Work in Progress Wednesday

It's been quite a while since my last post, so I fear this will be a long one. At last (yay!) the work has started on the house, though we still have not had the money from the insurance company (supposedly due to arrive within the next 2 weeks). The other good news is that the police have a suspect for our burglary .He is responsible for several burglaries in the area but they are waiting for the result of forensic tests to actually prosecute him. The police haven't said so but the local gossip says he has just got out of prison and embarked on a spree on his release.No sign of any of the stolen items though, as he is a 'professional'.

 

 

 

I've had 2 weekends when both my boys  (old and young) have been away, so I have been able to sew  all day long and I've managed to get a lot done. This was before I contracted a yucky bug that has kept me off work ( unheard of!) for 2 days.

 

Firstly, I finished all 42 blocks for Madlen's scrappy trip around the world.  I did another scrappy trip earlier in the year and had also done some bee blocks. Consequently, I had a lot of spare strips. So what's a girl to do but make her first scrap vomit!

 



 

 

The 'A' blocks were no problem, as I just used up my spare strips and managed 8 blocks just from the scraps. I then strip pieced the other 5 blocks. I had to make the 'B' blocks from scratch but decided to strip -piece them using Katie's tutorial. This calls for 22inch strips to give the necessary 12 blocks,but I already had loads of 18 inch strips and as it's meant to use up scraps I used them. It meant I had to cobble together a few more strips to get all 12 blocks.

 

 

This is destined to be a quilt for Lydia, one of my BF's daughters.

 

I have also finished most of this months Bee blocks really early!. First up, Siblings together:

 

 

 

Then a block for Amy for the Simply solids bee. She asked for a 15" impro block.

 





 

I also made her 2 blocks for Wonkyville.

 

 

 

I also  finished my blocks for Sam in the Star block quilting bee. This bee is now over , although 4 of the women have not sent me my blocks back even though my month as Queen Bee was March!

 

 

 

 

Mary chose the Economy I-spy block for Together@do.good stitches:

 

 

I had already decided to make a quilt using these blocks for a colleagues daughter, but I thought that 5 inch finished blocks were too small. Firstly, I worked out the necessary size of squares to make  a 9 inch (finished size) block:

 

 

but decided these were too big, so did the maths again to make a 6 inch ( finished size ) block:

 

 

I'm happy with these, so just need to make another 75 blocks!

 

I promised some time ago to make  a quilt for the 13 year old son of one of my oldest friends. Originally, I was going to make SewKindof wonderful's  Abacus pattern but after trying it out, I decided it was too hard. Instead, I have chosen a pattern from Amy Ellis's book Modern Neutrals. This is a very graphic pattern and well out of my 'normal' range, but I think it will look fab.

 

 

It's paper pieced but fairly simple, so I should be able to work steadily at it.

 

 I'm accumulating so many quilt tops that need finishing once the building work is all done. At the last count there were a whopping 7 tops all finished, 4 quilts which need more blocks (not including the 2 new ones I have started) and one Bee quilt where 50% of the blocks are such poor quality that I can't use them.  I haven't decided  what to do with those.

When the roof is back on, Mr Hare and I are going to have a long holiday. I'm really looking forward to it.

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 









 

 





We wuz robbed

It seems that everything I post lately is full of doom and gloom. It feels like I am having my equivalent of the Queen's annus horribilis and it's only half way through the year! In the early hours of Thursday morning while we were fast asleep upstairs, we were burgled.
The thief carefully removed some mirrors which were leaning up against the kitchen window and placed them around the corner. We are renovating the house ( as well as repairing the fire damage) and these mirrors were 'stored' against the kitchen window.

 

He then jemmied open the kitchen window 

 

and carefully removed everything from the kitchen windowsill and draining board and  placed them outside.

 

 One of our garden chairs was used as a lift up into the kitchen

He didn't take much, only as much as he could carry. This included my handbag, another Mulberry handbag, a new laptop, my son's phone and various leads to charge the phones/ computers etc.
My handbag contains my life! I carry everything in there. This included my phone ( numbers foolishly not backed up), my purse containing cash and all my cards, my house and car keys, two sets of spectacles, a metro card etc, etc.

So I had to take a day off work, just to sort out the basics-calling the police (and the subsequent statements)  cancelling all my cards and getting a locksmith in to change all the locks and secure the window.

The police were very professional and even managed to get a size 12 footprint off the kitchen floor and identify the exact make of shoe. The thief wore gloves so they couldn't get any fingerprints.

It was only later when I had sorted out the important items that I could think about what else had gone. It is the little things that gall the most. A notebook which I used to jot down all sorts of things, my brand new made-by- Hadley keyfob,  a pouch containing all my EPP paper pieces and basted  diamonds, the usb sticks that I haven't foolishly backed up or catalogued, the pictures on my phone, all the contact numbers. Mr Hare is very sanguine about it all but then nothing of his was stolen. I know in my heart of hearts that they are only things that can be replaced, but it has upset me a lot.

It's not helped that I tore my calf muscle in aerobics last week and I can barely walk. I get cranky if I can't exercise and I now have to be a couch potato for 6 weeks, aargh!

 I had a great time at FQR 2013 meeting lots of friends new and old and matching blog and flickr names to real live people. It has been well covered in blogs and on flickr, so I'm not going to add anything new. It now seems like eons ago.

On a more positive note I had an average July as far as making things go. I can't get my July mosaic on my computer or flickr to download to the blog. It will have to wait until my son wakes up. They are mostly all bee blocks but I have made progress on Madlen's bright quilt. I'm probably half way through making the blocks and I just love how quickly they come together. This is destined to cover her sofa when she moves.

 

She also wants me to make her another one!! Very girly and covered in roses as far as I can tell.
I've also been asked to make a cushion featuring a VW for charity. They have kindly provided a photo for me to work from( due to my very limited computer skills I can't get that to load either).

I've managed to pick 1kg  of gooseberries from a twig of a gooseberry bush that I put in last year. I made a gooseberry pie for Mr Hare and Wonderboy ( it went down in a flash) and gooseberry coulis for me ( lovely mixed with plain yoghurt). It's also been a bumper year for raspberries, redcurrants and blackcurrants. I don't have many bushes  but they have been very productive. As the beginning of the year was so bad I only sowed 4 courgette plants but I've had  5 or 6 courgettes, lots of rocket and the tomatoes are just beginning to start as well. These are the small things in life that cheer me up.

Lastly, I had this delivered after ordering it off Lu at the retreat- wonderful!

Sewing Matters

I thought it was about time I posted something. Life has been busy here in Wales.Mr Hare is currently away ( back tonight) having a well deserved holiday sailing in France with some friends.

Now for the whinge/sob story. It is now 6 months and a week ( yes really!) since the fire in our house and we still haven't had the insurance money. We can't go away on holiday together as the house is not secure and the tarpaulin leaks badly. We could leave Wonder Boy ( aka Harri ) in charge as he's back from Uni but I'm not sure if he would cope if say the ceiling fell down. This is a distinct possibility. Two of our ceilings are sagging badly and all it will take is a little more rain and they will go. Thank goodness for our current glorious weather! It is beginning to get me down. I feel like I'm living in limbo land, in fact like living in a squat ( which yes I did do, eons ago in my youth).

Now for the outright boasting. My clever daughter won 'Young Medical Journalist of the year' this week at a ceremony in London ( in another category Max Pemberton who writes for The Telegraph won ). Not only that but she got £750.00 as prize money. I'm so proud of her.

So on to sewing matters. Sewing does matter to me, it is what is keeping me sane at the moment ( along with gardening). However, because of limited space the only sewing I can do is small, like blocks.

 

 

I tried to quilt Siblings together Mark 2 which was made from extra blocks from FQR Quilt Bee, but it just wasn't happening. So I have abandoned it for now rather than spoil it and I'll have to give it to Siblings together next year.

 

I have made loads of Bee blocks. Despite having some serious reservations about Bees ( that will be another post) I have gone and joined a few more. FQR Quilt Bee ( formerly FQR Kinky Bee) is going to continue which is great. I have also joined the Siblings together Bee lead by the wonderful Lynne of Lily's Quilts and have been doing Together at do.good stitches for a few months. My star block bee is coming to an end and I'm about half way through Simply Solids Bee.

 

 



Swoon Block for Stacey in Star Block Quilting Bee

 

 

Wavy curves for Alice in Simply Solids Bee

 

 

Star block for Lynne in Siblings together Bee.

 

 

Wonky squares for Jo in Siblings together.

 

Antique tile for Rachael in Together @  do.good stitches

 

I have also started 2 new quilts ( I must be mad as I have so many works in progress). Madlen is moving into a new house and actually asked me to make her a bright quilt. So, I started another scrappy trip around the world in bright colours.

 

 

But I've also been eyeing up all those lovely Marcelle medallion quilts ( I particularly like Hadley's)

I haven't got the magazine and I'm too mean to buy the book when I only want to make one quilt out of it , so I thought I would just make it up. I'm also not too keen on the medallion that Marcelle uses so I chose another block from here. This was only 12 inches square so I hand designed an outer border which I have placed ( not sewn yet ) on top. It has not worked at all well and it's going to be back to the drawing board. I can't stand the less than perfect outer curves despite the fact that I have a rather nifty curved sewing foot that I bought at FoQ last year.



 

 

I have also made my sample swaps for FQ Retreat next week, lavender sachets and a bar of my handmade natural soap

 

 

 

I used this wonderful smelling French lavender for the sachets. It is a rather dry dusty colour but retains it's smell for ages. 

 

I'm very excited about the retreat, it was so much fun last year. Mr Hare is going to come with me( not to the actual retreat!) but to help Madlen move into her new house. I've still got to get a few things together for the retreat but I'll do those today and in the evenings next week.

 

 

 

 

Wordless wednesday.

Wisteria

Chelsea Flower Show

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Helena asked me if I'd like to go to the Chelsea Flower Show with her as she had managed to get 2 tickets for Friday evening. Well, who could turn that offer down! I usually go to the RHS Spring show in Malvern but this year it clashed with Harri's birthday weekend, so I didn't manage to get there. It is many years since I've been  to the Chelsea flower show and I have overwhelming memories of being crushed in the throng and not being able to get a great view of the gardens. I always plan to go and then end up not booking tickets and watching it on the telly. Well not this year!

 

 

We couldn't get in until 17.30, so we went first to Tate Britain to have a look at the fabulous 500 years of British Art. This has now been arranged  around the perimeter rooms of Tate Britain in chronological order starting in the 1500's.There are so many wonderful works of art that eventually you get visual overload. We galloped through every single room covering 500  years in about 3 hours! This is clearly not the best way to do this: if I lived in London I would dip in and out , just taking one room , more slowly, at a time (it's also free).

 

 

 

 

They even had one of Barry Flanagan's famous hares! I didn't think to take more photos  but it was well worth the visit.

I had planned that we would walk from the Tate ,across the Thames, and stroll down to the Chelsea Hospital but of course it was absolutely p*ssing it down, and we both got soaked! I even had to buy a brolly in Peter Jones. All I can say was that it was a good job I was wearing winter clothes otherwise I would have frozen to death. 

We managed to see all the show gardens when it was only lightly raining and then took refuge in the Great Pavilion during the heavier down pours. So apologies for the crap photos:

 

 

 

One corner of the B and Q Sentabale Forget- me -knot garden (Prince Harry's garden).

 

A few selected highlights:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We did get to see the Australian garden that won best in show, but it was very crowded around it so I didn't get many photos. The planting was absolutely stunning, as were the natural waterfalls  but I didn't like the giant orange solar panel thing. 

 

 



 

One difference between Chelsea and Malvern, is that you can't actually buy any plants in Chelsea, you can only order them. The evening slot was certainly quieter than daytime, but 2 and 1/2  hours is not enough time to see everything, so there were areas that we missed altogether. The rain didn't help either as it is mostly all outside. The quality of the merchandise is certainly much higher in Chelsea (with an appropriately high price tag) and there were some stunning sculptures. I can only dream..

 



 

 

Gardening and art are 2 of my obsessions, but I think I'd better make my next post about sewing!

 

 

 

 



Happy 21st Birthday Harri

This post is one day late because I have some sort of virus and feel like sh*t. Yesterday my darling boy was 21.Where has all the time gone! He has gone from this

To this

And this

To this

and now this.

 

 

 

Because his birthday was on a Monday, we went to London for the weekend before his birthday. Harri is a big fan of South Park and I managed to get some tickets for the Book of Mormon, the musical currently running to packed audiences in Prince of Wales theatre ( some of the time I can be organised-booked these months ago!)

 

 

 

 

We met Madlen at the theatre so it was a family affair. The Book of Mormon was as you would expect, no subtley whatsoever, very, very rude and hilariously funny. We were all laughing uproariously. The cracks came so thick and fast that I'm sure I missed quite a few. It was also very jolly and uplifting, as the cast appeared to be  enjoying themselves as much as the audience.

 

We didn't do very well on the cultural front. We trekked over to The Portland Gallery because I wanted to see the Joan Eardly exhibition, only to find it was closed at weekends. My fault entirely, as I hadn't checked. Then we trekked over to The British Museum to see the Pompeii and Heracaneum exhibition , only the queue ( I hadn't prebooked) was about 2 1/2 hours and Mr Hare doesn't do waiting around ( he wasn't very keen in the first place). So we ended up taking Harri to the Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons. He is studying anthropology so was very interested in a lot of the exhibitions especially the primate skulls.

 

We ate a whole variety of food, not always very good but did have a splendid dinner at Granger's in Notting Hill.

 

 

 





 

 

Madlen got absolutely soaked on her way to the restaurant.

 

 

 

We'll gloss over the fact that on Sunday it took us 2 1/2 hours to get out of London. The whole of West London was gridlocked because of an accident in Hammersmith. Then Harri missed his flight from Bristol ( by 10 minutes!) and we had to take him at 04.30 on Monday morning to get the next flight. It is amazing that it is much, much cheaper to fly than take a train, even with a student railcard.

 

All in all though a lovely weekend!