FNSI - November

The third Friday has snuck up on us again...I have been on a retreat since Sunday - back home Thursday afternoon . . .so I took it very easy Friday Night.

Friday was also the day that Little Winter Shop #5 was released, so I started on it. I did enough so that it will be easy to stitch on Sunday at Sunday Stitchers....a few large blocks of color and minimal counting.

Hope you were all able to get some sort of crafting done.

FNSI - October

Oops, I am running behind on this post, and for record keeping as most of the activity happens in that other place. It's the dark side.....LOL

Friday was the day for Shop 4 in the Little Winter Shop series, so I made a start...mainly so it was ready for sewing at Sunday Stitchers on the weekend.

But I also needed to work on adding the final doo-dads to this quilt as it is my Challenge project at Sunday Stitchers for this month.

A cross for the top of a church

An umbrella stand outside a Tea Shop

There are 4 buildings in this quilt - what are the other two???
Bonus cyber points if you know what the quilt is...LOL

There were a number of bits to be added...stay tuned for a reveal of the quilt post.

Thanks Wendy for organising us again.

FNSI - September

Time for another cyber meeting hosted by Wendy.

I settled down on the lounge, watching Better Homes & Gardens and started a cross stitch.  I was expecting to vacate my chair so the other half could watch the AFL game.  But he was happy to watch on the other TV, so I stayed put and watched some "Escape to the Country".

This is Shop #3 from Little Winter Shops by Spruce Craft Co (based in Melbourne).  I stitched the Little Summer Shops previously.
It's an easy stitch....not too much counting and one shop a month - so it can easily be slotted in between all the other projects.
Hope all the FNSI'ers had a good night and got some / a lot of crafting done.

FNSI - August

Time to gather with our cyber friends and sew the night away.

The pattern for the second shop in LIttle Winter Shops was released today.  I may sew this on Sunday at Sunday Stitchers so needed to make a start so that the counting is easier when there is chatter and other diversions happening around me.

But then it was time for hubby to watch the AFL, so I escaped to my sewing room and decided to start the August block of the Murder Mystery quilt that I am working on...Some months have had quite detailed and time-consuming blocks.  This month was a breeze...started cutting at about 8.45 and all finished by about 11PM.  I am not complaining!!!

Thanks Wendy for organising - thanks to Dawn at Kitty Rose Cottage for the gift vouchers that have been given as prizes.  Go here to check out all the clever craftiness.

FNSI - July

Winter has hit Queensland.
It is not often that I am thinking it is cold where I live...Winter is generally quite mild - by 10:00 AM it is often warm enough for a light top...and I rarely turn the air conditioning onto "Heating".
But its on this year - it has been cold - single digits overnight and very windy.

Nevermind, I can mostly stay in my Sewing Space and while away some time.

Tonight, as I joined cyber friends, I planned to sew some French Rose blocks.  

BUT any new project is hugely exciting and the first part of the Winter Shops Cross stitch pattern has been released,  I just had to make a start....

I have enough started, 

so that I can sew it without too much counting & checking 

on Sunday when I go to Sunday Stitchers.

Then - as it was footy time - I escaped and worked on the French Roses.

I had already prepped them so it was just a matter of stitching...
They are sewn by free motion stitching - with the wadding & backing attached.  De, from the Sunday Stitchers group asked us to make some - she will make a quilt for our DV Charity.

I had made 2 previously but will have 11 in total to hand over.
Here are a couple:

That is about it - thanks Wendy for gathering us together and a big "hi" to everyone who joined in.

FNSI - June

Gosh...sewing time again???
I have been sewing almost non stop since Sunday morning - a day at Sunday Stitchers, then on a retreat from Sunday night til Thursday morning

Today I have re-sorted my sewing box that I take to retreats...ready for the next one in August. Not a lot of fun, but necessary!

Onto the sewing....

I was able to finish this piece for My Small World.  I started it at the retreat knowing I had more of the white & coloured fabric at home....well....I didn't have as much as I thought - but was able to eek out what I had to fit.

and although there are other projects I probably should prioritise - I decided to stick with the My Small World FPP...and did this one

Together:..this is what they might look like when all put together.

Next step is to make the sky section.....quite a few1" finished blocks....

Thanks Wendy for organising us, Hope mostly you had a fun & productive night...or day...or weekend???

FNSI - April

It's that time again - where does a month go?????????

But - firstly, I won the "Lucky door" prize for January - Whooo Hooo!!!!

Thanks, Wendy & Dawn

I had been to Craft Alive and wandered around all day - looking - being tempted - buying a bit.   There could be two new projects in there....but I resisted one more....LOL

So, Friday night I was a bit pooped....started off with some crochet....

and then did a bit more quilting on this quilt.  

Saturday I hope to add the binding so it's finished by Sunday for Show & Tell and for handing over to Helen.

Hope you had a fun and productive time!

FNSI - January

Another year has started for FNSI - thanks Wendy for continuing this...it at least makes me write a blog post!

I was out sewing today - working on a detailed cross stitch, so decided I'd give it a break and work on a simpler cross stitch project instead.

This is the last in the LIttle Summer Shops BOM that I joined.   They have been fun to stitch, though I am happy to see the end of them.

This is an Ice Cream Shop.

Hope everyone had an enjoyable night - and mostly you were productive!

FNSI - November

I've been on Retreat this week - post/s coming!
So, tonight I settled on some cross-stitching for a change.

My starting point:

and where I got to . . . .

Although I'd like to get this building done before 8th December, when the next one is released . . .it may not happen!

Thanks, Wendy & cyber friends for the company.

FNSI - September

When you don't work, it's hard to decide when Friday Night starts, but for some of the later part of the day I was finding some fabrics for a proposed rainbow sort of project.  I plan to work on this at my next retreat - which is from next Sunday.  (yes, a new project!!!)

When that was done & packed away with the necessary other fabrics and tools, I settled down to the hand sewing of the binding on this baby quilt.

Thanks, Wendy for the group hugs - it keeps us motivated!

It seems none of my comments go through to the email system of the blog owner, so I will just keep commenting - when I get to it.  It seems to be a common problem.   DRATS!
At least I still get my comments in my email.

FNSI - August

It's FNSI time again - although we post our work on a Facebook page, I also like to do a blog post.

Today I sorted, cut & sewed the August blocks for Rainbow Scrap Challenge - I have already done a RSC blog post, but here they are again.

    

and whilst in a Zoom meeting with the Chook Shed Stitchers, I finished off the first part of a cross stitch SAL - it is from The Spruce Crafts called Little Summer Shops - it is a six-part series - one a month.

This month is the Smoothie Bar

Certainly very summery...Wonder what else will be in the collection??

Thanks for organising us Wendy - and great to have cyber company - on the Zoom meeting as well as online.

FNSI (2) - July

Tonight was our second FNSI for July - a "Christmas in July" Night.

I was meant to be away . . . but  . ..things happen...so I had a FriDay Sew In.   There were a few distractions during the day, but I managed to get three taggies done.

This one is for the new grandie - Montana  (a bit late)...but it has "Wild" on it.

These are for babies due in September (a bit early).

Thanks for the extra FNSI Wendy - not that most of us need an excuse to sew!!!

FNSI - July

Well, it is a week early - but Wendy decided to have a FNSI & a Christmas in July FNSI next week (well, I think that is how it's working.....)

So, this Friday, apart from having a very long sleep-in due to a head cold.....I worked on a quilt for Miss Peyton for her second birthday.  It's a bit late as her birthday is today (Friday)...but a 2 yo doesn't know Nana is late and really doesn't understand a birthday anyway.  On top of that - her little sister was born the day before - so Mum is in hospital with a strange-looking thing in her arms.   I am sure she is quite perplexed, but seems to be taking it in her stride.

So, for my sewing . . . .I threaded numerous ends in from the quilting on this, added a few more straight lines of quilting and sewed the binding on.

Hopefully, I will get the hand-sewing part done over the weekend and take some pictures.

Thanks Wendy - always fun to gather for a FNSI and all the other lovely crafters.

FNSI - June

Time for Friday Night Sew-In for June hosted by the lovely Wendy.
Occasionally, I am envious of Wendy living in tropical Queensland - only very occasionally - but as Brisbane is having a "cool" spell at the moment, this could be one of those times....lol

FriDAY saw me at a lesson on using my embroidery machine to quilt quilts.  When I bought this rather pricey big machine - a lot of the "justification" was that I could use it to quilt and save money by not getting my quilts done . . . Well, it is possible... and like lots of other things - it gets better with practice...but nothing really overcomes the issue of the bulk of even a smallish quilt.

But I did the lesson - picked up a few tips (I have had lessons before) and by the end of Friday Night I have quilted almost half of the quilt.
I need to work on the spacing of each row, but otherwise, it isn't too bad... certainly not perfect now , , but it's progress.

I will keep going on other quilts and may consider the quilt design before I make the quilt so that the sizes gel better . . . .A Voyage of Discovery.

In the early part of the evening, I decided to make Musk Fudge that I had seen on Facebook.

The recipe says 2 packets of white choc and 2 packets of musk sticks, plus a tin condensed milk, butter & vanilla essence.  It is cooked in a slow cooker.

Today (Saturday) I've tried it.  If iI were to make it again, I'd do 3 packets of musk sticks as the musk flavour is very slight.  Worth a try I suppose...I will take it to retreat.
Update:  it seems not all bags of musk sticks are the same size.  The Coles ones are 160g - the Woollies ones are 320g...Two of the bigger ones would work much better.

And I did a bit of crochet...not much.

Thanks Wendy - its always fun to gather in cyberspace. (and it makes me do a blog post.)

Today - Saturday I am packing for a retreat - this time I had to take one for the team as one of the regulars couldn't go.  Well, that is how I explained it to DH.
It will be fun - and productive - projects listed and packed . .  .BUT it is going to be cold - especially overnight.  Predicted minimum temperatures started at -1 and rose to 1.  This will mean a brisk walk between the sleeping rooms and sewing rooms...brrrrr

FNSI - May

Another day/night of sewing fun... thanks to Wendy for encouraging us to sew and share our progress with friends.

My main job of the night was to join these 42 blocks into rows...I didn't get to making the top...but it will happen soon.
I started these blocks from a case of strips purchased from Jude - which she delivered to Baradine...(that was in April - so a pretty quick turn around!)

There are 6 blocks in each row...but they are off the sides.

I told my husband I needed a bigger cutting table . . .he grunted. Oh well.

Wendy's linkup is here if you want to see some of the others who sewed along . . .

FNSI - April

Another fun night sewing with cyber company.

I got out some EPP that I plan to add to some other elements...gradually...don't hold your breath!

Thanks Wendy

It's lovely to "chat" to some of the sewers via "the dark side".  But blogging is a grest way to record what you do.

FNWF - March

Today I had a FDWF and a FNWF.  Yes, a Day of sewing, crafting, eating, laughing and celebrating De's Birthday followed by Night time sewing with cyber friends.

During the day, I added cording to these drawstring bags which I had made earlier.
.

Helen has them now - ready for filling & dispensing.   a Quick charity project - 18 in all.

Then I did some sashiko on my tree panel 

and after a while - put it aside and did some crochet.

Tonight, the usual Better Homes & Gardens TV show and some more on the tree panel.

A few of us had been wondering what the RSC colour was for March - so I brazenly emailed Angela and received the reply in time for some cutting tonight.

My friend Inca is bringing her I Spy fabrics to our sewing meeting on Saturday (Yes, another one) and hopefully she has some greens I can add to fill in the gaps.

Yes, the colour is Green (For St Patricks's Day???)

During the show/crochet time, there were a lot of messages back and forth about a project that one of the group had decided on and we were all gradually being drawn in (or is that sucked in???)... Wait & see.  . . .I will just review my long list of UFOs & Planned Projects and hopefully talk myself out of it.
In case you are curious the discussions centered around this pattern:
https://penandpaperpatterns.com/en-au/products/pdf-sparrows-quilt-pattern

Thanks Cheryll for hosting - and happy sewing to all who were able to join in.

FNSI - February -> Sewing Weekend

As our hostess Wendy was in town, along with Shez, (aka Sheryl Scholte), I organised a morning tea/lunch for those in Brisbane who know them.
Mostly, this was the Sunday Stitchers group - but some other friends of Wendy's were there - Ann & Pami.  And we were very lucky that Marilyn was able to bring Fiona down from the mountain!
So, it was quite a crowd - chatting, laughing & eating!

Friday Night for the official FNSI - I did some crochet and ended up finishing this block.

Then I sewed the binding onto his quilt...more on that in a future post.

Saturday I joined Chooky for a Zoom meeting for a few hours and started the hand-sewing part of the binding.

Sunday was our Sunday Stitchers meeting, so more sewing, chatting, laughing & eating - again with Wendy & Shez.  It's so good that their trip here coincided with Sunday Stitchers.

A busy weekend sewing wise...but a lot of fun to welcome two friends to Brisbane.

FNSI - January

The month is rolling along - and I'm late doing my post - but for the records, I had a busy day helping some friends start on an ABC book and then at night (after I resorted my fabrics and put stuff away...) I did some of the blanket stitching on the current ABC book.  In theory of course I would make sure all the bits are adhered and then start sewing . . but it doesn't always work that way!  But I do pick a colour and sew whatever I can, then move onto another colour.

Happy New Year to those I haven't said it to yet . . .I wish everyone a happy, peaceful, fulfilling year with no unexpected humps & bumps.

And a reduction in the Fabric Stash and UFO list.....but maybe that is too much to ask!

FNSI - December - Snow Globes 2021 and 2022

It's our last get-together for 2022.   😞

A huge thanks to Wendy for keeping us on our toes and encouraging us to show what we work on. .even if it s just a bit...It's great that she can gather us on blogs or on FaceBook...or both.

Tonight I finished off these two decorations - these are actually for 2021 when I missed making them . . .

and a day or so ago I had made three for 2022 

2019 and 2020 are here.