October 2025

 Well goodbye to October: the year really is picking up speed isn't it! 

I finished this topper for the lady chapel altar: we get the occasional bird or squirrel in the church so like to cover the altar cloth: we are currently using an old duvet cover so I made this

I

 also made a new altar cloth.  I don't have anywhere to lay out 2.5m so I moved into the village hall: we have a desk top ironing board so I could move the iron along rather than moving the cloth!

The embroidery is faint but there

I embroidered a few customer labels

And made a few taggies for some babies that have arrived recently (so many girls!) 

 

I did some hand sewing and made this bunny

Jackie visited and brought this fab nappy clutch for the baby

Nik has been working on two projects:  Obviously the 40 week body building project (less than 2 weeks to go!) and also a pathwork for her husband using the Southampton FC club shirts his dad bought him over the years: Not bad for her first patchwork quilt!!!

I started piecing a general i-Spy quilt then remembered I'd made a flimsy for the baby a while go but hadn't finished it (so that's what I'm now working on, no photos yet)

Niki and George's kitchen looked like this a few weeks ago . . .

And has now morphed into a real kitchen!  Well done Brian and George!

And because this post has been a lot about Niki and the baby, to finish here is the current position on Lisa's needle turn applique QAYG blocks - aren't they awesome

August 2025

 I finally seem to have a month where I can show some making

Jackie came over and we went to Festival of Quilts with Lisa and did some sewing

I finished a crocheted scarf for my mum

Lovely Janet at church made some baby sets for the under-construction baby

I did some hand quilting on the mandala quilt, but it looks as if you'll have to take my word for it!  It's been put away until the cooler weather though!

I went on a course doing foil embossing - great fun!

I did a couple of shifts at Windsor Baptist Church: we made Trolls and Rainbow Fish

I did a final few patches for Tara

I made these for the new baby: toys but also for photographs to identify their age in days, weeks, months or years.  There will be another cube with those 4 words on (eventually)

I mad a few Gingers for various international August "Days": Lizard Day

And Bow Day

Dog Lover Day

And Zoo Appreciation Day!

Last year I planted dozens of sunflower seeds, replanted the healthiest looking plants, nurtured them, prepared beds for them and planted them in the garden, watered them regularly . . . Apparently for the benefit of the slugs. The few that weren't decimated only grew to 6" and never flowered. This year I have one sunflower plant - it had seeded itself, has been ignored by me (and the slugs?), I never watered it . . . The blinking thing is happy, healthy and taller than me! 

We went to a family wedding and had a great time

(Niki is starting to look pregnant!)

I got ahead of myself with A September Ginger: Talk like a Pirate day on 19th September!

I have stitched an altar topper for the Lady Chapel at Church.  It needs to be ironed, assembled, quilted and bound, but at the end of July it was just fabric off the roll, so not too bad!

AND have completed an I-Spy quilt for a friends new granddaughter

And exciting news for our monthly Stitch and Crafty Church groups:  We don't pay rent for the hall so when another group wanted to pay rent to use the hall every Saturday and Sunday I couldn't object.  The rea hall was a school room (preschool) until last summer then was an unsuccessful boxing club but it finally empty and clean, so the sewing groups and the Repair Café are moving into the smaller hall.  We should be able to leave stuff out, and advertise the space for other craft groups as a studio space - how exciting!!!

And right at the end of the month I attended a Silversmith class with LaJade and made a solver pendant

2025 March

 What can I tell you about March?

I retired from working from the church (thanks you Niki and Plum for my lovely cards), although I still seem to be doing some of the same stuff but as a volunteer😂

We had a lovely 10 days in Lanzarote with blue skies and sunshine

And this pile of mini hexie flowers . . .

Finally started to fit together

(Not sure what it will be mind you!)

Niki's flat sale and house purchase seems to have stalled sadly, but the New Home (Hive) quilt top has been assembled and is ready for quilting then binding

I started looking at all (some) of the unfinished projects laying around various rooms in the house, and listing them: I don't even have enough magnets to put them all on the board, but at least now I can't say I don't know what to next!

So with a to-do list like, that the obvious answer is to start a new project!  This was near the top of the board so I don't feel too naughty!

The lovely Sharon brought all the shapes pre-backed and pre-cut and it only took 2 afternoons to be assembled and ironed into place.  Thank you Lisa and Brian, and all the Crafty Church ladies for helping

I'm now negotiating with a long arm quilter to get it finished - watch this space

And finally the UK had Mothering Sunday at the end of March so I made a few dozen of these for the visitors at church.