Sunday, 20 November 2011

A re-found love

I am nearing my winter exam session and so my sewing machine was packed away in it's cupboard to stop any temptation. I would have gone crazy if I wasn't able to do any crafts and so I started this cross-stitch for our spare room.


As we lived in norway for two and a half years I loved this cross stitch but I have had it squirrelled away for about a year. I had fallen out of love a little with cross-stitch in recent years, but I have loved doing this so much and just a few stitches a night is enough to stave off my cravings for crafts.

It is only two weeks until the exam so hopefully I will get time afterwards to finish it.

Sunday, 9 October 2011

A great day was had by all :)

Yesterday was the knitting and stitching show at Alexandra palace in London which I went to with my mum. We have been before and this is by far one of my favourite exhibitions. It has such a beautiful setting and the exhibitors are so friendly and helpful.

Needless to say we both came home with bags of new projects (and I did break my rule about buying fabric) but it was so lovely to get caught up in the day.
I'm not a knitter but I was so tempted by all of the beautiful yarns and the fabrics and projects could have kept me going for many many years.
And then afterwards we sat down as a family to lasagne (my favourite) and then mahjong which I learnt to play when we were in China. Now the whole family is hooked and I hope that it can become something we can do more often. We don't often sit around the table as a family and it was so enjoyable. Hopefully soon my brother will return from his travelling in Australia and we can be a proper (complete) family as we definitely all missed him being there.
Such a lovely day and I was quite sad to go to bed last night knowing it was over.

Friday, 30 September 2011

Summer is fighting off the autumn

This week we had a wonderful addition to our house-something we have being looking forward to getting since we bought our house last year:

And of course now that we have our working wood burner the temperature has shot up. We have a predicted temperature of 27 degrees this weekend. Now the decision is what to do before the autumn arrives soon. I think maybe a trip to London or a wander around Cambridge would be nice. Decisions, decisions...

Tuesday, 27 September 2011

China!!!

We have just got home from the most amazing trip ever!!
Hubby and I ventured to China for a 2 week sightseeing tour which was absolutely fantastic (although shattering)
We had a few days in Beijing, Shanghai and then onto Wuhan for a 3 day cruise down the Yangtze River. Then onto Xi'an to see the Terracota Warriors and then back to Beijing to see the Great Wall.
It was the most fantastic experience ever and I loved every minute of it.
Not much sewing was done (despite my cute little bag I made) but I think that was a sign of a good trip.
So much to talk about and show, but I will just give you a hint of a few of the photos.








This trip was so overwhelming in the sights, sounds and smells. Everything was so foreign, but not in an unpleasant way. I would recommend everyone to visit China as it is such a beautiful country with lovely people and we could not have had a warmer reception everywhere we visited.
And of course, we couldn't miss seeing the pandas while we were away. We had a couple of hours at Chongqing zoo which is the homeland for pandas. Zoo is really the wrong word as it is more like a garden with a few animals tucked around, and despite not normally enjoying zoos very much, I really felt sad to leave Chongqing with its peaceful surroundings.
Now we have to pick where to visit next year... any suggestions?

Tuesday, 23 August 2011

Apologies

Battling with a cold, a broken car and over flowing paper work but I promise I'll be back soon! :)

Monday, 25 July 2011

A perfect afternoon

This morning I ventured to my parents house to see my dad and catch up with him while my mum is away on cub scout camp.
Dad had to help my grandad with some errands so I took the opportunity to take our family dog Megan out for a walk. Megan is one of my major life's loves and no what happens she is the only one that can always make me smile. She is the world's naughtiest springer spaniel (which in itself is a huge statement) but is so cute that you'd can never really be mad at her. She is the dog which has eaten a whole roast chicken out of the oven when no one was looking (she pulled the door open by pulling on a tea towel hanging on the oven door) and a whole Tunis cake from the kitchen counter.

We had a lovely walk and the weather was gorgeous and Megan got to run and run.

Five minute from the end of our circular walk, I noticed that I couldn't see Megan any more. She is a very good dog and doesn't walk this particular walk on a lead. I called and called and searched and no sign of Megan. I started to become a big frantic that I would have to tell my dad that I had lost the dog when I noticed this...

Megan had decided that she didn't want to go home and that if she hid she could play a little longer.
I love this dog but boy can she test us. She turned on her cuteness and all was forgiven! :)

Saturday, 23 July 2011

Sadness

I am so sad at the news from Norway and hate to see this beautiful country with such troubles.
Hubby and I lived in Oslo for two and a half years until last summer so both of us have been contacting all our friends there. Luckily no one was hurt but many were close.
All I could do yesterday was watch and cry for all of those innocent people caught up.
Tonight we will be lighting a candle and hoping that the things which made Norway the most beautiful country in the world have not been lost because of one awful man.

Wednesday, 20 July 2011

Counting down the weeks

Hubby and I are planning a big holiday to china this year which is starting to get very exciting. Today we sent off our visa applications and we had our jabs a few weeks ago. I decided that as we have so much time on airplanes and coaches and boats that I will make the most of it and take lots of sewing with me, and normally I would take it all in a small zip loc bag, but this year I thought I needed to do something to show off my work as I go around. I found a gorgeous stitchery pattern on Pat Sloan's website ( I think it was there) and I have been working slowly on the stitchery until I finished it last night.

Tonight I piece together the bag and was so happy with the results. It is just big enough to fit in my small sewing hoop and lots of fabric. I was really happy that I had this gorgeous Chinese fabric in my stash and have also lined it with another Chinese print. Now I can't wait to be sat on that plane and have to start planning what films and music to put on my iPad ready for the journey!!!

Sunday, 17 July 2011

Lots of sewing but not much progress

I seem to have been sewing a lot in the last few days but not making a great deal of progress with any projects.
I was eagerly waiting the arrival of my Creative Grids 45/90 degree ruler so that I could start on a sampler quilt which I have been looking forward to starting for ages.I bought Pam & Nicky Lintott's Jelly Roll sampler Quilts book as I had fallen in love with the quilt on the front page. My hubby was out on Friday night and I took advantage to start on it using a moda mill house jelly roll which i was given for Christmas from my mother in law and have been saving for a special project just for me. So far I have done 3 blocks out of the 12 and I love them!!!



We are having a rainy weekend here so it is the perfect weather to sit at my desk by the window and dream the weekend away.
Back to the sewing machine!

Monday, 4 July 2011

The sun has got his hat on-Hip Hip Hip Hooray!

The Sun has made a welcome appearance in the last few days which has led to very little time being spent at the sewing machine and lots of time out in the garden.
Since we bought this house I have been desperate to get out in the garden and dig. I planted a few vegetable plants in the spring, but now I can start the massive job of clearing and getting some order.
We have dug out some big plants to get the light into the garden which seemed so wrong, but needed doing so desperately. This has left us a HUGE pile of wood which needs chipping. I feel so sorry for our neighbours as the chipper is so loud.

We are supposed to get rain from tomorrow onwards so hopefully more work on those WIPs. The box of bagged up projects seems to be growing as I look round the house =(

Sunday, 26 June 2011

No more fabric!

A huge decision has been made in my house this weekend-I will not be buying any more fabric for a year and I will have to make do with what I have.
After cleaning out and trying to sort through my sewing cupboard this weekend I was really shocked at the amount of projects I have on the go and fabric for planned projects which have not yet been started.
As I am still new to quilting this was a huge surprise especially as I know that I have at least two boxes of fabrics in the loft in storage from when we moved house.
As a gesture of the way to carry on today I camped out in my sewing room to play with a couple of brightly coloured strip rolls which I received a few years ago for Christmas. I had always thought about doing a log cabin design, but as I had never done one before I didn't want to do one as a gift.
It has been a long which since I have sewed at my machine for a project which was not a present for someone, and the hours whizzed past and I loved it.


Although not much progress was made I did get 5 finished blocks out of it, which I love so I will carry on until it is finished. I think I need to border around the blocks with a plain black to make the colours pop out a little more, but I am sure I have some up in my stash.
I am almost finished with my Redwork Village stitchery and I have just found a gorgeous stitchery pattern online for a Chinese pagoda, so I think that I will have to make a bag to take my sewing in when we visit China later this year. Very exciting to be getting ready- we had our injections on Friday and all we need now is our Visas. I have never been that far away from home before so a little nervous, but mostly that there is such a huge language barrier.
I have just been offered the chance to watch a chickflick, so I had better go and snap it up before the chance disappears.

Friday, 3 June 2011

A little treat (for me)

I am super excited because I have just ordered issue 3 of Vignette, the gorgeous magazine from Leanne Beasley. Hopefully it will arrive after my exams finish on Tuesday so that I can start working on something immediately. I have ordered both of the previous issues and I love to sit and study it with a cup of coffee on a quiet afternoon. Such luxury!!

Back to study but hopefully back soon with some pictures of work in progress...

Thursday, 26 May 2011

Amazing disappearing act!

Where did that month go so quickly??!
The sewing maching was packed away a couple of weeks ago so that I wouldn't be temped while I was studying, and I've only got 10 days to go until it is all over. I hate these exams especially as the weather outside is beautiful and I keep sketching away on new projects to make once I am finished.
I think the next quilt will be for my brother who is travelling in Australia, and who feels very far away at the moment. I'm loving royal blue and white traditional style quilts so that is what I am starting to plan out in my head.
I am doing the occasional stitch on Rosalie Quinlan's 'Little Patchwork Village' which I have been working on for over a year, but that I love. It is my watching tv sewing, but mostly the sewing gets put down and the tv wins (which is why I have been working on it for so long). I only have one more picture to complete. Pictures to follow soon...

Friday, 29 April 2011

Love

What a wonderful day and such a great proud day to be British!
I thought Katherine looked beautiful and she and William looked very much in love.
I feel very proud to have the Royal couple as Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (where we live) and think that they are a wonderful example of our future monarchy.
My hubby and I had travelled to my parents' house which is about 30 miles away and we had a street party with games and party food.
A day to be remembered for many, many years to come.

Wednesday, 27 April 2011

Show and Tell

The baby quilt top is done! I was pleased that it only took a day and a half to do (half day on cutting and a day laying out and sewing)
From this...

 To...


And finally by Sunday night it looked like this...






 I really feel pleased with it and hopefully it will be basted and I can quilt it. I love straight-line quilting especially on quilts based on squares and I think this will be perfect for this.
Back to work tomorrow but only for a day because then we have the Royal Wedding. It will be a great day and we are going to a street party with my family which will be really great. I look forward to seeing Catherine's dress and also our nice champagne breakfast! We have so few excuses for a nice community day like this so this will be great! Let's just hope that the weather stays nice (rain is forcast =( )



Saturday, 23 April 2011

Finally!!

After six very long months of not sewing I finally managed to get some fabric out and cut into it. With having moved house just after Christmas and two accountancy exams in June, I have barely had any time let alone some clear space. We have a lovely long holiday with Easter and the royal wedding so I have decided to have a few days away from studying to do some sewing. I must get a move on because a friend has a baby girl due any day. I love sewing for little girls and can justify using as much pink as I want.
More to follow....

Wednesday, 23 March 2011

Excited!!!

I have just received my tickets to the Hobbycrafts events at the NEC this weekend and I am soooo excited. I always go saying that I don't really need anything but seem to come out with bags and bags of stuff!! I think the rest of this week might go very slowly.

Sunday, 6 March 2011

New fabric dilemma

I'm not sure what it is about buying a new stack of fabric, but I can never decide on the quilt design I'm going to use. As I'm still quite new to quilting I try and keep my quilts quite simple in design (all straight lines and not too complicated quilting).
I have just bought some fabric for a friend's baby due in May but I seem to have gone blank. I think maybe I should just cut into the stack and let some inspiration guide me.
I am desperately waiting for the decorating to finish in our house so that I can get some floor space to baste and finish some quilts(also presents) but my poor husband is working as quickly as possible! (he's an absolute star!)
P x

Tuesday, 15 February 2011

About me

My name is Philippa and I am a quilt-a-holic!!
I love nothing more than to sit at my dining room table with a pile of new fabric waiting to be cut and sewn together. Unfortunately I do not get nearly enough time for this.
Like many other quilters out there I have more fabrics tucked away than I really know what to do with and boxes of unfinished projects.
My husband and I have just bought our first house which is requiring lots of work, but we are now at the stage that I can work some magic with my sewing machine. Maybe first i might have to play with the new layer cake of Moda's Fandango!

P x