Sewing In The Rain

I can't remember the last time the sun was out ... meanwhile the whistler ducks are having an absolute ball.

I've been making good use of time spent indoors and watching the tennis by ... sewing of course. Wednesday and Thursday I worked on these completing my first block for 'Tis The Season'.

Friday was a trip to town so yesterday I finally bit the bullet, pulled out the stapler and finished of my 'Stitching Round the Block'. I've gently stretched it over an artist's canvas after adding the pink border.

When Helen of Hugs 'n Kisses introduced this project, 4 gals in our patchwork group decided we'd join in and swap once a month at our patchwork day.  December 2010 was our first swap and we all received our original piece back about the middle of 2011 after some time restraints cropped up.

Back in early January I was a lucky Daisy Button Winner thanks to lovely Fiona of BubzRugz. As soon as my kit arrived in the mail I got to tracing and stitching and made this sweet daisy which now adorns my hat that I wear on playground duty at school.

The purple ribbon was wrapped around my prize gift from December OPAM. There'sjust time to sign up for OPAM 2012 if you're still considering it. Pop over to Kris at Tag Along Teddies or Peg at Happy In Quilting for sign-ups but be quick.

Now I need to stop putting it off and start the quilting on my next quilt before it becomes a UFO.

One Xmas Item for January

A very wet good morning from my corner of the world. The rain is pouring down and causing havoc in many areas. Today is our group's first patchwork day for the year BUT .... I can't get out .... major disappointment! I'll just have to console myself with sewing and perhaps some chocolate will help.

Today is also the 25th so it's time to share those Christmas Items before they go into safe storage ready for Decemember 2012. I had these little sweeties on my 'to do' list last year but they didn't happen so I knew exactly what I wanted to make for January. More will be added through the year.

"Get Red Red Ready for Christmas" by Natalie Ross

So come on elves ... share your goodies on your blog and I'll add photos to the Xmas Page here on my blog. And remember if time was against you this month (I only finished my last one last night) there's no pressure, perhaps you'll find time for February.

Happy Sewing

No Sew Zone

I'm afraid that FNSI just didn't happen for me and I so wanted to start on my next stitchery. After 2 days of refresher courses for work, my brain was exhausted and my eyes ached so thought it best to rest up. Yesterday wasn't much better with a nagging headache behind my eyes all day but I did manage to cut some 2" squares ready for the Postage Stamp Charm Swap.  Now today I've somehow managed to pull a muscle in my right shoulder which is restricting movement ... me thinks my body could be asking for a day of rest.

sleep4health.com.au

Has everyone found some time to work on their first 1 Xmas Item? ... the 25th isn't very far away now. I have 1 small project done and another 2 half made so hopefully I can manage to finish them off ready to share. Looking forward to some blog hopping to see what goodies have been created this month. Remember there's no stess here ... if you didn't have time this month then there's always the next.

Happy Sewing

A Happening Place

There is so much happening in blogland at the moment, my mind is spinning and I would so love to say YES to everything.
Here are just a couple of Happenings you might like to check out.

Enjoy browsing.

Where Did That Week Go?

Actually I do know what happened ... a heatwave!  No energy and no desire to sew ... just trying to find somewhere to cool down and only doing those jobs that had to be done. Thankfully by Friday a cool change had moved in and now the rain has arrived. Nothing nicer than a wet Sunday spent indoors sewing and preping.

I did manage some prep work on 'Tis The Season' cutting all the border strips and have squares of the white spot fabric ready to trace for the embroideries. The borders are sewn on my 'Stitching Round the Block' ... just need to do the finishing touch. I was beginning to feel like nothing would be crossed off my January list of goals but I'm a little more focused now.

Saturday I did some stitching on block 16 of 'Because I Said So' while sitting by the window enjoying a cool breeze. Yesterday the stitching was finished and the sewing portion completed.

Then it was on to tracing blocks 17 and 18 of the BOM and a start on my Christmas Item for January. Throw in some GST ... sadly not the Generous Sewing Time sort but the bookwork version ... and finally I felt like I'd made some progress.

Just to finish off a productive day a quick fruit cake was in and out of the oven in a short time ready for packing in lunches today. I came across a link on Fiona's blog which led me to Bev's blog where she shared the recipe and it's now my go to recipe if I need something in a hurry. Thanks for sharing ladies.

More bookwork today and I really must get another quilt onto the frame ... I keep putting that job off.

Quilty Wishes for a lovely week.

Friendship and Fabric

What a lovely way to spend my Thursday...heading into town to meet a blogging friend at my LQS. Marg @ Country Quilts and Dolls and I have been chatting back and forth online for a while now and as her family are on holiday in the area, we arranged to meet at The Quilters Shack and then chat over a coffee. Our plans were quickly reversed as the shop was opening later but that gave us more time to catch up and spend a lovely morning. Thankyou Marg, it was great to finally meet in person.

Of course some fabric came home with me too :)  After seeing 'Tis The Season' quilts popping up all over, I decided this would be a project for 2012 so some reds, cream polka dot and red thread hitched a ride home.

A challenge for some of the girls in our little patchwork group is to finish our 'Stitching Round the Block' and bring them along to our first day for 2012. This pink fabric was the first I tried as a border and after looking around at some others, the pink won. Do you find that often the first choice is the best choice?

The cream will become the sashings for my Calendar Quilt which was pieced in 2009 and I've listed as a UFO must finish!

Another UFO I have selected to work on in January is my Queen Bed Quilt which is a pre 2006 project. These 4 x 1/2" hexie flowers will be joined by 4 more to become embelishments on the borders.

We're in for a HOT!!! weekend so I'll be finding a cool spot for some quiet sewing. May you find your cool or warm spot as needed.

Quilty Wishes

January Goals and New Family Member

Happy New Year to all my dear friends here in blogland and to those friends I am yet to make.

Making a list each month seems to help me keep on track so I'm going to start out 2012 with a new list for my January goals. But first, here is how my December list finished.



Month 9 - Block 15 of Because I Said So BOM

Inchy Hexagon Swap Flowers

Home Sweet Home BOM - 'M'

Quilting on quilt for brother

Bind and finish 'Citrus Splash'

Block 5 - Red Delicious

Just the one goal that didn't get done so I'll roll that one over to January. However I am giving myself a deadline to have my brother's quilt finished by the end of January...no more rolling over for this one.

Month 10 - Block 16 of Because I Said So BOM

Complete Friendship Stitch Around

Work on Queen Bed Quilt - UFO

Quilt and bind brother's quilt

Prepare next Red Delicious block

1 Xmas Item

Find fabric ready to sash 'Calendar Quilt' - UFO/PhD

I mentioned a new family member and here she is. This is Pippa who was a lovely Christmas gift for DD from her boyfriend. She's such a talkative little character and I think had everyone amused.

We have 3 grand-doggies and 1 grand-kitty...my 2 girls were not impressed when they came to visit.

Wishing you all a wonderful 2012 with ample time to relax with needle and thread.