First week of December.....

It's really hard to believe it is already a week into December....

Hand made ornies have been received...  I haven't put my tree up this year but I so love hand made ornies so these will add to my collection...... (grinch (from Michelle) is not handmade but he makes me laugh with his patchwork bag) The angel arrived today from Susan, the others are from Tuesday sewing girls...

Today I cut up Field Journal into hexagons for self framing - I have been procrastinating doing this but want to have it all ready for next year ....

Hubz has been trying to do this 2000 piece jigsaw! Apollo the cat is never interested in lying on the table unless there is a jigsaw....

I finished commitments so put this quilt on the frame... a ribbon meander which is quick but also makes it soft and looks pretty....  I used a quite bold orange thread.....

I was given a partially made quilt pack.... the EPP had all been done (by a friend who has passed away) and most appliqued to the background.  I had 3 hearts to applique then I found sashing and borders in my stash which is why it is a bit scrappy but I'm happy with it....  Sadly there wasn't enough final border to do mitred corners which would have been nice but then I would have had to fiddle to make the lines meet properly....  Robyn's stitching was very very neat ....  This quilt is about 43" square - will be quite a nice wallhanging.  I was so pleased with finding that pink sashing which I was able to fussy cut with minimal waste ... pity there wasn't more....

I did the binding (all by machine) and now StarPop is a finish (StarPop designed by Quilty Love).  I've made it before and I will make it again....

Some of the Tuesday girls are going to do a UFO challenge next year..... number the UFO's and each month someone will draw a number... we work on that number.  I got the idea from Sunday Stitchers in Brisbane (thanks ladies).  

I'm supposed to be coordinating it but will be away till late January so my list is prepared.....

I love this notepad!

Meanwhile handwork has been doing a few more Sashiko style blocks.... 

I made white Rocky Road to take to sewing on Tuesday.....  I love this mix...

1 bar white chocolate

1 cup mini marshmallows

1 cup pistachio nuts

1 cup cranberries

Melt chocolate and pour in the rest... mix and pour into baking paper lined container to set in the fridge ...

Easy Peasy Yummy Scrummy..... though I think I will add coconut flakes too next time....

Righto, Gotto Go.... I will be taking a break from blogging but will read and comment when I can .... may even do an odd blog post too... Daughter and Grandson are looking after 'their' cat and our house - great to have them here.  One bag is packed ..... fly out very early Sunday morning.....  half past 12 early!   Means that we leave on the 10th, fly 24 hours and land on the 10th....

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas break... xx

End of November

Parties and Presents .....

At the weekend one of the Tuesday stitching girls hosted us for Gingerbread house making and cookie icing....

Here is proof I did my own!

... not the most dainty of houses but I can assure you it will not fall apart..... haha

we had them all in a row with a sprinkling of snow icing sugar...

She was so good and kind - we made a lot of sticky mess in her home.....

We also learnt how to soften the icing and make iced gingerbread cookies....

Of course there was a glass or two to celebrate our efforts.... and lots of yummy snacks - we each got given one of those gorgeous wooden Christmas trees (the man host made them)

Lunch at a pub was an early Christmas lunch for us on Tuesday - no pictures but we were the table having the most fun!  When we ordered we were down as the noisy table!

We also had a meal and pressies with the family here who of course we won't be spending time with these holidays....

we got this lovely Christmas tree made by a local person with disability - I love it and it will be pegged in the garden whilst we are away..

I received this pretty tea cup and saucer.....

I have been knitting..... daughters cat who is temporarily living with us (only 1 year temporary so far) has finally decided he quite likes me.....  he doesn't look at all comfortable...

... anyway I made this twisted headband from a nice chunky yarn which will keep my ears nice and warm....

there are 3 grandiegirls to see, I am hoping they might be interested in some stitching.  I got these mandala panels from The Quilters Angel and cut out 4 of the squares... some 6" hoops and some bright threads from a friend who was cleaning out and needles...

Today I stitched some fabric borders so that they can fit into the hoops a bit easier.  I will take some felt too so that we can make them into hoop pictures....

I also have a bunch of the cookie icing stuff on order to take so we can do those....

I have some promised sewing and quilting for others to do so that is keeping me busy in between parties and shopping....

Righto, Gotto Go.... trip to town to collect tickets today.... and we need a bit of food!

4th week of November.....

This week has been busy doing some organising for our trip overseas for Christmas..... never done a Northern Hemisphere Christmas and I think we will be in for a cold shock ... but its very exciting to have this occasion with family over there.   I do find this time of year stressful so it's lovely to have a trip to look forward to.

Thick socks, Christmas jumper, new undies..... all those important things to think about!!!

At Quilt group I attended a 'Funky Pouch' workshop led by one of our members.....  I didn't really know what to expect but went with an idea of what picture I wanted...

This was my one by the end of the day....

as you see I didn't have a lot of applique but had fun with scribbly drawing.... used some sweet Tilda fabrics

Here are some of the others that were produced (there were 14 of us but some went home early)

I had a free day on the longarm so set up my 'K Drama Drama' quilt .... which I think I may consider a Wild Party....

I did a fairly tight quilting in the light grey, a loose meander in the black and left the colours alone....

Took me most of the day but I got it done....

Binding done by machine and it's all put away now.... not sure where it will live....

Hand sewing has seen another set of 4 Sashiko style blocks done.....

... and last thing in the evening with tired eyes, (or when car passenger) I am working on a moss stitch scarf in a chunky wool.... it's more of a fawn colour than grey

So that has been my week....... 

Righto, Gotto Go... want to draw up a few more grids for Sashiko .....

Have a lovely weekend.....

3rd week of November

This week I have made progress on my Table runner embroidery.....

Slow but steady...

On Tuesday one of the girls walked us through making folded stars ..... these are the ones I made...

The next day I wanted to do a couple of Tilda ones... so my cluster grew....

Then I couldn't resist one more......

It just happens it's little.... but took twice as long!!!

If I keep going there can be a constellation.... or even a galaxy....

Righto, Gotto Go.... stinking hot so I'll go and hide ....

Have a lovely lovely weekend.....xx

2nd week of November.....

The Avenues is now a quilt top..... I do like that thin scrappy border made from the left over Liberty fabrics

I love love it.....  but now it has to wait for a while before it gets any more attention....

  I would like to hand quilt it... not sure if I am brave enough....

Another 4 Sashiko blocks have been sewn.....  all variations of the same basic crosses ...

At machine sewing with friends this week I worked on the final 6 blocks of K Drama Drama...

(I did the green one the wrong way around but I will live with that at this stage - if it really gets in the way of my final setting I will make a new one....... 

The quilting for Gossip is done - but put away now till I can work on the binding.... and some crochet has been done but not much.  The nearby fires are out - we have had a bit of rain... the weeds are growing....

We have blocked this down pipe which takes rain water to the tank.... if you look just at the roof above the pipe you can see a brick ....

A closer look and in the catching box there is a dove nesting!!! She has 2 eggs... we have done what we could to stop them being flooded out when the rain comes.... silly bird!

Hard to get a good picture - I didn't want to go too close and upset her....

Righto, Gotto Go..... a few things to tidy up then we are going to night time Rugby 7 to watch Widget (who is no widget) play - so no stitching will be done tonight!

Hope all is well with you..... x