I'm back after a long absence.  But I haven't been idle, just not really wanting to sit at the computer all night sorting photos like I used to 5 years ago. 

I've had 2 weeks off for the Easter holidays and told myself that I was going to finish a quilt and make myself a handbag.  Well that didn't quite happen.

I managed to get much further along with my mystery quilt that Julie designed.  I did actually manage to sit down for almost an entire day to do this, and it's now well over 2/3 quilted.  I can't wait to get it finished, as now that spring is coming, I might actually be able to use it in the season that I designed the colours for in the first place!  I haven't quite worked out how I'll use it, because it has so much white in it that it'll get ridiculously dirty as soon as I take it outside (and the dog starts trying to get underneath it with his silly little nose pushing technique).

 This is a photo I took in a hurry just before I went out with Julie and her mum to the quilting show being held at Detling showground last weekend.  The show made me feel ridiculously inadequate but also inspired me to try out a few more different fabrics...  There was one quilt there that was made using a range of fabrics designed by Tula Pink, a US designer that I have recently started following on twitter and blogs, and I just love the designs, and the fact that they make such a simple quilt design look so striking!

 I'm not sure I'm allowed to put up a photo as there were copyright clauses all over the tent, but here is just a tiny taste...

But I did at least manage to finish one quilt.  It was for a friend who has recently had a baby and said she didn't have a floor mat yet for her little girl.  Her theme for buying clothes etc was 'Olive + Henri', a range by Babies R Us, so I took inspiration from that and used up as many scraps and fabrics as I could to make a tactile quilt for her.  It has satin, velvet, scrunchy silk, cotton, soft interfacing and a small section with frogs!

 

 I have also been spinning, and here is just a taste of the wools I have at the moment.  They are generally thicker slub yarns, but I have a fairly finely spun ball of purple there in the middle of it all.  I have a couple of hanks of most of the thicker ones and a couple of other colours at the moment, with lots more wool waiting in the wings!