Happy Holidays Quilt

I had my laziest start to the day for a long time. It has rained on and off today, so we lazed in bed until late, then meandered our way to the Thyme Cafe for coffee and an iced chocolate. Oh my goodness they do the best iced chocolate I have ever come across. Sometimes you come across a watery, bland iced chocolate that seems to be ice, milk, water, a dash of powdered chocolate and maybe a bit of whipped cream on the top. Thyme Cafe make a silky, thick, delicious iced chocolate with lines of chocolate syrup coating the interior of a tall glass, a big blob of vanilla ice-cream, whipped cream and a sprinkle of chocolate. Mmmm- happiness in a glass.

As it was raining I decided to get to work on the "Happy Holidays" quilt. It has required a very methodical approach to keep everything in order as a mistake would be really obvious. I have everything lined up carefully, then gather each strip up the same way every time.

My loyal companion sticks close on her own quilt. I must make her another one. Today is toenail clipping day. She does in every now and then, snipping and biting with her teeth. I don't mind at all (saves me a job) but it sends Johnny into a frenzy of irritation.

Joining the squares together. I did some on Mum's machine, which is so quiet compare to my one. But mine has an automatic thread cutter, which speeds my progress up hugely. It also has an automatic needle threader, which is brilliant, plus it has little diagrams, arrows and numbers everywhere so that I can't muck up threading and other operations.

Ironing each strip. Odd seams are ironed upwards and even seams downwards so that they lie nicely when put together.

Here are the strips completed.

Joining the strips.

At this point I discovered that my squares aren't quite perfectly even so my cross seams don't line up. As this is the same on every quilt I make I am not surprised, but a few unseemly bad words pass through my head. How do I manage to produce uneven squares using a rotary cutter and square template? Possibly because I need to replace my rotary cutter as it is a bit dodgy. The template also slips a little if I'm not careful. I try to make my seams even when I'm sewing them, but who knows, I could be mucking up there too. My policy on quilt making: if I worry about perfection I wouldn't do anything, so I get stuck in and give it a go.

I should be finished piecing the inner panel very soon, and you know what that means... a trip to my favourite quilt shop Stitch Playroom! I know this one is going to be a tricky one to match colours for the sashing and binding. At first I thought I would just need a binding, but now I realize it definitely needs some blocks of fabric surrounding the busy panel in the centre. I'll just have to have a good play around and I'm sure something fabulous will present itself.

On the cooking front- Johnny's ravioli was superb! The filling was so delicious. He gave it some oomph with half of a mushroom stock cube (the yummy kind from The Mediterranean Warehouse) added to the ricotta, mushrooms and parmesan. I think that pasta needs a strong tasting filling or it disappears and seems too bland. I used the first of my garlic in the sauce. Tomatoes are a great price this year. Hopefully that means my crop will be enormous.

It is supposed to be hot and fine tomorrow. More gardening.