Chooseday......

Didn't meet up with the other girls to sew this week but I still decided to Choose my own projects instead of working .....  Tuesdays has become my 'me' day!!! haha

Yesterday I spent the day doing some machine sewing of scrap projects....  this is when my table was still tidy!!!

Making some more blocks for My Small World .... I am always amazed how long it takes when you are sorting through tubs of scraps, ironing, cutting little pieces....  much easier with new fabric!!!

The large block is 4 1/2" (every life has a tiger in it doesn't it????) and the small ones are 2 1/2" 

The churn dashes are 3 1/2".... I think they are very sweet....

... and these little bordered squares are 2 1/2" .....

Took most of the morning to do these....

Had the last of the focaccia with some yummy home made soup for lunch ....

After lunch I took out my tub of Safari scraps and sewed strips together for a few tray mats and a little bit left over will make up a couple of mug rugs...

I had to piece some of the backing and of course scraps of wadding from the edges of quilts - lovely to have an empty scrap tub

I will just do simple quilting and bind .....

Woke up this morning to the wonderful sound of gentle rain....  

you can see how brown the grass is.... crispy to walk on....

Righto, Gotto Go..... I'm going to finish off those tray mats and then get to work....

Have a lovely rest of the week......

Pooooofffff......

.. .. and the weekend has gone!!!!

Friday I spent preparing a quilt to be quilted .... and I did sew the latest Blockhead quilt block...  nice and easy and didn't take too long.... 6 1/2" and used up a bit more scraps.....

On Saturday we had a lovely couple come and visit us.....

Michelle and her lovely husband - who made the most wonderful focaccia to go with our lunch (sorry, I ate before I took a picture!!)

Besides a social visit Michelle was relieving us of some garden junk!  She had mentioned she was looking for a rusty wheelbarrow for putting a succulent garden..... well I had just the thing sitting at the back of our garden.... 

...not even necessary to make any drainage holes......  lovely old home made barrow top I think.... just a couple of old tin sheets bent onto a frame....

We did swap succulents too... we got some and she got some......

... and I got this gorgeous length of hedgie hoggy fabric - they are so adorable and I will look for a special pattern to make something with it....  thanks Michelle.... I loooovvveee it....

the sewing machines are tissues.... not that I think I could blow my nose on them but they will be a useful addition to a sewing kit... you just never know when a tissue is needed... 

It was a lovely day of chat.. the two blokes went off and amused themselves at an airoplane museum thingy and we just talked... and might have had some chocolate....  it was 70% cocoa and as Michelle said cocao is a vegetable....  so we had our dose of veges... 

Have you heard they are putting vegetables in coffee....

Yes the latest thing is a broccoli latte... the cafe is supposed to be helping us get our daily dose of vegetables..... I'm sure powdered green stuff is very healthy... with caffeine...  read about it HERE.  Anybody tried one?  

Righto, Gotto Go... I will have a non-vegetable laced coffee and start work.... will be head down, bum up here for a while...

Tool Easel.....

I finally made up my "Tooly Tool Easel" ..... 

I have seen a few made by friends and thought it would be a great carry out to hold the goodies on my sewing days.

I got the pattern HERE.... not expensive when you buy the PDF and it comes straight away.  I do admit to having to think hard in some places... I am a bit instruction reading challenged but we got there....

Isn't this lizard fabric so fun... I was gifted it in a Secret Santa a couple of years ago and delighted to use it for this carry bag...  as you can see I added a few matching plain colours so I could see the pockets easily.

I have started on the blocks for My Small World..... as I said I am instruction reading challenged and these are the second lot I did.... the others were trimmed too small!!! sigh

These blocks are big - 4 1/2".....

These pinwheels are smaller .... 2 1/2"...... I am using smaller pieces from my scrap baskets for this quilt.

I am trying to make a bit more effort on accuracy ... still not getting all the points meeting ... oh well

Handsewing in the evenings with the fire blazing and the TV on has resulted in 4 more Dutch Treat blocks....

I do enjoy the variation in the blocks, some take several evenings, some can be done in one... they are all different.

Righto, Gotto Go......  quilt pinning day ..... and the weekend coming up... hope you have a good one

Blog comments.....

Shez has found a solution to the blog comments.... I think most of the people I link with on blogs also link with Shez but just in case you can read her explanation... it is so simple it is laughable!!!

look over HERE 

A weekend away......

Last week I finished off the pretty Dresden block....

Hubz had some work to do at Primex - a large agricultural show in NSW.  It is held in a town called Casino and I went along for the ride.... about 4 hours drive from home including breakfast stop!

We were staying overnight in Lismore so I stayed there whilst Hubz went and worked on Friday.  I took a lovely walk along the river.  It is an old town and there were lots of lovely big trees and I spent a little time in the local museum. 

The next day we had booked out of the motel so I went along to the show with Hubz.....  not much there to interest me but I did find someone selling boutique beer so I stopped off for a tester... it was really nice....

After beer and lunch we went off to Ballina on the coast...... the town of the Big Prawn.... I thought it looks like an angry prawn

 ,but then I would probably be angry placed on a squewer in the middle of the town....

First stop was a walk on the beach ..... sand so lovely and white and fine that it squeaks when you walk on it....

The next day we went back... and could see whales from the beach.... just magic

I only have my little phone for pictures but you can see it ....

The Banksia are flowering at the moment.... they look like beautiful candles all over the bushes

Of course I took along some hand sewing and finished off the stitching on Libby the Librarian - another Angel for my Angel Story quilt.....

This morning I sewed up the latest of the Moda Blockheads blocks... this one is 6 1/2"

I do love to go to the coast for a walk and a paddle in the sea.

Righto, Gotto Go.... firewood to gather..... the cold is here....

Variety is the spice of life.....

... it certainly seems that way in my sewing world.....

I had a few mesh bags that hadn't been finished off after our mammoth bag making day.... I just needed to hem these and thread the cord through.

The mesh is quite strong so I have just used a 3/4" cut length of mesh to work as the cord with a simple knot at the end..... 

I love the HiVis ones... no-one will be going off with my vegetables!!!

For ChooseDay girls sewing this week I cut and sewed together the Dresden plates for my next block of Flowerville...  A little perspex template was included in the kit which makes it so much easier.

Those blades are about 4 ."long and 1" wide.... a little bit fiddly but oh so pretty....

Such a sense of satisfaction when the blades all come together nice and smoothly...

The next project is the fault of Janice  - we have been emailing backwards and forwards and I loved what she made last year with Moda Blockheads..... she mentioned there is another one this year......  and that was that.....

I am using up pastels from my 'stash' of different fabrics picked up over the years.... subsidised from my scrap baskets!

This first block is 12 1/2" but there is a variety of different sizes which will make it fun I think.  46 blocks altogether and the quilt design is not revealed until the end.  One block a week which is manageable and would be easy enough to catch up if I missed for some reason

My Friday Night with the girls at The Quilters Angel sewing is Flowerville, however, when I am close to the end I do some at home to get the block finished.... This is to be sewn into the centre of the Dresden plate wreath above....

My friend Marina had a birthday earlier this month..... like the white bunny in Alice in Wonderland I was late for the important date but a parcel was sent off and has been received

I stitched up this Kathy Schmitz design from her book "Stitches from the Garden" - I think the end size was 13" x 10" and framed in a small spot binding.

I added a little 'M' from Michelle's 'Stitching Alphabet'... which Marina has to think up a way to use it!!! haha

A little mouse has sneaked into my sewing basket.... a little Natalie Bird design

Maria has been showing her blocks for My Small World.  I have long been a fan of Jen Kingwell but never tried one of her patterns - but Maria has bent my arm and now I will sew this.  I am using my scraps as the pieces are small ....

so... that's the variety that is the spice of my life today....  I blame it on other bloggers that there is so much going on!!

Righto, Gotto Go.... I want to dive into those scrap baskets .....