Not A Bit Of Sewing Was Packed!

I'm on holiday. And I will admit that I packed trashy novels for beach / poolside reading and not one iota of sewing. This holiday is all about relaxing. 

I left home and husband behind, brought the girls and flew to Toronto on Saturday. We immediately left the city with my best friend and went to her little town of Clinton close to the shores of Lake Huron. Jet lagged and full of cold, Sunday was a struggled or me. But we explored the area, had a terrific lunch out and the girls were treated to a little dusting of snow later on in the day. 

So that was enough of the cold! Monday morning we left the house early, early (best friend in tow), headed for Detroit and flew South to Tampa. Last night we were walking on Clearwater Beach happy as can be. Eating yummy seafood outside and generally feeling like life was good. 

I may have indulged in girlie drinks. 

Strawberry lemonade martini to be precise. 

And now I am (almost) germ free - I think the cocktails and sunshine did the trick. Jet lag has been conquered. And in the morning we head for Disneyworld. The girls are loving it all, maybe just as much as me. Plus the best friend is mercifully doing all the driving so I don't have to remember little things like which side of the road to drive on. 

I'm telling you, life is good. And for those looking for sewing, sorry for the distinct lack of it of late. I'm recharging my batteries and I'll be back to it with a vengeance very soon. Besides, I'm bound to purchase a little bit of fabric over here that will need playing with upon our return. 

Susan 

A Little Of This...

Working on my current commission project. 

And a lot of that (today's agenda) -

- laundry

- school run

- grocery shop

- hair cut

- put chicken strips into a satay marinade 

- make peanut sauce

- start making chilli hoisin belly pork

- make 'that Chinese pork thing' (recipe available under recipe tab if curiosity grabs you)

- make snicker doodles (V & Co recipe, and so, so good)

- make pork & prawn Goya filling

- make fresh spring roll filling

- school run

- more laundry

- take girls to riding lesson

- finish chilli hoisin pork

- cook dinner (comprised of leftovers, salad & oven chips - seriously, not making an effort on this one)

- more laundry

- dishes (so wish we had room for a dishwasher; one day in my dream house)

And now? Yeah, I am so not sewing. Not even hand sewing. I am sat here, and a glass of wine sits very close by. First glass in over four weeks. I am so enjoying it. Friends over for dinner tomorrow night, if you didn't guess. And very few of my days are quite as manic as today, but I wanted to say I'm sorry that I haven't had much in the way of interesting sewing posts lately. They will return. Right after I run away from home for a much anticipated holiday in a weeks time. 

Oh, and there is a cunning plan with this overload of cooking today. Little to finish off tomorrow, just make the ice cream (easy peasy and quick and not impressive, honest, but yummy). Apple pie already made and waiting in the freezer. Then hopefully I've made enough to feed us four on Sunday too. Maybe I can sew then instead. So all I have to do now is make the house presentable. 

Stop laughing! 

Susan

And The Blocks Have Started Arriving

When it is your month in a bee post becomes exciting. You never know when more blocks might arrive. I have received from Hadley...

Katy...

And Di...

Now why two of those photos refuse to lie the right way is beyond me - annoying as hell - and not fixable in this basic app. Kindly turn your heads/tablets to see them properly. 

Then feeling excited I laid out all the blocks together and you get an idea of what this quilt will look like. By sheer coincidence the blocks of various sizes all fit into one tidy rectangle. 

I know that this type of quilt would not appeal to all people - the wonkiness, lack of pattern, sheer scrappiness of it. But it is me in all its wonky, haphazard glory. Totally me. 

Susan

Happy Mother's Day

In some parts of the world it is Mother's Day today. One of those parts of the world is my little corner here in the middle of England. 

I am not one for presents on Mother's Day, nor am I one for going out to eat. Breakfast in bed and everyone being nice to me from beginning to end of day is what I like. 

Himself provides the breakfast, because I greedily request Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon. Hey, if you're going to ask for breakfast in bed you might as well take full advantage! 

The girls have different opinions on gifts though. I said I don't need them; they said I may not need them but I deserved them. Honestly, them saying that was the best gift of all. We all know motherhood is not sunshine and roses every day but a few simple words go a long way to making it all worthwhile. 

So this morning Emily presented me with a box of marshmallows - 

Just love the top middle heart that I've given you a close up of.  To the right is a hot chocolate 'doggie' she made me, complete with mini marshmallows. 

Helen gave me a necklace. 

The necklace says it all. It will be treasured.

So, a lie in, scrumptious breakfast, lovely gifts - what more could I ask for? Nothing really. But Helen made a Victoria sponge last night. Sadly too decimated already to provide a photo. And Emily is in the kitchen right now making miso soup, crab and cucumber salad, prawn dumplings and steamed buns. 

I'm one spoilt mamma and fully aware of the fact. 

Happy Mother's Day to all of you, in whatever way, shape or form you choose to celebrate. 

Susan 

Miss March

March snuck up on me. Ever since Flickr and I stopped talking I sort of lost track of where I sat within the fabulous Stitch Tease Bee. I happily made my blocks for others, oft times rather late but there has been a wonderful variety of blocks asked for so far this year. And then suddenly it was my turn. 

I had been planning on designing a block. Time caught me out. So I went with another idea I had totally inspired by Beth at Plum and June. She makes such lovely things, and this quilt has been one of my favourites. 

I love the wonkiness, the colous,the fussy cuts - this quilt is totally up my street. So I asked my bee mates to make me wonky log cabins with a fussy cut in the middle. The only rule was if the fussy cut had a coloured background then it needed to be framed in white first. If it had a white background then it needed a colourful frame. The blocks could be any size based on a factor of 6" finished. So 6.5"x6.5" or 12.5"x12.5" or 6.5"x12.5" or 18.5"x12.5", etc. this will allow me to fit the various blocks together fairly easily, filling in spaces when and however required. 

I have already received blocks, but first I will show you the ones I made myself. The other blocks I can show off on a different day. 

These are one 12.5"x6.5" and two 6.5" square. I think that may be my last girl on a swing from Sherbet Pips, the first fabric line I ever fell in love with. Needless to say using some of my Heather Ross was a necessity as well. 

Then I used one of my Wee Wander horses for a 12.5" block. It's a start for a quilt that I'm really rather excited about. 

Susan