another YAY!!

I found my camera cord....

I feel like saying 'crisis averted!', but of course, in the scheme of things, it wasn't a crisis at all.
It's just a big relief!!

YAY! Photos now included......

No, I didn't find my camera cord..... It did occur to me, when I couldn't find it, to see if my computer had a slot for a memory card, and it doesn't, but in being so focused on and frustrated about the missing cord, I had completely forgotten that my little tablet DOES.  It took a gentle suggestion from Peg - thank you, Peg! - about checking for a memory card slot to prompt me to remember the tablet!  I'm a goose!!

So, firstly, my Easter mini swaps...  I sent this little Easter mini to Simone ~

of course, a bunny needs a little, fluffy tail ~

and this is the cute little mini I received from Maria ~

isn't he a cute little bunny ~

and Maria even hunted out some gorgeously pretty Easter egg fabric for the border ~

I feel so much better now that I have been able to show my Easter minis, sent and received!  Thank you Maria, and thank you to our amazing Swap Mama Cheryll.

  

The evening of Good Friday was FNSI, and I did some sewing on my Underground Railroad quilt blocks.  Since I had changed my colours, I needed to remake the first block.  The second block had come out too small and needed to be fixed, and I finally I needed to make the fourth block.  Results are as under - block 4 is still a work in progress ~

I am really happy with how my blocks are turning out.

Thank you to Wendy for hosting another fun FNSI.

Finallly, I had a couple of lovely gatherings with friends over the last week - but I think I will now save that for a blog post tomorrow!

xx

frustration.....

Hello!  I hope you all enjoyed a lovely, relaxing, and safe Easter.

I had lots of things I wanted to share over the past few days - Easter mini swaps, both sent and received to share (you can visit lots of other blogs who have shared their minis by clicking over to Cheryll's blog here), the results of my FNSI sewing (during which I did some sewing on my Underground Railroad quilt), and a couple of fun gatherings with sewing friends over the past week to share too.

HOWEVER, my camera cord to upload my photos appears to have vanished off the face of the earth. I know where I had it last but can't find it there, and have just about torn the house apart looking for it, to no avail.  

So, I until I find it - or buy a new one - I will make do with this pictureless post.

Hopefully my recalcitrant cord will turn up soon!

Have a lovely week xx

here and now.....

Today I have been inspired by the 'Here and Now' posts over on Sarah's gorgeous blog, Chantille Fleur. Sarah  is a very talented lady, and her photography is just beautiful.  Pop on over and take a look, and I'm sure Sarah would love it if you said hi!

So, here is my here and now.....

loving   ::   a quiet Sunday morning, reading, sewing and blogging, with Ollie snoozing (snoring!) by my side

eating   ::   a nice, hot bowl of porridge on a cool morning

drinking   ::   my favourite tea in my favourite mug

wearing   ::   ummm...pyjamas - still in bed!

  

feeling   ::   content, relaxed and looking forward to the day ahead doing some sewing

wanting   ::   the weekend never to end!!

thinking   ::   about what sewing I want to play with today

dreaming   ::   of homemade banana cake fresh out of the oven with some butter, planting some flowers in the garden, and being retired so I have more time for sewing!

a small finish.....

Having recently got all my UFOs together in one place, it is so much easier to find projects to work on that are quick and easy.  A few years ago, maybe 7 or 8, I taught myself to foundation piece.  I made this block out of some lovely flannel fabric, and intended at the time to make more blocks and turn it into a cosy lap quilt.  That didn't happen, and this poor lonely little block had been tossed aside ever since.  

I pulled it out of my UFO pile yesterday, and immediately thought 'mug rug!', so now, that's what it is.

DON'T PANIC SHEZ, I promise I won't send it to you LOL!!

Happy Sunday!

friday night with friends - april 2014.....

Another lovely, fun night was had here, sewing along with Sue, Tracee and Marg.  We worked again on our Underground Railroad quilt, making block 4, Wagon Wheel.  Happy faces so far!

Tracee had a bit of a stressful night, first running late because of recalcitrant chooks, and then having lots of problems with her block.  

For this block, I chose to put it together in a different way than the instructions in the book, and I was so glad I did, my block came together much faster and easier than for the other girls.  As I said in a previous post, the instructions in this book are appalling and we have all struggled to understand them at different times.

In trying to follow the instructions for making this block from the book, confusion reigned once again.....

Poor Tracee had a  lot of problems with hers.  The method in the book for this block is to use interfacing, and when Tracee ironed her wagon wheel, the interfacing shrank and distorted the block.  Some unpicking and resewing was required, but all turned out well in the end.

Our finished blocks -

The evening was finished with a lovely dessert made by Sue, berries in jelly with cream.  Yum!

I made a start on the next block, but it was my turn to be confused..... not much progress was made, so we have homework for next month!  Looking forward to our next get together.....

And thank you to Cheryll for another great night!

friday night with friends.....

I am joining in here tonight for Friday Night with Friends, hosted by the amazing Cheryll.

I am sewing along with Sue, Tracee and Marg at Sue's house, for more underground railroad hijinks. 

Back with results tomorrow.....

Have a fantastic night all - both FNWFers and non-FNWFers!!

let's book it 2014 ~ the underground railroad quilt

A catch up post for some of my recent sewing happenings -

   

Some time ago, Sue, Tracee, Marg and myself decided to have our own little quilt-along, making the Underground Railroad quilt from this book by Eleanor Burns, and getting together on the first Friday evening of each month for FNWF (hosted by the amazing Cheryll), to make each block.
 

Our first block - we are working in order through the book - is the Underground Railroad block.  Sue, Tracee and Marg opted to go with the green/brown/cream colours used in the book, but I decided on red/cream/blue for my colours, although having now seen their green/brown/cream results I am feeling a bit torn!.

This is the result of our first night's sewing ~

We were very industrious ~ look at these ladies hard at work!
 

We do find this book quite hard to follow, the instructions are not well written.  I think Marg's face in the picture above says 'what the hell does that mean'!!

I must admit I am not happy with my block, and am also not convinced I am happy with these colours.  Sue and I got together last Thursday night and made our second block and I tried some different colours - dark blue/mustard/taupe - which I think I prefer.  One of them will have to be remade, I'm not sure yet which....  

As we are doing this quilt-along from a book, I am joining in this month with  Vroomans Quilts for 'Let's Book It 2014'. 

We had originally decided to do just one block a month, but, with 15 blocks to make, have decided we will probably make two blocks a month going forward. 

Now, I just need to make a final decision about my colours, before we go on to the next block .....