Sunday 30 August 2015

August Wrap...

August had a go at attempting to redress the extreme lack of stitchy related activity of the last few months...after the lovely stitchy day with the Stawell ladies the next weekend I was back home playing with my local friends...a technique day with Maureen from The Quilting Patch in Rochester. Maureen came down the highway and 9 of us spent the day in the local hall working on a foundation pieced spinning log cabin block.  I took a bag of fabrics with me of homespuns, backgrounds and blenders which was tipped out on the table and Maureen helped me with the selection...
I'm not particularly happy with the second colour being brown but as I only ever intended on a sample block it's really not that important.   Some finished their block on the day...I wasn't one - how surprising, not! The block has 10 rounds and I got to 5 before running out of puff...
The spinny effect really comes into play as the block grows so maybe the browns will start to show better against the beige background by the time the block is done.

Last weekend I spent a lovely day with bloggy friends...Jo came to mine Saturday morning and we set off in Larry into the City. I parked at the Museum and we walked through the Carlton Gardens and the City down to Federation Square to meet up with the rest of the group...a fabulous day starting with playing at L'ucello and the other fun/interesting shops in the Nicholas Building...
 Lovely L'ucello
So many pretties - love this counter display "tree"...
Taking a photo of each other taking photos...as you do...
...on to finding food, ending up in the food hall at David Jones - yummy food and some participated in swaps which we could all ooh & aah over...then on to the afternoon's destination - Morris & Sons...
...gorgeous yarns, so colourful...a fabulous day out...

On the sewing front, some of my Karen Cunningham Design project boxes have taken up residence at the flat and I've managed to stitch the border hexie flowers on Anna...
...the winding hexie trails are next (the hexies are all prepared)...

One of the ladies I met at Stawell lives in the town I work/live in during the week and she kindly invited me to her place for a stitchy evening. The original date had to be postponed, as I had to come home that night for a CFA meeting I'd forgotten about...darn it...luckily, this week, the postponed evening came around...lovely lovely friendly welcoming ladies...like minded in projects and stitchy attitude too...I sat on a couch with a lovely Gardener's Journal quilt - hey Chooky it was stitched along with the SAL group but on the sidelines not as a member....we have arranged a repeat for this week...M was saying how like the slow food movement now there is a slow stitching (or quilting or some such) movement...about time everyone caught up to me, I've been advocating slow stitching for years!...oh I did sew a few stitches on the night...decoration design started at the Stawell workshop stitched...left that project at the flat so no piccy...

Good to get some stitchiness back into the routine...and if you've stayed to the end of this novella of a post...well done you! reward your self with some needle and thread time!

Happy Stitching...

Sunday 9 August 2015

A Saturday Play Day...

Had a great day yesterday...played at a workshop day with Lisa of Fig 'n' Berry Creations, put on by the Stawell Craft Shop...lovely friendly welcoming ladies, a day spent with buddy Shez and cute projects designed by the lovely Lisa...fabulous...So what did we do...we had a choice of these two cute patterns, both of which we received as part of the workshop...
Given my sewing room is 220kms east of my weekday abode I had asked general questions of the pojects so I could pack requirements last weekend before heading back for the working week...Christmas themed, one stitchery, one applique...easiest I thought to start the stitchery on the day...took all embroidery floss, a bunch of backgrounds and stabiliser, to make a decision on seeing the pattern...turned out the pattern includes pre-printed muslin so all needed was choose which thread and stitchery design...
I'm not a kit person but I really liked the stripped fabric Lisa used in the applique project but the shop had none of that one left on the bolt so I grabbed one of the applique starter kits...then there are Lisa's designs which are all so darn cute and tempting...a lovely display of her quilts and other projects...I was particularly taken with her designs with birdies...and this lovely pattern followed me home to add to the library...
All in all a fabulous day well spent...looking forward to seeing what the lovely Stawell ladies have to play at next...

Happy Stitching...

Sunday 2 August 2015

A Miniature Finish...

I managed to get an OPAM tick for July...
Using two orphan half square triangle foundation pieced strips that were left over from the Fairfax Sampler project that was abandoned and ended up as four miniature quilts...I had actually put it together months ago as part of the whole re-purpose of that project and it kept being pushed around the sewing table just needing me to decide the right shade of cream thread to add some hand quilting...but now it is off the table and on its little stand...
And the stand which has stood on the shelf for years (and it could be 10, I've lost track, since it was painted) waiting for a quilt to keep it warm is finally cold no longer...
Not a huge finish - at 5" x 13" - but finally not being pushed around the sewing table any longer...

Happy Stitching...