More Squishy...

There has been more squishy mail this week...a couple of weeks back I was lucky enough to be a winner when Grit held a giveaway...have you visited Grit? she does the most beautiful patchwork, quilting and embroidery work, gorgeous, her hexie quilt project is amazing...anyhow, for her blogoversary she held a very generous giveaway and this lovely heart arrived in my mail box this week...

Thank you Grit, it is currently pinned to the design wall (which is currently acting more like a giant noticeboard than a design wall) waiting for me to choose a spot and put up a sticky hook for it to live on...

Happy Easter Stitching...

Good Mail and A Little Finish...

The mail box revealed much more fun things than bills this week...first up was a squishy yellow envelope with USA stamps...a lovely totally unnecessary but all the same very welcome thank you gift from Cheryl...

Isn't it simply gorgeous...with her signature polka dots and ric rac incorporated of course...and so perfectly made - excellent zip work there Cheryl *LOL* - thank you very much I will certainly put it to good use...

The next day the mail box held another yellow envelope with USA stamps...yay! more presents...only this time I knew what it held...

The lovely Erin had a "first to claim gets it" giveaway of a number of extras she'd acquired but didn't actually want or need...one of those times when what you want comes in a box of stuff and you have to take it all or nothing...I was lucky enough to be first in to ask for the bag patterns...thank you so much Erin...

As for any crafting going on...after the Disappearing Nine Patch quilt I was looking for something small and quick and spied the little project packs from the Daylesford Craft Experience on the shelf waiting patiently...

Felt Hanging Santa from Jodie's Woodland Christmas project...I made the Christmas Tree part of the pack up on the day at the event...a non-brain-strain easy quick finish to recharge the crafty batteries...I think he has turned out quite cute...

Hope your weekend is crafty...

Happy Stitching...

A Finish...At Last!...

At last, after much jumping through hoops, the Disappearing Nine Patch quilt is a done deal...

the backing and binding just happen to be

postive/negative from the same range

- gotta love serendipity...

...and that discovery was pretty much where the love ended for a long time...

...huge thanks go out to Mrs P for helping to get me through a weekend of trauma and tears with her encouragement, bribery attempt and not blocking my email address in light of much whingeing...awesome bloggy camaraderie indeed...one monkey down, one to go! (you had to be there)...

Now on to something less stressful...

Happy Stitching...

From Turtle to Snail...

The Disappearing Nine Patch quilt top was finished a couple of weeks ago and I had the idea that last weekend I would get it quilted and by now it would be finished...I was wrong...oh so very very wrong...when I didn't think it possible to go any slower than tortoise I found the speed switch went even lower - to snail!...I'm blaming it on the microbes that moved in for a grand summer holiday at a microbe resort destination - me!...I had it pin basted and stupidly attempted to do a couple of lines of stitching - I should have come with a warning label last weekend - Do Not Operate Machine Of the Sewing Kind...mistake, huge, huge mistake...so after it spending all week in rehab...

it is now thread basted and ready for another attempt at getting it quilted...I'd like to say it will be finished by next weekend but that could be tempting fate so let's just say, it's ready for the next step and see how that pans out...

In the meantime, the Some Kind of Wonderful project box made a return appearance to the couch and the in progress blocks even played a couple of shows...the dog (original design: cat) and house block, which both had so little left to do on them it was ridiculous that they had been relegated for so long, took starring roles and have now moved on to the block keeper...the remaining blocks are playing in an ensemble piece, it remains to be seen which will take centre stage next...

Hope your weekend is full of stitchy good stuff...

Happy Stitching...

The Turtle Not The Hare...

Definitely not at hare pace but I've been turtling along (it takes me forever to cut out the squares for the nine patches) and the Disappearing Nine Patch project destined for Chookyblue's Caring with Quilts has grown to...

Currently it measures 39" x 52" - about cot sized but the fabrics aren't really suitable for a cot quilt and the need is for something a little larger, so the next step is going to be to add borders, nothing fancy but hopefully enough to get it approximately lap quilt sized...as soon as I wrap my brain cells around the math of how wide I can cut border strips to fit around the centre out of the pieces of fabric I have on hand.

OK, come here tape measure and calculator we have work to do!

Happy Stitching...

A Nine Patch Start...

I've been wanting to have a go at a Disappearing Nine Patch for a while (yes I'm slow to catch on to bandwagons) but just hadn't got around to it...Chooky's project for the fire affected in her area was the impetus I needed to go find the instructions, some fabric - a charm pack of 30's type fabric to start - and just do it... 

Of course it is waaayyyy too small at just 24ish inches square so the 30's stash box has come out to play...here is the rest of the quilt...

well sort of...it will be...it's been like this for a week...just have to wrap my head around which way I want to go with the design/sizing thing - there are a couple of options in my head...I need time when I am making things up in my head, can't be rushed and I haven't had time or energy during the week to revisit it...it's a work in progress but it is the priority...

But in the spirit of just do it, I have to go to work now, stitching will have to wait a little while longer...

Happy Stitching...

Once Upon A Time...

in a land...well...um...not so far away really...a stitcher took a kit that had been languishing for so long she can't remember when it actually came to live in the castle and with a bit of floss, and a bit of thread, and a little bit of time, created...

A Gnome and a Toadstool...

 The Gnome at the front door to the Toadstool House...

And at the side window checking out the button flowers...

From a kit by Jodie of Ric Rac "Mushy and Gnome" that I bought so long ago that I can't remember actually when, but I think it was at an early Daylesford Makers' Market (do they still have them?).  Of course being a Jodie kit it went together awesomely well with no issues.  I couldn't be bothered changing floss colours and mucking about stitching three little daisies or whatever so I used little buttons instead, just because I could.

There really is no point to either the Gnome or the Toadstool except that they were cute and I liked them so I bought the kit...now I can finally have them decorate my sewing room shelf.

So that makes...drum roll please.....6, yes folks count 'em, 6 finishes for me since Sunday! and a good start to OPAM this year...

Happy Stitching...