Not Thanksgiving, but very productive

First, a wish for a very Happy Thanksgiving to all you yanks out there reading my blog - hope you have a great day, with lovely food, and a fun time with friends and/or family. And of course, good shopping tomorrow... I don't bother to mark the occasion really - as it's not a holiday, nor is tomorrow, it's a bit hard to get into the spirit...we did have some sweet potatoes at dinner, so that will have to count for holiday eating!



Lots of stuff to show today - including the two things I got in the post yesterday, which I forgot to blog. But first, what I got in the post today - this fabulous mini quilt! This is my quilt from the Spring Fling Round Robin 2, and isn't it lovely? I'm really, really pleased with it - everything, from the fabric choice to the design, to the quilting, is well done and although it's very much to my taste, it's probably not something I would have made for myself, which makes it all the better.

So, many thanks to Julia (centre), Tami (first border), Helen (second border) and Luisa (quilting, binding, finishing) - the quilt is really first rate. Thanks!



I did do some work myself, amidst the carpet fitters (hoorah - the decoration is DONE!), gas & electric meter reader guy, postman, Ocado delivery, laundry, and goodness knows what else... The November ATC lottery for Textile Challenges (this month's theme was a motif - I had to do "leaf", which was straightforward enough) was one thing I did - I did three ATCs, although I only have to send one, as it's always useful to have a few extras knocking around. The big leaf is done with embossing powder & a heat gun; the backgrounds were some I had in my box of pre-made backgrounds, which seemed particularly suitable.

I also did 4 postcards for an Angelina themed swap - basically you just had to use Angelina somewhere in the postcard. My first thought was to use a technique I've never had much luck with - using a rubber stamp and an iron to create a shape in the angelina - but I still didn't have much luck with it, so I ended up making a thin sheet of angelina fibres and embossing a design onto it. I then added some other bits and pieces and sewed and/or glued it to a quilted background and backed with some interesting paper. They've come out fairly well, though of course they are better in person - Angelina is very hard to photograph.



And finally - or perhaps I should have put it first as it's the first thing I did - the arch for November for the year-long swap on Textile Challenges. Only one more month to go with this swap - it's been really great, I think. I would miss it, but next year's swap/challenge is going to be good, too, as it's going to be houses. I expect to have fun with that one.

Anyway, this arch is for Pam, who liked relics and the aged look. Not sure I've accomplished that, though I do like the arch - I used some of the rust-dyed fabric with indigo in it, a photo of a ruin at Ephesus (from my personal collection, lol), and other bits and pieces including lace, buttons, metal embellishments and some lovely dangly things Lana sent me from India for my birthday. I hope she likes it.



And last but not least - what I got in the post yesterday. A postcard from Jeannette for "X is for..." - in her case, it's just for "X" and she's done little people as X's. X is hard. I've been debating what to do myself, but still haven't really come to any conclusions. The cards aren't due out until the 15th of December, and frankly, it might take me most of that time to decide what I want to do - I'm thinking about a treasure map with "X marks the spot" but who knows, I might get sudden inspiration in the next few days.



I also received another selection of Japanese fabrics from my monthly club. I may have to stop that club at some point, as I seem to be doing more accumulating than actually using the fabrics...