A new toy and some reading matter

A few weeks ago DH went to the USA on a work trip. Before he left I made him a list of books or magazines I liked and he didn't disappoint me! He did buy the kids noisy toys, so that made the initial enjoyment of my reading matter difficult, but weeks later I am still drooling over the content and marking pages of future projects...just got a few more UFOs to finish first!

I previously neglected to show you the new "toy" Mum brought me, isn't it the cutes little iron you have ever seen!  Mum also got me a "in the ditch" plate for my walking foot (it was on sale) and some basting glue, that she thought would be good for my hexagons.  You would be forgiven for thinking it was my birthday, but its not!  How lucky am I?  I love the fact that Mum and I share our passion for quilting, now if I could just get a quilting SIL!

Celtic blocks - five by Bea, two by me.

Today I spent one day with our group at our annual camp.  I got the three remaining Celtic background blocks cut out (so much easier with a 20" square, thanks Heather), marked the designs on them (the dress makers carbon and I agreed to get along today) and then pinned and glued the bias on two blocks.  I ran out of bias then and as my already sore back was starting to ache I called it a day.  I have really enjoyed having some hand sewing at night, but the preparation before you can start sewing these blocks is really time consuming, so I was really pleased with my efforts today.    

My new iron is going to be great for making the next batch of bias for the Celtic quilt without any burnt fingers.

And the new glue works really well as an alternative to pin basting the bias.  It stays tacky for quite sometime, allowing you to position all the "unders and overs" correctly.  There are pins in these blocks, but I will be able to remove them tonight as the glue will be dry (it washes out) and it will make stitching so much easier!

Oops this one is the wrong way up, but you get the idea!  Happy quilting Sue.