Curtains

Before Christmas my daughter Sarah asked me to make curtains for her bedroom windows. There are two windows. Thankfully small but, they proved to be a little tricky in the making. The fabric is a lovely Cath Kidston print. Because the windows are small and in a recess they have a bespoke iron rod with a curly end to them meaning that ordinary curtain headings would not work. They had to be bagged out and hidden tabs added and the tabs had to be deep enough to fit over those curly end brackets. I am not a curtain expert and did what I thought would work. They look lovely and I am glad they are done and out of the way. I am also waiting for the call of "Mum, can you make the next pair?" .  Ask me if they were on my list! No, they were not. Silly me. Could have had a few finishes here.

Also, not on the list was a little bit of crochet in the form of a dolly blanket for Maisie. This ball of yarn was winking at me on top of my knitting basket and I thought it was perfect for this quick project. It is actually sock yarn and a double knit and I made a mistake buying it thinking it was 4 ply. It made up very quickly. Good practice. It is stretched out and pinned to my carpet. Looks much better for it. Makes for a jolly expensive dolly cover but I was never going to make up a pair of socks with it.

My friend Janet knitted Maisie a beautiful sweater when she was born and she is just growing into it in time for the cold weather.

Time to think about what is on that list and tackle something. Desperate for a finish ( not counting the two items not on it) I chose to do the binding on this quilt. It has been staring at me for so long and I hate doing bindings. At least now it is done and crossed off. Just needs a label. Daisy may get her quilt very soon. It is so cosy with that flannel sheet backing.

On Saturday we had a little run out to Dunster for lunch. It felt too cold to be wandering around and we did not hang around for a walk in the Castle grounds.

These three handsome chaps were the recipients of a bit of Christmas stitching. Olly my Son in Law, his brother and his Dad. Surname Young. Scottish connection. Clan Young tartan. Ties and waistcoats. The ties nearly drove me mad but the waistcoat was sheer pleasure to make. One day they may have an occasion to wear them. They look pleased. 

For Sarah there was enough fabric left over to make a lined wrap and in my stash was the perfect Liberty fabric given to me many years ago by a friend. So you see, I may not be posting very often but I am being kept busy.

I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you for your patience and understanding during the recent email blip. I sincerely hope you were not affected or infected.

Happy Stitching.

Love Shirley.

Virus

Hello everyone. Just to alert you that if you have a dodgy looking email from me please DO NOT OPEN it. I have not sent it. I apologise for this. Trying to sort it out.

Shirley.

New Year, new list.

A brand new start to a brand new year and I love the positive feel that this brings. I like to think that there is the opportunity to start afresh and make new plans. Last year was a pretty exciting one in lots of ways and may be hard to beat.

The first thing I like to do in the new year is to plan my sewing activities and there are some lovely things happening later in the year. I have yet again written a list. I call it A Quilter's Dozen. Twelve items to be worked on and a thirteenth which invariably gets me into a lot of trouble. The thirteenth item is always so much more exciting and anything goes. If I can tackle those things on the list I shall think I am doing well and any finishes will be loudly cheered. The eagle eyed amongst you might notice several things on there that have appeared on previous lists.

I was given this lovely notebook by my friend Kate. I love notebooks. This one came from the Quilter's Guild of the British Isles. Inside it has a handy little ruler which detaches from the spine and there is a good mix of lined and plain paper. I think it will be quite useful. My new mantra for 2015 is "Eat, Sleep, Breathe, Stitch It". It covers a multitude and in past years my words and resolutions have not lasted very long. This will be a work in progress I think. Does anyone keep to their resolutions? Last years word was Content. I definitely failed to deliver more content on the blogging front but ending on a positive I definitely felt most content on Christmas Day.

Also inside the notebook are a couple of handy plastic pockets and oh joy! Graph paper. I love graph paper. You never know when inspiration is going to hit and you need to jot something down or draw it.

The new year has got off to a good start and I have finished five blocks for the Stonefields Quilt. Cheating a little as I had prepped them a few days ago but it feels good to be able cross something off the list already on day 1.

Total blocks now made comes to 25. I am loving this project but feel glad that I am not following it as a Block of the Month because I get so hopelessly behind. The secret to this project is preparation. For the next set of blocks I may prep a job lot and then I can just stitch.

That leaves me now to just wish you all a very Happy New Year. May your year be filled with love, laughter and plenty of stitching.

Love Shirley.