Happy New Year 2026

 Well I have made my first trip to Bunnings and Spotlight for the year! I am trying No Buy January so I think I need to go on American time and cancel today. I got fabric for backings at Spotty so that doesn't really count, 15 metres @$4 per metre.

I got 7 metres in an aqua spot and 8 metres in a cute bright animal print. Also .5 metre drill to mend Daves work pants so that surely doesn't count as it is necessary.

Thanks to Deana for organising this again. This year I am going to finish some things no new starts on my list, that doesn't mean I won't start something new just my list needs to be finished

1/ Blue Baskets, I started doing needleturn but now I am going to do it my machine or it will never get finished.

2/Farmers wife, I think I have about 20 blocks done maybe more, all done FPP.

3/Frivols Quilt , I have 1 block done and need 3 more.

 

4/ Dwell Quilt, all the blocks are done they just need to be assmbled into a flimsy.

5/ Swoon Quilt, All the blocks are done I need to decide if I want sashing or not.

6/ Message in a bottle, this was a BOM from several years ago.

7/ Blue Triangle Quilt. this was given to me to finish, I had it laid out on the bed and was deciding what to do next and we had visitors so it had to get folded up.

8/ Anni Downs Christmas tree, from Memory it is a wall hanging.

9/ Dresden Block quilt, all the dresdens are made backing and sahing need to be cut.

10 Bag month, I need to make a nappy bag for Sophie and I want a large tote and a train case.

Ok so this is my list. my to be quilted list is 

1/ Tilda flower vase

2/Smitten

3/ 2024 Mystery Quilt

4/ 2023 Mystery Quilt

5/ Potato Chip quilt

6/ Fuzzy quilt

7/Oh My Stars

8/Rosie's Stars

9/ Panel Quilt

10 Grant's quilt.

Wish me luck.

2025 Recap

 What a year, good and bad happy and sad, Shane and Brad with Sophie have visited for a few days after Christmas, it was a lovely rushed visit but the noise level OMG, they are so noisy.

So today I am working out my chookshed challenge list for 2026, i am not putting any new projects except maybe bag month .

So revisiting the year 

January

Number 6: Layer Cake quilt

Finished and sent to Brad and Sophie for their friends baby.

February

Number 10 Fusion quilt/ not done

March 

Number 2 Springtime-Butterfly and Dragonfly Applique quit

Top done not quilted yet.

April

Number 4 Foundation Paper Pieced something.

I sewed a few Farmers Wife blocks

May

Number 8 Bag Month

I made a new project bag and I started a Divide and Conquer bag By Annie

June

Number 5 EPP

I made a lot of Hexagon flowers and also did a lot of my EPP BOM from 2017

July

Number 9 Scrappy Crossroads

I cut some bits but didn't get onto it I was busy making a quilted jacket and the divide and conquer bag

August 

Number 7 Blue baskets I managed a couple of blocks but that is all

September

Number 1 Free Wheelin Single Girl

Great timing as there was an online sew a long for this quilt in September I had 3 blocks made and I did another 3

October

Number 3 Oh My Stars 

Top complete but no pic I will have to dig it out for a photo

So that is my Chookshed Challenge year,In this year I also sewed 2 blocks a month for a Bee group that I'm in, this was the last year for me. I did 2 retreats, I made a quilted jacket that needs to have the height of the collar reduced so the binding needs to come off and that is why it hasn't been done. I did make a baby quilt for the nephews baby, I did only 3 workshops at Coolah, I did a weekend sewing in Sydney learning machine applique and for the most part of the year I had a great time.

December 1

 Well goodbye November, you didn't seem to hang around for long. Apparently it's a sign of old age when the months fly by......

Hubby started a new job working as a farmhand, he is loving it and comes home every day pretty much exhausted, he is doing some welding as well repairing stuff, so he is showing off his welding skills. The first day he slipped on some oil on the forklift step and fell fracturing 3 ribs so he has been in a bit of pain but the workshop area is now spotless , he can't work in mess and there was a lot of it.

Sewing wise I have been plodding along on a few things, I made some small christmas presents to go into an advent box for a swap that I'm in. I made a covered notebook, a bookmark, a project bag, a little purse, a fabric basket and a small tote bag. I have also bought myself an advent box from Sew Fab in Narranderra and I am being very good not opening all the presents. 

I have been trying to finish the projects from last years box the big one is a Tilda flower vase quilt with a millionty 2"squares. at least the kit had all the colours cut and bagged I just had to cut the background pieces, I am up to section 7 of 9

I am trying to get organised for next year as well, I have my diary ready, I have cut an old kit that I have had for a few years to take to Scrub Stitchin, I have cut a baby quilt for Brad and Sophies baby due in June. I have plans for a couple of bags too hopefully one done before the end of the year. I have booked into 2 workshops at The Modern Quilt Show in March. Tara Glastonbury, design a modern quilt, Now I don't mind some modern quilts but I'm not a fan of all of them. The second workshop is with Tania Tanti it looks like fun. Theres another workshop on the saturday that I would like but I think I am going to a baby shower that day I haven't got the date yet.

We have , like most of the country , had a few storms lately, I put the Christmas lights up early and I have pulled them off the roof a few times already. Luckily we have had no damage, one of the houses that I clean had several trees lose big branches and their machine shed is on a big lean held up by a tractor and a container, luckily nothing too bad.

Well it is sewing time here so off I go

October Update

 Ok so I mentioned that I was doing The Free Wheelin Single Girl Sew a Long with Wendy who is from the Next Stitch in Dubbo I have made a few rings and 2 blocks. The blocks are about 22 inches so a 3x3 setting will be great. I got another set done yesterday.

        

Coolah patchwork had their weekend in Mudgee last fortnight, they hire an airbnb whichs sleeps up to 16 and they borrow sturdy tables from the primary school. There was only 12 of us this year so it wasn't too squeezy. I took some Christmas presents to finish off. A project bag from an orphan block and I also made 8 shoe bags but no photo. Of course I had too many projects but I got the presents made and then I finished the last blocks of my Dwell quilt and then started on my Dresden blocks.

I have been cutting some flowers each week the garden has gone nuts with the start of spring, thankfully the cat has stopped pulling the flowers out tof the vase to drink the water.

Today I will be pickling Asparagus, lots of Asparagus. Cya!

October the first part there of

 September chookshed chllenge for me was my Oh My Stars quilt, well I got the top finished but not even a photo... I'm waiting for a backing and then a finish.

I did manage to finish a baby sized fish quilt for our nephews baby boy, Dad is a keen fisherman and I have been hoarding these fishy fabrics for a long time, they are almost antique!

My last chookshed challenge project is the Free Wheelin Single Girl quilt, now Denise Schmidt, the designer and Wendy from the Last Stitch are holding a FWSG SAL this month very handy indeed, So I had made a few bits for the quilt I just need to reconnect with it and the whole process

I'm off to Mudgee for the weekend sewing with the Coolah ladies, I have way to many projects packed but we will see what gets done. 

I am doing an advent swap so I am making a few little things for that, I made a bunch of cards the other week and will include them I had hand cream, body lotion and lip balm but was told the person I'm swapping with has severe allergies so no chocolates, biccies or perfumed goodies. Poor her.

The Iris's are flowering and are so pretty
A client gave me a tray of lemons last week so I made several jars of Lemon Butter and froze the juice for future recipes.

Have a good month

September stuff.

Well I went to Sydney last weekend for an Applique workshop at My Sewing Supplies Sylvania, with the wondeful but soon to be retiring Deb Louie. Now when I got the email about the workshop I was excited... they normally do midweek classes but this one was the whole weekend... Sylvania is about 10-15 minutes from Brad and Sophies place.... win win. So I booked it in and then I realised that the Sydney quilt show was that week as well so I left the husband, cats and home earlyish Friday and made my way to Rosehill racecourse for a quick trip around the quilt show. There were some amazing quilts... some a bit meh and surprisingly a new to me list of winners not all the same old winners.

 

These are just a few that I liked.

Then it was do a bit of craft shopping but to me the shops there were a bit disappointing, never mind.

Then off to Brads place and settle in for the night. 

Saturday morning off to Sylvania and a wonderful class with 6 other ladies, 2 had only been sewing for a year so they were wide eyed all day. The first applique technique was blind hem applique or machine needle turn, that is what I was there for.

Then we did some fused applique and played with the decorative stitches on our machines. Now I love my machine but I know I don't use it to its full potential, so it was fun to play with different threads and stitches. Deb has a huge bundle of quilts that I now want to replicate, one that I don't have a picture of is called bubbles it is cot size and lots and lots of 2",3" and 4" circles of fabric with no repeats, like an I spy quilt . 

Saturday night we went out for mexican the restaurant or Cantina has 600 ml frozen margaritas.... yumm and the food was good too but the place was very open and noisy. 

Sunday I went back to class with my homework done and proceeded to try more stitches and thicker thread, my machine didn't like this at all. never mind I did samples with other threads and shopped up a little storm, they had 20% off fabric, patterns and precuts. I refrained from precuts but I may have 12 more metres of beautifullness to pack away for a rainy day.

Monday was back home and all I wanted to do was sew and do some of the things that I learnt but no dinner, washing and work called.

August update

 Well its near the end of August, we have a few birthdays in August, Brad on the 14th and Dave on the 23rd.

I picked up my big machine from the doctor in Tamworth this week, I missed it and it's features, who would have thought that having to lift the foot manually would be so hard to remember..... Big machine is stitching beautifully again, it was stitching so tiny I couldn't quilt anything.

So when i was in Tamworth I went to Spotlight and they had these patchwork fabrics for $8 a metre so I grabbed a couple of each for backings and the stripe for binding.

I read this book over the last few weks it was hard to put down.

I have been making relish and sauce from the last of the tomatoes, and burning marmalade made from some gifted cumquats. I don't think I'am a jam maker.