Still Obsessed........

with Gypsy Wife.  I can't help it, I have never had this happen before.  If I'm not in my sewing room making blocks, I'm thinking about making them, choosing colours, discarding, choosing again, and all in my head.  Oh and you wouldn't believe how long that takes me, literally hours, then I will start making it and change them again.

So, where are all these blocks I have been making?  Can't tell, no, I decided I am going to drip feed them to you, just like in the sew along.  I may have to have a few weeks off quilting in October so if I do I will still have something to share, that's the theory anyhow, I will be scheduling some posts just in case and I can always edit and add to them to let you know what's happening.

So, without any further ado I give you......

Crazy Anne.  This is the second block with somewhat of a reputation, but I checked it out, read lots of tips, some helpful some not and just went for it.  The one tip that was really helpful was to use a Tri Rec ruler to make the half square rectangle bits AND I already had one, wonderful.  The blocks went together like a dream and Anne wasn't as bad as her reputation.  Mind you I do use very scant seams and I'm happy to report that so far I have not had a single block end up small, which is the most common thing I hear.

Being in a couple of Facebook groups to do with Gypsy Wife has had a great bonus, I discovered a new app, and this is what I did.......

Isn't this helpful, I took a screen shot of the pdf of the colouring page by Pink Door Fabrics, opened it up in the app, and added pics of my blocks.  I should have cropped them a bit more and got rid of the seam allowance though but it gives a great indication of how the colours will mix together.  Here are the first five blocks for the first five weeks, and no I can count, you get a bonus, I had already added a Puss in the Corner block which is week eight so you get that too.  Don't worry though, there are two Puss in the Corners so you will get a new block in week 8.

If you are interested in the app it is piZap and best of all it is free, although it says there are in app purchases, although I haven't been asked if I want to buy any so far.  I would recommend using it on a tablet rather than a phone though, that would be just too fiddly.   There is annoying adverts that come up after you press 'save' though so I press to close it fast.  I can put up with it as there are none while I am actually using it.  I'm not trying to advertise the app mind, remember I don't have sponsors or anything like that and I don't want to either, for me it would take the joy out of blogging and just saying whatever comes into my head if I had to think about advertising stuff.  I blog because I enjoy it and for no other reason.  That said I can understand those who do have sponsors, quilting isn't a cheap hobby, we are all different at the end of the day and what is right for one is not necessarily right for another.  Enough said.

Now I am going to shock you, at least shock those of you who have been reading for a while, here it comes.........

Circles, I've been doing free motion quilting!  A squiggly meander in the background.  No, I was beginning to think I wouldn't see the day either!

Have a closer look.  It's fairly even although it varies slightly in places but hey, tis done and I'm happy, ecstatic actually.  I'm leaving the dark grey diamonds unquilted so they pop, I'm really glad I decided to add them they bring a new dimension to the quilt, in my opinion!  The circles will be the next thing I do, then the borders.  I am hoping to get it finished by the beginning of October, keep your fingers crossed.  Just don't look at the back.........

I said not to look at the back.  Well, go on then what do you think, inspired or dog's dinner?  Closer?  You want jam on it!   Oh all right then.

The colours are slightly distorted on this pic, it's more of a reddy burgundy like the first one, but a bit deeper.   It does give you a good look at the quilting though.  As you can see the size of the meander does vary a bit but in the grand scheme of things and as it is my quilt who is to notice or to care?  My only real mistake was to use solids instead of a tone on tone fabric and thread of a different colour to the the solids to boot,  AND advertise the fact.  I've made a mental note about THAT one.

I'm going away next week but I plan on scheduling a short post before I go which will be due Wednesday.  I won't be here to link up so if you normally read my blog on a regular link up you will have to get me direct next week,  IF you want to read my ravings that is!  I will have no wifi, no phone signal, and no tv either.  Retreat?  I would love another quilting retreat, I haven't done one for five years when I went to France for a week with Sandi Lush doing hand quilting.

So until next time,
With smiles from,
Kate x

Linking up with:
Midweek Makers
Wednesday Wait Loss
Needle And Thread Thursday
Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?
Finished or Not Friday

I have no memory.........

I am so sorry, I got my weeks mixed up, last week I showed you this weeks Gypsy block and next weeks Gypsy block, but I forgot to show you last weeks, Oooops!  So I'm starting this post with what I forgot, reputed to be the most difficult block in the Gypsy Wife quilt'

Perishing.  It was a bit of a tricky one, but the centre is just a multiple square in a square, the awkward bit is the three triangles on the bottom with the bias edges, I had a bit of trouble with them, I just couldn't get them to sew together properly, until I realised I had cut the centre ones from a square a quarter inch too big.  Once I recut and started again it was much easier, then there was just the corner triangles and it was finished.  Mine isn't perfect, the orange corners don't quite meet the purple corner triangles, but it's close enough for me.  AND it's the right size too, one of the main issue is it often ends up too small, but the secret is extra scant seams.

I'm sure you will be glad to know Indi has been behaving herself this week and the curtain is back in place, in fact there were only two broken curtain hooks, the rest were still on the rings, how she managed to pull down the curtain leaving the hooks still in the rings I haven't a clue and it will go down as one of those unsolved mysteries I think.

Did I tell you I had a problem with my scissors?  I have several pair, the big shears I rarely use, the pinking shears I used once, and the smaller pairs I use all the time, only they keep disappearing, all the time I loose them, sometimes for months, do you ever find that?

These are my favourites.  The larger ones are Dovo as are the next ones up, I bought these about fourteen years ago, they were expensive but are still a pleasure to use, although the little ones could do with tightening and maybe sharpening now, only I don't know where to take them.  The next ones up are Appliquick and they have serrated edges, I've only had them couple of years and the serrated edges are lovely when cutting appliqué pieces.  Lastly my stork scissors, I bought those specially for embroidery, about 22 years ago.

Anyway, I lost the three small pair, I couldn't find them anywhere, I was convinced I had lost one pair at my sewing group, I searched and searched and couldn't find them anywhere, I was sad, not so much about the Appliquik ones, they are quite new, but the others I am attached to after all this time.  Then suddenly one day they all turned up in various places, the stork ones in a box of embroidery stuff, the small Dovo ones under my sewing table behind a basket, the appiquick ones in the bottom of my sewing box, the one I had searched several times hunting for missing scissors and other stuff.  All places I swear I had searched before, more than once too and how did they all turn up on the same day?  You know I live next to the woods and I'm sure there are mischievous elves living there who come in at night and hide my things, and good fairies who put them all back for me to find again.  Do you ever lose stuff?  Don't even get me started on thimbles and stitch rippers.

I'll tell you another thing I forgot to show you too, my embroidery.  I showed you where I was up to before I went to Higham Hall last time and forgot to show you my progress.

This was my small piece before I went, it didn't have much left to do.....

and this is it finished.  I added two attached leaves to the butterfly, they are made on calico using a wire frame so they stand out, the leaf on the right was added the same way.  Now all it needs is to be framed.

This is my ongoing big project.  I wasn't happy with the stitching on the top right, it was the first bit I did and my stitching has improved a lot since so I took it out......

and now look at it, the part on the bottom left on this pic, I am so happy with it.

But that's not all, I started another small piece

and made great progress.  That's not a spider by the way, it was supposed to be a spider but I don't like them, so I'm adding a colour pop and having a ladybird.   Yes I know it still looks a bit like a fat black spider but I'm going to attach red wings.   The butterfly on the first one was supposed to be a bee but I don't like them either, but as they are my embroideries I can give it my own twist, with the help of my wonderful teacher Angie of course.

I was going to show you some more quilting but time has got the better of me, so I will show you that next week.  Sorry if it's a bit of a boring post this week, but such is life.

How about a poem?  No poems are not boring, they can be quite lovely and thought provoking, you are getting one anyway..............

Slow Dance

Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round,
or listened to rain slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight,
or gazed at the sun fading into the night?

You better slow down, don’t dance so fast,
time is short, the music won’t last.

Do you run through each day on the fly,
when you ask “How are you?, do you hear the reply?
When the day is done, do you lie in your bed,
with the next hundred chores running through your head?

You better slow down, don’t dance so fast,
time is short, the music won’t last.

Ever told your child, we’ll do it tomorrow,
and in your haste, not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch, let a friendship die,
because you never had time to call and say hi?

You better slow down, don’t dance so fast,
time is short, the music won’t last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere,
you miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through the day,
it’s like an unopened gift thrown away.

Life isn’t a race, so take it slower,
Hear the music before your song is over.

                     David L. Weatherford

Until next time,

with smiles from,

Kate x

Linking up with:
Midweek Makers
Let's Bee Social
Wednesday Wait Loss
Needle and Thread Thursday
Anja Quilts hosting for TGIFF
Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?
Finished or Not Friday

Making progress ........

but not a lot.  It's been one of those weeks when I feel like I've spent so much time in my sewing room, but I haven't much to show for it.  Do you ever get weeks like that?  Of course it doesn't help that I'm still in my 'let's see how many mistakes I can make in this block' phase but It's a phase, I'm sure I'll grow out of it sooner or later.  So what did I do make?

First of all I corrected the mistake I made in the Stash Bee block,

much better, although I know a few of you liked the first one.  Sorry, I had forgot to take a pic and had to take it out of the envelope so it has fold lines, I cropped the pic so you are missing the corners, they are there, promise.   I still haven't posted it on the Stash Bee blog yet either, but both will be done by tomorrow.

Then it was time for Gypsy, oh I am so enjoying the sew along, in fact I am even having a forage into the dark side (Instagram).   I'm not sure what I'm doing over there, I can add pics now and I can click to like pics, hey, I even learned to do a hashtag, but I don't know how to find posts I've seen before and want to go back to and commenting is a learning curve I haven't quite figured out yet.  Commenting is a different world compared to blogland, no-one says much, as you can imagine that is so difficult for me.

I digress, here is my latest Gypsy block, From the Heart.

Now this is the one I'm not sure of, not because I don't like it, it's the shade, it's a little different to the rest of my fabrics, however I'm going with it and I'm planning to add a bit more in a couple of the filler blocks.  This was also the block that cause me the most trouble, my own fault initially, I used a directional fabric for the background.  I knew I would end up making extra blocks so it went the way I wanted it to, that was fine, but I just couldn't get them ALL to go the way I wanted, and in the end I scrapped it and started again, so it was nearly a blue heart.  THEN those little hourglass blocks gave me no end of trouble, I think it was down to the size, they are so small, it's only a six inch block and the seams were so bulky.  But, tis done now and I'm happy with it, but I don't want to make it again, not just now anyway.

Do you want to see next weeks?  Ok then

This is Hope of Hartford, a 7 inch block which as you can see has partial seams.  Now I haven't really done much with partial seams before but they are quite straightforward and nothing to be scared of, although I did learn two things, firstly make sure you add the correct side of the block as you go around, I added the outside of the second block, you can see where i unpicked it on the edge, and second, when it's such a small central square only leave an inch undone when first adding it, I left myself very little room to manoeuvre.

So, what do you think of these new additions?  Someone on the Facebook page commented I was very brave with my colour combinations, brave or foolhardy?  I'm fed up playing it safe, this is my wild quilt and they say fortune favours the brave, so I'm going for it.

I was so sad last week, Festival of Quilts was on and I wasn't there.  I had thought of going and planned to go, but then I thought we were going away, but we couldn't get booked up and we didn't and I ended up at home crying into my fabric, sad...........  So I consoled myself by going SHOPPING!!!  Well I treated myself to some more fabric for Gypsy by way of consolation, which was a lot cheaper than train fares and entry fees to the NEC, even considering I would have stayed with my daughter who lives about 20 miles away.

AND, guess what the postman brought me about half an hour ago?

My shopping.  You can tell from the packaging it has nice contents.  The Postie didn't bring the note book of course, that was a little surprise from Janice a few months ago when she sent my mini, Chicken Poop, that's the name she gave my mini and if you are fairly new here I'm not kidding, have you ever been given anything called Chicken Poop?  If you want to see it and read about our swap you can find Janice post here at Color, Creating & Quilting and my mini for Janice HERE.  Then let me know what you think.

Oh, you want to know what was in the parcel?

This little lot.  After studying my colours for Gypsy I decided I needed more green and red, some lighter shades, and some darker ones to give me more contrast.  Yes I know there is no red but I couldn't get any pillar box red and I didn't want pinky red or orangey red.  So, I just went through the different colours and chose what I liked, I have more green, I have dark and pale shades, and I think they will bring more contrast, and I love a bit of contrast.  Nice little haul is it not?

This week I have a bit of a quandary, it's my sewing group on Saturday (no we still haven't managed to book a few days away, have you seen the price of some of the cottages?) the question is what do I take?  I decided last time I wasn't going to take my machine again, I'm struggling to lift it in and out of the car, what I would really like is a vintage Singer Featherweight, the earlier ones only weigh 1.2 lbs apparently, although that won't include the box I don't think, and Margaret from margiestitcher takes hers to class on the bus!!!  Brave woman.  But have you seen the price of them now?  I would have to have one that was in good working order, I know my limitations, but I'm just not prepared to pay several hundreds of pounds for one.

So, what do I take with me to my group?  I didn't want to start another project but there is no other option, but what should I start?  My thoughts are running to either orange peel or circles (no I haven't finished it yet, it still needs the FMQ and binding) using appliqué.  It will be scrappy, I have plenty of low volume fabric and I was thinking of maybe a rainbow, or perhaps on a dark blue, I have some of that too, any thoughts?  I was set on orange peel initially but more and more I'm leaning to circles, they just go round and round in my head............

So that's been my week, well, I have another Gypsy block or two but I'm saving them so you will just have to wait hehe!

Edit
I just HAVE to tell you, I've been featured again, that's twice in two weeks, this time it's at Wednesday Wait Loss if you would like to read about it.  I feel so honoured, thank you Jennifer.

Until next time,
With smiles from,
Kate x

Linking up with:
Midweek Makers
Let's Bee Social
Wednesday Wait Loss
Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?
A Quarter Inch from the Edge hosting for TGIFF
Finished or Not Friday

I've made....

the most ridiculous mistakes this week, honestly you wouldn't believe how stupid I can be at times.  Well, maybe you can.............

But first how about I show you something I didn't make a mistake on?

Colourwheel, the first block in Gypsy Wife.  I am so happy with the way it came together and the beautiful vibrant fabrics on the lovely Carolyn Friedlander background.  Sigh........ I could look at this all day.  When you examine it it is just half square and three-quarter square triangles which I made as such rather than piecing together triangles, I do have some left but I may well be able to use them further on in the quilt, and if I can't then they will go into a box towards a scrappy improv quilt.  Now if I was being really picky I would criticise two of my joins which are off by a minuscule amount, but I'm not so I won't.

The next block is Perishing reputed to be the most difficult in the quilt, I'll tell you how I get on next week.  If you have always wanted to make Gypsy Wife the quilt along has just started so it's not too late to join in, you can find details on the Gnome Angel blog here, including links to Instagram and the Facebook page.

I thought I would make my bee blocks this week and get them posted, I was much later than normal last month and I wasn't happy about it.  I don't like leaving things to the last minute, especially when it is a commitment I have made and people are waiting for me to fulfil it.  Now that's where the trouble started.

The first one I made was from........

Dog Gone Cute.  The block is from a quilt along and designed by the lovely and very generous Lorna from Sew Fresh Quilts, Lorna makes the most beautiful quilts many on animal themes, and you can find several free patterns on her blog.  If you haven't visited Lorna's blog before I strongly suggest you pop over and have a look around, I'd be surprised if you didn't find something you like.

This block was made for Ann one of my bee mates in our own special bee Bee Inspired, Ann has a great blog too,  Brown Paws Quilting.   Ann has just finished a wonderful sampler, if you have time you could pop over, say hello and check it out.

Now about those mistakes, if you have a look at the block it has a centre piece where most of the fiddly stuff is, then two side pieces and a long bit across the top.  I followed the pattern and made the two side pieces then the top piece and as you can see they were quite straightforward to make,  Lorna's instructions were very clear.  Next I made the more fiddly centre, but when you analyse it it's not too bad.  So, all I had left to do was stitch on the side pieces then add the strip across the top, sounds simple they were already made, but thats when the problems started.

I stitched the sides on, one seemed a little short but the block probably just needed trimming so I added the top, but when I measured it it would have been short if I trimmed it, I must have cut the piece wrong.   I couldn't understand it but the easiest way to remedy it was just to make another piece,  no big deal.

I unpicked the top part way across, removed the faulty piece, and made another by cutting the white rectangle, adding a square in the corner and doing stitch and flip to make the triangle, trimming it, pressing it......... and then I realised the wrong side of the white was uppermost, so exasperated, and it couldn't be fixed, sad.

Out came the cutting board and I made another one, perfect, I made it a bit longer than I needed to make sure it fit, stitched it onto the side, stitched the top back on..........and realised IT WAS TOO NARROW  What??????  I had cut it 31/2 inches instead of 41/2, how had I done that?  So I had to take it all off AGAIN

Out came the cutting board, again, and I made the FOUTH one, this time I cut it extra wide and triple checked it, I also made it extra long and triple checked, surely I couldn't get it wrong again.  The relief when I didn't, I trimmed it and it was perfect.

 Here are the rejects, the first one on the left, the back to front one in the middle, and the narrow one on the right.  Lots of white scraps then.

Karen encouraged us to name our dogs this was the easy part, I haven't told you what my little one got up to last week.  When Gary came home last Thursday we went to the pub for a quick one before tea, now that is a very rare occurrence for us but it was a beautiful night and we had a lovely drive first before having a larger in the pub, then we went home to find..........

this.  It's my kitchen and what is that on the floor?   One of the curtains.........

from my lounge.   Indi, she must have pulled on it so hard the hooks came out of the curtain then she had dragged it across the floor, through the hall, and into the kitchen.  I'm not sure if her half sister Ella had anything to do with it but if there is trouble about you can bet your last dollar Indi is at the bottom of it, and no she is not a puppy she was four yesterday.

Remember this?

The cushion I made last year from the practice blocks?  Take a look at it now........

It has sat in the rocking chair for ten months until two weeks ago.   All I can say is I'm glad I had moved my snowman cushions!

So Karen, due to all the trouble dog gone cute has given me her name is Indi.

Now I'm thinking that most people reading have given up by now and gone off somewhere so I can tell you my embarrassing moment.  This is on condition you so NOT let anyone connected to Stash Bee know.

I made this months block for Monica at the weekend and it is one of the nicest blocks this year,

this is her pic from her Stash Bee post which has all her fabric details.

I particularly like the original design where the centre blocks are the same colour and I can just see it as a panel sown a modern quilt in soft greys and pinks, it is the Alpine block and you can find it at Blossom Heart Quilts here .

I made up the block from fabrics in my stash and it went together like a dream and yesterday I posted it on the Stash Bee blog, that's when it didn't go to plan.  I had posted the pic sideways.  I removed it and turned it around, upside down, I removed it again, turned it around again and posted it.  THEN I went to check it had published properly and I noticed it didn't look quite right, I couldn't put my finger on it.  I checked the original pic and realised........

I had put the sides on the wrong way!  i was mortified, and it was on the Stash Bee blog and on the world wide web for everyone to see.  I went straight back to blogger and deleted the post breathing a sigh of relief, if I hadn't spotted it just imagine the ridicule.

Next I went to check my feed on Bloglovin and........... the post was there, mortification.  Fortunately when I clicked the link it came up post not found and my luck was in, the pic on Bloglovin doesn't give any clues as to who posted it, lets just hope no one recognised the fabrics, but I will make sure I wait a couple of weeks before I repost it to make sure.  So, it looks like I got away with it because it's only you and me who know and we are not telling......... are we?

While I think on I just have to tell you that I've been featured on Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication today, for my sampler quilt.  I am thrilled, it is the second time Susan has featured me, I have the I've Been Featured button on my sidebar, how cool is that?

Lastly an update, my Dad is doing well and is home, it may well happen again in another six months but we will cross that bridge when we come to it, anything can happen in the meantime and today the sun has come out and I have a block to repair.

Until next time,
With smiles from,
Kate x

Linking up with:
Midweek Makers
Let's Bee Social
Wednesday Wait Loss
Needle and Thread Thursday
Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?
Quilting is more fun than Housework hosting for TGIFF
Finished or Not Friday

I'm gobsmacked

at the number of you who have taken the time to read my posts AND sign up to follow my blog this past couple of weeks.  I know of course people who sign up to follow don't read every post but even so, WOW!!!

So, what have I been up to this week?  Well my sewing mojo is coming back, as I won't be taking my machine to class in future I decided to get some more of the six inch blocks made for my modern sampler quilt.  I have gone from 21 blocks to 30 so I'm happy with that.

What do you think?  This won't be the layout of course but I can see the colour mix when I put them all together.  I cut three strips of each fabric when I started, 11/2, 21/2, 31/2 inches, but after making some of the blocks added another two fabrics in, so I have been using those two more to catch up.  I have used most of them about the same amount but I do have an excess of the tone on tone black that looks the most solid, the off white, and the dark grey and green with the little dotted lines on.  But, as three of them are dark it's harder to use them up together so I will probably cut another 31/2 inch strip of each but give preference to the fabrics I need to use most, if that makes sense.  Do sing out if you think my colour or fabric mix is wrong though, I may have missed something.

These are the latest I made, triangles, I can't show you a pic of the other three because I had already mixed them in and I can't remember which ones they are.

Oh I didn't show you the fabrics for the Gypsy Wife quilt I'm starting did I?

What do you think?  There are a fair few from the Alison Glass Sunprints which I love, some of the fabrics are from my stash and some I bought specially.  The Carolyn Freidlander low volume ones at the front I will use as backgrounds.  All the ones at the back I have in long quarters so I can cut a couple of strips off before I start cutting into them.  Now what I need to know is are there any I should remove.  A couple of the blues are rather dark and a couple are a bit insipid, and do you think the orange one with the yellow stars is ok to use as all the others (apart from the low volume ones) are tone on tone but that one has two definite different colours.  I would love to hear what you think.  The first block is today 3rd August, if you haven't heard about it and want to join in check out Gnome Angel for the first block post which contains all the other links.

Now to tell you one of my two pieces of news, I may have to have a short break in October, although I'm hoping to get a couple of posts pre scheduled, why?  I have to have one of my cataracts removed.  I don't know how long it will take for my eyes to settle afterwards, I know I won't be allowed to drive for several weeks until after an eye test, and I will need new glasses.  One cataract has been growing a lot faster than the other and my sight is very lop sided, the worst thing is I have problems seeing colour accurately, in fact it was the first thing I noticed, I see colour differently in each eye but because my eyes have been affected differently the eye with the worst cataract has the best sight, it's weird.  I don't know when I will have the second one removed, it depends on how it grows and also how my sight is as it will be different again after.

I forgot to show you what I bought,

I know some of you won't have forgotten what happened when I borrowed Wendy's (blush blush), I wasn't sure about using one at all but two things changed my mind, the first is I have been talking to a couple of people who use them and they tell me how wonderful they are, the second is, I found out the pink side goes down, not up, whoops!!!  Maybe it will work better this time.

I also had a sudden revelation about my quilting, you know how my table is set up now, I showed you last week?

I suddenly realised that for the last few months since I got the table I have been quilting with the cutting mat in position, and of course it's a non slip surface (more blushes), so when I try the slider out the mat will be back under my bed, out of the way and nice and flat.

Oh, my other piece of news, I had been thinking of early retirement, I was supposed to last Christmas then I couldn't as someone left work and I was the only one who knew all the systems and I said I would stay another year, then I said I would leave this Christmas, well I'm leaving in OCTOBER!!!  I won't be going back after my cataracts, all that lovely time for sewing and getting fitter.

You see my fitness has been going downhill the last year, it started when I had the fall in Corfu, I fell on my head and I didn't even have time to put my hands out to save myself.   I ended up with a nasty concussion, it affected my memory and knocked my confidence.   I didn't feel well enough to go out on my own for a few weeks as I had dizzy spells.  Anyway, I'm fine now and have been for ages, but I stopped walking my dogs, Gary was doing it all, and I have just slipped further and further back ever since, sad.  But now that I'm leaving work I realised I can go two ways, either stay as I am and become a total couch potato, becoming more and more unfit as the years go on with less and less mental stimulation as I loose touch with people and eventually stop going out.  Then I will become a recluse and fall into early senility from watching soaps and reality TV, (well, I may have exaggerated a little, giggles).  Or, I can get off my butt and get moving, do more quilting and pattern designing (yes I know I'm not a designer and no I don't ever want to be but if I so happen on something good I will share it, honest).  So, seeing it was the first of the month and as it was an investment in my health and my future I treated myself to

a Fitbit.   In case you haven't heard of them, and I hadn't until a few months ago, they are a combination of a watch, step counter, sleep monitor, and fitness tracker all in one, mine records my heart rate too.  They sync with your smart phone and you get a permanent record of your progress.  At least that's my understanding in a nutshell.   Now I didn't just jump into it, I did a fair bit of thinking and spoke to three people who had them, the general opinion seems to be they can be excellent for improving fitness, as long as you use them that is.  One said her daughter and husband used theirs constantly and challenged each other (can't see Gary getting into THAT), one likes it but doesn't use it to it's full capacity, and one just checks her daily steps and bought it as a watch really, although sometimes she finds she has almost reached a target and marches about the house to the tune of 'The Grand Old Duke of York' until she hits it (is it only my daughter who would do that or do you see a family trait somewhere?  Don't answer that).  I've only had it for three days so I will give you my early impressions next week if anyone is interested.

The long arm of the curse that is family illness has caught us again, it turns out to be similar to the episode we had in January.   When illness comes like this it is frightening, potentially devastating and turns your nice ordered world into turmoil as all the potential scenarios play constantly through your head, and the worst thing is there is nothing at all you can do about it.  At the risk of sounding unfeeling and uncaring I will tell you how I am learning to cope with it, but if it isn't your thing come back next week to see my first Gypsy Wife block.

Life is full of problems of all different sizes, some are small but to some seem huge, it depends on your perspective and past life experience.  Others are so enormous is their magnitude it is hard to imagine how you will cope, but you will simply because there is no other choice.  These moments in time are all transient, they will pass and eventually another event will come along which will rock your world, for good or for bad.  I try to recognise the bad times as just that, moments, and just get through them knowing they will pass, I try not to focus on possible outcomes, only the fact that life is all transient.  Do you remember the fantastic things that have happened, the most wonderful times, like holding you child for the very first time, your wedding day, or looking up and seeing the most beautiful rainbow that stops you in your tracks with the beauty of nature?  These are also moments, we don't constantly think of them, and when we do we are living a memory, not the present, and it doesn't seem as vivid in it's intensity as it did.  The bad times in life are the same.  I try not to let my wonderful moment memories be spoiled by this moment or situation, that I know will pass in a few hours or a few days, or sometime.  I'm not saying that it works for me all the time, I still have my moments of absolute panic and fear, but in my more rational times it's what I try and hang on to.   That's my thoughts for what they are worth, you may agree you may not, we are all different, that's what makes life so interesting, it would be very boring if we were all the same.

Oh dear, I've probably bored you all silly with my philosophising, and you thought this was a quilting blog.
Before I forget the winners of the 12 Days of Christmas blog hop are announced tomorrow Friday 4th August at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  You can find my contribution post with the free templates to make your own on this post if you missed it.

Normal service will be resumed next week, with maybe a little about the Fitbit thrown in.

Until then.
Smiles from,
Kate x

Linking up with:
Midweek Makers
Wednesday Wait Loss
Needle and Thread Thursday
Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?