Being ruthless

Time is short, energy levels are low and the to-do list is longer than ever, so this week I decided a few things had to go. Over a year ago I'd begun a boutis quilt for Amelie's room. I'd drawn out a design that used motifs from her wallpaper so that it all coordinated and done lots of the stitching ready to start the padding. I've enjoyed stitching the neat rows of backstitch to create the design, but I'm getting nowhere with the stuffing. It's a fiddle to do and no fun at all. Besides, we've moved house and Amelie doesn't even have that wallpaper anymore.

I still like the design though so I tried to unpick the backstitch so that I could re-quilt it in the ordinary way. After ten minutes I decided life is too short and instead I've drawn over all of the design motifs with Sharpie pen, traced them off onto a new piece of fabric and thrown it in the bin, trying not to think about all those hours of work.

Here's the new one being marked out. I'm making it a bit bigger so it'll suit the bed she has now and adding a few extra motifs to make the quilting be more interesting. I'm marking it with pencil quite boldly. There's nothing more infuriating that sitting to quilt in the half-light at night and not being able to see the lines. The marking is done with a watersoluble pencil so once it's quilted I'll wash the whole thing and it'll all disappear.

Instead of the boutis technique this time I'm going to quilt it conventionally. I've got some nice cotton wadding that'll give a lovely antique look to the quilt once it's washed and it'll be an ideal opportunity to try out some of these new Madeira Cotona threads that I've got my hands on. These are a No.50 weight and as you can see, the variegated colours are really pretty.

Meanwhile we've been decorating the house. This bunting which features in this week's DMTV show is going to become a favourite each year I'm sure. I love getting the decorations out and rediscovering the homemade ones that I'd forgotten about. We have some that date back quite a few years from when my sister and I were very young and not great at sewing. They still go on the tree each year though!

I did, rather stupidly, put all my glass decorations on the tree, up high of course out of the reach of small hands. In spite of this the temptation of the tree with all it's glitter and lights proved to be too much to bear and it's be pulled over once already. Needless to say a nail has now been banged in the wall behind and it's tied up with string and going nowhere.

I've just come indoors from decorating the gate and front door with foliage and ribbon bows. Oh dear, it sounds like it's all so Country Living around here, believe me it's not! Well apart from our new neighbours. I just pinched this photo from Linda's blog (If you'd like to see what Linda's been up to this week here's the link: http://www.lindakemshall.blogspot.com). Mom and I think he looks like one of the those old folk art paintings. Amelie thinks he and the rest of the herd are just the bees knees!

Thanks for reading,

Laura

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