13 UFO's in 2013, SAL Needle book & a Win.......

Well here we are at the end of another month and I am pleased to say I have finished my project for 13 UFO's in 2013. I cut out the pieces for this topper a number of years ago and there it sat in the cupboard until January this year when I put 13 of my UFO's in plastic bags, gave each one a number and placed them in a box. I'm pleased to say here is my September finish. I'm going to put it on top of my freezer in the laundry where it will happily live among all the other farm related animals I collected at one stage. Thank you Marti for hosting again this month. You can check out what other people finished by going to Marti's blog on the 1st of October.

The hanging on the lower left is from my folk art painting days.

Also I managed to finish my SAL 2013 item for September which is the last one for this stitch along. I have really enjoyed playing along and must admit I did get a pass for August, so hope to complete that one soon and get a tick of approval from our SAL coordinators, Chookyblue and Susan.
Thank you for all your work over the last 9 months and I look forward to joining in again if there is a 2014 one.  

I was also very lucky winning Claire's birthday giveaway. Her blog is called Claire-Bears Quilts and can be found at http://claire-bearquilts.blogspot.com.au/. Thank you so much for my lovely gifts Claire.

A Towne Square Quilts Charm pack, variegated thread and a Wacky Web Template from the Missouri Quilt Co. They have lots of great tutorials on You Tube.

Last week, hubby and I went down the coast for dinner to celebrate my grand-daughter's 20th birthday.
So in closing, here is my gorgeous girl, Kiah with her boyfriend Hayden.

A bit of a long post so if you have made it to the end thank you.
Till next time..........Happy Stitching............  

1 Xmas Item a Month, QAL BLocks 9-12.

It is time for 1 Xmas Item a Month hosted by Narelle over at pinsandwhiskers. You can click on the link in my sidebar to see what other people have been making. My finish for this month is a Christmas mug rug/ candle mat.  Not sure how I will use it as yet so keeping my options open.

A big thank you to Narelle for hosting.
I  have also finished Blocks 9,10,11 and 12 of my Aiming for Accuracy QAL.

Block 9

Block 10.

Love this fabric.

Block 11, centre squares have small birds surrounded by flowers.

Block 12, the bottom row. I have done some fussy cutting in some of the nine patches. See below. 

Starting to look really nice now. I have the blocks laid out on the floor in my sewing room for the moment but am running out of space as the top is getting quite big.
Chris and I went to a hot rod show at Beenleigh on Sunday. It was lovely to spend time together doing something we both enjoy.

This car caught our eye. Looks like red is still the favourite colour for our new car.
Well must go as it is getting late. Hope everyone is enjoying the school holidays.  Hugs..........

FNSI Results.

Last night I joined Friday night Sew In. I managed to do some prep earlier so I could get onto the sewing machine as soon as dinner was over. After catching up on my Aiming for Accuracy blocks a while ago, I now have 5 more blocks to do so it was catch up time again.

I managed to get all the pieces stitched together ready to trim for blocks 9 to 12.

Then I completed Block 11 and stitched it to Block 4 , fussy cut the centre blocks  with a tiny bird surrounded by flowers.

Block 12  nearly done and below the first of three patches for Block 9.

In all I was happy with what I got done.  Now to check out what everyone else got up to.
Tomorrow we are off to a Show and Shine at Beenleigh with our hot rod so no sewing for me I'm afraid.
Hope everyone is having a great week end.  Be back soon..........Oh, and I forgot to say a big THANKYOU to WENDY for hosting.       Hugs.........

FNSI, Stitching update.

It's time to join in on another Friday Night Sew In over at Wendy's blog. It's a great way to stitch along with all your fellow bloggers and share a cuppa along the way. To sign up just click on the link.

I haven't done a lot in my sewing room of late but have been working on the stitcheries for my SAL projects. I got a pass for August but hope to finish both the bag and needle case for September. This will be the last of our projects for this year. Hopefully next year will bring a new challenge but that will depend on whether Chooky has enough time to co-ordinate it as she is one busy lady. Thank you so much for all the time and effort you have put in this year Chooky and also Susan who helped with the whip cracking when we all got a little slack and needed a push. It has been great being part of another SAL.  Now I had better get working on those last items or I might just be in trouble.

Stitching for both complete now.

I have also been working on my Aiming for Accuracy blocks.

A bit of fussy cutting going on.

And a bit of secret sewing going on as well.

And lastly, I did a bit of straight line stitching on the place mat I made at camp, just followed the shape of the mat. Looks better now.

So that's all from me, hope I will enjoy your company on Friday night.
Till then.........Happy Stitching..........

Let's Celebrate Gift.

Just a quick post to show you what I sent to Kali for our Spring swap. Luckily the parcel finally got to the correct destination because for some reason I put the incorrect post code on it. Hopefully I won't do that again.
For our swap we had to send a stitchery, using at least 4 different stitches and then it is up to our swap partner to use it however they like.
This is the stitchery I made for Kali. It is a stitchery pattern by Rosalie Quinlan. The stitches I used were back stitch, cross stitch, satin stitch, french knots and chain stitch.  

I also sent Pink fabric, vintage lace trim, ring for thread cards, some DMC thread in Kali's favourite colours, ribbon flowers and the leftover Cottage Garden thread I used in the stitchery.   

Glad you liked your gifts Kali, I love that through this swap hosted by Karen at Mrs Martins Quilt Shop, I have also made a new friend. Am looking forward to our next swap which will be in October.
Well, must go, have to get into my sewing room and get working on some finishes for this month.
Have a great day everyone..........Hugs..........

My Sunday, Secret Santa Christmas Swap.

Today was my last day having  my grandson staying with us while his Dad was away fishing, so yesterday we took Jake to Wynnum -Manly for a swim, a play and lunch.  He had a great time doing all those things and below are a few photos of his day.

The water isn't cold Grandma.  Are you coming in !

Maybe a bit of climbing before lunch.

Too much climbing, I need a rest. Might just catch a ride on this blue whale. 

This one is a bit bigger. Think I might make it to the top this time.  You can look Grandma, I won't fall.

We had fish and chips for lunch followed by an icecream cone.  In all a great day and a wonderful close to Jake's stay with us.  For me it's back to school drop-offs and pick-ups on Wednesday after a well earned rest tomorrow although I may have bedtime story withdrawal for a few days.  I was really enjoying reading the same story I read to his father many years ago.

My quilting progress has not been the best this last week so apart from some embroidery I haven't got to my sewing machine since I came home from camp last week.
I did manage to sign up for Chookyblue's Secret Santa Christmas Swap although I nearly missed seeing the post, so glad I saw it before it was too late to join.  This will be my third year as part of this swap.
The swap has closed now so am looking forward to getting my partner's name soon so I can plan what to make.

Luckily I have a few Xmas goodies on the go and in my gift box already as I am in a few swaps this year.
Well must go..... Till next time........... Happy stitching..............        

Let's Celebrate - Spring.

Let's Celebrate for spring meant we were to send to our partner a stitchery that represented spring and the recipient could use it however they wished. Both Kali, my partner and myself, have been a bit snowed under of late so we agreed that we would both be happy to post our parcels a little later than the Aug deadline. Funnily enough we both ended up posting our parcel around the same time this week. I received mine yesterday and hopefully Kali will receive hers in the next couple of days.
I was so excited when I received the parcel that I couldn't wait to post about it. Thank you for the gorgeous stitchery and all the extras you sent Kali. I love them all and have my thinking cap on as to what I will make to show off your lovely stitchery.

These wrapped gifts above turned into this below.

Fabrics, ric rac, Theadora Cleeve button, a beautiful spring card, a Bunny pattern and fabrics to make it, a Spring stitchery and some mints.

 Below is my wrapped parcel. Hope it arrives soon Kali and you enjoy my gifts as much as I am yours. Thank you for a wonderful Spring swap and thanks to Mrs Martins Quilt Shop for hosting it.

Will be back to show you what I sent when I hear from Kali that the parcel has arrived.
Till then..... Happy Stitching.........

Back from Tamborine Retreat.

I'm not sure where time has gone but I am finally able to post a few photos from my camp on the weekend. It was a new venue this time and the facilities and food were both great. I'm sure I have come home much heavier than I went. The company as always was wonderful and besides all the talking, laughing and very late nights I did get a bit done. Some secret sewing which I can't show yet, my finished Authentic quilt and blocks for my QAL. This was my sewing space.

Here is a photo of my Authentic quilt with the binding on at last.

I also managed to finish 3 more blocks of my Aiming for Accuracy QAL. Still have blocks 9 and 10 to do.

Block 6

Block 7

Block 8

These blocks are turning out quite well and hopefully when put together will make a lovely quilt. I have quite a few photos to share but have to sort them out. My computer has been quite slow since I returned which hasn't helped.
This is my place mat for the challenge at retreat.

The thread catcher was a little gift given to us on the first day. 

Name badge. The theme of the camp Embroidery and Applique. Colour blue.

Thank you to everyone who left a lovely comment on my last post. I can assure you I did have the most wonderful time although I think I may take a few days to recover. I have started trying to catch up on a few blog posts but still have lots more to read so may take a while.
Also I am getting ready for my grandson Jake to stay with us for a week while his Dad goes fishing.  Never a dull moment in this household.
Well must go for now.  Hopefully back soon with a few more photos.