FNWF and this weeks stitching.....

Double date FNWF and Friday night at The Quilters Angel and I started with the chain stitch for Block 8 of Flowerville.....

A lovely evening that went by too quickly....

ChooseDay sewing was spent doing some more blocks for Les Courtiers quilt.....

Lots of Flying Geese were trimmed and joined into various size strips....

Then I had a bunch of 4 square blocks to make and join.....

These will eventually join up with other blocks to fit into the quilt.  I am having a few difficulties working out the instructions and also some of the fabrics need a bit of fiddling around to fit them in....  I think it will all work out fine though...

Thank goodness for ChooseDays keeping me have my machine sewing fix.....

Jane from Loopy's place shared instructions for another block for her sampler.... This time flying geese for a 6 piece block..... the little triangles from the edges were joined... they are pretty small - the main block is 3 1/2"....

Here are all the blocks we have done so far.  A great learner sampler which I am making half size to hone in on my mini quilt skills, plus pick up tips from Jane as we go along....

Evening temperatures have cooled down and my heavier snuggly flannel quilt came out this week.  When Kris moved into Edward house she had a bit of a clearout, including all these pieces of flannel.  Of course I couldn't refuse the offer of giving them a loving home!

These are my latest postcards..... just need to find some time to cut out pieces and I can make a few more blocks for the quilt.....

The crazy hot dry summer ending with a nice drop of rain has made some plants flower out of season.... these ornamental pomegranate flowers are so lovely and bright.....

It's lovely having this pop of colour in the garden...  soon they will be dropping all their leaves for winter hibernation....

Righto, Gotto Go.....  going to have a look for that illusive time....

Month end.....

April has been a busy month for me..... but thankfully there is still the evenings to do hand-sewing….

This is my ornament for 1 Christmas Item per month.....  the top opens for a treat....

This is a block for Wings by Michelle ……  I love doing needleturn but I am persisting in carrying on with some other stitching projects …. I finished my mice blocks so this is my reward.... 

The second pair of pyjamas was made.....  I am now well set for cooler days nights.....

The ornament and pyjamas are added to my other finishes this month

A wheat-bag for daughter

 …. and one for daughters son... aka Widget.

Pink rose pyjamas…..

Considering how busy I have been I am happy I got all that done.... 

Righto, Gotto Go... I want to get some postcards stitched... then I can treat myself to another needleturn block!

Some Easter sewing.....

I did finish off Widget's wheat bag... a mix of wheat, rice and lavender went inside.....

… it got put to good use right away (not my face, not my face Nana!!) 

I had to make a rush purchase of some elastic but got a pair of PJ's made …

be great for wandering around the house...

Widget and his mom came back for lunch on Sunday... special request for Yorkshire puddings - I have recently started using Jamie Oliver's recipe for them and both times they have been very successful ….. nice and light and fluffy and yummy with loads of gravy

DD was in charge of dessert.... loved these mini pavlova's.... after the picture they got little mini Easter eggs on them too....

I have done a few more rows of the crochet blanket..... it's an easy pattern and good for in the car... 

Plans changed again and Widget asked to stay.  We gave him a model aeroplane with his Easter egg so he was keen to have Pops around to help him make it.... (not my face Nana, not my face!) 

I finished off my Sashiko block.... I really enjoyed doing it and think I will do more.... There is a lovely big panel at The Quilters Angel with lots of block designs already printed on it.... I love the grey..... a bit different to the usual.

… and I did applique down the Dresden plate and added the circle …. lovely hand stiching to play with …... 

We didn't have ChooseDay sewing this week.... so I just carried on with work quilting (which is also fun so I'm not complaining).  

Righto, Gotto Go... I want to prep a block of 'Wings' for some needleturn stitching in the evening... and get on with my second pair of PJ's....

Plans Change.....

After a bit of a new bush drive for me I collected young Widget from his camp on Thursday afternoon..... he had a great time....

In the evening, after some fish 'n chips I sat down with my crochet ….  starting to look like a pattern and I am loving these colours together....

… and we watched this movie together which I had booked out of the library  … we all enjoyed it 

Widget ended up being picked up on Friday lunch time.... his Mum ended up not having to work …. so I had to find things to entertain myself!

Found myself in my sewing room so I put up all my mouse stitcheries.... 

… then went and had a dig in drawers and found what I will use to make blocks to finish this quilt off

… some pretty Tilda fabrics … I will add some more of the blue grey 

I finished off some quilting I had in the machine.... I do love feathers done in this flowy pattern around the border … and also those pink swirls look really effective and add a great texture

Friday night and obligatory sports on TV so I like to sit and play....

Winter is coming.... and I need some new winter flannel pyjamas….. (in my house they don't just need to be pyjamas for night time.... you can wear them all day if you like …. and I do like)

I have some old winter sheets... pretty but not used as sheets and I have kept them in my 'stash' for ages not sure what to do....

These ones were cut up, a new pattern for PJ pants and the bondi top I have made before …. I need some elastic so I will just have to go shopping!  These are my practice ones to see if the pattern is right - but I can still wear them

… I also have this flannel sheet.... much softer and better quality so once I have tried the others for a good fit I will make it up too..... 

Friday Night was

hosted by Wendy … thank you ....

I've been wanting to try Sashiko for ages and some lovely grey ready printed Sashiko panels arrived at The Quilters Angel..... it looks more browny in this picture but it is a beautiful grey …. matched up with a bright pink thread and I started playing.....

.. and now we have a few more days of peace and quiet... Hubz has 

• a model to paint and glue, 
• a shed to clean up, 
• a birdbath to fix, 
• a shadecloth to install, 
• leaf catchers to buy and put on the down pipes, 

Haha... there is always a running list of jobs for him!

I want to sew down my dresden plates block.... and buy some elastic for pyjama pants....

 Righto, Gotto Go....

Already Easter time....

I always feel these special holidays just suddenly arrive without warning... even though we have had hot cross buns and easter eggs in the shops for so long....(or maybe that is why I am comatosed?)

We will have young Widget for most of the weekend.... so I expect Board games, ball games, movies etc are on the agenda.  

This week has sped by but I have done some of my own sewing... thank goodness for ChooseDays...

These 4 blocks are the latest for the mini quilt...

… and since I had the wherewithal I put them all together....

Shoofly Sampler is 21 1/2" square.... 

The binding is made too and ready ….

I am hoping the stitchalong for these little quilts continues with some of the others in the book... I do enjoy sewing along and there are not huge expectations each week

 Then I made up a bunch of flying geese (90 of them!) …. the pattern was for foundation piecing but I did the no waste 4 at a time method.... but it now means there is a lot of trimming to do....  These are to go in the Les Courtiers quilt 

Widget kept 'borrowing' his mothers heat pad.... so I found some fabric and made up the bag and inner... just need to get the wheat in and he can use it.... (perhaps he can help with that part this weekend) 

… and that was ChooseDays efforts....

In 2017 when I went to the UK I ordered a yarn kit to bring back (I had already started the ripple blanket when I was there and that has been made and gone to a new home)  This one is Hydrangea stripe and I have started it to be my in the car, waiting project, easy to pick up and take... 

 … there are lots of very pretty colours in the is pack....  I am not a skilled crocheter but it's assured this pattern is great for a beginner as it is loads of repeat....

It has taken me all week plodding along stitching the final block of my stitching mice...  here they are at a Quilting Bee....

So now all the stitcheries are done... I need to decide on fabrics and then this can go in the queue for ChooseDay sewing to be made up into a wallhanging quilt....

Sue sent me a Hoya plant in the post in February.... I just wanted to show you an update that after sulking for a little while it has now decided it is happy here in Queensland and has started growing nicely.... (there were the 4 lower leaves when it arrived)  Hubz will need to find it something to climb very soon... 

My established one is still flowering.... it has been all year …. 

 … and there are still lots of 'buds' forming....  I've never had it so full of flowers like this - clearly it likes this area we have it

I've chopped and chopped scraps into tumblers

There is plenty to keep me going for a while and I will start joining some of them together …. in the ChooseDay queue they go.... 

Righto, I'm off to my Thursday once a month sewing to work on my Thread Holder.... see how much I get done!!! hmmm too much chattering goes on there

I do hope you have a relaxing and enjoyable Easter weekend ….. I might get a row of crochet done!