more stockings

 made 2 more stocking this morning it is getting like Santa's Grotto in my Studio.

finishing off my latest projects Yahoooooooooooooooooo




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this sampler quilt  was a  project I was teaching   so I finally got around to sewing it up to a laptop quilt, which I shall be sending to a distant cousin  how I met up with recently



the second cup cake quilt, the colors are far brighter than these pictures show ,
now commissioned to do a third in lavenders and greens

This lovely quilt was made by Carol ,  ( My photo does nothing to see the beauty  in this quilt , as the lighting was very poor ) she owns our favorite local quilt shop Just Between Friends  where I love to go when I need some fabric and a warm welcome and a great inspriration to all who enter.
 Carol reintroduce me to quilting,  My first Quilt  was a laura Ashley one way back in the mid 70s, Oh those Lovely squares  all of which we could not afford, but I did manage to get some off cuts. and I used to make my girls dresses  so always had  bits and peices .
then went on to other crafty things, cross stitch , doll making weaving , dressmaking  home furnishings and those sort of things. so when I went to Carols just over 2 years ago  for a refresher course, I was delighted to find that roller  cutters and cutting mats  where here to make our job so much easier . and I am so pleased  as I have collected s much fabric  and I am running up quilts and making little  things  all the time

roding quilters

Well tonight  I am going to the Roding Quilters  Monthly group  where I am hoping to met up with my quilter friends  for a  show and tell evening . really looking forward to seeing all the  amazing  projects  everyone has made. pictures to follow  ( if my camera  works)

Christmas  stockings  so well in advance so far

40 years ago

Fabulous  food

40 year  ago we honeymooned in Paris  , we stayed at the Hotel Blackstone . we were on such a tight budget  and it was my first flight  we flew from Stanstead  and  it was a very small plane  with 2 propellers , Me and Ben had a seat I thought that was Rich as there were Onions sellers  also on the flight who did not have seat   , I thought this was normal  . during take off and landing the Onion sellers crouched down in the aisle and linked arms around the arms of the seat s and that was it.  we arrived in Paris  armed with a hell of a lot of special vouchers  for discounted goods perfumes and  meals etc  etc, all of which we could not afford. Our Hotel was in a fab location  near the Opera   we had a demi breakfast in the lobby  black coffee and a bun, so strange for me. our room well it was on the 3rd floor, and the door did not shut ,luckily for me that I wore a maxi dress  and this hung over the 2in gap of the door  , the loo was  3 floors down and it has a hole in the ground  with not light,  I was to scared to go alone, but to shy to ask my new husband  to take me . we could not eat out  so  our first trip out was to a hardware store and we brought a knife so we could buy bread cheese ham and that sort of thing  to eat  One we splash out on some fresh prawns as a treat and ate  them in our room  but that was a mistake as the shells stank the place out for hours.
 I did sit outside in a wonderful  cafes once where we shared a coke which was about 50p  a fortune  at the time.  I have no photos  I do not recall having a camera.

Decorated with Jammy dodgers

This year  we decided to return to that same Hotel  and  we had a great time   it is now a 3 star , and although it could be a fabulous  Boutique Hotel  it still  lacks in the decor department the dining room has been created in the basement ( no windows) and an alcove  it had been decorated with fairy lights  and what looked like  black stones  ( was  meant to be  bread)   and jammy dodgers  stuck on the wall for decorations   ( see pic). we had many great meals out  loads of shopping and a suitcase full of cheese to bring make  plus the wonder sight seeing  which for obvious reasons we did not do 40 years ago. and  of  course I found the most wonderful fabric stores  so we had a great time

Hotel Blackstone

 so relaxing  Paris is a beautiful place , and so much to see. I hope to go back soon

Cup Cake finnished now on to the next one ...................boring

only the label to put on the cup cake quilt   must trim it first

and finally finished this early christmas stocking

quilt wadding

Hi has anyone thought of using IKEA's lightly padded mattress cover for quilting instead of the cheaper wadding on the market . it works fantastic and is so much cheaper