February

Well, I am getting a bit slack with the blogging - apologies to regular visitors - life has been a bit of a soap opera of late.........

I also blame my laptop which I have grown very fond of. It was a cast off several months ago, from my son, and I have found it very handy of an evening, I am able to plan on EQ6 and search out new ideas etc for my classes. The only problem has been the USB connections did not work so any work I wanted to save had to be emailed to myself upstairs. This means I also have to go upstairs to upload photos etc. However, during a tidy out this week, I came across a "product recovery CD" which Allan did things with, and I now have working USBs - well chuffed.

I meant to update this blog right after Monochrome Magic - Take 2, which was held on Sunday 31st January. The day went very well and it was nice to experience such a relaxing day of handwork for a change. and unlike the previous Sunday which had me a little uptight about the parking restrictions etc, I managed to take along my camera to record some of the work in progress.

Since then, I have been busy planning for next year already, sorting dates and projects.
I have had to change the date for the Open Evening due to overbooking, it will now be Thursday 1st April in rooms 9 & 10.

Meanwhile, enjoy the pics............

Murky Monday

What a dark and dismal day - a great day for sewing.........

Yesterday we had the first Monochrome Magic workshop amidst the 1759 Alloway celebrations. It was a quiet and peaceful workshop unlike the ones that have the appearance of a sweatshop!
All the ladies seemed to enjoy their day of hand sewing and some expressed surprise at how much they liked the crazy patchwork they were producing!!

If anyone out there is thinking of upgrading their sewing machine, I have an interested party looking to purchase a second hand machine. Let me know if you are interested and I can put you in touch.

Enjoy your haggis tonight!!

Thawing out

At last, all traces of the white stuff are gone. Isn't it amazing how we began to think that any + temperature was warm? The wind these last couple of days has soon changed our minds on that!!

Our pond has completely thawed now and was visited - briefly - the other day by our local heron, a big beast who has yet to snare our fish. I have criss-crossed stout thread back and forth across the pond and it seems to be keeping him out of the water.

Yesterday I had a great big pheasant at the back door, he was a beauty.

On to matters of a quilting nature - the Pic'n'Mix quilt project is coming along nicely with several tops emerging...this last couple of weeks we have been constructing flying geese units using a very clever and quick method. The borders are looking good!

My beginners class this year has been very industrious and most have layered up their quilt and made a start on the quilting - well done all of them.

I managed to book some space yesterday for my Open Night - it is to be Monday 29th March so pop the date in your diaries now and I will give out more info later.

For those of you itching to start another project, why don't you make a couple of wee Linus quilts? I will be issuing my annual challenge soon but some of you may like to get a head start now.

My first workshop of 2010 is on Sunday and promises to be interesting as Alloway Village will be steeped in 1759 celebrations - I hope we manage to do some sewing...........it's to be a day of gentle hand sewing, exploring crazy patchwork so should fit in nicely with the period activities outside the hall. I have two last minute spaces for anyone who is interested.............

Better get on, am in the shop later............(we have some lovely new Moda in by the way - yum!!)

Frozen Friday

Well I am back at work today after what seems like the longest break ever. As Sod would have it, my head cold has developed nicely just in time!! Classes which were meant to resume this week could not go ahead due to faulty heating at the community centre - spare a thought for John who has to be there anyway, and let's hope the engineer does his thing in time for next week. Looking on the bright side, instead of class yesterday, I was able to get a repairman out to fix my oven which had croaked on the 2nd - obviously the steak pie was just the final straw! I also had Tommy Calder out to fix my back door and thought I would share and recommend him to you all. We first had him see to problem double glazing in our old house - a faulty window catch I think. Then last New Year our front door would not lock and he fixed this for us. This time it's our back door handle which needs replacing. As we chatted he was telling me about his idea of dealing with old lead skylights - he has a technique which allows you to preserve your old window in situ but at the same time eliminate draughts and leaks and the expense of replacing with a Velux or similar. I know some of you ladies live in older houses and I just felt like spreading his word so here are his details:-



You know what it's like trying to find someone to fix stuff - if you have a good recommendation why don't you share it here with everybody.

Back to class matters - I have snail mailed this weeks handout to everyone who has had to miss class - I have also enclosed a wee bonus project to cheer you all up. If you get really bored, don't forget the "Friendship Wall" challenge block or how about knocking up a wee Linus quilt?

Keep warm.....

Brrrr

Happy New Year everyone - brrrr. Another winter wonderland this morning and many of us still have the original un-melted snow from before Christmas. We have been living in Ayr now for 20 years and this really is the first significan snowfall we have experienced. We moved here in 1990 from Worcester where we recall much deep snow - and all our friends back then thought we were moving to the land of permafrost - not so, until now!!

Classes resume Wednesday & Thursday for those who can clear a path and can safely journey - for those who cannot I will update on Friday with emails or snail mail.

Keep quilting.

8 More Sleeps

Well, that's term 1 done and dusted. Thanks to those of you who made it to the social this afternoon especially for being such good sports and joining in the games!

My beginners are well on the way now with almost all quilts layered up and ready for quilting - it never fails to amaze me how different they all look - this particular class has worked extremely hard and I think I might have to give them a bonus project before the end of the session.........

Pic'n'Mix has reached the sashing stage now and for those of you who might be thinking the blocks are looking a bit busy, soldier on - the sashing makes a big difference.

When you come back in January we will be getting stuck in to our Flying Geese borders.

Will now take a seasonal blog break.......
Merry Christmas everyone!!

11 More Sleeps

Hi everybody, sorry I have been a bit out of touch in the blog......last weekend Allan & I were off to a rather smart wedding in Dumfries which necessitated an overnight stay so that was last weeks excuse.

Yesterday I made a last minute change of pressie for someone - as I have told several of you, I gave myself permission not to feel I had to make heaps of pressies this year but yesterday I got the Tone Finnangar book out and scissors etc and this is what happened -

This is my lady Santa, and I wish I had started a bit earlier and made a few - she's lovely!!

Hope to see lots of you on Thursday afternoon at our "social". If you can't make it, or you don't have a class this week, I will take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy Christmas and look forward to getting back together in 2010.