The week of two halves......

The first half wasn't so good...... a bug caught me!

Must say the bug in the pic looks way more attractive than I did for the first four days of last week (must get myself a pair of those cute slippers).    It might have been the Winter Vomiting bug that is rife around here but it could just as easily have been a reaction to one of Mac's more inventive culinary creations.  I'm playing it safe from here on in.  Toast is going to be my meal of choice in future.  Can a woman live on toast alone.......

Once I beat the bug..... I set to work eating frogs (explanation later).....

Day 1 back on my feet and I was sewing.    My first 'frog' was basket liners and I set to work... no messing about.   It wasn't too long before I had a batch of baskets sporting a new look.   Here's some of them...

and another one...

there are more but I won't show more photos just in case you think I'm a basket case.

Another day.... another frog.

Frog #2 ... getting to work on the quilt that was to be mine but now is going to be my mums unless she changes her mind (fingers crossed).   

Saw a great idea on Raewyns blog and decided to give it a go too.  Pop over to her place (click on her name) to see for yourself what it's all about.  

You might remember (if you have elephant genes) that some time ages ago I decided to make an Irish Chain quilt.  Pieced 4 blocks before the project fell into the UFO box.    Well..... I had cut lots of 2" squares ready for that project and after seeing what Raewyn had done I figured if I pieced them at the beginning and end of each seam I sewed I could double productivity!      That's the equivalent of eating one frog while nibbling on another.  Cool eh!

How about this for progress....

it's officially a Flimsy!   Done and dusted and just waiting for me to decide what to do with the quilt back.  I've just enough fabric to piece squares for the backing and make it truly reversible but I've never tried that before and I'm a bit of a Wuss!   What do you think...... should I bite the bullet and give it a go or chicken out and buy more fabric for the backing?    All advice gratefully accepted.

Now... about the 'frog' thing (if you don't already know about it).   Sometimes... in the wee small hours when I can't get to sleep I pick up my Kindle and browse the store.   I download 'free' sample chapters of anything and everything that takes my fancy.   Last week I downloaded a sample of Brian Tracey's  'Eat That Frog'.... 21 ways to stop procrastinating and get more done in less time!   You can read about it here if you are curious.   Obviously my brain was in receptive mode.... because next day I started eating my frogs and believe me it feels great.    All that from a book sample...... I still haven't bought the actual book!  Call me mean.... but I'd rather have fabric!  

What else!    Oh yes.... it snowed.....

not as much as other parts of the country but some is better than none at all.   I love snow!

Perhaps it was good we didn't get too big a snowfall or the postman might not have delivered this.....

or this....

Lovely!

Well.... that's all folks!  Can't think of anything more to say... that you'd want to hear.  It's a windy wet night here at Chez Dimple    Licky is sprawled on my lap sleeping... snoring... and releasing the occasional gaseous emission!   Gotta love pets!!  

Have a great week everyone.    How about eating a few frogs......

See ya soon

Hugs

Josie

Note to self........ buy a gas mask!

She's got mail.....

and I am one very relieved Christmas Angel indeed!

Yesterday the package of goodies I sent to Wendy in America finally arrived!   The snail is safe and well and not planning on heading home any time soon.   Can't say as I blame him.   Kidding aside... it seems the parcel was held up in customs.  Just shows that no matter how many delivery guarantees they give you at the post office hiccups happen!

Once I got the go ahead from Wendy I wasted no time at all........

Wendy's speciality is Crazy Quilting and she made me a really cute little snowman wall hanging.  Wish you could all see the beautiful stitching and beading.  It's amazing!   Love the stitchery, ornament and postcard too.  She stitched my initial and framed it in a really classy frame... very posh indeed.    Just how cute is that retractable tape measure in a crochet case with a flower on top....

Have to report that the chocolates have all ready been gobbled up!!   I promise I am not a piglet when it comes to chocs (much) I did share them with Mac.   Mind you... had I been alone when I opened the parcel it would have been a very different story.

There's more......

Mac is really taken with the candle mat and he's determined it's destined to be his.   I suppose it's alright for him to commandeer one gift.... when I have so many.  The pussies are intrigued by it too.... all those lovely bobbles to swat.... fun!     It's a shame the photo doesn't show the scallops of pearl beads stitched around the lace around the top of the stocking or the red fabric roses and pretty ribbon loop.  Lovely tag too.

That crazy quilting hexagon and the accompanying  bag of  bling (Wendy loves her bling) has me quaking in my boots.    Crazy quilting is one skill I really admire but am convinced I'll suck at!   How about that for a challenge.   Must book more therapy!

I'm in heaven!   What could be more perfect for a compulsive un-picker than a brilliant new seam ripper!  Believe me it really is brilliant.   It's made by Dritz and I've never seen the like before.  It has an ergonomically shaped handle which is big and so comfortable to hold   Of course I had to rush to test drive it...... reverse stitching is going to be even more fun from here on in.

My Purple Thang now has a twin so no matter where I am in the sewing room I'll be in arms reach of one of them.  It's a tool I just can't be without.   The dinky little cutting mat is going to be worth it's weight in gold too.

I've heard from Wendy that she likes her gifts... phew!  So I guess it's OK to show you what I made for her.....

Thank you so much for all your hard work and kindness Wendy.   Thanks to Karen  (aka Mrs Martin) for hosting the Christmas Angels swap too.   Hope she can now close the book on proceedings and relax till next time.

Well.... it's been a busy week here at Chez Dimple.   Not content with taking my rubbish on a tour of the countryside my Mum's has come along for the ride too.  Pity the new car hasn't arrived yet... it's bigger... with space for so much more dross.    I've been sorting Mum's kitchen cupboards.  Not a job for the feint hearted!     My mum owned  more packets of out of date biscuits than I have fat quarters (the fabric kind).
Persuading her to part with them was really quite a challenge.   I'm happy to report she is no longer in danger of food poisoning or any influx of sugar crazed mice.

Not much progress on the sewing front.....

This batch of basket liners all have fitting darts and stitched side seams.  They are just waiting to have their tops hemmed and their bottoms attached.  Tomorrow perhaps?   I'm desperate to get going... there are projects whizzing around in my head so fast I can't keep up with them and I'm loving the feeling.

Still counting sleeps till our little retreat.   Here's a sneak peak of where we'll be stitching the nights away....

how perfect is this place!  

Well.... hate to be a party pooper but it's time for my TV wind down before I head on up to bed.  Perchance to dream of fabric... thread... and lovely swaps.  Knowing my luck I'll have a nightmare.  That'll teach me to eat cheese at bedtime!

Sweet dreams....

See ya soon
Hugs
Josie

Can you spot the difference!

First resolution of the year is almost in the bag.  You'd better take a good look because something tells me it won't look this tidy for long.  

Still have some work to do in here.  I've plans to repaint all the magazine files (they're wood) on the bottom shelves.  Bought a tin of Laura Ashley Pale Duck Egg Blue paint now all I have to do is get painting.

Believe it or not I am making some progress on the basket liners.....

2 down only 10 more to go!   I promise I haven't been slacking.  There are  7 more liners all cut out and ready to sew.... hopefully tomorrow.  Heck... forgot my Mum is coming tomorrow...better hide the socks!

I made this too......

Another first.... making a new ironing board cover.   The original one was so bad I've been hiding it under tea towels for months.  Didn't want you to think I was a slut!   I'm well chuffed with the new one.   

I'll tell you what I've spent most of my spare time doing this week..... following a moving mess around the house!!  The excess mess (the stuff I didn't want in the sewing room) I piled into the spare bedroom.  Great... a tidy craft room.  Guest room like a bomb site.    You might remember that the spare room is where the dastardly quilting frame lives.  Getting to grips with that is one of last years resolutions that fell by the wayside.

Guess what.... it's on this years resolution list (you can't say I give up easily).    So to get to the quilt frame I  cleared out the mess in the spare room and piled it into my bedroom!  Can you see a pattern forming?  Spent a day moving furniture and wrestling the quilt frame to achieve this......

A frame in a place where I can actually get to it in order to use it (gulp).   Had to squash the 'Guest Bedroom'  part up a bit though.....

But... everything fits.  Looks a lot better than it did the way it was before but you'll never know that because I forgot to take a before photo.  

Now I have a huge mess in my bedroom.   Not only did the mess from the craft room/spare bedroom get dumped in there so did the Christmas trees and decorations while I sorted out space for them in the loft.   Bet you know what's coming next.    Yep... spent today in the loft.   I wish I was a Hobbit!!  At least I would have been able to stand up straight up there instead staggering about like Quasimodo's twin sister!  I hit my head on the rafters so many times it's a wonder I didn't suffer brain damage.... or did I?

So.... now the mess from my bedroom is in the loft and the mess from the loft is in my bedroom!!!  Well actually I split it between my bedroom and the back of the car.  Where it goes from there is anyone's guess!

To think.... all I wanted to do was tidy the craft room!!

I'm making headway on another resolution too.....

I'm learning to speak Dutch!    Makes a change from the Double Dutch I normally spout.  I signed up online with babble.com and I'm having great fun.   Actually.... I'm hoping that exercising my brain might just stop a million or two brain cells from biting the dust before their time.     

 Mac thinks I'm mad (talk about the pot calling the kettle)!   At least I get to talk Dutch to my laptop... and it listens!!   Honestly... I'm just glad it can't laugh.

That's all for now.   I need a little TV fix to settle me down before I head up to my bed.  If I can't find it in the mess I might just sleep on the sofa.

Have fun everyone...... see ya soon

Hugs 

Josie

My first FNWF and what did I make?

A mess!!

It figures that if you start trying to sew in a disaster zone nothing good is going to come of it.  True to form.... it didn't!

My plan for FNWF was to start making new liners for all the baskets I have in here.   This is as far as I got....

First off..... I took measurements from the old liner.   Checked out how it was put together and decided to just copy the construction.    Smart move.   Saves me from having to think for myself therefore avoiding potential headaches.

Cut three rectangles.  One for the bottom and two to be joined into a tube to make the sides.   Joined the two side seams  then made fitting darts 6" away from the seams from the bottom to about 4" up the sides.  Clever girl.... so far so good.   Then I decided try the sides for fit before I stitched them to the bottom.

That's when the trouble started.    Sure it fitted around the top when I turned it out over the rim but the inside looked more like a pair of baggy bloomers than a nice smart lining.   Grrrrr......  I was not happy!  Something was wrong.... very wrong.

Well the first wrong thing was this.......

I didn't have any space to cut or sew.  There's no room to swing a cat in here at the moment.   Fortunately Licky Lou and Bagpuss were in hiding so I wasn't tempted to try that anyway.

Second wrong thing.......   I made an assumption!   When will I learn never to do that.   I assumed the sides were made of rectangles.... wrong!!      Because my brain couldn't cope with any more measuring and calculating I decided to unpick all the seams in the original liner so's I could compare them to mine.   Imagine my horror when I discovered the sides are cut on an angle.   Smaller at the bottom than the top.... to allow for turning over the rim while not allowing too much bagginess in the basket!     The first photo shows all the 'bits' draped over the sewing machine.

Honestly..... I was in such a paddy with my wee self by then I decided to abandon the whole basket lining business and find something else to do.    Like what......  grafting sock toes perhaps?

Didn't get far with that either.......

I did take the sock mountain into the lounge (halfheartedly) then spotted what was on TV.  Back to back episodes of   "Wanted Down Under - Australia".   Perfect!   I might not be able to sew with friends but I could be with some of them in spirit if nothing else.     I visited Perth.... Darwin .....  Brisbane.....Auckland

the programme covers New Zealand too.     Enjoyed a bit of a grand tour all from the comfort of my own recliner.

Sadly.... it became clear that no way would I ever be 'Wanted' in Australia. It would appear I'm way too long in the tooth!   That and I'd never pass the aptitude test.   I did have some once.......

Well..... at least the whole day wasn't a dead loss.    I got to grips with another 'resolution' and got a long overdue hair cut!

 Thought I'd show it off before it reverts to looking like I'm wearing a dead ferret on my head.    I took that photo myself... clever eh!    I know I look like I'm posing with the camera but I'm actually snapping a shot in the bathroom mirror.    I might just change my profile photo..... get my moneys worth out the the hair cut!  

Well.... that's it for now.     I promise I'll do better next Friday Night With Friends.

Hope you all had fun.   I'm going to be visiting everyone to check.

See you soon

Hugs

Josie

It's started!

The New Year craft cave clean up is under way......

I didn't really plan to start it today.  It just sort of happened.  There is only so long you can ignore a mess before frustration sets in and there's no alternative but to sort it out or loose your marbles.

Look what turned up......

Remember these.....13 pairs of hand knit socks all with their little toe chimneys ready and waiting for grafting.        Talk about a shameful discovery.   My mum will kill me if she finds out I still haven't finished them off (she took my stash of sock wool and knitted up the whole lot).   I hate grafting toes..... but I'm scared of my mum so I reckon I'd better bite the bullet before she gets wind that they're not warming my tootsies this winter.

Pattern baskets are getting a long overdue sort out.......

  

More lovely finds that weren't really missing..... just miss placed......

The girls and I have a little retreat planned for the end of April.   We are having a whole week in a lovely cottage not too far from here.   I'm going to need a project I can really get my teeth into.... maybe one of these?

Well..... I for one have to say I'm glad to be getting back to normal after the festive season.   If you can call wrestling Mac to the ground to save the Christmas dinner 'festive'!    I don't recommend it as a party game.

This is what we should have been tucking into.....

 A lovely traditional pork roast with all the trimmings.      Well..... Mac won!  After his alter ego went to work.....

we were left with  three pork chops and a months supply of of kebabs!!     Never again.   Next Christmas we're having cheese sandwiches.  What can go wrong with that.......don't even think of telling me! 

Before I go....... this message is for you

I live in hope that one or two Wondrous Possibilities might find their way into my craft room too...

Hope you are having fun doing all the stuff you love.

See you soon..... I've resolved to 'talk' to you all more often this year.   The first person to groan gets a knuckle sandwich... right!    It pays not to mess with a woman on the edge!!  ;o))

Hugs to everyone....

Josie