October 2022 furtle- all about the sew alongs!

 Well cheers! Gosh October has been a busy busy month. When I was working I would longingly look at all the sew alongs going on and dream of the day I could join in, well that day came on August 30th 2022 ! 

 I joined in the Alderwood studio solstice sampler sal,I'm loving it but blimey it shows me that my piecing accuracy is not good ... I've been doing so much paper piecing that I haven't had to think about accuracy for a while this sal is good to get me back in to it. I'm using an old layer cake and some Tilda I picked up cheap. It's got a nice vintage vibe to it I think.

Block 3 of solstice sampler

The first sal I started was the mini series by Alison Glass and Giucy Giuce. These teeny blocks have kept me busy over October,  I'm doing them all in Lucy Engles fabrics, I had a lot of scrap packs of her fabrics which were perfect for this.

The weather here has been shocking so poor scoobs had to do a bumper set of husbands holding quilts shots ! Above is my Siblings bee quilt for 2022, all blocks made by bee mates.

Above is the quiet play in the garden bom, all done in liberty for the Alice Caroline quilt sos. 

Above is my second quilt for Alice Caroline quilt sos,  a simple brick quilt, the fabrics are the stars here.

Above are the first two blocks for the solstice sampler sal, the bottom one the candy wrapper one looks the simplest but was really challenging! Mine is a bit of a mess but I'm fine with it!

We had a lovely brekkie here, this place was one of our go to places when I was shielding,  I'm still getting used to getting out and about,  shielding was necessary but very hard to come out of, I'm getting there though!

Round up of my mini series blocks so far!

One of the very best things about retirement is spending more time with chums, I had two lovely sewing days with chums early in October,  just wonderful. 

I made an Emmeline bag in this lovely Australian Xmas fabrics which the lovely Kim brought back.

I also strapped on my big girl pants and went on a train!

Here is a better picture of my first block for the solstice sampler sal

My lovely present from my beautiful chum Sue, I love having this in the sewing room. One of my dearest wishes for retirement was to spend more time with chums and sewing,  looks like that has come true 😊

Finally a new chum for the sewing room! Wally the wombat all the way from Australia 🇦🇺 

Finally some sewing for a guild challenge it's got to be a log cabin quilt, I'm using quilting jet girls uneven log cabin pattern in some winter metallics, needs to be done for early December so better get a wiggle on!

Siblings quilt bee quilt for 2022

 

Another post for completeness and for the fettling! I love the siblings bee I am in on IG, great group, I always pick May as my month because that is my birthday month and it means I dont have to make a block (not that they are hard or anything!) This May we were away and I was looking at the chat to see what was posted for the months block then I realised it was me!!!!! what a numpty! so I fessed up and asked for a simple four patch in green and blue, I think you will agree its come out really well!

In the Garden SAL

 

Oh blimey lots of last minute posts to fill in gaps all for the f!ettle and accountability! this was a fab SAL from Quiet Play - in the garden, I made it all in  Liberty Fabrics, used up a lot some with great memories of Standfast and Barracks trips etc! this will go to Alice Caroline quilt SOS for 2022 

Sewing with chums!

 Oh this I have so missed I have really really missed having chums round setting up the tables and sewing and chewing the fat. This week it was such a blessing to have not one but two chums round, two days of sewing and laughter, how wonderful.

First up was lovely Sue accompanied by the equally lovely Boo, we made Emmaline bags! I loved it

Awwwwww its been so long since there was a floof in the sewing room! Boo was so well behaved

How fab is my Emmaline bag made in Jocelyn Proust fabric brought back from Australia by the lovely Kim!

Next day was sewing with my chum Tricia, she is a keen sewer but quite new to patchwork so we went over a lot of the basics, she is a quick learner!

this is what retirement is about, fun and spending time with lovely people, just the fair dab!

Coming out of shielding and settling into retirement

Let it never be said that i am a fair weather walker! Retirement has been weird, no two ways about it, not bad but just weird. I didnt envisage settling into retirement in the aftermath of a global pandemic which pretty much shut down the world for almost two years and resulted in me shielding for two years. I cant claim shielding was bad because i felt i was pretty lucky, very understanding husband, lovely chums who couldn't have been nicer and more considerate to me but still it wasnt easy. 

I didnt know how i would feel re entering the world, and to be honest it has been strange, the thought of breathing in other peoples air does still freak me out a bit.

So at the start of retirement i did worry that all I would be able to do was walk, and to be fair round here that isnt too shabby!

But i know I need more than this, a lovely chum gave me a picture for retirement, there was a space on he wall which fitted it perfectly:

Yes every dream does begin with a wish and my wish is to settle back into the world as much as i can.

These chaps are lovely but their conversations are a bit lacking!

Pink throne for Jacky and the orange throne for me!

But hey i digress. I strapped my big girl knickers on and got myself an over 50s scotrail card and went on my first train in almost 3 years ....

Jings havent seen this for a long long time ....

And it was fine, a bit nervous but hey i did it!

Went into Edinburgh, pootled about some graveyards then met up with chums for lunch, and it was so so so so good!

Im loving being out again, there were times when i thought it might never happen but i am so glad it has and i am LOVING it!

Retirement sewing room renovation

It wasnt just the work from home office which had become infused with work and work stress, the sewing room had taken a lot of it too plus retirement is a time to reflect and just see exactly how i want to make it work for me now in retirement. SOOOOOOO a long over due renovation started.

Above is how it started! I really wanted to get all the fabric in order so cue much unpacking and re folding, very therapeutic!

Who is the queen of fabric folding? well that would be ME!

this is still a work in progress but it feels so much better now

 

Skye

 Cheers! so this happened! first holiday which was not annual leave 😊blimey! so I broke out the 18k prosecco which my beautiful chum Jacky gave me for this very occasion! and pretty damn fine it was too.

We had a lovely cottage - Teenys cottage, very cosy and snug. 

Day one was outing to Fairy Glen, small but very pretty.

The weather was very Scottish!

Thats Scoobs up the top!

Day 2 was the Museum of Island life

Flora MacDonalds grave

Followed by dinner at the 3 Chimneys ... OMG totally amazing!

Oysters to start

Best langoustine i have EVER had

Venison and OMG the chanterelles ....

We do have a good laugh!

My dessert .... totally fab

Day 3 was Dunvegan Castle and Gardens scampi for lunch then the Fairy Pools!

Day 4 last day was up to Neist point ligthouse

Followed by one of the best meals I have ever had! OMG Edinbane lodge was amazing