Weekend stitching ...

This weekend I pulled out my first 'installation' of Rosalie Quinlan's BFF BOM ... figured I should probably start since my second pack is on it's way over from the lovely Sarah @ Patchworks Plus :) .

I haven't done a lot yet, but it's nice to start a new stitchery project!!

I do still have a few (well, four) more blocks of my Some Kind of Wonderful quilt to make up, but I decided to splurge this week and purchase my very first light box!!! Until now I've been able to get by without one, but the final few blocks have just too many small pieces to position ... along with wanting to start Leanne Beasley's latest Vignette BOM, that I decided I had enough reason to reward myself with one. Come this time next week (I hope!!), I'll be putting together my last few SKoW blocks with some 'light' help *giggle*.

Christmas in July 2013

I think I've realised why I don't post very often ... when I get on here to do so, I inevitably see someone else's post tidbit and have to go follow the link to read all about their loveliness ... that has certainly been the case over the last two days!!!  I was planning to post about my Christmas in July items, both received and sent, yesterday ... and I caught someone's post ... then again, now, I've been sitting on Blogger for the last 2 hours just browsing through, reading loads of posts, both CIJ related and not *giggle* ... Just post already L!!!

Swap Mama Cheryll

So, Tuesday afternoon, when I picked up my parcel from the post office, to say my interest was piqued - what the heck might be in this tiny parcel?!! ... I was a good girl & placed it on the top shelf of one of my bookshelves to keep my curiosity curtailed ... and on Thursday morning, once the little one had left for school with her grandparents (they work at her school so it is often easier for them to just take her in some mornings), I went and pulled it out to open ... and open ... and open ...

... I wonder if she knew of my status as a 'sneak'?!! (my poor partner Anthea didn't find out her items were from me until after asking Cheryll ... oops!) *giggle* ... FIVE layers of packaging, you can just imagine what what going through my head, lol!

As soon as I opened the last layer though, I could barely speak for the gorgeousness in my little parcel!! Six precious 'Danish' seed bead ornaments ...

Each one more gorgeous and delicate than the next!  To say I am in awe of Simone's talent would be an understatement!! I am in LUV!!!!

If I had to choose a favourite, it would have to be that delicate angel - stunning!!  But to be honest, they are all so precious!! They will definitely be going away in my glory box, only to poke their heads out for the Christmas tree each year ... too special to risk anything happening to them, especially with small fingers who are just as transfixed by their beauty, lol! ... Can you tell how much I love these?!  *wink*

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So, if you've been by Anthea of Hibiscus Stitches' blog, you will already have seen the items I sent to her.  Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, although I had thankfully gotten all the stitcheries done by the end of last week, I ended up finishing them all over the course of last weekend ... nothing like getting things done last minute!  Thankfully Australia Post was feeling helpful and my Express Post bag arrived Wednesday afternoon, ready for opening on Thursday.  Yay!!

First up was the lovely 'Among the Holly' table runner, designed by the lovely Gail Pan.

H is for Holly
This was my FNSI project from last week, lol! *wink*

Then I got the GO! baby out ... despite winning this from a giveaway Dawn was giving end of 2011, I admittedly haven't pulled it out until then (and only to use a die that I purchased second-hand from Joy!) ... and cut out 24  1" hexi's.

It took me most of Sunday to sew these all together, EPP-style, to get a long thin panel of hexagons all sewn together ...

After a little more piecing, sewing, quilting, more sewing, a little teasing, and then some more sewing, lol, it was soon past 3am and I had this little beauty from Natalie Bird's 'Tis the Season' pattern book ...

S is for Star ... I is for Inspirational words
A bright green lining as I knew she dislikes dark ones, lol!

Monday morning I was thankful that I had left the easiest items to then ... two potholders with another two darling little 'Tis the Season' stitcheries ... turns out, the three TTS stitcheries were the three Anthea had used in HER Christmas in July parcel!!  Great minds, eh Anthea?!!! 

M is for mouse ... H is for holly ... S is for Star

I threw myself off a tad when I realised that I'd cut down the stitcheries to 4 6/8" squares!  Thankfully I found a darling little tutorial explaining how to calculate how much fabric you need to make the flying geese, using a fabulous new-to-me technique HERE (I used the first technique).  They came together really quickly after that!

I was so glad to hear that Anthea was happy with her gifts!  As soon as I got her information from Cheryl, I sat down and read through her entire blog with a pen & pad of paper next to me so I could jot down some ideas of what she liked ... turns out our tastes are pretty similar, especially when it comes to designers!!

Well, one more swap down this year ... now to figure out what to make my Santa Sack Swap partner over the coming months in between finishing off and beginning some other lovelies :)

Friday Night Sewing with Friends

The last two Friday nights I have enjoyed the delightful company of a group of sewists .. sewers (?) ... people-who-love-to-sew like myself, who all enjoy the company of others when getting their crafty on, all thanks to the darling Gail.  She decided to start up a FB page where we could all hang out each Friday night as we stitch/knit/sew to our hearts content, and for the last two Fridays (since it began), the fingers were flying - in more ways than one *wink*.

My set up each night: first week (top), last night (bottom).

The first week I began working on a table runner pattern I found on moda's bakeshop.  It's called 'Verna's Cutting Garden Tablerunner' by Julie Geiger.  I was able to get together the centre blocks, though I still haven't decided on the layout yet.  This is what I've come up with thus far; a lovely twist on the classic fencerail block.  I am using a charm pack of 'Eva' by Basic Grey for moda.

During the week, I was able to finish off the first 'Seasons of ...' block by Wendy B (and Dawn).  I did show a progress image last post, but here it is in all it's glory.  I decided on a chain stitch outlining the portions on the umbrella, and then a daisy chain stitch around the bottom to emphasise the 3D effect (and to give it an extra interesting & pretty finish) - the idea for which I got from an old post of Jenny of Elefantz.

A close up of the umbrella edging ...

And last night (Friday ... though as I write this the clock has already clicked over to Sunday...), I finished off my nineteenth SKoW block ... the cat.

Though I had almost completed the needle turn (excepting the name tag & nose) earlier in the week, I finished her off last night.  This leaves me with five blocks left to complete.

What are my next stitchery projects ... you know, since my WIP pencil case (yes, I still keep all my stitchery works in progress in a large A4 size pencil case ... one day I will get around to Fee's project bag!!)?!

I have the next two 'Season's of ...' blocks drawn up ...

And four TTS blocks.  The project for this month's SAL is the TTS 'Bon Noel' Wallhanging.  I haven't completely narrowed down which blocks I will be using, but I think I have it down to ...

... either of the 'right' designs on the left; the top left design in the middle; and the bottom left design on the right.  I have switched the angel & words around on the bottom left design in comparison to that in the book to even out the 'look' of the hanging.  I think this one will be going in either the glory or gift box.

Already I'm looking forward to next Friday ... but before then, I have two textiles projects to complete by Monday, a Art History assignment to finish, and another of each to begin before the week is out ... Boy is this week going to be a doozy!!!

Been a while ...

... since I last posted :)

Last time I did, I was having a BLAST of a time at the Let's Get Stitched retreat in Adelaide.  It was officially the BEST weekend I have had in YEARS!!!!  I laughed so hard, I cried so very many times that I needn't have worried about working out if I'd even thought about it - the whole weekend was an ab workout & a half!!! Lol!

Most of us waiting for the bus for our quilt shops (3) and
 Handorf visits, Friday morning.

Finding FQs @ Cotton Stitches, Friday; working on our projects @ Sunday sew-in;
Designs from Sunday ... plus some yummy lollies to snack on!; Joy teaching her appliqué method.

@ Friday games night; Finding our seats @ Sunday sew-in;
Sunday sew-in setup; On the bus on Friday

If you want to know more, Gail, Sue B and Teresa (here, *here* & here) all posted about the weekend so I won't bore you with the details *wink*.  Needless to say, I have every intention to get myself to the retreat next year being run in Melbourne in March (there is also a second one being run in New Zealand in October which I would love to go to, but I don't know that I will be able to make that one ... one day Michelle *wink*).

So, apart from this ... and the super massive load of uni I've been working on ... I have been able to manage getting a fair bit of hand-sewing and stitching done...

Finished putting together the "child's treasure box", designed by Judy.
This was the project I started at the LGS weekend.
I used Woodland fabrics, and gave it to my daughter ... can't half tell I missed her BAD!!

I finished the stitchery for the SKoW pincushion using a variegated pink thread

Stitchery finished for Red Book bag ... now just to needle-turn the hearts in the
top left-hand corner & make it into a bag.

And now I am working on finishing the needle turn on my SKoW shoes block.  I have gotten sucked back into Hart of Dixie, and so have downloaded most of the season 2 episodes available on iTunes (I have season 1 on dvd) and am working my way through those in the evenings while I stitch - that is, when I'm not trying to work on an assignment.  I am trying to get at least one episode worth (40mins) of stitching time in each night.

Before I go, here are some pictures I took while spending a little time with my (maternal) Granddad during my last evening in Adelaide (I had a late flight on Monday, so I spent the afternoon & early evening catching up with him with was lovely).  These are sugar flowers he found, while going through some cupboards, that my Granny (his wife) made many many years ago!  She was a very gifted cake decorator, making wedding and celebration cakes (for all occasions), and she must have made a whole bunch of extras that she tucked away to use .. and never did.  She has unfortunately not been able to do any of her crafts (she also did lots of sewing, quilting, knitting etc) for quite some time now, and it is nice to see her handiwork last all these years later ... even *if* they are sugar flowers that are so old that they are no good to be consumed *wink*!!  Some of these petals are just so delicate I would expect them to fall apart just by being touched - but they still don't!!!

April FNSI results

Well, despite my plans to write this post yesterday ... obviously that didn't happen, lol!

... Started this big long post ... lets try to shorten it, lol!

My day consisted of taking DD to the local indoor playground for much of the day ... coming home to vacuum and mop floors ... get DD ready and in bed ... and then begin my FNSI while watching a movie with my sister and Mum ... 'Men in Black' on BlueRay!!  LOL, really, I don't much see the difference!!! ... Oh, later I also put on season 6 of Criminal Minds - a favourite series of mine that I can watch over and over again!!

This FNSI, I was going to work on sewing down the binding on the AHQ quilt, but I decided to do something 'fun' ... some Vignette stitching!!

In actual fact, I reduced the pattern to 65% of the original size, and I have drawn it on a 10in square of Kona white.  I also added parlay on the back ... something I am trying out; it's a little lighter than the parlan I normally use.

I did start working on the butterflies the night before ... after I drew up the stitchery ... so Friday night I got to work on the teal flowers (just the circles, not the dots inside) and the leaves for the 'fuller' flowers.

Check out my late night visitor ...

So pretty!!!

I did get some more stitching done yesterday on this too ... Some circle centres (orange & yellow satin stitch) and beginning the red flowers ...

I am going to use this on an, unfortunately late, swap item.  I want to get this item done and sent by mid-week.

I have been working on sewing down the binding on the AHQ quilt today, and hope to either have this finished tonight, or tomorrow ... depends on whether my urge to go back to Vignette is strong enough, lol!  Better go back to my Criminal Minds ... DD is off with my sister at the neighbours' atm, so I am taking the opportunity as much as I can!!  Have a great week!!

** In case anyone is interested ... I was playing around with 'Picture Collage Maker' (Apple app) to make the collages ... First time I've tried it out, and I'm a pretty impressed!  I am currently using the 'lite'/free version atm, and might look at getting the paid version ... Once I got a feel for it, it was quite quick to put these pages together!

Hand-sewing ...

While I haven't gotten as much sewing done lately as I would have liked ... you know, uni ... I have achieved a couple of things I am quite happy about, sewing-wise ...

A month ago I asked for some advice concerning the quilt I was working on for Aussie Hero Quilts.

I wanted ideas for how to border the blocks ... since this is my first full-size quilt that I have made from dot-to-dot ... ever!!! ... I really wanted to make sure this one looks good!
The consensus seemed to lie firmly upon bordering the blocks with a thin blue border (to highlight the blocks), with a brown/burgandy wider border to frame.  This is the quilt, in sandwiched form ...

Can you believe that this was the first time I had done this?!!  Without spraying it?!!  All totally basted by pins with pin moors!  (Fantastic tools!!!  Seriously! If you have never used them ... and don't particularly enjoy using safety pins ... give them a go!  I bought a pack of 50 and really, I could have used at least another packet ... I will certainly be saving up my pennies for a couple more packets of these!!  They are fantastic!!!)  I have been using the pin moors in the binding stage too, and they have been mighty handy, saving me from being stabbed by the pins (not necessarily by the needle, lol!) a few times!  Here's a more 'current' pic of them in action ...

And a 'better shot' of the quilt ... though not completely, but you get the idea ... need to save that shot for when I finish sewing down the binding ...

I really love the blue ... it really frames the blocks!!!  Thanks!!!

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The other project I have been working on, this one since Christmas, has been Natalie Bird's 'Tis the Season' stitchery wallhanging.  Well, I have finished all the stitcheries, including the label.

Last I updated on this, I had two 'blocks' and the label to do...

I used the mittens with holly block as the label (above, centre), using a darker burgundy to detail the name of the wallhanging, the year made, and 'sign' my name.

Here are the completed blocks all ready to be bordered and made into a top ...

I have put this aside as I have not yet got my fabrics to complete this project, but you can be sure I will have this completed before this Christmas!

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And because I need a stitchery project to have available to me at all times ....

I have made a start on my 'Christmas Bon Bons' from Hatched and Patched.  I drew up three 'panels' earlier this year, but haven't gotten started on them until now.  I have decided to use Pellon on the back of these stitcheries for a softer feel (I usually use Parlan, which I love ...).  DMC304 is my thread of choice.

I have a few other things that I have worked on, swap items mainly, in the last few weeks, but I will leave them to a later post to show.  I am still waiting on hearing back from my March partner as to whether she has received the blocks ... If not soon, I will be making another couple of stars for her. A few other projects I need to work on, plus another assignment due in a few weeks ... Oh, and I have a 4 year old to entertain, lol!  Busy times, busy times!!!

FNSI photo...

Thanks to the darling Amy, I am able to upload my photo of last night's FNSI progress.

I have since done a little more, and will continue during the service tomorrow (something for my hands to do means my mind stays focussed on the preacher and isn't continually wandering).