Decorating and stitching

I have been wanting to post now for a while, to tell you about my great time at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, but having been away last week on hols, I forgot to bring my camera home, so I am not going to be able to show pics of the quilt show, but I have been doing a little bit of decorating, so I am going to show you a few pics of that.

Firstly though, I had such an exciting time at the quilt festival. A friend and I headed off on the plane at 8.40am and 40mins later we were in Birmingham!! After identifying the monorail and a 2min ride we were at the NEC where the quilt show was-how handy was that?

We were soooo excited to have two days out to ourselves and wow, the quilt show did not disappoint!! Stall after stall of beautiful stuff-bliss, to say the least. Unfortunately I cannot show you my goodies til I get my camera back (I could get them all out and take more pics, but I'm too lazy) but I had a very exciting event......I got to meet another blogging buddy in real life!!

I must say, I aint in the habit of meeting people I have met on-line, but I have been liaising with the lovely Wendy from the 'Quiet Room' blog for sometime now and felt I knew her already- I just needed a face to complete the friendship:))

We spent a lovely hour over lunch and laughed at the common purchases and out of all the 100's of stalls, we both had the same favourite-how cool (or odd) is that?
Anyway, it was great to meet and Wendy surprised me with the most lovely gift;
check out these little pillows-her hand stitching is soooo neat-I just love them, thanks again Wendy:)



This is where the little wool pillow is placed


Moving on; over the summer we got some painting done to the living area, hall, stairs and landing (the paintwork was so grubby, it was a disgrace). Since we have alot of dark wood in the house, we went with lighter walls and while this was taking place, I commissioned my hubby's friend to make me some items-quilt racks and blanket crane shelves.


This one, I did aged white over black and walnut wax to finish.

Back to my trusty good olde deep red colour:) again, aged with walnut wax-difficult to see


Just a closer view to see I have started to decorate for autumn-even though,over the last two days we have been blessed with the most sunshine we have had all summer!lol!






This next pic was another summer project-I aged this ladder and then hand stitched the wool applique towels, whilst relaxing at the caravan.


Yep, it's more pumpkins!lol!


........and more pumpkins??


OK, I think that's sufficient from me for tonight; hope you have enjoyed your visit and please call again soon. My youngest babe starts nursery tomorrow and the older cherubs go back to school-back to routine again and to be honest, maybe that is what I am in need of-routine! Just maybe, the dishes will get washed before bedtime and the laundry will be kept up to date.....I know hubs, who do I think I'm kidding-not a chance, when there is stitching to be done:))

Blessings, Shazy x

Christmas quilt-a-long update

Yes, I knew before I even started the quilt-a-long on Saturday, hosted by Sue of Quilt Times, that I wouldn't get much time to participate, but I still wanted to join in the fun:) So here we are, a number of days later and I want to show you that I am still on board (just a little slow!lol!)

These first three blocks took an age-I think I spent more time with my stitch ripper in hand than stitching, but I eventually got into the swing of getting my points fairly ok (don't look too close) by ironing the seams in a particular direction, so that they 'fitted' nicely into each other-how slow am I????



Sorry, I was on a roll and couldn't get stopped for photo's until the front was finished! There are three rows of the red blocks-the rest is over the banister:)



Now......for the fun/relaxing bit-yep, I am going to be traditional and hand quilt this one


Finally, I thought I could show the progress on Santa. It's a little wrinkled, from being in my sewing bag, but you get the picture



A closer glimpse of my newly learned skill....feather stitch????



There are a few other little projects I was going to show, but as usual, this posting takes forever. It is now 18.05 and I will let you into a secret; the b'fast dishes are still in the sink and there is no dinner on, so I better hop it!!

Have a great week,
Blessings, Shazy x

Christmas?

I know, I know....I said I wouldn't be back until September, but I could not miss out on some Christmas fun!! After all, it is my most favourite time to decorate:)

Sue over at Quilt Times is having a Christmas quilt-a-long, just to get us all ready, so go on over and join in the fun and see what everyone else is doing today.

I am very excited about this, because up until now, most of my quilts have been applique and very little pieced work. So a little while back, I admired a lovely quilt over here, made by the lovely Julie and before 24hrs were out, she had e-mailed me the pattern, which was her very own pattern!! How helpful was that?

Anyway, here goes.....I ordered some antiqued muslin and as I'm sure you can imagine, I have an endless supply of reds and I got to cutting!!



If you are looking a break and want to get in the spirit of Christmas and want to see the finished quilt, go to Julie's blog-Tattered Threads and Willing Hands (which I have linked for you above). Scroll down to her section for 'home tours' and click on her 'holiday home tour' just check out those amazing quilts-talent or what? Did you see the one that I am trying to make?



This is one of Cheri Payne's patterns (love them) that I have been working on using wool applique-such a delight to work with. I even taught myself feather stitch, from on-line. Oops, I don't think I have a photo of that yet!






Ok, that's all for now, not sure when I will get back today as EVERYONE is at home ........need I say anymore?

Why not join in the fun too,
Blessings, Shazy x