FNWF - December

My word - the last FNWF for 2018!!!

And of course everyone is super organised for Christmas and all the Secret Sewing is done....NOT!!!

MIne isn't all done - It will be - nothing like a deadline to put some pressure on . . .

Tonight I organised the back and hangers for these little trees:

I also made a mini hanger and will get that one sewn up pretty quickly by Saturday night ...sorry - not showing the front at the moment!

I hope everyone else had a fun & productive night - poor Cheryll was probably tied up with some other stuff - cruising is a pretty tough life after all!

Cheryll, many thanks for continuing FNWF in 2018 - even though you missed a few - it gives the rest of us some incentive to sew and to blog!

To all my FNWF buddies - I wish you a Merry Christmas full of hope and happiness and all the very best for 2019 - may you finish more projects than you start!

And to all the FNSI buddies - I'll catch up with you all soon!!  (I think we are doing December??)

Hugs to everyone.

SIMS Christmas Meeting

Sadly we were missing one of us - so only 3 of us to celebrate the end of the year.  But we had a fine feast - with pudding later on.

I made these little hangers for everyone - I even managed to make one for myself this year.

(No surprise for my missing buddy)

I received a lovely Christmas hand towel from Inca and a Christmas decoration, soap and hand cream from Sue.

A great end to the year and we will be back in January with new ideas and new projects.

Loose Threads Christmas meeting

Again this year we gathered at Jan's - she lives down the coast - and we go out to lunch to the nursery close by - its a Cafe 63 and very enjoyable.

This year we decided we would give each other a Christmas Decoration - either bought or handmade.  We do a random draw so it's always a bit of pot luck.

I made this little tree.

and I received these lovely angels.

 (very appropriate that I should receive the angels...)

As tradition dictates - I also made angels for everyone.
You can see all the previous angels here.  I've been doing this since 2002.

(They are a bit sparklier in real life)

I love how Jan arranges her angels so I like to take a picture.

(Believe it or not I have a plan and part of the requirements for the 2019 version..

absolutely no excuse not to have them ready early next year...so she says.)

We talked about what we would do for Birthdays and Christmas for 2019 - that is really looking ahead (especially for Christmas and of course we will all be well prepared...(???maybe)

It's a fun group - there have been some changes over the years but we have now been going for over 20 years... a lot has happened in those years of course...but its good that we are all still friends.

Sunday Stitchers UFO List #6

As the year draws to a close, we take time to reflect on our achievements.. for the year....
(let's gloss over our non achievements).
[waffle waffle]   But we do have a month to go!!!

De proposed a Sunday Stitchers UFO Challenge for the year. Most of us created a list of 12 things that we wanted to "get done" - it didn't have to be a finish - it could be as simple as "work on XXXX"
Most of us have joined in enthusiastically and even if we didn't always do what ever it was that we were "supposed" to do - we all celebrated our achievements.

I am pretty happy with my progress - December's number is 11 and I am almost guaranteed to have that one finished by our next meeting.   So, I have one failure...#5.... It might go on next year's list - or maybe I will get it done over the Christmas break....we will have to wait & see.

November's number was 6 - this is my Mrs Beasley's Sampler - which as some of you know was a very long drawn out story...I started this about January 2014 and was finally able to start the 4th block in January 2017.

Now its quilted (lightly) and I can say "It's Done"...yay

and some close ups - I ditched most of the blocks 

and then added some machine embroidery 

I used a feather stitch on my machine to applique the dresden plates

The colours are so soft & pretty - I'm glad to have it done and although it was very disappointing to have to wait for so long to get the rest of the pattern (and there was no communication to explain or apologise)...I do love it.

FNSI - November - Part 2

Wendy decided to have two FNSI this month - she realises most of us are very busy with those Christmas projects...that we should have started MUCH earlier...

I couldn't join in last week - but tonight I was able to join....I can't show much - "secret stuff"  but I worked a bit with this stuff:

I am sure you are all better organised than me - I have quite a list to get through - I had to write the deadline dates against everything so I could prioritise!!

Oh well...it will get done ...it always does.

Thanks Wendy - Thanks everyone else for your company - the motivation I need sometimes!

Sunday Stitchers - November

Another Sunday Stitchers meeting on Sunday - the usual frivolity, chatting, sewing etc.

We had decided a while back that we would make some drawstring bags and fill them with toiletries for the needy.
Today was the day to bring them in and Alison filled them with the purchases made last month - things like tooth brush, tooth paste, soap, razors, deodorant etc...

This is the result of all that activity:

My bag was this one:

As usual I had a collection of crocheted squares - only 8 this time...it's been a busy month!

It is my Birthday month so I had a fun pile of presents to open.  We give an idea of what we would like and this year my requests were: 
Scraps - anything - big enough to cut a 2.5" square
Fat quarters - pale colours (greys, blues etc) for stitcheries OR Floral prints like Kaffe Fasset

I collected big time ...so many scraps. strips to cut 2.5" squares (the box on the top right is full of fabric to cut up), lovely stitchery pieces and gorgeous very colorful florals... I do have a plan for them....next year hopefully!

Cheryl adds in an extra - this year it is a gadget for squeezing the last drop out of a tube - it is that orange thing  - it is already on my toothpaste tube!
And Marilyn gifted me a badge - "Old crocheters never die - they just keep on hooking" - I love it - it is already on my Diva quilt.
Thank you to everyone in SS - I really appreciate your generosity.

I will do a separate post for the UFO CHallenge later.

Glenrose Retreat 2018

I have just had a week away with a mad bunch of ladies.  This retreat at Glenrose Patchwork is quite different to the one I do in August...but I still try to be prepped well and I try to make the most of the time away - that means late nights and not too much sleeping in.

I had a list of "To Dos" and was able to achieve almost all of it.

I've had to block out one - it's a secret project  - quite a time consuming one - I didn't finish it - I didn't expect to - but I made a lot of progress on it.

Here are a couple of finishes:

A small wall hanging with a stitchery from Natalie Bird.
(The stitchery was completed ages ago.)

I runner/topper for a set of drawers in our family room:

This one was an unplanned project.  This retreat is held at a Patchwork shop - very dangerous to the wallet!!!!    Quite a few of us made these reading pillows - the front of the pillow has a large pocket and you can add a few books and give it as a gift.
I fell in love with this greeny tree fabric and have a purpose for it early next year, so figured I would join in the fun.  It was very quick to make, just need a pillow now.

Another project I "finished" was to add the borders to my Holly Cottage Christmas Quilt.   I started this quilt as part of a Stitch-a-Long hosted by Fiona over here.
The quilt is designed by Michelle Ridgway and I have made many changes to her pattern.  I am sure she may want to thump me - but this is for my eldest daughter and she had a few requests - so the blocks got changed around a bit and we minimised the detail.  As much as the original design is gorgeous - I wanted this quilt to be for DD1. 

To take the photo I pinned it to a quilt on the wall - so ignore the blue and pink on the outer.  It stops at the bauble border.   I will be getting this quilted by someone so much better at quilting than me - so stay tuned for the finished quilt - before Christmas.

Just for the record, I also made an angel ornament, added ribbon to a towel and made a bag for the a charity project that Sunday Stitchers are doing.

I had a ball, I got so much done.  Thanks to the Tuesday girls who invite me along each year.  And a big thanks to De who did the driving - allowing me to crochet along the way and keep ridiculously late nights!

November - FNWF

Time for another cyber gathering with Cheryll.

Friday night I gathered one of those "go to when nothing else is ready" projects.  I sewed a bit of this - not a lot but any sewing is good progress.

I am sure most of you were more productive - but I have had a week away sewing and needed to organise for a sewing day at my place on Saturday - so I am not unhappy with just a small bit of stitching.

October OPAM

My head is all over the place - work has been busy - then I was away for a week - retreating!!! (YAY)

BUT it's November and I need to tell Peg & Kris about my finishes for October - nothing in the sewing arena - but I did finish 23 crochet blocks for blankets for the cold & needy people in and around Brisbane.

That's it for now!!...but the tally will be better for November!

Organising DMC Threads

This post is all about organising DMC threads   - It might appear that I am a bit OCD from this - I don't think I am all that OCD, but perhaps in some areas I am . .  .you can be the judge!
If you are not into organising...you probably don't need to read on!!
And if you do - take a deep breath.  or grab a cuppa!

Joy from Days filled with Joy - is doing some blog posts about how she organises sewing things - in particular she did one on organising DMC threads.... we have exchanged several emails about this and other organising tips and I told her I would do a blog post about me & my threads.... 
(I must confess to owing some of each of the DMC 6 stranded threads - many years ago my bestie friend and I collaborated and to complete our sets we bought threads and gave half of some of them to the other...blah blah...hopefully you get that idea....)

We then spent a few lunchtimes (we worked together back then) sorting colours into colour groups and naming each group - there were several on line resources we used and took some poetic licence on some colour names...

MIne all got wrapped onto the cardboard bobbins that you can buy...not sure I even knew of the plastic ones then....and the numbers were written on - I elected to put mine in plastic boxes and I lay them horizontally so I can see the colour better.  So I need to write the number on the tab as well as on the larger area.... as shown below:

(I do sometimes do cross stitch or need a specific colour but more often than not I just need a colour and I like to see all the pinks together - and DMC have not done a good job on their numbering...LOL)

Then I created an Excel spreadsheet to list all the numbers by colour group....(mmm getting very OCD now??)
So, what I do is print the spreadsheet and trim it to the size of the lid of the box.  

That sits in the lid.

I printed a page for each box to show what colours are in each box.

Inside the box - I have a square of cardboard with the colour group name, then each bobbin for that group, then the next colour group name etc - to match the list in the lid.

So - how do I find a colour by number?? usually I can scroll down the list if I know what sort of colour - or if I am desperate - I open the spreadsheet file and search for the number - it will then tell me the colour group and I can find it easily enough.

Now - to make it even more OCD - when I remove threads for a project - I have cardboard squares cut to size and I write the colour number and what project the thread is for....then  if I really need it for something else I can (usually) find it.

This is my pink/purple box - there are a lot of threads missing.....you can also see bits of sponge that I have cut to help fill in the gaps so that the threads stay upright - that is not a fool proof system...but the best I could think of . . .

If you would like the Excel spreadsheet - I am more than happy to share it - include your email address in your comment (unless you are a regular commenter and I know your email address already). 

I can't guarantee its totally accurate and it doesn't include the latest lot of new colours (numbered up to 55), but if you wanted to do something similar to me it will save you some time.  I don't still have the document I used to print the colour group names.

Yep - OK - over the top - but it works for me.