September stuff

 September was a bit busy-ish, Spring scrub stitchin' was great, there was some great quilting there to see and some amazingly talented women there. I sat near Karen from Cobar and my word she was organised I think she got 15 things sewn, she had a heap cut and some half sewn but she was pedal to the floor the whole weekend. Brenda celebrated her 90th birthday and showed off some of her amazing bears and mice. Janice was busy making donation quilts.

I pieced a top that I started at SS in April, and then made 2 table runners from a layer cake that I had, I cut the first one wrong so it is narrower and with a border. This was my Chooky challenge for September and I am happy to say they are both finished, one just landed on the table and the other has been sent to Sydney to Sophie's grandmother.

I love the backing that I used it is a wide back so there was no need to join it.

I didn't get around to doing my RSC blocks in brown or black but I may do them both this month. I have been inspired by Karen from Cobar and I have been cutting projects for future sewing, small and big kits that have been sitting in the cupboard so far I have 9 cut. I have a sewing weekend in Mudgee with the Coolah ladies in a fortnight and I am off work this week as Brad was here on the weekend and his car broke down so he took mine so that he didn't miss work.

I found and tried a new recipe it was delicious and made a huge amount.

This month for the Chookshed Challenge it should be number 8 which is a Christmas project yay!

August catch up

 Chookshed Challenge No 7, Deanna drew number 7 which is a braided table runner not started yet, I want to make a table runner for DIL Sophie grandparents,they have gifted me a lovely timber tray and dish, that I haven't got yet, and Brad suggested that I make them a quilt ..... well no thanks there's a bit more work in a quilt .

What have I been up to? 

August Challenge for me was EPP so I have been sewing my Smitten little filler blocks I have 2 left which I will do this afternoon then I just need to join the blocks together, it's only been 7 years since I started this quilt.....

The last week the weather has been lovely so we went for a short drive to get photos of the canola crops just out of town, I love the colours.

I have been very good in doing my 30 minutes of sewing each day, it has all been hand sewing almost nothing on the machine.

The husband is home for good now after finally selling the business in Wollongong, now we are going through the fun job of closing accounts, phones registered to the business, email accounts etc. We have to decide on a new internet provider I want proper NBN he doesn't it goes on. 

I didn't do my orange scrap blocks this month but I may do them tomorrow. 

The garden is going nuts I have been shelling and freezing peas, picking and freezing asparagus I want to find a pickling recipe and bottle some.

Next week I am off to Baradine for a weekend sewing retreat with Chooky and some other ladies I can't wait, I know I will take to many projects but it is better to have too much than run out. I am a true overpacker. 

That's it for now

FNSI August

 I don't recall if I have ever remembered to join in with FNSI, I have had some good intentions but then nup. So this last Friday I did remember.

I have glue basted most of the last lot of the pieces for my Smitten quilt, I am using Eppliplex templates which I like but you have to remember not to glue to tight or you can't sew them.

This block is the last of the big blocks somehow I missed making it, these butterflies are very pretty left overs from a quilt panel quilt that I made last year.

I was very lucky to have Livvy keep me company on the chair.

I have a few more (see lots) of small blocks to do and then join them to make bigger blocks then put the whole thing together. My number 3 for the Chookshed challenge is EPP so I am hoping to get more done. I would be happy with all the blocks done.

July Goodbye

 Well July is almost doneand Oh My it has been cold especially this last week.

I went to Sydney and stayed with the youngest son at Caringbah, right across from the railway line, and I went to the Sydney Craft Show at Darling Harbour. It was smaller than what it used to be but I saw a lot and caught up with a few people. 

The man from Accuquilt remembered me from last year when I bought my cutting machine from him, and he helped me by carrying it across a park to my car, I was going to catch the carpark shuttle but I missed it so I started lugging it myself. He said his arms were sore for a week haha and he has been telling people all year about this poor woman that he helped he didn't know how she would have got it to the car if he hadn't stepped in. I told him as much as I appreciated his help and still do I would have got there eventually (probably without a box). 

I did a scan n cut workshop and also a Janome M17 workshop. This is the same machine that I used last year and made a book cover, this year it was a fabric bowl

There was a quilt display at the show a lot was a visiting display from the States. This quilt was my favourite from the Quilt NSW display unfortunately the name card and descrition photo didn't turn out, I have been having trouble with my phone.

I spent a bit of money there was a new online shop Hab Fab that had designer metres for $10, $20 for Tula Pink and Kaffe, I unburdened him of a few metres

I really wanted to do the workshop with Kasia Jacquot, I love her folky style embroideries and it has been a long time since I have done this sort of embroidery but she cancelled her workshops and only had a few kits.

CHOOKSHED STITCHERS CHALLENGE 2024

This month was no 1 in the challenge which is my version of Sarah Fiekle's Down the Rabbit Hole. I don't think this will ever get finished, although the next few months of the BOM from 2014? is machine piecing so I like that. I have sewn down most of the flowers and I still have a couple of days to go.

Also I have been needleturning this quilt called Blue Baskets

I have finished to crochet rugs I need to sew in the ends and give them away somewhere, they have been keeping me warm at night

We picked our first Pineapple and it was delicious

That was my month.

June news

  It has been so cold!!!! I don't like cold.The only crafting I have been doing is my crochet rug and a bit of cutting. 

I have been doing a lot of soup and stew cooking with the husband going away Monday - ThursdayI cook on the weekend and send him with food and freeze some for a friend that we feed and have enough in the fridge for me for the week as well, I couldn't be bothered cooking just for me.

This years crochet rug is finished, I'm not sure who it's going to but I have enough yarn to make another one.

I think I have truly gone mad, I have decided to do a postage stamp quilt from my scrap bins, I started cutting 1.5" squares and then I bought an accuquilt die which made things a lot easier

This project could take a very long time, I have emptied one bin that's all.

I haven't done any of my June Chookshed Challenge project, I just haven't been feeling it. I also haven't done much of my Blue Basket needleturn quilt

I decided at the end of May I was not going to buy any fabric for the month of June seeing as I'm going to the Sydney Craft Show next week and I will need to save some money, but then I got an email that Gnomeangel was selling off her fabrics at 60% off if you bought a metre, now I went through her shop and made a huge cart and deleted it but then the next day I got a text from my good friend Anorina and I had another look at Gnomeangel's shop and the picture below left was the result it's all very beautiful.

Then last Wednesday a text from Spotlight told me that all quilting fabric was $15 a metre, including wide back so I had to go and have a look seeing as I was in Tamworth for work, I also got 2 new memory foam pillows for the hubby and me for $10 each and also there were cushions @$5 each great as a cushion insert. You should have seen me trying to carry it all as I ran out of the shop after the cushions scanned at $15 and the assistant changed the price but the fabric price also changed to $5 a metre, no guilt here.

I have some mending to do this weekend jeans to hem and a couple of tops to take in.

Well hopefully whatever number Deana draws next week will get worked on.

May Recap

 Well May is gone, I know we all say this but the year is flying by.....

May project for the Chookshed Challenge was my Basket Quilt, I started this one just after I bought my Accuquilt set. Its a bit hard to see on the design bed over the other quilt, I have teal sashing to go and it's a top.

I've lost my sew jo, it's there somewhere but just for handsewing, I have been joining hexie flowers , these were started at work in the afternoons about 2010 and I joined them with grey hexies but I didn't like it so I put the box on top of the bookcase and pulled it down and ripped all the grey hexies out and started to join them again, there's some vintage fabrics there.

We went to the races on the last weekend of May it was a beautiful afternoon and the fashions on the field were interesting all the ladies taking to the stage and assuming the position of legs crossed, I may have made a few disparaging comments because I'm a bithch but I said them very quietly.

A friend in Tamworth had a clean out and I scored this cute tea pot and another friend gave me a sewing machine trolley and about 30 cookbooks

So Deana has drawn no 10 for June my 10 is a redwork Christmas quilt, so I will start to work on that. 

For May I sewed my 30 minutes almost everyday. I made 2 pink 16 patch blocks and 4 bow tie blocks for the RSC.

I made 2 blocks for my bee swap and I have been adding to my crochet rug. 

Enjoy the cold month of June. I am making some chicken and vegies soup tomorrow.