A day out and about.....

A friend and I went off down the road to Warwick for the Jumpers and Jazz festival... it's becoming an annual event to visit...

Firstly sustenance so we could handle the day....

it seemed everything that was static was yarn bombed... I loved this fence...

.. the entrance to a fantastic beanie event (no pictures allowed but they were just so clever) but they were from this amazing exhibition Colours of the Country  and you can see some pictures of the exhibits on their web page...

this tree had its woolies on for the fresh weather....

a curtain made from bottle tops and cable ties... too clever and what a lot of work...

This was another fabulous piece made from pieces from all over the world.... celebrating 50 years of flower power.....  it has it's own special blog HERE

.. there was a special table for us visitors to make something ourselves.... as you know it's very hard to resist something crafty so we decorated our own trees....

... now for some of the trees that were decorated....

... I'm sure you can't imagine why I wanted a close look at this trees jacket....

.. for you hexagon crazies ....

There was a Bohemian theme for the trees on the street....

.. something for the camping crazies....

.. the detail on these little pieces (the dolls were hand sized) was amazing...

... of course it was all rather exhausting and coffee was required before the journey home....

What a fun day... righto, gotto go.....  yay, a weekend coming up... enjoy ...xx

A dutiful wife....

It's not that often that Hubz has to be away for work over a weekend.... anyway this time he did so I decided to be dutiful and leave the comfort of my home and accompany him....

Of course a dutiful wife keeps her hands busy so whilst sitting in the car for the road trip I carried on with knitting washcloths.  One got finished and the other one started on the trip home....

 I'm sure you feel sympathy for me having to go to a place where the blue goes on and on forever.....

beautiful weather - warm enough for a paddle.  

It's very hard to be put out where I am not in control of everything - I couldn't even do my own cooking!  We had a delicious Thai meal out the first night... and Chinese the next....

On Saturday when Hubz went of to work, I amused myself by a lovely long walk.... I was enjoying it so much I lost track of time then realised I had to get back again!  

Now in case you think Hubz is just too hard on me I have to let you know there is a tender side to him... we had access to Fox Sports so I was allowed to watch him flicker through footy, rugby, cricket, back to rugby, some car racing, more footy..... 

Such fun and I squeezed in some stitching whilst I could but it was hard as it was all so rivetting....

I also had a lovely time with friends too and visited a couple of Patchwork shops in the area... silly me forgot to take photo's... but the muffin with coffee was particularly delicious.....

I had a couple of hours quiet in the mornings too and finished off this Dutch Treat Block....

... this Splendid Sampler block......

... and also this Splendid Sampler block....

It was lovely having a variety of small portable projects to take and do....

Righto, I'm so excited to be back home, with all that pile of washing and ironing to do... 

Project Bag

When one starts a new project one needs a bag to put the project stuff in.....

That's how it works isn't it???

This bag is made from Marilyn's pattern, however I used a different stitchery as this was one that was just the right size and I had it already ....

The case is a good size to fit in blocks, threads, the pattern book and everything I need to take on my sew days...

There are pockets inside the lid but you can't see them well with this fabric...

I was finding it hard to trace and read when the book opens like this... so often the pages just close on me....

I went off to Officeworks and they slice off the edge and add on this kind of binding....

... now it lies perfectly flat and much easier...

... only a little bit is sliced off....

I got 2 books done for $8.60 so I will be doing more.... Just thought you might like to know in case you have some to do....

This is where I am up to with the Dutch Treat blocks..... so far I am loving it and finding it hard to put down and do other things...

Righto, Gotto Go..... heaps to do

It's been fun times!!!

I had one of our regular sewing retreats last weekend ago run by Marion at The Quilters Angel - it is nearby so I go during the day and come home at night but I still get lots of sewing done with being out the house and not thinking about the other things that need to be done at home....

This time I took smaller items from my 'good intentions' box - things started but not completed

I did this elves stitchery about a year ago (or more) so added on the borders etc and now it is ready to hang in someone's home for Christmas this year .....

(Making Spirits Bright by The Birdhouse)

... then I did the piecing for these table runners ... they are actually quite big .... 

... and feature these rather gorgeous reindeers 

(Ronald Reindeer by Libby Richardson)

.... in the evenings I continue with my Dutch Treat blocks....

... as you can see some of them have a bit of stitchery too....

It has also been a lovely social week with Tuesday girls stitching (where I finished the above Dutch Treat block).... then a visitor from NSW  who you might know ....  here is a hint.... and we snuck in a lunch with Kris....

... and on Thursday Michelle came up to 'swap quilts' and she remembered about the photo opportunity so here we are.....

Sewing and blogging has enabled me to meet so many wonderful people and have such a lot of fun - I am forever grateful to this lovely community.....

Righto, I need to put another log on the fire .....

Where is the time going?????

I really feel I need to hold back time a bit!  I know we all feel like that but it seems to be whizzing by at the moment....

I have some more blocks I have made.... 

These ones are from Dutch Treat and hand reverse applique.....

I am finding it very hard to create nice curves......

the sewn area of the block is 4" so they are pretty small.... I am not trimming at this stage...

They look really tidy and neat from a metre away!!!!

... and these are my latest Splendid Sampler blocks....

 some machine applique

... some foundation piecing....

... and some EPP....

... these little 3/8" hexagons scared me so I had some help with them from a kind friend!! Thanks Christine.... (she is very good with teeny tiny things)

... and a pretty Camelia that we planted having it's first flower.....

I got out some Christmas fabrics to play with this upcoming weekend....  with luck I will have something besides blocks to show off! (off at a retreat)

Wishing you a lovely rest of the week whatever you are doing..... from a not very warm Queenslander...  

I love this time of year because it's when those hot casseroles and soups are so yummy... I have a steak and kidney cooking up to make a pie for tonight.  An old fashioned dish but one my mum used to make so well and I love it!