Saturday 31 December 2011

Another Year Nearly Over

And not a very nice one at that.

Here's hoping the next year will be better, despite the media forecasting doom, gloom, and despondency!

Photo courtesy of Google Images

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hope it's going to be good for you too.

Clare x

Saturday 17 December 2011

Next Project

I've been pondering and mulling over books for my next project.
       
I want to stop doing words and UnRuly stuff for a while. I thought I ought to expand my hand quilting skills by using templates or creating my own designs.

I was also give some gorgeous hand-dyed 9 patches sometime ago by Kate at Kate's Quilting and have been wanting to use them.


Lo and behold - I found this in Amish Abstractions (click on link). Perfect!

Can't wait to start!

More soon.


Thursday 8 December 2011

Quality Controller at Work

Quilt Quality Controller here.

I've been working very hard today.

Hmmmm.
Yup - she's using the right threads.


Nice and comfy.
Definitely passes the test


Nice colour thread.
Goes very well with black don't you think?


This quilt has definitely got the paw of approval.

More soon.

Tuesday 6 December 2011

And Then There Were Three

Once upon a time, many years ago, there were 3 little girls who stuck together like glue.

They met in the Petite Section at Ecole Maternelle and stayed together, through thick and thin, until they reached CE2 at Ecole Primaire when one had to leave due to unforeseen circumstances (click here for the full story).

Then there were two.

These 2 girls missed the third one terribly, but they got through it.

Then came Collége and, despite a hiccup when they were in 5eme (teenage girls can be horrible!), they made it through to 3eme together.

After Collége, they went to separate Lycée's, each following their chosen course, but still they are together and the bond between them is unbreakable.

Didine and The Young One

On Holiday Together

Even more so when the 3rd one returns for holidays.

My 3 Girls
So Didine (short for Amandine which is French for Amanda (I think)), who is the youngest of the 3, finally reaches the magic 16 the week after next, and it's time to make the last friendship quilt in the series.

Joyeux Anniversaire Magaly


Sweet 16
Joyeux Anniversaire Didine

There - the circle is complete.

More soon.

Thursday 1 December 2011

Phew!

As I type this the sun in streaming in through the kitchen window and it feels like Spring.

The oak trees are still  in leaf, although the leaves are golden coloured, and for the first time in about 6 months the grass is green (and needs mowing!). It doesn't feel at all like 1st December.

The UK trip was a bit of a whirlwind. Lots to do and not enough time to do it in.

Mother loves her quilt. Unfortunately I didn't manage to get a photo of her with it. Her 80th birthday party was a huge success. Afternoon tea for a select few (50!) in the local village hall. Lots of tea, sandwiches and cake, with a few glasses of Cava to round the afternoon off.

The centrepiece (apart from Mum) was the most amazing birthday cake with accompanying cup cakes.

Mum adores Creature Comforts, the cartoons made by the same person who makes Wallace & Gromit. Us sisters like The Old Bats being asked about speed cameras.


"Cucumbers" has become part of the family vocab!

Mum, however, prefers Shaun the Sheep.

So my lovely little sis arranged for a friend of a friend to make the cake and cup cakes along the lines of Nick Park.

This is the cake. The house is home in Kent and sitting/lying on the lawn from left to right are The Young One, with Tolly the spaniel, and my nieces Estella and Isabelle, oh and the chickens. Isn't it brilliant!


And here are 2 of the 40 cup cakes.




All in all a great day!

Right, on to the subject title. It is definitely a Phew!

All That Jazz

I've decided to call it "All That Jazz" because there are some musical notes fabrics in there somewhere and, of course, the cat jazz band.  It covers our queen size bed with more to spare so goodness only knows how I'm going to baste and quilt it, but I'm not even going to think about that at the moment.  Thanks again to Tonya for the inspiration.

I've now got to run up a name banner for The Young One's best friend's birthday in a few weeks. Bright green background and black and white letters.  Mmmmm interesting!

More soon.