Leaky eyes....

A surprise gift in the post made my eyes leak this week.....

I so admire this 'slow stitching' but I have no imagination for it at all....

There is so much detail..... this needlebook is about 5" square and look how much is in it - 

Beau

Beautiful lace and stitching ... amazing

Thank you so much Michelle..... I love it very very much

I needed a little bag to carry my mug on those days you need to take your own (someone's eyes rolled back when they saw my scruffy tea towel around mine!!!)

It's all pretty, and quilted and with real binding.....

Then I made more.... a couple of friends needed one too

They are all from a chopped up shop sample quilt... the fabric is faded from our harsh Queensland sun but it's still beautiful (and already quilted and bound)  No lining... I used the overlocker for the seams so it is a bit of a rough job but it's still pretty and it's functional.

A couple of weather photo's from this week....

Sunset on Tuesday....

Frost on Thursday....

Today it is raining.....

Righto, Gotto Go..... still sorting and tidying.... I got distracted with gifts and things....

FNSI July

Thanks Wendy for hosting us all....

I sat in front of the TV and did some more rows of my crochet..... we are watching the Strike series (written by JK Rowling under a pseudonym) - just some trivia for you!!  

The crochet sits in my basket next to my chair.....

I'm quite enjoying the series .. not full of crazed sex and bad language... not that I am a prude but I do get a bit over it!! 

Well.... I am almost half way on the rows... you can see how she (Attic 24 the pattern designer) has made these lovely colourways of  the Moorlands....  we don't have these moorlands here of course but this blanket will live over yonder where they do!

Righto, Gotto Go.... I am in the midst of tidying and sorting things in my sewing room.... gosh that going down a rabbit hole doesn't it????

Maybe I bring it upon myself....

Love to you all, so many in lockdowns worldwide, friends caught up in riots in South Africa, such a mess for so many....

keep safe, 

A finish... and progress

I have managed to finish Wish You Well....

All bound in a nice rich brown....

My quilting was quite minimalistic but still quite a lot... if that makes sense.  I didn't want to detract from the work in the piecing.

I ditched around the blocks and around the stitched shapes then round the circles.... and I couldn't resist some feathers in the wider border....

Wish You Well was a BOM pattern from Gail Pan last year.... I just loved all the different elements of embroidery, applique and using doilies and lace...... such fun to do...

I have filled another garden bed in my blackwork... top right is foxgloves....  I find this goes very very slowly.... 

and finally this block for Civil War Bride is completed.....  I had done the leaves and branches and was procrastinating about the birds tail....

Today I will try and find time to prepare the next block to do.....

I didn't manage to go to my Tuesday sewing this week... a call for Jury duty which I was not selected for after all but still have to sit around a bit.... I did take my crochet and met a couple of lovely ladies to chat to so not too boring....

Righto, Gotto Go... long list of sewing bits to do today..... but first some coffee!!!  Have a lovely rest of the week... stay safe.... so many troubles all over the world to worry about....

Sadly there has been no progress on Civil War Bride... I am getting too distracted!!!

My kumquat tree is fruiting.... Recently we watched the last couple of seasons of The Durrells... a charming series and I remember just loving the books by Gerald Durrell in my youth....

Anyway, amongst other things the older boys decided to make money by doing kumquat liqueur..... and it sounded good so I looked up a recipe and it is now brewing....  all that sugar is now dissolved into the brandy and the kumquats are hopefully soaking up goodness and giving off goodness too...

I won't be making money with it but hopefully it will be tasty on icecream by Christmas!

A bit more has been done with the blackwork....  I have left it tight on the sides as there will still be a border to do... should squeeze it in....

Tuesday sewing yielded a few more sets of half hexagons (Inner City)

I won a lovely box from Glenrose Patchwork in Warwick (instagram) of a starter pack for Pies and Tarts.... there is loads of ready cut out fabric, a number of backgrounds, quite a few basted templates and lots of spare templates as well as the plastic template for cutting.

I guess my EPP skills are going to be challenged further!!!! It is going to be a good one to have a little box in my car for those times when I have to sit and wait a bit....

My shocking pink quilt has been given a border... and I added a light blue peeper between the pink and the border.... I think it does help a bit and also makes it a more useable size ....

Sometimes I buy a doona cover which I fancy - give it a wash and cut it to be backings.... this is one I am going to use for this quilt....

I also pieced up a backing for the sewing mice quilt - nothing to see really it just wasn't wide enough so I cut fabric off the bottom and added to the side....

Two more quilts into the Quilting Queue..... so many more I want to make....

Righto, Gotto Go..... cold day and I need to bring in a goodly pile of firewood.... hope you have a lovely rest of the week....

FNWF

Thanks Cheryll for hosting us .... I did contribute some wine ....

I did a few rows of my wave blanket..... I do love the way it goes together and I am following a colour chart which is giving it a lovely countryside look.  

During the day I put this little quilt together.....  I dug out my scraps of Tilda and used up premade blocks where I could and then cut up smaller pieces.  Not sure why I chose to do the embroidery on all that pink... but there it is.   There was a lot of work in the embroideries so they aren't being chucked.

I kept cutting up to start a pile of usable blocks... really not sure what I will do with the smaller pieces but I can't bring myself to chuck them....

I have 6.5 x 3.5 (will become bricks one day) , 3.5" square (edges for the bricks), 2.5" (because that is a useful size) and strips and bits of any length or width more than an inch....

I'm just adding the pictures in the quilt because I think they are sweet..... even though we have had a horrible mouse plague in the farmlands these are sewing mice so they get to stay....

We have had a lovely bit of rain over the last couple of days (over 40ml), still damp and overcast so excellent weather to go and sew......

Righto, Gotto Go...... first I will pop over HERE and see what others got up to last night....

The year is half way.....

Hubz is retiring the end of this month... so that's exciting.....

Retirement and pension is a whole new ball game for us.... don't really know where to start or what is out there ... oh well....  he is old enough for a pension but I am not ...

Happy for tips if you have them - those who have 'been there done that' or have family who have.  Thanks.

Anyway.... back to the real fun of life... the sewing....

I had one finish last month to go towards WOOFA (thanks Chez) and OPAM (thanks Kris)...  I still love it

I got a lovely surprise in the mail from Lin in France.....

I have always admired her amazing crazy patch work...  This is what happens when you mix craft with art - I love it.

There is so much detail in this little mini cushion (it's not a pincushion - I would never stab it).  Thank you so much Lin and I just love the teal and green together.... 

I finally finished off this small quilt.... I love the bright 30's fabrics and these were left over HST's from a bigger quilt I made some time ago.....

The backing is pretty cute too.....

I quilted Wish You Well and it now has the binding attached... I just need to hand sew it down.

I have got a bit obsessed with the blackwork.  This is the new one I have started.  I am doing a 'formal garden' but I haven't done all the borders yet... I was in a hurry to add some plants to see what it will look like.  I am using single thread of these two variegated thread....

This is a very generous free pattern through a facebook site which some friends put me on to...  each section will have different flowers...

I will put it away ... I have another block of Civil War Bride I want to get finished...

Righto, Gotto Go....  it's coffee time... then chopping and sorting.... my sewing mice are on the table ....

Hope you have a lovely weekend