Tuesday 18 August 2015

Busy busy

Hubby was off last week on holiday so we were quite busy catching up on all the usual bits and bobs that tend to get left till the holidays. One of which was kitchen hunting as our existing kitchen is falling to pieces .... literally! Handles have snapped on drawers and I have forgotten how long we have lived with drawers that no longer stay closed. However the final straw was when one of the drawer fronts fell off and couldn't be put back on then we had a leak with the new washing machine which caused the chipboard in the base units to swell and now the doors don't close. You've got to laugh really. We have set a budget as our plan has always been when I get a job to move onto pastures new in a year or two and found a kitchen that we both like. My goodness we have been living in the dark ages with our existing kitchen the gadgets you can get now wow! Proving drawers I like but do we really need one? Instant boiled water taps hubby loves but ouch the price! Now just got to get sorted with a kitchen fitter. Oh and I've still to choose tiles and flooring hubby wants a tile/slate floor but I think we're better with vinyl as we don't plan to stay on here ah decisions decisions...

I have only done a little stitching as it was our local flower show this weekend and the kids went into last minute panic mode making and creating. We all did well with our entries the girls won the junior and handicraft trophies and I won the adult handicraft trophy. Sadly the number of entries for our little show were down on last year which were down on the previous years entries. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come I try to support our local village and be involved in the community but things are changing and sadly not always for the better. I got round to getting my BBD Forget Me Not sampler framed and entered it into the show, it won a first place I was very pleased now just got to find somewhere to hang it.


I've started a couple of new projects the first is this baby blanket for another new niece that is due in December so I've chosen warm cosy wool in alpaca by Drops. This yarn is sooo soft and I am using up more stash so I've chosen to crochet random stripes.
I've finally decide how to use the rest of the fabrics I won from Gilly at Gilly makes blog. I've chosen to make a patchwork quilt. It has been a very long time since I did any quilting so I chose a simple block pattern to break myself in with. I've learnt the hard way the importance of accurate cutting and stitching as some of the squares are ever so slightly off but no matter it just a family quilt for family use. 
My sons cushion is coming along slowly had to take a wee break to gather more supplies of thread as I chose to stitch in basket weave which uses more thread up but I feel makes for a thicker harder wearing surface as well as better coverage than half cross stitch as the kit suggests stitching it.
Well that's all folks for the moment as it is the last day of the school holidays here we are going to be busy ironing uniforms, breaking in new shoes and generally enjoying the last day of no routine although we did get up early today so it won't be such a shock to certain teenagers systems tomorrow! Thanks as always for taking the time to pop by.



8 comments:

Vickie said...

Our teenage daughter starts her last day of high school on Thursday. I am lucky. She is always an early riser, like me. ;)
What a gorgeous baby blanket.
Congratulations on your lovely first prize!

Vickie said...

Our teenage daughter starts her last day of high school on Thursday. I am lucky. She is always an early riser, like me. ;)
What a gorgeous baby blanket.
Congratulations on your lovely first prize!

Christine B said...

Hello Ali! Congratulations on winning first prize at the village show! You have so many lovely projects on the go... there are all beautiful! Good luck with the kitchen! Christine x

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

I love your BBD and congrats on your trophy! It is sad to see diminishing handworks, etc in our local communities. School has been in session three weeks here and we are well and truly on a schedule once again - I love the days of leisure but am always glad to get back on a routine!

Mary said...

All of your projects are lovely! Congratulations on the first place win.

Gabriella said...

Lovely projects. Ciao.

Brigitte said...

Your BBD sampler looks very beautiful , congratulations on winning first prize with it. And congrats to the whole family for entering objects for the show and winning prizes. We don't know such shows here, at least I have never heard of one. Sad to know that the number of entries is diminishing with each year.
You made a lovely quilt and started a very nice blanket.

Carol said...

I just purchased that BBD chart, Ali, and seeing how pretty yours turned out makes me want to get started on it right away! It well deserves a trophy :)