I forgot to mention yesterday that I lost my lovely old puss Smudge back in February but she was nearly 19 and a half so she had a good long life.

Now I'm down to one cat, Tigger (or Tigger the Terrible). I did think of getting another kitten when Smudge had gone but I decided to wait and see how Tiggywinks and I got on on our own, and we are OK. We get on fairly well, she can be a demanding little so and so, especially where food is concerned and it can be a battle of wills to see who gives in first - no need to say that it's usually me!

Well after Lorraine said she had been blogging, I thought oops I have not been anywhere near my blog for ages! What have I been up to since the last time? Lots, biggest thing was going to the US at the beginning of March for a two week holiday. I went with Sheila on a P&Q Tour to Washington DC, Philadelphia and the AQS show in Lancaster. It was pouring with rain when we arrived in Washington and the weather forecasted for the next day was snow. It won't snow after all this rain I thought to myself - how wrong could I be? It snowed non stop all morning, at one point you could hardly see a thing. What surprised me was that Washington DC ground to a halt. So we had a day in the hotel which actually worked out OK as it allowed the group to get to know one another. Sheila and I put our thermals and boots on in the afternoon and went out for a walk, talk about cold! We found a Safeway supermarket and went in to get some fruit and yogurt and rushed back to the warmth of the hotel. Of course this put the itinerary up the creek but we managed to get to the Virginia Quilt Museum in Harrisonburg and then Jinny Beyer's shop the next day. The day after that we had a tour of Washington and also went to see a quilt exhibition at the women's art museum Workt by hand or something it was called, and very good too. But the service in the museum cafe was not so hot!

After Washington we went to Philadelphia where we went to the flower show, went to see the Liberty Bell,

Liberty Bell, Philadelphia

also went to see the Harlem Globetrotters which was an experience! Then on to Lancaster but unfortunately I came down with a lovely virus infection which had me in bed for the first day there. I wasn't the only one in the group that got it so poor Judi was backwards and forwards to Walmart to get various medicines to keep us all going. We had a conducted tour around the area which was good and I got to see the Amish farms plus some Amish quilt shops!

Recently I have been to the American Museum in Bath. When the museum is open during the summer, local quilt groups are invited to go to there for a sewing bee and we sit in the textile room doing some hand sewing. It was very busy there, probably because of the Kaffe Fassett exhibition that is one - definitely worth a visit. It is very colourful with his quilts, tapestries and knitting

yarn bombed light

It's amazing what you see! I was really surprised to see this car on my way to the High Street on Monday. How on earth did it get there? It  is more or less right in the centre of a small clump of trees but was it pushed there to keep it off the road or what? The police have cordoned it off with tape. It is still there today so I decided, as it was a reasonably sunny day, to walk over and take a photo.

The sad thing is that it is crushing all the beautiful snowdrops that open there at this time of year. But for the first time ever I have snowdrops flowering in my front garden, a sure sign spring is on the way.
I have managed to piece all the blocks for the Hunter's Star quilt, so now it just needs borders. I hope I have enough fabric!! The sashiko class last Saturday was good and I now have a large noshi design to stitch. My class at Busy Bees will go ahead on the 1st Feb, many thanks to Sue and Sandra for sorting things out through what must have been an incredibly difficult time for both of them. Just very sorry and sad that I won't be able to get my class supplies from them so a trip to Creativity in Bristol is on the cards for tomorrow.

Ok so I haven't posted anything here for 12 months! It annoys me when I come across a blog that has been abandoned and this is exactly what I have done. So 2014 will see more posts - whether they will be interesting or not remains to be seen! I have decided not to start making any new quilts in 2014 - I have one definite class at Midsomer Q in January which is sashiko and I had booked a hand sewing class at Busy Bees for the 1st Feb but I have no idea whether that will happen after the dreadful fire a couple of weeks ago. Such a shame as Busy Bees was a lovely shop and place to visit, and both Sue and Sandra had worked so hard to set it all up and keep it going with their lovely fabrics and workshop programmes. I will definitely miss it and hope that it will manage to resurrect itself one day.
Went to see the second part of The Hobbit yesterday. I do think it would have been better if this film had been made before The Lord of the Rings, and why did Legolas appear in it? He wasn't in The Hobbit, or at least I don't think so - I shall have to read it again. But stunning scenery, and the second part much livelier than the first, even if the orcs did get their heads chopped off. Will have to wait another 12 months to see the final instalment.

Oh dear I found out today that George had passed away sometime this year which is very sad as he was a lovely man but at least he has been reunited with his Vi.
I am sort of getting there for Christmas, I think I have done all the present shopping and have even posted some of them, the rest will get sent tomorrow if I can find a post office without an enormous queue. Crikey postage has gone up (I used to work in a post office) 50p each for 2nd class, will have to start buying stamps to put aside for Christmas cards at this rate. I have spent nearly all day wrapping presents to send and think I deserve a glass of wine this evening!

One of the presents I am sending this year is this table runner in the top photo, then we have Tigger making sure it won't get away and then the fat rolly polly santa I made with Ann at Westbury Park Quilters. Lovely easy pattern, will certainly make this again - one of the members from Severn Valley Quilters, Hilary, went to Keepsake Quilting in New Hampshire and got me the pattern, definitely a good buy!

Ooh I've got a follower!! Thanks Lorraine!! I'll try and keep this up to date, nothing worse than a blog that's totally out of date.

I have finished my christmas tree as you can see. It looks good (but maybe not in the kitchen with  all the junk) it took a lot of toy stuffing and I had to get another bag - the bottom two stars took nearly most of one bag so not exactly a cheap thing to make but it will last a long time with any luck.
Blooming cold today, didn't go to Bath with Allison as there's too much to do at home such as blitzing the whole house before Christmas - wish I could be tidier!
Haven't had a card from George who I used to work with years and years ago, he was 91 in June and his card always arrives on the 1st December so hope all is well with him.

This is my pile of stars to make a christmas tree. I found the pattern when I was at Cowslip Workshops and also bought some of the fabric there. I have made holes in the centre of the stars and now need to stuff them, sew up the opening then find some dowelling to go through the centres and stand it in a pot. The top star will just sit on the top of the dowelling. They had lots of them dotted round the shop at Cowslip and they looked lovely so maybe I will make some more.

Went to a very upmarket craft fair at Tredegar House in Newport on Friday, some AMAZING stuff at amazing prices!! There are some very talented people out there. I especially liked Zoe Hillyard's ceramic patchwork (www.zoehillyard.com) and Alison Moger's designs which took me back to my childhood in North Wales - ysgol Sul, Gymanfa Ganu and welsh village life. I nearly succumbed to buying a lovely bag from one stall but will wait and see what Father Christmas brings. The catering was top notch as well, I had fish chowder with fish biscuits for lunch which makes a great change from cheese and tomato sandwiches! Managed to pop into Busy Bees for a quick visit and got the red stripe fabric in the photo. Forgot to mention the talk on the Wrexham tailor's quilt by one of the textile curators from St Fagans. This was really interesting and the quilt itself is fantastic. The story behind it is quite sad really, it took 10 years to make and was passed down to family members who hit hard times in the depression of the 1920's/1930's and asked the museum if they would be willing to buy it so that the rest of Wales could appreciate the quilt. The family wanted £75 but the museum would only offer £20 - how mean was that? It is now the jewel in their quilt collection, can't remember if it was shown at the V&A exhibition in 2010?

Smudge is being very demanding and keeps miaowing quite mournfully - do cats grieve for their lost friends? I don't know whether she is missing Tortie or whether it's old age as she is 18. Her coat is not in very good condition but she doesn't groom herself as much as she used to so I am brushing her once a day and giving her a few drops of cod liver oil which the vet says is good for her but can give her the runs, oh great!