Block Lotto: January winnings - progress at last!

Well, I've finally found some time actually at home to start putting together my Block Lotto winnings.  All I can say is that it's fortunate that this is liberated patchwork, as it didn't occur to me to check that the blocks were all the same size before I started adding the sashing, and to be honest, some of the sashing probably isn't quite right, and also, my seam allowances aren't always spot on.  So, the cornerstones, well the best that can be said is they're in the corners!

Still, it's my first attempt at a quilt, and will be used to protect my bed from cat hair, so doesn't need to be perfect.  And I don't believe in the existence of the quilt police, or at least, I care not what they think.  That said, I think I'll pay a bit more attention next time!

The quilt is arranged 7 blocks across, 9 down in the spectrum, with cornerstones in the appropriate complementary colours with white sashing all around, or thereabouts as with it being a Block Lotto winnings, I've got more of one colour than others and some prints don't really fit anywhere particular, and I don't necessarily have quite the right shades of complementary colours.  The pic below shows I've actually got quite a few more to sash before I can even get excited about sewing blocks of blocks together....

I also have no idea whether it will be too big or too small for my kingsize bed, so haven't considered borders yet.  Other than maybe pianokeys or scrappy or depending on how many borders are needed and where, maybe some liberated lettering like Lazy Gal Tonya's (or rather a poor attempt at it to be more accurate) maybe saying 'Block Lotto January 2010' or similar might be good fun.

I made some dog beds for my sister's dogs (up in Northumberland) out of an old loose cover for my Ikea Beddinge sofa - those dogs will just chew it to bits so the fact it was worn out is irrelevant!  This is my dining room come workroom, with an huge pile of stuff to be stuck on eBay under the window.

Where have I been the last month? Up in Northumberland helping my parents move house and then recovering down here by trying to declutter a bit and jobhunt and get the jungle under control.  My computer got a virus and died, it's sort of resurrected, but there's lots missing and new stuff I don't know how to use.  Grumble grumble.  I've also been harvesting strawberries and cherries.  The picture below is the view from their garden room out across the National Trust Estate Cragside - we went on the rhodedendron filled estate drive when I was there - stunning colours as the azeleas/ rhodedendrons were out, but didn't take my camera.  Doh!  Bizarrely it was at Christmas whilst we were staying in a National Trust holiday cottage on the other side of the valley that they decided to move to Northumberland - it feels strange that we were sitting talking about the move back then whilst looking across at the house they're now living in! Who would have thought it?

I'm hoping to be a bit more active online in July - but the good weather's arrived (I believe it's going to hit the mid 80s today which will be nice) and I want to be out there lolling in the shade of my cherry tree.  The night's are a bit sultry so I've had my window open, and have to be slathered with mozzie repellent to survive.  The cat's struggling a bit again, he's not a very well boy, so off to the vet we go tomorrow.  Typically this is in the week my car insurance falls due, and now my washing machine appears to be breaking.  Sigh.  Still, I'll soon be poor enough to claim social security benefits - always a silver lining!

Talking of surviving, the foxcubs - I think there are now only 3.  And I think they're struggling for food as they make the most awful racket every night - I keep thinking they're killing something slowly but only appear to be arguing...  The biggest one's legs are beginning to go black and all have white tips to their tails.  I've been throwing water towards them as they were getting a bit bold and coming into the house, so they run if they see me, so no more pics sadly.  Can't have it both ways, they need to be wary of humans and if piccies is the price, then that's fine.

I am thrilled to finally have something to show on my Design Wall - other people are far more consistent than me, check them out at Judy's blog here.  Judy's blog is worth looking at every day - she and her husband have quite an eventful domestic life and I love hearing about it.  She also has great links to other quilters and is generally something of an inspiration all round!

And finally, here's my cherry crop from my garden - this is the second picking (and last as the birds have stripped the top third, I've stripped the bottom third and the middle third still has cherries, but I don't have ladders long enough and even if I did, the dizziness would cause some difficulties: they can be for the birds and windfalls for the foxcubs.  I've given most of the first picking away, but I want to keep most of these for me.  The bowl is about 25cm across - that's a LOT of cherries for one person with virtually no freezer space.  I need to do a recipie search for how to preserve them without using sugar (I'm cutting down).  Any suggestions?