Late August, on the hill

All those rescues and other good works have taken their toll on my hero, who has been suffering with a horrible cold for the last couple of weeks.  So, when this morning dawned bright and clear, we decided that some fresh air treatment was in order and set off on foot to buy the one thing I forgot when doing the shopping yesterday.

After all the rain we’ve had in the last few days, we really appreciated the blue sky.  Everything was looking so fresh, too.

The village sledging field looked like something out of the Teletubbies.

Further on, the huge combine harvester was parked in a corner ready to begin the next field. 

The air was so clear and fresh, the views were great.

That cloud bubbling up on the horizon made us feel good that we’d gone out early.  Perhaps this glorious weather isn’t going to last?

Nearly home.

Sure enough, by the time we were home, had put the kettle on and taken the papers outside to read, the sky had clouded over and there was a threat of rain in the air.

We’d enjoyed the best of the day.

Squeezing

The quilt is done and I’m really pleased with the end result.  But boy, was it a squeeze!

This is what was left over.  I had to use every scrap which was more than two and a half inches wide and after I’d stitched the binding in place, was left with that one piece of the beige border fabric: about six inches.

I’ve put it through the washer and dryer and heaved a sigh of relief that none of that red dye migrated!  The Moda fabrics have a lovely soft, aged feel to them and the end result is cosy, cosy, cosy.

It’s clear where I had to use every inch of fabric in the border, though I like it that way too.  But having dug deep into the waste bin for every scrap, joining a couple of tiny pieces together to get those last inches, imagine how I felt when I lifted up a book on my worktable and found this.

I shall attach it to the label.  Waste not, want not, eh?

The right tool for the job

It’s much easier to achieve a good result that way.

I got the walking foot out for my sewing machine, to start quilting my little “leftover”.  I wanted to stitch simple, straight lines, nothing fancy.

Hmm.  I remembered there’s a little gizmo in the accessory box for keeping lines parallel.  That’s what I needed.  Out it came.

I’ll admit, I had to google to find out where/how it fitted, it’s so long since I used it.  But of course, once I saw the picture and referred back to my machine, there was only one place it could go.

There was the added bonus of discovering exactly what this little bit of kit does too: fastens the gizmo to the back of the walking foot and screws it into place.

In no time, we were away and the small leftover was quilted.

Now to finish off loose ends and to sew the binding, assuming I have enough fabric left. 

Because it would be silly to buy more fabric to finish off this leftover quilt, wouldn’t it?  What would I do with the leftover fabric?

Into every life…

..a little rain must fall.

Or so said my Mum when things didn’t go, ahem, according to plan.

I post this to balance the good life.  To counter all those thoughts of “oh, it’s all right for her, swanning off here and there” and to ensure that my blog doesn’t become one of those stories of a perfect life seen only through rose coloured spectacles.

The pictures might tell a story of everything running smoothly.  Of things under control and ticking over nicely.

Except that as far as our fridge-freezer was concerned, this was not the case.  Today’s unlooked for bonus was to clean out an unexpectedly defrosted fridge-freezer and dispose of the contents.

Yuk.

Whilst my hero has gone off to take the smelly contents to our “Civic Amenity Site”, I’ve hopefully managed to get rid of the horrible aftermath: the smell.

What a lovely way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon.  Not.

Update on Sunday, August 29, 2010 at 10:33AM by Gill Thomas

A call to British Gas, wtih whom we have a service contract for our white goods, resulted in a visit from one of their engineers on Thursday.  Unsure about the cause of the fault and undecided whether to request a manufacturers visit (costly) or  order several spare parts (also costly) we agreed that since we had already lost the contents of the freezer and hadn't replaced anything yet, we were in no hurry to sort it out.  He switched it back on, observed that the temperature was going down as he left and promised ot be back in touch after the weekend.

The fridge and freezer have been working perfectly since he left.

Rainy Saturday

Whilst at the Festival of Quilts, I also succumbed to some of the gorgeous Japanese fabric from the Eternal Maker, thinking I’d make a small bag or two.  As I stood dithering and trying to decide which print to choose, I spotted the girls there had their rotary cutters and basic kit in a little sack, exactly as I’d had in mind.  Sold!

I’d seen a pattern in this book a while ago, for a small square “box” made from linen fabric and had it in my mind to use this method.  But I couldn’t quite remember how it was done and since I don’t own the book myself, I asked a friend nicely if she’d remind me.  Except that before she had chance, I’d worked it out for myself…

In no time at all, a good sized bag was complete – all machined, so quick as anything.  But I felt the proportions were wrong, since it was hard to work out what size piece of fabric to start with (no, of course I didn’t try it out in scrap fabric first)  The largest bag has a square base with a side measuring 6 inches and is a good twelve inches deep.  Though I wanted it deep enough to turn over the top a couple of times, I felt the fabric wasn’t stiff enough to stand without some kind of stabilising layer.  So, the next two bags were made with a three inch base and are about ten inches tall.  Much better.

Perfect for putting a few bits and pieces in.  However, I spotted something about my choice of fabric – those little Matryoska dolls are all standing the same way up – and I had to decide whether to have the print up the right way on the turnover or on the lining.  Next time, I must choose a fabric with a two-way pattern.  Anyway, in less than half an hour, I had two small bags complete.

I didn’t stop there.  I’d also bought a couple of metres of heavier weight fabric from Fabrics Galore and soon whipped up a couple more, slightly larger bags with a six inch square base.  This stiffer fabric was a delight to sew and I was tempted to keep going except that it was now four o’clock and I was in need of tea.

But just before I turned off the sewing machine, I remembered I could add a small finishing touch.