And I can do that??

How many years have I used a roll cutter? and a cutting mat, and a ruler?? and I get this??

 look like a straight cut to you?


no, not to me either... Good thing it was not critical!




I decided to try doing a quilt as you go type finish on these, but it is slow progress at the moment.

 and I am trying to just go with the flow for these, so a bit of roundy roundy...











and a bit of cross hatching















with perhaps a little square spirals... if you understand me...

and I have achieved four, and one ready to go...

Not quite sure what I do about attaching them, but I left a good margin, so I can have a play... don't hold your breath!

Bee-ing again

The hip bee block this month was sooo easy. Really, could not have been made more simple. What did Collette want? An off centre Log Cabin. She precut all those strips. labelled them carefully, so we would know which order to add them, and hey presto,

A collection of these is gathering at her house, and she will assemble them into something wonderful. 

Speaking of Bees,  I am more or less at the end of the ' Quilt around the World,' which was fun, if a mixed blessing at times. It stretched my imagination, and frustrated me, in a feast or famine way, so in a sense I am glad to be done with it... well, I have an angel block to do for someone whose blocks went missing in the post, and there is one more set due to come in, I think...but that is unclear, as its owner had to drop out for very good reasons, so I do not know where it is heading... 

And so, I feel I have a little gap in the schedule. 

And I also know a couple of others, who are ready for the next challenge.. 

so I have joined another bee. I am not sure when it will start- possibly when there are a couple more members to get the number up to 12. We have 8 confirmed at the moment!

This one is to be a 'Fat Stash Brit Bee' . The idea is, in your month you send out a fat quarters worth of fabric to the bee members, and they make a block using other fabrics from their own stash, to your design. 

Anyone else up for it?? Might be fun!

If so, have a look here  and come and join us. It should be fun!

Revealing a few secrets...

I made some silly odds and ends recently, and as they have all now departed from my care, I feel able to share a little,

First, an explanation. This too will be a little obscure, but it is enough, I hope!

  I have had a wonderful weekend.

Slightly mad, but such fun!




































Everyone in England knows what a tea shop is...


but, somehow I do not think this is quite what we would expect...

The array of teas for sale, and not all fruit teas but honest to goodness black and green teas, defies my belief.

 And then there are all these cubbies, each with tea of one description or another...



















Tea on the shelf, has a little cup with the tea in, so you may smell and see what you are buying!

There are local blends as well, so you may buy the blend for where you stay..

oh, and all the odds and ends for enjoying your tea!

A far cry from an English Tea shop! What a joy!

 So, I visited a friend, and left behind some traces of my time..

 little gift for another member of her household,














And not forgetting another one...

So, they shall not forget my visit too soon....













but, then, I was laden down with gifts to come home- so, I suppose, it was a fair exchange...


I never saw a hedgehog cookie cutter before, either!








And I was given heaps of tea to bring back--- Thank you for my lovely time, and thank you for your very kind and thoughtful gifts! You know who you are!




And I hope you will visit me very soon!

The Lazy global sewing retreat!

Yes, that is right, Lazy Bums gathered at their sewing machines for an extended 24 hour period, and sewed. We all sewed different projects, but chatted in between, and made great progress.
I had planned for, well since ages, to do a scrappy trip around the world. So, this retreat was the perfect impetus to get it started.

 Starting with precut strips, played with combinations, sewing 6 strips together, a bit more cutting, a little seam ripper work, and a little more sewing, and the block emerges.

 In very short order, I have three blocks.

Three blocks are very little use to anyone, so I set to, and managed to make four more.

My sewing was complicated, first by the fact that I had had to work that morning- a sad incursion into sewing time- and further by the fact that we had invited friends to join us for a meal that evening...
So, I sewed, then peeled some spuds, sewed, then peeled a carrot.. or two.. sewed and made some stuffing for the chicken... and sewed again.

And I had just finished my seventh block, when my friends turned up!

Rescued at about 4.30, by my OH arriving and taking over the cooking, just so I could take part in the retreat! Got to love that fellow!

Another shock to the system, He actually admired these blocks! without prompting! Now, that is quite something!



The next four blocks..

 All seven together..

And today, I just thought, between this, that and the other- I could make a couple more?

But my bobbin ran out- so I refilled it

Disaster! Why, oh why, and actually how does the bobbin do this??

a long time was spent trying to sort this one out. Eventually, I snipped it all off, and started again...

so, now, I have another four blocks, and my OH has done the maths, and reckons I can make these comfortably at half an hour each!


so if I put my mind to it, I might be able to get a whole quilt top's worth in a day! If I did not have other life essentials to get on with... like working,eating and sleeping..


meantime- I love them!

Garden Time

Yes, it is January, but a mild day today, and a dry one. So, as I am off, there is no excuse to not go out and garden.

And, 2 1/2 hours later, the green bin is full, but that is the only evidence of any work out there. That, and a few new aches round the back, and a slightly sore finger, where I tried to chop the top off it with the ratchet secateurs! Ouch! but I managed to not even break the skin, so I am just fussing really!

But I looked at the garden, and have a few plans hatching. And saw more colour than I might have expected. Ready for  a trot round my messy garden? Here goes..


This is damage from the high winds we had last back end. The trellis is completely destroyed, so we shall have to take it off, and take the opportunity to paint the fence and probably put a better quality trellis back up. There is a cute little pink rambling rose and a couple of clematis depending on the trellis in that corner.

 And how about these volunteers! snapdragons, or antirhinum if you feel posh, all  planning to provide colour later in the year! what value. I haven't planted a single one!















And these geranium are hoping for not too much frost and then they can do their thing come early summer..
 fingers crossed.

 The berberis is flowering orange. This one is also a volunteer. Or an opportunist, if you think that way. Yes, I did plant one just like this. At the other end of the garden. Self seeded? Or gardening bird!

 This is what most of my garden looks like. A good collection of all those weeds which are associated with human habitation. Bittercress, herb Robert, stinging nettle, and that variety of willowherb which pulls out so easily, but every scrap of root left behind grows into a new plant. I think it is a species of hydra!

but there is hope, too. A winter flowering clematis is starting to shoot, so maybe I will see the flowers this year? Last year they did flower, but so secretly, that I only knew by the seedheads later! Jingle Bells and Freckles are both here. Again, fingers crossed!

 The perennial poppy is staring up,

as is the Philadelphus,  and the rosemary,

 And for colour, these little hearts-ease,

and a very early anemone,

























 a very late Kaffir lily,




and a timely winter flowering honeysuckle. 
















Promises are being made by this white camellia- well it will be white, when it does flower!












and other sparks of colour by some fungi which are also volunteering..

 Now, it is not that I have been doing no sewing! But the sewing I have been doing is still top secret! so, perhaps a little sneaky preview shot! I am fairly confident my intended recipient does not usually look at this, anyway, so this is a little corner- I wonder will they like?

I shall let you know in due course!