Sewing again .... and cooking too!

A few more weeks down the line and things are definately looking up here!! In addition to the regular physio appointments, I've also started a Pilates class run by a different physio at the same practice. This is helping me strengthen my back muscles which will help the improvement long term. Currently, no pain the in the arms, just in the back muscles as they adjust!

I've made a start on a new sewing project ... a duvet cover using 30's print nickels (5" squares). It is a Pat Speth pattern called Shoo Fly. I've made a couple of smaller versions of this before for children, this one will be approx 86" square, set 7 x 7 with a border. At the moment I'm just working through stitching the HSTs. Stitching is ok, rotary cutting I have to do in small stints.


While I was incapacitated, one of the things I got into was reading cookery books. I discovered Nigella Lawson in particular and have been cooking all sorts of new dishes. She makes everything look so easy and her recipes really WORK and taste great!! My DH is delighted with the variety of new things I've been trying. Here's some of the cupcakes I baked yesterday - chocolate sprinkles for DH and dollie mixtures (primarily) for me :)

There may be light ....

.... at the end of the tunnel!! Four weeks since my last post and I am starting to see some improvement. I've been to see a physiotherapist who believes all my arm/wrist/hand problems may actually be caused by extremely poor posture which is putting undue pressure on nerves in my upper back which are sending pain signals down my arms (at least I think that paraphrases what she said!). After several treatments, things are starting to improve and I've even managed some sewing this week!! So I'm keeping 'everything' crossed that the improvement continues and I'll eventually be back to normal :)

These little burial wraps and hats are destined to go to Bonnie Babies. They are all made from recycled materials.

Frustrated ...

It's 2 weeks since my last post and this is all the sewing I've managed. Four burial wraps have been sent off for the AC4C's May project, and they were only done because they were previously cut out. There has been no progress on the farm quilts and they are not going to be finished any time soon :(

Why? I've suffered from RSI (repetitive strain injury) in my hands/wrists since 2000. I've learnt to manage it for the most part, but every once in a while it flares up. IT IS FLARED UP BIG TIME RIGHT NOW. Anything and everything I do in normal life can cause pain and computer use is a particular culprit! So I'm resting, trying to maintain my sanity (which is at risk through too much exposure to daytime TV) and trying to keep a brave face on it. Hope I'll be back to 'normal' soon.

The Farm ...

I'm on a roll here!! I've made a good start on the second quilt from the chicken/farm fabrics. This one is much simpler due to the wonderfully fun fabrics my friend Sandy gave me a while back.

The cow panels just had to go top and bottom. The rest of the chicken charm squares became a couple of spacing rows. I want to keep the central FQ whole because it is such a wonderful farm scene. Now I need some help to decide what to do with the rest of the middle section. I have enough of the green check fabric (shown middle right) to make up both sides of the central scene. Or ... do I get brave and do some more letters "on the" and "farm" for each side?

Chicken top finished!

The chickens are now a finished top. It was a bit of a puzzle working out how much to add to make the pieces fit, but they are done. Now that the 'a' is moved to the middle ... does it make it more obvious that it says "I Spy a Chicken"? A couple of commentors didn't understand my words because of the spacing. I realise now (too late) that I should have put more blank space between the words - I used 1/2" between the letters and 1" between words. I guess it's all a learning experience :)

... add some words ...

I needed some filler blocks, so I made some words!! They were done using Tonya's tutorials, which I had been meaning to try in a long time - but was too 'chicken' before!!!! I found that my string collection was perfect for the different pieces I needed for the actual letters.

Can you tell that I stitched 'chicken' first? 'I spy a' is so much more relaxed as I got into the swing of it!

Chicken progress ...

I've turned some of the chicken charms into Happy Blocks and I've decided they are going to be used as a border for this quilt. Don't the yellow and green fabrics look really spring-like?



I've made a couple of the chicken blocks from the book "Scrap Frenzy" by Sally Schneider. The book's pattern creates a 12" chicken, but I upscaled the pattern to create 16" chicken blocks.

I'm thinking I will off-set these and add some 'fillers' .....

The beginnings ...

Here are the beginnings of a quilt!! It started a couple of years ago when I purchased a charm pack from eBay of chicken themed fabrics. I knew they would make a fun quilt one day, so I've been putting fabrics that are chicken or farm themed to one side. Add to that a pattern called Funky Chicken from a book called "Scrap Frenzy" by Sally Schneider and I'm sure I can make a quilt (or two) for the sp needs school. Watch this space :)