Leaving on a Jet Plane

I have had the flights booked for months and months but it is only just starting to feel like a reality. I will be travelling to the UK for the whole month of August and spending a good portion of the time visiting with my gorgeous mum.

I am lucky enough to have a travel buddy with me this time in the form of  my eldest boy, Red.  I hate flying on my own so when Red told me he was planning a trip in the UK and Ireland, I started conniving (er) planning my own itinerary.

Last night we did some serious planning and detrimental denting of the credit cards but I can now rest easy as everything has been itinerised and pre-paid so just spending money to organise. We have planned a trip up to my beloved Yorkshire together before he takes off on his own tour. I was born in Yorkshire but he has never been so I am going to show him the special places.

This is a spot that is very special to me as it is my dads birthplace and resting place, so we will be heading here one afternoon and taking a walk around the lake

At this stage, I still plan to blog while I am away. It will be from my iPad which I have equipped to be able to download photos from my camera so the giveaway will still be applicable through the month of August.

Christmas in July Reveal

The first thing I thought about this morning was the Christmas in July gift, that was patiently waiting on top of my bookcase, for this day to dawn.

Since I am working all day today, I thought it best to open my parcel this morning rather than constantly be thinking about it at my work computer all day.

Lyn (no blog) was my secret Santa and OH MY GOODNESS, when I opened those gifts, I was absolutely delighted.

Lyn used these letters from (C) H R I S T (M) A (S) to make my gifts

C for Candy Cane that on either end of this table runner

M for Mouse in a Mitten Decoration

and S for Santa Claus mini wall hanging

Don't you agree that they are absolutely beautiful and so much work has gone into them.  Thank you so very much Lyn.  You have made my day! but wait, Lyn also sent me some lovely buttons and all this came together with a stunning hand made card and a christmas cracker.

I was hoping there was a joke in the cracker that I could share with you (they always crack me up!) but instead I found these words of wisdom from the bard himself:

"Nothing is good or bad, but thinking makes it so."

      William Shakespeare

Now, do you want to see what I have sent to my secret santa.  She is not a follower of my blog so I am sure I won't spoil the surprise.

I sent her a mini Christmas Tree made out of yo-yos

I made a Snowman table runner

and a Santa mini wallhanging

I really hope my partner likes these goodies as I had so much fun making them.

Now I really need to hurry and get ready for work.......I am running so late already.

Hope you all have a Happy Christmas in July and are as thrilled as I am with your gifts.  A huge THANK YOU  to Cheryl for organising the very fun event.

 
 

Putting my new space to use.

Now that the creation station is looking and feeling more usable, I thought it was about time I finished some more flimsies.

Do you recall the Chevron quilt that I was so excited to put together? that was back in March sometime! and I had only sewn about 4 squares to create 16 hst's.

Yesterday was such a dull day here and threatened to rain and then did rain so I got out my Chevron UFO and got sewing. Well, I tried to, but, after two blocks, the thread snagged and I broke a needle. I spent half an hour taking everything down to the needle plate and bobbin case to pieces several times and two broken needles later (one of them didn't even sew a stitch) and I was cruising along nicely.

Have you used this technique before?  sew two even sized squares together on all four sides, right sides facing and then cut through on opposite diagonals.

then open out the four triangles, press and you end up with 4 hst's

It is a very quick and easy method but you have to be careful when sewing theses hsq's together as the edges are now on the bias and stretch easily.

Here they are, 42 x 4 hsq's in (almost) one afternoon. A little trim to get rid of the dog ears and then onto the rows.

I will be working on these rows over the next week.

Creation Station Shuffle

 *I am linking the post up with Tuesday Archives on 18/11/15 and just to update that this is no longer my Creation Station because I have moved house but this one was a good one*

With the arrival of the HQ18 quilter and frame, it was obvious that I had to find an area long enough to accommodate my super beast who has now been dubbed "AVA". In some respects, it was good timing as the creation station definitely needed a tidy up.

 To the left of this panoramic picture is where I need to put Ava.

No wonder I was avoiding doing any sewing in here........looking at these before photos.....it is such a mess!

This is now what you see as you walk into the creation station

I have created 5 new zones.

Zone 1: I Ava's zone. She is to the right as I walk into the creation station, in front of the big window.

I have a few display ladders here aswell with quilt flimsies that are ready to meet Ava.

Zone 2: To the left of the entrance is my cutting station and work station - I have put my cutting counter and a table back to back to serve as my cutting station on one side (behind me at my cutting station is a storage bookshelf which is not ready to be photographed just yet).....

....and a desk/computer set down and printer spot on the other side. I am sat here right now, writing my blog and since my laptop now has a designated spot, I am determined not to spend any more time on it than is necessary. My spare fold out table is also kept here providing extra working room if and when neccessary.

Zone 3: Storage. I have left this in the same place as it originally was......it is way to heavy to move and works well left right were it is.

Zone 4: The sewing nook. The two general sewing machines have moved into the adjoining space and placed in an L shape in the corner.

This zone is still a little messy at the moment as all those fq fabrics behind the sewing machine (now dubbed Hattie) need to be put back on the shelf near my cutting table. Because there is another window here, I have lots of lovely light to sew.

Also in this area is my NewFO and WIP storage.  And most exciting of all is my light box has a new home on it's very own table which is also in front of a window.

Zone 5 - Scrapbooking Station:  This has been my scrapbooking station for a very long time although I have not done a lot of scrapbooking of late, mostly because whenever I opened the cupboard, I was faced with an overwhelming pile of paper, mags, boxes of buttons/ribbon/brads....the list goes on. So a little tidy up was done and it is a much more organised space.

There are still some messy spots as I am taking the opportunity to sort and organise EVERYTHING so I don't waste time looking for something so simple as a quick unpick or that certain daisy trim (which I still haven't found btw!)

I am loving my new Creation Station so much and I know that I am a very, very lucky girl to have such an awesome space filled with all these things
 

July FQ Swap

My swap partner this month was Narelle at Rells Place. The theme this month was "BRIGHT AND FUN" to warm us up during the colder months.

Narelle sent me these very cheery brights which will certainly warm my creative side.

And I sent Narelle this little combo

I hope it reminds her of summer holidays......not too far around the corner.

There were also three birthday swaps this month

Lyndel, on the 6th, is collecting blues

Lyn, on the 8th, was happy to get anything and she sent me a little message to say that she loved her fq's, embroidery thread and the star buttons.

And Kylie, whose birthday is on the 23rd says she likes plain coloured swirls and cute novelty prints.  I couldn't find any cupcakes that I really liked so I do hope she is a choccie lover too.

Roses are NOT Red....

Not in this Yorkshire lass' garden........

My hubby has been in the throes of fixing up our front garden for the last three years but we could not agree what to plant. I wanted palms and easy plants, he wanted flowering shrubs. I want mass planting, he wants a variety of individual shrubs

This weekend we had another chat and agreed that we would both like to see roses in the garden so we drove down to the garden centre and picked out five rose bushes.

Now I am rather fond of pink roses and being originally from Yorkshire, I absolutely love the purity of white roses and we decided to get a couple of yellow to mix it up......but red? Mmmmmm?

Hubby should of known better than to bring it up. "Shall we get a red one?". No red roses In my garden. The nearest I will go is deep pink!

Really, the truth is, It is not about the War of the Roses between Tudors and Yorkists, it is mostly personal preference....I just love Softer shades.

Once back home, hubby got busy digging and planting the new bushes. A couple of them were shrubs already with some blooms and buds but I will have to wait until Summer. Before any signs of life on the other shrubs. Can't wait!
 
 ps.....this post is based on a private family joke and I can assure you that no red roses were harmed in the writing of this post and no offence intended to the House of Tudor.(Please do not chop off my head)

Big Day today!

Today is a big and exciting day! My big quilting machine and frame has arrived and is being installed RIGHT NOW!!

 I am so excited I can only take wobbley photos at the moment. ooooh!


The front door is wide open today while all the bits and pieces are being brought in and suddenly a stranger was at the door with .......a squishy parcel.....! How popular am I today?

Excited much? Oh yes! Can't wait to see what is inside but the note on top of the photo warns me not to open until the 25th July.

I got mine posted off yesterday so it should be in my secret partners hot little hands very, very soon!

Did you get yours posted off yesterday?