D Day +2 and counting!

Hello,

Back again with nothing to report re Baby... though I did have a mad dash to DD's on Friday (D Day) as she got sent to the hospital again :-( Blood pressure up! swollen feet!! baby in strange position!!! difficult to hear heartbeat!!!! may need to induce immediately!!!!!!)

 So off I went with knitting in hand - could be a long wait I thought! (actually my knitting was in a knitting bag as I was driving!!) arrived at DD's house, to be greeted by 2 very excited Grand-dogs and guess what? Granny forgot to bring doggie treats and she ALWAYS has some in her pocket :-(((( Many barks and much licking later found the ones in the Treat jar and Grand Dogs calmed down so, made some tea (Well this was a 'crisis' and that's what we Brits do in a Crisis eh! LOL) Had not been there any more than an hour when DD arrived home, panic over Phew!!! Dr. NOT too worried - swollen feet - fairly normal in this heat and at this stage of pregnancy, BP normal, Baby IS in odd position - after ultrasound scan all was revealed - Babe is back to front! head down but facing forward which explains 'funny position', and why heart beat is difficult to hear and WHY DD is being kicked in the Boobs! (I remember that feeling, that's exactly how DD was pre -birth though we didn't know this till she was being delivered :-O ) and he (the Dr.) wouldn't think of inducing DD till at LEAST 2 weeks overdue. SO.... we made a cup of tea (relief this time) had a snack and I came home. I'm putting it all down to a good practice run. LOL

Yesterday was spent in the workroom, I finished another Sunflower Pin Cushion, this one started by a friend who is moving away and she thought I would like to finish it to sell at the Group Exhibition in October.

Then I did a bit of work on my current UFO, Hand Applique this time, I took it to the caravan with me last week and got quite a bit done so thought to continue. This was 1 of 2 Hawaiian Applique Cushion Kits bought from Maggie Davis at Quilts UK (Malvern Show) several years ago. At first I did not get the hang of her technique at all, despite very clear instructions at the show so, when she came to talk to us at WPQ about a year later, I asked her again and she very patiently explained and showed me the technique again but.... so around another year later she came to talk at SVQ and... by then the look on her face said it all - Oh No! here comes that  '......' woman again! However she once more patiently explained and demonstrated and guess what? I GOT IT!!!! I was so delighted I bought her book 'Perfect Points' which she signed for me and I came home and finished the applique on the first piece in no time and quickly set about starting the other one, then it got put aside for another more urgent interesting project and came to life about 2 weeks ago on the BOOKSHELF???? Quite how it got there one wonders, but anyway that's the next project and this is it along with the first one... they are are original traditional designs by Maggie and her choice of fabrics are lovely, even though I've had them a few years I still love the fabrics but wish I had not chosen black backgrounds!!

  Here is Maggie's book, published by Team Works Craftbooks (ISBN 0 9532590 7 2) it's very good at explaining her techniques for hand applique with lots of easy to follow diagrams and tips for both left and right handers and has some super projects to whet your appetite for this type of work.

I will Echo Quilt them when the applique is done in variegated/ toning thread, similar to this one made at an SVQ workshop many years ago when I was a Newbie Quilter.. It's not finished (no surprise there then! LOL) I use it as as an Hawaiian Applique sample when I give my talk entitled 'A Trip Around The World' as I do like to be able to show the workings of certain pieces. In my ignorance at the time I use some Poly cotton with a piece of hand dyed fabric for the motif, after quilting it, it was fairly grubby so I popped it in the washer with some towels, where-on the Hand dyed fabric bled like there was no tomorrow, the towels did not take the colour (well! not so you would notice) :-0 but the poly cotton went kinda blotchy pink, I had used a variegated thread so that was OK and the piece is now know as 'Hawiian Sunrise' as you can see I have not quilted the centre (which always done in traditional pieces) but I will do so on the 2 cushions.

What am I reading right now? Well I found a very good book, which is a fascinating read, about the lives, times and living conditions of  Diplomatic Wives in their supporting roles for husbands in foreign postings. Written by the daughter of a diplomatic family it gives a really good insight of what these women put up with throughout history and even today during many years spent in service to this Country.

Well I'm signing off now but will be back if there's anything to report.
Lorraine