Hello December.....

Hard to believe we are in the last month of 2018 - it seems to have gone so quick.

Early this week I caught up on Blockheads

these two blocks are 6 1/2" (I suck at fussy cutting!! haha)

This one was too small (problem with my printing) so I had to add those borders.... 

This next block is a big one - 18 1/2"  

Of course now another is out so I am behind again!  

I finished with my green bali strips.... this is what the quilt top has ended up looking like.... I'm quite pleased with it …. 

(made with a Jelly Roll and a couple of metres of the grey)

I still had a good amount of the grey so I have made up the binding.... now to find some backing and put it in the queue....

Kris came over for a play date and brought me this most mischievous moose....  I love it... thanks so much Kris....  

End of month is OPAM time..... my finishes this month are:

Ruths quilt by Leanne Beasley... this also counts towards Finishing Stitches since it was a UFO at the beginning of the year...

I made up a shopping bag for myself.... it's a good size

and my in the car projects are these two wash cloths...

Righto, Gotto Go.... have a lovely weekend... keep safe ….

A finish... and some progress...

Earlier this year Helen hosted a Stitchalong for Ruths quilt by Leanne Beasley on the No Fuss Stitch-a-long blog...  the lovely little stitched tags were irresistible…

I sewed down my binding over a few nights …. and now its a finish...

This pretty rose backing was in my 'stash'.  I actually had it for another quilt some years ago and it was too small... just perfect for this one.... makes my quilt reversible! 

I even love it all folded up.... 

 Lovely post from Shez this week ….  my first Christmas 2018 card and lovely ornament.  Thank you so much Shez... I just love it...

I have had this material put aside and cut for making up a shopping bag.  I used a tutorial by Geta - sorry but I couldn't find the link - I think it was a free one some years back...  it's worth visiting the blog - she has some wonderful designs, bags and tutorials.

silly me didn't pay attention to the fabric and my cactus's and birds are upside down!   However the lizards don't seem to mind!

The bag is reversible - but I love that bright fabric so I will use it that way....

This is the centre block for Wings and Pretty Things by Michelle.... I worked on the little round circles this week... next is elongated hexagons EPP …. hmmmm

For my ChooseDay sewing I raw edge appliqued around the motives for my CHRISTMAS wallhanging...

Now I need to trace out the stitchery parts … there is quite a bit so it won't be ready for this Christmas...

When I had done that I continued playing with my green Bali jelly roll.  I had sewed the strips and then cut them into new strips and now I am adding other strips! 

As always I have several projects on the go at once... and still lots more I want to do

Righto, Gotto Go.... I am working on some Christmas ornaments before time runs out....

Double date.....

Friday Night Wendy hosted a second FNSI since there is an extra Friday this month....  lovely to sew with all the others cyberly….

I did do some of my own quilting in the morning …..

This is the tag quilt sewn with Helen and company earlier this year....  I love the little stitcheries mixed with Tilda fabrics so I just did very simple wavy lines on each side of the seam...

I love this backing …… 

It was also Friday night sewing at The Quilters Angel and it was lovely to sew with that group too.... lots of stories and laughter....

I continued with the stitching of Flowerville….

Marion always puts a lovely spread of snacks and then dessert with our cups of tea later on...  

Righto,  I'm off to finish sewing on the binding then hopefully over the next couple of evenings I can hand sew it down....

a social start to the week

Early this week Hubz had some business meetings in Brisbane so he dropped me off at the side of the road...… right outside Michelle's house!

The only evidence I have is a picture of her Wings and Pretty Things block....

I am working on the same thing and realised I had not done the circles around the Dresden plate.  Aren't her colours just lovely?

We had a lovely time of show and tell and cups of tea and chats and even a bit of stitching...

I continued with Block 4 of Flowerville .. the chain stitch takes me a long time...

… and I got gifts!!

Look at this sweet angel wall hanging... it is going to be perfect in my sewing room.  Michelle is letting go of some of her lovely samples..... aren't I the lucky one? 

Can you see the lovely bow at the bottom of this one?  little details like this are so great.  Of course I love the saying too.

… and another.... I love my home and always feel lovely and comfortable here so this is perfect for me...

I just need to get a couple of nice hangers and up they can go.....  Thanks Michelle, I love them.  xx

Of course I can't just sit in the car (though I did have a bit of a snooze) so I finished off the yellow dishcloth (crochet) and knitted the blue scrubby one.... 

Michelle has a wonderful selection of cards for sale …. and a number of them came to live with me...

Please forgive my picture... I'm not sure if it the cellophane that changed the light but the pictures here are much bolder.... I'm sure you can see them more clearly if you look at Michelle's 

These ones are more like what they are... they are lovely romantic 'with rose coloured glasses' on style.....- except the Kookaburra - he is a fridge magnet 

I'm thrilled with my selection of cards - some will be gifts and others are for when I need them...

When I got home there was a parcel waiting for me from Susan.... as you may know Hubz and I are enjoying doing some jigsaw puzzles and Susan kindly send me one of her very challenging ones.....  

I'm looking forward to trying this out... thanks so much Susan.....xx  Have any of you done one of these?

Tuesday was my sewing day with ChooseDay girlfriends and I worked on these foundation pieced blocks.... I made a bunch of them to go towards this years Christmas ornaments (they will finish at 3") - they still need a backing and ribbon... 

then I sewed more of my green batik strips together.... I have two identical pieces and am thinking through what I will do next.... I just want something simple.

I have started on doing the little circles to go around my Dresden plate and this is keeping me happy in the evenings.....

Righto, Gotto Go.... time for a cuppa……  

FNSI

Thank you Wendy for hosting FNSI for us last night

Yesterday I was quilting all day... I like this border that I did - I'm usually timid using contrast colours but in this case I think it worked well.....  the centre of the quilt had all over large swirls and fabrics with leaves and paisleys so I used those in the border design..... as you can see in a variegated thread....

Last night after some gorgeous Thai Green curry takeaway (we hardly ever do takeaway so it's a big treat for me!) I sewed the blue flower.... 

 …. well to be honest 2 blue flowers.... (the leaves and bases had already been done)

there are 2 more to do.  I'm sewing along with Michelle.

Hubz finished off this jigsaw

I found several of these lovely old fashioned scenes in an Op Shop ($2 each)  There was one piece in the border missing.  Hours of entertainment.

My little cushion I used virtually every night to rest my arms on while stitching has had it's last wash I think.... 

Years ago the blog world was alive with swaps, stitchalongs, round robins and challenges.  I met heaps of bloggy people that way.  

This is one where we were provided the pattern and did a bit and passed it on for the next round.  I'm afraid I have forgotten who hosted it but I think Marina, Maria and Carol all participated in making mine....

You can see it has been well used ….  

It's just the right size for a lap cushion... a new one will have to go on the "To Do" list for next year!

Righto, it's this time of day now.… so I'm having a cuppa off to read what the others over HERE sewed last night....