I really enjoy quilting as a hobby, and often make bags and cushions for friends and family as gifts for birthdays and Christmas - and I love doing so. Most of my friends and family appreciate all the hard work and effort, not to mention the cost of materials, that goes into making something really special just for them. Sometimes I have been asked to make things for people to give to someone else as a gift, and they are happy to pay a fee to cover the cost of materials etc. However, there are one or two who balk at the idea of having to actually pay money for something handmade - it's almost as if I should be grateful they've agreed to have it, and that I should just give it away!! Recently I was asked to make a quilt for a friend, for her to give to one of her friends as a gift, and when I mentioned financial payment, she was extremely rude and was shocked that I even expected to be paid!! So - what should I do? At the risk of losing the friendship, I declined to make the quilt, and haven't heard from her since! Anyway, have a look over here at this blog post - it looks at all the costs of making a quilt - the fabric, the thread, the wadding, the hours spent designing and creating, and even the "hidden" costs, like all the years of experience and hours spent honing my craft. So.... do I end up with a princely sum that means I'll never have to do my day job ever again? No - of course not. This isn't about what I get paid for creating something special - but about what it is WORTH. 

I had a great time on Saturday, as I went fabric shopping with my youngest daughter Alice. She really NEEDED another piece of red batik to go with all the red batiks she'd already bought from Quilters Haven, so off we went to Sew and So's at Bungay, to see if they had any. Well after lots of perusing around, she DID manage to find the perfect one - and also her mother found a few perfect fabrics too!! Last summer I spent AGES at the NEC (having already desperately searched online) trying to find a "Tonga Treats Strips" in a particular colourway - "Blueberry Pie" for Alice, and couldn't get them anywhere at all - and I ended up getting a couple of balipops in a similar colourway instead (and no I haven't used them yet!!) and what was the first thing I saw as we walked into Sew and So's? You've guessed - the exact packet of Tonga Treats Strips "Blueberry Pie" - well obviously that just HAD to be bought!!.....

.....also I managed to find just a few Lecien fabrics that I needed to make some more cosmetic bags with - I bought some half-meters of this pretty yellow selection, from a range called "Princess Rose", and also a few brown "Antique Floral" fabrics. Oh and then I spotted this little fat quarter bundle, which included some printed linen - perfect! After we'd both finished shopping, we strolled down to Earsham Street Cafe where we had a delicious afternoon tea - Alice did say she wasn't really very hungry, however she managed to polish off a huge slice of peanut butter cake that was 3 layers high - and I had a scrummy piece of carrot cake - note to self - MUST go there again!

Well I certainly have been a very spoilt girl this week - firstly my friend Debs made me a BEAUTIFUL bag and scarf, then secondly just LOOK what I received on Friday!! Two of my friends came to visit with their new baby (he is ADORABLE) and bought me lots of treats to say thank you for making Elliott a couple of "welcome to to the world" quilts. There was a bottle of fizz (and wild hibiscus flowers to put in it) and gorgeous smellies to pamper myself with and edible treats too - even a jar of homemade jam! Each of these goodies was individually labelled  with a little message - "to support me through many, many more sewing days". These very naughty girls know me so well! Booze and chocolate and hand cream - what more could I want? They even bought Mr F a bottle of Adnams, "as I probably sewed so hard I forgot to make him dinner"! I was very lucky, and shall put all of these treats to very good use - (although not sure if Mr F will get to drink to Broadside or whether it will get used in a fabulous steak and ale pie!!).....

.....it was SO lovely to see them, and Elliott, although as you can see he wasn't as interested in the coffee and muffins as we were! I scoffed my cake down as quickly as possible so I could get lots of cuddles with him, and can't wait to see him again soon!

I haven't spent ALL my week off work sewing and shopping - I've been baking too!! Mr F needed some cakes to take on a shoot, and I was having some friends over for coffee and cake this morning, so last night after supper I set to work with some raspberries and lemons and some VERY good quality chocolate and some eggs from our hens and look what I produced!! Firstly some raspberry and white chocolate muffins - (these were very tasty) followed by some triple chocolate muffins (again, these were very tasty too) and finally some lemon muffins with a very sharp lemon icing and zest plonked on the top. They were my favourites! I bought these fab dotty muffin cases from Lakeland at the weekend - I thought they looked much better than plain boring white ones - and the muffins didn't stick at all!! Well as you can see, after coffee and a natter and much oohhing and ahhing over the new baby (Elliott is the most GORGEOUS baby!) you can see there wasn't very much left. Poor Mr F - looks like he's got left-overs again for supper!!