Plan, create, post, repeat…

Harvest Bunting https://www.quiltingantics.co.uk/Harvest-Bunting-Sewing-Pattern.html

http://www.quiltingantics.co.uk

Cor blimey, where is the time going this year? I began to write this post and had to stop as I had a bangeroony of a migrane. I saved a draft of the post and have returned to complete it just now…I checked the date, I can’t believe, it was the end of July when I wrote the first draft! (Now mostly deleted) It was really interesting to reread and realise how much water has gone under the bridge in just a month

Life has just been a whorl these last few months. We still have no premises to work from and I must admit it’s getting top of me now working from home, you can never get away from it, even for a moment. The telly is often on, as the rest of the family are also at home, so I’m either drifting into what they are watching or mentally trying to block out the drone. I don’t know about you, I have lost all perspective of time, I get out of bed in the morning, I feel to have achieved nothing, and all of a sudden it is 3 in the afternoon, I wonder where all that time has vanished to? Oh, and I have other distractions from work too, such as Ted who, when he’s not holding my full attention has his own dubious methods of claiming my attention back, such as lying on my keyboard to stop me working…is this the definition of a keyboard warrior?

So after months of spring cleaning, gardening, sorting and arranging, our Gaz, or Anna Donis as he has come to be known by some, has finally run aground. Using this to my advantage I’ve now recruited him for lopping and chopping duties. His maiden voyage has been to cut the gold and silver fabric we sold on t’ telly and I must say he’s not half bad!

He’s like a lamb to the slaughter but don’t tell him I said that before he’s started on the new stuff as I haven’t got time for bolshy staff.

George tried to make himself look important today, of all the places he could have curled up, whilst my back was turned for a moment, he climbed up on top my ‘stuff’. Our living room currently resembles a messy studio, I assure you its definitly not good for the soul. I felt terrible shooing him off his throne, the little tinker.

I’m still in a bit of a daze from yesterdays TV offering and am crazily collating all the bits and bobs needed for packing, we haven’t actually got around to stuffing our first mail bag yet, I like to have everything just so, then once we start to pack there are no interruptions, we just go for it! (A quick aside to say thank you to everyone who has supported us, this week, it means a lot to a small business like ours, especially during the current time of great uncertainty.) Also as another aside I want to say a huge welcome home to Roberta. Roberta used to work for me and suffice to say that life threw her a curved ball she had to give up. Whilst she’s not back on the books Roberta is now taking commissions from me and produced some splendid work which aired yesterday. Below are two of her projects. Welcome home Roberta 🥰

http://www.quiltingantics.co.uk/Penguin-Character-Doll-Sewing-Pattern.html

http://www.quiltingantics.co.uk/Polar-Bear-Character-Doll-Sewing-Pattern.html

We nipped up to Scotland to see my son and his family recently, we had a wonderful few hours. The baby has turned one now, due not only the distance but all this corona horribleness I have only met her in person twice, which breaks my heart, I take comfort from he fact that I know I’m not alone in my pain this year. Despite that we have regularly FaceTimed and the beauty of this has been that whilst face to face she didn’t have a clue who I am, the little darling did know my voice so it helped massively. And even better big sister, who is an extremely shy little poppet was on great form, she has a very powerful magic wand and kept turning me into a ‘bum bum bee’ (cuteness overload) so I had to fly around the house and garden with my mini me bum bum bee following on behind, melts my heart.

Talking of grandchildren Sue illustrated these fabulous Christmas elf cushions from a photograph of her grandson James, we have called the one with the red hat Riddle and the other Jimmy after James

http://www.quiltingantics.co.uk/Elf-Cushion-Sewing-Pattern.html

The lovely feeling of being relaxed didn’t last long once we returned from Scotland, I really do not know what happened, I was doing some polishing up of this weeks booklets before sending them to print, ready for packing this morning. I went to make a quick brew and when I came back the computer screen had gone blank!!! I had loads of open files in various stages of completeness and various stages of being saved; when you are working on the books of this size, you are often working over tens of pages at once and it is impossible to keep your saves bang up to the minute. So the result is…you guessed it…gone!!! 😩😩😭😭 gutted! I stayed up til about 3.30 this morning and got one of the books completed, so just the other to do now, I can’t bring myself to look and see how much work has been lost on it yet. Having already lost ground with the migraine, which hasn’t totally disappeared yet, I feel crushed 😓

So now we come to the end of this post, I’ve shared my life and bared my soul. Having just done a proof read, on balance, things aren’t that bad are they? We’re in a wonky old world and we just have to make the best of it. As crafters we are lucky we have our special crafty places to retreat to, we can get lost in our creative minds and dream of a better world. Oh, before I forget we are doing Facebook live sales again on Friday at 12 noon, 4pm and 7pm so drop by even if you aren’t interested in buying the tweed, its jolly good fun and you are welcome to join in the comments. Much love everyone.

http://www.quiltingantics.co.uk

The mountain has been a big one this week

Presents are Coming by Michaela Smith

So as I begin writing this post I know that I won’t finish it today so am just going to plod on with it in between working my way through my mahoosive to do list. I’m on t’ telly on Thursday and have two separate one hour shows. One hour doesn’t sound much but I estimate there are about 100 hours prep in each one hour show! Thats not a typo it really does take that long to do the prep. By the way, all the photos in this post are of the projects I’m taking on the telly tomorrow, so it’s a good chance for you to have a sneaky perusal.

Strawberry Fields Messenger bag

So as I am typing, knowing that I should be doing other things, I’m expecting the phone to ring and the lovely lady on the other end, Katie, will need more information from me about my shows. I know if I’m on the bad list as Sophie will ring instead (love you really Soph) Sophie tells me off sometimes, you know the way your parents still can, when your a grown up and they forgot your not 5 anymore…

Christmas is Here Tree Skirt

I’m quite excited about my shows this week, I’ve got a great blend of popular designs returning, plus brand new things too. It’s just writing the pattern books that is taking up so much time now. I keep thinking I’ll farm that job out but I would have to write the stuff anyway to pass on so its a tough call.

Bobbing Along, Sea Otter beach bag

Recently, I’ve been working with a super lady called Debbie from Vantage 360, she is kicking my butt big time at the moment and making me crack on with all the techy stuff that I always put off. We are having our meetings on Zoom. I was a bit nervous about Zoom to begin with, but its actually really easy to use. So if you need a boost with your online stuff, just contact Debs, I promise you will NOT be sorry, she knows stuff…

Anyhow for now, I”m going to save the draft and spend a few minutes doing what I’m actually supposed to be doing, I’ll pick up this thread in a bit, or maybe even tomorrow. xx

Flutterby Bunting

Part two, phew all the leg work is done and it’s almost time to slonk back in a chair, do a really big exhale and relax. Alas, there are still the demos to plan and prep and I’ll be honest I am absolutely rubbish at doing it. I have been known to be hammering away with the sewing machine in hotel rooms at midnight!

Low Tide

The Seekers

Talking of hotels. there was a bit of a scare with the hotel today. It’s my first time away from home since the pandemic began, so obvs I’m quite nervous. I rang the hotel this morning to ask a couple of questions about the social distancing issues and all I got was an answer machine saying the hotel was still closed…PANIC STATIONS!!! I rang all numbers and tried all options at the Premier Inn and without exception at 10am this morning, all the answer machines told me, was that I’d rung out of hours. In the end, modern technology won through; I went on Google Earth and had a look at the pub next door, once I had it’s name, I googled the pub, there I spoke to a member of staff who assured me that the hotel was open and even better gave me the direct local phone number. It was a very tense hour I don’t mind admitting but we got there in the end.

Close up of the butterflies

So now I have faffed about and wasted yet more time, I really ought to make a list of what I need to take with me and organise my demos as you will all now know when my demos are rubbish that it was because I was sat here sharing my diary with you 🥰

Christmas is Coming

Once again we are rolling this little beauty out, the Christmas is Coming Advent Calendar. I cannot count the number we have sold over the years and I am staggered at just how popular it remains. Hubby is still on Furlough and so this year for the first time he will be giving a hand chopping and lopping all the kits up. Keep it under your hat for now as he doesn’t know yet what the week has in store for him #ignoranceisbliss 😂

Sugar Mice

Another of our favourites which will make a return this week is our Sugar Mice, which is our take on the Nutcracker story. These little mice are such fun, you can put them singly around a Childs bedroom for interest and hide and seek games. You can also make them double sided, trapping ribbon between the layers, turning them into tree decorations or light pulls. they even look fabulous as bunting. Can you tell they are one of my faves?

Dinky Little Houses

These little sweeties are a smaller version of the Presents are coming gift boxes and I think they are set off to perfection hanging on our garden rake 😂 I think I’m going to make 24 and use them as an alternative advent calendar. I could hang them individually, if I can find a wide enough rake, 😬 but my preferred option is to hang them on the tree; that way on Christmas Eve I can fill them back up with treats ready for the grandchildren to find when they visit #howmemoriesaremade

Sleigh Bells ring

No Christmas offering can be complete without the big man himself. These reindeer and the slay are free standing motifs ready to go directly on the wall, they have gold ribbon between them but it doesn’t show up on the photo.

Elfie Boe

Jolly St Nick

Finally, these two likely lads will be making a come back too. Like the rest of the universe during lockdown we have been having a bit of a spring clean. I didn’t know that I had squirrelled some kits away after last Christmas. It was a bit of a surprise when hubster found them but a good do’ for you as they are going up for grabs. We know how popular the elf on the shelf has been, well, Elfie Boe makes a cracking elf on the shelf. Starting now he would easily be finished for the 1st of December. Our Jolly St nick has a lovely Christmas red coat nowadays as the original is now discontinued but he looks tremendous in his new threads.

Anyhow its time to get organised and set off to Peterborough now. so I’ll see you all down the lens tomorrow morning. Love you all lots. Anthea x

My crazy lockdown life

Bulldog spirit cushion designed to reflect the British way of handling lockdown

How’s lockdown going for you? So…initially back in March, did we know what was about to happen? Did we think lockdown would last a few days? A couple of weeks? Did anyone actually envisage that this is how the world would be spinning right now? I can’t help wondering if the psychologists are having a bumper time at the moment. What a unique chance for a global experiment they must be cockahoop with all the opportunities.

Chill Out Sloth bag, we had no choice so this seemed like a good attitude to have

How are you coping? Let me know. At first I really enjoyed the peace, it made me realise how some people drain my mental energy on a daily basis, it was wonderful to step off the bus for a while. The first two weeks were akin to being on holiday; I noticed on week three that people seemed to be a bit lost, similar to when you’ve been on a really great holiday and in the last day or so when you are ready to come home, you’re just waiting. Week three was like that same limbo feeling but of course we weren’t going back to work, were we? So onwards we all went and slowly as the weeks turned into months we were beginning to come to terms with our new normal.

Sylvias Bag named after my beautiful mum, a long tailed tit being one of her favourite birds

What lockdown stages have you passed through? Did you do the Mary Berry phase? The baking aisle in our local supermarket was empty for weeks! They couldn’t keep up with us all and neither could my waistline; I perfected my Grandma’s recipe for ginger biscuits yum yum. I had lost 4 stone entering lockdown however, after the initial euphoria of yomping out for my daily exercise wore off and the baking phase got underway the scales started to creep up, I am gutted at how much I’ve gained it’s up at the 2 stone mark, boo hoo! Then the alcohol phase arrived and as we had nowhere to drive our cars to, it seemed a great opportunity to enjoy a little tipple in the hot spring sunshine. That phase Peters out occasionally and then is reignited oops. So now four months in where are we all? It would be really good to hear your news.

Meal for One panda cushion reminds us there was no going out to party in our isolation

Back in March when we were all wondering if we should go into lockdown or not, in the days before Boris took the decision for us, the manager at Watershed Mill (our base) rang me up one Sunday night and said “I’m just ringing to let you know we are closed.” “Oh” said I, as the manager owns the burglar alarm, “what about me?” He told me he would give me two hours the following day to get what I needed out of the shop. My oh my, where do we begin on that task? Well, begin we did. With the help of my lovely Hazel we took out a random selection of everything, not knowing whether we were choosing rightly wrongly. I found somewhere to stash most of the stuff, not an ideal solution but one I am eternally grateful for and we set about trying to ensure that Quilting Antics would survive whatever was to come.

Home Comforts by Michaela Smith reminding us that there’s no place like home

The Furlough scheme has been a Godsend as it allowed me to pay the girls and keep them safe in the short term. We did think we would work from our homes but the restrictions and the geological distances between us was too great, so with a heavy heart I had no choice but to use the furlough scheme. Sue was the only one who didn’t get Furloughed as we live fairly close to each other, we were able to carry on. We did this by having socially distanced meetings in Sue’s back garden. When I look back to the early days of lockdown it is unbelievable that we achieved what we did. Ironically I think we have done some of our best work during lockdown.

Socially distanced seagulls made us all titter

The business plan said, if we can continue on t’ telly we will get through this. Our first lockdown TV offering was called Bulldog Spirit a nod to the courage needed to get through this peculiar time. We designed six projects all on the theme of battling through the isolation and tried to give it our fun twist. This offering inspired so many people and was so successful that we decided to continue with the theme; this time looking at how our mindset had moved on and though we felt desperate, we had hope.

Always dream bag, inspired by the work of none other than Banksy!

The always dream bag is probably one of the nicest bags we have ever made I love it and I am very proud of this piece of work. We also did the Don’t stick your neck out giraffe as a reminder that although we were finding confidence in the new normal, it was not yet time to take risks.

Don’t stick your neck out, giraffe applique

As the government messages began to allow us to creep carefully out of isolation we came up with a new theme called reunited. sue and I had loads of fun thinking about how this might look for different people and whilst for some it would be a wondrous reunion, as we sat in the garden discussing this two swallows came and landed on the washing line; one turned to the other and began giving it a huge telling off! the on being told off simply turned its back on the first, this made us laugh out loud and so we came up with both versions of reunited

You’re Peckin’ me’ ‘ed!

Little Owl applique on cher Hazel Bag

Bunny Bonkers applique pack used on this lovely pillow

So now as we move into the next phase, we wonder what will it bring and where will it lead. As I look though some of our lockdown projects above, I feel really proud of the work we have done and the inspiration we have given to other people. Do get in touch and let me know what you think of our projects.

Love to you all. Anthea x http://www.quiltingantics.co.uk

Bunny Love 58″ square quilt available as a full kit or block of the month.

Fat Bird on’t telly

Hello boys and girls, is it really a week since I last checked in with you? So much has happened this week that I think I may have forgotten most of it!

So we began the week in chaos, nothing new there! Hazel has begun chopping and lopping the kits ready for our One Day Special on’t telly on the 5th and 6th of October. We are at very very long last ready to launch the first quilt that Sue and I ever designed together, it is our interpretation of The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear. Returning to a project FIVE years after it was born is not without its trials but thankfully things are going ok so far…phew. We are in the process of adding five additional projects to go with the quilt I have shared the cushion below, which I teased you with previously, we have made it circular but it would look equally as good on a square. Over the coming weeks I might tease you with some more.

The owl and the pussycat

I closed the working week on’t telly with a whole different set of stuff! It has been no mean feat this week, I have written two books one on Halloween and the other on Christmas projects, thankfully I have a great team around me nowadays or none of this would happen. So a big thank you to you all. Below is a Christmas pudding doorstop made by Sue.

Weigh in this week went really well 2Lb off yay! so that is 3 stone 3.5lb in total and it feels good, more people are noticing that I’ve dropped a bit of timber and that puts a skip in my step. I’ve gone down another dress size, yippee! On the down side the new jeans are cutting a bit round the waist and I feel a bit like a sack of spuds tied in the middle. I haven’t had a chance to get the bike out again this week but knowing I can now do it is so reassuring.

I made a pan of soup this morning so that I can trough on it when I’m desperate, its very simple and very yummy. Here’s the recipe so you can try it too, obviously you will tweak it to your taste.

• pack of lean bacon, diced.
• 1cm of ginger, peeled and chopped.
• two or three cloves of garlic, copped or pressed.
• stick or two of celery, chopped.
• an onion, chopped.
• two or three carrots, chopped.
• one or two potatoes, diced, no need to peel.
• tin of chopped tomatoes, tipped in pan.
• cup full of red lentils, thrown in pan.
• good tablespoon of medium curry powder.
• enough chicken stock to cover (knorr stock cube.)

Lob everything in the pan and pop a lid on. Bring to the boil if you have a gas hob, simmer for 10 mins and leave to cool in the pan. If you have an electric hob once the pan is boiling, switch the hob off and leave the pan on the ring until it cools.

When the soup is ready chop a handful of fresh coriander and stir it in. Keep the soup in a plastic container in the fridge and reheat a bowl full in the microwave as required, I use half power for 3 mins stir the soup and then full power for 3 mins. Perfect, nom nom nom.

I had a passenger this week when I went to tellyland, Sue came with me and we had her screen tested because she is going to present the Owl and the Pussycat with me. She did really well and passed with flying colours.

I had an exciting text tonight off Sue, telling me that one of our beginners on Michaela’s quilt class has just got first prize at her local show for her beginners sampler quilt. Well done Catherine, it is lovely.

I should actually say we are doing a new beginners course starting in October, there are still a few places available, if you are interested get in touch. 01729 824708 or leave me a message on here.

Finally to end the week, we have had a full weekend of auditions with the little man. Two auditions for Opera North yesterday and another with the Upstagers today for their panto. So we are eagerly awaiting news of how he did. Yesterday he did well in one audition, whilst in the other didn’t get to the final stage. Todays panto audition is looking good, so keep your fingers, toes and everything crossed for him, I’ll let you know next week if there’s any news.

My rock and roll lifestyle, writing patterns whilst Leon is in an audition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a great week everyone and I’ll see a little bit less of you all next week !

Fat Bird Rides…Again!

Hazel, Sue, Adele and me looking sweaty after a hard day building the show stand

I didn’t get around to blogging last week, it isn’t because I didn’t want to, I was at the Harrogate quilt show, so I suppose that took all my mental space. We had a great time at the show, so a big Thank You to everyone who came and supported us, on the other hand I listened to a lot of the traders and I think the general trend is that shows are going downhill. A word of caution, please please support the quilt shows or you will lose them, just ask the Scottish ladies!! There used to be three quilt shows in Scotland that I am aware of, all have bombed through lack of support, remember traders have to pay an awful lot of money to stand at these shows, they are not invited as guests or charity; that is before costs for travel, staff, food and hotels.

In fact, I’ll continue with this grumble as I am interested in your views too. I’ve just outlined it costs an awful lot for a trader to attend a show and therefore fabrics etc. have to be charged out at a fair price to cover all the costs; it is therefore incredibly frustrating when customers utter those dreaded words…I’ll see if I can get it cheaper online! It is so unfair that people are allowed trade accounts to trade from their spare room and then undercut other traders who go to all the trouble of bricks and mortar shops and exhibitions. Think about it ladies, it’s not just the shows, quilt shops are closing left right and centre too; we all want to save a few pennies but is that at the expense of losing the shops and shows we all enjoy visiting? I understand that things can be improved on both sides so let’s open a discussion and see what people think. Messages greatly received.

Oh! and if you want any of our lovely designs head over to www.quiltingantics.co.uk

 

On the weight loss front things are still going well, I lost 1lb last week giving me my 3 stone award and then 1.5lb this week whoop whoop! 1lb can be disappointing but I have to remember one off is better than one on, also added to the 1.5lb this week it has become a huge 2.5lbs (slightly more than a bag of sugar)

If I’m honest, I did treat the team to a Billy Bob’s ice cream on the way home from the show last week, counting it into my daily allowance, also not have any other treats that day, it was so worth it. In fact, I had ice cream on two days and then on the other two days had a slice of cake. So naughty but so nice; which when I stop to think about it, makes a 1.5lb loss incredible.

Treating the team to an ice cream nom nom nom

I’m not going to pretend that it has been all plain sailing though. The crux of my weight loss is down to giving up the three cherished B’s, bread, butter and booze. This week I have longed for a drink, I haven’t been bothered about the booze for ages so I don’t know what has been different this week (maybe the menopause?) and for the last couple of days I have been so hungry that I could eat my own head off! I made a butternut risotto last night from one of my slimming cookbooks, it was really easy to do and then I gorged on it. I thought that if I was stuffed full with comfort food it might take the cravings away, it did, then I occupied myself with some hand stitching and a really good series on Netflix which meant that I totally forgot about the booze too, what a relief but sometimes you have these challenges to overcome. (Grumble grumble)

 

Butternut risotto, pic from book.

For the risotto, I rough chopped a pack of lean bacon, lobbed it in a big pan with a bag of ready chopped fresh butternut squash and onion (it was a soup mix.) I rough chopped 3 cloves of garlic and threw it in the pan with about 250g of risotto rice. Crumble in one or two chicken stock cubes and tip in 850 ml of boiling water. Pepper to taste. Stir well and regularly over hot heat so that it doesn’t stick, when it resembles the pic its done! Mine looked a bit smashed up by comparison. Optional throw a few chives on to serve (I never do)

Onwards and upwards now…fat bird rides again! If you are wondering what I’m on about, I got the bike out this morning. My target this year has been to get back on my bike, it felt very strange and I think I will have to go through the ritual of being saddle sore before I settle into it properly (not for the feint hearted.) I can’t lie, I am really self-conscious at the moment with my full moon sized arse hanging off the back of the seat but I did it and that’s a fact no one can take away from me today! I probably rode less than a mile, stopping for a chat with Suzanne mid-way (well done on your weight loss too) but it was enough for today, as today is about having the confidence to do it, tomorrow is a new challenge.

 

For now, though the immediate challenge is TV…yikes. I’m back on the Hochanda channel next Friday 13^thSeptember at 8am and 11am, I’m nowhere near resembling ready, there is so much still to do its ridiculous but as always, it will all come together and be alright on the day…fingers crossed! I will give you a peak at the new projects on my Facebook page and Instagram when I get organised.

Proud mummy moment. The little man started secondary school this week and whilst he wouldn’t allow me to share his pic on the day here he is looking very grown up showing us a routine he has JUST learned with the very talented Ess Green.

 

 

Squeezing life around the Secrets of a Fat Bird…next instalment

This week has been absolutely hectic and I honesty did mean to post as I went along, I put a few bits on Instagram and Facebook but I thought as it’s bank holiday weekend I would take a few minutes to share properly with you all.

Before I go any further I would just like to give a huge plug to the Harrogate quilt show which is happening on Friday 30th, Saturday 31st August and Sunday 1st September. It will be at the Great Yorkshire show ground and there is lots of free onsite parking. Tickets £9 on the door.

So…the weight loss is still going well, another 2.5lb off this week, which means I only need to loose 1lb for my 3 stone award. Don’t you feel cheated when you jump on the scales and the milestone hasn’t quite been achieved, even though you know that you’ve done well and 2.5 is a great result. I’m beginning to feel ready to start cycling again, however I’ve done something to my knee so I’ve parked that idea until it feels a bit better.

This weeks achievement, fellow fatties, you will get this, the slim Jim’s may take a minute…what is the significance of this photo?

This is the gate I go through most mornings on my dog walk, prior to loosing weight, I manhandled this awful wonky gate every day, which really hurt my neck and shoulders. Over the last couple of weeks I can now climb over the stile. Might seem a small thing to many but to me it’s huge!

Back to the reality of work, we have had a really busy week, being buried under mountains of prep for the Harrogate Quilt show, sending out parcels for Hochanda and creating new designs for future Hochanda TV  shows. If you are outside the UK you can still watch the Hochanda channel live via their website Hochanda.com Our next TV show on 13th September is going to be our last offering of new Christmas designs for 2019 plus a little bit of Halloween/autumn thrown in for good measure. We have a one day special coming up on the 5th and 6th of October and have themed it on Edward Lear’s Owl and the Pussycat,  the cushion below, is just one tiny part of the set; wait til you see the full sized quilt  and other bits and bobs. As if that’s not enough I will also be on the telly on October 13th with even more goodies, including some rather special new designs by Michaela Smith.

The summer holidays continue to rumble on, Leons dance school are running a photo competition for pics of people making dance moves in open spaces, so this is our first effort, I’m sure we will have more attempts too. My young choreographer positioned me doing a ‘dab’.  I loved the heather moor as all the lovely purple is beginning to shine, which always signifies that Harrogate quilt show is near.

To finish off todays post, I came across a photo taken in May last year when I was on my way back from Malvern quilt show. The story goes like this, I had forgotten to fill the van up with diesel and as we got onto the motorway the fuel light came on (aarrgghh!!) So I pulled into the first services with only about 20 more miles in the tank, I was towing the caravan, good ole Dobbin, so probably wouldn’t have even got 20 miles. As we pulled into the garage, you can’t script this, there was a power cut. All the lights went out across the garage in a kind of fabulous Hollywood slow motion style. Stuck in the service station, with nowhere to go, we had no choice but sit there. I was in a bit of a silly giggly mood and as I looked to the pump at the side of me there was a young lad having what you can only describe as a toddler tantrum due to the power cut…what a plonker! I commented to Natters who was sat beside me that the child was wearing girls pumps (not a Mickey take I’d normally do but he was behaving like a baby) and good old natters shrieked OMG! its Dom off Love Island; having never watched this show, the comment was entirely lost on me but hey ho, for the fun of it I called across to him “Oy! Are you Dom off t’telly?” shouted in my best Yorkshire accent, to which the child stopped tantruming, turning round, flashing teeth so white that they would give Rylan Clark Neale a run for his money and replied “Yeh”. By this time Natters is squirming in her seat with embarrassment, having hurriedly filled me in with the show gossip. “Did you get your leg over on’t telly”. “Yeh!” He replies, sticking his chest out proudly, informing me how many hours or days into the series it was before he conquered the female. So just for the fun of it, I asked do you want a selfie? Honestly, I have never seen anyone run for a selfie with as much gusto in my life! I held out the camera but couldn’t reach the blooming button as I”m not a teenager anymore and so not the best with techno. quick as a flash he’s grabbed it out of my hand and as you can see in the pic I’m reaching out to press the button and he’s done it already…I wonder if he’s always this quick to complete with the ladies? Shout out to Natters who’s squirming in the background. Anyhow after war and peace…I came across this pic and tried to recreate the camera angle, and shirt, not easy on your own; I am staggered with he resulting photo, I think you will agree I’ve lost a fair bit of timber (private little whoop whoop.)

That’s all for now folks, if you want to see some of the stuff we’ve been up to have a look on my website www.quiltingantics.co.uk if you can’t see what you are looking for drop me a message on here as I’ve still got quite a few projects to upload.

 

Getting back on top. Secrets of a fat bird.

Hi everyone so…its Sunday morning and I’m hard at work (minus the little distraction of writing my blog.) I’m going through a real period of change at the moment. It was the big 5 0 for me last year and there’s nothing like a milestone to make you think…and I did, I’ve done a lot of thinking and there have been a few realisations along the way. The biggest one for me is health, anyone who knows me, knows that I’m not the size zero kind of gal! With that in mind I trotted off to join a slimming club earlier this year and I have to say so far so good. I’m not going to preach to you because if your head isn’t in the zone, then your head just isn’t in it. This is my personal self help therapy, I hope making public my journey helps me stay on track and if I inspire someone along the way then that’s a bonus.

I wish these were my ankles but alas no, they are some that I have claimed off the internet.

So I turned up at the end of March this year, not to my local slimming group, as I didn’t have the confidence with people I know and who may or may not judge me but in one about 20 miles away from home. OK its in the town where Leon dances so it isn’t like 20 miles into the unknown but I felt safer there. The first time I got on the scales, I just felt repulsed by what I had unconsciously become, mentally countering this by telling myself that I was still 1lb lighter than the last time I joined. I’m not ready to share my number yet but I hope as my journey progresses that I might find the confidence to own up.

Anyhow, I’ve got lots to loose so the pounds are still dropping quite quickly and so far in five months I’ve lost 2 stone 10 lbs. I’m really pleased  and feel completely different in myself; life is becoming more comfortable to physically bear. I know I could have lost more but I wanted to keep things real. My sacrifices so far are bread, butter and booze and I am eating so much fruit that I think I’m fermenting either that or composting!

This is an enormous step for me and I think I’ve confessed enough for this moment in time but I will come back and give you another instalment soon, I kept a few notes on my feelings at the beginning and I might pluck up the courage to share the secrets of a fat bird with you.

I’m such an old…ahem, new bag!

It’s that time of the month again…it’s the time when I’m preparing to go back on’t telly. We have worked our socks off this last month and have eight new designs with a bit of a Spring theme going on. I hope you like what we’ve done, I’d love to hear your comments, feedback is always welcome.

You will find me on the Hochanda Tv channel on Saturday 13th and Sunday the 14th of April. Freeview 85 Sky 673 and Freesat 817. I’m not sure what the channel number is if you are viewing from the U.S but I think you can watch online.

I nearly forgot to say that all the goodies (kits and patterns) will be available on my own website www.quiltingantics.co.uk from this weekend.

I’d like to start with Susan’s Satchel. I have been asked loads of times to make a tweed satchel, the last time being at Duxford show in March, by a lady called Susan…I told you I would name it after you hehehehe! It fits an A4 ring binder inside and is very easy to make.

I forgot to add apart from the huge discounts I”m offering on the eight new patterns whilst on’t telly, I’m having a go at doing some happy hour deals too; so watch out for some genuine great deals. I don’t do an annual sale in the shop, so I’m doing this instead. There will be extra fabric on selected orders, bundles of bag haberdashery, bundles of basic utility fabrics (such as wadding and calico) and sets of Moda fat quarter bundles. Each individual offer will be available, at a discounted price, for one hour only!

Back to the task in hand…next up is Rosa’s bag, named after my Sue’s adorable granddaughter, apparently this dusky shade of pink is this seasons hot property, we have teamed it with a beautiful silver grey, what do you think? It is a bit fiddly to make in places so not for an absolute beginner but once you’ve got your head round the zip area, it should be plain sailing. I love this little bag, as you can make it to coordinate with any outfit and it is ideal for leisure time; it would hold all your basic essentials whilst you have a great time, playing out.

Third on the list, let’s shake things up and do something different. Here is our Green Man of the Woods, a wonderful emblem of the emerging spring season. He reminds me a bit of Parsley the Lion from the Herb Garden, do you remember the programme? Roberta has constructed him in the most simple way, I was pleasantly surprised when I wrote the pattern and realised how easy he actually is.

So you like ornamental dolls? How about our Steam punk Scarecrow called Seth? He is such fun to make, his clothes are unbelievably easy and if you are feeling cautious don’t forget that as a scarecrow you could always distress (code for disguise any cock ups) his clothes a bit, to give him your own spin. I would be really interested to know if you like the Steam punk theme as, if you do, we may a bit more of it.

So after a foray into the macabre lets return to the bags…

We brought you a bag, designed by Tracy Ankers, right back at the beginning of our Quilting Antics journey and it has sold and sold and sold. I can’t believe how many of you have loved it, so, using that as our inspiration I present to you the Crazy Chick bag. The fabrics are from the newest range of tweeds woven in collaboration with the National Trust and personally I think they are stunning, very chic.

Nearly at the end, we have been asked loads of times to do an across the body bag. I saw a bag aimed at dog walkers, where you had a hole, to pull your poopy bags through. I didn’t have any suitable rings to make the hole, so we appliquéd a dog instead! If you aren’t a doggy person, you could leave the appliqué off or simply swap it for something you like better.

Last but not least and just for a bit of a laugh, I give you the Doorstop Diva! It’s a doorstop in the shape of a handbag. If you filled it with something really heavy you could use it to keep everyone in check…I think I might be tempted to add some handbag jewellery, what do you think?

I hope you like our new designs. It’s a really scary thing when you launch new stuff as you could sink like a brick. I hope we have tried hard enough this month..

www.quiltingantics.co.uk

Want a sneaky peak?

Oh my goodness, who threw in the grenade? Packing is almost complete, just the extended delivery stuff to do when the last bits are delivered to us next week. Time for a tidy up now I think… Anyway enough of that I’ve mentally moved on! Rehearsals start tomorrow for the little mans showcase at his acting school and I’m in the costume department all week, I did it last year too, it was such an honour to watch the kids grow in confidence and develop their skills through the week. Don’t think for one minute its on the lines of a school play, these are kids who are used to being on the stage and screen so the standard is through the roof before we begin; I can’t wait.

In the meantime do you want a sneaky peek at some of the projects that are in their final stages before going on TV next month, 29th June. They will all be winging their way to Hochanda in the next few days for photography; no prizes for noticing that we have jumped a couple of seasons! If you have any suggestions of new projects that you would like us to put together leave me a comment and we’ll do our best.

Who threw the grenade in?

I wanted some sugar mice to dot around my show stand at exhibitions and this is what happend when I left Sue on the own for a bit. The nutcracker needs a face and then it is all done. These little beauties would be lovely at any time of the year.

Nutcracker

Winter Feast by Michaela Smith, this would look great as a runner, or if you gave the stitcheries a quarter turn before piecing it would make a stunning wall hanging

Winter Feast

Baptism of fire for our newest recruit Roberta, this is what she put together on her first day so I think its safe to say we can expect good things to come from her. Just a little embroidery to complete it.

I hope I’ve whet your appetite, I’ll show you more projects as they come off the machine. www.quiltingantics.co.uk

Deck the halls

Thank you

I would just like to say thank you to everyone who supported me at Quilts UK, Malvern and again yesterday on the Hochanda channel. I am delighted with our new designs and I am so glad that you are too. If you haven’t seen them already have a look and see what you think. There is just one more pattern to put on the website and then I’m done and dusted www.quiltingantics.co.uk

Tree of Life, by Michaela Smith

Summer Meadows Bag by Sue Lenehan

Low Tide from Quilting Antics

The Seekers from Quilting Antics

Angie Bag by Tracy Ankers

English Country Garden Runner from Quilting Antics

English Country Garden Cushion from Quilting Antics

It’s such a great feeling when people enjoy your work.

With that said it’s heads down now as we start our Christmas shows on the 29th June!! It sounds bonkers but if you’re a crafter you need the head start in order to meet the deadline.

www.quiltingantics.co.uk