Mail call & turtles

I tell you, I've been getting really spoiled lately, with something interesting arriving in the post nearly every day. Nothing squishie or postcardy arrived yesterday and I was feeling a little bit sad about that (though I did receive several cheques for books I'd sold on, so I perked back up a bit, LOL) - today more than makes up for yesterday's lack. Firstly, here's a simply gorgeous piece of hand-painted fabric which I ordered from Vicky's website - Vicky visited my blog a few days back and in the way of these things, I ended up on her site looking at her fabrics. Actually, as you can see, there are two pieces of fabric - the one on the left is the one I bought - it's a FQ - the one on the right is a narrow strip, about 6x22 - and she sent that along as a bonus. Aren't quilters great people? Probably crafters in general.

Anyway.

The next items were this block on the left, which is part of the African block swap I am doing with Karol Ann - after visiting her blog last night, I was not surprised to see this in the post, but as with all fabric things, it looks even better in person than in a photo, so it was great to get my hands actually on it. The ball is now back in my court vis a vis block making, and it's going to stay there for a while - I have to finish my turtles (nearly done - see below) and do some trees for a BQLPC swap which I have been putting off because I am really not inspired at the moment for that theme. No idea why, just can't get excited about it. Keep hoping something will pop into my head, but so far, nothing much.

The postcard above is another for the spring is here theme - this one is from Mari - be sure to look at the larger sized image so you can see the funky quilting with blanket stitch and the good use of ribbon as edging. The ladybirds are very cool - there are ladybirds printed on the fabric, and then she's attached little plastic ladybirds, which don't have antennae, but the antennae from the printed ladybirds shows - clever!

And two more, as well - as you might guess, the one on the left is an Under the Sea theme card - yet another great interpretation of theme - amazing how many different fishy fabrics there are out there; this one has been embellished with several kinds of fun yarn to make seaweed and she's glued on little crystals - I really must get ahold of some of those... The card is from Diane. The one on the right threw me into a panic for a moment, as it's from a swap called Green & Brown, which I haven't even BEGUN to think about yet, and I thought it might be due sooner than I thought (I was thinking early June) - but it's ok, it IS due early June, and Debbie in New Zealand is just an overacheiver, LOL. Debbie also has a machine with a larger number of decorative stitches than mine has!

And lest you think (there's a word we don't use enough anymore, don't you think? but I digress) I didn't do any work today, I can assure you, I did. In fact, I am going to post twice, due to this post getting to be way too long. But I did work on the turtles today - they are now all quilted and the words are all on them, and I have edged 3 of the 7 in a variegated green, which goes better with the back of the card than the front, but frankly, there are so many colours on the fronts it doesn't really matter. The background, I received in a swap with Anne, when I offered my 3.5" squares. It pays to swap! I will finish them tomorrow and get them in the post tomorrow afternoon I hope - perhaps even in time to reach their destinations before International Turtle Day, which I understand is the 22nd. (Who knew?)

Been tagged...

OK, well, I've been tagged by Carina for the 7 things people probably didn't know about you meme. I can't imagine anyone out there hasn't seen this at least once, but as memes go, I quite like it - it's fun to see semi-obscure things about people. Harder to think of them, of course. Don't know who I'll tag, seems like most people have already been tagged, but more on that later...

Here goes:

1. Some people probably know this already - but although I live in the UK and have done for nearly 15 years, I am actually American & grew up outside Washington DC. Although I was born in Germany.

2. I can't draw - at all. Seriously, I'm terrible. My four year old is almost as good as me. People often assume because I am creative in lots of other ways that I can draw, but I'm rubbish. I can't knit either. The difference there is that knitting is something I'd quite like to be able to do (but not enough to practice the amount it would take to get better) but I'm not bothered about drawing, especially now that we have digital cameras and don't have to rely on sketches.

3. I enjoy washing dishes. Partly this is the therapeutic nature of the action itself, partly it's the result of seeing them clean at the end. When I was in highschool and college, towards the end of a party, I would often end up in the kitchen washing dishes (sometimes this was a sheer escape from the emotional nature of the end of parties, especially at New Year's, etc).

4. I can juggle. OK, only three things, but I did get reasonably good at it in university (where many thrilling talents develop!) and it's still impressive enough to entertain the kiddies. I learned at an extremely boring New Year's Party when I was about 17.

5. I am quite possibly the least picky eater I know of. I like everything except bananas and marmite. Obviously, there are things I like better than others, but on the whole, I like most things. I haven't tried all the exotic things in the world, but I've done fairly well for a Westerner. Basically, if it's cooked decently, I'm usually pretty happy to eat it, which is no doubt part of why...

6. ...I used to weigh about 3.5 stone more than I do now (not counting when I was pregnant) - that's about 50lbs or 22kilos in other units.

7. When I was younger, I used to have a real fear (not quite a phobia, but a very strong dislike) of escalators. Particularly those in shops where both sides are lined with mirrors. Grew out of it as an adult, but I can still remember the feeling...

Now, who to tag? Hmmm...

OK - Cathi, Karol Ann, Alice, Annie, Anne, Sophie, and Cobi. But only if you want to be tagged!

April showers bring May flowers

...is the title of this postcard from Ann for the Spring swap - she's used little snippets of hand-dyes showering down to form the flowers - very clever.

That's the only photo I have to show today, although I did do some work - I worked on the Irish Chain quilt - got all the rows assembled; now I just have to add the setting triangles and then sew them together. Probably not the most judicious use of the word "just", but it's getting there.

Fanny's Fans

Not a huge amount of time today for doing any work, as we had friends coming to a late lunch, but as it was pouring rain and the kids wanted to veg in front of the telly, off I went to the sewing room. I started out quilting the turtle cards, but decided I wasn't in the mood (though I think this is what I'll do to them - a silver metallic thread all around the turtle shapes - then I will write words from Yertl the Turtle around the turtles and edge them in variegated thread of some sort).

So I decided to work on a block for the birthday block swap on about which I am hostessing. I am in two groups, which means two blocks to make each month, though as the first block in each group is for June, I am a bit ahead with this one. This block is called Fanny's Fans and is a 10 inch finished block. It's for Robin, who wanted traditional blocks in red & green to make a Christmas quilt, nothing too wonky. This is the kind of block I really like doing for this sort of swap - because of all the Y-seams in it (there are 12) I wouldn't want to make too many of them, but to make just one for a swap, no problem. As it happens, I actually made two of these, as the first one was a bit small, so I sewed the second with scant seams, and hey presto. But that's ok, the first will become a Christmassy cushion cover - ta da - a Christmas present all ready to go, and it's only May...

Yertl the Turtle, that's me

Here's Olivia (DD2, age 7) working on her quilt for Sandown - she is just quilting diagonal lines across the pink squares. Of course, she insisted in doing it in dark purple thread, so it will be very prominent, but she's one of those kids who simply can't be told - has to do it herself, so whatever. :) And some black scraps in the post from Leona - thanks! I really must get that project back out to work on, now that I have so much black to use! Neither of the girls has much patience for quilting a big piece (not that I blame them) - it's hard enough to do when you are a grown-up, and even harder when you are small, to move all that fabric under the machine - so consequently, we are trying to do a little bit at a time, so that we don't end up with a last-minute rush.

My own work today consisted of more of the Irish Chain - beginning to look pretty good now - the far strip that's been laid out on the bed is the main diagonal, so about half the strips are done. Most of the others are sewn together in twos or fours. But I haven't attached the strips to each other yet (except the first two) and there are lots of setting triangles to go. Still, I feel like I'm making progress, and also, that my estimate of the time it would take (to the customer) was correct - whew.

I also started some cards for World Turtle Day. I played with a lot of ideas, but couldn't get Yertl the Turtle (Dr Seuss) out of my head, so I'm going with a Yertl-esque turtle stack. Not sure what I am going to do next - some sort of quilting, of course, but what, remains to be seen.

Gotta love a bargain bin

Today's post brought me this lovely postcard from Jo - it's the final card in the Sky swap, and it's great - the photo is the view from her son's front porch (in Oregon) apparently - great view, isn't it!

I also had to run some errands today - one of which was to buy some more thread - running out of lots of colours, probably due to postcard edging (all that satin stitch) - while I was in the haberdashery/craft department of my local department store, I noticed some stuff in the sale bin - the metal letters, which I've been eyeing for a while, were a lot more appealing at £7.99 than £14.99, like wise the paper & metal tags. And the small stamps were in the £1 bin. The blue stamp is for some summer themed postcards which I know I have coming up before too long. Not sure precisely what I will do with it, but I haven't done many stamped cards, so it seemed kind of appealing...

As there was no nursery today, Alex and I stayed home this morning - we had his friend Nancy (also in nursery, lives across the road) come over to play and watch a video, which was great, as I could go upstairs and do some work - and he'd rather play with another four year old than Mummy, though of course if no other kids are available, Mummy will do. So I was a good girl and worked on the customer quilt - it's beginning to look like a quilt. I have now finished all the nine-patch blocks and have begun assembling the rows - still lots more to do, but it's getting there.


Later this afternoon, after Alex and I ran some errands and had lunch out in one of my favourite local coffee/sandwich shops, I came home and decided to work on a couple of postcards for the May Challenge on Arts in the Mail - the challenge was "mixed media" - and these cards are certainly mixed. Fabric background (a piece from my experiment with roller painting - or should I say, roller dyeing), with bits of metallic and plasticised paper sewed down, some metal boullon/springy stuff couched down, a couple of the tags pictured above, some plastic stars (held down with glue dots), the whole thing covered with plastic netting. I have a lot of plastic netting - I save it when I get it on fruit or little bundles of cheeses or whatever. I keep thinking I'll "do something" with it, and it doesn't take up much space. And now, I can be proud of myself - I have actually "done something" with it. Of course, I now have to start saving dryer lint as my friend Alice says she's used it on postcards in the past...

A productive Thursday for once

Today's post - two lanterns from Maia, as well as a generous piece of the oriental fabric of the second lantern. And my monthly FQ Frenzy package from The Antique Angel - lots of lovely new fabric, hoorah.


I also got my own card back from the Open Theme EuroSwap - the string pieced one, with buttons, which I'm not putting a photo of here, as it's been featured many times before - or rather, the series has, while being constructed.


Today being one of the days when Alex was at school the whole day (I swapped his normal Wednesday for today, due to the farm trip yesterday, and consequently, didn't stay to help, which I normally do on Thursdays), I did get some work done - did more on the Irish Chain quilt for the customer - not desperately exciting, so after an hour and a half or so I quit for the day and decided to work on the Under the Sea cards - all that remained was the edging and backing, so they didn't take too long to do. And now they are addressed and waiting to be posted - as it decided to chuck down rain this afternoon, I decided they could wait until tomorrow to go in the post - deadline's not until the 28th of May, and I wasn't willing to get soaked (the post office is only around the corner from where I live, so I always walk - can't park much closer than my house anyway!)

Under the sea...mainly

Another good day for post - which is good because I got very little done today, as I went with the nursery on their school trip to the Farm. Which was fun, but tiring.

Got two squishies containing lantern blocks - the single from Mary S, and the triple (one extra) from Kathi - all very pretty, though I do particularly like some of Kathi's chosen fabrics.

I also got two postcards, one for the Under the Sea swap, from Lynn, and the other a belated circles card from Angela - I'll let you work out which is which; somehow I doubt it will present a serious challenge...



And I did do a little work myself - tonight watching telly I finished beading and adding shells to my own Under the Sea cards, so those are ready to be backed and edged, and then go in the post. Hopefully I will get most of them done tomorrow, though I do have to do some work on the single Irish Chain I'm getting paid to work on, so I may not finish them all. We'll see. On the whole, I'm fairly pleased with them - and they look better in person, of course. Someday I will work out how to photograph Angelina...

Kookie bird!

Well, a very welcome day for post today - I got these two gorgeous oriental lantern blocks from Sue, along with two great tonal FQs (I love tonal fabrics) and a pattern for a funky bag which uses screening - must try that out some time. And - yippee! - I got my Kookie Bird from Annie in Australia - when I didn't win the draw on her blog, we agreed to swap instead - I got this lovely birdie and she got one of my beaded circle postcards (which I have heard since, made it safely to Australia, all beads intact. I shall stop panicking now about the strength of beadwork on my cards. Maybe.)

And of course, there were postcards. The one on the left, on which the metallic gold doesn't really show very well, is from Marlene on EuroSwap and is part of that open theme swap. The one on the right is a spring card from Debbie, on FAI. Both nice additions to my ever growing card addiction (I mean, collection...)

And finally, I did actually do a little work, though it wasn't very exciting - I have a commission from a customer of Lana's to finish off a single wedding ring quilt that she is unable to complete (this is the same customer I put borders on two quilts for a while back). Sadly, the customer has Motor Neurone Disease and simply can't sew herself anymore. So I am finishing off (and actually, she had barely started) this quilt top for her and then Lana will quilt it. So anyway, today I made nine-patches to start the quilt - not the most exciting work or fabric but as I am getting paid for this, I shouldn't complain!

I did also do some stuff for myself - I finished sewing the angelina fish onto the Under the Sea postcards, as well as adding some more "seaweed". Next step is to add some beads - that's a task to do while watching telly, so I should have some done tonight. They are looking pretty good, if I do say so myself... Photo to come again when some beads have been added.

Postcard display place

Thought I'd share my main postcard display area - this display is quite rapidly changing, as new cards arrive - sometimes some of them are only there for a few days, though usually, it's a week or two. I can put up to 7 cards on the front of the boiler, though there are only 5 there at the moment - I just took down my Circles theme and put up a few that have been waiting. On the side of the boiler are two fish cards - one from an Open Theme swap and one from the upcoming Under the Sea swap; the front of the boiler has Earth Day cards, and the rail has a mix of Earth Day and Spring cards. Never knew that rail would be so useful when we redid the kitchen!

Rainy Mondays...

Having a bank holiday today might have meant a day to do stuff with the family, except that in the true style of English bank holidays, the weather is absolutely foul. Our friends across the road had invited us for a barbecue, but as there were gale force winds and driving rain, it got cancelled. The good news was, I got to spend the morning sewing while the kids slept in late (the girls recovering from two night of sleeping in the tent in the garden, including one night of sleepover with extra girls) and lounged around in their pjs watching telly - not something that happens a lot in our house, so they should enjoy it while they can.

Later, I helped Sarah pin together her log cabin quilt (doesn't it look smashing?) and begin to quilt it. We're doing very basic quilting, just some stitch in the ditch, down the centres of the diagonal stripes, and then around the centre of each block. Hopefully, it will get finished before it's due to be shown... She did two stripes today, including the purple one, which is the longest coloured one.

A lot of the sewing time I had was for myself, though. I finished off the last of the Jacob's Ladder blocks for that swap. (Resolution: not going to join any more block swaps, no matter how tempting until I make some stuff from blocks I have. Except for the new swap I'm going to host later this summer on about. And not counting the birthday block swap - but that's ok, as I won't get my own blocks from that until next May!) And I finished the cards for the EuroSwap postcard swap. They look really good, I think - quite traditional, but still funky.

And I also started working on my Under the Sea cards. I am doing 12 of them - all of them are done to the stage of the batik fish, but these five are the only ones where I've sewed on the angelina fishes. Next step is a bit more seaweed on top of the fish - something soft and frilly I think - and then some beading, and then I have some little seashell bits with holes in which I'll probably add a few of. We'll see. I'm having fun with them, and am pleased that the batik fish background does show through a little, which is just what I wanted. In all, a very productive day.

Yesterday, I did a small amount of work in the morning, helped Sarah put the last two borders on her top, and then decided my sewing room really need a serious cleaning and re-organisation, so I spent about 4 hours clearing it out, cleaning (lots of dust under and behind things) and re-organising. Moved one of my shelving units around, so it's a bit different, but I think I like it better. We'll see...

Friday and Saturday, too

No sewing done myself (except finishing adding buttons to the string square postcards) but lots of post these two days... Two cards above for the Spring Swap, both of which arrived yesterday - one from Celia on the left, my own one coming back to me on the right.


The blocks came yesterday and are the ones from the batik paper-pieced block swap on EuroSwap - a good assortment of colours and fabrics, I think. And two lanterns from Kathy P came in the post today along with...


these two cards - the one on the left from Lisa for the swap Under the Sea on FiberPC and the one on the right from Beth in the Dyehard spring swap. Whew!

Basket case (again)

Well, now that it's no longer a secret, I can post some photos of the basket blocks I made for the May block lotto over on about.com. And it's a good day for it today as I of course didn't get any work done on a Thursday - I almost never do. (Though I will next week because I've switched Alex's wraparound day to Thursday - of course, I won't get anything done on Wednesday, as I'll be going to the farm with the nursery - heck, I may be too tired on Thursday to do anything but recover!) Anyway. Basket blocks aren't something I make very often, so it was fun to do these. I did everything but the basket and background from my scrap basket, and of course, it hasn't so much as made a dent - not surprising, I guess...

I did get some nice post today, though - these beautiful blocks from the other Donna in the swap (I got blocks from the other Donna yesterday) - I love the way Donna has used the print with the geishas in it - it's very effective. This may be my favourite block so far. Of course, I do like most of them, so it's very hard to choose!