Tuesday Treasure....

Today was my turn......

Our local clinic is just wonderful... they make sure we have easy parking, they are so friendly, so quick and as gentle as possible.... 

I do hope you go for your regular check ups....  

We have had very humid muggy weather here... almost hard to breathe sometimes and my fingers have swelled more than usual....

Sweet Melody encourages us to find things that we Treasure on Tuesdays

these are my treasures I am sharing with you today..... 

my wedding ring (which has never come off since the day I got married)  and my mothers eternity ring, which she literally wore from when her first son was born (he is 57) until she passed away and since then I have worn it..... 

It used to have little hearts engraved on the white gold but that has worn down and so has the yellow gold bands on the side..

A little while ago the eternity ring slipped over my wedding ring and I just couldn't separate it.... 

It took the jeweller 45 minutes to cut them both off.... they kept slipping and it was so tight over my finger he had difficulty getting his clever little gadget in.... it was a bit sore at times too 

My finger is a bit misshapen

I really don't like not having my ring on

My wedding ring needs to be sized 6 times more.... and they can bring the eternity ring to look like new with reingraving and more gold but I have just asked for them to be fixed to wear again... 

I like it as it is... it is worn down because it has been so very loved...

After being squished and squashed and bent and twisted.....  I went to get the borders for my Sunshine Melody quilt....

I originally got the floral for the border and the tartany looking one for the binding... but I rather favour the tartany fabric for the border... I'll sleep on it....

I think I'll have a nice long cold Gin &Tonic tonight

...... and chocolate ......

Growing a new quilt.....

This is what I received from Sharon from Lilabelle Lane in the Summer Swap last year.....

fabrics that I have always been too nervous to try and match together myself.....

you saw this previously.....

and this.....

which grew to this last week.... 

(loads of applique work - it took me hours - not complaining - 

I'm very happy to stitch for hours ....)

I used embroidery thread for the applique 

(found a bargain set of colours at Big W)

it adds a lovely gloss to the work

also added a couple of fabrics pieces I had in the flowers

this weekend I joined the panels......

and yesterday I added some borders....

(I had a half metre of the lime yellow... the photo doesn't do the colour justice)

I do love this fresh look.....

(please excuse the veranda cement - it's not dirty - it is so cloudy and damp this is the only place I could get decent light)

I need to add another border so will be off to the shops to find something for that... and the binding... and the backing .....

This is called Sunshine Melody -  a pattern from Homespun Vol 12.10 and is a design by Dawn Hay of As Sweet As Cinnamon...  you can see Dawn's original version HERE 

Thanks to both Sharon and Dawn..... without you two and your inspiration I would never have started on this quilt ... 

.... gotta go.. there are blogs to visit, things to sew ...

Not the sharpest tool in the shed......

it was so exciting to learn about these lovely pens that disappear when you spray with water, or those that wash out, and the one that would just iron out.... 

i use them lots because I am a bit careless in my tracing!!!

when i won this lovely Rosalie Quinlan book from The Quilters Angel I wanted to make something straight away.....

off to trace using my lovely purple pen....

off to iron on the fusible stabiliser....

yup... ironing makes the picture disappear.....

.....duhhhhhh......

a little bit of 

"you are a few sandwiches shot of a picnic" and 

"couldn't pour water out of a boot with instructions on the heel" 

and various other choice phrases...

so I popped it in the freezer section of my fridge....

 it's not as clear as before but it will work

(in real it was actually better than the picture shows but I did go over some of the lines again)

sometimes it pays to have a few roos loose in the paddock... they might find fresh grass!

lesson learnt

maybe I should stick to the machine applique

What???? Christmas Goodies Already????

Narelle is hosting One Christmas Item a Month again this year.... it was so great doing this last year... in fact I did two Christmas challenges and it meant I had a lovely stock of Christmassy things....

There is no pressure... if you get one done all is good.... if you don't... it is still all good!!!

I was gifted a lovely panel last year - it was the wrapping for my SSCS parcel from Sharon ....

so this was the first thing I made for Christmas this year.....

it was a nice broad panel... for a broad #&%%&@.  I always wear an apron for cooking and I didn't have a Christmassy one... so this is perfect...

I wanted to get some Christmas gifts done too... so I sewed up these dishtowels with some applique....

(beautiful preloved cotton/linen fabric - ex tablecloth)

It is a fiddle sewing up all the hems around the cloth

but the quality of fabric is so nice I think it is worth it

the mushrooms are adapted from an ornament design found HERE at A Spoonfull of Sugar... such a fun blog with a lot of variety... they also do food things.... which I like... in case you didn't know....

and the mittens are from a free pattern given by Erin Russek HERE at One Piece at a Time 

Erin does amazing needleturn applique and I have learnt a lot from her.. one day I may even tackle one of her wonderful quilts....

I have done the applique for some pot mitts/mats to go with them.... but they still need to be finished off ....

What about you...  doing stuff for Christmas?  I promise, promise, promise it is worthwhile.... and fun... come join us at Narelle's..... there is a page HERE  for all the things made... so always somewhere to visit for inspiration 

Tuesday Treasure

Time does fly when you are having fun..... Tuesday again

Thanks to Melody who prompts me to look and remember those things that I enjoy

I found this trio of rather cute treasures in an op shop some time ago....

I put them with a tape measure so you can see they are really quite dinky...

the sewing machine handle turns .....

the cash register handle also turns and the drawer opens....

the spinning wheel also has movement on the handle 

they are all working pencil sharpeners

cheap little gimick items made in China.... no value but very cute huh?

I have finished my block from Shells BOM at Raspberry Rabbits...

"The Adventures of Harrington and Hannah"

and also the one from Melody's BOM at The House on the Side of the Hill

"Home Sweet Home"

Last week I received this lovely little treasure in the post from Wendy at Sugarlane Quilts

It is an iron on transfer for that cute stitchery in the picture

but I love the little box envelope it came in too!!

Thanks Wendy.... I do love stitcheries so this is going to be well enjoyed

and I do hope you are feeling less achey

Forecast is for lots of rain today.... I'm playing with this.

I was clearing a box for FNSI.....

It's quite fun to delve into the back of those cupboards to find the old UFO's....

and that is just what I did for this weeks FNSI

When I learn a new technique I like to try a 'smallish' project... sadly these then tend to get cast off into the 'one day' box....

I spent much of Friday stitching and this went well into the evening

This is # 25 on my UFO list 

but when I opened the box properly I found more !!

there was this piece which I made when I was learning some embroidery stitches....

and this was a piece made learning needleturn applique ...

..... and another needleturn applique piece using freezer paper.....

I was so proud of my 'hidden' threads and 'tiny' stitches

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

so I sliced and I diced, and I snipped and stitched....

my embroidery skills folder cover....

then I couldn't resist practicing FMQ feathers

(this is a learning project)

they are definitely easier done on a small scale...

played with a hearty leafy design.....

more feathers - and made another folder cover ......

just simple slip in sleeves....

but I think I love my hot pot mat the best....

I'm glad I didn't throw my practice pieces away... it's great to look back and see where I have improved... but I also found out those not terribly good stitches and all the mistakes are pretty well hidden once it is all made up.

What do you do with your little practice pieces?