Heart to Heart

This has nothing to do with valentines day, I pieced this before Christmas, then, of course, Christmas sewing took over.    I think I like the back as much as the front on this one.

Decided to do something different for the border, I KNOW, a bit rash for me but have to learn sometime.  Well it’s not very good but here goes.

Oh this was so hard, I was that busy concentrating on the free motion I caught my backing fabric a few times, but tough it’s staying, this is a practice quilt, it’s the only way I am going to learn, and yes, just in case you were wondering, I was sticking my tongue out while concentrating!!! 

Not sure what I was trying to achieve here, so....what do you think Diane!?!?! leaves, feathers....look like ballons to me .... LOL

PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE

Sam has been in the dog house again this week…….here is where he was when I came back into the room

Just look at his face…..it tells a million stories……. that quilt is usually on the back of the settee.

 I will give him the benefit of the doubt and say if probably fell down, but then he took full advantage of it and made it into his bed….got to love him.

And, because I am always showing Sam and don’t get many pics of Lady here she is watching me typing on my laptop.

Hope there is no bits of cotton on the floor as I haven’t checked!!  Think she is getting ready for another cut, that will be fun......

Hugs Linda x

Stylish Blogger Award

Well, not quite sure how this happened but I was picked by Staci at The confused Quilter, are you sure about that Staci?!?!?!?

Have looked at other people who have been awarded this and there seems to be some different rules out there!!  Mine says pay it forward to 8 more blogs and tell you 8 things about myself, but I have seen others that say 7......so.......as 8 or 7 seems rather a lot I am going for 5 things as that's all I can thing of to tell you.

1.  One of my dreams was to one day live in France.   As you will guess from the title of my blog I am now living in France and "Living the Dream".  It's not as easy as it was when we first came here, the exchange rate has seen to that.

2.  I am a biker chick!   Or should that be Biker "Chic" now!?!  When I met my husband he had a motorbike and there was no way I was going on the back of that I can tell you!!...however, I was persuaded to give it a try and am so glad I did.  We have had some wonderful holidays touring on our motorbike.  Most of them here in France.

3.  Before I retired to France I had a career in the Civil Service, working in Sheffield and Leeds in the UK.  I was offered a redundancy package in 1996 and I accepted the offer, believe me,  I was out of that door like a shot.

4.  My next dream is to get a caravan and go touring around France before we are both too old!!!

5.  One more thing you don't know about me? okay I have a tattoo, going back to my biker chick days.....now I wonder what it is and where it is.......ah that's for me to know and you to find out.........

Now the five blogs that may be new to you, this is difficult because I haven't been blogging very long myself but here goes.

http://vintagecatnip.blogspot.com/
http://sunburntquilts.com.au/
http://www.thequiltedpineapple.com/
http://veggiehunter.blogspot.com/
http://mypleasureiscooking.blogspot.com/

Phew two posts in one day I must be getting better at this blogging lark!!

Hugs Linda

Home Sweet Home

I bought a panel a while back, at that time not sure what I would do with it.  There are 4 big panels of houses and various small square blocks around the edges. 

Here is what I made with one of the blocks.

Its difficult to see in the picture, I have quilted around the house and the "quilt" on the house, to make them "pop", and I just did a random free motion quilting on the border. The back is the same material as the border.  At the moment it is sat on a side table so I can admire it, and to keep it away from the dogs for a while!!! 

Sorry if this ends up on your dashboard twice, but I am new to all this remember!!  I forgot to add this

Bloggers Pillow Party

I am entering this pillow/cushion into the competition....that's if I can figure out how to enter and how to put everything on my blog!!!

Hugs Linda

Cup of Tea Anybody?

Hi everyone, it's been a bright a sunny day here in France, still cold but I don't mind that, seeing the sunshine lifts my spirits.

I finished my stitchery today, this was going to be a mug rug, but when I had finished doing the stitching, I thought it would look nice as a wall hanging, so that's what I did!

If you click on the picture you can see the stitchery better. 

Not sure exactly where I am going to hang this yet, I just took one of my plates off the wall and put it here so I could take a picture of it, it's going to be in the kitchen, but not sure which wall yet.

Hugs Linda

I can show you what I have been working on now, it is a birthday present for my lovely friend Diane.  Diane is the reason I started my blog, she encouraged me and helped me and has been a true friend.  She has also been very generous in sending me little gifts, even this week I received a package from her with bits and bobs in qulting gloves, buttons etc etc to help me build up my supplies and knowledge, and it's not even my birthday!!  Don't you just love surprises.

Here is what I made her for her birthday

Its from the book On the Run by Heather Mulder Peterson and I used Maison de Garance charm pack, and some fabric from my stash - yeah I have some stash....lol.

It's been a lovely week for me, I received my giveaway prize that I won back in November, 14 fat quarters of Sweet Broderie by Rosalie Quinlan from retromummy thank you Corrie I love it......It looks so much better in the flesh too.

I also received some fat quarters I bought from the The Fat Quarter shop I think one was 50% off and one was 40% off and I do so like a bargain.  The first two pictures are Heavenly Peace by Verna Mosquera For Free Spirits Fabric and lets face it, we all need abit of Heavenly Peace now and again....

The next two are Flair Paisley Panache by Rosemarie Lavin for Windham Fabrics 

This one shows you how I received it

and this one shows you what it's like outside the packet, sorry that's all you are going to get, it's folded so nice I am keeping it like that for a while.....there are 13 different fat quarters and all are yummy.

Today we are removing our built in fridge and the cupboard it is in, and are replacing it with a freestanding  fridge/freezer as there is no room in my kitchen for a freezer, sounded easy when we said we were going to do it, will someone tell me, when all we are doing is taking out a fitted unit with a fridge in and a cupboard above it, why does my kitchen look like a bomb site!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lady "what are they doing now?" .... Sam "haven't got a clue"

Happy Sunday.



Hugs Linda





Rochechouart - Where I Live

Hi everyone, because for some reason I don’t seem to be able to get myself motivated to do any sewing – I KNOW – check my temperature someone!!  I have decided to show you some pictures of where I live in France.

The first two pictures are of the lake at Rochechouart, last year this was all drained and cleared, it looked awful, bulldozers all over the place, definitely not a place to go for a picnic!!  It is suppose to be finished this year.
On Bastille Day (14th July) we have a spectacular firework display, the fireworks are sent off over the lake, it looks beautiful with the reflection in the water, people come for miles and miles to see it, the roads are packed with cars  trying to get to see the fireworks.  We are lucky, we can walk to see it (though as Rochechouart is on a hill, the walking back isn’t much fun anymore!)



The next two pictures are at the night market.  We have a night market every year in August, sometimes we are lucky with the weather sometimes not.  It starts around 6.00pm and goes on until midnight, its a good night for meeting friends, having a stroll around the market, then retiring to a bar for a well earned drink!



This picture is the Chateau at Rochechouart, part of it has been turned into apartments.  It also houses a modern art museum, but I wish is was still as a Chateau should be, it would be nice to see it with the furniture etc as it once was.

This is the church in Rochechouart, a very old  church with a crooked spire.

Rochechouart is a very pretty place, little cobbles streets and higgledy piggledy houses.  A very quiet place to live (except on fete days!), though in the 7 years we have lived here we have noticed it is getting busier.

I will finish with this picture of my SIL and BIL on one of their visits to us, we had just finished our evening meal when I took this picture, and why are they laughing so much you may ask……

Because that is MY GLASS OF WINE she is drinking!!!!!!!!

Family eh, don’t ya just love em……..

Hugs Linda

Fabric Heaven

Look what the postman brought me yesterday, don’t you just love getting something like this in the post

Mmmm just lovely,  the four on the left are from the Mother Goose & Friends collection designed by Terry Clothier Thompson for Moda and the one on the right with the cherries on is Berry Delicious Red Cherries by Sew Treasured for Moda, and, of course, the charm pack is Maison de Garance which is one of my favourites at the moment.  Now the best thing about this fabric is I bought it on sale for just $3 and $4 a yard!!  Brilliant, now do I tell you all where I got it from or do I keep it a secret in case I want to buy some more……… oh okay go on then it’s from Cindy at  Sewitis.  Cindy is away until the 19th January, I think you can still order but you will have to wait for delivery.

I WON!

Yah I was a winner of the giveaway on Vignette in stitches look what I won

Yes!! Issue one of Vignette, how lucky am I,  I can tell you I was jumping up and down again about this.  It’s so hard to get magazines here so this is a fabulous win for me.  Thank you so much Leanne for giving away 10 copies of this mag.
and…… you know how things always come in threes, well here is my “number three”

I was runner up in a giveaway by The Pickledish Patch and could choose a free pattern, I chose the Welcome Wall Hanger, isn’t it lovely.  Thank you Vicki, and if you go over to her blog now she has another giveaway.

So there you have it, what a lovely weekend I have had, it’s like they say about buses, you wait forever for one, then three come along at once!!!!!

Hope you’re all having a wonderful weekend.

Hugs Linda

My Pleasure is Cooking

Hi my lovely friend Cath has just started a blog about cooking, My Pleasure is Cooking would you go over and say hi to her, as we all know what it's like when we first start and I don't want her to be lonely.  Having sampled Cath's cooking I know that her recipes will be fab......and the best bit is,  I get to go to her house and try them, sorry guys, you will have to cook them yourself.

Thanks

Hugs Linda

GUM TREE DESIGNERS GIVEAWAY

Gum Tree Designers have a giveaway, its their biggest giveaway EVER.  You can win the ENTIRE set of Springtime BOM patterns!!!  This giveaway is on until 26th January (oh that reminds me that's my BIL birthday, must get a card...)

Good Luck!

Hugs Linda x

We Love Quilting Giveaway

Hi (again) it seems to be the season of giveaways - here's another We Love Quilting has a giveaway of a box of goodies.  Good Luck.

Hugs Linda

Leona's Giveaway

Before I give you details of the Giveaway I just want to say HAPPY NEW YEAR!!  We had a very quiet one, hubby played on his PS3 and I did some sewing so quite a nice way to spend the evening.  We spoke to family just after midnight and those that I couldn't get hold of I sent a text or email.   I am looking forward to 2011, I have some lovely new friends in blog land and I am looking forward to sharing my ups and downs with them.   We have friends from the UK already booked to come and visit us which is always something to look forward to.
At the moment I dont have any plans to visit the UK but I usually managed to get over for a week to see family and friends, so who knows what 2011 will bring......I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Okay will get on with the giveaway now as I know thats the real reason you are here LOL.  Leona has lots of goodies to giveaway, so go and have a look at her blog, there's a pillowcase kit, a quilt pattern and 11 pink fat quarters to win......

giveaway ends on Friday 7th Jan.  Good Luck!!

Hugs Linda