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Friday 5 January 2018

Better Late Than Never

Well now, this is a great start to the year isn't it?  For all my procrastinating how I was going to get back to posting on my normal day, first week of the year and I am late, can you believe it?  Well, life happens and people are more important than blogging which I'm sure you realise, but that's just life.

Moving on, I hope you have had a wonderful Christmas and New Year, all the fuss and planning and it is over in a flash.  I did a round up of my Best of 2017 last week, you may have missed it as I didn't share the post at all,  but even though I felt I had had a bad year for quilting I was surprised to find I still had one or two nice finishes, and another couple I didn't include too.  I am hoping this year will be blistering and so I have set my goals for 2018 which I posted just before Christmas but if you missed, you can find it here.

The thing about goals is you need to break them down into manageable chunks, so I have made my small goals for this month, which are:

1. Make 61 blocks for Tina's wedding quilt.  I am making this my One Monthly Goal for this month.  The wedding is February 2nd and I finally know what I am doing but I need to buy some more fabric.

2. Make my Bee blocks for December and January and mail them by 12th January.

3. Cut out my secret quilt.

Yes that's all, these are my priority, I hope to get more done of course but this is my have to list.

The good news is I have got off to a good start by making one bee block and I am a good way through the second.


This is actually Januarys block, the Quatrefoil block for Sharon at Yellow Cat Designs.  You can see her request post and a link to the tutorial on the Bee Inspired blog post.


Decembers block is a Bookshelf block for Emily at The Darling Dogwood and there is a tutorial  on the  Bee Inspired blog.   I did mean to get this one made early but things didn't work out, then I decided to make it over Christmas and mail it first thing in January after the Christmas post, but I couldn't sew until a couple of days ago.  You may notice there is a lot of space on the right of the block, that's because it's not finished yet, there is an item to be added there.  What is it?  You will just have to guess, if you know me well you might get it...........
Tell you next week, in fact I should be able to show you.

Would you like to see my new fabric which came in the post today?


Alison Glass Sunprints 2018.  It's not the whole range but it is my favourites, I wasn't so keen on the design of the others.  Why?  To me they are solids with a small occasional squiggle on and to me you may even loose that when you cut them up.  As solids are cheaper to buy than prints I have decided to skip those ones and just buy the ones I like, after all, liking a range doesn't mean we have to slavishly buy all of it does it?  The grey one on the far left isn't a sun print of course, it's a Moda Muslin which was half price, and as I have very little grey I couldn't resist half a metre.

Going back to yesterday I was expecting the fabrics from Simply Solids but when a parcel came it was much smaller than I expected, and I opened it to find......


Five low volume fat quarters.  Back in April I took out a subscription for low volume fabrics, I received my parcel every month then after the October payment was taken I received an email from the payment company saying my monthly payment had been cancelled.  I thought it was for a year but assumed it was six months and a couple of weeks later my last bundle arrived.  No more money was taken, no fabrics came in December, so when I received yesterdays parcel I was confused, it was too early for a January delivery and I hadn't paid for any more fabrics.  I rang Simply Solids and explained the situation, I couldn't keep fabrics I hadn't paid for.  They hadn't cancelled my payment but the payment company had, they couldn't understand why, there had never been any problems.  I decided not to continue with the subscription, I have a fair few low volume fat quarters now and would rather self select, maybe in larger quantities in future.  I did offer to pay for the ones I have received though, I told her I hadn't paid for them, but she refused payment, it was their mistake and she didn't expect me to pay for them.  Wasn't that generous?  Being honest paid off.

Sorry about the poor pics this week, it is so dull just now it's hard to get a decent shot.

Thank you all for your kind enquiries about my second cataract op, it took place on December 21st.  That is the reason I haven't been sewing, unfortunately it didn't go as well as the first one, there were a couple of issues I won't go into and my sight has been very blurry.  Fortunately it is now much improved and I have an eye test in three weeks just before I see the consultant again.  Thank goodness for Poundland readers is all I have to say, I wouldn't have been able to see anything close up without them.  I am hoping to get caught up with my emails in the next couple of weeks so if I haven't replied to your comments yet my apologies.

So, that's all for my first post of the year, planning and a little sewing.  It's my first sewing group get together of the year on Saturday, I haven't a clue what I can take so I need to have a little rummage and a little think, I'll tell you what I come up with, and hopefully show you the finished bookshelf block, next week.

Until then,
With smiles from,
Kate x

Linking up with:
Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?



16 comments:

  1. so sorry that your second cataract surgery didn't go as expected - I had trouble with it last year and it was a bother and finally now back to normal as well.
    Hope you meet all your quilting goals this year and that you eye check goes well.

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  2. Bookshelf quilts look like fun to make. Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and good luck with your project.

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  3. I'm glad you are making progress on your goals by breaking them down into manageable things to do each month, and way to go having progress on your bee blocks already. I hope your vision continues to improve!

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  4. Great blocks and the fabric is gorgeous. I hope your vision issues clear up quickly. I'm heading in that direction soon myself.

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  5. Kate - love the bookshelf block. What a cute quilt that would be. Or maybe if the block were a bit larger, a cute mini?
    Hope your eye continues to improve. Must be frustrating for you. :-(
    Yay for free low volume fabrics. Good karma because you called and explained the situation. It wouldn't have been as fun to use them if you didn't clear that up. Very generous of the shop to give them to you. Happy New Year friend!

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  6. I hope your year starts off with a bang and no more eye issues! I cannot imagine what that would be like having impaired vision (I wear glasses, but that's different!). Your list is as it should be. If you want a short, long or none at all that is totally fine! I've decided I won't plan or make goals this year. I never seem to keep them, so what's the point?!

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  7. Hi Kate! Gosh, I'm sorry you've had problems with that second surgery. That's so disappointing. I sure hope your eye gets back to normal as Karen's did. YOu have a FUN OMG, working on a wedding quilt. :) Your bee blocks are quite delightful, even with an element still coming on the one.

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  8. A gorgeous block and some awfully pretty fabrics! I still haven’t written a first of the year post, but I think about it every day. I think taking pictures is what hangs me up the most. Especially when it’s so frigid and gloomy outside. I never have very much success with indoor pictures. I may not be posting, but I’m sewing every day!

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  9. So glad your eye is doing well. Does that mean you can wear makeup for the wedding? Your new AG selections are glowing, as usual. The book block is intriguing. No idea what the books will hold. Have you seen the completed Reading Rainbow quilt by Cathy at Crazy by Design? She did it for RSC17, a real winner. Hooray for Poundland and for fabric bargains.

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  10. I'm drooling over both your fabric bundles. I'm short on modern, sleek low volumes and that little pack is very nice. But oh, that Allison Glass group! Looove those colors!! I hope you are at least noticing that both eyes are perceiving color the same way now? I hope the other issues clear up very soon. Hang in there!

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  11. OOOH! How I love those Alison Glass prints you chose! I think I need to treat myself because I did not get any fabric for Christmas this year. Humph! I like that you broke your goals down into a monthly set. I am awful for over-estimating, and have told myself to break it down into 4 weeks, and THEN see if they're manageable. I'm intrigued on the secret sewing....wouldn't be some collaborating with a certain quilty friend or two, would it?

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  12. Good luck with your January goals. Those are some delicious looking fabrics. I hope your eyes get back to normal soon.

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  13. Hi Kate! Love those Alison Glass fabrics in your bookshelf block and the other one is a whole different style but sooo cute! You always make such good selections. Good for you for getting one of your priorities checked off!

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  14. Wow! That's a busy month! And lucky you to get some free fabrics! Good luck with all that block making!

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  15. Great bee blocks! I am so sorry to hear about your eyes, thank goodness they are getting better!

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  16. Happy New Year, Kate! I'm breaking down my goals into smaller chunks, too. It really does help. Sorry to hear your surgery results weren't ideal, but glad you're improving. Hopefully you'll be good as new soon.

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Thank you so much for taking the time to read and leave a comment, it helps me grow as a quilter and as a blogger. It also makes me very happy :)
I try to respond to all comments by email, but if I don't reply within a few days it may be because you are a no reply blogger

With smiles from,
Kate