Spring Sunshine

Actually, last week's  weather was more like Summer than Spring - cloudless blue skies and glorious sunshine, which was a lovely change to the grey skies we've had to endure for most of February.  Not being quite warm enough to brave a trip to the coast, where else  would we go but back to one of our favourite walks along the Brest to Nantes canal !

Josselin is one of the most picturesque towns in our area, and is only a 15 minute drive away from home .  No matter how many times we walk the canal bank around the town, the  dramatic setting of the chateau towering above the town and canal never fails to impress.

Weirs and locks

Walkers, cyclists and avenues of trees

There's even a small jump course for those wanting to place the odd bet or two !

Not quite Aintree, but lots of  fun on race day.

An afternoon out wouldn't be complete without seeing some flowers would it?

Finally let me show you one very brave cat

I certainly hope she's a good swimmer :-)

Sadly, our weather took a turn for the worse over the weekend and we are back to the cold, grey stuff, but fingers crossed that it doesn't stay too long.

Birthday Blues - Part 1

Not quite the birthday I had planned for today - it was to have been a day at the coast, but , unfortunately, it hasn't happened!! Our weather the last week or so has been rather changeable but in the main dry, and the last couple of days have been virtually summery with temperatures in the low 20s. Today however we are back in winter with howling winds and very heavy showers, so a day on the beach didn't seem like a good idea somehow !!


All is not lost however, there's a bottle of champagne cooling for this evening and tomorrow evening we'll be having a dozen or so friends over to help me celebrate again!


No pictures of the lovely Brittany coast I'm afraid, but I can show you my birthday present !




I have been considering a back-up machine for sometime now , as when the Bernina goes in for a service etc I am lost, so I took advantage of being in the UK last month and convinced DH he should buy this for me as an early birthday present !



It is a different animal to my Bernina, but I 've had lots of fun getting to know it and it has played nicely with me (so far!) . I decided that, instead of just trying it out on 'scraps' I would make a small quilt from scratch, reasoning that this way I would probably cover all the things I'd need to know before tackling anything bigger so, remember this book ? Well this is what I made from it






A small replica of the Pembroke chintz quilt c1820 and currently in the private collection of Jen Jones. You can see the original here in the bottom right hand corner! Mine is a lot smaller at only 26 inches square, but I think it is lovely ! I also got to be very brave and tried some motif quilting for the first time !

Now all I have to do is learn to do the same thing on my bigger quilts ! The hanging sleeve wasn't stitched down when this was taken, but it is finished now!!

Just in case you are wondering about the post title, watch this space as I have certainly got a Birthday Blues Part 2 to share very soon !

Busy! Busy!

Not a lot of sewing going on over the last few days as it was DH's birthday on Sunday! The place been like Piccadilly Circus with all the comings and goings all over the weekend, and added to the days of preparation before hand, I am ready for a long lie down in a dark room!!! Actually, it has been good fun with good company and lots of laughs !!

All I have to show at the moment is a new book

which contains what is possibly my next project - what do you think !!

This will be another first for me as I have never really been a fan of paper piecing, but I would love to try the New York Beauty block and this pattern is certainly in my comfort zone !! Can I do it I ask myself or will this turn into another step too far !!!!

All Sorts of Everything !

Its been a funny few days - I thought I was on the up, but Thursday and Friday I was back to feeling really low and tearful again so obviously I must still have some anaesthetic lurking around me ! Having said that, I do feel a lot better again today and even managed my first long walk this morning - 4 kms ,which isn't too bad I think for 10 days post-op & complete with stockings !!


I keep forgetting to mention the birthday, possibly because most of it passed in a haze (!) , but I had a great selection of cards from family & friends, a dozen yellow roses (my favourites!!) from DH plus an IOU to spend on fabrics when I am in the UK - as if I need encouragement !!! This funky chicken from Harrison & Phoebe , two of our little horrors (Ooops - I mean grandchildren!!)

Isn't it great ! I have a thing about chickens and this one sits just nicely on the shelf at the side on my sewing machine. A 'posh' pincushion from DD, Sian

This lovely little fabric paper quilt and charm pack , Thanks Annette !!

There was also 4 yards of fabric from Stephanie , 2 shrubs from Lesley, some chocolates and more flowers from other friends here in Brittany that I haven't managed to take photos of yet. As we are going over to the UK at the end of the month, all my other gifts are waiting for me & I have a feeling that there is going to be a 'surprise' get together to hand them over at some stage !!!!

On the sewing scene , I have 2 CWD blocks finished and another half done, so will wait to post them all together. I have also managed to get the sashing on my Pioneer Sampler quilt, although it's in 2 pieces at the moment as I want to try and quilt it in sections as per Marti Mitchell.

And now a little teaser -these are some of the fabrics for my ALQS swap , again WAY out of my comfort zone, but what the heck!!!
Final note is that I did eventually get through to Quilting Treasures by email and received an acknowledgement saying they were investigating the query - so I guess I just sit and wait now !!