Celebrations!!!

 At last we are Tuesday girls 5 again!!  Chris has had a special birthday, but was moving house at the time, so we started with tea & biscuits & a celebration for Chris.

Happy ??th Birthday to you!!

 As children we tend to rip open the paper but, in Chris' own words
"As we get older it is the anticipation that becomes fun - savour the moment for as long as possible".  That, & the fact we want to open carefully so we can re use the paper!!

 Chris with some of her goodies.  Although we tend to feature a lot of quilts in our blog, or related items, we are also quite keen on other crafts.  Chris is a great knitter so has some lovely wool & patterns.  Adult colouring is very trendy at the moment so a doodle book of postcards is just the thing to have in your handbag for those snatched moments!!

 Next, more tea & it was Janet's turn as her birthday is this week.
It is just as much fun watching others enjoy opening their parcels!!

Janet was delighted with her Christmas smelling room diffusers.  Nothing like getting in the mood!!  Another quilt book?  We can never have too many!!

Christmas celebration next!!  To get us into the festive atmosphere - one Christmas table cloth & lovely Yankee Candles.

Lunch was a delicious & very healthy Chicken dish with plenty of vegetables & roasted potatoes followed by home-made profiteroles (not so healthy but just as nice!).

Caroline provided the mulled wine - bottle green spiced berry with a cinnamon stick & some fruit.  Non-alcoholic but just as good as the real thing!!

 Janet was on a roll.  This is Marcia's fabric that Janet finished up.  Love the simplicity of the idea which is very effective.

Amanda showed off her twisted rail fence, done at a class at "Little House of Patchwork" in Chichester.  A striking pattern that was easy to put together in an afternoon.

Janet & others spent a long weekend on retreat in Belsey.  I think Janet holds the record for how much she was able to get done!!

Alison also went on the retreat but we only saw the photos of her efforts.  Just as many as just as spectacular.

 These hexagons are on-going.  A hand sewing project for Tuesdays.  Watch this space for future expansion!

Chris spent the morning cutting small squares to make into paper pieced hexagons.  Another on-going project!!

Chris & Janet shared a yummy carrot cake made by Alison.  As if we hadn't eaten enough!!  No Tuesday would be complete without!!

 As if the celebrations hadn't gone on long enough it was now time for Christmas!!  Everyone made such an effort.  We always love giving & receiving gifts, may of them home-made.

Janet had found some lovely trays, perfect for that cup of tea & cake, or for a small project!

Janet's husband was around so we managed a rare photo of the five of us.

Smiles all around - a real start to Christmas!!

As we will probably not all meet again for some time, it was a lovely celebratory day, full of good food, fun & laughter - a day spent with friends.

Happy Christmas to all & here's to a wonderful 2015.

Belated October Post!!

It always starts with cake!!  Home-made Victoria sponge with home-made raspberry jam

 Caroline has been busy. A lovely quilt from a class at Needle & Thread.

We had a visitor, another Janet.  This is a tapestry cushion cover, all hand stitched & one of a pair.

Janet with her bag of small squares, an on-going project.

There has been an interlude due to personal circumstances, normal service now resumed.

September!!

Here we are again, another month has gone by. Today started as a damp drizzly morning turned into a lovely sunny day, so maybe summer has not gone yet.

Alison was the first to arrive followed quickly by Amanda who was looking after a friend's ten month old baby boy.

As usual, we started with tea and coffee, together with Tea Bread(this recipe came from an old advert for PG Tips) together with shortbread Scottie Dogs, that Alison had  brought back from Scotland.

Caroline must have smelt the tea as she arrived before we had finished our first cups.

Then we had two special visitors, Alison's daughter and grandson, who was two months old today. He is so cute.

A quick phone call from Chris saying she had been delayed, but she arrived soon after.

Next we had an exchange of 'postcards' as both Amanda and Chris had been away on holiday.

After cuddles all around Alison's daughter and grandson left before lunch and while Amanda's small charge was having a nap we had lunch.  

We had jacket potatoes with Tuna and salad, and apple, blackberry and rhubarb crumble with Greek yoghurt and creme fraiche.

On the sewing front, Caroline was stitching the blocks of her Bow Tie Quilt, the fabric is Sweet Serenade by Basic Grey from Moda.

Chris has a pile of hexagons made using a Kansas Trouble range called Vine Creek, also from Moda.

Alison was hand quilting a tablerunner, the centre fabric was made using a mini charm pack from Midwinter Reds by Minick and Simpson, again another Moda range.

I was cutting fabric to make some quilt samples for workshops that I will be doing over the next year at Needle and Thread.

Amanda did not manage any sewing today as she had her hands full looking after her friends baby, but she did have a show and tell, a giaffe height quilt.

Amanda left soon after lunch, followed by Caroline, and then Alison and Chris.

Until next time.

August Already!

The 8th month the year already...how can that be? The year seems to be flashing past so quickly.

Chris arrived with the Tuesday Puppy who had a quick walk around the block before settling down for the day. She was quickly followed by Caroline and Janet who had also had a good drive down. It was lovely to see everyone again, Amanda couldn't make it as she was on holiday, hope you are having a great time.

We had delayed our meeting by a week this month as a few of us were off to Festival of Quilts at the NEC Birmingham at the beginning of the month. There was quite a bit of chat about what we had seen and bought and what workshops/lectures that we had taken.

 The kettle was boiled, the tea was made and the tea loaf and biscuits were on a plate. 

As it seemed a long time since we were together there was a lot of news to catch up with. News of families, holidays and of course what everyone was working on. The giving out of 'holiday postcards' had everyone excited. Thank you to everyone for the delicious gifts. 

Everyone was then keen to get on with some sewing.

 Chris was finishing the binding on a Christmas Quilt that she had finished a while back, almost finished now ready for Christmas 2014!

Caroline was thinking about adding more to her Bow Tie Quilt that she started at a class with Janet at Needle and Thread. The Moda fabric was Sweet Seranade.

Janet was checking to see if she had enough fabric to complete a lap size quilt from a free pattern from Fat Quarter shop - she did, so we are looking forward to seeing the finished article.

I was quilting the same simple table runner that I was working on last month,  using the Midwinter reds by Minick and Simpson -life seems to have got in the way of my quilting this month. 

A little more sewing was completed after lunch while Janet and Caroline spent some time browsing through the quilting books that Caroline had brought from the library.

All too soon it was time for everyone to make their way back to Surrey. Another lovely day spent in the company of likeminded people!

More Birthdays and a gathering of the the Girls!

Well, there we were... finally altogether for the first time in simply ages.  It was a beautiful sunny day.  Alison had already arrived, having just got to Janet's before me.. (The amusing thing is she has the  furthest to come and I was the nearest to Janet!) It didn't take long for Amanda and Chris to arrive so, once more all the Tuesday Girls were finally able to get together - at the same time... and what a lovely time we had together.... chattered non stop about so many things!  As is usual with our 'get togethers'... tea and cake/biscuits were in good supply. 

Alison and Amanda had both had birthdays in early June.  As we had all hoped to get together in June, the birthday presents hadn't been given or sent...so it was a very merry session for us of gift giving and... oh yes! Cake!!!  Alison received a Moda charm and mini-charm pack of Wintergreen fabric plus a pattern, some National Trust notelets and a wonderful little thimble brooch with rolls of fabric and accessories inside it.  Amanda, who had already had a couple of presents nearer her birthday,   received a pack with fabric and a pattern of Beach Huts by Julia Gahagen. She also had a set of small bottles in a carrier which Alison knew Amanda had very much wanted.  We ate birthday cake and drank tea, Welsh cakes or pistachio cookies.  All very yummy.

Alison  showed us many items she had begun or been given.  As she was imminently expecting her first grandchild, (her mobile was very nearby!) she had made a  fabric 'numbers book', a little play quilt edged with ribbons.  They all had a memory attached to them so it was very personal and was wonderful to look at.  She had used a fabric which reminded us all of the author Richard Scarry's characters, from our childhoods.  Alison had also brought a mat made for her large sewing machine which she had made using Midwinter Reds by Minick and Simpson for Moda.  It was really lovely.  Alison had brought the quilt to finish off with hand quilting. She had also brought a book her husband had given her of stitching patterns containing some great ideas. Name will be added once I find the copy I had brought.

 Janet showed us some of her  latest quilts... two of which were for charity.  The colours of this one were vibrant and cheery... just what I think a good tonic should be, fabulous! The other was more pastel and used  die cut flowers which were appliqued on.

I had popped in to Needle and Thread on the previous Saturday, where Janet was teaching a Bow Tie quilt class.  I had only been able to stay for an hour as my daughter, home briefly from some training, wanted me to go to the Armed Forces Day at Farnborough with her.  I observed what was being taught, bought myself a Moda, Basic Grey Sweet Serenade Jelly Roll of browns, aquas, peaches and cream fabrics!  I had managed to cut and stitch one block there, so spent the time at Janet's stitching together many 2 1/2 inch squares with 1 1/2 inch half squares. Chris had brought something to do but was happy to chat as she was going off to do some Search and Rescue training with the Tuesday Puppy after lunch.

As always with Janet, lunch was a super affair with salmon, new potatoes and salad. Desert was a treat of fresh fruit and either fromage frais or Greek yoghurt and meringue nests. We sadly said a goodbye to Chris and then we settled to more of our projects.  More chatter, some of which was discussing August's Festival of Quilts at the NEC in Birmingham.  Janet and Alison are both attending for the duration  of the show, so they will also be going to some of the classes... lucky things! I'm still in two minds about going as I have a fabric collection to rival Needle and Thread's (but then, don't we all?) and I don't NEED anything else (having also been VERY restrained at Sandown).  So... how to justify going?  Any good ideas - please post!






Amanda was working on a project using red as a theme.  This was for an upcoming Embroiderers Guild Regional Day in Chichester.  She had made a selection of items, from a flat, machine-stitched piece, to flowers and a lacy fan. All very beautifully done.

Eventually it was time for us to go our separate ways... I had an appointment at the gym!!! Alison was wending her way back to Hampshire... her telephone close to her side... just in case! *  Until next time, although we may not be five again for quite a while!

*Congratulations to Alison (and her family).  She is now a proud granny to a healthy baby boy.