A bit more fusing:

I have had a lovely morning, playing with the soldering Iron, the Viole's, the felts and my fancy stitches on my beloved Bernina. As you can see I have made another two postcards and a note book cover. Whilst it has been good fun I must now tidied the terrible mess I have made. Viole's, felt and bits and pieces are scattered across the sewing room. Tabitha has had a field day with the Viole's rolling around the floor amongst them. Bless, it must have wore her out look, she is having a rest in the scrap basket.

Fusing Viole and Felt the Margret Beal way:

I adore Margret Beals work. i have met her every year at the NEC. The first year I bought the starter Kit, the next year I purchased her book and each year now I buy more felt, Viole's and any new templates she has. Her work always fills me with inspiration and I come away from her stand thinking of all the things I am going to create when I get home. however it never seems to go quite as I plan. The first time I used the soldering Iron the smell made me feel very nauseous I had to buy a mask. I was also to heavy handed and kept burning through all the layers so I just produce lots of holes in my work. It is life everything in life practise and patience and perseverance gets you there in the end. Here is my F is for(fusing flowers)postcard for fabric cards alphabet series. I think it turned out pretty good.

Work in progress:

I took this photo the other day from my sewing room window. the block of flats you see is Chestnut House were I live on the top floor. I was very excited because as you can see from the picture the scaffold is being assembled on the outside of the flats. Also the compound for the equipment is being constructed in the car park. according to the power that be it is a month a head of schedule so far. I can not wait to go home it will be so fantastic a pristine new flat with my fabulous view. Mmmmmm how lucky am I.

Mother to be:

This my friends, is my beautiful daughter Michaela. Colin took these photographs yesterday. I know I am bias but I think she is simple stunning. Also I have to say hats of to Colin, he is bloody good at photography. I was considering asking him to take a photo of me and my bump but I have to many bumps to chose from lol.

Amy Buttler and Shoes:

Saturday evening I attended Amy Buttlers presentation. What another great night, although it did not start off as such because I was feeling quite nauseous before the meal. I was blessed to be in the company of a few of my Liverbird friends Sue C, Hilary G and Hillary H. As you can imagine our introduction was received with laughter from the other ladies who were sharing the table with us. Amy's presentation was so enjoyable. She shared her experiences of a recent trip to Bali and a trip to India, the sites, the colours and the culture of these two places that have been a huge influence on her most recent designs. Amy also showed us her latest range of fabrics, bags and her rugs. She was a lovely person to meet, but best of all she is a shoe girl like myself. I was pleasantly surprised when she admired my shoes. Hilary G took these two photos for me.

Work shop delight:

I was very very very lucky to be one of about 12 ladies who got tickets for Ferrets master class on the Saturday. I attended the class with my Friend Sue C, and we were lucky because after 3 hours and 20 minutes all the tickets were sold. I think Ferret's work is amazing, my friend Janet knew this and it was through her that I was able to get a ticket. I was thrilled to be learning one of the techniques she used in her quilt, "Nude Tryptict". you could either make a Rose or a swan. As you can see from the picture I chose to make the rose. It was a great day and I loved every minute of it. The ladies in the class were a great bunch and there was plenty of laughs along the way. Ferret herself was lovely. A truely talanted person and she was extremely generous in sharing her knowledge and advice. I was really pleased with the piece of work I produced on the day.

Off to the NEC:

I have recently returned from a fantastic trip to the Festival of Quilts at the Nec. I had a great time, this photo is of me getting on the bus to take us to the exhibition. The quilts were amazing, as were the side exhibitions and although I was there for the full four days I am sure I did not manage to see everything.

A thank you present:

OMG aren't these shoes just Devinne? They are VERY VERY special. The reason being, is my beloved sister Natalie has just bought me them from Shoe collection in Debenhams, as a thank you present for making her top and skirt. You know the one I started make a few months back, for her captains dinner night on the cruise. I have not quite finished the skirt as it needs to be hemmed. However, before I could do this, Natalie had to purchase a pair of shoes to go with the outfit. I had seen a pair that were ideal for her a few weeks ago in Shoe collection, but Natalie was not with me so I did not chance to get them. When we went today they were no longer there. She did find a pair she liked and felt comfortable in (well almost comfortable as natalie does not do high heels). I saw these and my eyes grew wide and I began to drool at the mouth. Of course the next stage is to try them on and oh boy they were a perfect fit. That was it, no going back, I had to have the shoes. I told Natalie I was going to buy them and she said no I will buy you them as a thank you for making my two piece. I obviously objected profusely because they were a tadge pricey but she insisted. The Twist in this story is this: What a lucky girl I am, not only to blessed with a great sister but to also have a fabulous new pair of shoes.

Rrrr whos had a bath????

Yes Tabitha has had her very first bath, bless her. Poor little thing was terrified. She is settling in quite nicely, although I did have a few teething problems over the first few days. She was scratching everything, the walls, the couch, the scratch post but most she particulary seemed to scratch me the most. This was not good so I turned to my sister-in law for advise (Karen has 8 animals and in my book is a expert on pets). It turned out that Tabitha's claws were too long and needed clipping back. Once this was done she has not scratched anything other than her scratch post.

Alphabet cards:

I have been very remiss lately with my sewing, being off work lulled me into a false sense of having all the time in the world. Now I am going back to work this week and I have realised that during my time off I did not get much sewing done. It is of course a different story when I am working and have other commitments I manage my time extremely well and get lots of projects done. Over the last couple of days I have pulled my finger out and here is a picture of my E is for Elephants on parade postcards alphabet postcard swap. I made 3 of these cards for the swap I hope Liz, Lori and Rosemarie like their elephants.