Tuesday 9 February 2010

No! I haven't vanished from the face of the earth.
I am here, I've just been a little busy of late. I really wanted to be with you, honest!
The photo above was taken from the car on our way to town. As you can see the majority of our snow has finally gone. There is just snow left high up on the tops of the Fells now, which will be there for a while yet.
I'm so glad to hear you've been managing to keep up with your 20 minutes a day. There are more than 50 of us now all doing a little something every day so
that's an awful lot of creativity going on.
Please try and check the list every now and again so that you can encourage any newcomers. There are crafters joining all the time. I try and drop in on you all at least once a week, but as you can appreciate it obviously takes a great deal of time, but I do hate to miss anything.
Don't forget to upload your photos to our flickr group page.

Now to update you on my crafting time. Remember this piece of patchwork? I discovered it in Granny Pilley's box from the charity shop.
It was a bit of a funny shape, reminding me of a map of the British Isles.

The only thing to do was unpick the hexagons from the pointy top end and restitch them lower down to make a more useful rectangle.

What do you think? I've added an edging strip to help make it more sturdy before I...

flip it over and start removing all the template papers.

There are quite a lot of them.

Stitched rather too securely to be honest.

they're not easily removed.

but I can't complain, after all they've stood the test of time.
Over 30 years!
.
Next I'd like to say thank you to a lovely lady who sent me a little surprise in the post.

The lavender smells wonderful.
But I must ask is that Elaine or Claire?
.
Till next time when I'll take you for a walk up one of our Fells in the sunshine. Fantastic views, I promise.
Fi x


PS. Thank you to Wipso at A Stitch in Time for a Kreativ Blogger award. I do have it somewhere, but Blogger doesn't seem to want to add it to this post. Any one else noticed how temperamental it can be, or is just me!

31 comments:

Jennifer said...

Great job on rearranging the quilt top, it looks beautiful. What a gorgeous view you have on the way out to town, it truly is magnificent.

Susan said...

Oh I do love the quilt, especially as it's been loved once.

Claire said...

Fi you have done a great job on the patchwork piece the border fabric really suits it. Don't know if I would have the patience to do all that unpicking and restitching.
Have fun removing all the template papers!
Has a final decision been made on the covering for the couch yet?

Sal said...

Crikey Fi,you've got a job on your hands there with that patchwork!!
Yes,still trying hard to keep up with the 20 a day!
I completely ran out of Lavender yesterday..but the craft room smells delicious!!
Have a great week!
;-)

KC'sCourt! said...

That is perfect, that is what I would have done too.

Booklinks said...

hi fiona, thanks for looking at my blog and leaving such a lovely comment! I like joining the 20 minutes so much! It is a great idea
I love the patchwork and the border suits beautiful!

Marigold Jam said...

That patchwork looks lovely. Bon courage with removing all those little bits of history!

I am trying hard to do my 20 mins and thank you for suggesting it as I have produced more since joining in than I would otherwise have done!

Jane

French Nanny said...

The bedspread is fabulous - I thin I like hexagons best of all! So many memories! Whoever worked them originally would be sooo pleased to see them now.

Jude said...

Fab job on quilt..it looks wonderful. I have a friend who is still working on a hex quilt that she started 35 years ago...the original fabric holds so many memories.
Yes, as I commented before Blogger is very temprimental at the moment..
20 minuters has encouraged me to be much more experimental...problem though is ..time!! what with my usual knitting and quilting I'm not ironing, cleaning, .....
Take care
Jude

harmony and rosie said...

The patchwork looks great. What a fantastic job you've done, you must be very patient. Thanks for the reminder - I'd forgotten about uploading my creations onto the flickr group so I must get on with that. I'm also having a few problems with Blogger at the moment, I can't shift my sidebar photos around for some reason which is a real pain.

(Looks like Elaine to me)

Shabby Chick said...

Oo quilt is looking great! I have to admit I've not committed to the 20 mins per day but have been crafting a LOT more lately, it's all good :)

Mel xxx

Twiglet said...

50 twenty minuters! Wow! That is brilliant. I think the world would be a happier place if everyone crafted for 20 minutes. Its certainly brightens my day and I suspect the other 49 feel the same as me. With all that creativity going on who knows what wonderful stuff we will create! Thanks Fi.

Lululiz said...

Brilliant reworking of the quilt! It has turned out so well. Bet that took more than just 20 minutes, lol ;-)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for dropping in to see me!
Your patchwork is lovely. :)
Vivienne

Dawn said...

A big big thank you for all you work on behalf of the 20 minuters!
You have reminded me that I really must pay a visit to some more crafters and I might even add some photoe so flickr!
Love the quilt, too.

Val said...

What a lovely find you had, it must have made your day! Did you dance around the Charity Shop, or just calmly hand it over the counter? I think I would have danced! :0)
I love your views - your part of the world is very special to my heart, it reminds me of motor bike days gone by.
I am trying to keep up with my 20 Minutes.
love for now Val

Ka said...

Hello Fiona... or is it Hi Fi?
Thank you for coming by and leaving a a comment... I loved it!
AND I did get that bit of sewing done!
I'm already thinking of what to do for today!

The Weaver of Grass said...

lad you have done something with those hexagons Fi - they did look so sad, waiting to be used. I used to know an old lady called Mrs Pilley = now I wonder if they were hers. Also I thought the writing on those papers was fascinating in its own right. Love the quilt you have made.

jackanne said...

i am loving your quilt ,i used to help my mother cut out and tack these shapes when i was little ,happy memories.xx

Serenata said...

What a fabulous job of reshaping the hexagon quilt. It is going to look really lovely.

I'm hoping to try a bit of free style machine embroidery tonight! I'll let you know how I get on.

Sue said...

Hi this is Sue,the one learning to crochet.Well I've finished my cushion and I now also have a blog, thanks to my daughter, which has some photos of said cushion. That view is amazing and I like the quilt.

Sue

Lulu said...

its so lovely..

jo said...

Your quilt is looking great!

Vintage to Victorian said...

What a fabulous job you've done. That looks great. How bizarre that one of the template papers has an address in Chilcompton, which is in my part of the country rather than 'up North'. Chilcompton is between Bath and Wells in Somerset.

Sue x

Lynne said...

I think you do very well, visiting everyone on the list and still getting your sewing done!
Those hexagons look marvellous.
Have a great weekend.

Li de Liége said...

Vou embarcar nesta, também preciso de incentivo...
liége

Pomona said...

The hexagon patchwork looks wonderful. I have been quite productive with my 20 mins a day - it is a good discipline!

Pomona x

Anonymous said...

Your quilt took my breath away, literally! It looks like you had a huge amount of work to do, but it was worth it, because it's beautiful.
a-m
x

Anonymous said...

Hi there
I love your blog, andI have been reading it for an age now, it is fabulous! I hope you do not mind but I have added it to my blogroll on my new site. :)
Love Melanie

Claire said...

Hey Fi, thanks for dropping in to my blog to say "hi" was nice to hear from you.
I'm sure the sofa cover will eventuate when you find the right fabrics. Some things take a little longer to happen but when they do it's worth it. I meant to ask are you going to keep the paper pieces with the notes on them, a little bit of history in the making.

Have a good week.

Bovey Belle said...

Love the quilt top in its finished state now. I have a currently-abandoned-out-ongoing one of those too, but I am absolutely x-stitch crazy again and doing a lot more than 20 mins a day I'm glad to say!