FINALLY! I'm Back!

Well ... I sure didn't intend to be absent from blogland this long, but technology let me down and this is the first chance I've had to get back to catch up with you all. You see, one of the few down-sides we've found to our recent move out of town is the fact that the level of internet service available is much lower and as a result the plans available are either very expensive (paying off a new mortgage here!!) or very limiting ... or both!!

My Beloved Geek Boy looked at the data we had left on our plan for the month, believed the guidelines given by Apple for the requirements to update the operating system on my iPad so I could read my newly purchased e-version of "Romantic Homes" and carried out the update ... which took WAY more data than advised and took us back to dial-up internet speed for two weeks ... AAAAARRRGGGHHH!!! I know, I know!! Some folks ONLY have dial-up speed and I should be grateful to have ANY internet, but when you're used to fairly speedy uploading of websites etc, dropping back SUCKS!! Everything just took so LOOOOOOOONG to load ... I couldn't even enjoy blog updates via RSS feeds in my email folder cos photos kept blocking up the system ... and I am SOOOOO behind in my blog hopping (thanks Sweet Peg for doing to OPAM hop this month!!) ... never mind how much I'm having Pinterest withdrawal symptoms! :0)

So ... here I am back online again with our new month of data allowance kicking in at midnight last night ... I wasn't QUITE desperate enough to stay awake for it to tick over to start my catch up ... but boy am I making up for it this morning! Tee! Hee! Hee!

So ... what have I been up to? Well ... we had yet another house-warming party with GB's family and workmates which was fun and went well after I finished stressing about not having enough food (can't have people leaving hungry is my motto!! :0) ), my boss has been on leave, so the maintenance boys and I have been 'holding the fort' and I've been ... (dramatic drum-roll please!) ... SEWING!!! YAY!!! I'd love to tell you that my sewing room is now all unpacked and I've been enjoying play time in there ... but I'd be lying! :0) Still wall to wall boxes and a half-painted cupboard in there, but I was having such dreadful sewing withdrawal symptoms that I resorted to this ...

... yep ... setting up on the dining table. :0) Actually, this turned out to be a wise decision anyways, cos the project I was working on was a BIG one and I would have struggled to work on it on my small sewing desk. Step one was to use the rotary cutter and ruler on that pretty minty-sage-green fabric to make ...

... 10m of pretty minty-sage-green binding - don't you just love the tones in this batik fabric?? :0) And this binding was for a ...

... new quilt!! YAY! Now ... I don't really feel I can take much credit for this quilt ... I cheated a bit. You see ... I told you I was struggling with the very neutral taupe colour palette of our new house, right? Well, I was especially struggling with it in our bedroom where we went from a lovely deep turquoise/teal wall colour in our cottage as the background for predominantly white furniture and bedding to having the same white things against a taupe background. Oh how the colour-freak in me struggled! So I bought a minty-sage-green sheet set and a taupe flat sheet, took the two flat sheets and some 100% cotton wadding and handed them over to the Fabulous Fiona, quilter extraordinaire to work her magic. The result ... a lovely whole-cloth quilt to drape across the bottom of our bed, teamed with the minty-sage-green pillowcases from the sheet set and some other cushions to add a splash of colour to our bedroom. YAY! Fiona has (as always!!) done a GORGEOUS job of the quilting ... which she does all on her domestic machine in the free-motion style ... AMAZING!! You can catch a few little glimpses of it in the photo above and I promise I'll share more pics when it's all finished ...

I've sewn the binding on, so that's my stitching-in-front-of-the-TV project at the moment. It may take a while as it is a HUGE quilt ... the biggest I've ever bound ... 96"x104". Once it's on I'll take some close up pics of Fiona's FANTASTIC quilting (she is just such a clever-clogs and constantly amazes me with her talent!!) and how it has brightened up our bedroom.

And on that note ... I think it's time to make myself a cuppa, pop some "Midsomer Murders" or "Rosemary & Thyme" on the tele and get stitching. Oh ... OPAM gals!! Thank you SOOOOOOO much for being so patient with this internet-challenged OPAM host this month! The random prize draw will take place this weekend ... so if you haven't yet emailed Sweet Peg or me ... hop to it! ... and you can still add to your September tally for the draw. Enjoy your weekend, everyone! And even if you don't get to do some stitching, make sure you take a little bit of time out just for "YOU" to do something that relaxes you and makes you smile! :0) Til next time ...

BEAR  HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS