Monday mystery solo robin

It’s that day again. Here it is grey and damp. Not even proper rain just wet hanging in the air. What I would call a quilting day. I am lucky Rachel has sent me a picture of her quilt so far to cheer up the day.

Remember this quilt is starting from a diamond block so will look like the picture is wonkey each week. I love the bargello she added to her quilt. Thats definitely a cut sew cut technique. I think between us we covered two ends of last weeks guidannce. I had the very simple nine patch and her the much more intricate bargello, although we were both working with 6″ strips.

Without further ado on to this weeks instructons. This weeks technique is,

Applique

and the border size is,

add a total of 6″ to two adjacent sides of your quilt

Hmm, well that gives us some scope doesn’t it. I can’t say applique is my favourite technique, but part of the point of this was to get us to try things we might not otherwise and I guess it is at least a fairly small area still. I need to think a bit about this one. I have a couple of ideas but they each have some technical issues that need working on. Mostly involving, where the heck would I have put that when we moved.

Some of you maye have noticed I failed to blog yesterday. This was partly due to sucesses in the garden. The second raised bed is now ready to plant and the brambles and interlopers have been removed from the fruit trees. It is also due to my small jigsaw issue. I do the biggest ones I can find to try and delay as long as possible the moment where I know where every piece goes and just need to get them in. Partly because once I hit that point I find them nearly impossible to stop. I hit that yesterday morning and really it was all I could do to pause for dinner and get to bed at a nearly sensible time. I am about to finish it now before I get to work. I am seriously considering this artists biggest puzzle just to keep my busy longer. The only problem is it really is too big for a table unless I add a board to the top of one. I do have a 5000 which should be a bit better at least, and isn’t quite so huge. I will try and get a photo of it finished today so you can see what the theme was, and admire some of the hidden detail.

A change of pace

Last night I got my jigsaw out again and this morning I had got to here.

Any somewhat the theme is yet?

Most of the day was spent working in the garden. I have finally planted up the first of the raised beds, well mostly. The cucumbers aren’t quite ready to go out yet and as they are the smallest number of seeds I had I really don’t want to take chances with them. The rest of my peas are in along with cabbage cauliflower and carrots. The vegtrug is now uncovered and the potatoes are planted. Now I just have to hope the weather is kind to me. The fruits all seem to be coming to life. I am really pleased I thought some of The fruit trees might be dead but they look hopeful.

We started filling the second raised bed and this one we are adding a layer of grass cuttings to. The soil we have is really poor and I am hoping the grass will help enrich it. It is also a lot lighter to lift into the bed and saves us filling the compost heap with grass cuttings. Out council has stopped collecting composting so we do need to think about how to manage garden waste. The council also no longer take food waste, that’s less of an issue as we produce very little and have composted anything but animal products at home, we will now just do it all.

After all that gardening I converted a pile of leftovers into dinner. For a bit of an experiment it was a great success. Chicken and ham in a white sauce with a bubble and squeak topping. We even have enough left for tomorrow.

I have had another go at the jigsaw too. For me this one is fairly small, 1500 pieces, but it is one of my favourite artists Colin Thompson. Very detailed and full of hidden things. They all have themes too, I will let you keep watching to spot the theme here

Week one completed.

Well I have caught up. I may have neglected a few other things to do it, but well I think I have some leeway. Despite what they say I think shows in June and July will be getting postponed. Besides this was fun and this weeks parts popped into my head fully formed as soon as I saw the instructions, so no point waiting. I would say I had doubts when I made them. They didn’t look much until I got them onto the quilt but now I am very happy with them. I am hoping I can do a lot of these one colour pieces. I won’t be able to do the whole quilt this was due to the bundle I am using but we shall see. I think a few rainbow sections will probably tie things together nicely.

I am not sure if this is the way around this quilt will end up. I am sort of hoping I end up with something that works from all angles but this is the way it fits best on my “design wall” so for now this is how it is, things may change as we progress. As I said the instructions will be random each week but I will redraw if we get a repeat too soon. I can also say I am now very excited for Monday and the next step. I would love to see how you are getting along. Leave me a comment and I will supply the email address to send photographs to.

Today I have really been enjoying how many businesses are trying to give things to make life a little better at the moment. The amount of free entertainment is amazing with concerts, theater and museum tours. I have been surprised to see some subscription services giving free access to some of their content and today I read that a local bus company is giveing free travel to NHS volunteers. That has to hurt as most of their customers right now will be NHS and their volunteers. Maybe they are legally required to keep running whatever but even so this loses them their main chance of revenue. Our local hospital had its amazon wish list delivered by the pallet load. The amount of pretty basic stuff they asked for was sad. They needed spray bottles for diluting cleaning solution in. Not sexy but I can see they really needed it so yes I donated some of those. I have also seen some calls for people to sew scrubs. So far nothing close to me, but I will keep an eye open. If I see something national or close to me I will share it here. I know a lot of you can sew and this is something we can do and stay at home. Heck you could even view it as a free pyjama pattern Yes they supply the pattern and can supply the fabric in some places.

Right now I aught to get off my backside and go and clean my bin so I can bring it inside. Stay alert, stay home and stay safe. I need you guys reading to keep me on track.

Floors…no, Fenrir yes

Today did not go to plan. It started with Fenrir have an accident in his crate. That’s very unusual. In fact I can’t remember the last time it happened other than a time my alarm didn’t work weeks ago. So instead of our morning cuddle I cleaned the crate and he looked miserable. I caught up on email while Tet got up and had a bath. I then discovered we had a wet hallway and water coming through the ceiling. After pulling the bathroom apart we have concluded the waste pipe from that bath is leaking somewhere under a floor and above a ceiling. Not good at any time, and this time, well we are declaring that bath out of use and waiting for the virus to calm down a bit. I suppose the crazy number of bathrooms just became a little more useful.  This both made one floor uncleanable for today and took up the time I would have used on it. So I emptied the bins and called housework done for the day.

This morning was cooking time. Goulash for dinner in the slow cooker and the iffy bits of meat picked out for Fenrir. Home made pizza for lunch. The dough was ready just in time and as usual Fenrir came to sit with us in the kitchen. Until I opened the oven to put pizza in. Either being that hot or having the pizza stone in made a lot of smoke. Fenrir bolted for the back door and insisted we leave. Hard to totally blame him. The pizzas were great if I do say so myself. as was the cinnamon pizza bread with vanilla dip. Fenrir though wasn’t keen on being in the house. Even in his own room with the window open. To try and persuade him it is safe we gave him a duck neck on his kitchen bed,

It did the trick I think he is now a bit calmer about coming in. I suspect things still smell smokey to him which would make it more understandable. He is starting to settle in with the cats. Our oldest cat Skadi, likes to sleep on that bed. She is quite sure it is her bed. If she is there when he comes in he will sit on the end and let her keep the middle of it. They are both getting a lot better together but he does get excited if she moves suddenly. That is part of why he always has some sort of lead on when he is out of his crate. If he does do something we don’t like we can grab him quickly.

I have almost finished the borders for the solo robin. They need a really good press and a little more triming before I attach them. I should manage that tomorow assuming no more exciting features come up. As tomorrow is our bin collection is seemed a good time to check if any shopping was ready to come out of quarrantine. Anything that can just sit does. It seems the easiest way to keep safe. Tonight I had quite a lot I could put away. It was fun. I know worrying right. It was almost like I got to buy the stuff again but without paying. From a shop that only had stuff I wanted and no people. The down side is it does make keeping track of what I have and what I need harder. Fortunately this is all long life stuff so it isn’t a problem, it will all be used. I just have more orange flavouring than I might have expected and more chocolate. The chocolate is scheduled for cooking so watch this space.

I hope you are all managing to get enough food to keep going, I know getting deliveries is very tricky at the moment and a lot of my friends really shouldn’t be going out. If you are stuck trying to get anything from the big stores do try searching online for your small local shops. A lot are now doing deliveries. Some independantly and some forming groups of shops and having a couple of delivery people. These small businesses need your trade and would absolutely love to help you. My mission for tomorrow is to see if any milk rounds can fit me in. It feels like we are going way back in time having each speciality deliver to the house. I am quite liking it.

Better late than never.

I finally finished my starting block. Tomorrow I will make the borders which I think will be a lot quicker. That of course may be famous last words. We will see. Through various mostly dog related incidents my knees are not best pleased with me so sitting to see will suit me fine. After doing all the floors as tomorrow is floors day. Anyway with no more rambling here is my starting block.

I am pretty pleased with this given they really aren’t the ideal fabrics. There are a couple of changes I will make when I reuse this pattern,  but overall I am calling this a success. My plan for the next bit is to use red and green and some blocks on point. It will be cut sew cut, and cut sew cut again. I may have got carried away. More than that you will just have to wait for

I am looking forward to seeing what you have all come up with. Please do get in touch and let me see. I think it will be more fun with some sharing.

Stunned silence?

I was sort of expecting some response to the first step, but everyone has gone quiet. I didn’t think it was that bad I hope you are all actually hard at work on the next part of your quilt. I am still playing catch up. These are the fabrics I have chosen to work with.

I don’t often use range bundles, but I have had this one a long time and it makes things easy. It’s a moda bundle so I am a bit wary of using it for anything important. This seems like a great chance to get it out and get it used. It also saved me putting too much time into this. I do have show quilts I actually need to work on so I must make this a fairly quick sideline.

For my first block I am using just these 5, they aren’t a perfect gradation but I hope they will be goood enough. Either way I will get to test the pattern and play along with this project so it is a win win even if the block doesn’t really sparkle.

Yesterday I didn’t get as much sewing time as I hoped (see below) but I did mange to start my block. This morning I realised that what I really needed was a design wall. Partly so I can see what I am doing and partly to keep the parts away from the cats. The problem is I am working in the sitting room rather than my sewing room. It keeps me further from Tet who is working from home and needs to have a lot of meetings and allows me to see when we have had deliveries. People don’t often ring the doorbell and I don’t want to leave stuff outside longer than needed. So no space for a permanent design wall. For my tip of the day, improvised design wall,

A fleece blanket chucked over a door. A towel would work just as well. Something easy to pin into and that I didn’t mind pin holes in. If you are just using fabric (not paper foundations like mine) a piece of wadding might mean no pins. I had that blanket to hand so for me this was the simplest option. If we are all doing more sewing while stuck at home this may be very handy, and easy enough to roll up if you have to look presentable, though with no visitors is it really a big deal?

So why was yesterday not all day sewing? Well food. I never realised how much our normal lives let us ignore food. If we think about it a couple of hours on one day we were sorted for a week. Now I have to put in a lot more time. Both to find food sources, then to store what I can get and work out what order we must eat it. Yesterday was especially manic. It is looking like I won’t be able to rely on supermarkets anymore so I have found companies that will deliver meat fish and vegetables. They are obviously very busy too so deliveries are largely when they can fit me in. Which means my prenultimate supermarket delivery and a months meat arrived the same day. I am not prepared to have anything go to waste so meals are planned and the rest had to be frozen. This meant yesterdays lunch was anything that failed freezer tetris. Those last few items in the bottom of packs and bags. Last nights dinner gained a great dessert too. Even this still left me with a chicken. They are really awkward to fit in a freezer efficiently so instead I jointed it and fitted the parts in. The carcasse became animal food. Boiled up and stripped then boiled more with rice. The animals think I am a hero and we only had some very clean bones to throw away. A result but also a lot of time used. The real kicker here is I am sure I am doing a lot better than many. I am computer literate and can try chasing supplies. I can handle the increased costs (for now at least) I am one of the lucky ones. This must be a massive time and energy drain for a lot of folks. I know we need to keep busy and not get bored but this is not the way people want to do it. I wish I could offer a solution. The best I can say is try and hold on things should improve as the companies change how they trade and get increased capacity to deliver and provide click and collect. I hope community helpers will be able to keep everyone at least basically suppled.

On a more positive note, our little exercise group is managing to keep up the daily exercise. It does really help having others to do it with even when you are in different locations. The feeling of responsibility for the health of others will get me up and moving on the days I really don’t feel like it, and yes with careful choices the exercise seems to help my joints. I will admit I have made a few bad choices but the NHS have a lot of exercise instructions both written and video that are great for me. Yay NHS.

Monday mystery solo robin

I feel I can’t keep you waiting, so let’s draw some instructions and get going. Technique first, and this week’s technique is…..

Sew cut sew

Next our border size….

add 6″ to two opposite sides of your quilt

Hmm, that gives us some scope doesn’t it. When I see sew cut sew, I think of things like the disappearing nine patch and checkerboard. Making a strip set for piano keys would be seen then cut then sewn again too. Remember that all technicalities count. Maybe just a bit of your border is cut sewn and cut. Maybe your 6″ is going to look like 2 3 even 6 separate borders. These instructions are a jumping off point intended to be stretched and to encourage play and design.

For those of you just joining us you are not too late. Make yourself a starting block with straight sides and I  recommend at least 9″. The block does not need to be square. Once you have a block move on to this border or indeed next week’s. This is not a sprint, I expect we will have plenty of borders to play with.

As I said I have decided to play along but I was also keen to finish those geese. Late last night I managed it, and today I now need to work on my starting block. I can say it is a foundation pieced block and my quilt will used a fat quarter bundle plus black. You are all shocked and stunned that I am working with black right

Have fun, do feel you can ask questions and share ideas in the comments. I can’t wait to see what we can create.

First cocktail recipe of the virus

I find there are a few cocktails I crave from time to time. Of course I never crave them when I have all the ingredients, so I have learned to improvise. Tonight I wanted a mint julep, it’s simple enough but I have a few issues. Traditionally you need bourbon, fresh mint, sugar, ice, and soda water. The bourbon I can usually manage and I could do the sugar, the others are iffy. I discovered a while ago I actually prefer plain tap water to the soda water, that solved one issue. Well actually today it solved two, I have no ice. My freezer is full of food and Kong’s.  The Kong’s are essential for a teething puppy so drinks can’t have ice. Fortunately with the temperature drop outside my mains water is very very cold. Fresh mint I have a little growing, not really enough for this and see above on it’s cold outside. So today’s mint julep is bourbon, peppermint essence and water. It’s wonderful. I haven’t given amounts because it really is a matter of personal taste. I reccomend mixing the bourbon and water then adding the essence 2 drops at a time. What if you have no peppermint essence, well try a crushed mint sweet. I want to try a butter mint. I think that would be fabulous, the buttery touch should work well.

So there you go, my really crucial recipe when stuck at home

First starting block done

I have had the first confirmed starting block in, from Rachel. I knew she would do something interesting and she certainly hasn’t disapointed.

Inspiring right. I have decided I am going to try to play along. As I pick the instructions randomly I can and be just as clueless as everyone else. Of course that means I need a starting block and rather soon. Guess what I have planned for today.

If anyone else wants to share pictures just comment and I will send you the email address.

Friday, quilting day

At least Friday will be a quilting game once I get myself up and running. I think the sudden drop in temperature has hit me hard. It’s odd, I like the cold, I thrive in it, but sudden drops like this really give me a hard time. It feels like I am trying to go into hibernation, and as I get up brfore the heating comes on it has a lot more effect. Yes I probably should have changed the heating times but I am only getting up so early because of the puppy and the heating system is a total nightmare to set. I am certainly not bored enough to attempt it yet, and really as summer is coming this problem will soon resolve itself.

This cold snap means I have also had to put my planting on hold. Annoying but not as bad as it happening just after I planted stuff out so I guess I can’t complain too much. Tet has used his lunch breaks to mow the lawns which makes walking the dog a lot nicer. Not sure if we will be able to keep them mown all summer as the tractor will need fuel. who knows if we will be able to get more when it runs out. It’s not essential so my guess is probably not.

For those of you outside of the UK last night at 8pm people clapped to thank the NHS. It was quite an event, even in this fairly remote location. We could hear the clapping from surrounding villages. Amazing how far it travels. It struck me that in some ways this was also another thing the NHS did for the community. It gave everyone a social event. A thing we could all do together safely. I am sure for the more extrovert people that has to be a help. I see people suggesting it should become a weekly event. It may well be a valuable idea. In our local facebook group a lot of NHS workers commented saying how great it felt for  them, and Stoke Mandeville hospital said it could be heard in the hospital and they didn’t expect it to be so big.  Seems like a win win.

A friend sent me a photo that apparently has gone viral, what can I say I am deeply unfashionable at out of the loop. It is of a team of paramedics in Israel. The crew is 2 men, one muslim and one jewish. They are praying together, they look like they are apart, they face different directions because of their beliefs, but they are there with their ambulance. It’s a nice picture showing unitiy, but what I see is 2 guys doing what they do every day. Possibly more than once a day. I bet they are very confused that this is suddenly news. It is probably a good thing that we start to see what people are doing as jobs. It comes back to what I said a few days ago, maybe we will now appreciate how many people are working to make our life just tick along.

So plans for today, more piecing I think to get started. I won’t quilt while sluggish too much scope to mess up and unpicking quilting really sucks. Then longarming for the afternoon and perhaps some knitting this evening. Oh would anyone be interested in some recipies? I have some baking planned and I am happy to share. Yesterday I made a batch of soup from some shall we say slightly mature vegetables. I managed to get some cream on this weeks order and I didn’t want to waste any. I made a triffid earlier this week (sort of like a trifle but with a yoghurt jelly instead of custard) which used some then the soup finished it. Cream of leek and potato, we love it and it ages really well. Each day it tastes better. It was lunch yesterday and will be today, then dinner tomorrow with left over chicken and bread bread bread. We don’t usually eat much bread but as I can make it and other bulk seems to be in short supply we will get used to having bread. I just hope my body will tolerate it. It really isn’t good for me.

Enough chat time to work. Oh if anyone fancies some drinks recipies just let me know below. I think being Friday night I may try something fancy today.