Last night I had ANOTHER night out to celebrate my new job with some of my friends from work - we had a lovely meal at a local pub, and at the end of the evening I was given this beautiful bouquet of flowers - thank you so much Beryl :)
 In one of my very first blog posts, I posted a photograph of Mr F planting up the winter hanging baskets - these have been spectacular all through those very cold, snowy months - and now these miniature daffs are in bloom and at last we've had some sunny days, they really do shout out "spring is well and truely here".....  .....and the rest of the garden is blooming too.....  .....my favourites are these irises - these are out particularly early this year.....  .....masses of catkins dancing in the breeze.....  .....and the pond is coming to life again, with clumps of frogspawn and croaking frogs, and I counted 7 newts just while I was peering at this little patch of water!!
 My friend Eva sent me a parcel from Norway a few days ago - some beautiful linen - and it was GREEN - my favourite colour!! And these 2 spotty fabrics are lovely - now I really don't know what to make with these - another bag maybe?? To show off this beautiful linen?? All suggestions would be very grateful!
 In a previous post I wrote that I was starting a new job - anyway, a few of my special friends from my previous workplace and me had a great night out to celebrate my new job. I've made some very special friends along the way - (if Wendy is reading this, it was 1982 that we first started to work together - and I first met Lynda in 1985!!!).....  .....anyway, thank you all for my beautiful flowers, my cards, and the fab Per Una voucher - hmmmm I might have to plan a special shopping day soon to spend that!! So on to my new job - I've been there now for a whole week - and I love it - I really look forward to going to work eveyday, everyone is really friendly, and I'm having a great time. So hello to all my NEW friends :)
 I decided to have a go at making a small makeup bag, with a curved top - I didn't have a pattern, so draughted my own - cue several sheets of graph paper and a LOT of creative mess later using some leftover scraps of linen and batik and this is what I've got - a small makeup bag, lined, with a zipper, with a tab and decorated with Yo-yos's.....  .....I covered the seams with strips of binding, made a "flat" bottom - and now I've got itchy fingers to have a go at making some more with vintage floral fabrics, and denim, decorating them with lace, and ric-rac, and fancy buttons - the list is endless!!! Now I just need to write down the instructions - if only I could remember how I made it!!
 Don't for one minute think that this is a mess - if either Hanne or Eva are reading this, they will know exactly what this is - yes, it's me being creative, and judging by this picture, I've been VERY creative today!! Mara, this picture is especially for you!!!  .....after I'd completed my Frilly Dilly bag, I still had lots of pieces of fabric left over, and I thought I just might have enough to make another bag!! One of my favourite bag patterns is called "Mathilde's Sommerveske" and is by AnnAKa. I thought this would look great in linen and batiks.....  .....I used some sew-in magnetic fasteners that I'd bought from U-Handbag - these are so easy to use - (a few months ago I had tried some large magnetic fasteners that were so heavy they ripped the fabric, even when sewn through some interfacing, so was thrilled when I found these ones on the U-Handbag website).....  .....I sewed extra rows of quilting on the bag to make it stiffer, especially on the base, and used 2 layers of Pellon - 1 layer on the bag and 1 layer on the lining - I am realy pleased with this bag - now do I keep it to add to my collection (I don't have many bags hehehe!!!) or do I put it in my "pressie" box, ready for a friend's birthday??
 A couple of weeks ago I bought some linen and batiks from Quilters Haven - my original plan was to make a table runner with these, but changed my mind and instead I've decided to make a bag. I'm starting a new job on Monday, so I thought it would be nice to have a new bag to take along with me.....  .....I bought the pattern "Friily Dilly bag" by Janelle Wind from the Cross-Patch. I'm going to make the main part of the bag with linen, and the frills and lining with the batiks.....  .....I ironed a double layer of the wadding (pellon) onto the back of the linen to make the bag stiffer. These batiks are lovely to sew with.....  .....drumm roll please - completed Frilly Dilly bag. I used a magnetic clasp to close the bag, and added a Yo-yo instead of a button - all ready to use on Monday.
 This is the kit "Puslespill" that Hanne sent me last week - lots more machine applique!! Once the pieces were fused to the background block, I used Vliseline Stitch-n-tear on the back.....  .....my favourite wadding for tablerunners is Pellon, and this is a fusible one - I iron the wadding to the backing fabric, this elimates the need for pin basting.....  .....and I prefer to use 505 spray to baste the runner to the pellon .....  .....and finally it is quilted, bound and decorated with Yo-yo's. I used a King Tut varigated quilting thread shade 991 for this - yes Heather, this was in my thread stash!! - and hey presto - another runner completed!
 If you're wondering what to do with yourself this weekend, the Spring Quilt Festival at Chilford Hall is well worth a day out - with lots of WONDERFUL stalls selling all manner of fabrics and patterns and books and notions - and lots of friends to meet up with to oooh and aaah at their purchases - but unfortunately this year I'm not going - actually, I still haven't used eveything I bought there LAST time, when I went with a huge shopping bag and a purse full of money to the Autumn Quilt Festival back in November. After my trip to Norway last month I really needed to save some money so...... I'm feeling just a LITTLE bit virtuous today as by staying at home I have saved myself a rather small fortune!!! So instead I'm going to be creative, do a little bit of sewing, and finalising a pattern for a little bag of my own design. I've been well and truely fortified, with several cups of tea (including a herbal one that I didn't know whether to drink or to smoke!!) and a Norwegian breakfast. Oh, yes, that is the latest copy of Vignette magazine you can see lurking in the picture - (that arrived in the post on Friday) which has given me some more ideas for being creative :) Anyway, my friend Heather went to Chilford Hall yesterday (I really do need to see her sooooon to inspect all her purchases properly) and she's written all about her day out there on her blog .....
 AnnAKa's latest pattern, "Puslespill" (Puzzle pieces) has instructions for both a cot quilt and a runner and pot holders. So today the postman delivered another parcel from Lappedilla, with a material pack containing all the fabrics including backing, and ricrac to make this runner.....as you know I don't have many of those!! Now have I got the right colour thread for quilting this?? Better go and have a look in my thread stash - I might be some time!!
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 About me...Hi - welcome to my quilting blog! My passions are my family, my dog, my friends and sewing, not necessarily in that order! 
 
 
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