Snowy days...

Yes, we too have had snow.  It came on Thursday night, dusted everything prettily, closed most local schools for a day, hung around for the weekend, then mostly melted away, till last night when we got caught up in the edge of the 'snow-bomb' and received another dousing. 

Cue the essential blog-land snow photos...

What better excuse could there be for a bit of this - sitting in front of a glowing wood-burner with a gloriously hefty quilt-in-the-making, stitching away to try to finally shift this off my list of works-in-progress...

Hand-quilting is not something I've done before, and it's not very neat.  Let's call it 'rustic charm' shall we?

The fact that I've used a bit of thick old woollen blanket (from the 'Dog Blanket' section of a local charity shop - apologies to dogs in general for depriving them of this one!) means the 'rocking stitch' technique I've read about for quilting is impossible, so each stitch has to be stabbed through individually.  I have my right hand at the back and the left at the front, so am getting to be a more ambidextrous stitcher, but I think my left hand still needs to improve for more even stitches.

I have now quilted twenty-four-and-a-half of the thirty-five squares - maybe I will get this finished before winter is out?

Sustenance has been provided on a regular basis by Mr U-t-B, who is rediscovering his culinary prowess since stepping out of the daily grind.  Last's week's soups were a work of genius - I will share a recipe soon!

In other news I spotted some really scrummy vintage fabric on the Rag Rescue website...

...which duly arrived the day after ordering.

Who needs to go out in the snow when such beauties can be delivered via the post, the very next day?

Also slipping in on this order was this sweet little child's coat hanger.  We used to have ones like these when we were little, so I couldn't resist when I saw it!

Although I am not starting any new projects at the moment,  I have been planning and preparing. Well, once I've ploughed through all those jobs I've been putting off so long, I really will deserve a reward.  So, in preparation for a birthday some months down the line, I ordered some adorable 'Out to Sea' fabric...

Once again my fabrics arrived the day after I had ordered them - this time from 'The Eclectic Maker'.

Each fat quarter was intriguingly folded.  I have tried to work out how the folding had been done, but failed.  

I am now looking forward to the moment I can justify cutting into these to create the quilt I am planning.  Having this carrot dangling in front of my nose is definitely helping me focus on getting on with the unfinished one.

It's snowing again!  

Back to the quilting and a warm drink ...