A weekend away

This weekend John and I managed a trip away. It was only an overnight but it all helps recharge your batteries especially in the run up to the Christmas holidays. Youngest daughter and her friends started a tradition a few years ago of meeting up for Thanksgiving. They rent a cottage for a few days, chat, eat too much, probably drink too much and generaly have fun. Most of the group live and work in Bath and the group all meet there and travel to their cottage together. The Bath Christmas market started on the 24th November and I suggested we pick Lucy up after her weekend and travel home together. That meant I could visit the market and also visit one of my favourite quilt shops, Midsomer Quilting.

There was a walk John wanted to do in the North Hampshire Downs which is part of the North Wessex area of outstanding beauty. This sounded fun and as we are trying to get match fit for walking in Switzerland next summer and since it involved walking up Pilot hill which is the highest point in Hampshire it would be good practice and provide good scenery. At last the leaves have been falling but many trees were still vibrant with the bright autumn leaves and berries.

The view from the top of Pilot hill was good but the day was a little overcast.

The sheep were very inquisitive in between loud munching. You could see odd patches of bright ness on the ground where the sun was managing to peek through the cloud cover.

We saw this character lurking in a hedge,

and at the other end of the hedge there was this piece of topiary.

The village were we parked to start our walk was a little surreal and if you have ever watched 'The League of Gentlemen' you will understand my comment as it felt like the village in that series. There initally seemed to be no one about, there was a car parked outside the pub which was closed down and empty. As we walked past the village hall there were several men standing around with 12 bores tucked under their arms but no one spoke as we said good afternoon. Whilst walking we seemed to be surrounded by shoots and going through the woods we came across several beaters with dogs. Walking back into the village as darkness fell was very eerie.

We drove on to Devizes to our hotel and enjoyed a very pleasant meal with great conversation and no interruptions from Scamp and Picasso who were safely at home with Richard. On Sunday morning we headed to Midsomer Quilting. The shop is open for the long weekend and shut midweek and as a result is busy on a Sunday. There was a class going on but I didn't pop in to see what they were doing.  I wanted to get some sewer's aid as Barbara from Cat Patches had suggested this as a cure for the shredding metallic thread. I hadn't found any in London but Midsomer Quilting often have notions I have difficulty obtaining.

Whilst browsing I came across Roxanne Glue-baste-it which Barbara also discusses using when making her village quilt. As soon as I saw it I knew why she found it so useful. The ends for glue placement are very fine and it should stop the glue going everywhere (except where you want it). For several months now I've been glue basting my applique pieces and find it much easier than other methods so this just had to come home with me. The thread is King Tut. I've never used this thread but many bloggers seem to like it so I thought I'd give it a go on my December goal.

I also liked these fat quarters although the green is the only one I currently need for an ongoing project.

This panel caught my eye. I'm hoping to have time at the weekend to quilt it  as a wall hanging for the hall. This area gets forgotten when we decorate for Christmas.

I love the colours in the piece.

Whilst I looked at everything in the shop and did a lot of fabric stroking John sat in a comfy chair with coffee and chocolate biscuits reading his book. Husbands are well catered for in the shop. He also occassionally offered some advice to other shoppers on their colour choices. He has a good eye for what works well with what.

We headed into Bath and the scrum that was the Christmas market. The whole place was heaving with people and it left us quite disorientated. We found a comfortable place for lunch before heading to our favourite bookshop, Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights. We met Lucy here before heading home after spending slightly too much on books (as always).

Home once more and Scamp was really pleased to see us. No sewing this weekend but a very pleasant and relaxing trip with a couple more Christmas presents bought and squirreled away. 

Lyndsey