FURTLING Through March with FPP while Blazing Trails

APRIL Already and the year seems to be rocketting by even faster than normal - which I deny is a sign of age. THE age, maybe but definitely not MINE! However, with the longer evenings and a bit of warmth in the sun, I'm certainly not going to complain.

I've had a good month out here in the sticks and it's been amazing how the indoor stuff has all revolved around fpp. And I'm not going to complain about that either (my goodness, I AM going through a mellow phase!) as I am a real fpp addict. So, this is what I've been up to ...

Firstly,  my owl project has progressed nicely I think and I finally came to the decision to yes, include the mouse but to show him escaping. The back story is that the owl WOULD have eaten him cos that's how it happens but he's not actually very hungry as he's just eaten a vegan sausuage roll from a well known chain of bakers. So if mousie escapes, no-one suffers.  I love it when a plan comes together .... except ... The lovely design of the mouse, even when you only see the back end of him, screams out that he's static and thus asking to be caught! That was no good either... So, what if you only see his tail flitting away? Ah, problem solved - or is it? Now I'm worried that it looks like the owl is about to pounce on a giant tape worm, which really would not be a good thing! Well, I'm going to leave it for now and see if the tail grows on me, metaphorically of course!

So then I started getting myself immersed in the Trinket Sewalong,  hosted by Alison Glass. This is turning out to be delightful to participate in and has finally got me to delve into my AG stash over which I've behaved a little like Gollum and the One Ring  for a long time. With the weather improving, I know it will not be long before my stitching gets put on the back burner somewhat  so I decided to just press on with the 40 designs rather than make and show them a day at a time. That way I may just stop from falling behind. I'm making 2 of each block and then will need to decide on my favourite 19 to make up the quota. I've no real plan as to the layout just yet as I think I'm better at letting things grow organically first but I am keeping a rough tally on the main colour of each block so the design stays reasonably balanced. Alison Glass fabric and Kona Solids heaven for me!

Then I  saw that a friend was making the Sew Tiny Sampler by Nightquilter and since that's fpp too, how could I resist ? Except the 16 blocks are 1.25 inches square so I have to be in a particularly calm state of mind to work on this project. The finished blocks are very pretty but I already have several that have certainly not made the Director's Cut, mainly pesky little flying geese ones that, in miniature, take on a life all of their own. The finished mini should be 7.5 inches and I do hope I can persevere with it.

And finally on the stitchy front, The Coo. After I'd made Tartankiwi's magnificent Highland Cow last year , a non quilty friend got so enthused that she bought the book of patterns, wanting a coo of her own. Although it's so clearly written, my friend couldn't get the hang of fpp from the page so asked me if I would teach her the Dark Art and I gladly agreed that we would work on it this spring. Now, however, she's got the chance to drop everything and move to the lovely island of Gigha rather quickly. No coo lesson afterall  but she's come up with the idea that she commissions me to make aforementioned coo. "Excellent " quoth I , only to be told she wants it scaled up by 100%. That's some size of coo but I think it should be ok. I'll let you know next month but for now I've got lots of colouring-in to do and pretty much free rein to be spending someone else's money on fabric!!!

Talking of free rein, on the outdoor side of things, all is going swimmingly with Murph the Smurf and I even think he's starting to bond with me. He certainly hangs his head over the fence, gazing at me like some lovesick loon, so that's quite sweet. He's a strong boy so I haven't let him have a full head of steam just yet (post hips, my sense of self-preservation is in fine fettle, not that you'd always know!) but we had a good blast just this morning, with his wee hairy legs going like piston.

And as for her Ladyship, well we've had some stonking March days on the hills, from the Lake District to the Border Hills to the Southern Highlands. Yesterday saw us out on our longest 2019 day so far with the most ridiculous route  of an ascent and descent , an outing which has left me moving round like Spotty Dog, for those of you who can remember the Woodentops!! Crumbs, back to age! Anyway all this Mountain Madness is geared up to get me fitter and Her a bit mor mountain savvy for the first of our real challenges of the year - in other words, I may or may not see you at the end of April! Watch this space...

Have a great month, everyone.  Stay safe and stay happy, and thank you for reading.   Sue and Boo  xxx