I'm still here!

Just thought I'd pop in and let you all know that I'm still here!


Now, before I forget, the second Christmas Gifts for Quilters post is up and Lynne is focusing on Aurifil.  I only have one reel of Aurifil (40wt - wonderful for quilting) and I'd love to own more!  Click the button to take you to the post - there's a wonderful giveaway going on over there!

Another thing I mustn't forget is to show you what turned up last week.  Well, it tried to turn up but I wasn't in and the postie wouldn't squash it to death to get it in the letter box so it had to hang around at the depot for a day or so while I wondered what this mysterious parcel could be - in the end I decided it was going to be another washing powder measure or something equally mundane!  It must have been my lucky week as my name was pulled out of the hat for one of the September giveaways at Popular Patchwork and I won this...

...a big pile of dinosaur fabric!!

I'm going to use the bottom two fabrics to make 12" (finished) blocks for Karen's Kind Stitches - she's collecting blocks to make into non-wadded quilts for children at a shelter in Thailand and the others will probably wait for a baby boy to arrive...


My Brit Quilt Swap Pillow Fight partner assignment arrived yesterday (excited!) and I've done a little stalking...so far I've had a few ideas.  Well, one idea with a few permutations!  (And I've learnt my first lesson - sketch ideas in pen not pencil as pencil doesn't like being photographed!)

Apologies for the small writing and diagrams, it's easier to read here

Now obviously I want to try and make something wonderful for my partner but I'm a little unsure about whether this is the right sort of thing.  I've uploaded it to the group pool so hopefully she'll reply (don't think I'm giving anything away by letting you know my partner's a she!) and I can go from there.  I'm think I'll just have to throw around some ideas and hope that one takes her fancy...if not I'll have another ponder!  Once I've chosen a design I'm going to narrow down the colours (I find it much easier to work this way round) and then I may be able to get cutting and stitching!!

I'm still really tired (thanks for all of your supportive messages - I really appreciate them!) so haven't done much except sleep (and sleep in - I slept through my not-very-early alarm three days running!) and sit on the settee drinking cups of tea.  Oh, and try to catch up with my blog reading - I was about six days behind but I think I'm caught up now! - but over the past few weeks I've been stitching the odd (some might say very odd!) Drunkard's Path block together (see here and here for previous posts) and I thought I'd share a few of my favourites

I really do love them, especially that turquoise!

I think that despite the different colour ways these are going to work well together...

I think I have another six blocks to stitch and then I'll be ready to ponder the sizes of the grey and turquoise borders.  I still haven't got any grey as the website I was going to order from doesn't have any at the moment but I'm not in any rush - I want this to be my stand-by project for those days when I'm not able to think and stitch...and I have plenty of those!



Archie is enjoying his slightly longer walks and seems to be coping well with them.  He's a bit miffed that he's not allowed to go further and he's slowly getting used to being on a lead for the entire walk rather than just the first 30 seconds...this morning he didn't get wrapped round a single tree or lamppost which is quite an achievement for a dog (and owner!) that has spent the last ten years not having to think about such things.  He has happily re-marked his territory and is now only weeing on every third or fourth blade of grass  which has sped things up considerably!  (No kidding, he stopped every foot or so for the first couple of days!)  He has spent all day today in his bed in the kitchen - he has a cosy corner (on the list when I got a new kitchen?  A space for Archie's bed!) and looks most comfortable

I think he's counting his feet to check they're all still there!

Of course, I rarely manage to get a second chance at a photo of him from a different angle

Do you mind, I'm trying to sleep...

Doesn't he look cosy in his not-so-little corner with two duvets?!  It's no wonder he doesn't want to be disturbed!

Hope everyone is well and having wonderful sewing days?  It's just the weather to be inside with some gorgeous fabric!