Monday, 9 July 2012

When peace like a river attendeth my way, or sorrows like sea billows roll...

Am lost for words this week.
 We returned from holiday last Monday
to hear that a dear friend had lost her only son in very tragic circumstances.

What can one say? 
We're just praying that God wraps her
in his love and comfort

The Quilt by Susan Lordi
Willow Tree Figures




Friday, 22 June 2012

Old Wives get it right -

- again!


When my mum died, thirty-four years ago this month, her home was
 packed up by Pickfords and everything - including the coal box below -
was shipped across the country to us.




Today it sits next to our coal-effect gas fire, still
full of the nutty slack my mum dug out of the
coal house all those years ago.



You're probably thinking I'm 'Nutty Slack' for keeping coal
 that we don't need and can't use for more than a third of a century.
 But that would be the short-sighted view

'Some day,' I thought, 'that coal will come in handy'
And I was right. Today, this little heap of dirt is our pension plan.
  
The idea was sparked by a little flurry on Facebook -
someone had discovered the amazing regenerating
power of a lump of coal on a limp lettuce -



and, suddenly, baby-boomers were remembering how their
mums revived a tired old butterball lettuce by putting it
 in cold water with a small piece of washed coal and - voila!
 - an hour or so later it emerged as crisp, fresh leaves.

So....

Dragons' Den - here we come!

Our plan is to break the coal up into 1-inch cubes and
sell it to the public as the Next New Thing. 

With a bit of careful wording we could
have every pensioner in Britain sitting in a
lukewarm bath with a cleverly-marketed cube
of nutty slack working its magic on their tired old bones.

Today Britain - tomorrow the world!

Order now - stocks are limited...

  


Saturday, 16 June 2012

Super quick!

Progress on the quick scraps!

Loved this project from the Summer issue of
Primitive Patchwork Magazine!
It's such a simple block, but so cleverly cut - I just had to try it.


With a few quilt projects in the pipeline, I decided to cut the pattern down
 and make a nine-block quilt using some of my scrap fabrics.
This would give a centre layout measuring 33" x 33".
Reducing the borders to 1" and 4" to suit these proportions
would give a finished quilt measuring 43" x 43". Cute!

First job - join two pairs of 6.5" squares together...


Next - sew them together to make a 4-patch square...


Measure 4" either side of the centre line and cut off the two side strips.

My June Tailor Shape Cut ruler came into its own
when I was cutting all the squares and strips.
Such a useful bit of kit!


After sewing the cut strip from the right onto the left side of
the block, and the left strip onto the right of the block,
I turned the block 90 degrees and repeated the process -


- measuring and cutting 4" from the centre seam once more,
and sewing the cut strips to the opposite edge.
Results below!


Just a little - unsponsored! - plug for the June Tailor ruler...
I dithered over buying one of these for ages before parting
with the cash, but it's up there in my top five quilting aids.
I did a 2-minute demo at my quilt group the other day,
and they ordered one for the group toolbox right away.
It makes cutting strips, diamonds, triangles or hexagons so easy!
Check out this YouTube link for a demo
 video 

Anyway - back to the blocks!
Here they are, all sewn together.


I've got a cream crackle fabric for the 1" border and a
brown/cream pattern for the 4" border.
Not sure about the binding...
I was thinking of either using the border brown or
 joining scraps left over from the blocks. A scrap binding
would make it genuinely scrappy...

What do you think?
Suggestions welcome!