Happy Halloween

This is the first year we haven't stocked up with Halloween goodies for the trick or treat brigade and oh dear I can hear ominous noises coming from the lane! We'll have to pretend to be out!

Still Isobel and I did make some Halloween buns, but unfortunately she took them home with her!

It's amazing what you can get nowadays!

Catching up

So we are a bit down in the dumps because we have put the house back on the market and the sold sign has been removed. On the plus side we are still attracting viewings from people who don't have to sell. We have fingers and toes crossed that one of them will want to buy and will not muck us about like the last lot.

It amazes me how people say things like "It's my dream home and we will definitley buy it" when they then disappear into the mist and don't actually appear to be doing anything about it. GRRRRRR!

We have had a couple of trips to Cornwall just because we want to be there rather than here and we've had some lovely days out.

Here is St Ives bathed in sunshine! We were feeling rather aggrieved because you now have to pay to park at the park and ride at Lelant and even worse, there were three empty parking spaces in the Island car park! So our trip cost us a bit more than we had expected especially after the crab sandwiches in the Sloop Inn.

We could not resist another trip to Cape Cornwall and this time, the van had Roskilly's Frozen Gooseberry Yoghurt ice cream! And we saw this

My DH just happened to have the camera in his hand, but unfortunately only one of them stayed in shot. It may not look much, but we get very excited every time we see them. For those who may not know, this is a Chough!

Anyway, decluttering and packing continues and I have been digging out the UFOs. Here is the Halloween quilt I started making last year. The panel was so lovely, I couldn't resist and I thought I'd have a go a flying geese. Not too bad really, but I don't think it would win any prizes in a competition.

The DH is doing a grand job of holding it up , hence the legs peeping out at the bottom. There was some fabric left over, so I also made a cushion which turned out quite nicely. Perhaps I could get into this patchwork thing after all!

However, I have now reverted to "ART" and am currently working on using Inktense sticks to colour fabric so that we've got something to show off at our next CQ group meeting next month.

But before that, I must go downstairs and finish cleaning the oven!

Too good to be true

Yes, we've started packing too soon. Our buyers have hit a small snag so we are having to wait a while. They say they intend to go ahead, but who knows. Indeed, who knows what will happen next.

Two of our most influential popular men have died in the same week. Yes I know that Steve Jobs changed our lives with technology, but for me, the loss of Bert Jansch means so much more. I first saw him perform live in a folk club in Soho called Les Cousins in 1966. My friend and I had just started at London University and decided to visit this club which was quite an adventure for two Cornish girls! Of course, at the time, I didn't know who he was and it was only some time later that I found out. My brother bought me his LP for my Christmas present and I played it on my Dansette Junior record player over and over again, driving the rest of my family almost to the point of suicide after listening to " the needle of death" time after time!

Over the years I've attended various concerts seeing Pentangle and Bert himself and also collected several records which I still play. Of course, "Anji" is my favourite and what a privilege it was to see him perform this live on a number of occasions. It sounds as if more than one person is playing, but it's just him. So close your eyes and imagine yourself in a smoke filled room, (yes I know noone smokes nowadays) a glass of beer in hand and a great atmosphere and listen to this.

So more than forty years on, I'm still that teenager at heart. RIP Bert!

It's official

Now there's a sight for sore eyes!

Just when you think, well it might happen one day, the phone rings and OMG it's actually going to happen. Then you look out of the window and suddenly the SOLD STC sign appears as if by magic!

There's so much to do even before we start tackling the clutter and we are still not certain that we will be able to move as quickly as we'd like to, but barring accidents, off we go!

So we're off to sunny Cornwall later in the week to have another look at the property we're hoping to buy and wish DH's Mum a happy 96th birthday! Not a lot of quilting or anything else is going to get done for a while!

Great Northern Quilt Show

After all the excitement of the Festival of Quilts, and trying to get on with things, with not much success, suddenly it was time for the Great Northern Quilt Show. My friend Sandra had entered three of her quilts in the competition and we decided to go to see how she got on.

And this is the result. A second prize! This lovely miniature quilt is double sided and is really beautifully made. Well done Sandra! Her other quilts did not win, but looked very good.

Sorry that the photos are a bit skew whiff, but it was difficult to get close to them due to the layout.

One of the highlights for me was the exhibition of work by Frieda Oxenham. which was very colourful and just beautiful. Two in particular caught my eye. This one is called Log Cabin Ladies

and includes lots of small photographs of ladies with as a surprise one token gentleman!

This gave me an idea for a present for my big sister who  has a special birthday coming up in January. I have some photos of some of the ladies in our family so I thought it would be just the way to show them off. So I bought a pack of batik strips and am going to make a start as soon as possible. But........ oh dear, the estate agent has just phoned and it seems that someone wants to buy our house and GULP has the money ready! Just the thought of what's lurking in our attic is bringing me out in a cold sweat! Quilts may have to be put on the back burner for now.

Watch this space.

What I got at Festival of Quilts

was a nasty stonking cold! It started on the train on the way home on Saturday, and even today I am still full of it. Still, coughing and sneezing like mad, but planning my next project, which I can do sitting down!

There were so many wonderful things to see at FOQ and so many others have written about it on their blogs that it's difficult to find anything original to say. So apologies if I'm going over old ground!
I spent quite a lot of time browsing the competition quilts in the Contemporary and Art categories so that I could try and fathom out what the difference is between the two. In the end I came to the conclusion that there really isn't any discernible difference at all. There were also quilts in the Pictorial category that I thought could have been entered in either of the other two categories. The traditional quilt that won first prize, was just that, a beautifully made traditional quilt and there were others in that class that were totally traditional. However there were also quilts in that class, that I thought could easily have been entered in the Contemporary class. But hey, what do I know about it given my lack of experience!

I'm not sure about taking photos of other people's work, but there are a few that I did want to capture. It's difficult to pick a favourite so I won't, but there were a few that I thought had the "wow factor".

This quilt by Rosalind Gregory was called Becky's Dresses and was a collection of hand smocked dresses appliqued onto the back ground by hand.  Apparently these were actual dresses made from various Liberty Lawns which had been worn by the makers daughter as a child. The photo really doesn't do it justice, but it was truly delightful and attracted a large crowd.

This quilt was made by Julie Makinder and again the photo really doesn't do it justice. It incorporates hand dyed, hand printed fabrics and incorporates photos inspired by the colours of the Cornish landscape.

Another quilt inspired by Cornwall by Carolyn Saxby from St Ives. I was so pleased to finally get to meet Carolyn who has such a wonderful blog and which is such an inspiration.

This quilt was made by Alicia Merritt and the colours were truly vibrant and the quilting was just wonderful.

If I must choose a favourite, then I think it would be this beautiful quilt by Sheena Norquay. I just couldn't tear myself away from it and while I had my nose pressed up close to see the free machine quilting, I got into conversation with a young woman who was equally enthralled. She thought that this type of quilting needed a special expensive machine and that it could not be done on an ordinary domestic machine. I soon put her right and I hope she was inspired enough to go home, drop her feed dogs and have a play! Exactly what I should be doing!

As for my project, ah well, I was tempted by some beautiful hand dyed silk yarn on Oliver Twists stall and it is just right for weaving a silk scarf. So that's what I'm doing next!

Not long now!

It's been a strange week and it's only Tuesday!  There has been a lot going on. They came to start on resurfacing our driveway yesterday so the car has had to spend the night outside parked in the lane. They're coming today to put down the new surface. As we can't drive on it for at least twenty four hours, the car is outside again. While they're laying the surface, we will be trapped as our only way out is the driveway! So as I have a lot to do, I'll be able to get on won't I?

I can hear the drilling from the men from the Water Company who are digging up the road round the corner and our water is about to be turned off for the day!

How will all the machinery  fit in our narrow little lane? I forsee many arguments developing between our drive way people and the water company as they try to work round each other in such a small area! Or, will anyone turn up at all?

In the meantime, I have lots of sewing to get on with and I have to give some thought to my sketchbook. My sketchbook from The Sketchbook Project arrived last week. This project is a worldwide project described as a concert tour, but with sketchbooks. When you sign up, you choose a theme and your sketchbook arrives with a bar code which is used to identify you. The sketchbooks are sent back to Brooklyn where they are digitised and can be viewed online. I chose "prehistoric" as my theme and I am hoping to get going with it when I get back from Festival of Quilts.

Sadly though, the actual sketchbook is pretty naff. It is quite small and the paper is very thin so that it probably won't take much in the way of paint etc. The cover is plain brown card, which although it can be embellished,  is pretty flimsy, so options appear to be limited. So the plan is to replace the cover and the paper with more interesting and useable materials. Rather like the old broom that lasts forever having only had the handle and the bristles replaced at different times. However  I must ensure that the barcode is left visible and intact.

Not a lot to see at this stage! Fortunately I will be meeting up with friends at Festival of Quilts who are also taking part in this project and so I hope that there will be plenty of ideas and inspirations floating around! There are also going to be a lot of suppliers at the NEC so I will be able to find lots of lovely paper etc to make the sketchbook how I want it. I feel a mixed media surge coming over me!

Next up FOQ. Will I survive it?