Friday 30 December 2011

Happy holidays.......

Time spent at home....celebrating

 Beautiful daughters at home for once!!

and very happy turkey fed woollies.....

Happy times.....

Sunday 18 December 2011

And the winner is.....

Connie from Quilting by the river. Thanks to everyone who left comments and to Michelle for organising the bloghop! Happy Christmas!
Karen

Saturday 10 December 2011

Blog hop giveaway

Hi, just an update....for my blog hop giveaway, I am offering two wonderful charm packs.  Each pack has about 40/42 fabrics and each square is about 5".  Great for small projects and saves on the cutting out!
I have made a couple of quilts for my woollies, aka the labradoodles with charm packs.  If you would like to win these charm packs leave me a comment telling me what you would do with them!  A lovely early Christmas pressie for someone!  I am so excited to be part of this blog hop!  I am happy to ship worldwide!
The draw will take place on 17th December so good luck!

There are over 200 participants in this blog hop, so have fun and check back for more exciting chances to win!

Wednesday 7 December 2011

Blog hop giveaway

Blog Hop Party with Give-Aways
I have joined the quilting bloggers blog hop giveaway...this is my first one, so it is very exciting!
Click the link to find out more details!

Tuesday 6 December 2011

Hunters star quilt....

Along with the lemoyne star ruler from the US I also acquired a hunters star ruler...and I made this!
What lovely stars are formed!
It came out so well, after lots of trimming and cutting!  Well worth it though.

Monday 5 December 2011

Long time, no blog!!

Time flies by..December is here and as usual, everything is chaotic in the running chicken household.  Busy with last minute quilts for Christmas, making samples for classes taking place in the new year, and celebrating my Mums birthday!!
One of the quilts recently completed has gone to Germany...it was such good fun to quilt


I hope it brings lots of smiles and warmth to the recipient!!
Meanwhile I have been experimenting with a new ruler by Deb Tucker to make lemoyne star blocks...I love them so much that I am teaching a class or two in the new year.  What do you think?
In this picture above, I used my Tilda fabrics and in the one below, I tried the other end of the ruler and used two colours for the star...
Wonderful rulers!!!  I am selling some on website soon...we are just updating our shop, so please take a look or call for more info.

Wednesday 2 November 2011

Meet Mr knobbly knees chicken!!

Do you like my latest chicken project?

Monday 31 October 2011

Hallowe'en colours


Such fun to make....little pumpkin pincushions!  Lovely Autumn colours too....

It is rather a dull grey day here today, but quite unseasonably warm!  Strange weather....

Now that the clocks have gone back, it will get dark so early, so a shift in the dog walking pattern must be made!

I have had a customer call to pick up her quilt this morning...she came with a friend and we chatted for nearly two hours!!!  E's quilt was lovely and again, full of autumn colour, acorns and oak leaves...




One of these will be sent off to my mum for her sewing box....

Detail of acorns in centre of quilt...


















Monday 17 October 2011

A quilting weekend!

Saturday saw me at Tikki patchwork in London, teaching my chicken block...four lovely ladies put up with me for a few hours, having some fun choosing fabrics to create individual chickens..and they all looked different!
It was a bit scary driving up to Kew, but I made it safely and found a precious parking space!!  Only trouble was that I had forgotten to take lunch, so by the time I arrived home later in the afternoon, I was starving!!  Anyway, I hope everyone had a lovely day.

On Sunday, we had been invited to a quilt show, held in a village hall near Uffington, Oxon.  I had long arm quilted the raffle quilts and various others on show, so it was really good to see them again!  And wow!! what talent there was on show...the colours used, the piecing and the appliqué was superb.
Hazels quilt


















Another of Hazels quilts
Beautiful!!
We stayed for quite a while, enjoying coffee and cake.  Then spent a happy few moments catching up with Clare Kingslake who was signing her book Folk quilt appliqué and comparing the behaviour of our Australian labradoodles!!!  Sock eating seemed to feature quite a lot!!
Clare is very talented and her book is really lovely!!

 



Until next time.....

Wednesday 12 October 2011

A busy week ahead...

Oh, why do I keep a diary if I don't bother to look in it!!!
I am usually fairly efficient and I write things in my appointments diary so I know what I should be doing and where I should be doing it...but the system only works if you read the thing! Last week, i forgot to go to a supply teaching day and happily spent a lovely day working in my fabric room (normally dining room) and making a new quilt.  I have been more careful this week and I keep my diary open on my living room table just in case.....
Weekends have been just as busy...this weekend I am teaching up at Tikki Patchwork in Kew and the last couple of weekends have seen us visiting gardens and properties owned by the National Trust.  Stowe landscape gardens is lovely and welcomes dogs...it is beautiful and there are lots of 'temples' dotted around the grounds.  Very old and quite amazing.    I have tried to make a photo collage using some new software on my computer...it is not brilliant and I have lots to learn, but I will get there!!!
Now back to work...I have a lovely bright coloured quilt on the machine today from a lady in London, so that should cheer up a rather grey windy day ...until next time

Tuesday 4 October 2011

Late summer heat and lots of sewing....

We have had a heatwave this last week which I think has just broken today....a bit damp out there now!  I have struggled to work in my studio as it has been so hot, so I have been busy getting things made for my trading stand at the quilters guild event at Ashtead, Surrey on 22nd October.
Tea cosy

This tea cosy was fun to make..the idea came from a Japanese book but it needed to be sized up and the squares are rotary cut rather than using templates (because I hate cutting using templates!!)..I think it worked quite well.


I have also been thinking about what to do with charm packs or 5" squares, so using Petit Poulet range of charms, I cut and sliced and ended up with this...
It is a little difficult to see the quilting because of the sunlight and shadow, but it is a sunflower pattern with cross hatching in the centre panel.  I used gingham to bind the quilt.  I should have photographed the back as I used chicken fabric!!  I will try and remember to include it later...
The woollies have been loving the opportunity to enjoy the sunshine and we have done a lot of walking...


Happy sewing.....

Tuesday 27 September 2011

A lovely sunny day...and hot too!

I have been basting a quilt on my machine this morning and plan to do another this afternoon, but oh it is sooooo difficult...the sun is shining and it is very warm in the garden!!  The woolly monsters are begging me to go and play ball with them.....but I really should get on!  What a dilemma!  Work will probably win as guilt will set in!!  Hey ho!
I have also been experimenting with more chicken blocks and mini blocks lately.  What do you think?
A 1950s style chicken

Reproduction star blocks

Mini churn dash blocks














With longarm quilting I work at such large scale that it is great fun to make small quilts or items...oh for the time!..not sure what the churn dash blocks will become, but the chicken is going to be a cushion and it is similar in style to the block I will be teaching at Tikki patchwork soon.  The star blocks will be a wall hanging I think!
Right, ...off to enjoy a little sunshine with a cup of tea just for a short while....

Monday 26 September 2011

New quilts to sell as kits

I have had a day teaching today....a late night phone call to ask if I could cover sick leave found me in a Reception class full of little ones!  Exhausted now and glad to be home with the woolly monsters.
I have been looking forward to putting up pictures of new kits which will be added to my website shortly.  They are fairly easy to sew together and fun to make

This one is a lovely bright strippy quilt and lovely for a little (or big) girl ....

This one is die cut and made from various vintage and new fabrics...a lovely mix of lilacs, pinks and mauves.  Much easier to sew when it is die cut!!
I will try and post them on the website this week, so take a look!
Now for a little rest......ahhhh!

Sunday 25 September 2011

New computer at last....

I have been waiting for a while to get a new computer as my old one is dying!!  And yippee, that time is now here!


It is a bit scary as I have moved from a pc to a Mac and its almost like starting again!  Totally non technical, me....but it is a pretty machine and  I will get there!!!
We have had a rather exciting time lately.  It was our 28th wedding anniversary last weekend and we celebrated with a trip on the Orient Express..a pressie from my mum and dad.  It was wonderful and we were thoroughly spoilt!
Back to normality now though, and quilts are being stitched and constructed.  More later....
Bye for now..

Friday 2 September 2011

Holidays and happy times...

Well., we have been 'on holiday' for the last week.  But Mr RC had to finish some work and got loads of phonecalls!!!  We are at home anyway, so I decided to sew up a new kit for my webshop..

I love my Accuquilt cutter and it is brilliant for cutting quickly and accurately..in fact an exciting package arrived just today with some new dies so I can make up some different kits for my customers..

The only trouble is that the package is very heavy and attracts lots of duty and postage!!EEEEKKK!!  Hey ho, I cant wait to try them now.
My wonderful Mum and Dad stayed with us for a couple of days this week, so we had an outing to the local National Trust property, Basildon Park...its only a few miles down the road and it is where Pride and Prejudice was filmed, with Keira Knightly.

The weather was a little grey and overcast so it looks a little gloomy in the photo...it is a lovely house and to make things even better, they had an exhibition of Horrockes clothes from the 1950s.  My Mum used to sew these dresses in South Wales when she was first married, so lots of memories.
The gardens were pretty too..

~We ended the day in The Swan pub which dates back to the 1600s and had a really good meal and some drinks.  The woolly monsters had to stay at home, so were delighted when we got back!!

Now, back to investigating my Accuquilt boxes.........yippee!!

Saturday 27 August 2011

A year in the life of.......

Goodness, its been a year since I began this blog!  I have not posted as often as I have wished, but I have enjoyed every minute!  With a new and faster computer hopefully on the horizon, it will be easier to post more regularly.....all good intentions!!
Back to quilting, I have been experimenting with making log cabin blocks using Marti Michell rulers...they are really good and for once, my log cabins are perfectly square and have no wavy edges....

I have been making samples up for a trading stand in October...lots to do!  I just love these Lecien fabrics.
Trouble is, my sewing room aka the dining room looks a real mess now.....

Never mind...
Look at these lovely flowers I have been given by one of my customers..makes it all worth it.
Have a good weekend..