~*~ Sew Pretty Wendy ~*~

Finished this doggy this morning, pattern is in the new "Sew Pretty Homestyle" by Tilda.

Tilda has a dachshund too, called Toto.

~*~ Verity and Vara ~*~

Click the video to activate the clip. In this short video, Verity is riding Vara over her new set of Polyjump showjumps.

~*~ Calum's GCSE success ~*~

Congratulations and Well Done Calum on your GCSE results.

~*~Haymaking ~*~

Billy has started cutting the hay in the 7 acre field. Everything is very late this year due to all the rain. It is quite an involved process: cutting, spreading out, turning, turning again, baling and then storing. If the weather is decent for the next few days, we should get the job done.

~*~ Quilters Block ~*~

The whole family was on tenterhooks this week until Alex got his A'Level results on Thursday.
He telephoned me at work and I didn't come down off the ceiling for the rest of the day.
I discovered a lovely blog last week, Knotgarden, and have had great fun browsing through her old posts, check her out, she makes beautiful quilts. She also had a list of her favourite books, many of which I had myself, but I had not seen "Small Quilts with Vintage Charm" by Jo Morton. I decided to take a risk and ordered it sight unseen frow Amazon. I was not disappointed, 8 gorgeous but manageable quilts. I have now so many projects I want to do that I don't know where to start and so I am dithering about doing nothing.

When, or if, you finish a quilt you then have to decide where to display or hang it, I am always on the look out for "props" and today I found this vintage trug which will look gorgeous filled with "bits" and sitting on top of a prim quilt.
Julie also gave me the silver thimble which belonged to her mum, Joan, thank you Julie.

P.S If you are reading this at your Dad's house Verity, do feel free to fiddle around with the grammer, layout etc. as you usually do !!! LOL xxx.

~*~ Manchester 2008 ~*~

Congratulations and Very Well Done to my eldest son Alex who passed his 3 A'Levels and secured his university place at Manchester to study History and Sociology.
He worked very hard and thoroughly deserves his success.I am sooo proud.

~*~ Silverware scooped at Slaley Show~*~

Mixed response to my entries at Slaley show, the baby booties came nowhere but the winners were absolutely beautiful, so no complaints. A different story with my quilts in the "Patchwork article" category I was awarded first and second and most amazingly, The "Handicraft Trophy" for best exhibit in the entire handicraft section. I haven't stopped smiling!

~*~Friday Fabric Fondle~*~

Hectic but fun day today,
Metro Centre this morning and a foray to the M&S food dept., and then sewing at Kim's The new Tilda book had arrived , packed with gorgeous projects, beautifully photographed. There are 3 or 4 projects I must do......
I also bought this lovely "doggy " fabric with little Wendys on, I thought it would make a great cushion for her basket!!
After I have made tea for my 3 starving teenagers, I will have to prepare my entries for Slaley Show tomorrow. This is the first time I have entered my work into a show or competition and I am very nervous about the response, hope I am not making a fool of myself.

~*~Spring Fling~*~

It's finished!! Well I still have the label to do and a few loose ends to tie in.

~*~U.F.O. spotted over Northumberland~*~

In the spring,I bought a moda university kit called "Spring Fling".The colours were not my usual choice but I thought Verity might like it.
The piecing was fine but then I decided to attempt free-motion quilting with my old but trusty Bernina.It was a hard slog and very tough on the neck and shoulders,eventually the quilt was put to one side but it kept glaring at me.
Saturday afternoon I could bear it no longer and decided to finish it.I had bought a pair of white,knobbly, quilting gloves which I hoped would make things easier but I can't say I noticed much difference.
Anyway the quilting is finished, not a very good effort, and the binding is attached ,so tonight the quilt will be FINISHED !!!! Hurrah!
Apologies for poor photo,should have turned machine light off.

~*~Friday afternoon at the Fat Quarters~*~

Kim, Margaret, Pauline, Jenny and Isabella hard at work.Emma was doing paperwork in the office.

~*~Quilt Shop Chick Swap~*~

At 9 o'clock this morning I received a phone call from Margaret,2 of the eggs had hatched ( 1 day early ).The incubator obviously works ok !
Margaret brought the day old chicks to the Fat Quarters this afternoon, snug, safe and warm in her peg basket covered with a protective tea towel!!
Kim, of the Fat Quarters, took quite a shine to 1 little girl, Could she be the new shop mascot.
I drove them home and introduced them to my hen who already has chicks ( old post ), apparently hens can't count as she just snuggled the 2 newcomers in. Fingers crossed that she successfully adopts them.
Margaret and I are hopeful that some more may hatch , will keep you posted.
Managed to do a lot of hand quilting, bought some flannel fabric and some machine quilting gloves!!
Dawn, we all missed you !!

~*~The Wanderer Returns~*~

Alex is back!! Safe and sound. He has spent the last month travelling around Europe with a group of friends. Paris, Rome, Genoa, Barcelona and Valencia. He has had a marvellous time. One of his last emails home contained a plea for the new Harry Potter to be waiting for him when he got home, yesterday evening he was already on page 80.
I am sending this post whilst my sittingroom carpet is being cleaned, the clean-up after the flood continues and then its of to the Fat Quarters!

~*~Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder~*~

Calum and I decided on the spur of the moment to see Ricky Skaggs and his band Kentucky Thunder at the Sage ,Gateshead , on Monday night.
Brilliant!!! over 2 hours of Grammy award winning bluegrass.

~*~ Recent Work~*~

The latest wholecloth quilt is progressing well,I manage to do some quilting most evenings.But the traced on pattern seems to be fading especially on the floral patterned strips.The pen I used is supposed to be erased by water but is almost invisible now.(clammy hands???,yuk)What can I do?
I am intending to enter a quilt in Slaley show but cannot decide which one and I should at least start on the knitted baby booties!
Here are some photos of some recent dollies and quilts.The bunny is a Melly & Me design and 2 of the quilts are variations of patterns by Leanne Beasley.

~*~Nanci Griffith at the Sage~*~

Went to see Nanci Griffith at the Sage, Gateshead on Friday night. It was my first concert at the Sage ,a really beautiful venue with marvellous acoustics.
Nanci was fabulous as always, this is the 4th time I have seen her ,accompanied by her Blue Moon Orchestra.They played alot from her new cd "Ruby's Torch".no pics I'm afraid,
I enjoyed it so much I'm going back on Monday night,this time to see Ricky Skaggs a bluegrass fiddle and mandolin singer-songwriter from the USA.Have absolutely no idea what he is like!!

However, after a 'youtube' search, I've discovered he's exactly what we expected. Can't wait to see him live.

~*~ New Mum~*~

My mother hen and her 3 new chicks are doing fine.She is showing them how to find yummy creepy crawlies to eat.

~*~ Betty's and York~*~

Due to lack of technical support this weekend ,I am having to post several posts,this is cos I cannot fiddle about with the photo placements like Verity does.There is a huge production team behind every great blog !!!
Had a good day in York on Saturday.The trains behaved themselves and the weather was dry (most of the time)
Afternoon tea in Betty's tearoom , proper tea with leaves and a large piece of Yorkshire Curd Tart.
Betty's stock exclusive Emma Bridgewater pottery ,so got a mug to go with my Fat Rascals.

~*~ Weekend Update~*~

Thursday ; They've arrived !!
The new chicks had hatched out by the time I got back on Thursday night.
Unfortunately,one didnt survive the hatching process but the remaining 3 are fab. 50% is not a great success rate is it?

~*~ Marvellous Mother Nature ~*~

In a post last week,I mentioned I had a broody hen sitting on 6 eggs.Nothing had happened and I was getting impatient,so I decided to have a look,literally.
6 o'clock found me sitting in the dark in the understairs cupboard,(they can't do you for it ),with my candling lamp !!!
Candling,involves shining a light into the egg from the side and you can see what's going on inside.
of the 6, 2 had not developed for some reason but I could see 4 little chicks moving in the others.I even heard a little "cheep" from inside one.-fabulous
Last year when I used my new incubator for the first time,I "candled" the eggs every week to check development.The children and I loved it, it was facinating to see these little lives develop,in fact the above broody hen was one of those first babies.Once you start to hear them inside the shell,"pipping" isnt a long way off.I'll keep you informed.

The photo shows the proud ,expectant father,a very fine buff cochin.