Retreat sewing....

A lovely weekend was spent with the wonderful Sunday Stitchers from Brisbane...  I was very blessed to be able to go along and spend my weekend days with them....

Thanks Sunday Stitchers.....

The main thing I had wanted to get done was this Fat Quarter Quilt.

The pieces were all cut so it was a matter of choosing which fabric and doing lots of stitching

16 fat quarters and it makes 16 nice bold blocks... a lovely easy quilt for using fabulous fabrics you don't want cut into small pieces.

Tim Holst fabric pack and pattern from The Quilters Angel who have an online store

Thanks The Quilters Angel ....

Of course being away from home I had to make sure Hubz had something to do.... We have this large brick facing wall with no windows (it's behind my oven and fridge and pantry cupboard in the kitchen)

Hubz drilled in the concrete and attached a tight wire for me.... 

... so now I have a lovely place to hang my finished tops and quilts for photograph taking!  

Thanks Hubz.....

This morning I found some backing to use... and I had already bought some of the same fabrics to use for binding....

I want to get this one quilted soonish as it is a gift....

Then I got onto sewing up smaller pieces I had pre-cut...

... and made them into two sweet baby quilts

... and this morning I cut some strips and made up the binding so it is ready when I get to them....

Pre retreat we had been given instructions for cutting a couple of pieces of fabric and we were helped making up lovely little snap bags using cut up tape measure... some Hubby is now missing his tape out the workshop!!!

Thanks Alison and Maureen ...

... then I started on my next big scrappy project.... the red and cream pineapple blocks.

I got quite far but still have a few more rounds to do till they are big enough.

I am doing 25 x 10" blocks

The Sunday Stitchers had Show and Tell for the last UFO which was #5 and for me that was finishing a pair of socks

These socks were done but had been given away to my daughter... made from lovely  Bendigo wool

I have enjoyed making the socks, and I enjoy wearing mine so I will do more... one day.  I have always loved the idea of hand made socks and wanted to learn to make them.  Jane, my friend in UK

has video workshops and so I joined in a couple of years ago and that really helped my confidence.  Access to the video's is ongoing so if I forget what I learnt I can go back.... 

Thanks Jane....

The next UFO challenge is #10... which is my Mouse Quilt......  

Quite a lot of work needs to be done for this.... which includes finding where I put the instructions...

Stitcheries were done quite a long time ago and I am going to be using my Tilda left over from other projects pieces as it is not a big quilt/wallhanging....

Righto, Gotto Go.... after a relaxing weekend which finished with a shopping trip to a local quilt shop and some yummy lunch yesterday I have work to do....

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....

Month end.....

My WOOFA challenge UFO this month was the Chevron quilt.... which just required the binding put on it... 

I already showed more detail on this quilt HERE....

Thanks Cheryll for keeping us on track with getting through some of our UFO's...

I have taken this little bag and needlecase to work on in August ....

I also join in with the Sunday Stitchers and their UFO challenge each month, where they allocate a number to 12 different UFO's and we get told on their meeting dates the next number....

June/July was #12 which was my Tote Bags...

I bought these panels last year .... just beautiful ....

and this was a pair of panels given to me years ago....

I backed each panel with a layer of iron on Parlan and gave them a lining.  These wildlife ones I gave a different back so I could get 3 totes....

I used the pattern from The Quilters Angel which had been designed specifically for the panels... they have some new gorgeous botanical bird  kits in now... hmmmmm tempting !

but the larger one is just one bag with two sides different....

This months number for SS's is #5 which is my socks.  I have made a good start... I had one sock made so it's just doing it's partner.  I am using 4 ply wool so it takes quite a few rows to get that long foot done!!

Progress has been made on my Love quilt and I have added some borders

and ordered some EPP papers so that I can do them on that stripey border.... some honeycomb and square shapes... 

This is the pattern I am using... there is another border on the edge with more EPP  after some fun piecing and needleturn....

Certainly getting some EPP practice in this one...

Righto, Gotto Go..... a bit of tidying and sorting is required then get on with a quilt job....

Have  a lovely rest of the week....

More travels....

It is Wattle Season... and I just love the range of yellows and shapes of the fluffy's (even if I get the sneezes it is worth it)

Loads and loads of them planted on the sides of highways..... wonderful

The other thing I like on 'some' of the highways is these rope ladders.  Can you see it? 

Right across the road for the little critters to cross safely.....  then ropes down for them to get back to the ground.... 

We went and stayed with a friend of Hubz and his wife who I met for the first time on their piece of land near Taree….

It's a really lovely spot and so relaxing.... as well as really lovely hosts ....

Sunset time..... only the birdcalls for background music...

They do have regular visits by Koala's though none came to say Hello to us.... you can see the evidence of their sharp nails on the gum tree in their yard....

We visited Taree and had fish and chips by the sea

.. and of course a little walk with some ocean views.... 

 I have now finished off my second ever pair of socks (same wool as last time since I got several balls of it and it is lovely).  These are a gift and have been posted off - a labour of love are knitted socks

Righto, Gotto Go..... I think I'll have a cup of coffee and then think about the next step on a quilt I am quilting....

Done and dusted....

Thanks for the well wishes.... surgery went off fine and I got back home the same day (which is what I specially wanted).

I had my gall bladder removed as I had been having terrible pains with stones rockin' and rollin' inside of me...

It's a common operation I know, I have been lucky with good health - it was my first need for hospital in Australia and we have been here since 2002.

Luckily I managed ChooseDay sewing before...

I made up these two blocks for Les Courtiers.... (9" blocks)

and then lots of stitching, slicing, stitching and sizing up for these pinwheels.....  there are a bunch of loose ones too... (3" blocks)

For a long time I have been wanting to make a sewing machine cover so finally made a start.  The Quilters Angel have some of this gorgeous machine fabric in and a pattern which can be adapted to the size of the machine.... 

I have had that stitchery done for years so am using it as a focal point....  still lots to do on that project ...

Anyway, back at home and having to take it fairly quietly ....  I did get on and do a fair bit of the crochet blanket.... such a lovely thing to do not requiring too much thought …. 

… and I did work on making the heel for my socks when I needed a bit of time not thinking about my tummy.... 

Righto, Gotto Go... think I'll have my little walk around before some more crochet....