They're like buses......

....none for ages and then three at once! The last quilt in my "snuggle".

This was another scrappy quilt. I had lots of low impact, cream and white based scraps, that really didn't fit into the other, colourful quilt. So following another pattern from the same book, I made them into 10" squares. These then got made up into the top.

Now the fun bit, the quilting! This time I decided to cross each horizontal strip with diagonal quilting.

You can see it better on the back. I have also stitched in the ditch either side of the verticals. So where is this one going to go......

...well for now it's on my bed! Too much with the crochet throw? It's very cosy under there now the weather has got chillier!

Photo a Day

I just realised that it is now November 24th and I haven't even started showing you what I have been up to this month yet! To be honest these pictures might get a bit repetitive as I am madly preparing for Christmas but off we go...

November 1st; new home for my scrappy quilt. And now the weather is turning more seasonal it is very cosy to snuggle under!

November 2nd; Ken was off today and so was I, so we started the Christmas shopping. Got a fair bit done too including getting the Paperchase Christmas bag.....has to be done!

November 3rd; I think this might have to be the final batch of preserving that I do! This is my preserve cupboard above the fridge...7 jars wide and 8 jars deep. That's a LOT of jam and chutney!

November 4th; a muddy Monday session and a chance to inspect the damage done to this  tree at school. We will have to have the branch removed now.

November 5th; Guides tonight and we had our own bonfire up in the woods, complete with apple bobbing, eating donuts on strings and a blindfold rope trail through the trees.

November 6th; more wool arrived for Christmas jumpers. Katy's one this time.

November 7th; this one knitted up really quickly! I managed to get the front finished in two evenings.

November 8th; I was in Year 3 this afternoon and one of the children drew me this very sweet picture! I was able to tell her some exciting news....I had tickets to go to the Royal Albert Hall the following evening for the Festival of Remembrance!

November 9th; and here I was, with Katy, sitting right above the royal box. It was an unbelievably moving concert this year and really focused on those brave young men who are still fighting as well as those who lost their lives in the World Wars.

November 10th; Jasper decided he wanted to get in on the Christmas Jumper fever that is sweeping through my house! He spent about 3 hours charting his own Star Wars Christmas Jumper.

A snuggle of quilts?

Ok then, what would YOU call a collection of quilts? I was on a mission over Half Term. I promised myself that I cannot start my new quilt that I got in America until I have finished the 4 (yes I did say 4) that are lying about, folded up in bags and corners!

I showed you the top of this one but now I needed to back, quilt and bind this scrappy quilt. I looked in the book where I found the pattern and it was quilted in a series of concentric squares, coming out from the central white shapes in each block. How hard can that be I thought......

I began by stitching in the ditch around the cream shapes before moving round and around in square-ish shapes. My bingo wings got a right good workout, hauling the whole quilt round and round through the tiny arm gap!

Obviously the quilting was irregular as the cream bits weren't central to begin with but I loved that wonkiness.

Some bits were wonkier than others......

And I was dead chuffed with all that texture on the back too. I was so pleased with my first attempt at quilting that was anything other than "in the ditch".

Spurred on by that success, I tackled a quick quilt that I knocked up using the leftover pink strips from Eliza's Dogwood Trail quilt. This will go in the foot of her bed and this time I quilted 1/4" to either side of the seams.

Super quick, super easy and super effective!
Be back soon with another one!!!

Photo a Day

27th October; one job that I HAD to do over Half Term was clear out the music room. There were some bits stacked in there that I hadn't sorted for about 4 years so today I bit the bullet and cleared out the cupboards so that I could get in the stuff that was stacked on the floor! Big pile for the charity shop too!

28th October; my very lovely NQT bought me a HUGE box of Malteasers as a present but I decided to share nicely with my family. I made a very yummy Malteaser cake. The only problem is you have to eat it quickly or the Malteasers go chewy......not a problem in our house!!! 

29th October; another jobs day, this time shopping type jobs in the town, so Katy and I rewarded ourselves with a McDonalds!!! Not had one since America!!!

30th October; I did something today I have never done before. I blocked a piece of knitting! In 30+ years I have NEVER done that!

31st October; and I am very glad I did! Got a great finish to Eliza's Christmas Jumper! Did you guess that is what I had started last week?

Photo a Day

20th October; Funny weather we have been having....sudden downpours, high winds but mild temperatures and today we had a double rainbow!

21st October; Katy was singing...in public...first time for ages and it was at a pub for the 6th Form Cabaret

22nd October; the Explorer Scouts had a Halloween party. I went off to Guides and Jasper and Katy got themselves ready to go out!

23rd October; I started a kitting project. That's all I will say for now!

24th October; Mr Whibley, our school caretaker grows chillies and each year I am lucky enough to get some from him. This year they haven't ripened apparently so I put them in a bowl to use as they do.

25th October; finally the last day of a VERY long half term. I think I said that I am working with a NQT (newly qualified teacher) and he gave me a bottle of wine, the BIGGEST box of Malteasers ever and some Quality Street for the children! Needless to say, after the wine I made my own 3D glasses from Quality Street wrappers!

26th October; A relaxing evening with Minnie making herself very comfortable on Eliza's lap!

Catching up...I have been busy over Half Term so pop back for some "Show and Tell".