First, Malcolm says thank you for all your birthday wishes - I'll tell you tomorrow about our trip to Stuart and Alison's, and the delicious meal we had.
But now, to backtrack to Saturday. I had to get up at 6am, leave the house at 6.30, pick up Maureen at 7.oo, then drive on to Kelso to join the other Abbey Quilters to be picked up at 7.30 ...... I was exhausted already! We had a good journey to Harrogate - including a 15 minute comfort break, it took us three and a half hours. Tempting as it was to head first for the traders, I went to look at the quilts
as always I can only show you general shots of the exhibition
these quilts are by Ferret
what do you see when you look at the quilt in the middle?
did you see a face or two prancing horses! Would you like to see the winning quilt?
as it will appear in so many magazines, I don't think an appearance here will matter
it's hard work ooohing and aaaahing over the wonderful quilts, so what better way to have an energy boost, than tucking into a delicious icecream!!
while I was eating my icecream, there was a group of people just a few feet from me who were paying attention to a chap who was holding forth in a loud voice. He looked, and sounded, familiar, but I couldn't place him. Then later, when I was looking round the traders, I saw a photo of him on a stall, and realised who he was. He was a contestant in The Great British Sewing Bee, earlier in the year. (the photo is from here)
after a very enjoyable day at the quilt show, we had a good journey back, and I got home about 8pm, to enjoy a late dinner and a glass (or two) of wine! So what did I buy?
the little fairy lights at the top are for Malcolm. He will be making more driftwood trees for Christmas, and I thought these would look good on them. You can find them here. I couldn't resist the book of flowers, and it made sense to stock up on some of my favourite threads - I usually have to buy them online, so buying them at the show has saved me postage. I had to rearrange my thead box to fit them in (oh, ok, I have lots more thread!)
beads and buttons, cute sheepie ribbon, and some iron-on bias for the stash. I have had this book for years, but hadn't got round to making any of the projects ....... but now I have some lovely woolly bits, I shall have to decide what to do
when I was taking the photos of my purchases, I also took photos of a couple of things that we bought last week. I frequently say that I don't know how I have a son who is now in his thirties, as in my head I am still 29. So when I saw this mug, it had to come home with me!!
Malcolm bought this little owl for me
I will put these metal tags on some bunting
a last word on the quilt show ...... I was delighted to bump into Val Ramsay, whom I knew some years ago, but after Val moved to County Durham we lost touch. We had a very rapid catch-up on all that has happened in the intervening years, and parted with promises to try harder to keep in touch!
With all my gallivanting, I am lagging behind on reading and commenting on my favourite blogs, but I should catch up over the next few days. I also haven't been able to keep up with replying to comments and answering questions, for which I apologise - if you have asked me something and I haven't replied, please ask me again!
To finish, I realise there has been a distinct lack of sconnage, so here is a wonderful cheese scone which we shared on Sunday
ps - on our way home today we popped in to a garden centre for a bowl of soup for lunch. As we walked in the door I let out a loud groan, as the staff were setting up their C*****mas displays!!!!!