Birds!

Just when I think life is back on an even keel I get a lurgy. You know sore throat, hacking cough, generally feeling sorry for myself whilst trying to carry on with stuff like work. I mean have I not have enough illness these past six months?!

Chief did get down on Sunday. We agonised over whether he should come if I wasn't well, but we both wanted to see each other enough to not worry about germs. (He may live to regret that one, I hope not!) We didn't do much. He got a take away for our lunch as I didn't feel like eating much or even going out to get something. We then went for a little walk with our cameras through my old school.  I wanted to show him where I went to school and was sure there would be some wildlife to keep him entertained. I wasn't wrong. There was a Canada goose on her nest, a heron and so many more birds singing that we couldn't identify.

One curious spot was this bird by the edge of the moat. At first we thought it was probably a Chiffchaff. Not particularly timid and not singing so that hasn't helped with identification. Some in the bird world have got quite excited that we may have spotted something a bit unusual, no definitive identification from them yet.

Chief also bought me a bird bath.  

I haven't spotted any birds having a swim yet but hopefully soon.

I also promised to share with you some pics of the fabric I fell off the waggon for. Actually I'm feeling more virtuous now as I only bought a total of 4 fat quarters. Three of them are here: (One I've forgotten to take a picture of; it has feathers on it and was from a different range.)

Frustratingly I haven't been doing any sewing. I feel so worn out when I get home from work I'd only mess up any sewing. I also am conscious I have to go to a funeral straight from work tomorrow so need to try and conserve some energy for that. 

If you're reading this Sarah - there is still time for me to do your bee block and get it to you before the end of the month!

Winner!

Today has not quite gone to plan. I had intended to do some major decluttering and sewing, plus make a cake. As it is I've done a tiny bit of sewing and a bit of decluttering and not made a cake. Plans changed when my brother turned up with a power washer to clean down the patios. They look fabulous already, but it did add an extra item into my scheduled itinerary. I don't want to over do things now as my throat feels a bit scratchy and I really don't need a sore throat/cold/flu on top of everything else at the moment!

But on to the give away.  I almost didn't do the draw today. I had decided I'd struggle to use Mr RNG because several people had commented and asked to not take part and another person had issues commenting on the post so had emailed me instead. The easiest thing was to dig out an old hat and write everyone's name on little slips of paper. Any writing you can see is not the names, just the text from where I cut up an old meeting agenda I was about to shred anyway!

I then got my lovely assistant to give them a good stir up

and then pull out a name.

So the winner is Liz of Dandelion Daydreams.  I  sort of regret now that I didn't do my bestest hand writing on the slips. 

I'm off to email Liz now. Thanks everyone for playing.

Aeroplane Bag Plotting

So having decided to make an Aeroplane Bag I have been pondering fabric choices. This is what I've come up with.

I'm thinking the purple Echino for the top half and the spotty Country Fair (home decor weight) Denyse Schmidt dots for the bottom panels (I hope there is enough) and then the other two for lining/straps. Although I'm also thinking of jazzing up some webbing I have to use for handles - only I may be an inch or three short of what's recommended and so may not have enough.

Now I'm stuck on the interfacing. I have some duck cloth left over from the failed weekender purchasing and some unspecified stiff wadding bought for bags that I've never used and can't remember the name of. I'm hoping to make as much of this bag from what I have and probably need to go and re-read the blog posts of other folk who've made this bag and compromised on the interfacing and hopefully I'll glean some links to cheap sources of anything I will need to buy. I have a zip on order. 

Top tips will be much appreciated.  

I'll be doing the give away draw tomorrow so do pop back then and see if you're a winner!

Tempted.

Today after work I went and bought some plants. I had been really good lately, visiting garden centres, and not getting tempted at all. Then today I did. 

I have been tempted a lot this week, although I haven't got pictures of all the temptations. Either because I've been too lazy to take a picture or because the items have not arrived yet.  

Today in the post arrived a small alphabet stamp set. I'd been thinking about getting one of these for a while so I could stamp some quilt labels.  I am also signed up for the FQR badge swap and my partner has said they'd quite like their blog name and their first name on the badge if possible. Just my luck then to find that my partners blog name just happens to be 'Sew Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious' isn't it?   Only joking I just made that up. But I'd still rather not be embroidering the whole of the blog title on a badge and make it legible! I've seen that some people have already started on their badges and I'm soooooo excited.  Not only will it soon be the retreat where I'll get to meet up with so many bloggy friends (Squeeeeeee!) but I'll get a name badge and if I'm really lucky a lanyard.

I also fell off the fabric waggon with a bit of a thud yesterday. I'd been really good for at least 5 months. Buying only the very smallest amount of fabric over that time. Then Nicky sent me some great 5" squares of bird fabric. For some reason she thinks of me as a bird lady - can't think why can you?! I really wanted to go and get some more of this fabric and to stop me from buying too much fabric I decided to track it down in the UK. (You just have to buy more in the US to make the postage worth it.) I'll post pics of the fabric when they arrive. I've been collecting bird and bird related fabric for a while because I'd like to do a birdie quilt. But having seen this gorgeous fabric I wondered if I could use some of my birdie stash to make an aeroplane bag. It will depend on if I have enough time and fabric...

So I went and bought the aeroplane bag pattern. I may need an overnight bag for the retreat after all. Whether I will manage to do the birdie themed bag remains to be seen. I may go for something more straight forward in the hope I can actually get it finished before the retreat! That more straightforward plan might mean ordering some more fabric...I know I'm a bad girl.

I also ordered the wadding for my bee quilt which when the last block arrives I can get sewing together! Exciting! (and some fabric may have fell into my basket at the same time.)

But that's enough temptation. Another friend has been to the Orla Kiely Sample Sale today. She's posted pictures on facebook and if I had gone I just know I'd have been more than tempted!

24 Hour Salad Recipe - Only 24+ days late!

After I blogged about making a 24 hour salad I went and told people in response to requests I'd blog the recipe and then I didn't. Opps. It wasn't intentional. I got side tracked, had an early senior moment or something.

It kind of tastes better than it looks. Just not for people who are on a diet!

1 Egg - well beaten

2 Tablespoons granulated sugar

2 Tablespoons of vinegar

1 cup of Marshmallows

1 cup of red grapes- halved and seeded

1 cup of tinned pineapple cubes

1 cup of whipped cream

1 Tablespoon of butter (use solid butter rather than the 'spreadable' kind.)

Put the egg, sugar and vinegar into a saucepan and stir constantly over heat until thick then stir in the butter and leave to cool.  Mix into the cool mixture the marshmallows, grapes, pineapple cubes and bananas.  

Finally mix in the cream and leave in the fridge for 24 hours before serving.

A note about cups: this recipe is Canadian hence the cups unit of measurement. You can by cups in most supermarket home baking aisles. When I first made this recipe I just used a mug because I had no 'cups' and it worked fine. 

Thank you all for your great comments on my give away post. I am reading all of them but probably won't manage to answer them.

Give Away Time!

Do you ever wake up in the morning a funk and find you need to get certain things off your chest? Stuff you've been bottling up for so long you didn't realise it needed to be said So you do. You put something out there. Only once it's out there you wish you hadn't. Because once some things are out there you can't take them back. To make matters worse you know the stuff you put out is not going to change one iota because it's been said. Things will carry on just as before. Or worse still, things will get worse not better. Whatever the outcome, all you have achieved is to spread a little misery far and wide. No? OK, well it's just me then.

So that was my morning for you. Clear as mud I know. But really you don't want to know all the gory details. I will blame illness and lack of sleep and maybe six months of more horrid stuff than nice.  Suffice to say having made myself miserable and at least two other people miserable into the bargain, I thought it was about time I started to spread a little happiness.

So it's time for a give away. (Hey do I get a prize for the most inventive and deep and meaningful reason to do a give away? Probably not but then I didn't win in any of the SMS give aways either.)

What can you win?  Do you remember when I made this Little linen and liberty purse as per Leila's tutorial?

Now as much as I love this purse it's sat on the side in my sewing area unloved. Sometimes I may pick it up and try out the flexi flame, because that's almost as satisfying as popping bubble wrap.

But really it needs to go to someone who will love it.  You know use it until it falls apart. (which hopefully won't be a week after you've got it...hmmmm) I would say I'd fill it with scraps, only that would be silly because really it's so small they wouldn't be scraps they would be trimmings! I will send some scraps with it though as my scrap box is fit to burst. 

So what do you have to do to enter? Well leave a comment and make sure you're not a no reply blogger person. Or if you are leave a way for me to contact you.  I know sometimes people find it hard to just 'comment' so if you feel like telling me the best way to cheer someone up or brighten their day let me know that. Oh and the other condition is you have to live somewhere where I can post this too. I know this rules out any one living in a galaxy far far away.  But blame Royal Mail delivery parameters not me. 

I'll keep this open until Friday 17 2013.

Not a post about the Malvern Spring Show

Given that I felt pretty grotty when I woke up this morning and that grottiness has pervaded through most of the day I think it was probably sensible that I didn't go The Malvern Spring Show.  I am still sad that I didn't get to go as it was two years since my last trip there and who knows when another opportunity will arise. That said it gave me the perfect opportunity to catch up on some of my sewing.

First up having cut the squares to make four more blocks I set about sewing them together. I know a lot of folk don't like these blocks. I actually enjoyed making them a lot. It's not that fiddly to cut two inch squares if you cut strips of your chosen fabric and carve them up. I made a template to cut the main bits of fabric and I guess that bit was a bit time consuming as I spent ages choosing the right scraps.  I definitely think using klona helped with the sewing together as it has a little stiffness to it, which stops the fabric shifting about too much.  If there was any bit to the construction that made me sigh a little it was drawing diagonal lines on all those little white squares.  Those who are more reckless/brave/stupid (delete as applicable) might have just eye balled it, but I just thought I'd spend more time with the seam ripper if I guessed at it.

These blocks are also a great opportunity to use up scraps of fabric not much use for other projects, yet still too lovely to just bin. 

With these done and dusted I tackled Miss May's Blocks in Bee a Brit Stingy.  Catherine picked such a great block. It was simple. It helped I already had a lot of 2.5" strips cut from when I thought I might jump on the whole scrappy trip bandwagon. I didn't need my seam ripper and now I'm hoping I didn't cock it up because it seemed too simple...

Catherine also asked for the  bonus blocks you can get from assembling these blocks. I can't wait to see what she has planned for these.

Oh and you know that pile of bead strings I showed you yesterday? Well what I didn't show you were them broken down and reassembled into necklaces.

In a previous life I used to make jewellery and repair and restring vintage jewellery. Alas it was not a job that I felt I could earn a living from.  Too much competition for the former and not enough demand for the latter. As a result though my craft supplies do contain a fair amount of beads and jewellery findings.

Every time I go to a local craft gallery I see some lovely gemstone necklaces at prices...quite frankly too high for me. (£35 for mass produced necklace and £95.00 for hand made) I'm not saying the jewellery is not worth the price. Just that it's not within my budget right now. So the other day I thought if I want a necklace in aqua colours why don't I just buy the gems myself and whip something up. The Dalmatian Jasper just kind of threw itself into my basket too!

Dalmatian Jasper and some Orange Seed beads.

Amazonite and Tibetan Silver heart beads

While I had some of my beads out I remembered that the other day whilst in Fat Face I saw a necklace made of glass millefiore heart beads and remembered I had some star ones waiting to be made into a bright necklace just perfect for the summer.  So I whipped one of those up as well.

Millefiore and seed bead necklace

Bonus is I still have some of the beads left from my recent purchase and the cost of all the materials involved so far means I have three necklaces and a pair of earrings and change from a tenner!

So this is definitely not a post about the Malvern Spring Show. 

Not the weekend I planned.

Tomorrow I should be going to the Malvern Spring Show, coming home to find Chief waiting for me and have him stay over so we spend the day together on Sunday.

What I am doing instead is recovering from a stomach bug.  It means no Malvern Show for me and as Chief is unwell also (with something different) there will be no Chief visit either.

The silver lining will be there is a whole weekend on the horizon that I had not planned for. It means there is every chance I can get caught up with my bee block making and I may even tackle reading and replying to the gazillion emails that have been piling up in my mail box.

And as I don't like to blog without a picture I'll show you what arrived in the mail today.

But more on those next time. Have a lovely weekend and avoid stomach bugs or any of the other lurgy's doing the rounds.

May Day - The end of the long weekend

If you were in my part of the world today you'll have been treated to glorious weather so it was just as well I'd decided to follow Chief's suggestion of a no work bank holiday. The day actually started with some really sad news. A family friend, a lady Mum goes on trips with and holidays, died unexpectedly.  We don't know the details. It was a complete shock to us. Just yesterday, while gardening, I asked Mum if we'd be walking round with this lady when we got to the Malvern Spring Show. I'd even spotted the ideal item on Etsy to get for Mum to give this lady for Christmas. The sad news was another reason to do stuff today that took our minds of things.

First off we had an early morning (well it was before 9am on a bank holiday!) walk to see if the bluebells were out locally.  When Mum had been ill back in February she thought her days of field walking were going to be well and truly over. Suffice to say she was striding down the fields to a stream where she has fond memories of playing as a child.

At The Guggles

The bluebells are not quite at their best.

When we got home we had a cuppa (I may have broken Chief's no work rule and popped some washing on.) before heading off for lunch at a local pub. It was so nice to be able to sit outside and eat. Mum decided she was having pavlova for dessert. 

It was massive. I said she'd never eat it but she did. 

Field walking obviously gave her an appetite.

It was whilst I was waiting for food to arrive in the pub I decided to have a review of some pics I'd not uploaded and was horrified to discover that one of the sprout blocks I made yesterday was wrong. How did I not notice that?

Can you spot the mistake?

I unpicked and resewed. The seam ripper was a close companion whilst doing these blocks. I don't know why. But at least they can be posted off now!

I was pretty stuffed after lunch so decided to see if the bench/book-on-face-to-shade-the-sun combo was still working for me.  It was. I really need to finish my book though as I haven't started the book group choice book and er book group is a week tomorrow. (Did I mention I have a busy weekend coming up too!)

I then got on with sewing up some parts for more blocks for the bee quilt. I took on board every ones advice and there were two main ideas. Either bite the bullet and make 6 more blocks or take off four and put them on the back. The trouble with the latter idea was I felt bad about sticking some ones block on the back. I just felt like a bit of a slight sticking some on the back. Like would the makers search out their own blocks in the finished quilt and think - Ok so were mine not good enough for the front then?  So last night in front of the TV I started cutting out the 3.5" squares I'd need for the main part of the block.  It was actually really fun going through my scrap box using up bits and pieces I'd wanted to use in a special project, but were only really big enough for something like this. Some of those scraps have little stories to them and others have been either won in give away's or sent by other bloggy/flickr friends.

Very kindly two of my bee members offered to make me an extra block so I only have to make four blocks. This is doable!  That said I think I really need to do a list of sewing to do for May:

(In no particular order)
Do four blocks Bee Quilt
Do the block for Miss May in HipBee's
Do two blocks for Miss May in Bee a Brit Stingy
Do the backing and as much else to get the bee quilt finished for Bee Quilt

And that's all the sewing goals I'm setting this month. I reckon if I try and set aside an hour a day this should be achievable.

I was going to do a long over due giveaway today. Only I hadn't realised until last night that today was SMS giveaway day. I was too late to sign up for that. So as everyone has probably got entering fatigue at the moment I'll leave the giveaway for a while longer.

I hope you all had great weekends too?!

Ta Dah!

These are all the bee blocks from my month as Queen Bee in Bee a Brit Stingy. Doesn't it look fab?!  The brief was to make Road to Tennessee blocks in a summery theme/colour. I wanted the blocks to shout Summer. As when I was asking for them back at the end of February we'd had such horrible cold weather for about ten years six months that I really wanted to bring some summer into my world.  I asked that the small negative space bits in each block were made from white or a white on white fabric. I was really hoping everyone would do a mix of both so the quilt had some little extra touches of detail that gave it an obviously hand made finish. The group did me proud on all counts.

This really does shout Summer doesn't it? Although I do need some advice and I appreciate that advice would be easier to give if I'd actually done the sensible thing and measured the quilt. 

The blocks are 12" finished - or there abouts and I've assembled the in rows of four blocks, six rows deep. However, it may just be a trick of the block but I think it's making the quilt look long and thin. As much as I love this block I'm not sure I want to make another six blocks to add another row along the length and adding borders down the long sides and not the short might just look weird and I'm not sure I'm a borders sort of person anyway.  However, this is only going to be a lap sized quilt. My question is does the quilt look ok to you as is, or do I need to...widen it? 

Not the greatest pictures as it's hard to photograph quilts horizontally and I have no where to hang it vertically. Even my washing line is not man enough for that job!

Today has been a no sew day so far as I've been busy in the garden. Mainly tidying jobs and also starting plant up the veg beds.  I managed a trip to a large garden centre first thing and didn't buy a thing!  Chief told me that tomorrow should be a 'no work' day and I should make the most of a rare day off and do something that doesn't involve work or chores of any kind. Better still go out. So me and my camera will be off out and about of course that's meant lots of chores and jobs today!

I hope you're all enjoying the weekend too.