewing "over 2" on 35 count linen!  I am a great believer in that there is no point in struggling and not enjoying the project ... that is my argument and I am sticking to it!  It will still be lovely.

My youngest daughter Dot and her friend Holly are driving down from London tonight to spend 3 days with us, I am so excited!  So now I am off to banish the spiders from their bedrooms and make the house neat and tidy - and warm.

Thank you all for your lovely comments of encouragement.

Spot the mistake....

How can it happen - I finished this quilt a couple of weeks ago - had it laid out on the guestroom bed and kept popping in to admire.  Was delighted - then suddenly last Thursday  - shock horror -I saw TWO ERRORS!  Two glaring mistakes - of course I could not live with them, so Sunday afternoon was spent unpicking - never easy when the borders are all on neat and tidy - and then reversing my mistakes and putting it back together again - in the right order:
Here are the errors:

Two half square triangles reversed and two rows of squares not alternated.
And here it is fixed:

I just cannot believe that I did that, and never spotted it.  At least I could fix it before it went off to Butterfly Quilters for the long arm quilting!  To have only noticed after quilting would have been a huge disaster.

I also have made another baby quilt:  lots of fun fabrics again:

Yesterday was so beautiful down here in the West Country:  so off I drove towards the North Cornish coast and delivered my "fixed" quilt and two baby quilts to Carole at Butterfly for her to work her magic!  I shall show you again when they have been long-arm quilted.  The drive there was lovely, blue skies and sunshine - just had to make sure I missed the many pot-holes that seem to be everywhere on the roads - having wrecked a tyre in a pot hole at the end of last year I am now extremely aware of them - there are just so many!

I am also thrilled that I have finished my first Scarlet Letter sampler for Nicola's Challenge Year:  my Log Cabin is built and will be off to the framers within the next few days.

The border on this sampler is so lovely - I am really pleased with the end result.
Now I have the big decision as to which SL sampler I shall sew next.  I also have several other designs on my "to do" list.  I am also just finishing off an Easter Runner and will post that next time.

So once again the fingers are never idle, and there are never enough hours in the day.  But what would we do without our hobbies - they fill me with joy and a wonderful sense of achievement.
Here's to the next quilt and the next sampler!

Home again and sewing again....

I have been busy sewing the Scarlet Letter "Log Cabin Sampler" for Nicola's SL challenge - and I am loving it.  Whilst away visiting my Mother for her birthday I managed to complete the border vine - a huge sigh of relief when it all met up as it was supposed to do!:  now I just need to complete the border flowers and the sun and moon either side of the cabin:

I had a good few days up in Nottingham with my dear old Mum, however she is frail and everything seems just a bit too much for her these days.  Here I am with my sister Helena and Mum on her 93rd birthday:

and my youngest daughter Dot drove up from London for the afternoon which was a great surprise:

I think this is a lovely "memory" photo!
Before Nottingham I had a few days in Surrey staying with my dearest friend Lise and I managed to catch up with lots of friends from "the old days" which was great fun: they have all been so supportive and thoughtful and kind especially over the last 18 months or so which has been such a very difficult time for us. I also hit the charity shops in Cobham and did so so well - very exciting to pick up an unworn Jaeger navy pin-stripe trouser suit for.... £25!  Fits like a glove - I am happy happy!!

Apart from sewing for Nicola's Scarlet Letter Year, I have also just finished cross-stitching a wedding sampler for my God-daughter Annie who is getting married next month - photo will follow when I have collected from the framer.  I am also patchworking of course - and heavily into baby quilts:  when those are finished I will start Annie's wedding quilt!  My God-daughters are very lucky!!  They each get a wedding sampler AND a quilt!

Whilst Rodney is watching the Rugby this afternoon I shall go and place the squares for another baby quilt and watch a DVD - The Shell Seekers I think, one of my favourites.

Thank you for your comments and welcome to my new followers!

A quilt finish and sampler progress

I am so thrilled with how this beautiful quilt has turned out:  it was quick to sew and went together very nicely which is always an added bonus with half square triangles:  the fabric is gorgeous, fun and bright.

This is going to be a sixtieth birthday gift for someone close to me:  I just need to get this long arm quilted so it will be off to Butterfly Quilters within a couple of weeks.
I also have several baby quilts to make:  this is the first one almost finished:  the criteria was lots of orange fabrics, plenty of animals, especially dogs and I am delighted with how this is looking:

So one almost done and just another four to go - so far this year!  I love making baby quilts - there are such fun bright fabrics out there - one day they will end up King Size cos I just won't want to stop!!
I am also having great fun on the Scarlet letter Challenge:  and here is my progress on Log Cabin:

I am off up to Cobham in Surrey tomorrow and will be catching up with lots of friends which will be Big Fun!  Then I drive from there to Nottingham as my dear old Mum will be 93 on Sunday.  She is becoming more frail and her deafness is quite a problem (mainly because she will not admit there is a problem - apparently we all mumble and don't speak loud enough!) - but there will be plenty of time for some cross-stitching and I hope to have the border on this sampler almost finished by the time I return to Devon.
I shall be taking some of my marmalade with me as presents for friends - I don't think we are likely to run out soon, but I do have some Seville oranges in the freezer should the larder shelves begin to look empty!

Thank you as always for your lovely comments and encouragement - so much appreciated.  Have a good week!

January starts plus 110 jars ........!

The past two days have been non-stop wind and rain - but at least I have got going on my patchwork again.  A new fresh start was what I needed, so I pulled out this box full of glorious fabric which I purchased at the FOQ last August - and was inspired:

I spent yesterday morning slicing my rotary cutter through this beautiful fabric, and then started piecing:

It is going to be gorgeous, and these bright colours are uplifting in this grey miserable weather.

I am also getting on well with my first choice of sampler for the challenge of Nicola's Scarlet Letter Year:

The Log Cabin Sampler is one that I have wanted to sew for many years - and this is the year,

 I collected two samplers from the framers:  a wedding sampler for my God-daughter who got married just before Christmas in Denmark:

and a fun Christmas sampler which has gone away for next December: I am very pleased with the end results.

I do sometimes have an issue with the cost of framing:  we have a great framing shop with a wonderful choice of mouldings in nearby Tavistock, but they are not cheap.  However they always do a first class job.
I have had work framed cheaper elsewhere, but have never been so pleased with the end result, and they always complain that the linen I sew on is difficult to get straight - not good.  The last piece they framed for me had to go back as they had framed the picture far too tight, with almost half an inch of border hidden under the frame - totally unacceptable.  They were not very graceful about their error, and I will not use them again.
So the Tavistock Picture Framing Company gets my vote:  they never complain, in fact just the opposite, and they always do a terrific job - so I guess you get what you pay for!
I would be interested to hear of other people's experiences.

Life felt very flat after Rod's birthday weekend - and thank you for all the comments regarding cheesecakes! So to cheer myself up after the girls returned to London I got "stuck in" - literally - with making marmalade - 110 jars - yes, 110!  Enough for us to have one every week, plus plenty for friends and family:  but everything in the kitchen ended up sticky, from cupboard handles, light switches and work surfaces to the Aga.  But oh so worth it, though I say it myself there is nothing like home made marmalade - the larder shelves are now groaning!:

Well, back to the log fire and my cross stitch - and I think I will challenge Rod to a game of Scrabble, always a favourite before we settle down for some TV viewing.  I am in a winning mood!

The 70th Birthday Cheesecake Challenge!!

Although a lot of the UK seems to have lots of snow, we in our little corner of Devon have had barely a sprinkling.  Which has been great - as this weekend it has been Rod's 70th birthday and both my girls came down on Thursday from London along with their respective guys.  We have had such a fun weekend - the centre of which has been "The Cheesecake Challenge"!  Rod has been on a search for the "perfect cheesecake" ever since he and I got together back in the mid-90's.  So it was decided - up in London - to get together 70 different cheesecakes so he could try them all!  He was dumbstruck!  They numbered each cheesecake so we knew exactly which each one was:

The variations between them has been very interesting - some were just "yuk"! - some were too salty - some were far too sweet. Some did not taste of anything.  In the end the short list came down to 9:  and winner was:  drum roll......!!:..............the Waitrose New York Cheesecake!!

Yesterday we went out towards Dartmoor and had a wonderful Birthday lunch at The Elephant's Nest:  such a great pub and the food was delicious:

So all in all Rod's arrival into a new decade was a huge success:  here we are together:

Anyway the house is now quiet (far too quiet) as they all left this morning in good time for the drive back to London, and hopefully the roads are snow free.  Dot has taken with her two large quilts which I have finished:  one is for her friend Abby who departs back to Australia next week:

and the other quilt is for my dear friends Nina and Derek - they are currently based in London but home is New Zealand where they have a waterside home at Tolaga Bay:  so this quilt will eventually end up in NZ:

So this past week has been busy but so much fun.  I have not been able to get on with much cross-stitch for Nicola's Scarlet Letter Challenge, but will be settling down this afternoon by the fire to watch the Snooker final (I am a huge fan of the skill involved) so will try and get going again.
Might even have a slice of cheesecake with my tea!!

2013 Challenges and Starts

 Well I have been busy sorting through my many Scarlet Letter sampler charts in order to get started on "Nicola's Scarlet Letter Year":  and these three samplers - The Bird Sampler, Log Cabin Sampler and the wonderful Mary Anne Healey are my choices.  I am particularly excited about Mary Anne Healey.  My first husband  Robert and I owned the antique original.  We had detailed photographs taken and sent these to Marsha at Scarlet Letter - and she made a limited edition kit of this wonderful piece of work.  We were so thrilled and very proud.  Sadly some years ago I had to sell this sampler, and some others, in order to pay a large tax bill (brought about by some bad financial advice - urgh!).  It breaks my heart to think about it - but maybe during this challenge year I can sew this sampler so that Mary Anne Healey will once again grace the walls of my home.  It may not be the antique original, but it will have been sewn with love and happy memories.

About 24 years ago after a holiday in Cape Cod, where I discovered the wonderful "Scarlet Letter" samplers, I decided to set up a little mail order company selling SL and other lovely charts and kits that I had  found in the numerous sewing shops on our American holiday, and I called it "Needlefriend". I ran it from our home in Cobham, Surrey. Back in the late 1980's and early 1990's the choice in the UK for cross-stitch was very limited.  I had such fun showing these different styles - and I frequently exhibited at various art and craft/sewing shows:  I still have a copy of my catalogue!:

I met some wonderful like-minded people.  But everything changed in 1992 when my first husband sadly died of cancer.  I lost all interest in my hobbies, my heart was not into sewing - and I let Needlefriend drift away.  I look back now and cannot believe I was so stupid and short-sighted.  Too late to dwell on it but I made a huge mistake.  Grief can make you do some very strange and out-of-character things. Enough said .....  Once I pulled myself together I was back into sewing action, but it did take a while.
I have of course sewn several Scarlet Letter samplers since:  here are just two of the many:    Rebecca Robinson which I personalised for my youngest daughter with her name and dob:  probably one of the best - and largest samplers - I have ever sewn!:

and Heloise Williams which I personalised with my name back in 1993:

These days, as my Blogging followers will know, my hobbies fill my days - I do not know how I could exist without my cross-stitch and patchwork.
And now onto something entirely different:  this is my last finish of 2012 - I did not get in done in time to give as a Christmas gift, so it can go away and be my first sewn present for Christmas 2013:  it is rather out of my comfort zone, not the usual style I choose, but it is bright and fun: I used a varigated thread for the green:

So onwards and upwards into 2013.  My fingers will not be idle - there are NEVER enough hours in the day for the hobbies that once again fill me with joy.

A New Year and New Projects!

Well HAPPY NEW YEAR to all my blog followers:  I wish you all good health and happiness in 2013, and may we all continue to be CREATIVE!
One of the first things I do on New Years Day is unwrap my new calendars - and my favourite for many years has been the Susan Branch calendar - I do so love the drawings and sayings:

And I wonder what events will be noted down as each week and month passes - what will be will be!
The decorations have been packed away for another year and slowly the house returns to normal.
Toby loved his quilt - here he is with Ginny, his Mum:  it is his prized possession!

Robbie returned to London:  Reg did not want him to go!:  I won't move!!:

We received two wonderful parcels yesterday - Christmas gifts from abroad that had taken longer to get up to us from Plymouth than the time it took for them to be airmailed from Hawaii and Australia and reach the UK!!
This parcel is from my wonderful friend Sandi who lives in Maui:  it was full of Hawaiian delights:

There was a wonderful calendar full of magnificent Hawaiian sunsets, Hawaiian fabric and quilting pattern plus a book on the origins of Hawaiian quilts - plus a Susan Branch Photo Album!  I was in tears - with delight!  Plus chocs and a present for Rod from "Home Depot"!  We did laugh!
Then we started to open the box from Michelle in Australia:  the first gift that jumped out was a wonderful Noah's Ark musical globe!:  she knows me so well!

And then dear Reg decided that this was the place to spend the rest of the day: a very cosy box on the kitchen table!

And there he stayed until suppertime!  That look says "I am NOT moving"! The rest of the contents just blew us away - and I will post about them next time.
I am now planning my 2013 projects:  3 baby quilts need to be done, plus 2 wedding quilts and a 60th birthday quilt - no lazing around for me.  Plus some cross-stitch to be sorted out - especially what I shall be sewing for Nicola's Scarlet Letter Year!  - that should keep me quiet.

We are now off to see "Skyfall" - better late than never!  I will blog my last finishes of 2012 and my new starts next time - soon!
Happy Sewing in 2013 for everyone!