Thursday, April 30, 2020

Crochet blocks March & April

Normally I hand over the collection of crochet blocks each month to Maria at the Sunday Stitchers' Gathering.  I didn't take them in March as Maria wasn't going to be there and of course we didn't have an April meeting, so they have been piling up  . . .

Since it is now past the end of April I thought I would bundle these up and record the tally.  This is really only for my reference.

I have 35 blocks.

6 of these came from the yarn given to me by Inca....thanks Inca
   

Thursday, April 23, 2020

#100 days100Blocks 2019

I joined Gnome Angel last year and made 100 blocks in blues and whites during the year.
I posted some of them, here, here, here

My Sunday Stitchers' UFO challenge number for April was #2 - to make the flimsy for that project.  As they were all still individual blocks - that was a tough call - fortunately Easter and a lock down helped and I got it done - just!!



The blocks were - 50 8" x 8" and 50 4" x 8".  So i joined the 50 small ones and made 25 blocks and then did a 8 across and 9 down layout.  I originally had another plan in mind . .
.but didn't like it once I started to lay it out.  So went with this. 


My original plan was "just a quilt"...but it's a fairly good size for a queen sized bed, so it might end up there...(should have put slightly wider borders on...oh well...).
and I made the binding at the same time...supposedly that is a good thing to do...before you use the left over fabric for something else perhaps??

I have a few small  things to tick off my list and then I can work on next months's project...looks like more binding is needed...
Speaking of which .... I knew I should have been able to make more green binding when I made the last lot for the  WMQG (for the bush fire quilts) ...I found the rest of the fabric , so I made 4 more.




Happy Sewing
Stay Home
Safe Safe





Friday, April 17, 2020

FNSI - April

Hello out there in Cyber World.

I hope you are coping and not yet pulling your hair out!!!


Tonight I joined Wendy and other crafty sewing people from all over the place to de-stress from the work week (even though it was a short one).
Go here if you want to visit the others.


First I did a bit of stitching on this:


Yes, you guess it another project.  Most of you will have seen the FaceBook project - initiated by Natalie Bird called Love & Hugs from Australia.
Only 16 blocks and that could make a nice sized quilt.   I think this will be a bit of my history as a sewer and of someone who went through - and survived...I hope - the 2020 Pandemic.  Maybe for my children to tell their children.

I've also started the flower block (you can see a tiny bot of it to the right) but this one took my fancy tonight.

Secondly:

I have a "thing" to finish off for the SS UFO Challenge - by Sunday (10 am if I am desperate) - so after BH&G on TV, I escaped to my Sewing Space and worked on it... just a small peek for now.
I only have the top and bottom border to put on now and my mission will be accomplished.

I do hope next months project is a smaller one - it was a real challenge to get this one done ...thankfully I had Easter.  (perhaps I can bribe the number generator person to give us the "right" number for next month...???)   #10 would be a great one, thanks De.



Well I guess it's another quiet weekend ahead - Sunday we are having our SS Meeting using Zoom...isn't it amazing how we are all starting to embrace even more technology.
 It will be nice to see everyone and chat - I think we are going to be given a roster - 15 or so of us all talking at the one time will not work!


Take Care everyone
Stay In & Stay Safe


Monday, April 13, 2020

Road Trip Quilt

Thanks for the feedback on the question of Border/No Border???

I'm still pondering . . .
but I've added some close ups and the story behind each one (as needed).
(Partly as a record.)
I made the quilt to represent the family holidays over the years - not a lot but it is what it is.....

 All the holidays were in Australia.... and obviously we needed suitcases.

 We traveled by car and plane for all the trips.
We stayed at the Gold Coast several times- at the Nara Resort and saw the Dolphin show a number of times over the years.
and also once up at Port Douglas (just Libbie then)
 We now travel to Townsville occasionally to visit Libbie, Serge & Luka
and occasionally take a photo or two.
On a trip to Victoria - mainly catching up with John's relatives - all overt the state....we included Ballarat/Sovreign Hill.

and we visited a cousin in Tongala who had a Dairy farm - each year he named each cow, he went through the alphabet, and the year we visited he was up to "P" so the following year was to be "R" names - so of course he named one of them Rebecca.

 We also had a few holidays at Noosa and Burleigh.
On one of the Noosa trips we stayed in a place just along the river...and each morning we had pelicans visiting - Libbie insisted they were ducks...she was very young.
At Burleigh - we got up very early a few times to enjoy the sunrise over the water.

On the Victorian trip we visited Mornington Peninsula and I got a "thing" for the beach huts.   I came home and decorated the "little room" with all things beach houses....
have a look here.
Of course we went to Phillip Island - yes we saw the penguins, but the highlight of the trip was that we were able to get a totally dairy free milkshake for Bec.  At that age she was highly allergic to dairy and to find a milkshake with soy milk and Vitari (a gelato type of thing) back in the mid 90s was a delight.

 The Three Sisters speak for themselves.
And of course the zoo at Dubbo.

Sydney
aaaah ...need I say more?????
Melbourne - so much to see but it had to be a tram.


So, that is the story of the quilt.   I had a piece of the hot air balloons and thought that went well with the travel theme....I - of course - bought more and added a few more pieces from the same range - I got the extras from Natalie Bird and added to them from my stash.

Friday, April 10, 2020

FNWF (2) - April

What a bonus!!! Thanks Cheryll for prompting us to join in another night (???Maybe longer???) of sewing.

I did take advantage of a Public Holiday and sewed most of the day . . .in between chats with a friend or two and some emails...and I've been watching a lot of Janome YouTubes lately - they give a short tutorial on using a feature of the machines.... I have learnt a thing or two....

Today I finished the top of my Road Trip quilt......The original pattern is a lot larger...but I just wanted a smaller version (patterns are just a guide . . .)

I am pondering a border...does it need it??? - maybe a tiny peeper and 3" squares around it...maybe a 1.5" border then squares around it - maybe a one fabric border (easier...but need fabric)
For now it's in the ??? pile.

Then I made some bindings to send to the Wollongong Modern Quilt Guild for the quilts they are making for the bush fire victims.......They expect to make 750 quilts in total - that is 15,000 blocks from here and all places overseas...an amazing effort. 
I had bought some wideback green for another project ...and didn't like it - after I had cut it into strips...LOL...so I re cut and made as much binding as I could...and I grabbed a metre of green from Spotlight the other day when I had to go in for a necessary purchase . . .
I really thought I would end up with more (especially from the wideback . . .but I guess 5 bindings is better than none.



And at night I did some more on the stitcheries from last Friday Night - I'm onto the last one now.

Looks like I need another hand sewing project????
(well I don't really . . .but the lure is there.)

Now, what will tomorrow bring???
Will I clean out the bathroom cupboard????? or will I just sew some more . . . no prizes for guessing what I'd prefer to do.


Thanks again Cheryll,  It was lovely to have cyber company .  I will popping over here to see what else was happening in the cyber world.

Take Care
Stay Safe






Saturday, April 4, 2020

FNWF - April

Cyber sewing is certainly the "thing" these days...but these group sessions do help to keep some degree of normalcy about us.

I read an Instagram post from Sarah Fielke - it is worth checking out.  Look for the post "Don't let your standards drop" - basically she is saying - "carry on as normal - get up at  a regular time - get dressed..keep everything as normal as possible"...wise words.

So I am working from home  . .sigh . . getting tedious...but so grateful I still have a job so I won't linger on that ... It means I am at the computer longer but there are multiple opportunities when I am listening to a meeting etc...and just taking notes occasionally, so my pile of crochet blocks is progressing.....

I am also finding more time to work on projects that need machine work . . .and when I'm on the lounge, I am working on this one , , , still....but I am almost finished.  And that was my FNWF project this week.



That bobbin of thread is all I had left on Friday night - but with the wonders of technology, phone calls and a quick trip - I was able to do a "Click and Collect".  Thanks Quilters Store!!

At least I will be able to finish it now . . .3 to go.

I hope you are all OK - it is a stressful time and for some it will be all too much.  
Hang in there..."reach out" [hate that phrase]  but please ask for help - even just a chat if you need to.
We are all in this together and never have most of us experienced anything like it.

Thanks Cheryll for your part in keeping us "normal"