Thursday 31 January 2013

Needle case kit

A week back I made up my gorgeous little kit from Fiona.  It made up very quickly and I love it.  Might make another couple for the birthday stash box next month.  I love the beads on the ends of the ribbon.  I found it a little fiddly but so worth it.


Tuesday 29 January 2013

4 blankets for the fluffies.

Over the last few days I have cut up a pure wool blanket and backed and bound it to make four cot sized blankets for our fluffies.  Best thing is the whole exercise only cost me time to do it lol.  So that's another 4 finishes for my OPAM 2013 list for the month!  Its been a more productive later half to January than the start of it was lol.

The idea for these lovely blankets came from the doogie book and they are backed and bound with polycotton fabrics that my Mum has decided are no longer useful after sitting in her cupboard for about 20 odd years lol.  There are also a pile of toys cut out ie bones and balls but I might try and source some squeaky thingies for them first so they are a little more interesting to Tess.

As you can see from the pics they have lovely mitred corners and if I can kick the cat off I might be able to get the last two washed lol.  Merlin takes great delight in wool blankets and is still rolling around on them lol.

Well off to hem a school dress and sew up those bones.






Initial Heart Swap

I had a lovely surprise in the mailbox this morning.  Of course I was too excited to wait to take a pic of it all wrapped up but it was the gorgeous blue parcel from Shez.  Thank you so much for such lovely gifts!  I might just have to fight Grace off when she sees that cute little frog tape measure lol.  I think that might be one we will share.   I love my new tea towel and matching hand towel.   Lindor is also my favourite chocolate too.  Which is going to be morning tea with the latest copy of Inspirations magazine that was also in the post.  How nice it is to have 'happy mail' in the mail box.

Merlin was helping to organise where everything should go for the photo.  This is a cat planning to steal my chocolates.  Don't know what it is about them but the smell of them is intoxicating to him even though he has never eaten one.  He'd just better be a good boy today after putting a very fat gecko in my sneaker this morning.  Finding something in your shoe at 5.30am is not very pleasant.  I actually thought it was a mouse!


Saturday 26 January 2013

FNSI

I managed to spend most of the day making suffolk puffs or cutting them out lol. They are a great thing to sew while watching Downton Abbey on DVD.   Previously I had managed to sew about 90 and Friday I sewed exactly 63!  So now I have 153 ...  maybe it wont take me so long after all.  My helper has reneged because they are a little fiddly for her to manage without sticking the needle in fingers etc.
Now I am off to do some blog hopping before attempting the ironing.  Or maybe I might just sew more puffs and watch a DVD.  Not really worth pulling the iron out for 5 tops now is it lol.

Friday 25 January 2013

FNSI

Tonight is the first FNSI of the year.  Mine is officially starting in about 30 mins lol as I plan to sew all day.  Too hot for anything else here.  Hope you are all going to sign up and join in too.  I'm thinking more suffolk puffs and perhaps working on my Farmer's wife blocks too.  Back tomorrow with some results.

Thursday 24 January 2013

Suffolk Puff Quilt


This is the beginning of a lot of suffolk puffs lol.  Grace and I will be doing this quilt together and it should be a lot of fun too.  The background will probably be a nice cream self print but will wait until we get a pile of puffs done before we make a decision.  I have only cut out a few in each colour but I think we will be looking for more fabrics in these shades once this lot are all made up.  It is to fit a double bed but I will have some nice deep scalloped borders on it too and bind it in mauves.

Initial Heart Swap



This is what was wrapped up in the purple wrap plus some chocolate too.  A big thank you to both Michelle for sharing one of her designs and also to Cheryll for hosting a wonderful swap.  I enjoyed making my item to send to Claire and she has now received her gift from me so I can share with you now.

Tuesday 22 January 2013

Teeny tiny hexie

I have played with my little hexies last week and came up with this cute little one from scraps.  It didn't take much to make really and is cute.


Initial Heart Swap

My swap items have been finished and have just gone in the mail.  I'll share a pic when I know that they have arrived safely to my secret partner.  Thank you to Cheryll for organising this great swap too.


Off the wagon

lol.  Grace and I went to Castlemaine and Maldon on Saturday and had a wonderful time.  But I fell off the wagon re purchases.  We have plans for a quilt for Grace's room which I will post about later so we purchased some fabrics for it plus some more just for my stash lol.  Some of the fabrics pictured came from Shepparton after yesterdays trip to source some more mauves and purples for Grace's quilt lol.  Yes very naughty but these were all only $3 a fat quarter and $5 for a mtr of the green.


We also spent a bit of time in Haberdash in Castlemaine and I picked up these buttons for the princely sum of $10.  Not bad really when you see all the lovely buttons and trims they have in the shop.


Now these books were purchased by Grace and are just full of gorgeous photos


I also purchased a book full of toys and accessories for doogies lol.  Most of which I wouldn't put on Tess but I do love the red coat in particular plus a few toys, rugs etc.




Looking at this wee little doogie in her bathroom...cute perhaps but not a necessary item and the dog doesn't really look all that excited to be wearing it either.  So one day soon there will be some doogie items to share.

Birthday Love Stash item

This morning I remade the book cover and used the original wadding etc.  Made up much better this time round lol.  Since I have added a little quilting to the cover it is now added to the birthday stash.  I do want to get another one made today too.

Thursday 17 January 2013

Precut thread organised

I finally pulled out all the thread that can't be winded around cards and plonked them in groups into the container.  Took all of 5 minutes to do but has taken me ages to get round to it lol.  Must have had something to do with the weather....
It is the same brand of containers as all the others I bought from Bunnings with the exception of the inside layout and being a bit taller.  Might drop in later in the week and pick up just one more for when I might decide to expand the Cottage Garden threads or the Cosmo variegated range.  I have decided I do not need their standard range as I have all that lovely DMC lol.

Wednesday 16 January 2013

Finishes

Magnolia is now officially finished with the addition of the bookmark which I stitched to the spine of the fabric cover.  I am very happy with it and it is still a few weeks until we see the lovely lady who will be receiving it.



Tuesday 15 January 2013

Stitching...

I have been plodding away on the tree skirt and almost have all the trees finished and the birds are all done too.  That only leaves the snowmen and the house.  Wont be long and I might get it quilted before February too lol.  The cooler weather we have been having has made for plenty of stitching over the weekend too.

I have also finished all the stitching on my heart swap item and will be at the machine later to hopefully finish it off today or tomorrow.  Thursday is going to be another day in the 40's up here so I might just have to play with these teeny tiny hexies that I bought a few months back.  Not a random purchase as I do have an item in mind lol.  Might be a birthday stash item.

I also have the lovely needle case kit to make up from Fiona too.  Such a lovely kit she has put together with the tute on her blog too.

Thursday 10 January 2013

Swap pledge


When taking part in a swap I pledge I will always do these things.
 
·        To always swap on time.
·        To always email a THANK YOU to my partner.
·        To be considerate and thoughtful when choosing a gift.
·        To give my partner the quality of gift that I would like to receive.
·        To communicate when it’s required.
·        To NEVER over commit and let a partner down.
·        To advise the swap mama when I receive my gift.



Saturday 5 January 2013

Friday Night with Friends

I started my FNWF in the morning and by 10am that was it for stitching here.  The day was extremely hot and two appointments ended up taking all day!  Mmmmm was not very impressed with anything so just watched some NZ cop thing on tv and went to bed.  But I did manage to make up a practise notebook cover which I really don't like and then I made up Magnolia.  I am thrilled with the way it turned out.  After appliquéing on some odd hexies and using a very thin scrap of wadding I hate it as  it doesn't sit all that well in a cover.  On Magnolia I used very stiff interfacing attached to the liner only and it has worked out brilliantly.  I have also almost finished a monogram which will be added as a bookmark on a piece of ric rac.



The hexie one was going to be my offering for the birthday stash this month but I have totally changed my mind.  I think I will unpick it with scissors and repeat the process and make it for a smaller notebook lol.

Off now to see what everyone else has been creating ....... also praying for a cool change and thinking of those going through more horrendous situations re fires etc.  Just need to remember that there is always someone worse off than ourselves.

Merlin

Here's a cute pic of Merlin.  He is a gorgeous red point Ragdoll.

Bridge chair



Now this one has been a bit of a long term project but after stripping, sanding and french polishing it is now almost ready to go to a friend who will re-spring and cover it for me.  It is a lovely old piece and I could cover it myself but do not have all the stretching equipment to do it well.   After all the work I have done removing tacks etc I am hoping the quote for $300 will now be a hell of a lot less lol.

Friday 4 January 2013

Garden assortment

These are just some things Lance has dragged home from his Saturday job lol.  I mean who would really turf these out!




Thursday 3 January 2013

Valantines Day Swap

Hi all,

I'm jumping in on my first swap over at http://stitchingcubbyhole.blogspot.com.au/  I'm looking forward to it.


It is also signup time for FNWF too.

Dish

Lance has found me a cute old dish to add to the collection lol.