End of December - almost

Finishing up the year....

I have been cleaning up the sides of my blog, taking down some lists etc.... and noted that I did indeed get quite a lot of finishes done this year....

.... and started lots of new projects.....

.... and kitted up lots of new ones to make.....

Thanks Kris for keeping count on OPAM.... always fun to look back and see what was made in the month....

Thanks to Cheryll and Wendy who each month host a virtual sewing evening..... always fun to go and visit and see what others have made...

Thanks to those who comment on my blog.... it's the best part of blogging for me.... I do reply to comments and if I am not it's because they are on no reply or I don't have an email for you... apologies....

Thanks to those who write blogs... I love visiting you....  being entertained, motivated, encouraged and most often tempted to start something else...

Back to December....

Finishes included.....

A cushion (black-work stitching done throughout the year - thanks to Helen for the arm-twisting to join this one!)

Black work was my new skill/technique that I learnt this year..... very much enjoy it

In the black-work theme I made these as decorations to send out this year....... 

Made on plastic canvas and fiddly diddly ....  15 made altogether

Then I made 25 masks.... boring snoring.....

6 of these little pouches went as gifts for my regular sewing friends.... happy snappy

And during the break I have been quilting quilting away 

Mama Tembo - each dancer is done separately to show off her pretty dress -  and swirls in the sashing and edge triangles..... 

Splendid Sampler - each block (100)  is done differently to fit the design - scrolls in the sashing...

I have made their bindings and machine sewn them on.... will need some cooler weather, loan of the dining room table and a good book to listed to in order to hand sew down the binding...

Wishing you and yours all the very best for 2022 - I am going to endeavour not to take things for granted... well the special things that are important to me anyway.

Righto, Gotto Go.... time to prepare to see the New Year in (which will mean BBQ, shower and pyjamas)

Catch up with you next year .... 

That bit is done.....

Christmas has been and gone... it was a quiet affair here with lots of family calls and a lunch with YD and widget.   

Otherwise a restful time which means I got time in my sewing room...

I have neglected "From The Heart" for many months ... this is block 7 done...

Lots of Splendid Sampler blocks have been quilted.... the last two rows (20 blocks) and the bottom border are left.....

This year I made a quilt using William Morris fabrics and a buttercup yellow... I always sew two seams when it's possible to save the corners for another project.

So I pressed my little offcuts and I am slowly going through lots of little HST's to trim them down nice and straight (cutting at 1 1/2").  Mindless and good having an audio book to listen to.

I mini wholecloth has been planned and drawn out. (this is supposed to be part of a BOM which I got very far behind)  The design was a museum in Pedukah which I am never likely to see so I am just doing my own....  Then hopefully I will get fired up to do the other blocks.  (this one is April!!!)  This is a start on my UFO pile!!!

 

Mama Tembo is more or less done on the Sweet Sixteen.... I am very lucky in that I don't need to put things away and this means I can pop in and out and do 20 minutes in between those other chores to be done in a home...  Binding needs to be made....

Have started looking through drawers to find hidden UFO's.... I think I mostly have unstarted projects (which are kitted up ready to go).  

Wishing you all the best ....... and heaps of love... so many wonderful friends in blogland

Too hot to sleep

Feeling the heat and humidity tonight so while I'm up I'll chat to my online friends!

This block for Civil War Bride has taken me a long time....  I've been lucky if I sew one leaf in a night - and you can see there were a lot of leaves!!

I did make lots of masks.....

Christmas ones......

... and every day ones....

I have some, Hubz has some, DD and GS have some, friends have some.... we are sorted...

This is my Happy Christmas face!

I made these little pouches for a group of stitching friends... there were 6 in total ....

a sewing girl on each side... they can be used for glasses, rotary cutters, knick knacks etc and have those clever little metal squeeze closures.....

It was our last day sewing for this year so I made trifle... there were two... one with sherry and one without...

... went down very well .....

I am planning on lots of my own sewing over the next couple of weeks.... 

Splendid Sampler was made in 2016 ... and has a backing pieced from the left over fabrics (and a couple of extra blocks)

I have loaded her on the frame ...

My Sista's (Mama Tembo) was made in 2019 but it is too big for the frame so I have pinned it and will quilt on the Sweet Sixteen....

It's hard on the shoulders so when I need a break I can stand up and play on the frame...  that room is such a fun place

I also want to go through cupboards and sort out UFO's etc - I do like to have some sort of plan/list to work on.  I know I have been tempted by a few quilts and projects and not started them.

Righto, Gotto Go, I am yawning away now..... hopefully will drop off quickly

Hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week.....xx

There and Back Again

Thank you for Grandieboy well wishes... he is doing well and will be out of isolation this weekend...... his sister is now positive and in isolation - no symptoms though....  inevitable really and hopefully they will both get some of their own immunity....

Meanwhile in Queensland masks are back in.... so today I am making some of the 3D ones by See Kate Sew .  Hoping these ones avoid the misting up of my glasses.....

I spotted this the other day....

We had a lovely couple of nights away.... took a drive to see the picturesque Glass House Mountains..... they are acutally more impressive than my picture shows I think I got too much of the foreground in....

The magpies were making a fearful row and we spotted the goanna up the tree....

lots of beach walks.... in the late afternoon the Trainee lifeguards were out training and keeping fit.... they do such a great job ....

Otherwise there was a lot of this.....

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

When we got home I was pleased to find this Agapanthus flowering... in 6 years it never has and it's a beauty....

Mr Postie had been round...

This arrived from Karen....

... and this one from Susan....

... and this one from Sue....

.... and I realised I still had mine sitting on the dresser waiting to go to the post.... I do hope they arrive before next year!!!

Very little stitching was done but I did finish this one off the last couple of nights....

We also helped YD move house - we did very little as she and a couple of girlfriends did heaps of the work - including driving and packing up the big truck.... Girlpower ....

Good thats sorted - there is a housing crisis here and rents are ridiculously expensive - it's greedy and cruel really...

Righto, Gotto Go... those masks need sewing.... 

I hope you all have a lovely week

Some is done.....

I have put my garden blackwork into a cushion - it's made it about 18" square so a good size ......

I used one of those lacy zips for the back... I could work out how to do the ends so they are just stitched over .... it's the back and not for public viewing...

This cushion now languishes on our bed and is a good backrest for Hubz whilst he reads.

The blocks were sewn together so I just joined them and added a border ..... 

It's a nice size little quilt - about 42" x 54"

One of the colours in the jelly roll was white so I substituted it with a pale blue with tiny turquoise birds ... and had enough of the same fabric to make the binding..... so it is ready and waiting now for me to find a suitable backing....

Then I put all the darker squares together.... I have a light blue grey backing for this one...

there is not enough of it for a border (and I am happy with the size anyway about 60" square) and I will find a nice dark green I think for the binding.... and of course a backing will be required....

In the meantime they have gone off to the quilting queue.....

Both of these quilts were made from 1 jelly roll plus background using the Masala Box pattern by Sew Preeti Quilts.  I won the pattern and Jelly Roll from Sue.  Thanks Sue - a lovely prize which I thoroughly enjoyed making.

Handwork has seen a couple of Field Journal stitcheries done...

I do love these sweet pictures and the lovely threads .... many times they only use a little of the thread so I have quite a collection now and have a project waiting to use up them....  but I still have a lot of these waiting to be sewn

So that has been my sewing week....  I have felt so very tired for some reason and we are going off to the coast for a couple of nights - waiting to see what the opening of our interstate borders and relaxation of rules brings in the light of new variants...

Another grandchild got Covid this week - a different family and so far only him - he thought he would miss school but his teacher kindly sent him work to do at home!  He is not well but not very sick either... just under the weather with it.

Righto, Gotto Go.... fresh coffee has been made....

I hope you all have a wonderful week...xxx