Sunday

It's a stunning winter day here.... the sun is shining and no wind.... perfect.

Last weekend Hubz and I took a drive to the south of Brisbane to the swedish shop...

... a bit of a cold damp day so was good for driving and being indoors

I took my crochet blanket to work on in the car, I am starting to go around the border....

First stop was the cafe for some sustenance...

I wanted bed-linen and towels so that was the main purpose of the trip.... 

I did add these two doona covers which are going in my sewing space to be used as quilt backings

hand stitching this week has been these two little stitcheries... 

... and my sock is growing... this has been a useful one to do whilst chatting online to family... 

I had a load of washing and when I was bringing it in yesterday I notice this guy on the line.... he stayed there peering at me... some of the washing was literally inches from him...

This is the Australian Tawny Frogmouth.... they have a lovely whooping noise they make at night

Many people mistake them for owls, but they are more closely related to the nightjar...

they really are quite snooty characters... looking down his beak at this mere human!  Normally preferring to roost in a tree as you can see wonderful camouflage...  once the sun went down he went off to the gum tree and started whooping ... maybe looking for a partner

Righto, Gotto Go.... messing about doing all sorts of fiddly little things that need to be done..... have a lovely day....

Stitching Time.....

The Brisbane Sunday Stitchers run a fun UFO challenge which I am lucky enough to be able to play along with them...  It runs from mid-month to mid-month when they have their real life meetings and last month was #1 which was to work on my Wings and Pretty Things quilt top designed by Michelle...

Yay.... my top is done...

I just love it and had such fun doing those needleturn blocks...… less fun doing those EPP elongated hexagons.... worth it though.

Of course it has moved to the Quilting Queue

The next number is 2... and that is my circles quilt...

All the blocks are made and the goal is to have the top finished..... (so it can then sit in the Quilting Queue!!)

Over the last week I have been stitching away at this stitchery in the evenings....

I am not sure what to make with it... an unusual shape...  The stitchery fits nicely in 6" x 18" .  Any ideas???

It is from a set designed by Rosalie Dekker but I have been using them for individual items.  Preprinted and such pretty things to stitch...

I showed you Natalie with my little "In My Garden" quilt.  That was a finish for me this week.

I made it some years ago....

… and learnt hand quilting last year for it..... (I wanted to try hand quilting on a smaller quilt before trying out a big one)

I just love all the different elements, applique, EPP, embroidery, piecing....

Michelle gave me a quilt hanger when I visited.  This will fit on it perfectly so need to get some dowling and ask Hubz nicely to put it up for me....

Righto, Gotto Go..... it's about time for lunch ..... I hope you are keeping safe, sane and stitching......

Friday Night....

A lovely double date with Friday Nighters at The Quilters Angel and FNWF hosted by Cheryll with cyber friends....

I didn't take sewing... I took gluing!!  I don't do a lot of EPP and usually I baste but I think there are 144 of these to make and so desperation got me gluing.... I think I got half done.... so another session is required....

A few chores in town this morning and then...….

Yup... a sewing machine is not the only power-tool I know how to use.....

I can only reach half the hedge... so the front is done... it looks like it got a mohawk.... 

and I only cut through one power cord and tripped all the power in the house...…lucky Hubz is very patient with me and found another extension cord ..... and rolled his eyes almost to the back of his head!!

I feel I have made an honest annual contribution to the garden.

 This is the second of United Stitches that I managed to finish this week.....

One more to go!!!

Our white Jacaranda is flowering beautifully... it usually flowers in October, and it did last year, a little.  The recent bit of rain has mixed up lots of trees I have noticed.

They are lovely delicate flowers, I love the blue Jacaranda, but I love this one too....

For my me-time sewing this coming week Bloom blocks are out....

Sitting here on a Saturday afternoon listening to the sounds of suburbia... lawn mowers, whipper snippers, leaf blowers.... so good to have had some rain.... hope it keeps coming

Righto, it's this time of day again..... I'm off to read what others got up to for FNWF......

have a lovely weekend...

A hot week.....

A bit of rain has made my plants very happy.....

fushcia

crucifix orchid

even the baby lemon just shot through new shoots....

Hoya....

Frangipani....

Frangipani....

That's about all the colour there is at the moment... we have lost a lot of plants … raindrops makes it all look good

The drought is by no means over, and there are lots of farms that still haven't received any rain....

Meanwhile the hot and humid has meant I have done lots of hand sewing....

I have been focussing on the United Stitches blocks 

Whenever I have had the chance for a few stitches 

… still have a few more to go..... 

I took a short break from them to hand sew down the binding of this quilt when I spent a day with a friend.... 

…. just a little quilt so not really an impressive amount of stitching (there was an impressive amount of chatting)

sweet little star fabric for the back....

My friend is a great crocheter and she gave me these cotton washcloths... so handy with the circle at the top to hang by.  I have actually used the bigger one as a hand towel as it is just the right size for the bathroom....

I am still trying to sneak in a bit of me time machine sewing so this week I added that mustard border onto Wings and Pretty things....

The next round is more of those elongated hexagons.... which I will do once I have finished off the United Stitches blocks....  I love this quilt so I am itching to get back to it even though EPP is not my favourite thing....

This week we went solar powered..... woohoo...…  It was such a hot muggy day I felt so sorry for the guys on the roof.....

so now we are self powered (mostly!)

Righto, Gotto Go....  the day has begun and there is coffee to be drunk.... 

year end.......

Wishing you all a wonderful 2020..... may it be full of stitching..... and other stuff that you like....

Yesterday I went and bought cold meats, cheeses and pickles for us to snack on at NYE....  we seldom sit up till midnight, preferring just to get to sleep when we feel ready..... boring ….

This week I quilted up this little quilt (the top was given to me) …...

… and this Chevron quilt top that I made a few years ago.... I did leaves in all the whites and lines in the colour… fairly heavy quilting but it gives a nice texture and is not too stiff....  will be even nicer after a wash....

My hand quilting is done, this is a smallish lap quilt size and I did make myself do a bit each day so it would get done....  some ovals in the blank squares to copy applique'd stitcheries

.. and some orange peels in the corners and wavy lines in the borders...

 mostly very simple but it holds it all and gives a nice soft feel....

I now have a binding queue starting... the binding has been sewn on by machine and I will hand sew when it is cool enough to be prepared to have a quilt on my lap! (my postcards quilt is also there)

Today I am pinning work quilts in preparation for next year..... well one of them needed to be finished before I could pin it ------ YOU know who you are!!!.... haha.... just a bit of blanket stitching around stars....  I thought it was a bit funny that it got posted to me not quite done....

.. and another United Stitches block done.....  you will still be seeing these around for a while...

I have updated my WOOFA list on the side bar to reflect my long UFO list.  Cheryll is hosting a bit of motivation to work on unfinished projects, and maybe even finish them!!  You can read about it HERE.

Thanks Chez..... great idea....

Righto, Gotto Go..... ALL THE VERY BEST FOR 2020 .....