Watch this Space

There are plans afoot for an interesting Liberated Challenge in 2010.

If you want to join in, keep watching the Liberated Quilters blog (here)

or

join the Liberated Quilters Yahoo group (here).

Joyeuses Fêtes

Wishing everyone a Happy Christmas

and a peaceful and prosperous 2010.

See you next year!

I have a little list .....

...... just a little list!

and that's just for Christmas Day!

Wordless Wednesday - Family History

Finished Top

Finally finally finished the Family Tree top last night.

Sorry - the photo is dreadful.  Not very good light today.

Also did a bit more on Blueberry Fool.

This one is going to be huge.  I've cut up so much blue fabric I haven't got the heart to put it all back in the stash!

It is freezing today.  I've just had a text from The Young One who is standing in the school playground shivering!

According to the meteo, this is just the start of it - it's going to get colder.  Brrrrrr.  Time to hibernate I think.

A plus!

Playing Catch-up

I'm still here.  I'm sorry I haven't been reading and commmenting much, but life has got in the way over the past week or so.

The Liberated Quilters Yahoo! group has been taking up a bit of my time.  We had a virtual retreat last Tuesday.  Great fun.  A lot of quilters participated from all over the world and, as one member said

"I found that just knowing quilters around the world were "with me" all the time, gave me a nice warm feeling in my heart and tummy.".

This is what I did during the bit of time I managed to put needle to thread.

These are scented table mats/pot stands. There are four of them, but the other one was absent during the photo shoot having its innards ripped out!

I made some last year for friends and you can read more about them here.

These ones are being packaged up to send to the UK.  They will match the table runner I made for my Mother in 2008.

What else have I been doing?  Not a lot.  Just sorta fiddling about with this

and that








and the other

 

The beginnings of Blueberry Fool.  It's looking good!

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend.  It's hard to believe that this time in 2 weeks the festivities will nearly be over.  We're going to have a very quiet and low key Christmas this year.

The weather here has changed overnight.  We've gone from mild, damp days to a maximum of +2°C, frosts and clear blue skies.  Now that is what winter should be non?

Just a quick woo hoo.  Look at my sidebar.  LQII comes out next month!  It's already on Amazon at a pre-published price and I'm getting very excited.

A plus!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday - Shame about the ketchup bottle :-)

Obsessing?

Are you obsessive about your points, seams and stitches?

If you are, you shouldn't be reading this blog (joke!).

Sarah at House of Krom has summed it up!

Click here to read her post.

Thanks Megs!

You are a star!

Two huge rolls of the stuff.  Brilliant!

I've never used freezer paper before so now is my chance to practice some appliqué!

Wordless Wednesday

Small Beginnings

The production line had to be kick started again..

The Foreman took a week off, the sewing machines (yes you did read that right - machines) sulked and one sulked so much it had to be refurbished and given a new motor and foot pedal - I'd worn them out!

A bit sad really as the foot pedal was so comfy - a lovely old Singer Bakelite one has been replaced by a grotty plastic one (sigh).  The original motor was a lovely dusky pink (the same colour as the machine) and has been replaced by a yukky white one.  But the machine is happy and is Sing-ing (geddit!) again.

During the Foreman's enforced break, there was a bit of stashbuilding.

I couldn't believe my eyes!   At the fabric warehouse, which now gets my custom on a regular basis, there were some end of bolts at 5€ (yes 5!) a metre.  Now what girl could resist that!

Most of it wasn't really my sort of thing, but the one on the left and the one peeking out on the far right jumped out at me and had to come home.  The batik on the right is soooo scrummy - Mmmmmmmmmmmm!

The colours haven't come out very well - camera was getting used a lot last week and wasn't very happy either!  Anyway, those solids are yummy scrummy too.  Slurp!  The yellow is more greeny and looks fantastique with the blue.

Ok, so there was some stashbuilding last week and that kick started the production line again.

So small beginnings.

The first wonky 9 patch for Blueberry Fool

and a lot of cutting up!

Poor old rotary cutter - it's not at all happy with me.

On the family front, The Young One has got to be vaccinated against the H1N1 (oink oink) virus.  As per usual, the school issued the forms 24 hours before they had to be handed back.  It makes me So Cross when they do that! Especially when you've got to translate the damn thing and double check what you are signing, let alone sign everything in triplicate.  (OK so that is a bit of an exaggeration, but not far off seeing as this IS France, the country of the bureaucrat!).

Forms are filled in and ready to be given back to the school this afternoon when I pick The Young One up.  At least that gives me an excuse to pop in on a friend for a cuppa and a natter.

I'm heading back to the machines and the rotary cutter (note to self - buy new blades).

A bientôt :-)

Wordless Wednesday

Production Line

Been busy busy busy.

First off the production line.





A Q4L top made up of blocks donated by Wanda at Exuberant Color.









Next off the line.

 


Another Q4L top made up from squares, again donated by Wanda.  I added fabric from FQ's that people have sent with their blocks and from my red stash..  Needs a border and then it can be stored with the one above.

This is supposed to be a Disappearing 9 Patch but I got over-zealous with the reds!






Look what is nearly finished ........

and these are interspersed with Blueberry Fool (Leaders and Enders).

When the whirring of the sewing machine stops (or in other words when she's finally decided she's had enough, the bobbin runs out and there is smoke coming out of the foot pedal (only joking!)), there is always Halloween Houses.

The giant cobweb is coming along nicely.  Not exactly bang in the middle of the quilt, but that doesn't matter.

I've stopped marking (you can see where I did mark the quilt - dratted chalk!) and it is so easy.  I'm amazing myself at how much I can get done in a couple of hours, sitting at the kitchen table (this is one heavy quilt) listening to Stephen Fry reading the Harry Potter books.  Now if that isn't inspiration for this quilt I don't know what is!

Mum arrives tonight - as I type this she is sitting at Lille station waiting for the TGV to Angouleme.  I haven't seen her for 2 years and although we speak on the phone nearly every day, I'm really looking forward to her visit.

A beef daube is simmering away in the crockpot filling the house with the scent of red wine and herbs, the weather is foggy and cold and it is definitely hunker down with a quilt weather.  Which reminds me.  Where did I put all those denim strips?.  Must get them out and start piecing if it is to be ready for next September.

Catch ya later!

Wordless Wednesday

This is a Hard Hat Area

One quilt quilted and  two tops done yesterday.

I wonder what today will bring?

Well - it is raining so what is a gal supposed to do?  Housework (shudder)?

Photos will follow soon.

What Happens .........

when The Young One is on holiday?

You have to move to the kitchen!

Goodies in the Mail and a Little Bit More

A couple of weeks ago Suzy over at Suzy's Quilting Room was having a giveaway and guess what!

I Won!

You'll never guess what the book is :

Suzy - thank you so very much.  The fabrics are gorgeous and the book is just ......... WOW!

I'm starting to mark up Halloween Houses.  It's proviing a beast to do.  I decided to do a cobweb as the background.  I thought of fans, but the quilt is so busy I don't think fans would work somehow.

Anyway.  How on earth do I get the lines to stay put!  I put the quilt away every day (I'm working at the kitchen table as the quilt is too big and heavy to keep on my lap) and have to retrace the lines when I open the quilt up. 

The chalk lines look ok in these photos, they aren't now. 

I bought a special quilting marking pencil on Thursday.  It doesn't even show up (those lines are chalk ones - the pencil is useless)!

Perhaps I shall have to revert back to the slithers of soap.

How do you mark up your quilts?

Wordless Wednesday

Ghoulies and Ghosties and Things That Go Bump in the Night

Basted and ready to go!

Not a very good photo - sorry.

This is BIG.

About 46" by 44".

I can see lots of fun ahead.

Finished!

The Front

The Back

(which happens to be the wrong way round!)

and how The Young One sees it when it is nearly in its home.

Hedgehog Jen may recognise where it is.

It's about 28" by 30".  Not as big as it looks. 

I'm thinking of making one of the series a lot bigger, but not quite sure which one.  Definitely not the blue.  Perhaps the green?

On to the next one.

A bientôt.

A Blustery Day

The wind has turned round to the north and is howling round the house.

I hope this is not a foretaste of what is to come over the next 3 or 4 months.  Brrrr.

Yesterday I got the winter duvets out from storage and put the summer ones away.  We lit the wood burner last evening.  I do like the first fire of autumn/winter, but after temperatures in the middle 20's over the last few weeks, the sudden change is a bit of a shock to the system!

Still no rain though.  Everything is looking parched and brown.  The farmers have already started feeding this winter's hay to the cattle as there isn't any grass.  We have been on water rationing for months now.

Now is the time to pull the UFO's out of storage and start on some serious catching up, apart from the fact that the light bulb blew in the sewing machine the other day and now I can't see properly, but I did manage to get the borders on Halloween Houses before it blew.  It was my fault.  The earth wire in the iron was dodgy and when I plugged it into the mains the trip went.  Not once, but twice!  30 minutes wasted tracking down a new plug and rewiring the dratted thing.  Sigh!

Ok.  So Halloween Houses is ready for basting and then quilting.  I'm looking forward to the quilting part - lots of fun things to add like skeletons, cobwebs and spooky words.

Remember this?

Blackcurrant Fool

Well, it's been tied and I'm putting the binding on.  Hoping to get it finished this week as I want to start on the next one in the series, Blueberry Fool.

The process has started.













I'm also thinking Redcurrant Fool, Gooseberry Fool and Lemon Curd, but we shall see.  Got a few quilts to finish first!

A bientôt.

Wordless Wednesday

Oh Oh Oh!

Goodness I am enjoying this. Watching videos, catching up on blogs (had to clear over 900 so please forgive me if I didn't leave a comment on yours). To celebrate, I'm going to upload some photos of this and that just to see how longs it takes. Ready? Gracious - that took seconds! Ok - we've found this at the vide grenier at Brantôme last Sunday - 2 for 5 Euros. Bargain! I love the blue, but then you all know I'm a sucker for blue. Next one. Even quicker! OMG who took that! This is the current state of the sewing corner. Notice the books everywhere? I'm seriously running out of book space. All book shelves and spaces are full to bursting. They are overflowing into the sewing area Which Is Not a Good Thing. If I want to do some serious piecing it's going to take me an age to clear the decks and sort everything out. I suppose I could just do what I normally do. Shift it to one side. Just for the moment until I get round to sorting it. As if! Oh now you are talking! I can't remember the last time I showed AbFab. I think I'd got to the green bit top right. Anyway, the pinned bit to the right of the orange is only about 3 inches. It will probably take about a week/10 days and then I can truthfully say I've done a quarter. A quarter after 2 years probably means another 6 years to go. I seriously hope not! Woo hoo - Tonya's posted about Gwen Marston's new book- Liberated Quiltmaking II. I'm off to take a look. Catch ya soon!

We Have Lift Off!

Be prepared to be innundated with posts, photos and lots of chat! Clare is back in blogland!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Picking Up Speed

The internet problem (see previous post) still hasn't been resolved, but I'm missing blogging so much I thought I'd give it a go and see how long it takes for me to post (so far 30 minutes waiting for the New Post page to load!). Not a lot of quilting going on (well there is, but I can't show anything or talk about it as it's a surprise so ssshhhhh) so I thought I'd see if the photo uploader works and show you some photos I've taken over the last week or two.

First off. St Front, Cathedral, Périgueux I love the different shades of light in this one. I tried converting it to black and white, but it didn't work so well. Next up. A sort of black and white study. Two ladies chatting in the main square in Périgueux. I cropped the photo to take out most of the grillage in the background (some huge marquees were being erected for the Marché du Gras). Last, but by no means least. Taken in Périgueux the same day. I love the blue and the white. Gives the photo a sort of Cuban/South American feel.

That was the last really hot day we had. Since then its been badly needed rain with accompanying thunderstorms and Autumn has arrived overnight. Strange how that happens. One minute you're in shorts and t-shirts, the next jeans and a sweater! Actually, there is something sort of quilt related. The Liberated Quilters Yahoo! group has taken off. We are up to about 140 members and growing daily. Heigh ho - this post has taken over an hour to load (including hitting the publish button by mistake), so I suppose I had better go and get something achieved today. Will be back soon.