It seems like only last week we had our monthly quilty catch up, but in reality I haven't seen my ladies in 2 months!! I can't believe how quickly that has gone and whilst I haven't been idol they have been stitching up a storm and I am in absolute awe of their talents.
Val has been working on her gorgeous version of Beside The Sea by Lesley Brankin for a little while now and today was the big reveal of the finished piece!
It is absolutely beautiful in the flesh, the amount of thought and detail Val put into her fabric choices really has paid off as has her patience at putting the whole thing together.
Regular readers may have noticed the beach huts!
They are the same ones that I used in the quilt I made for my dad 2 years ago and the same pattern was used by Sue in a sampler she was making out of Salt Water by Tula Pink.
Speaking of Sue her efforts this week were focused on hand sewing the back binding strips of the gorgeous shabby chic style BOM she has been working on over the last couple of months based on Stonefields by Susan Smith. You can see the start of her journey here but for now lets just soak up the loveliness of all those hours of work.
And just a few more because I really couldn't resist this darling little Owl and The Pussy Cat block
Never one for making things easy Caroline was sewing the binding on her 'simple square' quilt, unfortunately it wasn't a simple square binding and caused all manner of blue smoke to emerge from Caroline's corner.
That being said, she drafted the pattern herself and the outcome is lovely, looking like an English country garden in purples, blues and greens.
Which just leaves me.....
I have made a start on something new, it is in the beginning stages and at the moment is a load of drawings, scribbles and sellotaped pieces of paper but with any luck it is going to end up being a fabulous mini quilt for 1 of the 5 swaps I've got myself into.... oooops!!!
A Few Things About Me You Might Not Have Known....
1: What is your current fashion obsession? I wouldn't necessarily call myself fashionable, having struggled with my weight for most of my adult life I tend to go with the motto - The Baggier The Better, however at the moment I am loving the whole over sized shirt (told you - baggy) open over a vest top.
2: What are you wearing today? pyjamas and there is absolutely nothing you can do or say to make me change my mind.
3: Hair? Unwashed, in a bun, a-la top knot style!! But in general life platinum blonde and honey blonde highlights half way down my back rocking the spiral perm God gave me.
4: Do you nap a lot? I wish!! I'm fairly sure in another life I was a sloth, and I yearn for those days of bygone times!! I do love a good lay in though and on my days off DO NOT phone me before 10am.
5: Why is today special? I have had a taste of what it might be like to be a parent, I have spent the morning doing loads of washing and making home made pies for lunch......for my parents who currently have no kitchen/utility room due to the renovations being done on their house....parenting the parents??
6: What would you like to learn to do? Run!!I would love to learn how to find the motivation and determination to run every day, all the cool kids do it, I wish I could to.
7: What's for dinner tonight? Whatever you are making me!! But I am super partial to Chicken Pesto Pasta, so maybe that.
8: What are you listening to right now? Borrow My Heart by Clare Bowen, Sam Palladio and Jonathan Jackson. I absolutely LOVE Nashville, it's like Glee for grown ups but Country style!! And secretly I've always wanted to be a singing cow girl.
9: What is your favourite weather? The hotter the better, having experienced a few Californian summers, I would totally say that!!
10: What's the last thing you bought? Ingredients to make the aforementioned chicken pies and the new issue of Love Patchwork & Quilting
11: What are your essentials when travelling? A list of all the quilt shops and fabric shops within a suitable distance to where I am staying/visiting, to be clear a suitable distance is anything within a 3 hour driving radius!! My Sunglasses and a good pair of spangly flip flops.
12: What's your style? Whatever is clean on the day!
13: What is your most challenging goal right now? to be honest I have 2. Firstly trying to lose this last 5lbs!! I have lost 45lbs over the last 18 months and I just can not get rid of that last 5 to make an even 50lbs!! It's so frustrating!! And secondly to keep remembering that I deserve better and not to think that this time might be different because it won't , I may not be perfect but I deserve better.
14: If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be? A big old Brownstone in New York, preferably close to and overlooking Central Park....absolutely beautiful.
15: Favourite Vacation/Holiday Spot? Huntington Beach, California
16: Name the things you cannot live without: My parents, my sister, my bestests Joelle, Chantal, Lauren and Kerry Q, chocolate and fabric!!
17: How was your childhood? A mixed bag just like everybody else.
18: What would you like to have in your hands right now? David Beckham, I mean come on?? Look at him, he is absolutely just the most gorgeous being that's ever walked the earth!!
GOD ALMIGHTY!!
19: What are you most excited for? It's a secret that's not mine to tell, I'm so excited I might just wet myself!!
20: If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go? I would go home and hang out with my favourites
21: Which countries/cities have you visited? I have been very blessed with a wonderful family who love to travel so I have been very spoilt - New York, Florida, Boston, Rhode Island, Huntington Beach, La Jolla, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, Carmel Valley, Santa Monica, Cape Town, Joberg, Durban(obvs!), Wales, Scotland, Yorkshire, Barcelona, Rome, The Vatican City, Paris, Calais, Bruges, and a few more I am fairly sure I have forgotten to write down here.
I was set the challenge of these 21 Questions by my Aunty Gilly over at Gill's Jottings, if you fancy taking part in the challenge, I'd love to hear from you so post a comment with a link to your blog post in it.
On the 17th of February, in celebration (but more commiseration) of leaving my 20s and starting my 30s the Rents, the Brat and I filled a few suit cases and boarded a plane for Durban. Having spent the last few months slowly freezing to death in another "fresh" English winter the prospect of 30 degree heat literally had me skipping with glee. It was a loooooooong flight, and not much can be said for plane food at the best of times but eventually we landed......
The Brat and I
It was so amazing to see my bestest and her two little monkeys, obviously I'm outrageously biased but just look at them, have you ever seen such cuties??
Seth the "Doffin"
Baby Nate
Having spent the morning watching all the dolphins, we then had to spend the afternoon swimming like dolphins in the pool. I can honestly say I am the most ungraceful dolphin that has ever lived, Seth informed me on a few occasions that I wasn't a very good "doffin" and eventually gave up and let me be a mermaid instead!! The next few days were filled with shopping, eating, soaking up the sun and getting as many cuddles as I could from my two heart breakers. And if they weren't enough occasionally I had this little princess as well,
It's very hard work this sunny holiday lark, so Lauren and I had to go on a Spa day and have a wonderful massage, reflexology and pedicure courtesy of my amazing honoury Aunty Gill, Roxy and my parents, we also had to lounge about on leather recliners watching the outrageously beautiful Jamie Dornan on a very big screen....seriously England get on board with these seats in the cinema!!
And of course I emptied a few fabric shops along the way, it just wouldn't have been polite otherwise right? There is a very different approach to quilting and fabric over there, a great deal of it is very tribal with strong ethnic prints and colors, the designs are often quite simple making the overall effect very striking and a refreshing change from the widely accessible fabrics I have become used to.
I feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family who spoil me like they do I had such a fabulous week and cried an absolute river having to get on that plane even if it was to go to even sunnier Cape Town.
For those of you who know my family, it will come as no surprise to learn that of all the planes flying to Cape Town it was ours that lost its windscreen wipers and therefore had a two hour delay, you also won't be shocked to hear that of all the hire cars in Cape Town it would be ours that "wasn't quite ready" resulting in a further almost hour delay!! But you will be thrilled to know that all four of us had our passports which had not expired as well as the much needed drivers license and therefore did not have to spend 30 mins driving around chasing the postman on his route (Dad!). For those of you that don't know my family count your blessings that yours isn't as loony as mine!!
Having lost 42 lbs in the run up to my birthday and this holiday I was in no way looking to put any of it back on again, however with High Tea at the Mount Nelson Hotel, lunch at The Potluck Club, a picnic at Boschendal Wine Estate, a morning at Neighbour Goods Market and a day on Safari things were not looking good....well actually they were, hence the problem!!
Having not previously spent any great length of time in Cape Town I didn't really know what to expect and being a true Durban girl at heart I wasn't expecting much and let me tell you I couldn't have been more wrong, what a truly magical place it was. I wouldn't say it stole my heart, as I said I'm a Durban girl (come on you Sharks!) but it really was a beautiful place to be.
