April challenge completed!

This is my April challenge quiltlet from the BQL online group. Paper pieced handbags, hand embellished and machine quilted with random loop de loop squiggles and hearts. Although I didn't particularly enjoy the hand embellishing, the final piece is OK. I'm waiting now for the password for next month's piece...hope I feel more inspired than I have been with this one!

The reason for the particular FMQ design was I've just finished piecing the pink and white log cabin quilt for H's ballet group raffle in June. I'll be quilting it using the same FMQ idea, and hopefully using a pale pink thread.

This weekend I'll be working on a small wallhanging which will be going to my mother in law in August as a thank you for looking after B and H while Mike and I are in Boston. Win, win both ways, I get to try a new technique that's not really "me", and give a gift to Margaret, and if she doesn't find it to her taste either, she only has to hang it if we visit her!

And I got my number for the Plymouth Half last night...eeek!

April quilt progress

I've finally got back from holiday. This time it was a week long narrowboat trip between Alvechurch and Stratford on Avon up in the midlands. We had a fab time, very relaxing, and even managed to get through the locks without too much trouble. By day 3 we'd realised that if you wait a bit longer than you think you really need to, anyone can open the gates.



I even managed to get a few snaps of some paintwork that will go into my inspirations file for possible trapunto or applique designs:





Once we got back, I knew I had to put a lot of work in on the outstanding projects so I can have time to do some paid sewing work. On Sunday I pieced the Jacob's Ladder blocks. Originally I was going to make them into a baby quilt but not for anyone in particular, so they've been made into a table runner instead. There's a couple of spare blocks that I'll make into pot stands.



I did some work on the Plympiecemakers Round Robin. Not too much detail in case the person I'm making for reads this:



Finally, I went round to a friend's house last night, and accidentally came home with 5 metres of fabric OOOPS!!!! I've not started stealing people's stashes, she sells it. Her workroom/stockroom was amazing, lined on one wall with bolts of fabric sorted by colour, then boxes under counters with pre cut FQs, more with threads, but these could have been her own, and rolls of wadding hanging on wooden poles from the ceiling. Talk about envious!! Here's my haul:



The cream is just for stash enhancement, you can never have enough light neutrals. The pink stripe is for the binding on the raffle quilt for Hannah's ballet group and the hand dye look alike is for the stash.

Why I've not blogged recently

I've been getting the bathroom and kitchen refitted and it's all just been too, too traumatic!



Bathroom before



Bathroom after



Kitchen before



Kitchen after.

The sharper eyed amongst you may have spotted the floor in the kitchen isn't down yet and there's no oven. Despite ordering it in January, it's still not arrived. Guess how thrilled I am about that? Should be here tomorrow, but I'm not holding my breath. We're off on holiday soon, so no floor until we're back.

I've also done a race. Teignbridge 10 (miles) which even though I've not been training fully, I managed to take 6 minutes off my previous best time for the distance. Luckily no photographic evidence of this as I went up with a workmate. No medal but a handy T shirt which will double as a tent should we decide to camp while we're away!