FNSI, Sad Day

Last night was Friday Night Sew In  hosted by Heidi.  Thank you so much Heidi for holding this again in 2013. I decided that I needed to work on projects that I must have finished by the end of the month.  No finishes as yet but hopefully by tomorrow I will have a couple completed.

Some secret stitching to be posted on Tuesday.

Some preparation on blocks two and three for my Girls Day Out quilt.

Front and back of Erica's Backpack  (13 UFO's in 2013)

I completed  hand-stitching on the front and the back  of the bag.

Two of  three pockets, still one to turn.

I was happy to get the prep work done on my Girls Day Out blocks as I always find this the most time consuming part.  In all not a bad evenings' work.

Here he is with my sons dog Brodie.  Cain is on the right.

This morning we had to say a very teary good-bye to our dog, Cain.  He was around sixteen and in the last few months his walking has deteriorated to a stage where he was unable to get around very well or do things most dogs want to do.  It meant a visit to the vet which I have been putting off but could not do any longer.  He has been a wonderful, faithful and loving pet who I will miss very much every time I go out the back door and he is not there to greet me.   Rest in Peace, darling boy.
Till next time...............

1 Xmas Item a Month, FNSI

I have joined a blog group where participants complete 1 Xmas Item a Month and post about it on 25th of the month. A big thank you to Narelle for hosting this over at her blog Pins and Whiskers where you can go and check out all the finishes. Below is my finished item, a Christmas Ornament.  It is a free pattern by Gail Pan as part of the 2012 Aurifil Designer Blog Hop.

I have also joined up for Friday Night Sew In over at Handmade by Heidi. I will be sewing with other like minded quilters and stitchers and try to get some projects I have been working on closer to completion.  If you would like to join up go over to Heidi's and sign up.
Will be back later to post about my progress on my Girls Day Out project.
Till then......... Happy Stitching

Morning Tea Catch-up

Yesterday I went to the Hyperdome to meet my friend Michelle for morning tea at the Coffee Club. Forgot my camera as usual but Michelle has sent me a photo taken by one of the waitresses just before we left.

Michelle and I both attended a three year TAFE course many, many years ago and only met up again at a Brissie blog meet a couple of years ago.  We really enjoyed our catch-up, Michelle brought along an old photo of our pottery days which gave us both a laugh. I didn't recognize her and was flat out recognizing myself. Thank goodness I got rid of the curly permed hair and, my outfit, well that's another story.  We took along some show and tell and Michelle showed me one of the quilts she has just finished.  Her needle turn stitching is beautiful, such tiny pieces.  I was also very lucky to receive a gift from her (very naughty Michelle).  A lovely 3 Sisters  Double Chocolate Mini charm and a stitchery drawing of my Initial.  I was very excited when I saw them and I am already planning to use both in another journal cover.  Thank you so much Michelle. I really enjoyed our morning and I'm so glad fate has brought us together again after all this time.  

Well must go as I have my grandsons today and after a late breakfast of pancakes, a big swim in the pool, some sandwiches for lunch, a play on the Wii , they now want to play the computer, of course had to solve the argument of who would go first so said they must decide and if they couldn't, Grandma would just stay on the computer.  All is now quiet and evidently Tom is going first.

The anaemic pancakes are Tom's as he doesn't like them golden.  Has many strange quirks about food.

Jake and Tom cooling off in the pool.  Bosom Buddies.

Tom.

Happy Stitching till next time.    Hugs........

Busy Weekend, Fabric sorting.

Have just had a busy week-end.  My son has both his sons home for the week so we had visits from them both days.  Luckily we have a pool so that is where we spent most of the time as it has been so hot. Today I had the boys here while Scott was at work.  More pool time, we made chocolate chip muffins and a trip to the park for a test run on their new scooters. Forgot to grab my camera all day so no photos to show.
Also last Saturday night, Chris and I went to the speedway at Archerfield.  It was the Australian Championship final night.  We had a great time and the final winner was James MacFadden.  We were barracking for the second place-getter, David Murcott, as he comes from Chris's home state of Tasmania. He led all the way until about the last 6 laps.  There were a few crashes along the way, which made it interesting, but fortunately no one was hurt.

The above photos were taken in the warm up laps when it was still light. Unfortunately the later photos were a bit blurry and dark so won't show those.

Now on to some quilty stuff.  Sarah from Lilabelle Lane Creations has made a blog so all the quilters that are making A Girls Day Out quilt can post about their progress on it.  It's called Friends Making Quilts Together. I have finally selected my fabrics for this quilt.  These have been in my stash for a while and the project I had them ear-marked for may never be made, so I decided that I may as well use them now.  After having a tidy up of my fabric, I hate to admit that my stash is a bit out of control so its good to use some of it up.  Just need to add a metre of maroon fabric and some tea dyed fabric for the stitchery backgrounds and I'm set.

Sweet Dreams by Robyn Pandolph

Well, that's all for now.  Till next time Happy Stitching.........

Swapping Pledge

I read this on Cheryll's post on the 5th January and have been meaning to post it here but have had a few other things to post about first.  It is a swapping pledge and as I have done a few swaps before thought I would like to add this to my blog. I have copied the pledge and button from Cheryll's blog.

MAKE THE 7 STEP PLEDGE

I Noela will try my utmost...

·        To always swap on time.

·        To always email a THANK YOU to my partner.

·        To be considerate and thoughtful when choosing a gift.

·        To give my partner the quality of gift that I would like to receive.

·        To communicate when it’s required.

·        To NEVER over commit and let a partner down.

·        To advise the swap mama when I receive my gift.

This I sewomly pledge....

Happy Stitching till next time........

Pay It Forward Gift

Last year, Terry from Terry's Treasures posted a PIF gift she had received from another blogger.  It was then her turn to ask for three people who would like to receive a handmade gift from her and were willing then in turn when they had received her gift make three gifts for three other bloggers.  I was one of those who responded and here is my gift from Terry.

A beautiful wall hanging, a quilt pattern and some variegated threads along with a very pretty card. The  wall hanging will fit in perfectly with the country look of my house.  Thank you so much Terry for my gifts.

Of course that means it is my turn to make three gifts for three other bloggers.  If you would like to receive a handmade gift from me, and are then willing to pass a handmade gift to three other people when you receive my gift to you, just leave a comment on this post and state you would like to do this. You have a year to make the gifts after you receive mine, and you must have an active blog to participate.

Thank you again Terry for my gift.   Till next time......   Happy Stitching.

 

Family Time, Sal 2013, 1 Xmas Item A Month.

The last few days have been no sew days as I have had my eldest grandson over to stay.  He is 15 and goes into grade 11 this year so the time I get to spend with him is fast disappearing.  I love that he still wants to spend time here with me. He wanted  me to help him paint a picture for his room so we spent half a day looking through Folk Art books and with several designs set aside, he decided to go with a dolphin. I have plenty of cut-outs left over from my Folk Art days so we picked one and got started.   He has recently had a room update  and has a bit of a nautical theme happening so this was an ideal choice.   It's a while since we have painted together so I was hoping that the design would not be too difficult for him. A bit of instruction on the techniques he needed to use and below is the result.  I am very proud of the wonderful job he has done. The dolphin should look great on his wall.

He also gave his grandma a lesson in creating a photo collage so we both learnt something.

I have added the Sal 2013 logo to my side-bar.  This year we are doing projects from the three books shown. Some Kind of Wonderful (Anni Downs), Red Home and Tis the Season ( Natalie Bird).

I have also joined 1 Xmas Item a Month over at Narelle's blog pinsandwhiskers.blogspot.com.au .  If you would like to get a head start on Christmas for this year, head on over and check out what Narelle has to say.
Well must go, I am having a bit of trouble with posting.  Hope it works this time.  Till next time....Happy Stitching......

Friday Night With Friends

Last night I joined several other quilters in the monthly FNWF.  Had a lovely time listening to music, singing along with some of my favourite songs as I  stitched away. Hubby was off on a hot rod boys meet so I had the house to myself.  Should have got lots done but  only managed to get two of the three thread catchers for the SAL 2013 that I had cut out earlier and a few seams of the backpack I am working on as part of  13  in 2013 UFO Challenge but still it's a good start.

Thread Bags for January, SAL 2013 

Pieced front and back of Backpack.  Love this vintage look fabric.

 

Hope everyone had a successful sewing night.  I will be back tomorrow to show you my PIF (Pay It Forward) gift I received from Terry of Terry's Treasures so till then......   Have a great weekend.  

FNWF, Things I'm doing for 2013, Hot Rod Project

This morning, I have been busy catching up on my blog surfing.  I have decided to join a few things I have seen in my travels. Firstly tonight I am going to join lots of other quilters in Friday Night with Friends over at :-  Cheryll's blog.

 I have also joined Cheryll's Initial Heart Swap so if you think you would like to join go over to her blog and check it out. Same link above.

I have had this pattern in my stash for many years and like a Gardeners Journal (top completed last year because I joined a Stitch-a-long group) would probably have stayed unopened for many more years until I read a blog post by Sharon at Lilabelle Lane re joining a Stitch-A-Long group to stitch this quilt.  I have the patterns and most of the buttons so just need to sort out some fabrics from my stash and I am ready to go.

I am also taking up the the 13 in 2013 UFO Challenge over at 52 Quilts in 52 Weeks. I have sorted out my 13 projects, have put them in plastics bags in a tub and numbered the bags 1-13.  The first project that I will tackle is bag No 5 which is the number drawn out for this month. The project needs to be completed by the end of the month. Then on the first day of the next month a new number will be announced. You can check it out in the Jan 1st post by Aunt Marti  here. 

My box with 13 baggies of UFO's

Bag Number 5

A Backpack for Erica. A Rosalie Quinlan pattern.

To finish today, I want to show some photos of the arrival of my husbands newest hot rod project. He was so excited on Wednesday when he got an email to say the chassis for our 1928 Tudor had arrived and was ready for pick up from the freight company. It came over in a container from Ontario in California. Chris has designed it and had it built to his requirements.  Luckily all is well and he is happy with it.  Now he will be in his shed every spare minute, although I will have more time for me in my sewing room so we are both happy. He's already started adding parts to it.

The rest of the car is hiding under the green tarp, an original 1928 car body. See a photo taken when we first bought the car. This car will have an automatic transmission so I will be able to drive it. I have tried driving our other car but it is very heavy and not the easiest to handle so am looking forward to this baby coming to life. Also will have a back seat so the grandchildren can come with us sometimes.

Well must go and get some sewing ready for tonight.  Till tomorrow with an update on Friday Night with Friends.   Till then..... Happy Stitching.........  Hugs......