After the wedding....

When I asked my step daughter if could I help with her wedding invites, she had them all organised so she asked if I could make her 'Thank You' cards.

 

Easy for me to do as I make cards and have all the bits and pieces to make them, just had to buy some new card.. so two afternoons later I had made 50 with inners ready printed so she just had to fill in the names and the item.

It's amazing how when you do something regularly how easy it becomes.

 

And mandalas?? I have made seven in all, one for Yarndale, three for friends and three for me!

I was hoping it would put a dent in my yarn stash and it has but only a little!

 

I am now planning a quilt for my grandson as I made one for his sister when she went to Uni, so just sorting out some fabric and I might, just might,  have to pop to my fabric store. Why? Because I haven't suitable colours in my stash!!LOL

 

x

 

 

A mandala moment or two or five??

 

I have loved making these.. I saw them on Lucy's blog www.attic24.typepad.com.. she is coordinating them for Yarndale in Skipton on the last weekend in September.

 

I booked up in a B&B when I first heard about it..

She only wants one person and that they are only 7 inches across and stiffened with white PVA glue on the back. So the one I am sending to her is the little pastel coloured one. She has lots of info on her blog and some super pictures of mandalas plus loads of patterns to get you started.

But be warned.... they are very addictive!! I am making us another two as I though a group of five on our conservatory wall would be just right!

So I am off to start crocheting another one or two... of I might even make a few more than two.

I can't stop!LOL

 

X

PS And many thank yous for all your lovely comments on the wedding photo, I think we all scrubbed up well! It was a lovely, lovely day.

 

The Wedding

Here is the bride and groom and the proud Dad (DH) and myself.

 

It was a beautiful day, weather was warm and sunny and the whole day was wonderful.

I think you can see how beautiful the bride was.. I don't know why DH has his eyes closed, but this was the only pic of us with the lovely couple.

 

The ceremony was lovely in the old church, (consecrated 1829) and the vicar quite a case, with funny asides to put us all at ease. All planned by my step daughter as just the sort of wedding she wanted.

 

The hotel was very nice and very organised so everything went according to plan

 

The food  was delicious  and everyone kept saying how very tasty it was.. we enjoyed the whole day and evening.. Dh and I danced a dance or two and I loved it all.

We left every one at 11 pm... dropped into bed and slept till 8:30 the next day, I was shattered. We had gone to the house where my step daughter lived before the ceremony so it was a long, long day!

And then suddenly it was all over.. the happy couple went to Sardinia for their honeymoon and we came home for a rest!!!  But it was a super day!

 

At the last minute on the Friday, before we left we realised we had no confetti, so I dashed into the garden and plucked some yellow rose petals, some marigold petals and some forget-me-nots heads and the scent from the roses was still powerful when we threw it over the married couple the next day!

x

A wedding present that I made!

This is the quilt I made for my step daughter as a wedding present.

 

The fabric is Kaffe Fasset's  oriental design and originally this design was a BOM.

But where I go for my work shops she had a pack of the fabric and all the block patterns.

I actually hand sewed the 9 blocks and the half  dresden plate design.

Something I didn't think I could do until I started the work shops which I love.

I had it professionally quilted by a long arm quilter.

This is the back turned so you can see the design

And here is a close up, isn't it amazing? It has certainly made the quilt look fantastic.
I am very pleased at how it turned out, so pleased that I have taken another one to her, my Moda French General fabric, two stars quilt. Can't wait to see how that one turns out too.

She discussed with me as to how I wanted it to look, helped me with the choice of thread, I chose this light gold colour and there were so many quilting designs to choose from; her advice was invaluable. So Janette Chilver will be seeing me again and again!

And the bride loved it.  So all my hard work was worth it!

x

ps I don't know why the photos are not clear but if you click on them it shows the true colours.

A little progress

I have really neglected my blog but I have been extremely busy.

 

I have just stitched a little of this but have done other things that because they are gifts and an exchange, I  can't show those now.
As well as that we have had some glorious sunshiny days and the garden has taken priority

All my hard work is beginging to show and the seedlings I have tendered so carefully are now beginning to flower.. roll on summer!!
Happy days All

X

I am thrilled!!

Hi all, hope you all had a wonderful Easter time and shared it with family and friends like us..
But since then....I am always looking at that 'evil' shop.. in fact I look at it every day incase I find a bargain chart.. you know like a Cut Thro' for 99p.. never found one yet at that price, but look  what I did find.

Two 2010 The World of Cross Stitching magazines.

 

And in the one is that lovely design that June (Butterfly Wings ) stitched

It is so pretty and the individual designs could be used for cards.

I wouldn't  make a cushion but it will suit my other designs that are similar.

 

This super one is by Gail Bussi; isn't it just darling?

I absolutely love it and am going to start it right away.

Although I am stitching Fairies at the bottom of our Garden, I feel I need a change!

 

Not a very good pic but I think you can see it has progressed.
My cat 'Welcome' only needs the whiskers and face back stitch doing but it can wait!
I am tra la la-ing.. I am so happy!
And I lost another 1 1/2 pounds this week.. so I am doubly happy!
And it is a wonderful sunshiny day!

x

 

Pretty spring colours for place mats.

I posted pics of these fabrics a week or so ago and now I have ....

 

..........8 of these.  They all have the sunflower fabric in the middle and then all the other colours surrounding it in different orders,  so they are all different.  Like a log cabin design but some extra side pieces to make them rectangular rather than square.

 

And they have been used already, we had DH's son and family on Saturday and as it was a glorious sunshiny day we sat outside and used these on our patio tables.

 

Sunday we were inside with my daughter and her family and had the tradition lamb roast dinner for Easter Sunday. Pud was a rhubarb and strawberry crumble with home made ice cream. My two grandsons ate well as they are now the size of young men and tower over me, but still not too big for a hug from Grandma.

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend.

We had two very happy and busy days, so now we are relaxing in the quiet of our own home!

I think my food plan went a little ' skewiff '  

Ah well, tomorrow is another day!

x

 

Down to the bluebell woods

 Hello beautiful day and our dusty shoes walking along the path.

 

Hello woods where the bluebells flower, just a short distance from where we live.

Hello me with

smiling fat cheeks!

(I have lost 7 pounds but where from???)

 

Hello bluebells where ever you look

 

 

Hello Nell who loved it all

 

 

Happy Easter all

x

 

I like to be busy!

I have loads to do as we have visitors all over Easter weekend so what am I doing??

Making cushions!

I had this fabric, just 4 fat quarters that I bought from Chelmsford market last summer.

There was just enough to do these two.

These are our kitchen chairs and needed new cushions.

These wooden chairs are hard!

 

And in my stash I have these fabrics, some beautiful spring colours.

I have already started some place mats for us to use over Easter so no time to waste.

 

Happy and Blessed Easter all.. do hope we'll have some sun shiny weather!

 

 

Our annual trip to my home.

We have had a very pleasant long weekend in Porthcawl, the town where I was born and grew up.

This view is of the main prom, which has little cafes that sells the most delish Italian ice cream and coffee.

 

 

But we stay here, in the little village of Newton just a mile from the town.

The beach is dog friendly so Nell was in heaven.

We had some beautiful sunshiny days although there was a sea breeze as well, so quite chilly in the shade.

But we enjoyed the whole time we were away.

I met up with my friend that I have known since we were 8 so a long, long time and my cousin.

Home again now but we shall be back there next year, just to tend the graves and leave flowers for my mother, grand parents and aunts.

Always a bit of sadness when I see my mother's name on the grave. I was two and a half when she died, so I have a limited memory of her, just a vague scene of someone in a bed.

x