Death to housework...

Hmmm, I'm starting to think that as much as I'm thoroughly enjoying my hand sewing, a task that takes place with me sat on my arse with my feet up on a comfy sofa with a daft cat on my shins (I know, shins... its her new thing, she wont sit anywhere else) is probably not a suitable thing for me to do.  Not if I actually want to get things done to blog about and show you...  Oh its sooo nice - sew a bit, fall asleep, sew a bit, fall asleep...  no face glued to sewing machine scenarios, no waking up with a safety pin imprinted on my forehead (fell asleep basting...), no head dropping and thumping off tables...  But no nice pretty finishes to show in over a week either!  And its not that I feel under pressure to show you things, its more that I'm really missing the high of actually finishing things!

Little miss distraction...

So, with very little to show and tell, this'll just be a few brief highlights of the last 11 days...

I got some proper sewing done the first weekend.  I made some borders to add to the not-so-hidden stars quilt top from last post, to up the size a bit and make up for the blocks all being too short.  Took a little longer than it should have, I somehow managed to stretch one of the borders as I was attaching it the first time and it was twisting the top.  Still, seam ripper and I got it sorted eventually.
Basting also took 2 attempts.  I don't understand it, I basted 4 or 5 quilts on the bed, no problems at all, but the last 3 have all been disasters!  I took it over to the ironing board and did it very slowly top to bottom, I think it worked...  I also got some free motion quilting done!  I'm doing a free motion squiggle all around the outside of the stars, and I'm hand quilting inside the stars.  I must say I'm liking how its going so far.

I had my appointment at the hairdressers.  Got up early enough, and sat down with a cuppa since I had half an hour to kill.  Bad move.  Since quitting smoking my sleep attacks have been an awful lot more sudden and unexpected.  I woke up 25 minutes later, with a whole cup of tea emptied all over me and the sofa...  And I use a big mug...
I got a good haircut this time tho ;-)  I've been trying purple this year, and its not been particularly successful.  However, I know that red always works, so this time I went for purple and red!  It worked quite well :-)

I've killed the hoover.  I didn't mean to.  I know I say I hate it, well I do hate it, but not enough to wish it dead, I do need it after all.  I didn't mean to snap its head off, it was self defence I swear.  I mean, really, it was me or the hoover.  It started it...  I was just bending down hoovering the stairs when it decided to launch itself at me when I wasn't looking.  It tried to kill me!  I managed to dodge out of the way, but I needed  both hands, one to grip the walls or I'd have been down the stairs backwards, and the other to grab its chubby little butt so it didn't end up smashing into the front door.  Only having two hands,  I had to drop the extending neck bit that the heads attached to, I wasn't throwing it away for no reason...

I finally came up with an idea or two for my mug rug swaps...  One is totally cracking me up, so I'm not showing anyone until I get it finished, just in case it doesn't work as planned!  The other I can show, its a work in progress.

My For the love of Solids reached my partner in a record 6 days from Shetland to America, and phew, she likes.  You can be nosey here if you want...  when you see what she's sent out to her secret partner you'll get why I was worried mine was a bit boring!  Also, Project 51 got to its destination and has been the cause of many a teary eye. (not that its awful or anything!  Its pretty cool...)  you can see pics on these posts if you haven't already ;-) Rags to bags, Flying Blind on a Rocket Cycle, and Quilting Prolifically to name a few!

So that's me pretty much up to date...  I'd like to finish up by wishing mum a Very Happy Birthday!  As you might know by now, mum is my number one fan, and she is the very reason I am blogging and sewing and meeting all you lovely people in the first place.  Mum "lent" me her sewing machine a year ago, and she did a whole lot of work creating the sewing cupboard for me.  And she taught me to sew!  She encourages me, eggs me on, and actually listens when I ramble on for hours about new fabric lines, bee blocks, quilt designs.....  She's had a week in the sewing cupboard with me this year, and hopefully will again someday.  Meantime she is catching the quilting bug herself (one or two of you may have come across her already ;-)  So, with a whole lotta love, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM!  XXX