Sunday, September 21, 2008

The English Riviera


Last week I spent a night in Torquay in Devon as I had to speak at a conference (get me!). Lest you should get the wrong impression of my lifestyle and job status - this only happens once in a blue moon, so I made the most of the sea view from my very swanky hotel room. Torquay is known as the English Riviera because of the temperate climate - hence the palm trees.


Other than that, nothing much going on here - been quilting my crumb chaos quilt but it's slow going so not worth a picture yet - maybe next weekend!

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

It's for a girl

If you know someone's going to have a baby, you've got months of notice in which to make a quilt, right? So why do I always leave it until the baby is born to even start it?


I delivered this to my friend D's wife yesterday. Actually, I didn't do too badly as the baby is only 3 weeks old. I'd had a few days leave from work so at least I could get going on it pretty quick. Of course, I'd wrapped it all up nicely in cellophane with a nice fabric bow (the ribbon stash comes up trumps again!) and then remembered I hadn't taken a picture of the finished article! Doh! I couldn't bring myself to undo it as I would have probably had to use new cellophane but I think you still get the gist of it from the 'wrapped and folded' version. I wanted something simple and quick to put together so rail fence seemed to fit the bill in pastel blues and pinks. I used a very thick batting so it would be nice and comfy-cosy for a baby. Can't say the quilting is anything special, and there's a few small tucks here and there but I asked DH what he thought and he said (a) he wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't pointed it out and (b) they added to the artisan feel of the piece! Good enough for me.
My other best news is that DD got the grades she needed in her A-Levels and won a place at University in London. She is taking a 'gap' year this year (much to the chagrin of her father) so she won't go until September 2009 (and needs to find a job in the meantime) but we are all very pleased and proud of her.