OPAM for June...

Well, the end of June is almost here and aside from being the End of Financial Year and tax time for us Aussies it's also time to tote up June OPAM finishes...


I've two more small finishes to add to my June tally...

a scissor keeper...the fabric is Summertime Friends by Lynette Anderson for Lecien...the template came from Lynette's book "It's Quilting Cats and Dogs"...I just love the muted colours in this cute fabric...and

an appliqued tea towel...not using the machine applique technique I learnt on Saturday but the regular zig zag as satin stitch.  The tea towel is a waffle one from Spotlight and the shapes I found somewhere on the world wide interweb...and if I had any idea where that was I'd give credit...good grief the photo has picked up every little bump in the cloth when I flung it down on the table in a hurry before work this morning to take the picture and the shapes look all distorted, they really aren't...


I didn't think this was going to happen...the teapot was stitched and Monday morning I thought, oh I'll just finish off that tea towel that won't take long...wanna make a bet!  P-faff decided sewing wasn't part of her plan...ah, you are a Sewing machine P-faff that's your job!  After much cajoling she decided to come to the party...think she was just plain tuckered after all her hard work on Saturday...


I've finished stitchery number 12 for the 'Tis The Season Stitch-A-Long and number 13 is that close to finished it's almost painful but it has lots of little "bits" and I'm just too plain tuckered to do any tonight even though I really really wanted it done before I go to Adelaide tomorrow...we'll see what time I get up, maybe a few stitches before leaving...but now, I'm off to snooze land, it's been a busy busy day...


Happy Stitching...

And Today I Learnt...

that I seriously suck at free motion applique!!!!...

I set out while it was almost still dark (it was light enough to know I couldn't see five feet in front of me for the fog!) for Ballarat Patchwork and Day 1 of the technique workshop with the awesome Kellie, who so does not suck at free motion applique and whose designs are seriously awesome...

The technique is a lot of fun and I did pick up a lot of great information even if my attempts so far look more art quilt than beautiful Kelliesque applique.  Given the short notice (thank you again to the lovely lady who couldn't make it so yay I got to take your place whoever you are) I didn't have time to put a whole lot of thought into fabric selection, thread matching and the like but I figured, hey, it's a sample, a practice piece and I'll worry about those issues another time....and I couldn't for the life of me last night figure out where the modern, bright, clear, colourful fabrics were...remembered that 1/2 an hour into the class this morning!  bugger!!...so everyone else had lovely fresh modern bright yummy fabrics and I didn't but not to worry as I so seriously suck at the technique so far I'm glad I'm using scraps...the dog won't care what the fabrics are when she gets the cushion to sleep on (I am not joking!)...

Good thing it is a month before Day 2 to get the homework completed (or not)...maybe by then I can get one leaf stitched down in a manner than resembles the actual technique that was taught!

Enjoy your weekend...

So Excitement...

Why?

'Coz last minute drop out means that me, as first emergency on list, gets to go here...and play class with this lovely lady.... think this is the project but really who cares what it is...

So excitement...tomorrow off to Ballarat!!!

Wahoooo!!!!!!!!!

Not So Breezy...

Under the doors anymore that is...

a couple of scraps of cotton curtain fabric and calico, a bag of homebrand cat litter, an hour in the sewing room and...ta dah!...

sausages, snakes, draught stoppers, call them what you will...

 front

and

 back (laundry)

doors now have an impediment to the wind whistling in...

yay...

Hope your weekend was productive...
Happy Stitching...

June Friday Night Sew-In...

Last night was Friday Night Sew-In and for the first time in months I was all systems go with no calendar clashes or last minute interruptions. Preparations were undertaken...

* sewing room tidied, dusted & vacuumed ready for action - check!

* fabric washed and ready for the pinwheel project - check!

* essential nutrients at the ready (bowl of lollies) - check!

* projects lined up - check!

* Mac on hand for checking of blogs and general distraction inspiration - check!

All good.

A couple of warm up exercises...joining seam for a table runner backing...and sewing in of thread ends on this Christmas wallhanging (now ready for binding if I ever made a decision on what that is going to be!)...

Then I finished cutting out these shapes to get that box of fabric off the cutting table...mmmm, what could they be for?...

Sewing muscles duly warmed up it was time to move on to the Main Event for the evening...the pinwheel project...

Block trimming to 5 1/2” (they were a bit shy of 6" and I probably should have trimmed to 5 3/4" but I was reading the ruler at 5 3/4" when I started off (ejit that I am!)...and once cut can't be glued back on so 5 1/2" they are...

Then a decision on which of the three fabrics on hand to use as the alternate blocks...

Pinned up on wall...mmmm, which to use as the setting triangles?  The same as the alternate blocks or...yep, the blue one...

This is as far as I made it...

...excuse Bumbl'e Bee underneath, it really isn't unpinnable yet without destruction...no actual sewing on this one but almost ready for P-faff to swing into action...

Hope your FNSI was productive...

Happy Stitching...

Happy Little Vegemite...

I'm a happy little vegemite...why?...because I come home from work to find a squishy parcel in the mailbox...the yummy Whimsy meterage I ordered from Sydney a few days ago...love the service The Stitcher's Cupboard...isn't it beautiful...

...and right for Friday Night Sew-In tomorrow night...

...time for a fabric washing session tomorrow morning and then the pinwheel wall can metamorphose into the pinwheel project...I'm loving this fabric, hope the project turns out to match the picture in my head!

So, are you going to play along at Friday Night Sew-In? Go on, you know you want to...jump on over to Heidi'sBobbi's blog and sign up...

See you there!

Happy Stitching...

Long Weekend Wheeling...

It was the Queen's Birthday long weekend this week...and after all, I've only got a zillion UFO's to choose from, so what did I do...start something new of course!...

Take a charm pack which has been sitting on the shelf waiting patiently for ages...(edited to a slideshow)...

Make a slideshow

Fun and easy...I used the method for making quarter square triangles that Tonya posted...works a treat...a plan evolved as I was making the pinwheels...what? I didn't have a plan to start with, how surprising! Not!!..maybe the project to work on if I sign up for Friday Night Sew-In which is this week...

And so what is on the wall this week...

The pinwheels...Bumb'le Bee which currently has an "issue" requiring reverse sewing - grrrr I obviously wasn't concentrating properly...and another find from the quilt top cupboard - 30's repros scotty dogs...


But for now, it's back to work...drat...


Happy Stitching...

A Little 'Tis The Season...

Christmas Wreath and Santa's Boots stitched...

I think the wee mice are very cute.   Not all that sure about the wreath stitchery, think it may become the label, it just seems out of place with the other designs.

That just leaves Partridge in a Pear Tree which is started and Here Comes Santa...almost there with the stitcheries for the Stitch-A-Long.

Happy Stitching...

A Little Playing...

Found in the quilt top cupboard...

 Add a stripey border to frame... 

 And a scrappy pieced outer border... 

Grown to 25" square and a finished top

Love playing in the 30's repro box

Happy Stitching...

Friday Night Stitching...

6-Midnight class last night at Threadbear, always good fun...and despite me leaving behind essential equipment and having to borrow from the shop's class supplies...sheesh, suppose I should be impressed I remembered the fabric!...I managed make a little progress on Anna's Quilt by Karen Cunningham (my other Summer School 2011 project)...at the beginning of the evening the count was 1 1/2...

...now it is three...six to go...there are nine of these, sashed together with more 1/2" hexies, that make up the centre medallion.  I'm using the Rural Jardin by French General range for this quilt and I love it, there is not one fabric in the range that I don't like.

Well the sun is actually shining, even though it is darn cold, so I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and get the lawn mower out...then I can reward myself with a little stitchy time...

Hope your weekend includes stitchy time...

Happy Stitching...

Daylesford...Done!...

Yep, that's right folks...I have - are you sitting down? nice and comfortable, nothing dangerous you'll fall on if you faint?...ready?...OK...here it is...

I have finished my Daylesford Craft Experience Project!!! Cue wildly celebratory music....

Ta Dah!!!

Designed by Kristen Doran, stitched by me

OK, maybe just a tad over the top *LOL* but not only is it still the same year as the Event but it is the same Week!

Happy Stitching...

Click Clack...

So while there wasn't much stitching going on here in May there was a week early on in the month where the knitting needles saw the light of day...Andrea & I spent a day in Kyneton catching up at the beginning of May and while we were there - in between the lunching and coffee-ing portions of the day - we visited A Stitch in Time in Piper Street.   Andrea was keen to check out their yarn selection - and for those who indulge in the yarn related craft activities it is well worth the visit - and I found some balls of knitting inspiration that immediately yelled at me that they wanted to come home and become...

A hat and scarf for me (the prototypes for practice and research)...

 and...

A hat and scarf for Mistea for her birthday...

I made mine up first to test the yarn and the pattern out.  The hat pattern comes from the ball band, the scarf I just knitted, after all it's only rib and the one on the ball band ends up being ridiculously long so I skipped that and just did what I wanted - I know, how surprising! me not following a pattern!...it's not only sewing patterns I don't follow...he he he.  I did mine twice...the first effort to see how far the yarn went and to work out how wide I wanted it...then I pulled that out and redid it with less stitches.  This yarn (Patons Wilderness) knits up very very quickly (well it would, the scarf is knitted on size 10 and the hat on size 6.5 needles, not exactly toothpicks!) each item only took about three hours and one 100g ball.  It is very warm and toasty (being 70% wool)...my hat and scarf have had test drive outings and performed very nicely.

At the Geelong Quilt-In Lara Downs had a stall and along with the most amazingly beautiful yarn and felt products she had a selection of scarf pins made from polished bamboo...I picked up this one to go with Mistea's...

I've had to wait to show 'coz after all birthday presents are supposed to be a secret until after the birthday event or at least the giving of the gift which has now taken place, so I'm counting these for June instead of May.

Happy stitching knitting...

Daylesford Craft Experience 2011

So today we set off for here...

...after drastically over-estimating the amount of travelling time...from Lu Lu it took all of, mmm, let's see...5 minutes driving time...we were slightly early *LOL*...to play at the Daylesford Craft Experience...

Mmmm...where are our seats?

...where we were joined by my lovely friend Jean (no blog) and she brought along two new friends, Lucy & Jess...waving hello!!!!

Thanks to the organisational skills of the lovely Merrilyn we played with Jodie, Melly and Kristen, who all designed great projects...

The designs for the day

Jodie figured out how to get more hours in our days!

In our goodie bags was a small project designed by Kristen and wonder of wonders I managed to get my stitched...not only on the day but at the event!!!...cut out and backed with felt it becomes a brooch.  I did buy the brooch pin but I have plenty of felt at home so it can wait to be put together...

Oh, and the 5 1/2" square and piece of thread became this...

A needlebook for the swap...It's almost impossible to read but the front is stitched with "Happy is she who spends her time stitching"

The swap items spread out for everyone to take a look at before they were "distributed"...

See my needlebook there?...see the pink "tag" laying across the corner of it?...well that is what I received!...Jodie walked around the room and she lucky dipped into the box for those who participated...it was only when I was uploading this photo that I noticed that both what I made and what I received were together on the table...
What a fun day...
Happy Stitching...

Daylesford VIP Weekend Extravaganza!...

(Blogger has spacing issues big time so please forgive the lack of paragraph spacing but it is either none or huge canyons of space where the paragraphs need walkie talkies to keep in touch so I'm going with the no spacing, please feel free to insert as you read...)
Rosie (no blog) and I set off yesterday with the goal to meet up with Mistea (coming from a different direction) and play at our Daylesford VIP Weekend Extravaganza!
Larry veered a little from the straight line at the edge of town and took Rosie & I here...

Where we had this...

yum huh! jealous much?...well you should be...it was De...lish...ee...ous...  Rosie had the hot chocolate, which is actual melted chocolate with steamed milk on top to be stirred lovingly into a milk chocolatey concoction...me I had the cake and chai tea...you see I don't do the milk thing (they do the vegan version with soy but I don't) so I couldn't do the hot chocolate but I found a way...cake!  The cafe is just for drinks and a couple of chocolate based sweet treats but I can have cake for lunch can't I?  Then it was into the shop for some handmade chocolate purchases....and a lot of drooling...
If you are in the vicinity of Daylesford and love chocolate...and I mean Goood chocolate, real proper not sugar and milk laden confectionary, hand made by a chocolatier from proper chocolate ingredients and...am I raving a bit...well it is GOOOD...do yourself a favour and take a drive out to the Chocolate Mill.  And, it is in the nicest bush setting, just lovely with very nice staff.
Oh and of course we drooled our way around the chocolate cabinets in the shop and bought some samples to bring home...the noodle boxes rested by one of the garden residents on the way out...

After proper lunch in Daylesford and Mistea arriving from her direction we picked up the key to "our house"....we are staying here...

How cute is this house!  Here name is Lu Lu...wanna take a tour...

She just gorgeous...warm and inviting...the lights were on and the Rinnai working away so it was very welcoming and cosy when we walked in...it really did feel like we'd arrived home...lovely...
Today we are off to the Main Event the Daylesford Craft Experience...what fun this is going to be!  Report will follow...
Hope you have a VIP Weekend Extravaganza in your world to look forward to!
Happy Stitching...