Country roads.....

Well, I am back from my road trip stateside and am happyto report that most of my agenda was fulfilled!
I flew to Washington and picked up a Jeep Liberty- it is so good to drive a big car , although gas is at an all time high over there at the moment-$3.79 a gallon!

I headed to Annapolis, where the Presidents Day Weekend Holiday was in full swing with lots of sales on in the shops- Jo Anns had all their cutting equipment at 50% off, so as you can imagine, I had a full basket......

I then went to find the Cotton Seed Quilt shop where I had a very long browse and purchased a few bits but didnt find the colours I needed to finish my Caravan quilt. 

Off to the Annapolis Mall next, where there was great excitement over the appearence of the next teenage heart throb -Cody Simpson, on a tour from Australia. I have to confess that I have never heard of him, but that said, I can now claim that I have seen him in the flesh!

Even more exciting was the Vera Bradey shop - bag heaven! I really cannot understand why this range has never made it over to the uk- that said, I am quite glad that not everybody has it!

My next stop was Tysons corner, but quite frankly the shops there were not inspiring so I went off to Fairfax and sought out the The Quilt Patch - wow, this was a beautiful shop with so much choice of fabric- I managed to get everything I needed in exactly the right colours.

I met 2 lovely ladies who gave me directions to the Fairfax Jo Ann fabrics to see if I could get some dies for my Go Baby, but sadly to no avail. One of the ladies Donna, was so sweet, and a very accomplished quilter, who I hope to keep in touch with. 

The last leg of my trip was a drive out to West Virginia to visit 2 elderly friends who were both in Clarkesburg Hospital They were delighted to see me, and couldnt believe I was there!

I stayed at their house and got up at 6 am in time to see the sunrise, and the deer feeding out on the meadow. It is a beautiful place.

Time to come home, so I took a leisurely drive back to Dulles via Harpers Ferry . Full of civil war history, this historic town sits on the point where the Potomac and the Shenandoah rivers meet!

Another successful road trip under my belt, I cant wait for the next time!

H.x

My very first award!

Well, this is a complete surprise and something I thought would happen to other people and not me!! 

This is going to stretch my skills, but they say if you use your brain it staves of dementia so here goes! 

I would like to say a big thank you to Alix for nominating me and I really hope I get it right! There is going to be plenty of cutting and pasting going on in a minute!

The rules for taking part in the Versatile Blogger are : 

You should pass it on to 15 recently discovered blogs and let the bloggers know they have been nominated. Then you have to share 7 things about yourself. Finally thank the award giver and link back to them.

OK, thats the last bit done first, now I will try and think of 7 things about myself- hy does ones mind go blank when asked these sorts of questions??

1. I have jumped out of a plane to do 2 static line parachute jumps and survived to tell the tale.

Now I cannot even go on a scary ride at a theme park!

2. I have been to America 28 times and Hawaii is my favourite place on earth. Still havent managed to get to grips with the hula hula! 

3. I went to the same school as Janet Sreet Porter, but have straighter teeth !

4. I got 2 great documents when I was 40- one was a first class honours degree ,the other was my divorce !

5. I adore bluegrass music and used to teach cajun dancing for fun. 

6. I worked for Crisis at Christmas again this year and had a great time giving a little bit back.

7. I have 2 amazing kids- my daughter is a brilliant teacher and my son is at uni reading Japanese- I couldnt ask for any more in life. 

I am constantly looking at new blogs - its great to see the talent and skills out there, its so inspiring to see what others are doing, and to be able to interact with it all. This bit of nominating 15 blogs could be a problem as there are so many I like, so please, no one take offence if you are missed out, nor if you are nominated and dont wish to be. 

Here goes:

selfsewn

goldfinch and eagle

I'm a ginger monkey

jumbles and pompoms

lots of pink here

marmalade and catmint

Hollyhock Cottage-a miniature home in the 1940s

the patchwork heart

bubble bay designs

vintage at the corner house

freshly pieced

blue elephant stitches

blooming in Japan

marmaladerose

potter jotter

Phew- I am exhausted now, but it is done and I have had a great time -so thanks again to alix

I am off to the States for 5 days on Saturday, lots of fabric shopping coming on, I can feel it! 

I hope I haven't bored you all with my acceptance speech!!

TTFN

TGI Friday!

Another week has flown by. We have seen a flurry of snow down here, but it is all gone now!
I am totally addicted to hand piecing and I can't put this one down- its growing rounder and rounder!!

I am working out the colour scheme as I go along , which is probably not the best way, but I wanted to use up the fabrics I already had- its amazing how much it uses, so I have had to go and top up. Watch this space for the next layer of colour!

At last I have machine quilted my first quilt - a lap size from all my kaffe fasset stash. I went against the advice of some books and put fannel in the centre rather than batting- it was probably slightly easier to quilt but would someone please tell me how to avoid getting a few puckers????? It was probably a learning curve, it got easier towards the end, I think I need to take a class and improve my skills!

Just the binding to do and it will be finished. 

Off to see the parents on Sunday- they have been married 60 years next week- got married the same year as the queen came to the throne- amazing achievement - with any luck she will send them a card!

TTFN 

something new...

I decided to embark on a new project.  A little while ago I was inspired by a quilt from Cathy at Cabbage Quilts. She produced a couple of these Kaffe Fasset quilts , hand pieced, from a book Caravan of Quilts. In my haste , I purchased what I considered a bargain on Amazon, only to find that I had bought the German version!!
Not to be deterred, I can work from the pictures and diagrams for this quilt, so all will be well. I just hope I have chosen a good set of fabrics , only time will tell. Here is the start of it.

 The book was a bargain at £14- when I looked for an English version it was about £90 or something ridiculous! I guess it may be out of print? I may have to get Cathy to translate some of it if I get stuck!!

Another little project I undertook was meant to be a soft playball for the new baby that is expected at my neighbours. It was only when I tried to sew it up that I realised I had made it from hexagons instead of pentagons- therefore there was no way in the world it was going to become a ball! Plan B was that  I made 2 hexagon rosettes and sewed them up  an put some filling in, and added a ribbon - it is now a ??door hanger? cot hanger?? I am not sure that I can give it as a gift as they may not know what it is for!!

I think it is quite sweet!

Well, thats me done for tonight- it is sooo cold, I am going to snuggle up under the duvet with my book.