Just Another Weekend!

First I would like to show you the gorgeous sunset we had last night, all three of my children were outside mesmerized by the color of the sky! I just had to take some photos to share. This past weekend was the end of a very busy 6 weeks. I had more business in the past 6 weeks than June and July combined!!! Not really but pretty close.... The tourist season is winding down and exhaustion has set in. Last night there were no guests in the house and I was extremely grateful for that. I have alot of work ahead of me this week in an effort to get this house back to proper order!!!

The bottom picture is what a small corner of my sunroom looks like right now. The pile of sheets need to be folded and pressed, these are the guest sheets that have accumulated over the past few days!!!! Yes I said days not weeks!!!!! In amongst the sheets is a baby quilt that is waiting to be bound and given to the new mother (well, she was a new mother 6 months ago -- I'm slightly behind!!!). On the table is laptop, magazines (quilting of course), my DS#1 Egyptian project and my sewing machine and basket of tools. I have no guests on my calendar and plan on spending the next week catching up on all my jobs.
I might even finish up a quilt or two or at least give it my best!

All the best and keep smiling!!!!

Memory Lane

I thought for today I would take a trip down memory lane!!! You see I am heading off to the US of A very soon and these quilts are going with us to their new homes.
The first quilt over there on the left is for my mother and father. It was done with Roman holiday fabric from Moda and was a kit from the Fat Quarter Shop last Christmas. All of my quilty pals say that it is not very Christmas and could be used year round. I am sure they will enjoy it and if they don't then I will take it back!!!!! Don't put it past me!!!

These two quilts are going to be winging their way across the US to the beautiful Pacific Northwest. The light color quilt was one of the first quilts I showed on this blog way back in January. Hopefully my neice will enjoy this quilt and will look pretty in her room. And if not then I will take it back.... I mean business people!!!!!!!!

The Thimbleberries quilt with the trees will be hopefully gracing the back of my sister's sofa in her living room. They live in Washinton state, close to the Canadian border near Vancouver, the thimbleberries will fit in with their enviroment perfectly!!!!! If not then you know that I will take it back!!!!

I love my quilts and grow very attached to them so I only like sharing with people that I am pretty sure will appreciate them!!!

We are all very excited about our trip to the states, the only sad bit is that FarmerBoy has to stay at home and take care of the animals. He has no more holiday time left this year and what few days he does have needs to be saved for Christmas. It will be tough not having my shopping monitor with me, ohhhhh myyyyy what shall I do!!!!!

My children are sooooo excited to see their grandparents and indulge in some purely American food. This holiday will be all about the food!!!!! Their first request was to ask my mother to have root beer and some of that really good danish. They also want to go to the Donut Inn for chocolate donuts on the first morning, do ya think we might have a problem with hyperactivity later in the day or a serious sugar crash!!! Yikes!!!! High on their list is pizza, hot dogs (the real ones not like the Irish ones), cheddar cheese popcorn and last but not least Candy Corn!!!!! They can thank me for that one, I can't wait to get my hands on some Brachs Candy Corn, it's all I can think about.

High on their list of activities is a walk at the woods, go to the playground at the beach (personally they are a little to old for this but I will indulge them so that they move on), ice skating rink and last but not least Toys r Us. They left the US when the oldest was 5 and the youngest wasn't quite 2, whenever they go to visit they are overwhelmed with the sizes of the stores and the amount of choices available. We are looking forward to a great holiday. It has been two years and our visit is long overdue!
Bye and keep smiling!!!!!!

Come Visit my Workshop!!!!!

Welcome to my little nest! This is where the magic happens, or rather where I wished it happened!!! One of the greatest aspects of blogging is that you get a glimpse of other people's lives. I love it when other quilters show off their space and talk about their studios or work areas. This is mine!!!!!

When we had dormer windows put in late last spring, we gained a little extra space and some much needed sunlight. I was "allowed" to claim one of the dormers for myself. Now this little work area is just outside my bedroom door in the hallway. It's not much, but it's all mine....

Next to my desk is a plastic 3 drawer storage unit for my Fat Quarters!!! How convenient that I don't need to get up out of my chair (which by the way is falling apart). Sorry about the sunlight, I usually work with sunglasses on!!!!
I have moved slightly so that you can see the other little nook!!! Behind the fabulous Fat Quarter custom cabinet is my collection of plastic containers and assorted hold all's! Large basket for assorted stuff like glue, some rulers, threads and anything else that can fit. There are two small plastic containers with all of my threads. Keeping watch over all of this is Woody from the infamous Toy Story Saga (he is in for repairs but we pretend he is the guard). Woody is sitting on a plastic container that holds some projects that are in line to be worked on and the plastic container that the basket is sitting on is for my stash. The bottom container is filled with stash!!!! Farmerboy thinks it's old baby clothes....shhhh!!









This little attractive arrangement is for stash, charm square and jelly roll collections and scraps. The purple baskets have my Thimbleberries stash and other assorted fabrics. I have two types of stash, both are equally unhealthy!!!! I buy fabric online when it is on sale and this is randomly purchased, I try to purchase a variety of colors, textures and print sizes. I also collect fabrics from a certain collection or designer. For example, I love Three Sisters designs from Moda. I have a nice litte stash of their fabrics as well as April Cornell fabrics. I am a huge fan of Lakehouse fabrics and enjoy collecting that year in and year out.


My space is small and cramped, but it is all mine and sure beats the kitchen table where I have been for quite some time. Someday when all my chicks have flown the nest I will have a spare room to set up in and I am sure I will be missing the little chicks more than enjoying my bigger space. So I am happy and grateful for my little hole in the wall!!!!!
Plus this is my view!!!!!!!!!! Can't beat that!!!!!!

Have a good one and keep smiling!!!!!

Slowly but surely!

Slowly but surely I make progress on this adorable gift. Yesterday I showed you a small glimpse of this quilt and today I would like to share the applique that I did late last night. Applique can be a bit daunting for me, it's the stitching that makes me tremble not the fusing!!!

I have to do the three borders and then I will get it quilted. Once all of that is done I can start working on the second one.

Have a good one and Keep smiling!!!!

A Little Something!!

I have been working on so many different things lately, both quilty and otherwise! I have designed this little number for FarmerBoy's Grandniece! FarmerBoy comes from a big family and one of his nephews is the proud father of twin girls. I purchased Lakehouse fabric in two colorways, Pink/Orange and Purple/Black in order to make quilts for the new additions. The quilts will have some applique and are going to be twin size. I know that they are not your typical baby quilts but I didn't want them to have cot size quilts but rather something they can grown into!!!!

My second bit of news is that I am now a card carrying member of the IPS, the Irish Patchwork Society!!! Sherry asked me to join her on her visit to my local chapter in New Ross. How could I deny her the pleasure of my company?! She also introduced me to a former neighbor of hers who coordinates a Thursday evening quilting bee in one of the local community halls. So I joined the ladies in Bree last Thursday and was sooo delighted that I went, it is nice to get out and meet other quilters. I plan on attending every Thursday.

Hopefully I will have the Purple and Black combo ready soon and will share a photo of that. The kiddos are going to be home soon so I need to finish up my sewing and get ready for a little homework time!!!!!

Keep Smiling!

Where does the time go?

I honestly don't know where the time goes, I want to be a good blogger and I have the best of intentions but somehow I always get waylaid by LIFE!!! I am juggling so many things right now and time just seems to slip away. I have been working on learning EQ6, the quilt design program. I have designed a few quilts (on paper) and actually made a few. We are also going to make some changes in our hospitality business. Presently we are a registered B&B but the tourism business is sliding downward and business was so bad this past summer I was all set to close up shop and start looking for a job. The job market is now the pits and so what do I do??!!!! Well, a few of my friends (quilty friends) have suggested that I start offering quilt and other craft retreats. We are working on improving our B&B website and including retreat information. I need to do some advertising and make some alterations here in the house, minimal. I will keep you all posted as we progress. Hopefully things will settle down soon!

I hope Sherry doesn't get to cross with me but I just wanted to show off a little project that I have just finished for the upcoming premiere issue of Irish Quilting!!!!! A lap quilt that I designed using the Portugal line of fabric from Moda.

It was a bit of a challenge on several levels. First it was a rush job, two week turnaround. Now for some of you that would be a piece of cake but I am also running a Bed and Breakfast single handedly and have been really busy for the past two weeks. I have three children who are involved in sports, music, the Christmas Panto that the local drama society is doing and various other clubs. My children can't pass a sign up sheet without putting down their names!!!!!! Sooooo, two weeks is daunting to say the least. The second challenge was that it had to be done with a charm square and jelly roll and a few yards of fabric. I was not allowed to touch my stash nor was I allowed to purchase or use any of my own Portugal stash!!!! Kinda of like that show where you show up with 3-5 weird food items and a professional chef makes a fabulous meal with it!

I had a few designs that I wanted to try out but the calculations weren't working for me so I had to come up with something new. This line of fabric is really beautiful and I was enjoying myself up until it was time to machine quilt it. Machine quilting is not one of the things I do best. In fact I stink at it and it really shows!!!!! I have a few quilt tops sitting here that need to be quilting and I am gritting my teeth.



I often wonder if a Gracie frame would make my life more enjoyable. I have been hemming and hawing over whether I should purchase one. Does anyone have an opinion on the Gracie frames, the one that you load your own machine onto??? Let me know?
Now onto the usual family business. Over there on the left is our lovely Tom Cat! I am pleased to introduce to you Sammy, aka Samuel Beckett. Sammy is a very pretty kitty and he knows it, he lounges around the sitting room all day long and then spends the night prowling around the fields and farmyard. We have seen lounging about on back country lanes near the neighbors house and sitting high up on the bales of straw in the barn. Sammy has the life and he knows it.
This is Sheila the wonder dog. Sheila loves going in the car and insists on sitting in the front seat as the navigator. Last October she went off with FarmerBoy and didn't come home that night!!! She had gotten out of the car and wandered off, totally not like her. FarmerBoy got in the car and didn't notice her abscence and drove the 12 miles home. Two to three weeks later on Halloween night we received a phone call from the SPCA and Sheila had been found just a few miles from our house. She found a family to take care of her while she made her way home. The family lived several houses away from the children's piano teacher, so Sheila is alot smarter than we ever gave her credit for.

Sheila was our first pet when we moved here to Ireland, she holds a very special place in our hearts!!!

A Boy's Best Friend

Having grown up with Newfoundland dogs, I couldn't imagine not having some four legged friends in my life! Here is a beautiful picture of middle son and his beloved Sophie. Sophie was abandoned a couple of years ago on a very busy road and made her way up our long laneway. She was in a horrific state and terribly malnourished. She has found a very loving home here on our farm and more importantly she has found her best friend. Middle son and Sophie just adore one another, soulmates.

There is no greater way to teach a child unconditional love than with a pet. Both Farmer Boy and I grew up with pets and so too will our children. It has taught them kindness, patience, loyalty and above all it is better to share your journey in life with a special friend than go it alone. Now if only Farmer Boy would let me get a donkey or two, I really want a donkey!!!!

Summer Holidays are Over!!

It has been a long time since I last blogged, in fact I just discovered that it was May!!! Yikes, time flies when your having fun. Anywho, I would like to say that I have been busy with my Bed & Breakfast but sadly the tourism industry has been brought to it's knees this year -- my business was down 50%. We had rain every single day here in Ireland, and I mean EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!! I had a lovely couple sitting in my dining room one morning, it was pouring outside, calling their airline begging to get on the next flight out. I asked them to take me with them but it was not to be!!

The poor farmers are watching their barley and wheat turn to porridge in the fields, there will be major losses this year. The children are heading back to school a week from tomorrow and they never made it to the beach once this summer. Sooooo, instead of sunning myself this summer and seeing as though I had no guests to entertain, I actually did quite alot of quilting.

Do any of you remember these star blocks??? I used Allspice fabric in a pattern from Heather Mulder Peterson's book - Fat Quarter Cottage (I think). There is a friend of mine up the road in Wicklow who is doing the same pattern with Allspice but with a slightly different color scheme. She has fallen far behind and needs to set a goal of one or two star blocks per night!!!! You know who you are!!!!!
When I started this pattern I thought I would never see the end of it, but I persevered and the end result is at the bottom of this post. I have many things to share over the coming weeks, hopefully I will get back into the swing of things now that school is starting back.


I love this fabric, I love it soo much that it sat in my stash for nine months because I couldn't bear to cut it up. Honestly I think quilters are crazy people!!!! My stash continues to grow and farmer boy is growing very suspicious of the plastic containers that keep appearing in my sewing corner!!!! I am preparing for another famine, a fabric famine!!!!!
Here she is in all her glory!!!! My beautiful quilt is in Rebecca's hands now (my longarm professional friend), it will hopefully be on my bed for Christmas!!! Rebecca is going to long arm this beauty in November, we both have a long list of projects that are of a greater priority so my quilt will have to wait until Rebecca can give it her full attention!!!!

By the way those are my three monkeys over there and our Austrian student Michaela. I taught Michaela how to quilt this summer, I will post a picture of her quilt in the coming days!!!!

I have lots to share and hope you will be back soon!!!!

Keep smiling!

My Beauty!!!

Sherry and I have a friend named Rebecca. Rebecca is from Australia and is a beautiful quilter, she has purchased a long arm machine and is practicing before she heads off to a Long Arm Summer School. I gave her my "Simplicity" quilt to practice on and look at the pictures. I can't wait to put the binding on!!!

Rebecca did a gorgeous job. Thank you Rebecca!!!

On the homefront there is nothing much going on. The sheep are fairly self sufficient right now, although they will be sheered soon and I will certainly be there to take pictures! The children are all involved in their activities and are anxiously awaiting their summer holidays.

Summer is a far cry away, it is still very cold here and we have had gale force winds since Saturday. The weather is wet and miserable, it feels like October. This did not stop us from having a party here at our house this past weekend and all the usual suspects were there. The comments I have received from everyone is how pleasant and friendly everyone is. The circle grows bigger and bigger and all are welcome. I think the reason we all get on so well is that we are all expats and have a shared experience of being on the outside looking in.
So that is all folks, enjoy these pictures and hopefully I will have more to show soon!

Bye and keep smiling!

Stars and Plumbers!

This is what I have been doing on the quilting scene lately!!! I have made three sets of each of the color combinations you see here. The quilt that I am working on requires 44 stars. I have enough fabric cut to make close to 180 stars, I am not going to be doing this on my own so don't fret. This is going to be one purdy quilt, I am using the Allspice Fat Quarter bundle and yardage that has been sitting in my stash for not quite a year but getting close to it!!

I have also added a playlist over there on my sidebar with a beautiful song that I fell in love with when I first heard it over on Liberty Star Farm . Hauntingly gorgeous!!

Now, let me tell you what my day has been like. I need to share and I hate to whine but FarmerBoy isn't here so this is my only outlet today. This morning I had a house full of guests and while they were all eating breakfast I was cleaning the kitchen. To properly clean a greasy kitchen you need hot water, really hot water! Guess what? There was no hot water, nada - none to speak of. Could all those guests have used up all that hot water, no way!!!

The boiler isn't working, on a saturday and FarmerBoy is unreachable doing his FarmerBoy thing! I called my ever so faithful plumber and put on my sweetest voice, "Please, Please Please come and fix my boiler...."! Guess where he is??? In the southern most part of our county, playing 18 holes of golf...... Crap!!! What am I going to do?????

I have a house full of people tonight, no hot water and a massive headache from the stress of it all!!!! So what do I do? I ignore all the problems and I play with my blog and catch up on all my favorite blogs!!!! Thank you for listening, I feel so much better now!

There are a couple more close up pictures of my stars, I think when I am finished here I am going to start working on more stars. Why worry about something that I can do nothing about and when the going gets tough the tough get sewing!!!! LOL


I love these two as well as the brown floral above with the small print background.

Thankfully all of my guests are Irish and I will simply offer them a discount and use of my electric hot shower (which by the way I have to go clean). They are here for the motorcross races, all men and we all know that men can be very easy peasy about stuff!!!! Heck, if I look pathetic enough maybe one of them will look at my boiler. That sounds kinda of, wait I hear a truck....could it be, YES its the plumber!!!!!!!

What a great guy, he fixed the boiler. Yippee, we have hot water!!!!! He is my hero!!!!!

So long!!!!

Finally - A quilt!

I bet you all thought I had forgotten what this blog is all about!!! I really want to focus more on the quilting than the family but sometimes they don't let me quilt. So my revenge is to talk about them and they don't always appreciate that. (Evil laughter ringing through my empty house)


This first picture does not do this fabric justice. The fabric is "Simplicity" by 3 Sisters From Moda. I can't get enough of it, I want more and more and more. It is the sweetest fabric and so delicate and cheerful, it brings a smile to my face just working with it.

I also think I have mastered the whole charm square dilemma, a charm square is a 5" precut square and you usually get one square for each of the fabrics in the designers line. So in this fabric line I received 48 or 50 charm squares. The charm square are cut with a pinking scissor or whatever they use in the factory. I sewed the four squares together and then trimmed them down and it worked a "charm"!!!!


The border will hopefully get down tonight and will be ready to be quilted. The pattern is Legacy "Butter Charm and Jelly" (I have to double check that). I have another quilt all cut up and ready to piece. Another cute fabric from Moda, Swell by Urban Chicks. Hopefully I will have that ready to show you soon or maybe not, it all depends on how demanding the guests are!!!!

Bye for now and hoping to be back soon!!!

The Sound of Silence!!!

I know that I have been a very bad blogger, life just somehow keeps getting in the way. Silence has decended on my home, no guests for the past several days. I have one more free night and then I start all over and go straight through until the end of the month. This time of year is very difficult, working 18 hours a day and caring for the family takes first priority and then everything falls where it falls!! The other night we all went for a walk in the woods behind where we live, the kiddos wanted to show me two things. First the Blue Bells!!!!! The entire wood is carpeted with blue bells, the scent is incredible. The second item on their list was a swimming hole, actually it's a stream. I look at my children sometimes and realize that they are real country kids, they can't wait until it's hot enough to go swimming in the stream!!! Even FarmerBoy is looking forward to it.

Here is the gang rambling along the path, the local gun club keeps these trails cleared. We all benefit from their hard work, a woman and her horse were out treking and stopped to talk with us. This of course led to a long conversation with our little princess!!! She is desperate for a pony, "everyone has a pony, why can't I"!! FarmerBoy argues with her but she manages to come up with a solution to every obstacle. We have land for grazing, we have barns (just need to build a stall in the barn) and of course she promises to take care of it day and night. Yeah right. Mommy and Daddy will be out their shoveling you know what everyday. Little miss muffit can't feed the dogs and cat without an emotional breakdown!!!!!!! I pacified her by making a promise to take her riding and the two of us will take some lessons together, then and only then will I make a decision. FarmerBoy and I would love to get a pony and horse, I really want a donkey but that is another discussion for another day! We don't think she is ready for the responsibility, time will tell.


If there is anyone out there who is preparing to travel to Ireland within the next couple of weeks, please do me a favor!!! Bring warm weather with you, it is really cold here -- I mean really cold!!

I have quilt pictures to show you but I just noticed that they are missing, I will do another post.

Bye!