the party has started.....

First of all, huge thanks to Chooky for inviting us all to a wonderful weekend of sewing and partying.  Isn't the cyber quilting community a wonderful place!?  SO many ladies coming together from their own homes to connect with other like minded sewing- and craft-aholics.

The party has started here... Today I am working on some gifts - so no pictures till later in the week for those - and hopefully a small Christmas wall hanging that I am at least planning on turning into a flimsy today.  Some tracing on the light pad is also in the planning department.

Here I am, all set up and rearing to go lol -

Working on my first gifty project -

A cup of tea and something yummy to accompany some hand sewing -

This is my favourite tea cup which I often drink out of - but I have even bought out the saucer to celebrate this momentous occasion, lol!

And here is one snoozy little puppy, wondering what all the excitement is about!  No supervisor here, Sue!

I hope your day is going well - and if you are partying with Chooky too, I am so pleased to be sewing along with you!

xx

a party in the chookshed.....

It's Chookyblue's second birthday, and I am joining in with the celebrations in the chookshed along with lots of other lovely ladies, for a weekend of sewing, stitching, snacking, sipping, and generally just celebrating!!

Are you joining in? It will be a fun weekend - and hopefully, for me, a very productive one too!  One can always hope at least!!

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

xx

lovely goodies.....

I was very excited when found I was one of the winners for OPAM April, and yesterday I received these lovely gifts from Peg -

this gorgeous and so cute thread holder - which is wonderful as I have recently started collecting Cottage Garden threads and I can keep them here, along with any small stitcheries I am working on -

I love the fabrics Peg used in making this 

ī

 the inside also held some very pretty DMC threads -

and also included was this Gail Pan table runner pattern which I am looking forward to making -

Thank you so much to Peg for for such lovely goodies, and to both Peg and Kris for all the time and effort they put into organising OPAM for us to enjoy.

Receiving this parcel from Peg reminded me.....

Last year I took part in Cheryll's Flower swap, and I was lucky enough to be the recipient of Peg's swap gifts.    At the time however, and over a period of several months, I ended up being without either a computer or internet connection, so had never posted Peg's sweet gifts. 

This was the gorgeous mini Peg sent me - I really love the stitchery

and this cute little mug rug, which some people might say suits me perfectly lol...

there were also a lovely mug, which I use often, some delicious teas and coffees and some lollies - which I must say between myself, my niece and my nephew, did not last long!

So although I am a bit behind the times, hopefully posting this now is a case of better late than never, and I did so appreciate the wonderful parcel that Peg sent to me, filled with such thoughtful and generous gifts.

Thank you Peg for all your beautiful gifts!

xx 

mill rosie friends - may 2014.....

Another wonderful Mill Rosie Friends day has come and gone...

 

It is always a fantastic day at Mill Rose Cottage, Ballan...

 

As always, there were beautiful and amazing swap gifts from this incredibly talented and very lovely group of ladies...

        

 

some of the ladies - which us 'Gisborne Girls' (aka the Country Girls) - Sue, Tracee, Marg and myself - call the 'City Girls', could not make it this time around, as they were on retreat.  Tracee however made sure that they still made their presence known.  They did pop up in some unexpected places -

 

checking out some fabric...

 

and some Christmas sewing...

 

they joined us for lunch at the wonderful restaurant next door...

 

and for some reason popped up in the shrubbery afterwards - perhaps they were admiring the garden...

 

lots of laughter and hilarity as usual... Tracee looks like she is about to cry, but I am sure she was just wiping away tears from laughing so much!

 

 

as always, the paparazzi were in full force...

 

 

there was show and tell - this is Marg's beautiful Quilt Aid quilt, for which she recently deservedly won a first prize for at the local CWA craft show...

and of  course the day would not be complete without a few little purchases...

 

It was another wonderful day with wonderful people - lots more wonderful photos can be found here, here, here and here...

 

xx



a sunday afternoon project.....

Just lately, I have decided it would be a good idea on the weekends to try and get some sewing preparation done so I can just sit down and sew during the week - cutting out blocks, preparing applique, tracing stitcheries and so on.

Today I planned to cut out the next 3 or 4 blocks for my Underground Railroad quilt, which got me to thinking about how I was going to store them, as some of them wouldn't be sewn for a few weeks.  I could have stored them in plastic ziplock bags, but didn't want them to get creased and/or start fraying.  

So, I made a folder/holder; 

Some time ago I bought two pieces of A4 board from Bunnings with the intention of making myself a sandpaper board, but was then given one, so the boards were just put aside.  I covered the boards with fabric, cut two pieces of batting and sewed them together down the middle and glued them to the board covers, and added some ribbon to tie it closed.

And now I can keep my cut pieces neat and tidy.

 xx

fnsi - may 2014.....

I hope everybody had a lovely Friday night, both FNSIers and non-FNSIers alike!

Last night I worked on the next block in the Underground Railroad quilt, our 'homework' block for this month, Basket -

and I also started some knitting, a new winter scarf.  I loved this wool when I saw it in the shop, but am not sure I like it knitted up, at least not in this pattern.  I might try just a plain 2x2 rib and see how that looks....

One of my OPAM finishes for March was a pair of fingerless gloves which I made for my niece.  I had not shown them before now as I had not given them to her.... but I still haven't caught up with her to pass them on, so here they are.  She loves the minions from Despicable Me (even though she is 22!), so minions they are!

Today I am off to our Mill Rosie Friends group at Mill Rose Cottage, Ballan, for lots of fun, probably not a lot of sewing, and a delicious lunch.  It is always a lovely day with much hilarity, and as I have missed the last two, am really looking forward to it.  Hopefully, I will remember to take some photos!

Have a lovely weekend

xx

fnsi.....

I am joining in here tomorrow night ~

 

 

 

Hope to see you there too!

 

xx

friday night with friends ~ may 2014

We had a lovely night last night for FNWF at Marg's house, although being the goose I am, I forgot to take my camera.  Photos however are on Sue's blog here.  Sue had a bit of frustrating night with her sewing, otherwise a good night was had by all.  Sadly Tracee could not sew with us last night, but visited for awhile and kept us fortified with supplies to keep our sewing strength up!

During the week I finished my 'homework' block, Carpenters Wheel ~

and we made the Bears Paw block last night ~

I am really happy with how these colours are working, and apart from the occasional frustration following the instructions in the book, am enjoying making these blocks.

Onto block 6 next, a basket block.....

xx

OPAM - april 2014.....

 

A very quiet month on the OPAM front.....

 

 

I finished three items, this mug rug, and two secret Christmas sewing projects.

 

I'm aiming - again - for a better month next month; although, I guess three finishes is better

than none at all.....

xx

 

friday night with friends.....

 

It's that time again..... the night dedicated to sewing, friends and fun on Friday!

 

I'm joining in, and I'll be sewing along with Sue, Tracee and Marg.  We're at Marg's lovely house tonight for some more Underground Railroad-ing.  Up to block 5, woohoo!

 

Hope you can join in too, but whatever you are doing, have a wonderful Friday night!

xx