Back at last

I've already broken one of my resolutions, to blog more. If anything I've blogged less so far this year. This in part has been due to Mum's declining mobility and the need for extra help and partly due to the dratted virus that has laid the whole family low, one after another. But we're all back to normal now 'touch wood'. The light tent we made wasn't big enough to photograph the wallhanging I made from 100 stitch blocks I'd been embroidering last year. A bit of a broom handle, a large piece of (unironed) calico and the new tv as a stand and I managed to get a reasonable (not good) photo of it. I promised I'd show the finished hanging once I'd got the blocks sewn together. There were 11 blocks in all and I chose nine to make the hanging. It was a lot harder to sew together than I had expected. This was due to the fact that some of the blocks were no longer truly square. Putting them in a ring hadn't helped, nor had the fact that I hadn't stablised the blocks before I embroidered them. Still its done now and is reasonably square. I started hand quilting it but soon got fed up of that and took it out and machined a sort of circle/swirl pattern along the sashing. I'm not the world's best quilter.

This is a close up of the blocks I perhaps could have done a better job of taking the photo, roll on the lighter days.

Now that the 100 Stitches challenge is finished I wanted something else to do after the 9.0pm curfew and have joined Bea Galler's "Once upon a Time" block of the month challenge on her Capricorn Quilts blog. Another BOM I'm considering doing is the Verandah View one from Willowberry Designs.

After I'd finished the Contemporary Quilter's 2008 Journal Page challenge I was in two minds about starting the 2009 one. Mainly because Mum is taking up a lot more of my time now and we have to face the fact that at nearly 93 she's no spring chicken. After a quick talk to Hilary Gooding though we agreed that I should do what I can and she promises not to hassle if I can't get them all in on time.

Having said all that I have been invited to join Shelagh Folgate's creativechallenge and Wil Opio Oguta's Quilt Challenge. I've joined both and these are probably got enough to keep me out of trouble for the rest of the year. If not my 'craft class' for the U3A which starts tomorrow should help, I'll let you all know how it goes.

Line Dancing has started again following the sad death of Audrey. She's been sadly missed and in respect of her memory we deliberately didn't restart the group until the new year. Yvonne the tutor has a very different teaching method but the groups still fun and is a worthy successor. I'm looking forward to going again tomorrow.

Klimt's Poppy Field is from Christine who isn't too well at the moment and will be undergoing surgery shortly. This month's theme for the private swap is "What if - I were an artist". The theme is Brigitte's choice and she made me a lovely card of Van Gogh's sunflowers. Klimt is Christine's creation she said she's been keeping this piece of fabric for ages for just such and occasion. Mine was Matisse's "Pink Nude" but I forgot to scan it before I sent them out.

Better go and prepare for tomorrow, I think one gentleman is bringing his chair to cane. Keith is going to James Cook to see the surgeon for a follow up on his spinal op and he hopes to be discharged. I've got him making bag clips and fridge magnets from plastic canvas. He's got strict instructions to get to the craft class asap and bring them with him, we'll see what happens.