Productive Weekend

On Saturday I made a banana loaf in the morning (no picture, it's all gone!), put a casserole in the slow cooker and then went to meet DD in Horncastle when Doughty's were holding a fabric roadshow.  Going later in the day was a good plan, it was much calmer than when we arrived at the start of their last sale and we were able to browse easily and get fabric cut without queueing for ages.  We also got to buy the remaining cakes, mmm lemon drizzle, to support Breast Cancer.  DD bought a great selection of creams and browns to make her first quilt.  I bought the fabrics above, the cream and turquoise for the Fat Quarter Frenzy quilt I started at Country Roads Quilters last week and the brown and rust for another quilt I'm planning using the same pattern.
Once home I finished joining the blocks for the FQFQuilt, version one:

This will be going on one of the guest beds at the bach next season.

Today has been a glorious, sunny Autumn day and this morning we took GS2 on a walk in the woods, he had a great time playing in the stream and collecting minibeasts, DH and I collected blackberries and hazelnuts for an afternoon treat.  I love foraging.
Back at home DH sat down to play his guitar for the first time in a very long time and I headed to the cutting board.  I got all these sets cut to make another version of the FQFQuilt.  Most of these fabrics were sent to me for my birthday by my Global Piecers friends in South Dakota and I thought it would be great to use them all together.  We have pheasants adorning our dining room so this quilt is destined for that room.  Thank you Twila, Carole and Joan.

Before lighting the fire and enjoying the second incarnation of the casserole I washed and ironed all these delicious Japanese fabrics for a workshop I'm taking with Susan Briscoe next weekend. 

I hope you've also had a good weekend.  Bad luck for Wales but at least New Zealand beat Australia!

Country Roads Quilters and Giveaways for Christmas

Thank you for all your comments about my small fat quarter (anyone reading this who isn't a quilter and is therefore confused please click here), it is interesting to learn that it is an international problem and not confined to one supplier or two.  In future if the dimensions of a FQ are important to a project I shall have no hesitation in asking to measure what I'm thinking of buying.  I learned also that even though fabric might be marked as 44" wide this is the "off the loom" width and it might be less than 42" by the time it reaches us.  More grrr.
Anyway, in spite of that hassle I had a lovely meeting at Country Roads Quilters on Tuesday when most people started work on their Fat Quarter Frenzy quilt with the aim of it being finished for Christmas (don't say which Christmas!)  Quilters are such lovely people aren't they?  Our members range from the expert, teaching, exhibiting end to the "what's a rotary cutter?" end of experience.  Everybody was willing to help somebody else as required, whether with showing them how to cut their fabric into the required size pieces, giving suggestions about layout or about border fabrics or simply making a supportive cup of tea as required and offering assurance that it gets easier!  Thank you ladies, you're the best.
And finally today, also on the subject of lovely quilting ladies, get yourself over to see Lynne, she's organised a fantastic Christmas gifts giveaway here or you can click the button on the right or below.  Good luck, have fun and thank you to all the sponsors as well as to Lynne herself.

A Little Moan

Just a quick post today to have a little moan.  I'm starting a Fat Quarter Frenzy quilt with the Country Roads Quilters tomorrow and this afternoon I set about preparing the fabric.  It sounds so simple.  I need nine different FQs and have to cut pieces 21"x17" from each to start the quilt. 
FQs are 22"x18" right?  Even allowing for a little wobbly cutting by the suppliers I should still manage to cut the pieces I need quite easily..
NO!! 
Even FQs from the same shop varied by up to two inches and as I had fabrics from three different shops the whole process was a nightmare.  With one piece I couldn't even get 20" let alone 21" from it and with several others I've had to include some or all of the selvedge and will have to take care to hide it in the seams.  I've bought FQs many times in the past but have never used them in this way, where the dimensions are crucial. 
In future I will be unable to assume I'm getting 22"x18" and size does matter!

Current Global Swaps

Any member of Global Piecers can suggest a swap and organise it for the rest of the group.  Members can join in a swap or not - but we only receive if we give! 
At the moment we are coming to the end of our first Fabric Postcard Swap which Carol has masterminded for us. 
Some have already committed their creations to the postal system ("nude" or in envelopes according to their faith in the service) and others should be on their way around the globe by 15th September.  There was no specific theme and it will be really exciting to see what has been created and to decide how to display the cards.  I'm thinking a mini-washing line with those small craft clothes pegs might be fun.  These are the fabric postcards on their way from Teresa, adorned with vintage embroidery, I wonder which is for me?  The postcards I made are at Online Quilting.

Throughout the year we have had a Birthday Fat Quarter Swap.  We have a database showing our favourite colours and stitching techniques and when our birthday comes along every other member of Global Piecers who has opted into this swap sends us two FQs in fabrics they think we will love and a birthday card.  I have just had my birthday and it was wonderful to receive a whole series of delightful packages from my quilting friends all over the world with lots of gorgeous fabrics and some additional goodies too sometimes (optional but very much appreciated).  This is what arrived from Sal this morning:

I think everybody has enjoyed the Birthday Swap and I'm sure all the Global Piecers will join in again next year.
Our next swaps will be an Autumn/Fall block swap, a Christmas block swap and a Secret Santa swap.

Fun and Sun

Okay so England are out of the World Cup but I've had a great weekend, and that sunshine, wow, 30C today.

It started with a trip down to the bach in Norfolk and the purchase of a new sewing machine from Steve in King's Lynn!  "Just" a basic one, but she's lovely, a Janome 2200XT and she even has turquoise dials to match the bach - that's where she's going to live so that I don't keep hauling my main machine backwards and forwards.  She needs a name of course, all ideas appreciated, something associated with the sea would be nice.

• Added 8th July:  Thanks for all your suggestions, I have christened my little Janome, Muriel \m(u)-riel\, Muriel, is pronounced MYUR-ee-el. It is of Irish and Gaelic origin, and its meaning is "sparkling, shining sea". First used in the Middle Ages.

On Saturday we had more fun than I could cope with.  Al and I took the bus - so no driving and no parking and great views of the coast - to Cromer which is a gorgeous, traditional coastal town.  It even has a pier and look at those gorgeous lines.

There are lots of small streets to explore like this one, Jetty Street, with a teasing view of the sea, looking wonderfully blue in the sunshine.

Back in Mundesley after a lunch of fresh crab sandwiches it was time for the village fayre.  Some people had been working very hard to organise a fun event to raise money for the local youngsters and the sun continued to shine so a great time was had by all.  There were the usual stalls and games, truck rides, a climbing wall, belly dancing, gymnastics displays...English village life at its best.  Al even let me take his photograph!

After a lazy couple of hours with the newspapers (Al) and my book (Philippa Gregory's The White Queen which I highly recommend, it's very well researched historical fiction) it was time for a barbeque on our chalet site (ours is a bach as we're NZ addicts, everybody else has a chalet!)

The idea of the barbeque was to get chalet owners to know each other, a sort of bonding session

and again a lot of people had been working very hard as all we had to provide was meat and wine, there were tables of salads and the most yummy desserts.

I don't drink alcohol so I have nothing to blame but I did something I have never done before and will never, ever, do again - karaoke!  The bonding went a bit far when one lady encouraged six of us to form a Norfolk version of Abba, don't ever mention "Dancing Queen" to me if you know what's good for you!  It was terrifying, that song is sooooo long!
I needed a little fabric fix to get over it so after a wonderful Sunday lunch in our favourite cafe, Lilia's in Mundesley, we stopped at Sew Creative on the way home for a few FQs for a quilt I'm making for my daughter, Sara, yet to be shared on this blog.
Thank you for all your lovely comments on my post about the V&A Quilts 1700-2010 Exhibition.  I'm still waiting for my copy of the book to arrive and then I'll post again.
I hope you all had a lovely weekend and that the football wasn't too disappointing - the second week of Wimbledon is coming up and the sun is shining!