Friday Night with Friends

Despite traveling and celebrating Cheryll has managed to get us all together again for our last FNwF of the year. Thank you Chez and I hope you are having an amazing time.

To see who else took part and what they were up to click here

Remember my three Santas that I made for a garland? I put them safely away while I pondered how to transport them to UK for Christmas. Yesterday I got them out and added hooks and eyes to link them up - this way I can take the garland apart for transportation. And I added a few extra bells.

 Now all they need is some red ribbon or cord to hang them up. Not enough in my stash so I will get some in UK - we are restricting journeys by car at the moment as there is a fuel shortage here due to the strike and we want to be sure of having enough fuel to get to the ferry port.

Next up was to get on with these four blocks for my Red Manor House BOM.

They are corner blocks for the next border around this central block.

Hopefully I can get those hearts added today, although we are expecting afternoon tea guests. I have a batch of mince pies waiting for them!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

And the winner is...

…. Sheila from Sheila's Quilt World!

Congratulations Sheila - I will pop it in the post this week.

One Mission Accomplished!

Yes, the three Santas are complete - and I love them!

It's amazing what a difference those beards make - I really was not sure until I added them. I have decided not to stitch them together until nearer Christmas as I don't know where I would store them - and this could be an ongoing problem! Anyway, meanwhile I shall hunt for a suitable storeage box and some little dangly things to add between the hands.

The pattern for the Three Santa Garland

 

was sent to me by the lovely Maria from Life on the Block when I admired hers last year - and I could not find the pattern anywhere in Europe!

Now that I have finished with the pattern we would like it to go to someone else to enjoy it - and to see where it might travel next. So if you would like to have a go then please say so in the comments box and if there are more than one request then I will pull a name out of the hat. It was fun to do - each figure is about 9.5" tall so not mega fiddly!

September FNSI and our last day away

Thank you very much Wendy for getting us all together again for our virtual sew in. Pop over to Wendy's blog here to see what everyone was working on.

This week I have been on a mission to complete two Christmas projects that I started earlier in the year. So for FNSI I spent the afternoon at my sewing machine dressing the second of my little Santas for my Santa Garland. Here he is.

All he needs now is his beard! Santa no 3 is coming along nicely too so hopefully a completed garland to share with you soon.

In the evening I worked on my new Advent Calendar inspired by one I saw on Sheryl's blog - Sheryl's is gorgeous, I shall be happy if mine is half as nice! The numbers have been worked for a while now and so for the last two evenings I stitched the chain stitch border along the length of the calendar.

Tonight I plan to whip the chain stitch with a silver thread.

And so to the last day of our trip away. The friends we met up with on Saturday were staying on the mainland nearby in Brouage a beautiful old walled town. If you click on the link you will see a picture of how the town looked in the 17th century.
We decided to walk all around the walls which are still intact although restored in places. They are also thick as you can see in this picture.

With regular lookout points.

 

The town was heavily defended - this is one of the two gunpowder stores in the town, which I think looks more like a church!

 

One of the gateways into the town had a large amount of graffiti worked into it's thick walls by soldiers on duty, but bored!

 

 

We found a tunnel that took you out through the walls - presumably a secret entrance at one time.

And this beautiful building was the entrance to the ice house.

Here is a picture of the main street running through the centre of the town.

Our friends were staying in and Air B&B on the main street and we had a delicious lunch in the Breton Creperie next door. Forgot to take a picture of my main but this was my delicious Café Gourmand dessert!

I had half eaten the apple tart and started on the coffee when I remembered to take a picture! There is also chocolate mousse, banana crème brulee and icecream. Yum!

On our return to the island we took a short walk from our apartment to Les Salines where the evening light was making the countryside quite magical. We saw some restored salt workings and the warehouse where you can buy salt during the day.

And more restored fishermen's cabins used as cafes and small shops.

It has been another hot week here but it definitely feels like rain is on the way. Enjoy your weekend.

FNSI

Thank you Wendy for hosting our evening again although it was not as I had planned.
Started off well in the afternoon. This pattern

came to me late last year from the lovely Maria. Now I am not a fan of dolls - something about the eyes gives me the creeps - but these don't have eyes! And they really appealed to me. Unable to source a copy of the pattern Maria very kindly sent me hers and I shall be passing it on to someone else once I have finished with it.
So, I had started cutting out the pieces on Thursday, so I soon finished that job

and so out with the machine and on to sewing together the arms, legs and bodies. Which was soon accomplished.

Then came the phone call that I had been expecting - my Mother died peacefully early in the afternoon. She had a major hip operation at the beginning of June and moved into a care home towards the end of the month. But she never really picked up although bravely made it through Dad's funeral. They spent 69 married years together and now they are reunited.

Mum's 90th earlier this year

 

So thank you dear friends for keeping me company yesterday evening.