Hello my lovelies. I hope you’ve all enjoyed a sun filled summer. If I’m honest up until the first day of September I was still waiting for summer to arrive! Now I am looking forward to autumn arriving. I can’t wait to wear cosy pullovers, warm scarves and comfy boots. I feel like knitting and taking on as many woolly pursuits as I can find. The reality is that I have plenty of projects on the go which need my attention first.
I would like to file a “what I did over the summer holidays” type of report but I’m not sure I have enough to fill in the blanks. It’s been a quiet summer waiting for legal stuff to happen. Well you can all rest assured that things are progressing and life has finally started moving forward. While we wait for the courts to do their thing Sarah and I are definitely moving forward by forming our plan of action and setting out our goals for the future. Sarah has her whole life ahead of her. I, on the other hand, am looking forward to a quiet life free of chaos and drama.
The house is finally getting a simple makeover. We bought a few tester paint pots and painted a few patches to see how they would look.
I have chosen two of the colours, one for the hallway and one for my sewing room. I wasn’t planning on painting the sewing room just yet but I had a bit of a shelving disaster which needed to be sorted quickly. So, I thought while the disaster corner was empty I should clean it before sourcing a new storage unit. Thank goodness for Billy bookcases!!! And of course, it snowballed into a paint job giving the room a proper facelift. Here’s a sneaky peek at the new paint colour and replacement shelf unit …..
I have been working on my Patchwork of the Crosses pretty steady every evening over the summer. I have now joined 25 blocks, 5 across by 5 down. I am planning on making it 8X8 for which I am not even halfway yet! I’m not quite sure where the patience is coming from but I am planning on sticking to it until it’s finished. This is my evening armchair project.
In my quest to brighten up the colours I use in my quilts, I have designed another project which I am in the process of piecing during the day. I am using a white background which makes it much brighter and cheerful. For years, I have used various shades of beige as background. I must admit I really love the freshness of this piece …..
Life has been full of adventures lately. My little car, Miss Daisy, developed a fault and needed to go back to the dealer to be put right.
As the dealer needed to keep the car over the weekend they supplied me with a courtesy car. The car is much bigger than what I am used to …..
I never ever thought I would ever get to drive a Mercedes A Class! It’s a lovely car with a whole load of bells and whistles which I didn’t even know how to use. What a smooth drive compared to my little Daisy the Smart car! As nice as the Mercedes is I really looked forward to getting Miss Daisy back. It’s a relief to see her sitting in my driveway again.
Before we collected Miss Daisy and while the Mercedes car was sitting in my driveway these barriers appeared blocking us in …..
And this inflatable archway appeared just after lunch a few houses over …..
Stage 2 of the Tour of Britain came thru my hometown again. We hosted them two years ago with great success. Someone once said that no one comes to my hometown a few years ago. Well they were very wrong. Blyth, which is my hometown, is located in the county of Northumberland, has now hosted a number of events over the years, one of which was the Tall Ships last summer and the Olympic Torch in 2012 for the London Olympics. There has been quite a lot of money invested in the regeneration of the area making it more suitable for such events as the Tall Ships, Tour of Britain and such. I got really carried away with watching all the lycra clad men riding their bicycles past my front door, so there aren’t any photos of the bikes whooshing past. It was over in no time flat. I wonder what event my little town will be hosting next summer.
Well it’s September now and the garden is coming to the end of its bloominess. Here is what I found during my latest tour of my little garden this morning …..
My findings are that I will be spending a few hours pruning back and making everything tidy for winter. I’m quite looking forward to cutting back some of the growth making it looked loved again. I quite like it sparse look in autumn and winter.
All in all, it’s been a pretty good summer. I had quiet moments which gave me time to reflect upon the past year or so. The leaves are starting to fall and some of the kids have gone back to school now. And I know you don’t want to hear this but I am actually looking forward to Christmas now. It’s not so much Christmas day that I long for but the holidays leading up to Christmas and between Christmas and New Years that I look forward to. That break gives everyone a chance to recharge their batteries for the new year to come.
My Sarah will soon be resuming her studies. This is her last year of university. She has already made a start on her dissertation …..
And for those of you who have missed Maisie. Well she’s still supervising my every move. Maisie makes sure that I’m doing the right thing at the right time.
So, for this evening, this very happy and super ambitious quilt maker will be doing some EPP moving forward on my POTC project. I hope you all have a super cosy evening doing something you thoroughly enjoy. Until you read me again,
Happy stitching ♥ ♥
So glad you are back! You’ve been missed, and I love your colours.
Hi Josie, thank you for your very kind words. I hope to start posting more regularly now. I’m so glad you popped in today x
Hi Lucie, thanks for all the lovely photos. Good to know you are both busy and doing well. Stay happy!
Thanks Joanne. With every passing day, things are getting better x
So lovely to read your blog I can hear the positivity in it ! Well done both of you x this latest blog of yours was posted on our 31st wedding anniversary and has made a lovely peaceful read both of you take care and keep going xxx
Hi Heather, thanks for popping in today. Happy 31st anniversary. 31 years married to one man. He must be a real keeper x
Hi Lucie, glad to see you updating your blog.
Sincerely hope the legal business will soon be all over and done with.
Best of luck to Sarah in her studies.
Lucie after seeing the destruction wrought by the hurricanes
we will settle for what passed as summer.
Glad you didn’t become all posh driving the merc. (ha! ha!)
Your POTC will be a beauty.
Hi Sheila, it’s lovely to hear from you. That merc was really a smooth ride but far too fancy for me. I have my eye on something smaller and more affordable. A girl can dream. Thanks for popping in today x
So glad to see a post pop up Lucie. Your Patchwork of the Crosses is amazing & good for you to keep up the momentum with it. I’m also starting to use white in my quilts instead of creamy/beiges & am enjoying doing that with older type fabrics in my stash. I can’t believe Sarah has nearly finished her uni studies. Where does the time go? Your town is lovely & I remember spending an afternoon there last year, but it was very misty & we couldn’t see much on the waterfront. Your garden is certainly looking better than my poor old frost bitten one. This has been the worst year I’ve known for cold nights. Good luck with your legal wrangle & have a lovely weekend. Take care.
Hi Susan, white looks so fresh. I’m sorry I didn’t start using it sooner. It mixes well with all the different colours and prints in our stash. And it lifts the dull colours. It’s unfortunate that your nights are still so cold. We’re just starting to get cold nights now. I’m quite looking forward to snugglingg under quilts in front of the fire with my hand sewing of an evening. My woolly jumpers andcsocjs are calling me. Thanks for popping in x
Hi Lucie, good to hear about all your activities. Your POTC looks good, I’ve been persuaded to make a few blocks after seeing the beauties popping up on blogs recently – yours included. Your garden looks full of late summer colour – long may it last.
Hi Chris, I’m busy workjng out how to plant up my funky planter for winter in order to have a wee bit of welcoming colour at my front door. The trees are starting to look a little more sparse up here in the north. I’m looking forward to seeing your POTC blocks. I’m addicted to it. Thanks for popping in today x
Hi Lucie, glad to hear things are going well for you – hang on in there, you getting there. May I be very cheeky and ask a huge favour of you. I am teaching the POTC at our Guild’s Fall Festival here in Virginia Beach, VA at the end of October. Your POTC is absolutely beautiful and I wonder if I may use your photo to show as an example of the beauty of the quilt, and the variety of different colorways that can be used. Looking forward to your next update, and more photos of your beautiful work. xxx
Hi Debby, since you took the time to ask for my permission to use my photo, yes if course you can. I hope your students enjoy making Lucy Boston’s beautiful Patchwork of the Crosses quilt. I have thoroughly enjoyed every part of this project including the prep work. It’s the perfect evening armchair project. Thanks for popping in today Debby x
Loving your blog! I’m painting the house this month too….. almost as satisfying as finishing a quilt!
Every bit as satisfying !! Painting covers up all that was giving us a fresh start x