BEAST BE GONE

Hello my lovelies. I hope you’ve all had an enjoyable weekend. Those of you who live in the UK might have experienced the Mini Beast from the East. Rest assured that my little corner of the northeast of England did not suffer too much with snow but the wind was mighty strong and biting cold. I stepped out on Saturday to join a group of like-minded ladies. I didn’t think there would be many takers but quite a few diehards travelled the short distance to the venue. We had a fabulous day forgetting the fact that the Mini Beast was raging outside.

Here’s my little bit of progress for the weekend …..

I’m loving these latest appliqué blocks. The more I look at them the better I like them; I think it’s the simplicity I really like. What a great way of busting my stash and using up scraps.

I managed to longarm quilt another charity quilt today …..

Once again, I used a lovely fine bright gold thread and the all over quilting design is called Cloud Nine by Patricia Ritter. I cut and joining binding strips which I machined on this after and hope to hand finish said binding on the back of the quilts this evening. I also loaded the next charity quilt to be stitched tomorrow, I hope. I’m feeling quite satisfied with my charity quilt quilting challenge so far. Two down three more to go. I’m aiming for five but perhaps I’ll be able to squeeze an extra one in before my deadline. Fingers crossed.

It’s been another great day in paradise. Longarm quilting a charity quilt makes me feel good; as if I’ve done something useful. The Mini Beast from the East seems to have moved on. It was lovely walking Maisie this morning; there was no snow whipping my face and the wind was mild and barely more than a whisper. What a different a day makes 😉 

So, I guess that’s my report for today. I’m still working on putting together a photo tutorial regarding prepping appliqué blocks. I hope you all have a super cosy evening doing something that makes you happy. Until next time,

Let’s all keep on stitching.

Lucie x

LAST DAY OF THE WEEK

Hello my lovelies. I hope you’ve all had the perfect Friday. It’s still quite wintery here in my little corner of the world. However, my Sarah and I ventured out to top up essentials. This happiest stitcher cannot live without milk in her coffee! Lucky for us the highway maintenance crews are out in full force. And as we stuck to the main roads we did not encounter any problems. It was great to step out for an hour.

Do you know that when you’re on a self-imposed lock-in due to bad weather it’s hard to concentrate long enough to work out what to do? I’ve had five days of confusion because I just couldn’t figure out what to work on next. I feel I wasted quite a lot of time worrying about when the harsh weather would break but I carried on doing bits and pieces of quilt making behind the scenes. Silly girl, just get on with it.

So, yesterday I posted photos of another variation on the Dresden Plate theme. Something called Dresden Neighbourhood …..

Well, I got started making roofs, windows and doors …..

I’m using my favourite Freezer Paper method but raw edge appliqué would do the trick also. I chose this project because I wanted to have a little fun. The planning stage of any project is always fun for me. And using scraps of fabric is super.

I really ought to work out what I will use for my background. I was planning on piecing a neutral background using scraps but I don’t seem to have quiet enough neutrals in my scrap basket so I’m going to have to move onto Plan B. I think I’m going to use a white background so that the patches stand out better. My Dresden Blades are mainly medium in shade, well at least my eyes register them as medium. So, this throw size quilt top which I pieced some time ago doesn’t really do it for me. I’ll have to save it for another project …..

And besides I think I want to keep this quilt little. I don’t often work on little. So, I’m going to stick to my original idea of using it as a door banner.

It’s been an interesting week in happy stitching manor. February is finished and March has finally arrived. I was hoping for flowering spring bulbs like daffodils and crocuses but instead we got the Beast from the East. It feels like there’s no end in sight but it will end and when spring does arrive it will be so sweet. These last few days have given me time to reflect on life. I’ve got a better idea of what I want to do. I think I should design, create and breathe. My Sarah is rather busy working on end of year major projects and professional practice. I think she’s under quite a lot of pressure. So, my main goal at the moment is to support her as best I can. I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking that our children should always come first. Once we get thru this last academic year, I can move onto please myself. How sweet it will be! Life is so precious so let’s live it.

I guess that’s my report for today. I’m the happiest stitcher in the world today. I’ve got that Friday feeling. I hope you all have a great weekend full of happiness. Until next time,

Let’s all keep on stitching,

Lucie x