More days out!

The tension is mounting as we have had five viewers since putting the house on the market three weeks ago, but as yet no buyer! So as the DH had to go to Beverley on Thursday, I decided that rather than sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring, I'd go on the Bernina Club outing to the Abakhan Mill at Mostyn in north Wales.

So a leisurely drive along the M62 in a very large coach in some rather nasty heavy rain, with a stop on the way for a coffee and we arrived just in time for lunch. There is a very large selection of fabric, yarn and craft items and so there was plenty to entertain us.

As I obviously don't have anywhere near enough fabric in my stash, I bought more! It is strange to be buying fabric by weight, but the staff were very helpful and I managed to get some bargains, although I had to look carefully as what was on offer was a bit of a mixed bag, most of it seconds and some of it badly marked or damaged. Here's what I chose!

The colours are a bit deeper than they appear here, but they all blend together well. All I need is a bright colour to use as a highlighter and I'll be all set. My plan is to make a quilt using the cutting double technique. Take two square pieces of fabric the same size and put one on top of the other, right sides up. Then make two cuts across the width of the square. Now you have six pieces of fabric so you mix and match them before sewing back together.  You can make things more exciting by inserting thin strips of fabric as you go. There's a really good book that explains this technique called Thinking Outside the Block by Sandi Cummings. For those of us who are just stepping into the murky waters of contemporary quilting and who haven't yet decided whether to become a "textile artist", it's a good book to start with!

But no time for that today because we went to Tockwith Show where my lovely granddaughter was entered in the young person's sheep handling class! Thunder, lightening and really heavy rain, but she did us proud and won second place! Her lamb, Roy, didn't seem to be all that excited, but she was so proud of her rosette, and there was prize money too! Here they are in their pomp!

 It was lovely to see them winning a prize and although Isobel looks a bit uncertain, she was very proud of herself and of Roy! As to Roy's future apparently, his rear end isn't wide enough so it's doubtful that he will make it as a breeding tup! Oh dear! What will Isobel do if Roy ends up as lamb chops?

So after all the excitement of the competition, we explored the show and it was only when there was a torrential downpour that we voted with our feet and came home.

Such a pity that it rained as it spoiled so much for people who had been planning, practising and working hard to get ready for the show.



Next up, a visit to the Leeds flower show to help out on the Alwoodley Quilters stand. Will this mad social whorl ever end!