Sunday 8 March 2009

Bit of this and that

Not much quilting going on here yet again. The reason being this time I have been laid up with a trapped nerve in my left arm. Ouch !! Never had one before and never want one again.. Much better now so feeling a bit more cheerful. I HATE not being able to go about my business. Been a bit grumpy due to lack of quilting. However I have not been completely idle - here is a crocheted baby blanket I finished off for a friend. It was nearly done - just had to do the edging.




And to my own amazement I fancied doing a bit of cross-stitch. I have dabbled in this a few years back but not done an awful lot. Whilst unable to sew I sorted through a couple of file boxes of patterns etc and came across a chart I had saved. My daughters friends grandma ( who I never knew ) died a few years ago and I inherited a bit of fabric and some patterns. I think she had tried a bit of all sorts of crafts. There were some half finished quilted and embroidered table mats. I finished these and gave them back to the family. Anyway this pattern was amongst the pile and I knew I would do it someday. The reason it appealed so much was because it is of a lady making a quilt. Here's my progress -



I'm enjoying this as a change. I even bought a cross stitch magazine this morning just to have a look. May do some more - not sure yet. I hope not to be too long doing this as the last piece of cross stitch kept getting put away and coming out when I felt like it and all in all took 10 years to complete - lol ! And I still haven't had it framed.

And as we have had some lovely weather of late I have washed a few quilts and dried them on the clothesline to air them. This is the first one I made for Jess about 5 years ago



This a big one and the first one I quilted by machine - nearly killed me.

and one for Patrick made about a year later. I wish I'd labelled them.



And I also realised I haven't shown my DD top yet - minus borders so far. I have a fabric in mind but haven't quite decided for sure yet.




And one last thing. Patrick is 12 yo and hitting puberty with a bang. All of a sudden he has changed - grumpy, uncommunicative a lot of the time - any one with teenagers knows the score I think - lol. Well today he shown he is still my little boy in a lot of ways - we have had a great time making a gingerbread house he got as a Christmas present. It has took til now to get round to it with one thing and another. He has now decided he may be a cake maker when he's older. If he can fit it in around being a professional basketball player - lol !!




Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Almost forgot - "met" a lady this week interested in starting her own blog. I explained how much fun it is and she decided to go ahead. So welcome to blogland Sally. I'm sure she would love some visitors so go and say hi if you have time.

19 comments:

Belvie said...

Sometimes I think when we do those other non-quilting projects, it makes the quilting more exciting when we can finally get back to it again. I enjoy seeing the other forms of needlework everyone does. You've got some nice things there!

Happy birthday to Patrick....and yes, I know how much boys can change at puberty. It's been a few years...since DS is turning 27 this month....but it seems as though it was yesterday when he was 13.

Tina said...

Wow, I love your quilts! The one you're working on for DD is beautiful!

Sorry your arm, but nice that you were able to finish up the baby blanket! Glad you are feeling better.

I know about those boys and puberty. I've got a couple at my house.

Gail said...

What a beautiful son you have (oops I should have said handsome!) Having three sons pass through the change from delight to demon I can attest--THIS TOO SHALL PASS! Tell him I like his cake. Hope you're felling quite well soon.

glamlawlib said...

Lovely quilts! I'm mainly a stitcher, so your stitching caught my eye too :)

I belong to a patchwork group that meets once a month in Radyr.

Great looking cake, your son looks too angelic to be a terrible teen!

Lorraine said...

The gingerbread house is fabulous! He will come out the other side of puberty a grown up version of the little boy who went in....trust me! Love your quilts and the latest one is wonderful...the colours work so well together...Hope the arm improves enough to get back to quilting soon..but it looks as though you have kept busy in spite of it....I have a couple of cross stitch projects finished..must dig them out and get them framed!

Vicki W said...

I don't know what a trapped nerve is but it sounds horrid. I like the cross stitch - especially that it's in shades of grey and black. I hope you are back to quilting soon! It's a good antidote to teenitis.

Quilts And Pieces said...

Oh so sorry to hear about the pinched nerve. Take care and don't over do it. That baby aghgan is so pretty! But boy do i love your DD!

Lindah said...

Oh, yes! Patrick should definitely go into the bakery business! Good job!
Your quilts are beautiful! So glad you are feeling better. Take care not to over-do.

meggie said...

I will check out the new blog. I love your son, with is project!!
HugsXXX

Sally said...

The quilts are lovely, i love the colours on the new one for you DD. I have done cross stitch in the past, it just takes so long though to show any progress, will have to get mine out of the bag at some stage. Happy birthday to your DS, the cake looks wicked !

Teresa said...

Your quilts are very lovely and its not too late to put a label on them! I hope your are is doing much better. The cross stitch is quite pretty and interesting - can't wait to see it finished.

Unknown said...

The house is beautiful and so well done.

Floss said...

I lave the cross stich, funny how quilting show up in other things.

meggie said...

Wow! Fabtastic house!! Well done Patrick.
Loved seeing all your work.
We have had a bit of cooler weather & I actually felt like doing a bit of knitting, but had no idea what to make!

Quilter Kathy said...

Oh dear Andrea...I hope your trapped nerve becomes untrapped asap! That is not fair for a quilter to have such a thing!
I sure can relate to the grumpy teenager syndrome...I have 2 of them!
Love the blue version of DD! I'm stuck on my borders at the moment.

julieQ said...

I love your afghan! Such pretty springlike colors. I cross stitch a little, but have not done any in a long time. The two quilts you made for the children are so nice, I am sure they use them all the time.

Anne Heidi said...

Your quilts are just beautiful! Hope your arm gets better soon!

maria said...

Perhaps you could make some cross stitch labels to go on those beautiful quilts. I sometimes look at my gorgeous, affectionate 7 year old boy and wonder what is ahead in the teenage years.

Kucki68 said...

Keep it up with the cross stitch, it will be nice to do in summer: not a lot of fabric to add warmth. And it looks like it will be great!