KEEPING SEASONALLY BUSY

Hello my lovelies. I hope you’ve all been having a great time in this run up to Christmas. I cannot believe that the new year is just around the corner. Did you know that there’s only 27 more sleeps until Christmas?

I have been keeping busy doing this and that. I have been working on a few Christmas presents ….

As you can see someone will be getting a pair of socks which I knitted with my very own hands. And someone else will be getting a couple of candle mats. I really enjoyed making the candle mats, I wasn’t really sure how to go about it but I think the mats turned out pretty good. I’m sure the recipient of the candle mats will appreciate them. And the last item I crafted was a knitting needle roll. If you’re a knitter, you can never have too many of these.

Nowadays, my Christmas present list isn’t very long. And I don’t hand craft as many presents as I used to. Sarah and I are both looking forward to the holidays. We’re planning on having a nice relaxing quiet time making new happy memories.

My Sarah and I have collaborated on a project recently. Sarah machine quilted a quilt for Quilts for Comfort and I added the binding. Our little pile of charity quilts is growing slowly. Life has been rather full of quiet activities for both of us and so the charity quilts are growing a little slower than we would have hoped. Slow and steady is good.

This is the time of year when I ponder what’s been happening over the past year. It’s been a quiet year of rebuilding. You can all rest assured that the simple life that I’m living nowadays is very fulfilling. Life isn’t passing me by, I’m enjoying every minute.

This past week, I helped one of my friends finish one of her projects by doing a little freemotion quilting. Boy oh boy did I ever enjoy machine quilting this jelly roll race type quilt. I filled each strip with one of three different stitching designs. Not only did I get a good old freemotion quilting practice but also, I was doing something useful. I’m quite sure the recipient of this quilt will cherish it for years to come. Does anyone else find that hand finishing the binding is quite satisfying. I sure do, especially when the rain is going past the horizontally.

I have truly enjoyed every minute of crafting over the last couple of weeks. A little knitting and a whole lot of machine sewing, kept me occupied. And not only was I busy but I found inspiration. Just when my mojo was almost non-existent, by working on my Christmas presents, I tripped on a little bit of inspiration. I guess I better get my sketchbook out and start drawing new designs to work on after Christmas.

I guess that’s my report for today. I hope you all have a super cosy evening doing something you truly enjoy. Stay warm and safe. Until next time,

Let’s all keep on stitching.

Lucie x

PUMPKIN SEASON IS HERE

Hello my lovelies. I hope you’re all having great autumn days. The weather has been typical here in my little corner of the northeast of England. It’s been breezy and wet at times but generally I have been enjoying every minute. The heating has been switched on in the evening just to keep the damp away. I have been lighting scented candles; I really enjoy watching the flickering flame.

I have finally completed the centre blocks and inner border of my Sweet Dresden Town. The different components have been hanging on my design wall for months. In the past few days, I have been admiring it and finally took the decision about whether I need another border. And the decision is that yes it needs another border to frame it up. I know exactly what fabric I want as the last border. And it will be purchased this weekend. The backing fabric has been pressed and joined and the whole lot will be ready for longarm quilting very soon. You may not be able to tell but I’m rather excited about getting this one finished.

It seems ages since I last worked on my hexagon project. When I sit down in the evening, I knit. I always seem to get a hankering for knitting when autumn arrives. At the moment I’m knitting socks. I’ve lost count of how many pairs I knitted over the last few weeks. I sure am enjoying it but there will come an evening when I want to do a little hand sewing pretty soon. I’ll let you know when that happens.

I have been keeping quite busy with household chores and making changes to give my home a different feel. It’s a year since I was officially pronounced single by the family court. Making decisions was difficult at times over the last couple of years but I have finally accepted that now I can do as I please when I please in my own home. My top priority was to change the look and feel of my bedroom. This task will be fulfilled this coming week. A few new pieces of furniture will do the trick. And those bits of furniture will be delivered this weekend. I have so been looking forward to this.

Life at happy stitching manor sure has changed over the last few years. Everything is much simpler making mine and my Sarah’s life much easier. There’s rarely any drama. Who knew life could be as good as this???

The leaves are really changing colours now. We’ve had a several blustery days blowing the leaves off the trees and onto the ground. While walking the dog in the morning I have crunched my way thru piles of dried leaves in the park. And the local supermarkets have pumpkins in the produce section. I’m not a pumpkin pie lover but I do like a nicely carved and lit pumpkin.

I guess that’s my report for today. I have been enjoying life of late. My new life seems to finally be taking shape. I still believe in happy ever afters. In fact, I think I’m finally enjoying my happy ever after. I hope you all have a super cosy weekend doing something you truly love doing. We should all be doing more of what we enjoy. Until next time,

Let’s all keep on stitching.

Lucie x

BOOGIE BOARD PRACTICE

Hello my lovelies. I hope you’re all enjoying autumn. It’s very breezy in my little corner of the northeast of England. And not only I it windy but that wind is blowing the leaves off the trees!!!

I’ve been enjoying autumn at my slow and measured pace. I’ve been out and about a little bit and seen the trees are starting to changes colours. Autumn is my favourite time of year. It’s starting to cool off sufficient that I can start wearing my woollies. I’ve pulled a few knitted cardies and sweaters out. And I’ve gone on to knit a few pairs of socks …..

The socks knitted using Regia wool are children’s sock which I will be donating to Quilt for Comfort. Not only do the volunteers of Quilts for Comfort piece quilts but now they are collecting socks to bring comfort to young people receiving cancer treatment. Apparently, your feet get quite cold when during chemotherapy treatments. The donated sock can be handknit or store bought. And the young people love character socks eg: superhero, princess etc. I’m chose to knit a couple of pairs for now. When I’m out and about in the shops I will be looking out for interesting socks.

Speaking of Quilts for Comfort, I longarm quilted one quilt top last week for the charity …..

I love a scrappy quilt. While I was stitching I spotted one or two fabrics which I have had in my stash over the years. I love this quilt and it has inspired me to make a couple of scrappy quilts for my Sarah and I to use in the evening while watching TV this winter. I have some lovely spotty fleece to use as a backing which will make the quilts even more cosy. Now I just need to decide how I will piece the quilts and to sort thru my scraps. I’ll need to clean my sewing machine including changing the needle and I’ll be good to go.

You might remember this panel that I pieced a couple of weeks ago just because I needed a sewing fix …..

Well I finally quilted it this past weekend. I cleaned my sewing machine and changed the needle to a quilting needle and did the deed.

I find that I get a bit rusty in between freemotion quilting sessions. So, I need to practice a bit before actually start quilting the project. Lori Kennedy of the Inbox Jaunt recommended using a Boogie Board to practice. In the past, I used paper and pencil or a White Board and White Board marker but a Boogie Board wastes less paper and ink. I definitely agree with Lori that practicing on paper/Boogie Board/White Board helps you give your brain a preview of what you want to stitch on fabric. The more you practice the better your shapes get.

I quilted this project using my domestic sewing machine, a Brother Innovis VQ-2. It’s a great machine for freemotion quilting as it has a large sewing bed. Once all the quilting was done I turned the panel into a bag. I’m not sure I need another bag but it was a great to practice my freemotion quilting while getting my much needed sewing fix.

With the arrival of the cooler weather my little furry supervisor needs a little bit of comfort …..

My Maisie was a little off colour over the weekend. With her advanced age she suffers from Vestibular Disease. She had an episode on Saturday. Now that we know what it is when it happens it’s not so scary. Maisie has recovered and is in fine fettle today.

The last few weeks have been great. I have been living a reasonably good and quiet life. I do my best to stay away from complications. A simple life is a better life. My Sarah and I are looking forward to Christmas. I haven’t started counting down the days yet but I have done a wee bit of Christmas shopping.

So that’s my report for today. I have enjoyed my little bit of recent creativity. I hope to finish off one or two UFOs before Christmas but in the meantime, I’m enjoying little bit of stitching that comes my way. I hope you all have a super cosy evening doing something you truly enjoy. Until next time,

 

 Lucie x

FORMING A NEW PLAN OF ACTION

Hello my lovelies. I hope you’ve all been enjoying a glorious autumn. It’s been lovely in my little corner of the northeast of England. It’s starting to cool off and even some of the trees are already turning to autumn colours. We had a very dry summer so it’s no wonder that the leaves are changing so early.

I’ve been keeping very busy with household chores. I planted up my outdoor planters with violas …..

I love violas. I love seeing their smiling faces when I pull into my driveway. I especially love the bright yellow and deep purple varieties.

I have been tidying up my bedroom. In fact, I changed my bed and added some new and extra storage. And because I changed my bed I decided to buy a new duvet cover which I promptly turned into a quilt using  quilting design called Rococo by Hermione Agee of Lorien Quilting …..

I did a little more longarm quilting recently …..

This quilting design is called Feathered Garden by Irene Steele. It stitches out really nicely and looks really good on this sampler.

Now that the cooler weather has set in, I have a hankering to knit!!! So, I went back to knitting socks. I started these socks last spring and carried off where I left off yesterday afternoon while I was watching a few recorded shows on TV …..

It looks like I’m well on my way to finishing this UFO of the knitted variety. I made a picnic basket type of bucket at the end of last year and tucked it away behind my longarm quilting frame. I kept tripping over it until today when I decided to use it to store my knitting projects. I don’t know why I waited so long to use it.

The last week or so has just flown by. I’ve had so many little jobs that needed doing which kept my mind occupied. I’m hoping to soon have the time to form a new plan of action for the next few months. I have a short list of gentle goals. I seem to be well suited to creative pursuits. So, I think I’ll include plenty of creativity in my new plan of action.

So, I guess that’s my report for today. I hope you all have a super cosy evening doing something you truly enjoy doing. Until next time,

Let’s all keeping on stitching.

Lucie x

ANOTHER BLUSTERY SNOWY DAY

Hello my lovelies from a very snowy northeast of England. We’ve had everything from snow blizzard to lightning today!!! I am so glad that today is the last day of February. And for meteorological purposes tomorrow is the first day of spring. You just have to laugh because this is the view from my sewing room window today …..

And here is Sarah and Maisie heading off for a little walk earlier today …..

I was so glad to have my Sarah home today rather than driving to uni for studio sessions. I will admit that we did hit our local supermarket to top up on a few provisions but the shop was less than half a mile away and on main roads. So now we have enough food for a few days. The shelves in the supermarket were looking a little sparse but only because the deliveries haven’t been getting thru. Can you believe there were no fresh whole carrots!!! And I needed carrots to make my chicken noodle and veg soup. I managed to find some ready cut fresh carrot sticks which will do the job just as well.

When I wasn’t looking out the window at the snow falling, I disappeared into my sewing room to machine the binding onto my Dresden quilt. While machining the binding I also added a hanging pocket …..

I’ll start handing finishing the binding onto the back when my soup is simmering. I haven’t even made up my label yet but that’s easy enough as I keep my labels pretty simple and straight forward. This cold wintry weather is giving me an appetite for knitting. I think I may cast on a few stitches on three needles to make some socks. I bought some colourful yarn for another pair of slouchy socks …..

My little corner of the northeast of England sure is a wintry looking place today. I quite often long for snow but that’s because I grew up with lots of winter snow. I was born in the cold wilds of Canada. When I stepped out this morning to hit the supermarket I found myself feeling quite anxious to be driving in such bad weather. I had a little chat with myself and remembered that I used to drive in this weather all the time to get to work in the good old days. Nowadays I’m quite happy to be able to pick and choose whether to go out or stay in during this kind of weather. Sarah, Maisie and I spent the afternoon watching shows on Netflix. I was in very good company. We drank hot chocolate and toasted sourdough bread with various toppings added while watching people on foot rush by trying to get out of the bitter wind. It was a lovely relaxing afternoon. I’m afraid we may have to repeat it again tomorrow.

So that’s my report for today. I have thoroughly enjoyed my self-imposed lock-in. I hope you all have a super cosy evening save in the knowledge that your loved ones are safe and warm tonight. Until next time,

Let’s all keep on stitching

Lucie x