The Start of Spring ...

The Wisteria is glorious..... (the grass is not!) and the scent is lovely and the bees love it too.  

Suddenly very warm here so they won't last long

I've forgotten what this one is called, the pink is in full flower, the white is still in bud

the bees like it too

This week at Tueday stitching I hand sewed down this binding for Bloom, a quilt top I made in 2020.

This picture shows the sashing and border quilting

Custom quilted around the applique and a wiggly background

This quilt is going to Hope Horizons, a cancer wellness centre in Toowoomba

I had my squeeze this week...... we have a free mobile service that comes close by ... so organised - in and out in 10 minutes.

The last of the snow globes have been appliqued.....

These 8 all have the same base.....

My last few evenings has been spent doing some hand quilting of the embroidered table runner.  The picture looks like diagonal lines but it is actually cross hatched 1/2" apart.... sooooo many little stitches but I'm loving it.  Now onto a narrow border.

Today I am going to do some pressure cleaning of the outside area.... and then start putting my snowglobes together ... and some quilting.....

Righto, Gotto Go...... spring to enjoy!

Last bit of August

The last two Christmas stitcheries are done.....

On Sunday I got to my garment making sewing day and April helped me resize a pattern and make up this pair of Cullottes... I used some vintage cotton, now I know it works and fits I will make some in linen and a pair of shorts for summer. 

I have this quilt on the frame.  Its called "From the Heart" and I got the top together in 2022 (not that long ago)

The first 8 snowglobes are together..... I find the applique a lot quicker than the stitcheries....

Close up of one of them.....

My King orchid is really stunning this year... there are 24 spikes on it

The sprays are full of little orchid flowers...

Close up....

Spring is on it's way, the Wisteria is beginning to flower and there is warmth in the days.... just lovely.

Righto, Gotto Go... off to prepare the next snowglobes.

Have a lovely weekend......

Into the last week of August

This week almost got away from me!

I got my Wensleydale quilt top put together.....  a few hours of taking out the papers whilst listening to an audio book.....

I've done some more of the Christmas stitcheries......

... and this week got back to do a bit more hardanger....

... which included filling in the heart with 'dove's eye'

We were invited by friends who had been given tickets to a Footy Game (Dolphins vs Eels) which included great seats and a special pass....

... so we went down on to the field for 15 minutes whilst the home team (Dolphin) warmed up....

Really was a bit of fun ...... and we had a good win .....

The next day we visited a Botanical Gardens.....  This vine in the 'hot house' was flowering....  just huge and such a vibrant blue colour...

the gardens are beautiful and full of lovely areas ....

... and interesting plants....

The Baobab tree was full of pods.  We remembered as children sucking on the pips which are Cream of Tartar....

So many different shapes and sizes of cacti....

We spotted a couple of curlew in this area... they stand completely still and are well camouflaged.... can you spot them????

We also walked up to the Japanese Garden and Bonsai area... there were lots of lovely bonsai but I did like this Azalea in flower.....

and amongst the bushes this lizard basking on a lizard amused me....

After a picnic lunch in the shade we headed off home.....  A lovely time in the city...

Righto, Gotto Go, I want to sort out what I am going to sew - I still have loads of half done things ....

Have a good week ....x

Third Week of August

This week I played a bit with threads....

Meredith Woolnough is a very clever textile artist who I have followed for some time on socials.  This last week she offered a free thread bowl course, as a way of introduction into a more detailed course that she runs.

It involves thread scraps and solveable paper .... machine or hand sewing

I did one with thread only, and another with thread and fabric scraps....

you can see a bit sandwiched here between the papers....

dissolve and mould.....

and I have two little dust catchers .....

It was fun to play and I would love to do her full course but that's not going to happen just yet.

If anyone is interested Meredith is present on social media and has a newsletter.  She holds the mini course a couple of times a year I think ... and even if you don't want to do it it's worth looking at the lovely art she does.

Some hand stitching done in the evenings has resulted in 3 more Christmas stitcheries

I've also played in the sewing room, done some quilting, some piecing and some cutting..... really just squirreling between different things......

Another hospital visit for our daughter, which included a break out to watch Widgets last home junior game yesterday.  Was so lovely of a committee member standing guard with witches hats so that a prime parking place was kept for us so Missy could sit in the car in her pyjamas and out of the cold...  those small kind things that make a big difference.

Righto, Gotto Go....... the floor really needs mopping!

Have a wonderful week....x

2nd week of August

Last weekend we had a game to watch.... it was cold and we were lucky to find a parking spot with a great view (though I thought the Hubz could have got out and cleaned the windscreen for me!) (Widget is Number 4)  They won the game ....

Trail Mix is a finish!!! I do love it ....

I did a flange binding... which means it is all done by machine so quicker than hand sewing it down...

The backing is very bright..... but there are some bright blue blocks in the quilt so I'm  happy with it.  Here you can see my hook swirly quilting....

Company at appointment meant I made a start on my shawl/scarf.  I do need a bit of concentration at the moment whilst I get the hang of the pattern...

World Embroidery Day was enjoyed and Embroider Guild made up little packages for us members...

They were so nicely presented....

and inside a little kit to make up a needlecase....  the base is already sewn and the picture drawn - all the rest provided.  I thought it was such a nice touch ...

My evenings are focussing on the Christmas stitcheries..... loving doing them ...

The owls are on the quilting frame.  Each owl will be different ....

... and the background wiggly texture.  I just love the background fabric and wish I had more in different shades....   I bought it ages ago....

.. and since I had a finish I decided to start a new project..... these are Tilda fabrics...

... and this is the quilt I am making.  (Tilda provide loads of free patterns on their web page and this one came with their recent range "Something Blue"....

May take a while!!!  

Righto, Gotto Go... the owls are hooting.....

Have a great weekend....x