Birthday Fat Quarter Swap

I joined in with Cheryll for a Birthday Fat Quarter Swap.  It was just a fat quarter and a small gift of something that started with the letter of our name.

Here are the lovely goodies I received:

From Cheryll:  red dotty fabric, Sweetpea thread and Sewing Needles
From Julie:  baby panel and an alphabet with children on it and SEW Bandages  (very clever)
From Asta:  Orange fabric, Shopping List (very useful) and Wattle thread

From Anthea - red & orange dotty fabric, orange dotty fabric, a Scrubtastic and a gorgeous pair of Eiffel Tower scissors (sorry for the glare)
From Georgina - some prints with children/ children theme and a lovely smelling sachet
From Ilene - orange stripey fabric and santa/stocking buttons

I think these ladies have a spy - Orange, Yellow and Red are the colours I have the least of,so they will come in handy.

Thanks all - and especially Cheryll for organising.

Birthday Post Cards

Today was our SIMS meeting - so time for me to celebrate my Birthday (early) and collect my Postcards.
Sadly we were only SMS today as Inca was unwell...

Nevertheless - some delectable delights for morning tea - (sorry no picture!!!), a lunch out with a glass of bubbly, and two Birthday postcards:

Maureen's shows a Sewing Machine, Emerald Wool, Wooden Knitting Needles (The back has Starfish and Shells...(but IT issues prevent  me posting that photo.)

Sue's has Sapphires, Spider, Emeralds, Wooden Window and a Spider's Web

Pretty clever girls - thanks a bunch - I love them!!!

Updated:

I have now received my Postcard from Inca:

It is so pretty.  It features Emerlad & Wisteria in the coloured thread.  The stitchery is in waves, and the words that are embroidered are;  Embroidery, Sky, Wishart, Sampler, Embellishment, Wine, Sea, Water, Stripe, Earrings, Waves and Sydney.
All words that relate to me in one way or the other.....I think this is very clever. 

Glenrose Retreat

I am very fortunate to be able to get off work for a week and go and "hide" at Glenrose Retreat.

Of all the retreats I go to - it is by far the prettiest venue and the best suited to sewing.

I was able to put together the blocks I completed in the Gail Pan "Send My Love" BOM for 2018.
In all there were 36 blocks, but I chose to do only 32 and I liked the layout of Ruth's Quilt so much I copied it for this one.   As there are a number of design walls at Glenrose - it was an idea opportunity to lay out where all the fabric and stitcheries were going and to try to balance it.  (with some input from the others...)

I had prepped a lot of blocks for My Small World.  The hot air balloon is not part of the pattern, however I'd seen one on the Instagram group I am following and had to buy the pattern  . .  .

The "Plan" for the IG group is a set number of blcoks per month - so this finishes almost all of the blocks for Month 2 (mid October - mid November) and is a good start on Month 3 (mid November - mid December).
My next step is to start laying them out so I can see how the colours are going...and I may start working in sections from this point on - which is what a lot of the others are now doing...

And I made one baby quilt top.  (I did have a second one but didn't make a lot of progress on that one.)

There was some shopping time . . .some eating out time . . . .and of course some eating in time.

I made a Brie Twist - well with a few changes...LOL...I used a Camembert and instead of tomato chutney I used Baxters Date Fig & balsamic chutney - gorgeous stuff even by itself.

Thanks to the Tuesday Girls for inviting me along.

October Finishes

I am not doing so well in my UFO Finishes this year....not that I am sitting around twiddling my thumbs...but I do have progress....

I managed 5 crochet blocks this month - not a lot but it all helps.

I made a taggie for a friend of my eldest daughter for her second baby due early 2020.

And for the same friend - 

I finished one of the Alphabet books that I have on the list for this year:

I really enjoy making these - finding the right fabric for the right letter, 

making little mini quilts for "Q".  

and I use a picture of the recipient's cat or dog for "C" and "D".

And I finished Welcome Home in Spring.  This was an extravagant purchase - it came as a precut kit - the fusible webbing attached and all I had to do (all???) was place the bits on...sew it ..and make the quilt.   I had the blocks all together by retreat time in 2018...so for me - it's not too long ago!

Most people know I do not do things by the pattern and I have rarely bought a kit.  But, true to form I did change a couple of things - I replaced the horizontal sashing and I used the border fabric for the binding instead of the supplied check fabric....but really there wasn't a lot of scope for variation.
It has been beautifully quilted by Fiona.  I like that it is not overly quilted...but it is not a soft & cuddly quilt due to all the fusible webbing...now to hang it for a while...where ????

Still a lot of "To Dos", but a few ticked off the list.