Bags and quilting ...

 

my idea of heaven!  I went on a sewing bag workshop last week at Cupcake Cottons and came away with this beautiful bag to keep all my sewing bits in ...

 Enjoyed making it SO much, I just had to make one for Poppy ...

and I'm now working on my third!

Vanessa x

Bits and pieces ...

my medallion quilt which I'm making with Steph at Cupcakes Cottons is coming along nicely ...

I met up with a dear friend this week - Chris Dodsley is visiting from New York and we spent the day together in Bath - non stop chatting!  Chris is an amazing quilter - check out her blog  madebychrissied.blogspot.com ...

Chris brought me some lovely gifts all the way from the USA!  Thanks Chris ...

Another dear friend, Sue Hayes, came home last week from a trip to Sri Lanka and she brought me these lovely fabrics - watch this space with what I plan to do with them ...

And finally, I went out with my friends from Bourton on Friday to celebrate my birthday and they gave me this lovely quilters travelling case ... thank you Sue, Maggie, Theresa and Lesley! 

I always take sewing with me wherever I go, so I know this case will come in really useful!

Vanessa x

And back to quilting ...

I finished my wreath just in time for this month's class! We used lightweight interfacing for the appliqué which gives a lovely puffed look.  I really enjoyed this technique but please don't look too closely at the hand stitching! 

This month we attached the scalloped border which was a bit of a fiddle in the corners but I got there.  And now I'm busy making half square triangles for the next stage. 

Really love this quilt - it's going to be very fussy!

Vanessa x

Pauline, Put the kettle on ...

Happy 80th Birthday Aunty Pauline!

My lovely sister-in-law Jo made this beautiful cake for Aunty Pauline!

Just wanted to share this portrait with you ...

 

my incredibly talented friend, Theresa James, gave me this for my birthday!  A wonderful likeness to Archie!  Thank you Tree!

It's on the wall ...

 Chuffed to bits! :) 

ps:  while doing a bit of sorting out, I found these sweet leaf buttons - perfect for the wall hanging!

So ....

I have been free motion quilting my wall hanging this weekend and it's not easy!

It's taking a lot longer than I thought it would!  Not sure what Archie thinks ...

The quilt has a rustic, folk art look ...

and David likes it ...

I'm hoping, if it turns out ok, to hang it in our sitting room but we'll have to see.  I know it's silly to say because I've had the size on the pattern from the start, but it's turned out larger than I thought it would!  So watch this space.  By the way, I got the pattern from Quilt Mania, Autumn Special 2014 - so it's been on my 'to do list' for a while!!!

Progress report ...

Going well ...

This is a great project to do a little bit each evening in front of the TV!