Wednesday 31 January 2007

Birthday boy

It's E's 13th birthday today. There should be wonderful pictures of the cake my Mum made for him. It was a race track complete with candle cars and a gold trophy candle. She spent 2 days on it and did a marvelous job. It is, unfortunately, inside the tummy's of 3 very smug looking dogs who can apparently jump 6 feet vertically when it's made worth their while. Buggrem, buggrit. I'm right down the list of top mothers right now, Granny is however high on the top grannys list for bringing back chocolate eclairs from town as consolation.

Don't they look guilty?




Tuesday 30 January 2007

I've got the flu

I've got flu. Not just a nasty cold but proper, full on influenza. I nursed the boys through it and then got it myself. 2 days with a temperature of 102, shakes, aches, blinding headache and delirious dreams and now a wracking cough that doesn't stop until I'm nearly sick and I'm feeling like I've been run over by a truck. The boys are much the same but about 3 days ahead of me.
It's poor E's 13th birthday tomorrow and it should have been a big celebration with all the family, instead we're going to be sitting at home drinking lemsip and feeling sorry for ourselves.
Blegh, I need a hug.
Obviously I've been totally unproductive but I did finally get photos of Ally's 40th birthday quilt, only 2 years late, so I'll share them instead. This was the one I found the hardest to give away. It is a quillow with flannel backing so it's really cuddly and the colours fitted in my bedroom so well.


Wednesday 24 January 2007

I was tagged

Ferret tagged me to come up with 5 facts about myself that wasn't known. I was horrified to discover that I couldn't think of anything that was interesting but after she sent me a useful list of topics to think about and chatting to a friend about it I've come up with the following:-

1. I'm 4'11 1/2" but I always tell people I'm 5' because it sounds taller.

2. I love women's body-building and 2 years ago was starting to train seriously for a competition when I developed some major rotator-cuff problems and then wrecked my knee really badly. Since then the only exercise I've had has been walking the dogs and I've put on nearly 4 stone. (The shame!!!!)

3. Despite not even being a Christian I'm going to be sending my son to a Roman Catholic Secondary School because it has the best reputation locally for kids with special educational needs. Could be interesting.

4. We live in a dilapidated late Victorian detached house which is constantly in a state of complete chaos due to all of us being almost pathologically untidy. By the sound of it we also have the twin of Ferret's book collection. When the book cases in the downstairs hallway had to be moved because of shredding puppies we boxed up those and put them in the attic so now that is full of books too. Pretty much every room has book-cases and we have way more books than the existing shelves can cope with and there are now piles of books too. I need the Life Laundry or whatever that show was called to come and sort us out.

5. I'm going to die alone with about 100 cats according to an Internet survey that links over use of smileys and terms such a ROFL to this eventual demise. Even more tragic was that my first thought was 'If I've got 100 cats I'm not exactly alone.' ;)

6. I'm possibly the most boring person in the history of the world... and I can't count either.

I'm not sure who to tag next, everyone seems to have done this one. I'll have a read through all the blogs I follow and see if I can find someone who's not 'been done'.

Tuesday 23 January 2007

Postcard from Kate

I've just realised that I haven't posted any pictures of the gorgeous postcard that Kate sent to me. It's got pride of place on the wall behind my computer and it looks great. Thanks Kate!



I also got tagged by Ferret to post 5 things about myself that I hadn't mentioned in my blog. I hadn't realised before what a boring life I lead. If I can come up with 5 things I'll post them up later.

Green Men

I've been so lazy at keeping up with my blog lately. I keep meaning to post something but having read everyone else's I'm out of time.






I finished Ally's Green Man and it was duly delivered. The eyes seem to stand out a lot more in the pictures than in real life, I'm not entirely sure why. They also look very white when in fact they are pale green. Any way she seems extremely happy with him thank goodness.

Friday 12 January 2007

Pay it Forward Meme

Everyone seems to be doing these at the moment so I took Ferret up on hers. The idea is that you get a piece of their artwork in return for offering up 5 pieces of your own to others and they then offer 5 pieces of their own. Sounds like fun so if any one would like to own something wonderful made by me then leave a comment and it's yours. I'm not exactly sure what it would be yet, possibly a Green Man wall hanging, as I'm making one for a friend at the moment and it's fun cutting out the leaves. It'd be about 12" square (ish).

Go on, you know you want one.

Wednesday 10 January 2007

Surely I should have more time now?

With the boys back at school and my husband off to Amsterdam I surely should have time to sit down and do some sewing. Instead I find myself cooking and doing a bit of tidying and watching bad TV. I need the kind of focus that Ferret http://ferfab.blogspot.com/ has. I did however remember to take some photos of Y's string quilt while the camera was playing nice. He's been wrapping it around him while sitting playing on the Playstation. I do love to see them being used like that.

Saturday 6 January 2007

And some more pictures

Since Xmas eve I haven't done anything at all but Ally had a New Year clear out and gifted me with all the fabric and patterns that she no longer wanted. The was a ton of gorgeous stuff and so I'm honour bound to make something lovely now.

One of the things were these beautiful batik squares




which I thought would make a great border for this string quilt which she has been coveting since I started making it.



I need to find some more the the purple that I used for the sashing. I was convinced that I had another large piece for the first border but having sorted through absolutely everything I don't and it really calls for it. Oh no! I feel a shopping trip coming on.

Finally some pictures

I have been so bad about keeping up with this blog. I love reading everyone elses but mine just seems so boring in comparison.

We would usually celebrate Yule in style but it was only me and himself at home and we both had horrible colds so it passed practically unnoticed. We did open a bottle but after half a glass we called it quits and went to bed.

Xmas was rather better and the boys had a wonderful day. Boxing Day we visited my Mum and Dad for their Wedding Anniversary and delivered their quilts. It was only after they had opened the parcels did we realise that we'd left the camera at home. Oops!!! My Dad has a 'real' camera and took pictures but I have to wait for him to get them developed. Next time we visit I'll try and remember to take some more.

The snakes and ladders quilt seemed to be a hit. I haven't seen them yet but my brother sounded thrilled on the phone. I must admit I was pleased with the way it turned out.

Here's the whole thing. Please excuse the total chaos in the front room. I'm usually very untidy but this was half way through moving things to get the tree and decorations up and was even worse than normal.



The eyes were sparkly plastic 'crystals'. Note my really horrible wobbly quilting. Hopefully my nephew and neice won't contact the Quilting Police.



I liked the material on the back. My friend Donna sent it to me in the hope that I could use it. Hey babe... I did!!!!!



I made square counters, round ones didn't work too well so I tried again. The dice came from the auto shop. :D