I'm back

A good time was had by all - the weather could have been a little kinder but we still had lots of fun and, more importantly, there were no fallings out!

My in-laws are now safely back in Greece - they really enjoyed the cooler weather (it was 42 degrees when they left and 39 when they went back so rain was a relief) and loved seeing Lia. They will get to see her again when we go out there in five weeks time and we've also booked them as childcare for the February half term next year (I'm already working on holiday cover!)

I don't have any holiday snaps to show you as yet - I didn't have a camera so am at the mercy of those who did uploading their pictures. But I do have pictures of my holiday stash purchases from the quilting shop at the farm.

As well as the money I had saved up a lovely friend contacted Jo (shop owner) to organise a belated birthday gift of vouchers to spend so I got to go a bit mad!

So here's my birthday present purchases:

The blue fabrics are for the book bag I'm going to make for Lia, the christmas ones are for my (future) christmas Baby Jane and the rest are just because I liked them!

I also got a bit more pink fabric - there's another baby girl addition to the family due in October and I'd hate to run out! (please note the sarcasm)

I also got some girlie blue fabrics as Lia's school colour is royal blue and, whilst there aren't any rules about colour of bags, I thought I'd try and keep a little bit in their colour scheme:

I'm making a flannel quilt for Lia (you probably know that I keep adding it to my monthly goals to get it finished LOL) and I needed backing so I got four metres of this:

My Mum has been making comments about getting me to make her a bag so I told her to pick some fabrics. She'd originally said she liked one of the patterns I'd already made but she saw a bag in the shop that she preferred so I ended up having to buy the pattern for that one too. As MIL was with us I offered her a bag as well and not only did she choose the same pattern she chose the same fabrics as Mum. Spooky how similar their tastes are! Anyway, here are their fabric choices:

And here are the patterns for the two bags - the one for the Mums on the left and Lia's book bag on the right (sorry they're so dark!)

MIL also really loved a panel so I bought it for her to do as a gift (there'll be a lot of hand quilting so it won't be gifted this year). Here's the top half of the panel (it's very large, I couldn't get it all in one shot!)

And finally I got a gypsy gripper which is the pink thing in this picture - it suctions on to the ruler so you get a good grip, your fingers are out of the way of the rotary cutter and you get a nice even pressure. I love it, it makes cutting so much easier.

So quite a haul!

I now have five bags to make in the next month - the two for the Mums, Lia's book bag and PE bag and a bag for a friend at work who is leaving. The work friend wanted to pay for the bag but I bartered instead - she is fantastic at icing cakes so is going to give me a lesson. I've always wanted to learn how to ice cakes properly - every time I've tried it looks like I've buried several mice underneath the icing - so I'm happy for the swap.

Off on our Hols!

We're off for a weeks holiday tomorrow with most of my family - my Mother, Mother-in-Law, Father-in-Law, Sister, Brother-in-Law, Niece, Nephew-in-Law (if that's the right label LOL) and Great Niece!

We're taking over three farm cottages at Villavin Farm in Devon. DH, Lia and I had a lovely week there last year so we're going back (and no, my enjoyment was in no way enhanced by the fact there is a quilting shop on the farm too, of course it isn't...)

Hopefully the weather will be kind to us as there are lovely beaches nearby but just spending time together will be fun, it's the first family holiday we've had since I was a kid and Lia is so excited about having her little cousin there to play with as they get on like a house on fire.

School (yet again)

So yesterday was our 'trial' school day. A two hour session in the morning with lots of the other kids who will be starting in September and then a parents session in the late afternoon to meet the Head and Deputy Head, buy uniform, etc.

Lia absolutely loved it. She did jigsaws, counting, painting, plasticine, sticking, jumping, climbing, hopscotch and much much more. She also got friendly with lots of the other children which is good, including several that live nice and close to us and I made friends with their Mums which is also good.

All in all it was a very positive start - I had to drag Lia out of there when it was time to leave, she didn't want to go. The teachers were fantastic and there were a couple of parents there who have kids in the school telling us how well they settled in. All very friendly and welcoming. The Head Teacher is very open and friendly with a great sense of humour which pleases me as I still remember my first Head with real affection and I'd love for Lia to have that. My Mum still sees Mr Davies and he always askes after my brother and I although that could mean we were unforgettable in a bad way as much as a good way LOL.

So we're now all looking forward to September. Lia only has five weeks left at nursery as we're on holiday next week and then we're off to Greece for ten days at the end of August. She's so excited about starting school - long may it last!

Some sewing finishes

I made this little guy on Wednesday - he's very simple to make and I intend to make some bigger ones for door stops. DH has bagsied this one for a paper weight at the office

I've been wanting to make another bag for a while and I picked this pattern because again it doesn't have a zip or anything too complicated. I'm really pleased with it as it was a really quick project - I started it last night and finished it this afternoon, about four hours work in all. Oh and it's not wonky - the flap is held down with velcro and I didn't realise it was attached slightly to one side.

A Name is a Name...

Again I'm guilty of assuming people know what I'm talking about LOL.

A Naming Ceremony is a non-religious baptism so the equivalent of a Civil Wedding or, as it was known in our family a Pagan Christening. My Bro and his wife aren't religious but wanted to do something to celebrate Finn's arrival - plus my brother said it was about time we had a family gathering that wasn't for a funeral...

July Goals

Stitching Goals
1. Work on Happy Haunting - a big push to finish this (I've ordered the Jill Rensel mat for framing)
2. Work on Snapperbets
5. Work on Lizzie*Kate ABC Lessons
6. Work on Wild Ones Alphabet

Quilting Goals
1. Get caught up with the Baby Jane blocks
2. Work on the flannel quilt blocks
3. Make a bag
4. Organise my sewing projects

Current Stitching WIP List
1. Teresa Wentzler - Tempest
2. Bent Creek - Snapperbets

3. Dimensions - Sleigh Ride
4. Bothy Threads - Row of Christmas Fairies
5. Margaret Sherry - Santa's Journey Afghan
6. Stitchy Kitty - Snowman Trio

7. Shepherd's Bush - Happy Haunting
8. Glendon Place - Murky Manor
9. Tournicoton - Coeur de Brodeuse
10. The Cat's Whiskers - Birds of a Feather Dilly Bag

11. Just Nan - Four Wishes
12. Michael Powell - Cottage Garden 2
13. Bent Creek - Snapperville Series
14. Ink Circles - Cirque de Cercles
15. Michael Powell - Handmade Houses 4

16. Stoney Creek - Noah's Sub
17. DMC - Wild Ones Alphabet
18. Teresa Wentzler - Tradewinds
19. Dracolair - Dawn Awakening

20. Midsummer Night Designs - Heaven Above
21. Shepherd's Bush - Be Attitudes Afghan
22. Dragon Dreams - Dragon Virtues Afghan
23. Bothy Threads - Cut Thru Fairy Hill

June Roundup

Stitching Goals
1. Work on Sleigh Ride - nope
2. Work on Tempest - a good start made
3. Complete Alphabet Baubles E - nope
4. Complete Boo Club - yes
5. Work on Snapperbets - a teeny tiny bit
6. Work on Cirque des Cercles - nope

Stitching New Starts:
Teresa Wentzler - Tempest

Stitching Finishes:
Lizzie*Kate Boo Club

Books Read
Stephanie Meyer - New Moon
Stephanie Meyer - Eclipse
Stephanie Meyer - Breaking Dawn
Enid Blyton - The Circus of Adventure
Enid Blyton - The Ship of Adventure
Enid Blyton - The River of Adventure
Enid Blyton - The Mountain of Adventure
Enid Blyton - The Sea of Adventure
Freya North - Secrets

Quilting Goals
1. Complete lots and lots of Baby Jane blocks (I'll have 30 blocks arrived by the middle of the month and only 2 done!) - 8 done
2. Finish up the outstanding flannel quilt top - nope
3. Finish up the outstanding jungle quilt top - nope
4. Sort out all 'current' projects and get a plan in place to get them finished - I made a start

New Stash Arrivals
Heart in Hand Christmas Markings
Picture This Plus - FOTM
Baby Jane BOM

I didn't manage so well with my stitching goals but I did re-organise my rotation in recognition of the fact that I just can't stitch as much and get on with quilting and having a life!

What's in a name?

We had a lovely weekend - we were back in the bosom of my family as it was my nephew's Naming Ceremony yesterday.

Here he is in all his smiley glory - not from yesterday I should say, he didn't get named in a 'Menace' shirt and a silly hat, this is from a couple of weeks ago. DH didn't remember his camera yesterday so we didn't get any pics of him in his finery.

He was an absolute angel, very good all day and the party was a real success. My Bro and SIL organised a clown/magician who was great - there were loads of kids under 10 there and she kept them entertained for a good hour. Lia is now obsessed with doing magic and announced last night that she wants to be a magician when she grows up!

Wednesday this week we've got Lia's new teacher visiting for the first meeting, paperwork, etc, etc so I've taken the whole day off so I can enjoy the men's quarter finals at Wimbledon in the afternoon. We're off next Wednesday too as Lia will be going to school for a couple of hours in the morning and we'll be going again in the afternoon to meet more of the teachers, buy uniform, etc. It's all getting very close now - just nine weeks till she starts! Thankfully she's very excited about it now and telling everyone that will listen that she's going to school in September.

Boo!

I've been pushing on with this one to get it finished this month and here it is, Lizzie*Kate's Boo Club stitched on 32ct Lugana 'Monet' from Picture This Plus using the charted Weeks and GAST:

Monday Monday...

We went to see the 30th Anniversary Show of War of the Worlds on Saturday night and it was spectacular! DH is a huge fan but I'd never heard the whole thing, I just knew the most famous bits, so I'd got the tickets for him really but I loved it! Not only was Jeff Wayne there conducting the whole thing, Justin Hayward and Chris Thompson reprised their original roles. I was totally blown away by Justin Hayward - I've always liked The Moody Blues but boy that man can sing and what a beautiful voice! I've told DH that if the Moody Blues tour the UK again we're going.

The downside of attending the show was the trip home on public transport which took 3 1/2 hours! It was 1.45am when we finally staggered into bed and I was up again with Lia at 7am. Consequently I didn't achieve much yesterday... If we ever go back to the O2 we'll drive for sure.

Today is a new week though and apart from coming down with the cold that Lia had last week I'm not feeling too bad, I caught up with some sleep yesterday. Plus it's Wimbledon and that always cheers me up - my only sorrow is that I'm stuck at work and not able to watch every minute of the TV coverage but I will see as much as I can - Lia's well trained and knows that when the tennis is on, CBeebies doesn't exist.

In other good news I emailed the lovely lady running my Baby Jane BOM yesterday to ask if there's any way to track my parcel and she said no but she would immediately make me up another kit and send it. How fantastic is that! I cannot recommend this BOM highly enough - it's posted on time, the kits are extremely generous (I could make at least two quilts from the fabric I've received so far) and the instructions are really clear. So if you're at all thinking about doing the Baby Jane and you like the rainbow version sign up at Twiddletails for the next session that starts in October.

Of course now she's sending a replacement, my first package is bound to turn up!

Jelly Rolls

For Erin, and possibly some confused English people!

A jelly roll is a collection of strips of fabric cut the width of the fabric (so about 44" long) and 2.5" wide. They come rolled together and tied up in a bundle so they resemble a Jelly Roll, or what we'd call a Swiss Roll in the UK.

I don't normally like jelly rolls, too much fabric not to my taste in them, and obviously they can be quite restrictive given you don't have any fabric more than 2.5" wide but this roll jumped off the shelf and into my arms screaming 'buy me Joy, I was made for you' LOL. There are tons and tons of books out there with jelly roll designs in and you never know, I may end up doing another one at some point, it'll take an equally lovely roll to entice me again though...

Here's a link so you can see some

More quilty things

So I have been doing some other projects as well as the Baby Jane quilt. Here's a Bento Box quilt I did with my first ever jelly roll:

I made this cushion cover from a kit:

This cute halloween lap quilt was also a kit:

And this is my last quilting class project finished as a 'roll' that I can keep my stitching wips in:

I'm still motoring on with the Baby Jane quilt - three more blocks completed and lots of the applique pinned and ready to hand sew. I've now got just seven blocks I haven't started - five of them the dreaded triangles!

I'm impatiently waiting for my next package to arrive too - it was posted last monday and they usually take a week but we're now on ten days and I'm starting to sulk!

C1 - Trooper's Green Badge

Nice and Simple Foundation Piecing

A5 - Cathy's Campfire

Foundation pieced...

A2 - One two buckle my shoe

Foundation pieced all the way!

Baby Jane

I've added a progress widget to the right hand column of the blog so I can keep track of my completed Baby Jane blocks. It's a little sad looking right now with only one entry but I have completed three more blocks I just need to photograph them (yeah I know, my usual 'pics will follow' laziness!)

I've also done the preparation cutting and sewing for a further five blocks, I just need to locate my freezer paper so I can sort out the applique and cutting.

I'm pleased with my progress speed at the moment, if I settle down to it in an evening I can get one block completed and another to the point of applique which means that once I'm caught up I can easily get my ten blocks a month done and still manage my revised stitching rotation. Obviously some take more time - I'm certainly not looking forward to the triangle blocks! - but given how simple others are I guess it all evens out.

I also made the executive decision not to knock myself out to reproduce the blocks as exact copies. Often a block will require you to start by cutting four squares and sewing them together to make the background block just so you have seams in the same place as the original Dear Jane quilt. To be honest, life's too short, so I won't be going that far. I'm also not going to worry about reverse applique to get elements set as the original, all applique will be done as simply as I can using the needle turn method. I did toy with the idea of machine applique but I decided to go with hand sewing just because I prefer the look. I may change my mind at some point though LOL.

My game plan is to go for one foundation pieced block a session because some of them are so teeny tiny that they can drive you insane - each finished block is 4.5 inches square so when you have 27 pieces in a block you're working with some seriously small bits of fabric! At least I've finally got a real reason to love my Clover mini iron...

Wall Hanging

As I said in my last post, we've been going to the same set of farm cottages for our weekend GTG for the last three years and they're fab - absolutely perfect for our needs. Anyway, the woman who runs them commissioned us to make her a wall hanging that reflected the farm and their animals.

We all worked together to produce this:

My part of the process (other than co-ordinating it all) was the finishing along with another member of the group so we put the blocks together, added the border, quilted and finished it.

We worked hard to make sure that we reflected the real animals - the cats are all the right colour, the rabbits and hamsters are the same as the children's pets, etc, etc and also one of our number designed the middle block so that is actually the farmhouse and cottages together with the family themselves.

It was extremely well received and will now hang in the conference room at the cottages so we'll get to admire our work every time we go back!

So, where have I been?

I haven't really dropped off the face of the earth, honest. It's just that life kind of speeded up a bit around me and I had less free time to post.

The biggest reason for this is that work is finally actually giving me work to do. Most of my surfing and posting is done from my desk so less time to do that means less time to write blog posts. Still, it's a good thing as it means my job is a little less unstable. I'm also working out of a different base quite a bit which adds another 60 miles to my daily commute - it's not so bad as I get a mileage allowance for it and the travel time comes out of my working hours but it's still a contributing factor to me feeling much more tired than usual.

I have also been really busy on lots of sewing / quilting projects in a bid to get the pile of things lying around in our living room down to some kind of managable size. I've done lots but I still have three largish quilt tops to put together before I can declare myself free to start new projects. I have lots and lots and lots of bag patterns I want to play around with as well as many other small projects but I'm determined to get the big stuff finished first. Of course there's also my Baby Jane quilt which I need to focus on - I have only completed two blocks and the next ten (making the total 30) are already on their way to me so I need to get moving with them.

I've also come to realise that if I want to get on with Baby Jane and other sewing things I really do need to tweak my rotation schedule as there is no way I can do everything. To this end I have removed two items from every month between now and Christms - a week of stitching on a current 'small' wip and also the alphabet baubles. I'm hoping that this will free up enough time for me to get the 10 Baby Jane blocks done a month (although this month I have to more than double that number to get back on track).

Hopefully this will do the trick as I was starting to find that I didn't pick up my stitching as much just because of the fact that I couldn't give it the focus I wanted to.

Also this month saw Lia turn 4! I'm such a terrible mother that I didn't post on her birthday but I'm sure she'll forgive me. We had a BBQ for 45 family and friends on the weekend before her birthday and thankfully the sun was shining for us. I loved my house before the BBQ but I love it even more now that I managed to have 45 people around (including 14 kids) and it wasn't crowded or problematical in any way.

The second exciting event of this month was my weekend away with 17 other crafting friends. It's our third time away together and, as usual, we had a totally fantastic time. We stay at a set of farm cottages that has a conference room attached that is big enough for us to all fit comfortably in (which was great as this year, for the first time, we had torrential rain for most of the weekend).

I can honestly say that the only other times I have laughed so much are the two previous weekend GTGs. I returned on Monday evening absolutely knackered! Three days of laughing so hard breathing became a real issue really does take it out of one. When I tell people I go away every year with a bunch of cross stitchers, knitters and quilters they all think I'm mad and, if truth be told, that they can imagine nothing more boring. Well that couldn't be further from the truth - very little actual crafting gets done when you can't see the holes on your fabric because you're laughing so hard.

It's the funniest, rudest, most surreal weekend of my year and every time we go we think it can't get any better than the previous one but we manage it. Next years weekend has been booked...

So, it's now just four and a half weeks to our Devon holiday and then after that it's four weeks until our Greece holiday which marks the end of me working full time. In total I have 11.5 more full time working weeks, three of which I'll be on holiday.

I also have three quilting courses in Sep, Oct and Nov, a stitching GTG in Sep and Ally Pally in Oct to look forward to so the rest of this year is likely to fly by. I'm going to have to be careful about my spending too!

So, the long promise picures of WIPs and stuff will materialise soon, I promise. I shall be back into full blogging mode from now on. Honest.

June Goals

Stitching Goals
1. Work on Sleigh Ride
2. Work on Tempest (complete?)
3. Complete Alphabet Baubles E
4. Complete Boo Club
5. Work on Snapperbets
6. Work on Cirque des Cercles

Quilting Goals
1. Complete lots and lots of Baby Jane blocks (I'll have 30 blocks arrived by the middle of the month and only 2 done!)
2. Finish up the outstanding flannel quilt top
3. Finish up the outstanding jungle quilt top
4. Sort out all 'current' projects and get a plan in place to get them finished

Current Stitching WIP List
1. Lizzie*Kate - Boo! Flip Its
2. Bent Creek - Snapperbets

3. Dimensions - Sleigh Ride
4. Bothy Threads - Row of Christmas Fairies
5. Margaret Sherry - Santa's Journey Afghan
6. Stitchy Kitty - Snowman Trio

7. Shepherd's Bush - Happy Haunting
8. Glendon Place - Murky Manor
9. Tournicoton - Coeur de Brodeuse
10. The Cat's Whiskers - Birds of a Feather Dilly Bag

11. Just Nan - Four Wishes
12. Michael Powell - Cottage Garden 2
13. Bent Creek - Snapperville Series
14. Ink Circles - Cirque de Cercles
15. Michael Powell - Handmade Houses 4

16. Stoney Creek - Noah's Sub
17. DMC - Wild Ones Alphabet
18. Teresa Wentzler - Tradewinds
19. Dracolair - Dawn Awakening

20. Midsummer Night Designs - Heaven Above
21. Shepherd's Bush - Be Attitudes Afghan
22. Dragon Dreams - Dragon Virtues Afghan
23. Bothy Threads - Cut Thru Fairy Hill

May Roundup

Stitching Goals
1. Work on Scream House - finished!
2. Complete Alphabet Baubles E - worked on
3. Complete Lizzie*Kate Brew / Monster - yep
4. Complete two Snapperbet Letters - nope, I didn't pick this one up this month at all!
5. Work on Wild Ones Alphabet - nope
6. Finish Finish as many of the following as possible - Grandma's Thread Minder, Sue Hawkins Pin Cushion, Scream House, Boo! Needlekeep, Hop Scissor Fob, Jingle Biscornu - started the finishing on Scream House and that's it.

Stitching New Starts:
E is for Elephant

Stitching Finishes:
Scream House

Books Read
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Summer Sisters - Judy Blume (fantastic book, who knew she writes adult novels too?)
The Island of Adventure - Enid Blyton
The Castle of Adventure - Enid Blyton
The Valley of Adventure - Enid Blyton
Twilight - Stephanie Meyer

Sewing Goals
1. Complete some Dear Jane blocks - 2 done
2. Work on Lia's quilt - hopefully complete the quilt top - yep
3. Finish my Sewing pouch - yep
4. Finish Lia's curtains - yep
4. Start some cushion covers - made one

Other Sewing
Halloween Quilt
Bento Box Quilt top
Table Topper
Finish up my last class piece into a stitching storage roll thingy

New Stash Arrivals
SamSarah - Alphabet Baubles G
Picture This Plus - FOTM
One or two bits of fabric...
Baby Jane month 2

Musicals

I love Musicals. I fell in love with them aged 10 when my parents took us to see Michael Crawford in Barnum and have been hooked ever since on both stage and screen. I should probably thank my Mum as she loves them too and ever since I can remember I was encouraged to watch old films and musicals.

My earliest crushes were Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, Spencer Tracey and more, I dreamed of dancing with Donald O'Connor and Gene Kelly in Singin in the Rain more than I ever dreamed of dancing with Kevin Bacon in Footloose or Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing (which were both released when I was a teenager).

I have friends who have never seen a black and white film (and refuse to do so). Imagine living your life never having seen Some Like it Hot or The Philadelphia Story, Casablanca or Yankee Doodle Dandy. Or Harvey, one of the best films ever made. What a waste! And yes, if you're reading this and you haven't seen any of the above GO AND WATCH THEM NOW.

The point of this rhapsodising? Lia's essential musical education is underway. She loves singing and dancing and is captivated the minute she sees any on TV so I have today (which is payday!) scoured Amazon and Play for cheap DVDs and have bought:

High Society
My Fair Lady
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Calamity Jane
Annie
Bugsy Malone
South Pacific
Oklahoma
The King and I
Oliver
The Sound of Music

All of which are so completely unfashionable they retail around £2-£3 pounds.

I've also downloaded some soundtracks that I'm going to put on a CD for in the car - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Oliver, Sound of Music, Joseph. We've never listened to kids songs in the car (one of the reasons she's already word perfect on 'Take Me Back to the Black Hills' by Doris Day and a huge Abba fan LOL) but now she's up to singing along I intend to give her plenty of opportunity to do so!

Baby Jane block 1

So here's my first Baby Jane block put together last night. I'm currently contemplating re-sewing the top right corner so it's more accurate but I'm having an internal argument re being too fussy!



Apologies it's a bit dark, I took the pic about 10.30 last night. I've got half of Block 2 done as well - I'm hoping now I've got my head around foundation piecing (I was a bit rusty given it was a year ago I did the course on it) that I'll get a bit faster.

The BOM kits are fabulous and very generous - I've got lots of the colour fabrics left over - probably enough to make two or three more blocks with each one.

Be prepared for more pics this weekend as I hope to take advantage of the sunshine and get pictures of all my quilting and stitching WIPs.

My name is Joy and I am an addict...

No, not stitching stash or quilting, that's a given. I am officially addicted to books. In a bid to make myself go cold turkey I just counted all the books I have that I haven't yet read and I have 136. including two more I bought this morning whilst grocery shopping.

In my defence sunny weather always makes me buy books because I love lying outside in the sunshine with a book. Still, 136 is a little excessive.

So, I am now resolved that I will allow myself to buy one book every time I finish five from my stash. In reality this probably means 15 books read before I go to a bookshop as I generally make use of the three for two offers.

I am allowed to buy Lia as many books as I see fit though.

Life has been quite busy here over the last couple of weeks - work has picked up and I've been stitching and quilting like a mad thing to get some long term outstanding projects done and out of the way so I can start some new things.

I finally persuaded DH to clear off the full memory card from his camera a couple of days ago so I shall be taking some pictures this weekend.

A Lovely Weekend

Well the weather has been really kind to us recently, glorious sunny days and, according to the forecasters, we're going to have a sunny summer (although given their track record that probably means howling gales and snow!)

We had new external doors fitted on Friday and we replaced the horrible old sliding patio door with french doors and they look fab. Yesterday I was able to open them and let the sun shine into the kitchen where I was quilting for a lot of the day. It's amazing what a huge difference something so relatively small can make - it was hard for me not to just sit there and gaze out into the garden. DH cut the lawn and then was running around taking pictures of Lia and the guinea pigs who were all making the most of the garden too.

Saturday morning was spent out and about doing various jobs - buying the mattress and sheets for Lia's new bed, trips to DIY stores, etc and then DH got on with some of the work needed to complete her room (I can't believe I'm still saying it needs to be completed, the little things are just taking an age to finish!). We finally got her wardrobe and bookshelves back in the room which is a good start and her bed is being delivered today so we can put that together this weekend and I can finish putting all the stuff back into her room then.

This means that this weekend will be the huge house tidy up that has been required for several weeks now. Ever since we started doing Lia's room the house has slowly gotten worse and worse as we've had to just put stuff wherever there was a space and consequently it's just a total mess! Now Lia's stuff can all go back into her room I can start clearing up properly and we also have a spare chest of drawers now that I can use as storage so I can organise things a bit better. Add to that I want to have a bit of a sort out of stash asap and I can see I'll be very busy indeed next weekend.

I'm also going all out to get some quilting projects finished. I decided that I should try and finish as many things as possible that are outstanding before focussing on my Baby Jane. This means that I am currently trying to get the following done this month:

1. A Jelly Roll Bento Box quilt top
2. Layering and quilting a halloween quilt
3. Finishing Lia's birthday quilt top
4. Finishing a table centre piece
5. Finishing off the last jungle quilt top
6. Finishing off Lia's flannel quilt top

Yesterday I finished off a cushion cover kit I bought at the beginning of the month and spent most of the rest of the day stitching up the blocks for the Bento Box quilt. Oh and cutting out the hearts for Lia's birthday quilt.

And of course I also have to get plenty of stitching in too. I'm doing well with Scream House - three sides, the bottom and one roof panel of the outside are done leaving me with just one side and three roof panels to do by the end of this week. I should easily achieve that and hopefully the backstitching around all the panels too. It's the Eurovision Song Contest this Saturday and DH and I always watch it as well as the semi finals which are, I think, tomorrow and Wednesday. We love the cheesiness of it all but I have to say I'm a bit worried that it just won't be the same now Terry Wogan isn't doing the commentary. This jury's out on how good Graham Norton is going to be...

Anyway, all that cheesy singing means lots of stitching time in front of the TV!

If I get as much crafting in as I plan to over the next couple of weeks I'm hoping to start my Baby Jane blocks on the next UK Bank Holiday Weekend (23rd May for international readers) - we have no big plans so it'll just be lazing around the house I think, so plenty of time to focus on the teeny tiny blocks!

I also have a wall hanging quilt project to put together at the end of the month so that should be added to the list too. As I said, I'm having a quilting frenzy right now!

No pics of anything though as DH filled up the memory card on the camera filming Lia on her slide yesterday. I'll try and get some soon though - I haven't posted my rotation progress pics for April yet either...

What a Week!

Or strictly speaking, what a week and a half...

I woke up last Sunday with a lump in my throat, sore ears and a bit of a headache and that turned out to be the best I felt for almost a week! I was so ill by Monday morning that I had to ask DH to stay home to look after Lia (she is in nursery near my work so if I don't go to work DH can't get her to nursery as it's 19 miles away). I managed to get to the doctors to discover it was a throat and ear infection and so got some antibiotics and then spent the next 24 hours in bed.

DH was able to go to work on Tuesday but I spent most of the next three days lying pathetically on the sofa with Lia looking after me. By Friday I was finally feeling better but I'm still not 100% - I am back at work though as I'm just a bit snuffly.

Thankfully I was well enough to drive to a GTG with a couple of quilting friends on Saturday. The group of us who go away together for a long weekend every year have been commissioned to make a wall hanging for the place we stay at. Several people have stitched designs for it and four of us are doing the quilting part. We're a month away from the trip and I'm in charge of putting everything together so we can present it when we arrive.

So anyway this GTG was to discuss what needed to be done and decide on some fabrics. That part took approx 10 mins and we spent the rest of the day gossiping and shopping - there were two quilting shops close by so we visited both and I splashed out a little at the second one. I've definitely got my quilting mojo back now - it was flagging a bit - so this month the sewing machine will be working flat out to get lots of things done.

I got home about 8pm on Sat evening and called DH to see if he wanted me to bring some fast food as I was passing a couple of drive through places. He was eating his when he suddenly let out a yelp, when white and I thought he was going to pass out - his tooth had broken in half! We'll, try finding some kind of emergency dental service at 9pm on a Saturday night. We phoned loads of places with no luck and eventually called a friend who had previously recommended his dentist.

He got his dentist to give us a call (we had met him previously at a party) and DH arranged for us to go and see him at 10am on Sunday morning. Only issue was that his surgery is an hour and a halfs drive away so we were up at 7am to make sure we weren't late and I was still quite knackered from the long drive the day before.

DH had his tooth looked at - it turns out it was likely caused by bad treatment a couple of years ago (a filling that never set correctly) and he'll be lucky if the tooth can be saved. Ian (dentist) did what he could for the first visit and DH will have to go back two or three more times for it to be finished off. I thought, given we were there, I'd ask Ian to have a look at my tooth which I though had been chipped and it turns out that it was infected so I had to have serious drilling and filling too. I'm not sure how I can go to the dentist without toothache and come out with it! Anyway, this exciting story of our teeth can be concluded with the information that we're both back there next Friday for more work (which means more money!)

Also, in the middle of all of this drama we had our garage broken into and some powertools stolen. I went downstairs on Sunday morning to give Lia her breakfast to eat while we were getting dressed and saw that the garage door was open. They'd forced the lock and nicked what was close at hand (the garage is a right state, if DH hadn't been working on stuff the day before they probably wouldn't have found anything). So I called the police and now have to call the home insurance to make a claim.

Finally, the third thing to go wrong was that I was paid incorrectly, I get £216 a month in childcare vouchers taken out of my wages before it comes to me and it's paid into an electronic account that I then use to pay Lia's nursery. This has worked correctly for four years but for some reason this month they took the money from my account but didn't pay it into the electronic account so I'm down £216 which is quite a significant sum.

On the upside we spent part of yesterday at a local craft fair and bought some nice garden furniture. Pictures to follow as it's not going to be delivered for another three or four weeks.

I also got a decent amount of stitching done last night for what seems the first time in weeks. I'm back working on Scream House and am determined to get the stitching finished this month. However, given all the other things I have to stitch on and all the quilting I want to get done I think I'm going to have to work on a way to invent more time!

Anyway, it's a short week at work, I'm feeling much better and my stitching and quilting mojos are kicking into overdrive so who know what I shall accomplish this month!

May Goals

Okay, I'm modifying the rules ever so slightly this month in light of my not getting much done last month. Because I retired the WIP I was going to stitch on this month I've decided not to replace it with anything but to use the WIP's week as a finishing week. I hope to get two or three pieces finish finished by doing this and also to catch back up a bit with my Snapperbets pace.

Next month will be back to normal though

Stitching Goals
1. Work on Scream House - (finish?)
2. Complete Alphabet Baubles E
3. Complete Lizzie*Kate Brew / Monster
4. Complete two Snapperbet Letters
5. Work on Wild Ones Alphabet
6. Finish Finish as many of the following as possible - Grandma's Thread Minder, Sue Hawkins Pin Cushion, Scream House, Boo! Needlekeep, Hop Scissor Fob, Jingle Biscornu

Sewing Goals
1. Complete some Dear Jane blocks
2. Work on Lia's quilt - hopefully complete the quilt top
3. Finish my Sewing pouch
4. Finish Lia's curtains
4. Start some cushion covers

Current Stitching WIP List
1. Lizzie*Kate - Boo! Flip Its
2. Bent Creek - Snapperbets

3. Dimensions - Sleigh Ride
4. Bothy Threads - Row of Christmas Fairies
5. Margaret Sherry - Santa's Journey Afghan
6. Stitchy Kitty - Snowman Trio

7. Shepherd's Bush - Happy Haunting
8. Glendon Place - Murky Manor
9. Just Nan - Scream House
10. Tournicoton - Coeur de Brodeuse
11. The Cat's Whiskers - Birds of a Feather Dilly Bag

12. Just Nan - Four Wishes
13. Michael Powell - Cottage Garden 2
14. Bent Creek - Snapperville Series
15. Ink Circles - Cirque de Cercles
16. Michael Powell - Handmade Houses 4

17. Stoney Creek - Noah's Sub
18. DMC - Wild Ones Alphabet
19. Teresa Wentzler - Tradewinds
20. Dracolair - Dawn Awakening

21. Midsummer Night Designs - Heaven's Above
22. Shepherd's Bush - Be Attitudes Afghan
23. Dragon Dreams - Dragon Virtues Afghan
24. Bothy Threads - Cut Thru Fairy Hill

April Roundup

Due to me being laid low with a throat and ear infection for the last five days plus losing a lot of stitching time due to two long weekends away I've not done very well at all in my rotation this month. I failed to touch three of my pieces at all!

Stitching Goals
1. Work on Sleigh Ride - nope
2. Work on Heaven's Above - nope
3. Complete Monthly Baubles - March - nope
4. Work on Boo Club - caught up from last month and completed the next two
5. Complete two Snapperbet Letters - yes, only two this month though as the frogs visited
6. Work on Cirque des Cercles - yes but not as much as I'd have liked

Stitching New Starts:
None!!!!

Stitching Finishes:
None!!!!

Books Read
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Sewing Goals
1. Work on Lia's Quilt - yes, all blocks cut and working on the hearts
2. Start my Baby Jane quilt blocks - nope
3. Make some bags for gifts - yep six bags made, five gifted
4. Finish Lia's curtains - nope

New Stash Arrivals
SamSarah - Alphabet Baubles E and F
Picture This Plus - FOTM
Baby Jane 1st BOM
Lizzie*Kate - Second half of Boo Club
Just Nan Grow Tin
Sampler Cove - Rhapsody in Red Ribbon Sampler
Bygone Stitches - Quaker Virtues
Gay Ann Rogers - A Case for Colour
Shepherd's Bush - Spooky Spots

So lots and lots of stash arrivals but A Case for Colour was my Mother's Day gift and most of the rest were Autoship commitments (this is the most expensive month for those as Boo Club is now done). Rhapsody in Red, Spooky Spots and Quaker Virtues were birthday gifts so they don't count. Honest

Working Hours

So after discussion with DH and a check of our budget I put in a formal request to my Boss yesterday to drop my hours down to 22.5 hours a week which is three full days but spread them over five days so I will be working 9.30am - 2.30pm Monday to Friday.

This means I can do the school run at both ends of the day with no worrying about fitting in any working from home hours.

I'm really excited - I can't imagine not working but this is what I really want to be able to do, be a Mum first and fit my work around that. I'm lucky that I work in the NHS and flexible working is pretty much normal (and having a female boss who has worked around her children helps too).

DH is also happy because even though we talked about him moving jobs to be closer to home he really wants to stay where he is for now as he's enjoying it and they are starting to give him more responsibilities so he can see there is a chance for him to move up within the company at some point.

I'll be starting on 7th September which will be Lia's first day at school. I'm happy as well because it means I don't have to find a childminder and get Lia used to being around them at the same time as getting her used to being at school.

I'm looking forward to having more time with Lia too and it'll be bliss not to have to think of 'fast' dinner options because we get in at 5.20pm and we need to be eating in under 30 minutes. Our menu options can expand to include more than pasta LOL.

Roll on September!

Pretty Fabrics

So here are my first 10 Baby Jane fabrics (you can click the pics for larger ones)

The colours are so me that I could have picked them myself! Each block is made with one of the coloured fabrics and a white fabric so whilst we all have the same fabrics (I checked with a friend who is also doing the BOM) the quilts will be all different because we can choose which fabric we use for which block - ie there are three orange blocks in this first batch and it's up to me which orange fabric I use for which block.

I'm now just waiting for the CD to arrive which I need before I can start. I ordered it last week so I'm hoping it will be here for the weekend.

In the meantime (in between painting and clearing up the house) I can get on with Lia's quilt. Here's a shot of the fabrics and in the foreground are the first two blocks. I need to applique the hearts on still. Basically every block will have one or more hearts appliqued on and the idea is to use the speciality stitches on the sewing machine as well as ribbon, ric rac, etc to decorate each heart. There's an awful lot of hearts so it won't be quick but I'm hoping to have the top done by her birthday on 1st June.

The blocks are all different sizes - ranging from 15" square to 5" square so it will be a very 'busy' quilt when it's done.

I should also confess that I've booked on some more quilting courses but they are at the end of the year. I booked two whilst I was at the class on Saturday and I'm about to book a third as they called and left a message that another class I really wanted to do has now been scheduled for a Saturday.

So I'll have a course a month September, October and November which is great. One is not strictly quilting, it's using fabric and embellishments and playing around ending up with a needlebook or a sewing pouch, the second is a scrap exchange quilt so everyone on the class swaps two fat quarters and uses those and other scraps to build a quilt top and the last one is called 'Seminole' which is a Native American inspired design.

The scrap exchange class is based on a quilt that was the cover design for Popular Patchwork Magazine February of this year - designed by the class tutor Mandy Monroe. I believe the Seminole quilt will be included in the magazine later this year too.

Stash, stash, wonderful stash!

My Baby Jane BOM arrived today and the fabrics are GORGEOUS! I've opened it here at work so have no way of taking a picture of the fabrics but I will as the colours are amazing. It's definitely going to be a bright one!

I also ordered a mini rotary cuttery which arrived today too so now I can get on with finishing up Lia's quilt top as my large cutter wasn't really working with the template I'm using. I will also take a picture of the fabrics I'm using for that quilt as they're nice and bright and summery too.

Our house is still in a state of chaos as the painting of Lia's room is still not finished. DH has been working hard though and the gloss painting is done so tonight we'll work together to get the first coat of paint on the walls and then hopefully the second coat will go on tomorrow so we're just left with the skirting to paint and then fix on the wall.

We've got plenty of time though, the next carpet isn't being fitted until next Friday.

In other news the house sale is still dragging on, the contract exchange didn't happen Friday, was rescheduled for yesterday and didn't happen then either. Both parties are now at the end of their patience - the buyers are set to be moving in on Friday and the issue is down to their solicitor but they can't get in to see him until tomorrow so we can only hope that they give him a swift kick and get it sorted.

It's true what they say about buying and selling a house as being one of the most stressful things ever, this sale will probably see us all off!

Belated Happy Easter

So was it a good one for you all?

We had a great time. Well, when I say we, what I mean is Lia and I as we spent it with friends. DH on the other hand spent most of it working on the redecorating of Lia's bedroom which turned into a much bigger job than expected due to large chunks of plaster falling off the wall when the skirting boards were removed!

The idea was that DH and a friend got started on the Thursday morning and by the time we all arrived home at Sunday lunchtime it would be done. We arrived home to find that no painting had started and the skirting still hadn't been cut! So poor DH is now working whenever he can to try and get it finished and Lia is sleeping in the spare room with her furniture scattered all round the house. We're all away this weekend so nothing much will get done and we need it to be finished by the end of next week as friends are coming to stay.

The other thing that happened this weekend is that my garden got cleared completely. To say I'm over the moon is an understatement - I can't believe how fantastic it is which is great because it looks a million times better even though there's so much more still to be done. The best thing is that DH and I can do the rest, it's manageable now.

The third piece of good news is that my Mum's house sale is going to complete on Friday. It's been a long and awful process where the buyers have been a total nightmare (put it this way the stress of the whole thing must have been a contributing factor to the heart attack that killed my stepdad). My Bro and I own 1/3 of the house since my stepfathers death so we have been able to deal with the sale for my Mum (when I say we, that's a lie, my Bro has done it all, I've just backed him up). Neither of us are happy that we're actually selling to these people after what they put my parents through (which is a whole other post) but if we don't my Mum will have some kind of breakdown I'm sure.

So the good news part is the bit where 1/6th of the sale price (less a bridging loan repayment) is mine. This means we can pay off our credit card and overdraft and do some more work around the house which in turn means we can afford me to cut my working hours a bit more than planned in September when Lia starts school. Obviously my work still have to agree the changes but it's good to know we can afford for me to be home more - I'm hoping that I can cut down to the equivalent of three days a week spread over five days so work 9.30am - 2.30pm.

As for the work on the house we had the nice double glazing man around last night to confirm we're going to have a new front door, back door and french doors, the gardener is coming back to rebuild our patio, we're replacing our awful old, tatty oven and fridge and we're going to get the bathroom done. Just a few little bits and pieces...

The good news is that most of it can be done asap - the provisional date for the new doors is 5th May, the gardener is looking for cash to set up his own business so he's happy to come as soon as possible and DH is going to do the work we need done in the kitchen to fit a new fridge (it'll be one of the US Style double ones so we need to remove some of the kitchen units). That only leaves the bathroom but I have three different people I can get to quote for it and hopefully that can be scheduled in quickly too.

It'll be fantastic to have it all done so we can really relax and enjoy the house and garden for the summer without breaking our backs trying to do things ourselves or working out how to get the money we need to pay other people.

The only sad part for me is that I'd much rather still have my Stepdad around but I know he'd approve of the changes, especially the garden as he did enjoy gardening (and sitting in gardens watching others work LOL). I told my Mum we'd get a memorial bench with a plaque...

I'm off to IKEA alone tomorrow as DH is going to stay home to do more painting - I'm dropping Lia off at nursery on the way - so I shall be able to buy whatever I fancy :) . We're then off to spend the weekend with my family as I have a quilting course on Saturday and it's my birthday on Sunday. The whole family is going out for lunch on Sunday to celebrate the house sale so that'll be a lovely way to spend my birthday, it's rare that we all get together now as there's a lot of us now us kids are all married and have kids of our own.

On the crafting front there just hasn't been a lot of time for much so far this month but I've managed some stitching and have done most of the cutting for Lia's birthday quilt. All projects will get visited this month but I don't think there'll be a huge amount of progress on some of them.

As for stash, I got a lovely parcel in the post yesterday with two SamSarah Baubles charts, fabric and buttons, Bygone Stitches Quaker Virtues, Sampler Cove Rhapsody in Red Ribbon Sampler and a birthday gift for a friend. My Boo Club charts are on the way as is the first installment of my Baby Jane BOM.

I also went a little bit mad and bought Genny Morrow's Nova which I have coveted for a long time now but always thought a little expensive and bought a few flosses to kit up a Laura J Perin canvas work (which I won't be starting this year because of my rotation but I think stash spending will seriously be curtailed if my job hours decrease).

Added to that my Mother's Day gift finally arrived - A Case for Colour by Gay Ann Rogers - so I now have to think about kitting that up with a colour scheme of my choice. I have to say all the colours on the site are a little tame for me - I'd like to go with yellow/orange/red (no surprise there!) so I think I'll have to wait till I'm in an LNS in a couple of months.

So all in all April is turning out to be a great month for us (touch wood). If I could only stop Lia crying every morning she's dropped off at the nursery I'd be totally happy. She's fine once she's there but every morning she seems to have the separation anxiety she never experienced as a baby. I seems to be constantly bribing and threatening to get her there and it's not a great way to start ones day...

My little grown up!

So here she is, getting all grown up. She'll be four in less than two months now - how time flies!

As well as school in September (which I am ridiculously excited about - I loved school and I hope she does too) she'll be starting ballet classes at the end of this month and Greek school will start properly in September too.

At the moment I'm thinking about whether or not to put her name down for Brownies. I never did Brownies or Guides so I have no experience of it other than I really wanted to be one and I'm worried that I'm only wanting Lia to do it because I never got the chance.

What I don't want to do is become a pushy parent and overload her with activities plus it's not exactly cheap to do all these things. The only thing I do know is that she loves to dance so starting her on that now will be something she loves. The school has a ballet class for under fives but after that there is tap, ballroom, street, modern/disco and jazz so there'll be plenty for her to choose from if she wants to keep on with it.

We went to see friends this weekend who have a daughter of Lia's age and the two girls were playing in a playhouse in the garden with a tea set. We stayed late so it was past Lia's bedtime when we got home but she wouldn't settle. DH went up to see her and she told him she wanted me so I went up and she was trying not to cry so I asked her what was wrong and this was the conversation:

Lia: I broke a cup
Me: What cup sweetie?
Lia: The cup from the tea set
Me: At Sofia's house?
Lia: Yes
Me: Did you tell anyone
Lia: Yes, Sofia
Me: Okay
Lia: But I hid it behind the playhouse
Me: Well that's okay, you're not in trouble

Within about a minute she'd gone to sleep. I only hope that she never has anything bigger she needs to confess or that if she does I can make her feel better so easily!

March Rotation Photos

Scream House

Coeur de Brodeuse

Before:

After:

C is for Cupcake

Lizzie*Kate Boo Club

Before:

After:

Snapperbets

Before:

After:

Grandma's Thread Minder

Before:

After:

Gardening

So we've spent the last two weekends trying to clear the garden a bit more. As an update, here's the back garden as it was when we moved in:

And here's some of the stages it's gone through since then:

So here's what it looks like now. We've spent lots of time trying to get the fence out and all the ivy that was growing next to the patio and clearing it all the way down to the back fence.

We've cleared a lot of the awful bit at the end but we're still left with this:

The pond:

One of the awful stumps

The general awfulness!

And those are the reasons why we're going to have to get professional help! There's just no way that DH and I can clear that lot in any kind of reasonable time. For a start we're busy ever single weekend in April and at least two in May but more importantly we don't know where to start. We spent a lot of time out there last weekend and it's hard to see what we achieved which is soul destroying when we're faced with so much more still to do. I know it's just a matter of plugging away but if we don't get someone in we will lose another summer of being able to enjoy being outside.

All I want is everything that is there now stripped out, a basic fence down the side (just to keep Lia in and to define the boundary) and a rectangle of lawn that Lia can play on. All the planting, veggies, wildlife garden, new patio etc can wait till next year. Lia's desperate to be outside and I hate that I have to watch her every minute and constantly tell her to be careful or no she can't have toys out because it's not safe for her to play.

Anyway, we've almost certainly got somebody to do the work - I have no idea how some tradesmen get on with things as they're so unreliable - my nieces boyfriend who has done this kind of work in the past. It means dipping into our savings (again) but it'll be worth it to see this mess gone and not be depressed every time I look outside. I was even looking at the pics at the beginning of this post and thinking that it looked better in the first one than it does now.

Nevermind that we couldn't actually get into the last 1/4 of it due to the brambles or the ants nests in the lawn etc, at least it was green and flourishing!

Primary School League Tables

Okay, I get that I'm not supposed to undertstand these and that they're basically there so the Government can employ people to spew out meaningless data that attempts to make people think they're acually doing something but, and this is a big but, what the hell does the following explanation of the numbers actually mean?

Quoted from the BBC website:

Guide to the primary school tables

The tables show the published results achieved by schools in the Key Stage 2 national curriculum tests in England in May 2008.

Those are the tests pupils are required to sit in the final year of primary school, at the age of 10 or 11.

The tables use the results published by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

They include "contextual value added" scores - produced by the department to show how much a school has improved its pupils' achievements since they took their first set of assessments in 2005.

The figures relate to all local authority-maintained primary and middle schools with pupils eligible for assessment at the time of the tests in English, maths and science in May.

They do not include special schools, pupil referral units, hospital schools or independent schools.

What is in the rankings

The schools are listed within each local authority (LA) in three ways: Alphabetically, ranked on the "contextual value added" score, and ranked on the combined or "aggregate" score achieved in the three tests - the maximum possible being 300.

In the rankings, where more than one school has the same score, they are further ranked on the average points scored by pupils (see below for more on how this is calculated).

In the alphabetical LA lists, after the school's name, the first column of figures shows its value added score, then the aggregate score, then the average number of points achieved by pupils.

The results relate to the percentage of the pupils eligible to take the tests who achieved Level 4 or above - the standard expected for their age.

In the contextual value added ranking (CVA), the bold column shows schools' scores.

A CVA score is worked out for each pupil by comparing their Key Stage 2 performance with the middle performance of other pupils with similar prior attainment at Key Stage 1.

The arithmetic mean of these individual scores gives a score for the whole school. This is converted to a number based around 100.

Note: the resulting rankings need treating with care. Official statisticians say the significance that can be attached to different scores depends on various factors, including the numbers of children involved.

For various reasons complete "before and after" scores are not available for all pupils. Where the data are missing for 50% or more of those eligible to take the tests, the value added score is not published.

In the Aggregate (AGG) ranking, the bold column shows the aggregate score on which it is based.

This is a number out of 300 but is not simply the sum of the percentages of pupils achieving the expected level in each subject.

It is derived from the number of pupils achieving at least the expected level, divided by the number eligible to take the test, for each subject, added together and multiplied by 100.

The letters SS signify a small school - with fewer than 11 pupils eligible to take the tests. They are included in the alphabetical lists for completeness but no results are published for them.

-------------------------------------------------------

Anyone care to try and explain that lot?

April Goals

Stitching Goals
1. Work on Sleigh Ride
2. Work on Heaven's Above
3. Complete Monthly Baubles - March
4. Work on Boo Club - catch up from last month and hopefully complete Pumpkin / Fright (if they arrive in time!)
5. Complete two Snapperbet Letters
6. Work on Cirque des Cercles

Sewing Goals
1. Work on Lia's Quilt
2. Start my Baby Jane quilt blocks which should arrive mid month
3. Make some bags for gifts
4. Finish Lia's curtains

Current Stitching WIP List
1. Lizzie*Kate - Boo! Flip Its
2. Bent Creek - Snapperbets

3. Dimensions - Sleigh Ride
4. Bothy Threads - Row of Christmas Fairies
5. Margaret Sherry - Santa's Journey Afghan
6. Stitchy Kitty - Snowman Trio

7. Shepherd's Bush - Happy Haunting
8. Glendon Place - Murky Manor
9. Just Nan - Scream House
10. Tournicoton - Coeur de Brodeuse
11. The Cat's Whiskers - Birds of a Feather Dilly Bag

12. Just Nan - Four Wishes
13. Michael Powell - Cottage Garden 2
14. Bent Creek - Snapperville Series
15. Ink Circles - Cirque de Cercles
16. Michael Powell - Handmade Houses 4

17. Stoney Creek - Noah's Sub
18. DMC - Wild Ones Alphabet
19. Teresa Wentzler - Tradewinds
20. Dracolair - Dawn Awakening

21. Midsummer Night Designs - Heaven's Above
22. Shepherd's Bush - Be Attitudes Afghan
23. Dragon Dreams - Dragon Virtues Afghan
24. Bothy Threads - Cut Thru Fairy Hill