Inspiration

Paperchase is a great shop. Fun to browse around. The girls love it in there. So do I. But mostly I just looked for embroidery inspiration when I was in there the other day. They shopped. I took photos. 

And here are the cards I loved. 

And these ones too. 

Think I might need to buy more hoops. 

Susan 

A Photo Recap

We had a great day today. The germs were mostly vanquished and didn't cast a shadow on our enjoyment. We stuck to our usual haunts as these were Em's choices and the day was about her. The bonus to this is that some our favourite places are all within easy walking distance. The weather was kind, the crowds not bad (even on the Tube) and the food - as always - fabulous. 

We tend to have a partiality to oriental places so we went from The Japan Centre (just off Piccadilly Circus), to Tokyo Toys (around the corner), to dim sum in Chinatown (two blocks away), followed by bubble tea (down the street).

There was fountain dodging in Leicester Square whilst listening to a rather good busker. Some amazing - albeit rather macabre - chalk painting in Trafalgar Square. Coins were thrown in the fountain and wishes made. Shops were visited, mostly for the fun not the spending. 

Oh, and I love this sequence of photos in Trafalgar of Helen and their friend having fun on the railing. 

And a stop at a lovely Turkish cafe off Piccadilly Circus (before you get to Fortnum & Mason) where the hot chocolates are lush and the macarons so yummy we brought a bunch home with us - but not the rose flavoured ones because none of us like those ones. 

It was a remarkably relaxing day actually. Probably because we stayed in such a limited area. We went with the flow and it is amazing how quickly seven hours can pass. 

It had been a while since our last day out in London and being there today reminded me that we love it and we need to not let life get so busy that we forget to take time for days out like this. One hour on the train and another world awaits. A glorious fun and beautiful world that we are lucky to live so close to. 

Susan 

Lost?

Lost days. Lost weight. The connection? Stupid germs. And I got them all by myself, not a child to blame. As much as I appreciate the weight loss, I don't think these are the sort of pounds that stay off, unfortunately!

But im just abut back to fighting fit now. Which is good, as tomorrow I am taking the girls and a friend of theirs to London for the day. As usual it will be a day of food as per our usual London jaunts. Bring on the dim sum. And any other treats we so desire. 

Meanwhile I finished a quilt top. I'll give you a sneaky peek, small and innocuous, and surely Love Patchwork & Quilting won't mind that. 

I've been working with the Essex linens and am totally in love with them. Never before did I consider using them exclusively in a quilt top but I'd do it again. I'm rather looking forward to seeing how soft this quilt goes with washing as the linen is so tactile already. And, for once in my life, I actually have known how I want to quilt this almost from the get go. It may take me a while to accomplish but I think it will suit the pattern. 

Hope everyone is enjoying the summer holidays if they are north of the equator, and that summer actually comes back. If it doesn't we are going to freeze our butts off in northern Scotland in a few weeks time! 

Susan 

Colour!

Some new fabric lines just call to us more than others. Imprint by Art Gallery Fabrics was one of those for me. I totally fell in love with it the first time I saw it. 

So you know I had to have it. 

The colours! Honest to God, I wish I knew how to design fabric and had a mind that worked like this. I'd be a genius! 

I've added in a few of the Oval Elements prints because I wanted slightly more of the warm colours. Other than that, this is a quilt in the making soon. Can not wait. 

Susan 

It's Been A While...

... Since I did an embroidery for whoop. 

Sarcastic quotes are my go to favourite subject. Silly to change that now.

Susan 

A Small Finish

A couple of days ago I finished something, and I forgot to tell you. Oh the mind, it is slipping. 

I have come to the distinct conclusion that the smaller the quilt the longer it takes me to finish it. But Sunday I set aside as the day to finally get my hexie mini done. I finished the hand stitching. Did some simple machine quilting on the low volume. Bound it and therefore this is my little ta-dah moment. 

The colour hexies rather remind me of a river winding its way across the monochrome background. I like the way this one turned out considering I had neither a plan or a direction to head in when I started piecing the rainbow hexies. It just sort of developed on its own. 

The little bits of embroidery were fun to do too. I tried to use as many different stitches as possible to keep it interesting. And it has rather made me want to start a hoop again. 

Maybe I'm due to stitch another sarcasm hoop. I'll have to go have a look at the quotes I've got put aside for future use. I'm sure there is something suitably sarcastic amongst them. 

Susan 

My Mojo Might Be Back

I started cutting for my next commission project today. I'm using this big old stack of Essex linen.

Oh my lord, I am loving these linens. The pure joy of starting to piece such fun colours with such a tactile texture is what might have flicked the switch to get me sewing again. Because today I was smiling at my machine, happy as Larry. It felt good. 

Susan

Saturday

I think many of you know as many us of Brit Bees who could possibly attend Terri's memorial service on Saturday did so. Terri was the glue that brought us all together. If you never had the privilege of meeting her then it's hard to describe the incredibly magnetic, unique person she was. While tears were shed it was not a sad day. Most memories of Terri fill people with smiles and laughter. She was remembered the way she would want to be. 

It felt good to attend and share in the service. 

But, despite the service being the reason for our Brit Bee gathering, we took the time to exchange the medallion quilt tops that we have been doing a round robin on for the best part of two years it seems. Those who could not be in Sevenoaks had their quilt tops sent to them and opened them at the same time as we did.

I love how these quilts are made to the same pattern, with some permutations. We all made our own centres so those are unique to each of our quilt tops. Then, depending on the small variances in pattern and the fabric choices, the individualty of each quilt grew. 

So without further ado here are the other ten quilt tops. (You've seen mine and one bee member has failed to post photos of hers.) 

Hadley's -

Trudi's -

Jo's -

Ceri's - (my personal favourite; I love them all but the impact of this one does it for me)

Sarah's - 

Fiona's - 

Di's -

Katy's - 

Jude's -

Laura Jane's -

I would call that one very successful round in our bee. We are currently dreaming up what to do next time. Stay tuned to see if we've figured it out by the end of the summer. 

Oops, Sarah just pointed out I didn't put a big photo of mine up. Silly me. Sorry! 

Susan

Yesterday

Laughter and tears. Big emotions. 

And a medallion exchange. 

I'll talk about it more tomorrow, but for now I'll give you a quick peek. 

Photo collage stollen from Hadley - aka Mrs Flying Blind

#britbeeforever

Susan 

Apologies

I'm obviously going through a bloggy bump. Which is directly linked to my total lack of desire to sew right now. I am sewing, because I have to, but what I don't have to do I'm just not doing. 

I am pruning bushes. Having lunch with friends. Reading books. Enjoying the sunshine. Really, really enjoying the sunshine. Going to see the girls in their dance show. Tomorrow will be their Musical Theatre Society show. 

I'm doing stuff. But not stuff that I can blog about really, not without boring you senseless. Well, you might like photos of the girls dancing but they have reached 'that age' where they are no longer keen to be blogged very often. I have to respect that. It's a shame, because they were always good for fun posts when the sewing stuff was sparse. 

So back to the sunshine, lunches and friends. I did that again today.

It was an amazingly nice, laughter filled day. Nothing to complain about here. Just not much to show you temporarily. Normal service shall commence soon. Promise.

Susan