Having Monday off this week as a holiday and busy with work and then our German visitors on Wednesday evening and yesterday I have completely lost the plot as to what day it is!!!! 

Our German visitors arrived on Wednesday evening and we joined them for dinner at a local Derbyshire restaurant which was a lovely evening.  Yesterday whilst the men went off to business meetings I took the ladies, Mom who is a quilter and Daughter who is a textile artist, to some quilt shops and to see Cromford Mill.

This is where Sir Richard Arkwright was the first man to run a mill with water power and produce cotton yarn in a modern way, thus creating the first modern factory system.  He ran the mill twenty four hours a day with two twelve hour shifts the majority of the staff being woman and children.  The children were aged around ten and also received six hours a week of schooling when not working.  There were approximately two hundred people employed at the mill and as this was more than who lived in the surrounding area, Sir Richard built housing near the mill for his workers to live in.  Since the Mill closed it was bought by the Arkwright Society and returned to its former glory and now houses the museum, businesses, conference centres and of course one of our local quilt shops, Quiltessential.  It is also part of the World Heritage site which includes all sixteen mills along the River Derwent. 

Our dinner on Wednesday was at Darleys which is housed in the last of the Mills in the World Heritage Site.

Whilst we toured the Mill they have hand held devices which tell you all about the history in every language which the ladies were so pleased about.

After this I drove them through Matlock Bath and Matlock to Darley Dale where our second local quilting shop is, Heir & Graces.  They have two shops very near to each other and a few months ago they had all the quilting in one and embroidery/knitting/weaving and everything else in the other.  However they decided to mix everything up which I actually did not like but at least the ladies got to visit the two shops and they did buy some fabric and so did I!!!!!!

By then the men had finished their business meetings so we decided to take them to visit Chatsworth House.  We are very lucky where we live to have great views, walks and these places to visit.  Our visitors loved the tour of the house, again with handsets in German telling them all about the history. This is our first visit since we went at Christmas and they have changed the route around the house and you now get to see some rooms you have not seen before and they have also changed the pieces around in the house.  This is why we love visiting because things change all the time.

As you can see from the pictures we had an amazing Spring day which was a relief as the previous few days it had been heavy rain and cold. 

As you know this is my most favourite room in the whole house, The Library.

After Christmas they moved the Grand Piano into the Anti-Library next to the fire place. 

I would be quite happy to just live in this section of Chatsworth!

The State Dining Room had been set with the ceremonial silver wear and was stunning

The dining room is so large that there are two fireplaces in the room but not lit as it was, dare I say, warm outside.

A view of the dining room towards the library.

This is the new chandalier which was put in place after the Christmas trees were taken down and is made of brass and I can imagine very heavy.

I managed to drive all day with no problems and walk around but with one crutch just for some support although I did not walk around the grounds.  I stopped and had a cup of tea whilst they walked which was very nice in the sunshire.  However I am quite sore today as this is the first time I have done a lot of walking since the Op.  I have my final appointment next Wednesday with my Consultant so will see what he says.  In the evening we again went out for dinner to another lovely restaurant in Derby, near the Cathedral before our visitors left early this morning to go home. 

They bought me a lovely blanket from the company where Daughter works and I will show you a picture of that when I have changed our bedding over from winter to summer.  I also got some lovely homemade keyrings.

Today is house jobs day and again the weather is very Spring like which is great because tomorrow and Sunday it is going to be raining again all day!  However that is good as I won’t feel guilty quiling all weekend when I should be gardening!  I have two things I need to get a move on with and so I will be trying to get them done as I need one of them in two weeks time!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend whatever you are up to.

Hugs, Susie xx

I actually managed to do some quilting on Worldwide Quilting Day, now don’t faint!!  I actually started a little later than planned due to trying to sort something out for the swimming club (!) but in the end decided I could do nothing about it and sent a couple of emails in annoyance and then abandoned my desk for my sewing machine!

I have a few quick projects which I need to do so choose one of those instead of trying to sort out something big, including the applique when I realised I needed to get some supplies for it.  So here is what I have made

Usually we are away over the Easter Holidays in Scotland with The Boys and Girlfriend but as they are all busy with college and university work as they are all in their final years, DH and I decided not to go. Normally I would do an Easter Egg Hunt (usually indoors as the weather is a bit unpredictable) and despite their ages now they still love it.  So as we will be at home and not everyone around first thing on Easter Sunday I have made them these Quilted Easter Bags which I will fill with their eggs!  When The Boys were little they had some chocolate but their main gift was always a book which they loved and we have continued to do this. 

A closeup of one of the bags.

Inside.

I decided to add ribbons sewn to the back and then tied to keep the eggs in.

I am not sure The Boys will use them for anything else afterwards but I think Girlfriend will as they are always handy for storing things in.

As you can see we had more of this at the weekend!  I closed the curtains on Saturday evening where it was just a few flakes and it wasn’t really settling to everywhere being covered by the time we went to bed!  Treacle was quite happy!  I love snow but even I am getting fed up with it now and long for some warmer weather and Spring!  The Groundhog did a real number on us this year by predicting six more weeks of winter as it must have been eight by now!!!!

Needless to say this was Treacle’s favourite spot over the weekend whilst I was sewing.  I know the pictures all look the same but she is always with me when I am sewing!!  She loves Eldest’s bed and because the room is slightly smaller than the others it is always warm!!!

It is another busy week with work things and swimming things and Boys things but what else is new?  I have a list of things which need doing so my next project will be our Friends wedding anniverary gift as I have four weeks to get that done and then there is this applique block to do (!) and then my super secret quilt to sort and get started.  I still have to sort the back of our summer quilt as that needs amending and then get that quilted.  I also still need to get my machine serviced and was hoping to get that done after the summer quilt but obviously other things have taken over, but I will arrange to get it done soon.

I hope if you are a Quilter you managed to get something done this weekend and everyone else had a wonderful Weekend.  I am busy also sorting my Spring Cleaning Planner out for you, so stay tuned.

Hugs, Susie xx

I am starting all the posts this week with a Spring picture, because it certainly isn’t outside and they are forecasting snow again for the weekend here!!!!  Oh Good Grief Charlie Brown!!!!

Anyway I bet you wonder what the title of this post means?  Well do you remember as children you were never allowed to say you didn’t want to do something? Certainly at school you had to do things whether you wanted to or not and a favourite saying of my Grandmother’s was “there is no such word as Can’t” (yes I know there is but she always used to say cannot!!!).  Why I am talking about this is because the new block for the “It’s a Wild Life” Block of the Month has been released and oh boy it is something I always run away from; it’s applique!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is the block from Amy’s blog, Sew Incredibly Crazy, and it was designed by Carla at Creatin’ in the Sticks!!  As you can see it is pieced and appliqued.   Now every time I have tried applique it never looks quite right but I have decided that I am not going to run away from this and have a go at doing it!!!  However I think I am going to cut out two lots of all of it just in case the first one does not go together well!!!  I love the block though, it is really cute hopefully I will do it justice.

I am planning to make a few things for Easter which is coming up fast, especially as it is so early this year, so I will get to show you those soon. I found the above recipe on Moda Bake Shop and will be just right for some of the things I am thinking of as gifts!

I am still slowly working my way through the bindings I am sewing down on my UFO’s but am not in a rush to get those finished and my final project at the moment is to sort out the backing for my summer quilt so that I can get that sandwiched and quilted. 

I have also received the material for our friends table runner for their 40th Wedding Anniversary celebrations so need to get on and sort out the blocks for that.  I can see I will be writing a list so that I can keep all this straight!!!

I have a basket of ironing to get done tonight so no quilting today but hopefully tomorrow if I can get through my work quickly I will be able to get some things done then.

I hope you are all having a Thrilling Tuesday.

Hugs, Susie xx

Treacle has been helping all day in the Den, by sleeping!!!

Well Friday is here and at the moment we still have snow.  The rest of the World of course are laughing at us as; a little bit of snow and the whole country loses its mind!!! 

This picture was in the Daily Mail today (copyright: Storyful) where the snow ploughs are unearthing the road at Trollstigen Pass, Norway.  Now this is snow!!!  I think the reason our country has such a reaction to snow is because we don’t get it often enough, so when we do everything becomes impossible!!!  DH and Eldest are both at work again today but college for Youngest was shut again today and so are the schools, well it is Friday!

Two Weeks Down, Four To Go!!!!!

Normally I would not bother how things are going with my recovery except there is an issue at the beginning of April, after Easter.  The work we do with our German Company their representative is coming over for two days, to visit the customers and, as it is Easter Holidays, he is bringing his wife and daughter.  So DH will be out with him on visits and I am entertaining his wife and daughter.  I have planned a few things, one of which will be a visit to Chatsworth House, which will be open again by then after their Winter closure.  Also his wife is a quilter, which is so lucky, so I have also planned visits to quilt shops in Derbyshire and beyond.  I think he will regret bringing his wife with him!!!  At least they are driving over so won’t have an issue of getting all the fabric back on the plane!!!!!  I do hope they like what I have planned and this is why I am counting down as I am not able to drive until six weeks after the Op which will be Easter Saturday and four days before they arrive.  I am going to go out with Tom that weekend in my Jeep to make sure I am happy, the saving grace being it is an automatic so I don’t have to keep changing gear.  Of course it will mean that I have to get some fabric too, tee hee.

I have had a few new Followers come along for the ride this week, so Welcome and I hope you enjoy my posts.  I love connecting with new Friends.

Quilt Retreat At Home this weekend for me, so DH and Youngest can get on and do any jobs and they are both out all day Sunday at a swimming competition which is still on at the moment.    I still have a few projects I need to get done and some which are still in the process of getting finished but I am getting there!!!  Still waiting for the fabric I have ordered for our friends’ anniversary present but I can start to do a few things for it from my stash which is what I will start tomorrow.  I also have another new super secret quilt to make and I can plan that which will also be all from my stash too. 

Anyway that’s the plans for the weekend at the moment but of course it could all change again.  I hope you all have a terrific weekend.

Hugs, Susie xx

I honestly don’t know what some of the modern day Reporters in this country would have done if they had been alive during WWII!  There are hysterical headlines on our newspapers today of this DREADFUL STORM HEADING OUR WAY!!!!  IT’S COMING FROM RUSSIA, TEMPERATURES WILL FALL DRAMTICALLY, GET HOME BEFORE 6.00PM!  SAVE YOURSELVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!……………

For the real news; temperatures may drop to -5 and we may get some snow which may cause a little difficulty during travel.  I mean really!  If they actually lived in Russia or any of the Nordic countries which experience temperatures of today at -14 in Russia and -17 in Tuktoyatuck, Canada then I can imagine all this hysteria and by Friday it will be back to normal temperatures of 1°C.  I think they all need to get a grip!!!

Here is a little Spring picture to cheer everyone up!

Obviously because of my limitations at the moment I have not been out and about or doing a lot so I don’t have a very interesting post today!!!  My Quilting Planning was for some very good friends of ours, Anne & Chris, who are celebrating their Ruby wedding at the beginning of April and although they have requested no gifts I would like to make them something small.  When they were first married they spent a few years in Canada for business so thought it would be an idea to add a maple leaf block to a table runner.  They love their garden so can add a block with flowers on and then I thought I could add quite a bit of red in as it is Ruby. Chris also keeps bees so that would be a thing to incorporate and they are both involved with the Canal Trust so am looking how I can add that.   I am having fun looking at blocks to get this done and also the material I have in my stash. 

Treacle is very much enjoying that I am in bed a bit longer than normal in the morning and snuggling!!!  She is getting used to my crutches which she was a bit scared of at first but she does not like the house being upside down as it is not “normal” and she does not like things when they are not normal!!!  Eldest and Girlfriend came yesterday so she loved seeing them and of course DH and Youngest got back so that was all okay with her World.   She is definitely hoping it will snow a lot so she is able to be out in it playing!!!!  She could really do with an AireCut but I am holding off until the weather gets better otherwise she will be freezing.

I hope everyone is having a Good Monday.

Hugs, Susie xx

It has been like this for the last few days at home!!!  Grocery shopping is done, washing/ironing done, house cleaned and done, cooking done; you name it, its been done and all my work!!!  Yep I am tired but I am pleased and everything has been ticked off my list!!!! 

I had some vouchers left from Christmas so ordered a few books on Amazon.

One of my aims after finishing the UFO’s is to make a scrap quilt and I saw this and thought this would be ideal for me.  It is a hardback and has lots and lots of ideas for using up all those scraps.  FarmQuilter gave me the tip of cutting them into various sizes and sorting by colour which I think I will do.  At the moment they are just in one of my huge clip boxes any old how!!!!

I saw this and thought this would be a great idea not just for me but for making gifts too.  I have a few of the Love to Sew books and think they are great and the projects are very easy to follow and it was not a lot of money!

Of course Amazon being Amazon they then show you other quilting things you might like (!) and this came up and I thought it would be a good idea.  It is a book to record the details of quilts you have made with room for photographs (it is a soft back) and I thought great way of keeping the details.

I just had to have this.  It is the last ever season of Grimm which only had 13 episodes in instead of the usual 24.  As you know it is one of my most favourite TV shows.  I usually have a DVD playing whilst I am sewing and am at the moment working my way through the other series of Grimm. 

I hope you are having a Thrilling Thursday.  It’s Friday tomorrow!!!

Hugs, Susie xx

I had a great weekend.  Friday night dinner was great fun and lovely to be out.  Saturday morning I got some jobs done and then in the afternoon and evening I got some more quilting done.  Sunday I managed to get my extra house jobs done so I am doing well keeping up with my lists!

This is my Autumn wall hanging which I am currently sewing the binding to.

These are my two blocks from the “Red, White & Blue” Blog Hop and I have put Christmas borders on them which now need sewing down.

My purple little quilt with the binding sewn to the front and now needs finishing.

My Christmas wall hanging with the binding sewn on and waiting to be sewn to the back.

The blocks made and just waiting to be stuffed!!!!

Last night, well actually as we got into bed at 10.00pm, they were showing coverage of the Super Bowl on UK TV.  We started to watch it, as it is such a huge event in the US and were fascinated by how different it is to our sports coverage.  I didn’t really understand the action but think it is something like our Rugby games but I don’t understand that either!!!  I must admit I was half watching and half asleep but did wake up to find that the Philadelphia Eagles had won, I switched off after that.  When we were on holiday in Florida in 2010 we went to a baseball game in Tampa between the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees and it was a great afternoon and again very different to our sporting events and very much a family event.  The Boys had a great time and again we understood most of it. 

DH is away until Thursday evening at a business exhibition in Farnborough and so it is Youngest, Treacle and I at home.  The weather is getting colder again and some parts of the UK have had snow although we haven’t and at the moment are not forecast to have any. 

I hope you all had a great weekend and looking forward to a great week.

Hugs, Susie x

Treacle kept me company in the sewing room.