Quilting Under Stress

Once upon a time long ago back in 1970 , my granny gave me a tin and started me doing hexy patchwork , whenever im stressed I quilt , its always hexys . I quilt on the machine when the urge takes me , I will never win awards , I use recycled fabric and the thread is usually the dearest part of the whole quilt . Having had a hellish year the pink quilt of doom is growing and has got to lap blanket stage just ready for winter...lol

yep ...I still use the same tin 

But I still have the first quilt i started in 1970 , its just a king sized quilt top , but it holds so many memories , scraps of clothes i wore as a child , the purple PE skirt I hated so much , dresses my mother left behind, all sorts of unsuitable mix and match fabrics ,just added whenever i felt stressed,  a few silk ones rotted and had to be replaced , It went missing when i got divorced and 10 years down the line my ex handed me it in a bin bag and ran . He'd tried to rip it in half knowing how much that would hurt me  , it took me weeks to repair the damage ,you couldnt hide the damage so i didnt try to.

 I remember sunny afternoons curled up in a ball with the kids reading poetry to them when they were tiny. Even a couple of hexys with bits of scribble  Sitting with my granny scolding me for my stitches being uneven , looking at the center they were terrible back then but as the quilt grew over the years they got better and better . I finished it just before i got married. Its faded and worn and has lived a long and useful life . I just hope that when im gone one of them loves it like i do and it doesnt end up on a thrift shop shelf . I always think thats such a sad fate for a handmade quilt .

Benefits Land Realms of Mordor

So after a whole month of actual regular payments , we once again hit problems . Now they cease to pay Mr Bah Humbugs JSA because i am employed part time , not as bad as it sounds as we still have his PIP payments and my part time job . The Housing Benefit payments are however linked to his JSA , he must now apply for ESA again the benefit where they scored him nil points, a nice lady from the Council came and did the forms for him , he will score nil points at the medical but we must keep applying as a condition of the Housing Benefit ???
Meanwhile Mr Bah Humbug attended the Job Centre yesterday , just so they could eat a bit of his soul , he got one of the members of staff who has a personality disorder . Dont get me wrong the staff at the job center are on the whole helpful and pleasant but there are one or two who really are foul .
Conversation goes a little like this .

Why are you here ? were not going to give you any  money

 Im here because I want help to find a job

Why have you not signed in electronically ?

because it doesnt recognise my writing , I struggle to hold a pen i have nerve damage .

I dont care if it takes you an hour to sign in , you will do it or you wont be seen .

I have nerve damage the longer i try the worse it gets .

You have been judged fit to work , you will sign in in future

Why havent the Shaw Trust been in touch with you ?

I have no idea , ive had no calls or letters

I will give you the number

Please write it down ,I cant and i have short term memory problems

That is not my job

So he left the building just as baffled as when he went in and twice as foul , as he said this is the worst interview hes had since the one where he was told that pain is irrelevent

Sunday Day of No Rest

Just had one of those days up before dawn unable to sleep , never stopped since . The joys of a busy work week everything has to be done on Sunday , plus the hoards dictated a full English Breakfast and then chicken tea . Spent the day spring cleaning our bedroom a never ending thankless task due to the amount of craft materials I have hoarded away , when youve emptied the hoover eight times doing one room you know you have a problem occasioned by thousands of seed beads getting into the carpet and not wanting  to come out , then joy of joy i find theres tons of woodroom in the side of a chest of drawers that I moved , we get lots of woodworm the house is riddled with it , so thats going to be more mess and stench . The council did respond once , sent the surveyor who told me it was my fault for having wooden old furniture and that i should get rid of it all . Strange the floors were riddled with it when we moved in . The furniture i check every year , this is about the first time in 3 years we have found it , plus its inactive this time of year so i will just poison them for fun .
So now im going to settle down and read about everybody elses fascinating productive lives and cook a chicken tea .
 Greetings to Russia , it seems according to google that we have gained lots of viewers
 Heres a little vintage knitting for everyone

Endless Crafts

I got a whole 2 hours yesterday of peace , Mr Bah Humbug had gone out with his friend , the munchkin his mum and her friend had gone to look for her car . Age 23 after finishing her long term auditioning for a son in law , shes decided to go off the rails in spectacular fashion , go out dressed like a hooker and lose her vehicle due to alcohol . She has spent the rest of the weekend wrapped in a blanket feeling sorry for herself . we all have to learn the hard way...lol
Yesterday was perfect and sunny so I dragged my hand quilting outside and just sat and enjoyed the peace with my furry assistant . In fact ive got nothing done all weekend , nothing in the garden, theres still mountains of washing , ive thrown meals together and the washing yurt in the kitchen hasnt moved either . I get like this every year without fail , October should be inertia month . A direct response to the looming winter months and a busy work week

crochet a hair net anyone?

cant decide whether this is a daft idea or not to use as a planter 

Embroidery Transfers Anyone?

Im not quite sure what is going on at the moment every thrift and charity store seems to be throwing up sewing and craft items . Has everyone come in from the garden and started crafting for xmas, had a good sort out and chucked it in the charity bag ?
Age UK in Horncastle had all manner of craft stuff today , then there was this anonymous looking yellow file tied up at the back for a whole £2 it just said embroidery transfers . Get them home and start rooting and ive got transfer heaven bought sight unseen .
The oldest dated ones are from 1913 , most are from the 30s , theres some gorgeous deco ones , but also some huge floral table centers . literally hundreds of loose floral designs , a few childrens , theres other bits of paperwork and ephemera among them as well , I dread to think what was thrown away before they put them on the shop floor , they once belonged to Bertha from Louth , its going to take forever to sort through them and get the creases out .
Some may make it to ebay because they can just go into the post box when sold , still debating what to do with ebay at the moment I shut it for the forseeable future due to losing the post office in the village ..decisions decisions ....

just a few transfers 

racial stereotyping at its best?

scary border for a childs quilt 

Cheer Up Its Craft Season

Found another Charity Shop in Lincoln Yesterday !!! Cats in Crisis , Redwood Drive LN5 9BN, they already hold excellent jumble sales around Lincoln,  now they have a nice and very reasonable shop as well . Think this is where the antique and collectable stuff gets deposited . Plus the new and like new clothing .
So what did I come home with ? overspent my £1 budget a little but they did have stacks of vintage knitting and craft patterns , dont worry I left loads behind . They had a very good and varied selection of craft kits and the like as well .
I love vintage knitting patterns , so easy to hide..lol, not seen the smocking one before , and I had to have more bestway for the collection , I love to look at Fairisle but in a million years I know I will never be that good a knitter , a good few 1950s Stitchcraft magazines , always gorgeous to have .
The 50s Felt toys pattern is one I remember still being in use when I was in school , it has a little felt golliwog pattern , and other dolls, its dilapadated but complete , if anyones interested ive scanned the whole thing .

Pride and Prejudice

It's been 3 weeks since I last spoke to my mother, I just can't force myself to pick up the phone, she has never succeeded in disgusting me as much as her latest escapade. At the best of times her views on life and the world in general just horrify me. She may be 80 but that doesn't make her a nice little old lady.

My stepbrothers wife has been over in the UK to visit her dying father, they don't get over from South  Africa that often now he's retired. But Maria did the duty call and popped in to see her with her sister, they'd bought her a locally produced oil painting and called for a cuppa and a chat and a catch up on the family . Mother had already told ,me she didn't want them in the house because they were just after seeing what she was worth, so I didn't expect it would go well. 

The point where it went wrong was they have adopted an AIDS baby, Through the church. They are empty nesters who have raised five kids of there own. The orphanages are packed with them because once they are diagnosed the parents just abandon them. She threw the painting at them and told them to get out of her house because not one penny of hers was going to a little diseased black bastard. 

Now she's changed her will to exclude my step brother and I just can't bring myself to talk to her. I've always known she was a horrible bigoted snob , I think it's one of the few things me and my stepbrother agreed on as kids . 

The psychologist I was packed off to as a kid said she was a narcissistic sociopath, big words for someone so small minded, I just wish Maria had gone to the police and had her locked up . But my stepbrother being as twisted by our childhood as I am, will probably name his new daughter after her just to annoy her even more. I'm just proud of my new niece and wish her a long and glorious future and to spite my mother I will make sure she benefits greatly once the evil old witch is gone.