Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Wild Day in Surrey

The weather was a bit wild in Surrey today,  it was very dull, which meant we had the lights on all day and it was very windy.

There would only be three of us this morning, Amanda, Chris and myself, with Amanda staying for lunch and Chris popping for a cup of tea.

Alison had other plans today and Caroline was still in Brazil attending a friend's wedding.

As usual we started with cups of tea with hazelnut and chocolate chip biscuits and chocolate chip muffins and catching up on our news.




Amanda was continuing to make the flowers for the grandmother flower garden quilt, as you can from the tin Amanda has quite a few to make.



Chris was knitting (I think) hand warmers, in a variegated yarn from Sirdar called Escape.



I was sewing the ends in on Stephanie's Strawberry Fields quilt.

Chris left before lunch and we were joined by Stephanie.  We had jacket potatoes, tuna and salad followed by 'After Dark Hot Chocolate Melting Middles by GU.

After lunch, Stephanie went back to her studies, Amanda continued with her flowers.

I got out my Diamond Star quilt that's I have doing over papers, this is an ongoing project that has been going for at least 18 months! I have been undecided on the finished quilt, but have now decided on a table runner, just a little unpicking and then I can carry on.



Until next time.
    





Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Brightening up a miserable day!!

Caroline, our long lost friend, arrived first looking very slim but tired.  Caring for relatives is obviously hard work but seems to be good for the diet!! Lovely to see her & we wish her all the best for a fabulous holiday in Brazil.  Enjoy the wedding Caroline!


We started with the usual, tea & cakes.  This week "Apple, oat & raisin spiced muffins"










Having discussed Japanese folded patchwork last week, Alison was finishing one of her "UFO's", a folded hexagon from a demo at Thameside Quilters last year.


                                    Janet decided to finish the binding & sleeve on a demo quilt for Needle & Thread.
                                                               
 The pattern is from "Scrap Basket sensations" & Janet used a fabric range called 'Hometown' by Sweetwater for Moda.





I did make some lovely pumpkin & chorizo soup for our lunch but had some hungry visitors at the weekend so it was a warming sausage casserole followed by plum crumble (must free up some space in my freezer!) for lunch instead!








I have been trying to finish some tassles for my sister for her table runner for ages & managed to get them almost completed - they are quite fiddly & I now know why I usually buy them ready made!!






Janet has been busy & showed us the quilt top for her daughter Stephanie, to go in her newly completed bedroom.  It is made from a charm pack & layer cake using 'Strawberry Fields' by Fig tree from Moda.
Love the colours.  Turning the squares onto point makes a lovely change.  Lucky Stephanie!!


A few cups of tea later, it was starting to get dark.  No more room for cakes so we all packed up.  The days seem so short at the moment but it is lovely to shut the curtains & settle in for a night of stitching!
I managed to purchase more of my background fabric (for the hexagons from last week) at 'Patchwork Cabin' in Bookham, so watch this space....I may tick off one item from my ever growing list!

Looking forward already to next week.  Chris you were missed, maybe soon we can be the Tuesday 5 again!

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

It's been a long time!

It certainly has been a long time since Hampshire was the venue for the Tuesday Girls get together, so it was a bonus that it was another beautiful day for the drive down. The countryside is looking particularly lovely at the moment which made for a very pleasant journey for Janet and Amanda. Chris and Caroline, you were missed, hope it won't be too long before we all get together again. 


We quickly had the kettle boiled, the tea made and then enjoyed banana and chocolate muffins. Just as I was about to put up the picture I did wonder how muffins have been pictured on this blog already - too many for our waistline I would imagine!








Before we started the stitching for the day we played with settings for the hexagons that Amanda has been busy making over the weeks. we all agreed that a traditional grandmother's garden setting suited them best. So Amanda got busy stitching her flowers together.


Janet and I were busy cutting more blocks for our Farmer's Wife Quilt and we talked about having a special Farmer's Wife day .......all sorts of wonderful ideas were put forward .....from the funny to the ridiculous.













After a lunch of butternut squash soup followed by apple crumble, we got back to sewing. Amanda and Janet continued with their hexagons and cutting blocks but I decided to have a change - mainly because I was about to cut a 6 " block with 32 pieces and I didn't fancy that much! 



I carried on with some Japanese folded patchwork. These were blocks for a project that Southampton Quilters are organising. They are fun to do and a great take along project.



All too soon it was time to pack up and for Janet and Amanda to head off home, but not before Amanda put the last few stitches into her final flower for the day.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

I forgot ...

I forgot ... that it was me who needed to write the blog! No-one has commented on my lack of an entry, but apologies for the delay!

Trying to think back to last Tuesday is a struggle for the brain cells at the moment, Tuesday is a distant memory. I was hoping the photos would work as prompts. but I seem to have misplaced them between Tuesday and today. Amanda & Janet were able to join me for a simple lunch of baked potato, fillings and salad. Janet is making lovely progress with her Farmer's Wife blocks, all sewn on her featherweight. Amanda was preparing for a workshop - a very busy lady!


Above is a recent photo of the puppy (now 13 weeks old), who is preventing me from doing any sewing at all at the moment! She is adorable - but time consuming. Molly (seen with her in the photo) has been very patient and puts up with being pounced on and chewed upon at regular intervals.

I am unable to get to the next couple of Tuesdays but hopefully the hostesses will do better with the blog than I!




Sunday, November 6, 2011

Birthdays

Today was a special day in our house, it was the Honorary Tuesday Girl's birthday, so as she was at Uni for just the morning we were having a special lunch, also on the previous Saturday it had been Chris' birthday too.

Alison was the first to arrive having driven up from Hampshire, bring with her Apple Spiced Muffins to have with our morning tea, followed by Amanda.  Unfortunately, Chris had to work in the morning, but would arrive in time for lunch, bring with her, by special request of the Birthday Girl, her Border Collie puppy Berry.  Caroline was not with us, as she is looking after her parents-in-law.



This was the first time for a few weeks that the four of us have managed to be together, so there was quite a bit of catching up to do.

Alison was hand quilting her Washed and Worn Quilt, Amanda was calculating the fabric she need for some blinds for her new home and I was finishing some cross stitch.



For lunch we had Lasagne (requested by the Birthday Girl) with Ciabatta bread and salad, followed by a chocolate cake from a recipe from Lorraine Pascal book Baking Made Easy, it was very nice. We had two rounds of 'Happy Birthday and blowing out of candles, more tea and chatting, and it was time for everyone to make their way home.

I apologise for the lack of photos, I had forgotten to take them by lunch time.