My wish is to have time to relax on that sofa with some hand sewing, and something festive to eat and drink.

I know that won’t happen on ‘the day’ but Boxing day will do.

The studio is taking shape and I have been over there doing some work, but I’m still in that transition stage, where whatever it is I need to put my hands on…it’s in the *other* building.

I’ve noticed a few of us are enjoying new spaces at the moment…

Sue from I Sew Quilts

And Sally from Feather on a Wire

I’ve not yet moved my fabrics over, I need to work out where I want my shelves.  And I just know I’ll change the furniture around a couple of times before I settle…and even then I’m likely to change it again.

Maybe it’s a Libra thing.

I do know it’s a DH thing to want to put shelves up just the once

So here’s a pic of the studio looking a bit more lived in.

Ahem,

That was all written last week…and I’ve only just sat down to blog again.

And the first thing I did was pop a new header photo up top…it’s a fabric I got on ebay.

Never saw this Margo Krager Dargate on our shores, at least not at any quilt shops I frequent.

However I don’t think it really ‘goes’ with the other colours and unfortunately I can’t find the previous blog header photo.  It’s possibly in the folder that Jenn made, it has sub folders and each one she has marked *don’t touch* mmmmm

When she comes out next I’ll smile and ask her to put it back how it was…please.

I hope you all had a super Christmas, I have to do secret shots of my family because we’re all a bit camera shy.

I managed to snap this one of them relaxing after making short work of the antipasto platter.

DH has his back to the camera and I have caught my two kiddies chatting away like the happiest of siblings that they are.

Christmas was a small affair this year, which was very nice for the cook, moi.

Since then, I have been catching up with hand sewing so my Christmas wish did come true

I had a few Maltaville blocks earmarked to F.i.n.i.s.h., they had been hanging around way too long in various stages of completed-ness, so they went to the top of the ‘to do’ list.

Block A5 was pretty straight forward… four small stars and eight little hearts.  Tick

Block H2 was another matter entirely.  I had in fact progressed beyond this photo and months ago had sewn the centre shape…

but horror of horrors, the middle bit of it where the blades come together looked lopsided, even tho it looked perfectly symmetrical on the pattern sheet.

Well that was how it has stayed all that time but this week was the week to get it off the wall and deal with it.

Back to the drawing board, making sure the centre was a circle.

And while I was at it, I decided to sew the star using Barbara Brackman’s method of a star from a circle which I mentioned a while ago,  here’s Barbara’s method here

I had made a couple of hasty trials (with bad results) in the past but for this one I calculated I needed a 4″ star with 1″ cuts.  That should give me the star shape I wanted.  I know I’m missing the point of this being a ‘free-form’ star aren’t I!

Nope…I can’t live with that. I know it’s a satisfactory replica of the stars on the original quilt but I just am not happy with the way it looks.  I know they are supposed to be ‘imperfect’ and template free and I know I am missing the point of it all completely but it’s not how I want my quilt to look…not my Maltaville anyway, maybe on another quilt it’d work for me.

I think the ladies of the 19th Century were just plain better at doing it sans template than I am.

So for this quilt I’ve gone back to the other way ~ an eight pointed star cut from a template.

This block is now finished, so H2 done. Tick

C3 The Iris… this was a block that required only four Dark Blue pieces and a clayx added to it.

Of course, the reason I procrastinate over a block (and I’m sure we’re all the same) is that I’m just not happy with it and I’m not sure why yet…but it will come to me if I leave it long enough LOL

As I added each of the last four Dark Blue pieces, The Brown became less and less Okay until it just had to go.

I know the block would have originally been much stronger tones and probably a purple, but I liked the way it has faded to a warm brown.   But it wasn’t looking right in my version.  So now it is Purple.

Off with the old, on with the new!!

And while I was at it, that free form star is going too cos I’m not doing them like that now.

I love that Smithsonian fabric but it’s just a bit ‘flat’,

C2 finished. Tick

And one more block to show, truly all this done since Boxing Day.

This one has been drafted for a while but I hadn’t had a chance to do any more with it, but now finished. Tick.

I’d like to get a little more quilting done on the Welsh Quilt too but someone has other ideas.

In our house a cat can sleep peacefully knowing they will never be moved.

til soon