River Mersey, Quilts and Wedding Week!

River Mersey and Liverpool skyline on a rainy day

River Mersey -Battle of the Atlantic ships leaving

Been a jam packed week this week!  On Tuesday Mum and I went to  Woodside in Birkenhead to see the ships sailing off after the Battle of the Atlantic parade.  Funnily enough the best viewing point was from inside Home Cafe – so we settled ourselves down with coffee and yummy stuff to watch the action.  My Dad, a merchant Seaman in Battle of the Atlantic, died 6 years’ ago and so Mum brough a cutting from his special plant in her garden and we threw it into the Mersey in remembrance.  It is still possible to see it floating away on the left on the picute above, although only if you know it’s there!

flower in the Mersey

Dad’s flower just under the water!

 

Here it is just floating away!!

 

 

 

 

Wednesday was my stay-at-home-and sew day!  I finally finished my quilt!! I have been buying Liberty Tana Lawn squares for quite a while and these make up most of the quilt apart from the very centre. It now adorns my settee ready to keep my toes warm at the chilly end of the summer days!

 

patchwork quilt - multi coloured

Patchwork Quilt mainly from Libery Tana Lawn pieces

And here is my latest effort – my jelly roll strip quilt – this is to take camping with me when it’s finished.

Hippy Camping Quilt

Hippy Camping Quilt

Thursday I went to my Quilting class at Voirrey Embroidery.  It was a very chilled out morning learning patchwork techniques which we had to sew by hand – very good for making sure you know how to do something properly!!  There were only four of us and we drank coffee, sewed and chatted while learning from Maureen, the talented teacher who made the process fun and relaxing at the same time! Oh and I had to buy some fabric too!   The choice is fantastic at Voirrey’s as there are lots of fat quarters to choose from and some already made up into project packs.  I will say more about the course after my next Thursday session.

To finish off my week on Friday I went shopping for my daughter’s wedding dress.  Mum, Daughter’s BFF (who is Matron of Honour) and I went from shop to shop admiring and criticising etc each dress until we found ‘the one’ in the last shop.  Daughter looked beautiful and we all struggled not to cry as she perched on a box in the centre of the room looking like a fairytale princess.  Why oh Why did I refuse to try on traditional wedding dresses when I got married and opt instead for a cheesecloth dress in true 70’s hippy style? !! What a special time I missed sharing with my mum.  But at least mum got to experience it with my daughter and me this time – only 30+ years later!!

Wedding is in August so not long to go  – I better get cracking with the Wedding bunting!!  However just for now I’m having a rest and going to check out what everyone’s been up to over at Handmade Monday at Handmade Harbour

 

Autumn falling

I like autumn and I really like the american name The Fall.  It’s so descriptive and makes me think of both an autumn leaf falling to the ground and equally a snowflake floating down. I always say I like autumn colours for clothes but when I look at what I wear it’s more likely to be blue or black or pinky purple! Strange that!

At the moment as well as making patchwork things to sell I am making a big patchwork quilt for our house.  This will be a slow and long-term project as I really need to try and get some stock made for the upcoming xmas fair.

I have some lovely Liberty of London Tana Lawn fabric squares which I bid for on ebay and also bought from another seller on Folksy. Tana Lawn is soft and light with a high thread count, making it perfect for a snuggly winter quilt.  I am going to take pictures as I make the quilt so will be able to post updates and chart my progress on the blog.

My Tana Lawn Fabric!