Not much sewing to see...

...but I do need a bit of help!

Once again I'm going to have to work some ATWD magic and make it look as though I've been productive this month!  I think I'll show you lots of photos to distract you from lack of substance sewing.  I've got to admit to being really, really tired at the moment.  To give you an idea of what really, really tired looks like I can tell you that in the last seven days I've spent six afternoons in bed, fast asleep for at least three hours each time.  And that's after at least ten hours sleep on a night so it's not as though I'm going short!  When I'm awake I'm not necessarily awake and doing - you're more likely to find me flitting from thing to thing, not really able to settle on one thing but not able to just sit on the settee and watch telly either ('too tired to do anything, too tired to rest' would be a good description).  If it wasn't for my need to publish my Fresh Sewing Day post on the first of the month I'd be in bed asleep by now, rather than trying to write something that's vaguely coherent.  A sensible person would write this post bit by bit through the month but it turns out that I'm not a sensible person - I might try to be one in September, wish me luck!

Right, that's enough of that, let's see what I've been up to!  Well, the first couple of things aren't at all sewing related so feel free to completely skip them and head for the photos with fabric in them.

I've decided that I'm officially over the halfway point when it comes to painting my fence.  Before you think 'I thought she said she was jiggered?  She can't be if she's painting a fence.', I started this on 4th June!  This is what I've done (warning: this is a really exciting mosaic, you may want to sit down before viewing)

Archie appears in two of these photos - ten points if you can spot him!
I'd like to point out that the end panel of the shed needed four coats of paint, which I had to apply with an angled brush, through the gaps in the fence!  Yes, it took a long time but it was worth it.  I think!  
Please ignore the rubbish, it's going to the tip, when I get round to it!

and at this point I hit a milestone: I'd painted all the fence that I'd scrubbed and it was then that I made a mistake.  A mistake of gigantic proportions.  I decided to have a break.  That was two weeks ago and I really need to get back to the scrubbing brush and bucket/paint brush and kettle but I just don't have the energy.  I've got this much left to do:

The upturned plant pot is there because that berberis is going in it, I just haven't got round to doing it!

At the end of September(ish) the landscaper is coming to clear the garden (which is why I'm lifting some plants and putting them in pots - some will be staying in pots and some will be going back in the ground once it's been sorted to make it 'low maintenance but not soulless or like the corner of a council car park', not that I'm fussy, or anything!  If anyone has any photos of gardens that fit that criteria please share, I need inspiration!) and to re-lay the patio and drive.  I can't decide whether to aim for all the fence scrubbed and painted before that (which means cutting down some shrubs and removing the climbers) or whether to wait until after it's been cleared and risk it raining for weeks on end.  I think it's going to be the latter!


The other thing that's been keeping me occupied (and tired) and that isn't sewing related is this:

Physio exercises - there are eleven of them, two are hiding on the reverse of the sheet!

For the past few months I've been struggling with my shoulder - it's been gradually getting worse for just over a year (it started as a foundation paper piecing-related injury when I was making these!) and had got to the point where any jolt or sudden movement was, well, agony and reaching above my head was nigh on impossible.  I can't really remember what the physio said (I was tired, big surprise!) but 'shoulder impingement' was definitely mentioned.  As was a 'very stiff shoulder'!  As a result I'm supposed to be doing these stretches three times a day, three to five repeats each time.  I'm currently managing three repeats each time and aiming for twice a day.  And managing once, most of the time!  The checklist is because the physio recommended I split them up through the day to make them less tiring and it was the only way I could think of to keep track of what I'd done and what I hadn't.  Oh, and to make me accountable so I had to force myself to do them because they don't half hurt!  I think it's going to be a while before it's better but already I can fold my arms and keep them that way for about three minutes and I can almost put my hand on my hip - progress!


After all that I think it's about time I got to the sewing, don't you?!  'Thank heavens for that!', I hear you cry but I did offer you the option of scrolling down!


I've finally started my Christmas quilt.  I say finally because I've changed my mind so many times about what I wanted to make that I think I made Nicky dizzy!  I think one week I changed my mind at least five times so I imagine she's thrilled that I've finally made a start...and stuck to it, even if it is an idea I've had at least four times!  A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to receive a copy of Sarah Fielke's new book 'Hand Quilted With Love' (which is a terrific book, I'd really recommend it) and as soon as I saw the 'Made in Cherry' photo I realised that continuing to fight it was useless: this was the quilt I was going to make with my Christmas 'collection'.  Oh, that I'd come to that conclusion the first time I thought about it...about eighteen months ago!  (I'm planning to add to it so that it becomes a rectangular, rather than square, quilt because I like a quilt that covers me from shoulders to toes and if it's square then it becomes quite unwieldy - I like to aim for somewhere around 60" x 80".)  I already had dozens of 3.75" squares cut out because I thought I'd chosen a pattern - I'd made a test block and cut out all the prints and then I changed my mind!  Dithering is a terrible curse!  I spent a while laying out squares and then labelled them, made a map (naturally!) and started piecing.

Sorry about the night-time photo!

And this is how far I've got:

One quadrant of the centre pieced and pressed.

A second quadrant pieced but not pressed.

A third quadrant in progress.

At the risk of being a whinger, I find machine piecing really, really tiring.  Well, not just machine piecing; using a sewing machine in general.  I think it's a combination of things - sitting on an upright chair with no arms (that may sound odd but it's something I find very tiring), the concentration required, the noise of the sewing machine (it's not horrifically noisy but I am sensitive to noise and often find it quite wearing) as well as the 'I'll just stitch one more seam' aspect of it.  I know I'm not the only person to find using a sewing machine tiring but I thought I'd explain it for those of you who don't - I sometimes feel as though I say 'I'm tired' a lot but don't really explain how that feels, why I'm tired or how it affects my daily life.

With this project I'm trying to do a little bit at a time - in one day I might just join five lots of two squares or even just pin two strips together but I'm hoping that at least this way I'll feel as though I'm making progress, my aim is to have it layered and ready for hand quilting by November(ish) so that I can watch Christmas films and quilt my Christmas quilt, won't that be lovely?!!  I don't want it to be too Christmassy, though, which is why there's plenty of non-Christmas fabric mixed in there - that way I'll be able to use it for more than a few weeks a year, maybe November through to the end of January?  Or will it have to go away with the decorations by Twelfth Night?!


Now, it's at this point that I need your help: I need to find a background fabric.  I think the choice of background fabric is important in any project but it feels particularly important for this quilt - looking at the quilts in the Made In Cherry Flickr group it feels as though the right background really makes the star shine and I definitely want mine to shine!  I've been thinking of using a dotty background - preferably a small coloured dot on a white background.  Maybe aqua dots?  Thanks to a giveaway link on The Sewing Directory (the giveaway is open until 10th September, get there before it closes!) I found two possibilities - an aqua dot and a green dot.  I'd really, really appreciate your opinions on what would work best as a background and if you could point me to a specific fabric then that would be marvellous - another thing I struggle with is online fabric shopping.  I get overwhelmed by the choice, I can't hold all the different options in my head, I dither over which is best and, after about five minutes, lose concentration and wander off.  It's marvellous for my credit card but not so marvellous for my stash!  Thank you, in advance, for your suggestions!


It's been another month of marvellous post.  Lots of you will have entered Yvonne and Reene's fabulous giveaway over at Nellie's Niceties and will have kept your fingers, toes and paws firmly crossed that your name was chosen.  And then got your pet lip out when it wasn't!  Well, Yvonne was kind enough to send me a parcel of loveliness:

I have a plan for those Liberty strips...it was Hadley's idea and I think it's a good 'un!  The card was made by Yvonne and is gorgeous, I can see why Reene has a drawer full of cards she can't part with!

Thank you, Yvonne!  I hope you have as much fun with the hexies as I'm going to with this!  I sent Yvonne my EPP hexies - I started them when I didn't have any hand piecing prepared (I think I was still piecing hexies for my hexy quilt at that point) and I wasn't well enough to prepare any.  I thought it was a good idea at the time and quite enjoyed tacking the fabric to the paper but I'd forgotten that I really, really don't like EPP!  I use it when I make the little pin cushions using Japanese import fabrics because it's the best technique for that fabric/size of pieces but that's as far as it's ever going to go.  I know lots of you love EPP but I'm afraid I won't be joining you any time soon, other than for tiny pin cushions - hand piecing is my first love and, I hope, always will be!  I've still got half of the honey bun left as well as some co-ordinating fat eighths so I'll be able to start a new project, it might even be small hexies again!


This arrived from Nicky:

A giant custard cream - I love it!

She knew that I'd had eye on one of these for a while and found one somewhere - I love it so much!  As if that wasn't enough, it was packed with goodies inside:

There are some of Nicky's custom charm packs and roll-ups as well as some of her goodies from FQR, including a spool of Aurifil floss that's hiding under that zip - she's such a lovely friend!


And it was accompanied by the cutest handmade card:

For more hand stamped goodness visit the Stamp It Up Swap pool - a swap that Nicky is running (I'm helping with the admin, it's a good way for me to be involved without swapping), there are already some wonderful stamps that have been made as well as lots and lots of inspiration mosaics!

I've saved the best bit for last, though:

An Archie stamp!  I have plenty of ideas of how to use this, I just need to find some energy and there'll be no stopping me!

Thank you, Nicky - I'm truly blessed to call you my friend xx


Nicky also did some shopping for me at the FQR market - I'm about to start a new hand piecing project (I know, I need another new project like I need another hole in the head but it's not my fault - I'm putting the blame fairly and squarely at Lynne's door!  She will insist on designing the most wonderful quilt blocks and then sharing them on Twitter and who am I to resist?  And I do have a marvellous new hand piecing tin to use...) and I needed a few more FQs of some specific Oakshott Impressions to add to the project pile so Nicky went with a shopping list!

It was hard to narrow down which colours I wanted more of but I managed it in the end!

I'm just waiting for my chosen background to come back into stock at Simply Solids and then I'll be good to go (after I've washed the additional Oakshott FQs and the background.  And ironed it.  Sigh!) and you'll be able to see my first block.  No promises as to how quickly that's going to happen, though!


Archie has loved the sunny weather we've had this summer (I can't say I've been as much of a fan!) - he's spent every day in either the conservatory or the garden.  It's typical - I decide to get rid of the grass in my back garden because I can't keep on top of it and he's decided he likes lying on it!  I'll have to make him a 'lying in the back garden' quilt instead!  One thing that hasn't changed in all the years I've had him (twelve!) is that he likes to lick out any yoghurt pots, cheese wrappers, tuna tins, etc.  Although sometimes he acts as though he's the one doing me a favour, rather than the other way round:

Life's hard when you're nothing but a glorified pot washer.  It's a tough job but someone's got to do it.

Not another pot to wash?!

Phew, that was a tough one!  I need a break - maybe I should join a union and investigate my rights...

I'll see you next month (or maybe before?) - thanks for popping in!  As ever I'm linking up to Fresh Sewing Day at Lily's Quilts - why not do the same or hop over and see what everyone else has been up to?   You won't regret it!

Please don't forget to let me know your 'Christmas Cherry background fabric' opinions/links in your comment!  Thank you!