He's Here

 

 

Baby Freddie arrived at 7.26pm on Friday 26th October and he weighed 7lb 11oz. Nicki had a midwife appointment on Friday morning and she told Nicki that he was only measuring at 36 weeks and was going to be small, just goes to show how wrong they can be.  All the way through the pregnancy the midwife has done nothing but cause undue stress and the health visitor isn't much better.

 

This is Freddie and Eva.

 

All three of them. Two beautiful little girls and one cute little boy, we are so lucky.

 

Steph has asked me to teach her how to make granny squares so I've made a few just to remind myself how to make them. Now I haven't got enough to do anything with so I'm just going to have to keep going until I have got enough for a blanket. It'll be a long term project.

 

Bread pudding for afternoon tea tomorrow at the shop.

In case you want to make it for yourself here's the recipe.

12oz stale bread
2 tbsp flour
4oz melted margarine
2oz caster sugar
6oz sultanas
6oz currants
2 tbsp mixed spice
2 eggs

Oven temperature 150 c

Method
1, Soak bread in warm water for 1/2 an hour
2, Drain bread to remove excess water and mash well
3, Add all the other ingredients and thoroughly mix
4, Place mixture in a 9"x9" tin and cook for 1-1 1/4 hours
5, When cooked sprinkle with caster sugar

I only use sultanas, I can't be bothered with those hard little currants and I sprinkle plenty of caster sugar on top because it seems to disappear. It's very very nice warmed up and served with cream.

Keeping Busy

Since my post last week I have managed to finish the cushion cover that I started for the show on Create and Craft. I like the pink one but I prefer this one .

I have been busy making the quilt for the new baby who is due on Thursday, but not in a hurry to make an appearance. Typical male.

This mess on the floor is where I cut all the ears off the flying geese blocks, I just swept all the bits onto the floor .It's much easier to let the hoover do the hard work.

 

For those who don't know the flying geese blocks are the ones on the left.

 

This is how the blocks look when they are put together. The blue isn't quite that bright but the computer obviously likes it that way.

 

I love this quilt, I like the pattern and the fabrics are gorgeous. At the moment it's laid out on the table and I have started to baste it, I'm hoping to be able to start the quilting this week. I must finish Ellie's quilt as well. 

15 Minutes

I had my 15 minutes of fame on Sunday morning when I appeared as a guest on Create and Craft TV with the lovely Debbie Shore. I was standing in for Jenny Rayment. Jennie recommended me  for the guest spot which was not only very kind of her but a huge pat on the back for me.

I had a lot of help from Barbara, Pam, Dawn and Sam to make it all possible. I took two cushions with me to demonstrate the heart template and the crazy tool template. Barbara helped me to make these. We had two and half days to get these made and other working samples prepared, we put in some long hours and were very pleased with our results.

 

Whilst I was busy preparing for the show It meant I didn't really help out much in the shop so Pam, Dawn and Sam worked incredibly hard last week.

 

This was some samples that I took onto the show to demonstrate using the easy rule. They have now been made up into a cushion cover. I forgot to take a picture of the cushion.

 

The show was an experience I won't forget. The show went out live - there was no practice apart from a screen test in a small room I had never been in a TV studio before and there is no script. As you can imagine I was incredibly nervous but Debbie was lovely and worked very hard at putting me at my ease.

 

Whilst I was away from blogger I received this pendant. I had asked Dottycookie if she could possibly work her beading magic on a stone I found in Jersey and turn it into a pendant for me. She did a wonderful job and it's very tactile. Thank you Dottycookie.

Grandad's Complaint

 

Grandad (Neil) wasn't happy with the pictures of Ellie in my last post. He thought she looked a bit boyish, I think he's being a bit picky but just to keep him happy here are some more. The one above was taken in June and doesn't she look angelic, not at all like the little monkey that she is. The one below was taken yesterday afternoon. She is cuddling one of her favourite dogs and you can see mischief in her face. Ellie is a little girl full of expressions and is very capable of making her feelings and thoughts known. 

 

 

This happy little girl is Eva, she is almost four months old now. They paid us a vist a couple of weeks ago, we don't see Eva and mummy and daddy any where near as much as we would like.

 

She has changed a lot over a few months. Eva is a beautiful little girl and we consider ourselves very lucky to have two of them and very soon a grandson.

 

I have been doing a little bit of sewing - not a lot. I've made some progress with my cathedral window cushion, I'm doing the hand sewing bit and have got half the cushion done, there is a reason for this sudden burst. Barbara made one of these cushions last week so I'm trying to get mine finished before she does. Childish I know but it's fun.

This is what my sewing room looks like at the moment. Not pretty is it, life is still very hectic around here, but I'm going to have to do something about it soon or I won't be able to get in the door.

 

This is a pile of rows waiting to be made into a quilt for Ellie. There are eight rows in the pile and I've got another four to make, there are ten blocks per row so that means another forty blocks. I've made three blocks in the last week, so progress is slow.

 

 

I was hoping to get at least one row done this week but some how I don't think it's going to happen.