Hello December.....

Hard to believe we are in the last month of 2018 - it seems to have gone so quick.

Early this week I caught up on Blockheads

these two blocks are 6 1/2" (I suck at fussy cutting!! haha)

This one was too small (problem with my printing) so I had to add those borders.... 

This next block is a big one - 18 1/2"  

Of course now another is out so I am behind again!  

I finished with my green bali strips.... this is what the quilt top has ended up looking like.... I'm quite pleased with it …. 

(made with a Jelly Roll and a couple of metres of the grey)

I still had a good amount of the grey so I have made up the binding.... now to find some backing and put it in the queue....

Kris came over for a play date and brought me this most mischievous moose....  I love it... thanks so much Kris....  

End of month is OPAM time..... my finishes this month are:

Ruths quilt by Leanne Beasley... this also counts towards Finishing Stitches since it was a UFO at the beginning of the year...

I made up a shopping bag for myself.... it's a good size

and my in the car projects are these two wash cloths...

Righto, Gotto Go.... have a lovely weekend... keep safe ….

Month End.....

I have done some work on UFO's this month.....

I have done 4 more blocks for Dutch Treat... there are still 16 to do so  a few more months with this one at the rate I am going.....

My lovely chair kept losing it's gas and I would literally get a 'sinking feeling' which was no good as I was quilting ….

Hubz bought some PVC pipe and clamps and fitted it on the chair.... I don't need it to go up and down so this is perfect..... it was so frustrating having to lift it up so often....

I thought I would show you incase any of you get this problem

Other UFO's I have worked on were these 3 little stitcheries that I had...…

They have all been made into needle cases.  I didn't stitch the little knitting lady - it was in my Moms things many years ago and I have always kept it.... I think it may have been used as a book mark.  

I ordered this set of bits to make snap fasteners for my bibs and it came this week - a lovely assortment of colours and nice easy peasy gadget to stick them down....

… so it means I have finished these little bibs - here I used towelling on the back and a couple of pieces of sweet vintage fabrics (the bottom 3)

these ones are sweet patterns - I saw one and wanted a pattern, the quilt shop was so sweet and spent ages finding it for me - it was a book so I ended up buying a book just for the bib patterns

Thanks again to Joy who hosts Finishing Stitches to encourage finishing and working on UFO's - and thanks to Peg and Kris for hosting OPAM.... it really helps motivate....

The bibs were so fun to do ... I think I will use the middle pattern to make a mug rug for Hubz….  he has been home this week building a humungous fernery out the back... and of course I am here to help and lift timber, and hold nails... and ……. as a result not much quilting has been done.... 

Of course I don't mind really - the fernery will shade the bedrooms and make a huge difference to the heat in the house during summer when we need coolness - I am looking forward to plant shopping time - still a way to go...

This is what we started with... very dry grass and our hardy bottle brushes on the fenceline are dying too from no rain....

Poles have been cemented in and main arches made.... today he is working on cross pieces in between the arches which have needed cutting to size and painting.....

It's going to be such a lovely cool area one day.....

Righto, Gotto Go.... the worker needs me.....

end of June.....

Half of the year has gone by.....

June has seen these projects finished for me....

A Kathy Schmidtz wallhanging .... which I just loved making

... a bunch of mesh bags.... which were a bit boring if I am honest.... but useful....

.... and my Tool caddy, which was fiddly, but I love my lizards and it is very useful....

So thats my OPAM projects, thanks Kris and Peg for hosting

... and I have continued with blocks for my Dutch Treat UFO..... 

... and those are my Finishing Stitches projects... thanks for hosting Joy

A couple of wet days and these Apostle birds came into the veranda to dry off.... they are silly birds and don't stop chattering.... but they always make me laugh.  They march around the house cleaning up whatever they can find ... then generally make a nuisance of themselves around the neighbourhood

Lovely mail this week all the way from UK .... don't you love how it was personalised with the decorations of the envelope....

... and inside a special teatowel..... this is our little Matilda..... there is another in her class so she is Matilda R

 My design wall is looking like this at the moment.... that block with the aqua square is the latest in the Moda Blockheads weekly ones, also circles, Angel Story, Flowervill, mini baskets, Dutch Treat and My Small World...

Anybody get the idea I have a short attention span????

Righto, Gotto Go..... the weekend is here for enjoyment....

Hope you have a wonderful one

May - month end

Thanks to Joy who is hosting Finishing Stitches to encourage finishing those projects languishing in cupboards!  

I didn't do a lot more work on Dutch Treat this month...  this is okay as I had originally said one block a week .....

There are 32 more blocks to go.....

I quilted and bound the top of Holly Cottage this month, a Stitch-A-Long started last year

(I still have stitchalong projects from previous years waiting for quilting!!)

This quilt top had been passed on to me some years ago.... I quilted it last year and all it needed was the binding sewn down.....

Thanks to Kris and Peg host OPAM who count up all our finishes..... the two quilts are included since those projects are now done and dusted....

These others were new projects started and finished this month....

6 Tote bags were made in preparation for banning the plastic bags.... 

... and a knitted wash cloth ... 

I love handsewing in the evenings and with it cooler at night it was great doing those bindings ....

Righto, Gotto Go..... this month I want to work on......

Dutch Treat

Circles

Feathers

Safari

Angel Story

Jelly Roll

Flowerville

Mice

hmmmmmmmm....

Month end......

Again a busy month..... but I still cannot manage a day without some sort of sewing.... it is my therapy.....

For OPAM (hosted by Peg and Kris - thank you very much) I finished a number of projects ...

This needlecase is a UFO which I had sitting around for a few years... I had done the stitchery and got no further....

Inside is a little bag, pockets and a mini heart pincushion.....

This is a design by Bronwyn Hayes and was done for a Stitchers Dream Day Out at The Quilters Angel originally....

I made up this bag with a couple of friends one day this month.  The bird fabric was given to me by Michelle and I do love this saddle bag pattern ....

Another of my UFO's was a bunch of birds and hearts - they are double sided and from a panel of pictures.  I sewed around them and filled them with lavender to hang in wardrobes and some to sit in drawers.....

Finishing Stitches (hosted by Joy - thank you very much) encourages finishing UFO's - so the needlecase and lavender bags are in that group..... but also working on blocks in order to finish projects....

I worked on these blocks for Gardeners Journal this month.  Michelle and I both decided to work on this quilt this year.....  The stitcheries had been done and the fabrics all cut so it was placement and piecing time....

Weeding the garden and the vegetable patch....

 \... the orchard....

tea time, the bird feeder and a pretty bed of flowers....

... as a result the top has been made......  It is still a UFO but a good deal further along than I was at the beginning of the year....  This is a pattern by Annie Downs....

Another long term project is my Dutch Treat quilt....... and happily I got 11 blocks done this month...

I do find I am well motivated by keeping lists and then working from them... so thank you Kris, Peg and Joy for hosting these fun activities that help keep me motivated....

Righto, Gotto Go... I need to look at what else is on the 'To Do' list ...... 

I hope you have an excellent week.