Woohoo.... a finish...

This little quilt is completed now....

24" square and the binding was hand sewn down last night watching the last episode of Vikings....

This embroidery has been my pick up in between projects for a while.... its a sweet stitchery and will eventually be made into a mini quilt for my stand... all it will need is some basic quilting to hold it down and a binding....

Crabapple Hills free February (embroidery month) is finished and I have done all the mini quilts for it too....

The last one was much bigger and lots of writing to do.... 

and I chose this green fabric for the background which now covers my board

I have used an offcut piece of corflute and covered it with 2 layers of a thin polyester wadding then the fabric....

the back is a bit messy but the plan is that it won't be showing!!

These are just pinned for now.... a group of other enablers had a great chat group as we did this and so we have agreed to make one more which will be a swap and will go in the corner...

I did learn a number of new embroidery stitches doing this one

At the weekend I popped into an op-shop and found a bag of fabrics for $3... now how could I possibly leave them there...

when I got home and opened the packet I saw they are all fabulous quality cottons and larger than fat 1/4's (closer to 1/2m)

... as well as a dozen ready made blocks....

I had some chunky knitting for the trip to town and back and got another 3 dusters done...

My staple yarn for the car is polyester fluff for dusters, scrubby for scrubbies (which I like using in the shower) and cotton for cotton washcloths ....

Just keeps my hands busy and I am using up yarn I already have....

Righto, Gotto Go.... maybe I should do some dusting.... (nah, they are just for show)

Sewing machine is calling.... it is going to be Schoolgirl Sampler day here....

Have a lovely weekend...

Cheating for WOOFA

Thank you Cheryll for hosting WOOFA and your encouragement in progressing with projects...

I started a big sorting out of Quilt Tops I have made over the years and put them into the Quilting Queue....

It got a bit overwhelming to say the least and it may seem silly to some but I just love sewing them and trying different patterns and techniques as well as use up scraps.... and then they start to gather up

So this month for WOOFA my progress has been a cull and they are being sent off to someone else to finish for Charity... most of them I think will be Oncology Quilts but I have left that up to Sue who has taken on my overwhelming burden.

Two large satchels on their way.....

I do still have a totally ridiculous number to finish off... and of course I still make more.

This is a little PICU quilt..... using left overs from another quilt which I managed to quilt this week.....

I love this orange peel with a twist shape following the squares which makes a sort of flower at the corners....

Block 2 of the BOM with National Quilt Museum involve sewing with curves and some applique....

I am using up some pretty fabrics for the backs so hopefully it will be an interesting back as well as front....

Craft Alive was on here in Toowoomba this weekend.... I had a play there on Friday and found some bargain metreage which can be used for backings if I sew a seam.... 

the grey's at the top will be useful for backgrounds or sashings... (they are metre lengths)

I also got some light backgrounds for a new quilt I will be sewing along with Michelle called Where We Love is Home by Annie Downs.  Anybody else going to make that one?????

I had to hold myself back from the other French General and Civil War Reproduction fabrics I lusted after......

It was fun to have a real live show again.... not huge numbers but keen shoppers and fun to catch up with a few friends there too....

Righto, Gotto Go..... there are quilts to be made!

Birthday Week

My eldest son turned 40 on Sunday.... no major celebration as they are in UK still under lockdown but his siblings and us did manage a group video, and there was cake and fun to be had.

Then I had a birthday on Tuesday.... and had a lovely day sewing with friends... there was cake, and flowers, lots of phone calls and messages... and gifts...

Michelle sent me this lovely bag..... she always finds just the right fabrics and design for me to love....

and a gorgeous selection of hand made cards....

there were other bits and pieces to go in the bag... the M&M's didn't stay in the tin too long!  Gorgeous hand made card.

Shez sent me this lovely table topper....

with a sweet Christmas pattern and some of my favourite thread and a gorgeous handmade card..

I really do love a walk and paddle in the sea and sand in my toes...

I recieved a couple of mixed bunches of flowers and they play together so prettily...

.. and a bunch of whites and greens which are so pretty... the lilies are not yet opened so they will last well....

I have sortof been keeping up with the little embroideries from Crab Apple Hill

I have to admit the most fun of it is the banter and chat with a few others doing it too.... I am also learning a few new stitches - flystitch and feather stitch above are new ones for me.  I do love embroidery but am not very patient doing it.

My Hubz had a finish this week...

HMS Victory has been in progress a few years as he does not get a lot of time to play

fiddly work and a lot of fiddly details to do as well as the painting and tying of tiny knots etc...

I keep saying he would be better at embroidery than me as he is more patient but he is not interested... 

Righto, Gotto Go..... have a lovely weekend....

FNSI and coffee

Thanks to Wendy for hosting us all for 

It's always lovely to sew virtually with people from all over... there is also a facebook page and it's fun to pop in and chat with others for a while.... (not too much or no sewing gets done!!!)

I finished off Friday's little stitchery from Crab Apple Hill.....

.. and then I sewed the bee which finished off this needleturn block....  This is a quilt called From The Heart and a BOM I bought from The Quilters Angel.  Block 1 of 9 done .....

that pretty much took up Friday night...

My Thursday sewing was reasonably successful.... lovely having a couple of friends come over....

Machine's were buzzing, chins were wagging....

I put together all the blue and yellow blocks .... so now it is a quilt top and I have extra yellow for the binding..... I'm still not sure I like it....

These are the other little blocks done during the week..... even though they are small they still seem to take me quite a bit of time.  I am keeping up with one a day ... trying hard to avoid yet another UFO....

Very excited this week to pick up my next instalment of Field Journal.....

and little left over 4 patches have been made into a little quilt top.... pinned and ready for quilting now....

It is left overs from the wallhanging I have up in my sewing room....

I did also sew some of the Schoolgirl Sampler blocks together on Thursday.... adding sashing as I went along....

so as you can see I am halfway with the blocks... however there are lots of HST's to do still as well as the blocks so not halfway for the quilt....

Hubz got a new delivery of coffee beans this week - as you can see we have chosen some from the Congo

Here is the before and after roasting of the beans... you can see they expand a fair bit...

we have a little electric grinder and roasted beans are ground every few days so they are nice and fresh

.. kept stored in an airtight bottle....

These drip machines were popular in the 80's (I think)... and are back again in the shops... it is our choice of coffee machine and Hubz makes a lovely pot when he wakes up... so all I need to do is pour myself a cup....  I am happy to admit to being a coffee snob.

May seem a lot of trouble to get a good cup of coffee..... luckily it is Hubz' job not mine (he says I make rubbish coffee) so I have resigned myself to having my coffee made for me....  

Roasting of the beans is done in a Popcorn maker.... so no fancy equipment needed...

Righto, Gotto Go.....  time for a cup of coffee!!!

Love to special friends who are having it rough .... my love and thoughts are with you .... xx