Too rushed to think

Have you ever heard the comedians who can run through an entire Shakespeare play in about 2 minutes? That is what the past couple of weeks have been like for me...yesterday I spent a couple of hours just chilling by the river. It helped!


Just before I left for Scotland I learned my niece's apartment in the states had burned down. She and my (gulp) great-nephew were ok but shaken up. It is the helpless feeling you get living so far from family that makes you realize it may be time to go home. They lost everything. So I did what I could - pack a box, write a check and quickly start quilting. Today I have to put the binding on his new quilt so I can get it into the mail before the weekend. I'm also sending him this stippy star quilt that a made a couple years ago and Bonnie quilted. I think they need some brights right now.

As I am working on the second quilt I have been thinking of how stress helps or hurts creativity. For writing deadlines and stress help me...for quilting they paralyze me! Maybe it is because I look at it as a hobby or something to spend time enjoying the process...like the 3 hours I spent pulling fabrics in my sewing room! Oh well...the quilt will be finished soon and if it isn't my best it is still a fun quilt and I am sure the little guy will like it.

My eyes are getting better but the slightest thing wears me out. I went to see a medieval dovecote yesterday and have lunch with friends. That was it. (Two hours of entertainment equals 6 hours of sleep.)

The dovecote was part of a settlement of Knight of the hostelers (spelling?) The area was pretty much self sufficient with the dovecote to provide dove meat and eggs, a fish pool that come off the river Coln, and lots of fruit trees. The second photo shows the inside of the dovecote. There is a lot of light and an incredible ladder that swings around the center pole! Amazing engineering! (love to have that in a library!) The holes for the doves are sort of J shaped and alternate directions of the loop by level. There have been several archaeological excavations on the site but few of the original building survived. It is all on private land but a local anglo- american group arranged a visit.

The main gate also still stands and has this wonderful carving above it.

Home again...

We got home late yesterday afternoon from our vacation/holiday to Scotland. It is a beautiful country and the people we met were all very nice. I wish I had gone there earlier so I could make sure of a return trip before going back to the states....maybe I still can?!

We stayed at a B&B in Edinburgh. I cannot believe how many Americans we ran into there. It is a really interesting city. Lots of wonderful patterns in the stonework and very long slightly spooky alleyways going up the hill.

I had planned on taking a writers pub crawl but by the end of the first afternoon I was just to tired. We caught a cab to go back to our B&B and instead got a taxi writer's tour that ended at what the Royal Oak which he claimed to be one of the last authentic folk music pubs in the city. Of course he could have made the whole tour up (who knows if that is really the coffee shop the J.K. wrote Harry P) but I'll never know and I don't know if it even matters! It was fun.

This is me in front of Edinburgh castle. It is a long climb up the Royal Mile to reach the castle. My eyes were still wonky and I'm sure half the folks we passed thought I was a very early drinker...I was wobbling all over the place! (The centuries old cobblestones didn't help either!) This photo is also a great example of how my DH thinks...things must be symetrical even if it means the bottom half of the photo is all parking lot and we miss most of the castle. The body must be in the center! Oh, well.

There were lots of well, interesting things on the pub menus and before you ask...no, we did not try haggis. My Dh is a fussy eater and I was trying new drugs to keep going. I don't know what a Neep and Tattie is...knowing what haggis is makes me very suspicious of the rest! We did do our part sampling real ales and malts though.

I didn't take as many photos this trip because of my eyes but I did get some of the wonderful building decorations. This carving of the woman is one of my favorites.

Well got to run to a local auction. A friend want me to check out some chairs. They may need reupholstering and she isn't sure how difficult it would be. Like I need an excuse to go to an auction...well, I do right now since my Dh is worried about our weight limit going home (he doesn't know I have someone ready to take away his nasty recliner!)

Gardens and sunshine

I have had more visitors which throws my blogging time way off! That and finally having some sunny weather has made my eyes wonky too. If its not one thing it is another no?

Anyway, I ended up spending a lot of time playing with my photos. I am getting a bit better about deleting duplicates and some of the poorer lamb shots! I also worked on my wonky crumb quilt (wonky eyes work well with wonky quilts.) I think I may put a few bands of blue and/or green around the outside and call this a day. It used up quite a bit of my crumbs and several of my orphan "Janes." I still have a bagful or crumbs though (in the upper right is only a tiny portion of them!) I need to do something with them before they multiply...like Tribbles (sorry for the geeky star trek reference...it just fits sooo well.)

I have also gone to a few open gardens. They look so wonderful. The photos on the left was taken in a bog garden. I love how the leaves are draped around it like a basket.

The village we went to Sunday had lots of thatched roof houses. Always photogenic!

What a Sunday

Yesterday I made the most of being in the Cotswolds. First I went on a long hill walk with McBeth and my DH. The weather was wonderful. They both went home to rest and I went on to a 21st birthday celebration for a local pottery! Toff Milway is the potter at Conderton Pottery. He used a salt glaze and makes gorgeous pots. His talk was very interesting. On one table he displayed pottery he has purchased over the past 20 years. On the other table were post he has made during the same time span. He then talked about how what he has purchased - which generally looks nothing like what he makes - has influenced either directly or indirectly what he creates. None of them were copies. It was more like - he bought an icecream dish with a fish on it. The fish idea stayed with him (and he loves fish pie...lots of food references in his talk) so he made a fish plate and a dish for fish pie using a - you got it - fish. (I think you can just make out a fish dish and a fish candle-holder in the photo.) It was a very informative talk without being too academic. I started to think differently of my own quilt and pottery collection.

All and all a great morning...but, there's more!

On my way home I ran into one of my neighbors who owns a flock of sheep. They (my neighbors) have been very patient with my lamb-paparazzi tendencies. To my amazement she asked if I would like to come over to the barn where her husband was shearing sheep. How cool is that! Another thing to cross off my "what I'd like to do while in England list!." I was amazed at the different personalities among the flock. One the ewe fought like crazy and jumped the gate! The next was so mellow she looked like she was going to fall asleep. Isn't it great to have neighbors like this.

I have been spending a lot of time playing with Picassa. Tonya put it on my computer while she was visiting but with company in town I only just started playing with it...what a blast! I've done lots of wild things with my Stonehenge photos. By the way the National Geographic channel has a special on Stonehenge that I watched this weekend. I highly recommend it. Not that I agree with everything they said but they do present some new ideas on the site and have some wonderful cinematography (but hey, it is National Geographic after all....)

So what does this mean for quilting. Uhmmm...I haven't done much with a needle this week. Lot sof ideas though....

Late show photos

Now my posts are a bit wonky in order...I know the show was a few weeks ago and I have posted since then but I've had visitors and my life has been a bit hectic! I also noticed I have been posting about a lot of things that have nothing to do with quilts...what am I thinking!

I will not make any claims to these being the best nor the most interesting quilts at the show. They are however the ones that caught my eye and came out best in the photos. I was my usual disorganized self and did not make notes...I thought I could just enlarge the photos and read the name of the maker...duhhh, the show labels don't have the names of the quilt or the maker only the number! So my apologies to the makers. If anyone knows their names I would be very happy to post them.

I really liked the use of vertical patterns in this first quilt. It has a tribal or aboriginal feel without being too kitsch. I also love the inner borders that are different on each side of the quilt.


The second quilt (bright green) also has an interesting vertical pattern. I liked the simplicity of the pattern and the balance of the colors.
















The theme of the show was architecture. Of course we spent a lot of time checking out any wonky or near wonky houses! This was just a fun quilt. I liked the sunrise at the upper left, the cat at the bottom and the log cabin blocks that seperate the rows of houses.







So totally loved the orange-ness of this little wall-hanging! Beads, buttons, and fuzzy stuff just make you smile!


Woops, off the make dinner...more later!

Visitors in town

I've been off the grid for a bit. The day after Tonya left my sister and her husband arrived from the states. I like having visitors since it gives me such a good excuse for seeing more of England.

Our first day we spent in Cheltenham seeing the regency style houses and visiting a proper English tea room. We then headed out to the country-side to see some Cotswold villages and take lots of photos of thatched roof cottages and roses. Stanton and Stanway are two of my favorite villages.

The next day we drove down to see Stonhenge and Avebury to see the standing stones. Stonhenge is large and some ways more imprssive but Avebury allows you to go right up the stones (plus the bonus of the sheep and lambs...such a weakness I have for lamb photos!) We also got to see the town my Mom lived in for part of WWII, Tidworth.

I took hundreds of photos that day and am tossing around some ideas of what to do with them. The Stonhenge ones I particularly like. I've even considered an "art"quilt!

Quiet House

With Tonya on her way back to Paris the house is very quiet again. Brownie has slept all afternoon...guess all the attention wore the little cat out!

Today I worked a bit on my Santa red-work. I have finished three so only 9 more to go! They are very fun and relaxing. The pattern is from Bird Brain Designs and is aptly titled "Here Comes Santa Quilt."

While Tonya was here we did a lot of tea drinking. I even got into the kitchen and made some Fruit Scones which go very well with clotted cream. (Calories don't count when friends visit - right?!) She asked for me to post the recipe so here goes....

Fruit Scones
3 cups flour
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter
1/4 cup chopped dried apricots
1/4 cup chopped dried cherries
1/4 cup currants
1 teaspoon grated lemon or orange rind
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk

Glaze: 1 to 2 tablespoons of sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon of water

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl; stir well. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Stir in apricots, cherries, currants, and citrus rind. Add buttermilk and stir until dry ingredients are moistened. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly 4-5 times.

Pat dough into a 10-inch circle on a an un-greased baking sheet. Combine water and egg and brush top of the scones. Sprinkle with sugar. Cut into 12 wedges; separate the wedges slightly (about 1/4 to 1/2 inch.) Bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 22 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm. (Though we ate some for breakfast the next morning and they were still good!)

When I made the scones this week I didn't have currant so used more apricots and cherries. I also doubled the amount of lemon rind because I knew I was going to use some of my quilting friend's lemon marmalade...so wonderful!

The photo below shows one of my favorite gardens. It is outside the village of Doddington and for a few weeks in spring looks like a black and white garden (up close you find out the tulips are really dark purple.)

Quilt Show!

Tonya and I made it to the Malverns Quilt Show and back to Teddington in one piece. Our plans to not buy any fabric were busted 10 steps in the door! The second stall was manned by Kim Porter of Worn and washed reclaimed fabrics. The photo below is of her stall. It so made us think of Bonnie and her new book. Kim has a great sense of color. The rolls were hard to resist...so we didn't. Two of our rolls are in the first photo. We also got some packages of fat quarters in bright plaids, some indigo fat-quarters and some very fun Indian stamps. Not as much damage as I've done at some shows and more than others!

Now we are going upstairs to my quilt room so Tonya can "shop my stash" and find some bits to go with her new fabrics and maybe drink our 100th cuppa tea!
We also have to chase Goldie out of the guest room again...she isn't sure why T has taken over "her" bed!

Sunny Days!

I have been bad about posting, cleaning house, quilting or just about any responsible thing the past few days....blame it on the weather. We have sun. Beautiful, beautiful sun!

We went on a long walk around Snowshill on Saturday. The woods were filled with wild garlic in full bloom. Boy was it fragrant! Wonderful. We had lunch at a local pub. All and all a great day. I just can't bring myself to stay indoors. I have lots of cleaning to do for visitors coming this month and two quilts to finish. Maybe I'll just walk MacBeth....

Jane Austen visit and recipie

I finally made it to Bath where, as my husband puts it, I "stalked" Jane Austen. He just doesn't get it... Anyway, the city was wonderful, the sun was shining, and I ate way too many scones with clotted cream. It doesn't get better than that. Oh, ya, and there is a very cute quiting store...bonus!


Here is some of the regency architecture. There were four crescents surrounding a small park. The photo below shows the detail between the first and second floors. There were hundreds of different patterns. They reminded me of appliqué.
I would definitely like to get back there again. I was able to go to the Abbey but ran out of steam and didn't see the baths (no pun intended!) don't you just love these carved angels climbing the ladder! They were on both side the Abbey. (And check out those blue skies!!!!)

A couple of folks asked for the Blueberry Pound Cake recipe. I think it came from Cooking Light but it may have been Southern Living. If they don't come from my family then 90% of the recipes I use are from one of those magazines.

Blueberry Pound Cake

2 cups sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup reduced fat cream cheese, softened
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups flour, divided
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 (8-ounce_ carton of lemon yogurt
1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
(optional: grated lemon peel)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat granulated sugar, butter and cream cheese at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs one at a time. Beat in vanilla.

Combine 2 Tablespoons of flour and blueberries in a small bowl and toss to coat. Combine remaining flour, baking powder, baking soda and slat. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternating with yogurt - beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Fold in blueberry mixture.

Pour into a 10-inch tube pan coated with cooki8ng spray. Sharply tap pan once on counter to remove air bubbles. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Cool cake in pan for 10 minutes. remove from pan. Combine powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl (optional: add 1 tsp grated lemon peel.) Drizzle over warm cake. Cut using a serrated knife.

Food Festival

It has been a pretty dreary weekend here. I could do with a full day of sun right around now...I worked a bit on the border for my around th world quilt. Goldie has claimed it as hers - but then she does that for every quilt!

We did go to a fun food festival in Tewksbury this weekend. Lots of organic stalls...though to be honest we only had some Old Spot sausages and some local beer. I think I was overwhelmed by the choices. My main reason for going was to see Paul Rankin, a TV chef, do a cooking demonstration. The demonstration tent was very crowded though and when I went to sit down I was body checked by a young guy who really wanted that seat. Only I could get a twisted knee at a cooking demo!

We bought some lemon yogurt so I can make my blueberry lemon pound cake today. That will make me feel like spring!

Prague

I'll get back to my quilting after this post...I just had to put up some photos of Prague. It is a beautiful city! Lots of museums and old buildings. Lots of old and new art. Even some Dixie music on a 14th century bridge!


I loved how the restaurant below had different fabrics on each of the chairs! There were several outdoor spots like that . Obviously it made me think of quilts!

The next two photos are from St. Charles Bridge. A great spot if a bit crowded with tourists. It has dozens of statues along the bridge with lots of artists selling their works. I wish we had a bit more sunshine but at least it didn't rain!

Polish Pottery Trip

I've been off-line a for the past week because I went to visit Poland and Prague. It was a very interesting trip...

It started when I was unpacking my car at the hotel in Fairford. A woman walked up to me and asked, "Do you blog?" How weird is that?! She is a quilter who enjoys reading the Maverick blog ring.

The next morning we left at 0500 in a 16 passenger van with lots of space for shopping...we used every inch of it! Seventeen hours and countless bags of junk food later we were in Poland. Our main purpose of the trip was to visit the potteries. There are a lot of potteries there. In our first day we visited at least a dozen stores - I lost count. I lost count of a lot of things - like how many cups I bought, how many boxes of pottery the driver loaded in the van with my name on it, and just how much I spent. I'm calling it pottery amnesia.


In some ways it was a lot like fabric shopping. There are so many beautiful patterns and so many of them mix that putting them together was similar to pulling pieces for a quilt. My favorite purchase is the 6 mugs each with a different design to use on a mug tree.

I also really liked our visit to a tiny pottery workshop where they had many unique pieces. They also were very nice about letting me take photos in their work areas. I love to see how things are made! The photo below shows one of the drying racks stacked with pots. After they air dry they go to the painting room.
Here are some waiting to be glazed/painted.
Below are some items that have been painted and are waiting to go into the kiln. It is interesting to see how different the glaze is prior to being fired. They look very pale and dull...
After the firing they are very vibrant! I can't wait to make some soup for this tureen!


Last trip they found a store that sold fabric that went with the pottery but we couldn't find it this trip. Guess I will have to get creative when I make my table runners.

I'll post some of my photos of Prague tomorrow. Need to finish unpacking an do laundry! (don't you hate that part of traveling?!)

Around the world

I haven't been blogging much the past week so this is a bit of a catch-up blog.

The good news is I have five bags of clothing to go to the charity shop and four boxes of "stuff" for them as well. I made some progress on the clear out and get ready to move front. Of course I also went to an auction and bought two very cute bedroom chairs, a painting and a regency period writing desk. So much for the clear-out space! But the new/old stuff is just more fun than a couple bags of suits!
I also finished piecing an Around the World quilt top using Bonnie's directions. I had the blocks done for months and after reading her post about her copyright being elbowed I thought I should put the blocks together. I used a lot of my 2-1/2 inch strips of 1930's reproduction fabrics. I would like to put a border on this but am going to wait a week or so. My first inclination is to use a 1 inch strip of red then a wider border...unfortunately I don't have any solid red left in my stash and this was to use up. So instead I may use a very deep royal blue instead of the red and maybe use some red print strips for the outer border. I'll have to think on it!

We did go on a steam train ride last weekend. The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway runs along the hills in back of my village to the race course. It was on my list of things to do before I leave. Yahoo...something to scratch off the list! Makes me think a bit of the Hogwart's Express...it was very fun.

I have started on the next step of the Orange Crush mystery quilt. My 2 inch squares are cut...it is something! I have a busy week in front of me though and I may not get much more than that done for a bit...Hope I don't get too far behind.

A little finish

Lately I have been working on small projects. Read that as little projects that can be actually finished in a day - if not a few hours. Sometimes any finish is a good finish. First I planted a few more pots out by the front door. My house was in desperate need of some color. I love these pansies!
Then I made up a little cat-flower pin cushion. Very quick and very fun. It is sitting with my favorite laughing rabbit...he is always the last Easter decoration to be put away. (Some years he stays until Christmas!)

Finally I finished up[ my 150 4-patch blocks for the orange crush mystery quilt. Can you believe I finished a step before the next one is posted. Mark this day on the calendar!!! I actually made 162...so my math is still a bit iffey....

New meds have me a bit off kilter at the moment. I have to cut back on a new pain med since it is making me a bit dizzy (no jokes here.) My husband is complaining there are times I just "phase" and stare out into space (he also claims that is why I burned the block on the ironing board...he may have a point) I'm hoping it is just a matter of reducing the dosage since it started out working well. So until I am cleared to use the iron and the sewing machine without supervision (his word not mine!) I am back to the little non-hazardous projects like sorting fabric...