Brave lady

I'm giving myself this bunch of roses because I have been brave at the dentist .

I broke a tooth . I was very nervous . I knew that when I mentioned it to bluebell she would whisk me off to the dentist . She takes no prisoners .

She was right , get it sorted , now , immediately , chopchop, yes maam .

Thankyou Jill .xx

Beautiful day here in my part of England , cold but sunny . I have spent most of the morning sitting in my sunny conservatory reading quilting magazines, putting book marks in all that interests me . Who am I fooling, If I lived forever I would never get every thing made butwe can dream.

When I visited the Malvern quilt show in May I bought a frame to do long arm quilting . It's not a top of the range affair but it makes machine quilting so much more easy .

I also bought a Juki machine with a bigger space under the arm . The frame and the machine are a pleasure to use . I am now getting familiar with he speed of the machine and I have brainwashed myself in the order of use .

Before I had these two items I did a lot of hand quilting . A grandmother's garden quilt like the one I have completed this week would have taken me many weeks to complete .now , things are so different .

I do not begrudge one penny spent after all it is my hobby and we all know it is not cheap to have hobbies these days .

My set doesn't have a pantagraph but I'm getting adept at keeping the pattern regular enough to be pleasing .

Woe is me

I thought this afternoon I would send emails and do a little blog browsing .Well it's think again . The email page has altered , I have tried sending an email , it says , no such person or whatever .

I had trouble getting into my blog . I think I need a cuppa , pityI don't have any cake , I need a large slice .

Bejeweledquilts by barb: HAVE A WONDERFUL THANKGIVING~~~

We don't celebrate Thanksgiving in England but we love to read about it on the blogs .

Thank you for sharing all you do and the unstinting information you share .

A STAR *********

I have a boiler that is temperemental . First sign of cold weather it packs in . Every year . It's about 4 yrs,. old , not a great age for a boiler but then , these days , how long are things suppose to last?.

Tonight it decided winters coming . The radiators were cold . With a sigh and a heavy heart I rang the plumber and left a message on his answer machine . Half hour later he rang me back . I explained I had a red light flashing on the alarm signal . "Tell me what the thermostat looks like and the name on it ." I duly followed his instructions , "Mmmm said he, have you any AA batteries " Yes I had , he explained where I had to dismantle it to replace the batteries . Hey bingo the heating came on . This man is a star . any other plumber it would have been a call out charge , a bit of head shaking , looking puzzled and then a hefty bill . Not so with Mr Ian Marriot his white van is always in our small village looking after our needs . I didn't even know the thermostat had batteries in . Once again I'm a happy woman .

HEE, HEE !!!

I just saw this caption on PICKLEDISH . How true .

I have just found the B,O,M I want to do next . It is called Birdie Stitches and is on the blog------------- LittleMiss Shabby . If you look down the sidebar on the right you will see where you can print off 11 months blocks . Final one Dec,. 1st .

Thank you Corey Yoder .

Mellow fruitfullness

It's been a lovely weekend for me . Yesterday there was that lovely Autumn smell in the air , decaying leaves that only a week ago the leaves were still on the trees in Autumn spledour

Today, sunshine . It was warm , I decided to take advantage and do washing . Not a usual activity for Sunday , it did not dry . There were bees about , a very big one kept settling on my white duvet cover and then another bee, species unknown .

I'm now going to settle in my chair . I shall be trying to put my sewing patterns in order . I do get waylayed looking for patterns in disorganised files so often saying to myself when I find a long lost design Oh! thats where it is . Order reigns again .

Where I live the weather has been damp and cold , the sort of weather to sit and sew .

I decided to make smaller quilts , these are they . Sunbonnet Sue and Farmer Sam . Such an old pattern but still a favourite of mine and a chance to use scraps of fabric .

Bluebell and myself set off to go to the NEC today . First visit to the Crafts for Christmas .

We were so disappointed , The biggest majority of stalls were for card making . A craft neither of us do .

A few speciality food stalls.

Back home to sit in the chair and snooze.

Information needed *******

I had such lovely comments on my last blog .

Sometimes I feel I,m in a rut with my sewing , patchwork and quilting then a positive comment is made , and I feel encouraged to proceed .

The information required ? Does anyone know where I can purchase small amounts of velvet ,satin , and what I call precious fabrics .

I passed my stash to a new beginner because I felt I was using the same fabric over and over but I now need to re-stock .

If you look at these quilts you will perhaps see the kind of fabric I need . I am not asking for freebies .

This is a photo of shirts that I cut to make quilts . I usually pay approx £3 for a good shirt .

Satin and lace I have been buying from a lady called Jennifer Trollope . Her bags of fabric were called Rich Pickings and cost £4 per bag . When I went to Malvern last week Jennifer said her supply had dried up , there would be no more . Such sad news to me .

This is a picture of a previous shirt quilt that is now in my son's possesion .

If anyone has shirts they no longer need I will buy them and pay postage . I live in the UK.