4th week in October

As usual I have had a week with a number of different distractions in the sewing room!

A couple of sewing friends had birthdays so I made them each a project bag 

one in blue French General .....

and the other in red Australiana

... the backs are plain and there was vinyl on the front which I find so handy to see what is in there....

I hope they find them as useful as I do.....

A few more Sashiko blocks were done...... 

... and my knitted scarf is finished now..... I loved working with that Merino yarn.  I have a half done cardigan so I will go back to that now this one is completed....

I managed to go to the final garment making class of the year... I have only managed a couple this year so I'm glad I got to go...

I had done most of the cutting out and worked on this new dress style.  I finished it off at home the next day....

My favourite quilt shop The Quilters Angel is now doing a few of their own patterns and this is their "Angel Dress" .  I didn't find it difficult at all so will make another.  I also made the skirt less full and shorter sleeves - feeling more confident in making smaller alterations.

This Ginger Jar was stitched.....

Then I had a clean up of a box of vintage table cloths I have had for many years.... chop chop and now I have a lifetime supply of kitchen drying cloths!  I gave a bunch to local daughter.

It seems a wierd use of time but I find that vintage linen so lovely and absorbent and tough.... I also make my own washing up cloths from old towels (I have a lifetime supply of those too!!)... so much better than the commercial ones.

I'm not altogether sure what my thinking was in buying the vintage tablecloths in the first place!

This is the second Ginger Jar I got done this week.....

I am using Tilda's free pattern for this one

We finally got lovely rain..... well the first lot was very heavy and our gutters couldn't cope and water backed up into the veranda ceiling and down the window in my sewing room.  Not flooded but certainly good and wet carpeting.....  Nothing damaged except the old carpet which I'm not worried about at this stage but we are still drying out.  Since Wednesday afternoon we have had about 150mls and our tanks are full..... wonderful.

I hope you have a lovely weekend, ours is expected to be wet (no complaints)

Righto, Gotto Go.... sun is down and time to work on another Ginger Jar.......

3rd week of October .....

A bit of this and a bit of that this week......

There are now 3 ginger jars with their flowers......  I am finding sewing the jars a little bit of a challenge but going slow helps, and then of course I am loving the applique whilst watching listening to whatever is on the TV.

I managed another 3 Sashiko blocks.....

I am finding I am struggling to concentrate with my Hardanger at the moment so have put that down and taken some "surface embroidery" to take with me to Embroidery Guild .....

This is an Annie Downs project and will be a Christmas Table runner....  I photocopied the pattern onto Stick and Stitch ....  it will dissolve.

Progress on my knitting...... not much left in this ball of yarn then it's done.....

A sampler quilt from way back (2018) is on the frame, I am going block by block so it's going to take a while....

I did get a day out at the Brisbane Quilt and Craft Fair, a lovely time spent looking at such a wide range of quilts.  I just didn't do the photo's, for one thing my phone looses battery quickly, plus I just wanted to slowly stroll and look.  No shopping was done though I did have a browse around the traders - lots of lovely stuff.  Cake/cookie decorating was new and very popular.  (Tempting as they make it look so easy to make some gorgeous things)  And of course lovely to bump into a few people I know.

Dental visits, doctor visits.... blah blah blah..... so it goes........Promised rain which never comes

Righto, I have my final garment making class this year and must off to choose fabric and a pattern, pack the bag and have it ready for Monday....

Have a lovely weekend....xx

2nd week of October

Last week we went through to Brisbane to visit Debs in hospital (she is now back home - YAY) ... and we sneaked in a cuppa with Michelle to drop off some quilts I had quilted for the Sunday Stitchers.... long ago and they have been sitting in my cupboard forgotten till I did a tidy up!!!

My birthday was earlier in the year and Michelle had said she was waiting to see me as she didn't want to post my gift.... well this was our first physical get together of the year!!!

A fabulous Galah picture on some fenceposts which are just down from where I live... it's just perfect and I love these silly pretty birds....  they really do behave a bit silly but they are very pretty in their pink and grey

There was also a lovely little plate - we are both a bit sentimental so this was a lovely surprise....

This week I have been carrying on with quilting my snowglobes when I have had a chance....

I am custom quilting the blocks in the different colours.  I specially don't want the quilting to show up too much so the stitcheries/applique can be the highlight...... 

.... so a lot of changes of threads and stop and starts as well as moving the quilt back and forth ... but I'm happy with how it is coming together

The King Parrots have been regular visitors lately, it is dreadfully dry around here and I think they are struggling to find food in the wild....so they like getting a few sunflower seeds from us...

When they think we are not listening out for them Mr has been coming up and calling from the doorway!

I have done a few more Sashiko blocks..... this really is turning out to be a looooooong term project and I'm not even half way yet.....

Thoroughly enjoying my Tilda Ginger Jars applique ......

One done.... 8 more to go!

Righto, Gotto Go.... I can get a bit more done of that quilting before I need to think about something to eat tonight .....

Have a lovely week...... xx

October begins.....

Well the start of Spring disappeared.  The month has been crazy, I never got to any parks and gardens which are beautiful this time of year in our town, and I never even managed to visit our local Quilt Show.  I do love September in our local city.

I haven't been entirely idle though....

My diamonds quilt is done......  I made this top in 2018 from a Collections for a Cause Kit.  The top was sewn entirely on my Singer Treadle machine. 

Last month I completed the quilting.... curves using a ruler throughout....

I love the backing I had found.. matches perfectly.....  We had some coolish evenings so I had this on my lap and handstitched down the binding....

I had a morning free this week so started on making my Ginger Jar blocks.... Those curves at the top are a bit challenging and I will need to trim the blocks before putting them together.

Last night I started the applique

Another orchid has flowered, it's measly compared to others I've seen but our first flowers on this one....

Righto, Gotta Go... today I am catching up with a couple of sewing friends I haven't seen for a while..... will be fun....

Have a lovely weekend....xx

Nearly the end of September

Hello, not much sewing done here but I did find a big project I finished a while ago and forgot about.

Eldest son's ride went well, it was lovely having him send the odd live video and a link to follow his route in real time.  Over 700 pounds raised I think.

Unfortunately a bad few weeks for little sister who has been back in hospital, now moved to Brisbane to sort out issues based on complications from the surgery.  It's been tough.

A few more rows have been added to the scarf, this is a good waiting project as I don't really need to concentrate too hard....

My table runner was finished a little while ago, I only just refound my photographs

I totally love it.....

This shows the fairly dense hand quilting I did....

The backing was left over from a previous quilt....

I am continuing with quilting my diamonds quilt when I get a chance.  It's all ruler work - not hard but fairly slow and I have just been finding the odd half hour to do it....

If I'm awake enough in the evenings I have been doing hand stitching for Christmas decorations.....I've always loved backstitch pictures.  I've been using variegated Valdani thread for these.

My pretty indoor orchid is blooming, we have 2 flowers so far and I love the pink blush ....there is 8 buds so I think we'll be enjoying these for a while.

Righto, Gotto Go..... houseworky stuff has not been done lately so there is a lot to catch up on.... we are not perfectionist housekeepers by any means but also don't like a total mess.

2nd week of September.....

We had a lovely warm weekend .... with a win for Widgets footie team at the Grand Final.  It is his last Junior game.... now going into the senior league as he leaves school this year!!!

Grandieboy from UK came for a few days and Monday I walked with him and Hubz round the golf course.....  another gorgeous spring day

A friend came over for a sewing day....she was making Christmas decorations and gave me some bits and a lesson... this is a fun 3D one to make so I might buy some bits and make more.... 

From The Heart is off the quilting frame and into the Binding Queue....

Lots of feathers, swirls and leaves .....

I have had these scrappy stars made for a while, I did make a top before which was given away and now have this one together.....

Didn't make much of a dent in my scraps!!!

I have loaded this quilt onto the frame now .....  I sewed this one in 2018 on my old Singer Treadle....

And the snow-globes are together.....Thanks to Marina for the idea, I had such fun with this one....  its added to the quilting Queue but I think will go up on the list as it would be fun to have it done for Christmas....

My eldest son is taking part in a Fundraising (Cancer Research UK) cycle ride in UK this weekend...

He's riding for his little sister,  and I love the shirt with additional nods to Zimbabwe and Australia ....

London to Brighton 55 miles / 88 kilometres.

The weekend is upon us again, it feels like it was one just the other day....  

Righto, Gotto Go..... I want to iron on some stabiliser onto some stitcheries ....

Have a lovely weekend... whatever you plan to do.....xx