January ......

Oh My Goodness... where did January go?  It's so hard to believe it's already February..... eeek

I've had a fairly good month working on my pile of UFO's that I had discovered!!!  I am linking up with Joy and her challenge Finishing Stitches.... we are not only showing what is finished but any progress on UFO's that we had at the beginning of the year with the goal to cut the number by half....

This cushion just had the binding to sew down by hand...... always good to start with a fairly quick one...

One of our Tuesday girls week progress was these 6 blocks towards the Anthology quilt....

I sewed my pile of beach huts and made this beach scene picture.... it is yet to be quilted but progress made....

I had a lot of beach huts so a bath mat and two tray mats were made .....

Dutch Treat continues though slowly... I am happy to have achieved at least one a week ...

Lately my machine sewing time has been spent putting this TeaTime table topper together.... I do love the embroideries on it.... yet to be quilted....

I've done another set of tags for No Fuss SAL....  these are so fun and relaxing to do....

A second cushion was finished - also just needed the binding sewing down ....

 .. and this week 9 more blocks towards Anthology....

every now and then I put in something 'meaningful'... that block top middle has letters in the corners - the first initial of my 4 children.....

I am happy with the progress towards the UFO's.....thank you Joy for helping me to keep on track....

Righto, Gotto Go... off to dig out another project to work on .....  mug rugs I think.....

Flimsy done.....

Yippee, I have put my embroidered teacups and pots into a top... it will be a table topper once it is all together.  

I have some more of the green that I put borders around the blocks which will be used for the binding...

Personally I feel the bold blocks take away from the dainty embroideries.... but I can live with that...

Anyway... I am now back to 13 unquilted flimsies in my cupboard as this one goes to join them ....

To celebrate I have started a new project.... circles.  I loved watching Sue do hers and then Michelle started one and I really didn't want to be left out! (I've picked out posts where they have shown theirs - just click on their names)  I have 3 batik charm packs collected over the years and I bought some prints that I like which contrast nicely

On our walky this week I noticed what looked like an unusual flower or leaves coming from the side of the bark.... 

... lots of little wiggly bugs with clever camouflage....

I didn't want to pick them up for a closer look ...

I am still struggling to do much quilting at a time in the heat.  I like using gloves as they give a good grip and therefore puts less pressure on my shoulders.  On projects that aren't too big a drop of Glycerine works well... just a drop rubbed in and allowed to dry and you can feel that bit of sticky....

Righto, Gotto Go.... I'm going to needing to use the gloves today

This weeks blocks.....

At the weekend Hubz and I had a little walk at a nearby park.... the clouds were all over ... but not bringing any rain unfortunately.....

This week's Dutch Treat block is a sail boat...

.... and 6 new blocks towards the Anthology quilt.....

.. and one towards Living the Dream quilt with the No Fuss Stitchalong....

My 10 minutes a day machine sewing continues ... sometimes it is spent preparing but now I have my 9 patch blocks done.....

... the next task is to make green and white squares to go around the border .... then I can start sewing the rows together.... it's getting there....

It's still hot here and I am struggling to quilt for very long .... so short bursts and then something to cool down... like doing a blog post in front of the air conditioner!

Righto, Gotto Go....  I can go back and do a little more now....

a bit of this ... and a bit of that.....

I have continued with doing a bit of my tea quilt each day....

I cut my peepers and pressed them in half....

... and added them to each of the blocks.....

some of the teapots now have their spouts covered.... 

favourite ones do seem to get chipped!!! ....

... and 2 1/2 strips cut and ready to sew and slice so they become 9 patches....

I go to a monthly Thursday morning group and these sewing mice are my new project to take....  I didn't get a lot of stitching done, but I did get a bunch of threads I needed for it.... I could have adapted but it's so easy just doing what the pattern says - the hard work of deciding has already been done for me....

Friday Nights at The Quilters Angel gave me a chance to start on Flowerville.  I am doing each block in a variegated thread - so no changing of the colours in that one..

These will be long term projects ... I'm not going to rush either of them, but I like to have a range of different things on the go.... have you noticed????

Righto, Gotto Go... it's Monday again.... so work must happen....

I hope you all have an excellent week

Hello.......

do you struggle with blog titles?  I do.... so Hello it is today!

I was recently in a postcard swap hosted by Sheila, and I sent this one off to Sunny.  there is some embroidery and quilted vines all over it on a pale pink linen.....

This is a little extra picture that came with my teacup teddies from Michelle.  I'm not sure what I will do with her.....

... but I have sewn all the main ones into their hexagons....

they are really sweet pictures....

... each one a different character

... and I love the detail that Michelle adds....

..... they are always so fun to sew up....

... and I do love pretty teacups....

.... so these pictures are all very special....

I haven't sewn them together into a table topper - I'm actually not sure I won't keep them as individual coasters since I don't really have a suitable table for them ...

but I have sewn up an extra hexagon for the centre just in case.....

Righto, I am working on my Splendid Sampler blocks this week - I have quite a few to catch up on....

Framed for FNSI

Thank you Wendy for our special Easter sew in.... Friday night is always fun to cyberly get together ... the footy is on, the dinner simple and the tea hot ....

Wendy sent those of us who linked in to the evening a very sweet Easter design... thank you so much xx

The first bit of framing done was my picture from Michelle that I received last month .... I found a frame I thought would show it off and put this together quite easily.  Michelle has only recently taken up doing art and her work is already amazing....

I just love my wild dog and happy to have him up on the wall now... the white frame brings out the markings though that isn't too clear from the picture....

Next was fixing up this frame... when we moved into the house we inherited a few prints, some. like this one, which were not to my taste but the frame is pretty

 I found a fat quarter of a pretty pale blue and now I have a custom made 'white board' to keep a list of things to do on....

On Friday morning I did some quilting and framed the edge of this vintage doily... I did a lot more quilting on it aswell...

.. and by evening the final frame was ready to be hand sewn down in front of the TV....

I also managed to finish off the final Tea Time Teddies in the series.... (they only had the green bits to do)

... meet Blue Bird Teddy ....

.. and Sitting Pretty Teddie....

... they are all cut into their hexagon shapes and make a nice little frame....

(these teddies are a series from Michelle)

My final 'frame' is adding my special Easter mini to the metal frame.... Maria sent me this one in a mini swap we did a couple of years ago....

Wishing you all a Happy Easter

I love having a long break... Hubz and I have been doing odd jobs around the house and in the garden ... it's almost tea time and I baked a cake since the Widget is coming round....

I hope he likes it!!

Righto, Gotto Go... time to put the kettle on....