Dipping my toe in the blogging pool...

Here goes nothing...the first posting on my blog!

About 18 months ago I was adamant I wasn't starting a blog ("Why would anyone read it?" "I'm not sure I have anything to say that isn't already on another blog") but recently I've started to think about changing my mind!  I'm not any more confident that people will read and enjoy my posts or that I have anything different to say, it's more that I quite fancy dipping my toe in the blogging pool and seeing if I like it.  This morning I got a nudge from Nicky of Mrs Sew and Sow about starting a blog and it seems it was just what I needed to get started!  I expect that my blog will mainly be about my obsession with quilting (and embroidery, crochet and knitting, but mainly quilting!) so I have no idea why I've named it after my dog, except that it's the name that came to mind when I was setting up my Flickr account and it makes sense to keep the same name.

So, after all that I think it's time to introduce Archie the wonder dog...

...although at the moment he looks like this...

...a (big) dog (well, bitch) pinned him down and bit his ear on Wednesday evening - very scary, for a moment I thought it was going to be horrific.  It needed six staples (and antibiotics and painkillers) to fix but I'm grateful that he didn't need sedating or stitches (which would have required a full anaesthetic).  I'd be even more grateful, however, if the owner of the dog (which was on a lead at the time) had done something (anything!) to control his dog, properly apologised and offered to pay the vet's bill...

I think it's also time to introduce myself (no photo - like Archie I detest having my photo taken but unlike Archie I actually have a say in the matter!).  I live in the North-East of England.  I was a primary school teacher until a few years ago when I caught a nasty flu virus that resulted in ME/CFS and I'm not yet well enough to return to work.  Although I'd done plenty of sewing/crochet/knitting when I was young (and had spent hours colouring in drawings of patchwork quilts - mainly squares!) I had never thought about quilting but wanted to find something I could 'pick up and put down' after about three months of being off work and I was starting to get sick of just lying on the settee watching telly and being too tired to do anything else for more than a few minutes.  Famous last words - I was quickly hooked on hand piecing and immediately found it to have a meditative quality which was very soothing and relaxing.  I still feel that and for that reason I think that hand piecing and quilting will always be my main love.  I enjoy machine piecing but not in quite the same way.  (Phew, thought I'd lost this paragraph - the cursor has a mind of it's own and keeps wandering...thank goodness for the undo button!!)  I've recently started teaching a few workshops at a local business and I hope to do more in the future.  I really enjoy it and one of the advantages of teaching adults is that you don't have to keep an eye out for them running with scissors (although it's amazing the 'silly' things grown-ups do with scissors and rotary cutters - makes me wince!) and neither do you have to monitor how often they go to the toilet ;o)

As you've probably noticed I'm quite chatty (!) - unless I've deleted half of what I've written before I click 'publish post' - so I think it's time to go.  I'll leave you with a couple of recent photos of my current obsession...hexagons! (Thanks, Lynne and Gayle, just what I needed, another project!)

Please excuse the crumpled sheet - it was much worse before I ironed it (on the floor, after I'd taken one photo and realised just how bad it was!)

That's all for now, folks (that makes it sound like I'm expecting hordes to rush to read my first post!  I can assure you that is not the case!), see you soon, I hope!