Secret squirrel sewing

My blog has been severely neglected over the last couple of months and not because of lack of interest but due to the fact that what I have been sewing was for Christmas gifts and those on the receiving end are readers of my blog.

The first quilt that I was working on was for my son and daughter in law. With this quilt I wanted something that was modern and not florally so I went with a red, black and white theme with a few greys in the mix to add some more interest with the lights and darks.





The second quilt that I was working on was for DH who has a habit on a chilly night while watching TV of trying to tug on a corner of my snuggle quilt and me being me do not like to share my snuggle quilt as I need all the help that I can get to keep warm so the thought processes kicked in on what sort of quilt I could make for a man who has many varied hobbies and interests and this is what I came up with for someone who likes to read, listen to music, travel to the Hawaiian Islands, old trains and sailing ships, cheese being one of his favourite foods being washed down with a drop of either red or white, cats, basketball and something to represent his profession - he is now a retired headmaster.

All three recipients were both surprised and thrilled with their quilts and I was much relieved.

Santa Claus is coming to town

Time for a bit of Christmas sewing and experimenting with the feed dogs down. I have been doing some practice, practice and more practice with FMQ and whilst I am feeling more confident I only feel comfortable using this method on smaller items as I have more control and no weight pulling the sewing down and causing puckers.

I found this Christmas panel and cut in into 4 table toppers - I have already given two away that I forgot to photograph. The first one I did a meandering pattern for the quilting and with the second one I kept the feed dogs down, the open toe foot on and using a variegated metalic thread I "drew" around the border, circle just inside the wreath, Santa, his sack and staff for something different. I must say that I was pleased with the result.

Next to come off the Christmas sewing list is a set of placemats and matching coasters for my SIL. Hopefully I will have some piccies soon to show you.

Happy sewing all.

Our Holiday

Hubby and I have just enjoyed a lovely spring break over the last two weeks which included a visit to our nation's capital city - Canberra.



A visit to the Australian War Memorial shows soliders on parade at the Pool of Reflection

Looking across Lake Burley Griffin to Old Parliament House in the foreground with New Parliament House behind. On the LHS is the High Court of Australia and on the RHS is the National Library.

A closer look at those blossom trees along the promenade of the lake with the Carillion off to the left.

A visit to the Botanical Gardens felt more like a walk in the rainforest in Far North Queensland. The vegetation for a cold climate area was a real surprise.

On the way home we detoured via Bowral for a quick tip toe through the tulips.

After a day a or two at home catching up on the "domestics" we took ourselves off to the city to enjoy the annual spring flower display at David Jones Elizabeth store

The next day found us wandering around the Blue Mountains enjoying the spring blossoms in country lanes

And on a clear day you can see forever.

Only an hour across the Harbour Bridge heading south we found ourselves heading for a day at Botany Bay. Looking at the colour of the sand and the water we could have been on a tropical island.

I did manage to do a bit of stash building.

I also found time to get some sewing in but more on that later as it is "secret squirrel" stuff.

Well all good things must come to an end and it is back to work for me next week.

A finish at last

I cannot believe that I have not blogged for such a long time. Where does the time go to??????? What have I been doing - I always seem to be on the run but not much to show for it.

At last I can share with you a "finish". Several months ago my quilting group was given a mystery quilt to complete and I decided that I would be strong and use only fabric that I had in my stash in case I was disappointed in the mystery pattern chosen. And am I glad that I stuck to my decision as I am not a fan of the pattern called Turning 20 and of course as luck would have it that was what the mystery turned out to be.

I finished the quilt last week and even though I am disappointed in the pattern - I think that the blocks are too big for my liking - it will come in handy as a throw on a cold night as I snuggle up to watch some TV.

A Man Bag

For years hubby has had a thing about using a man bag but now that he is retired and doing day trips with the "boys" circumstances have changed - like I am not there to put items in my bag - he now finds it necessary to have something to take with him to put all those relevant bits and pieces in so hence he relented and came to the decision that a bag might not be such a bad thing after all.

However it did come with strict instructions that it was not to be a backpack - too hard to get on and off especially with a coat on - it had to be big enough to hold a fold up umbrella, bottle of water, camera, small items of clothing that may need to be removed or added depending on the weather and other bits and pieces. Not heavy, washable, with a good size pocket and easy to access.

With all the above information I spent a bit of time "googling" and found a few ideas. From those ideas I took what I considered to be there best features from each and came up with the following.

I must say that I am pleased with the result and so hubby.

Outside of the bag



This photo shows the inside of the bag with the flap up and the good size pocket.

And here is the "made to measure" bag being modelled by hubby.

I must write up my directions and measurements as I like the look of this bag and will make something like it for myself.

Hexed by hexies

I along with most of the lovely ladies from our craft forum have been bitten by the bug- the hexie bug that is!! Once you have been introduced to this acitivity of sewing small bits of fabric to paper you cannot stop and this is what I do in my lunch break at work each day. I have joined up either 6 dark flowers with a light centre or 6 light flowers with a dark centre and now I have to decide how these bigger flowers will be joined - either with a white surround or just butt them up together????




I am thinking that it will make a runner for the end of the bed once I have made a few decisions and made a few more hexies.

Storybook land......

Hubby and I always make sure that we fit in a drive to the mountains each autumn to see the changing colour in the leaves and this year was no exception. Driving up to Mt Wilson we stopped along the way to explore this wooded area and I felt just like Alice in Wonderland as I wandered around amongst the trees and found a field of mushrooms.


Magic mushrooms or could this be where the fairies call home?

Further into the wood we found a pile of gorgeous red and gold leaves - maybe fairy blankets lying on the ground!

As we meandered along the many picturesque laneways we stumled across what could be described as the cottage belonging to the three bears.

Upon opening the door we saw a "picture perfect window" facing out onto a beautiful garden.

After all this discovering it was time to sample the fare on offer and we both opted for the homemade blueberry scones fresh out of the oven - and they were just right.

After sitting a while enjoying the log fire and sipping our coffee it was time to put on our coats, collect our brollies and head off down one of the lovely lanes back to our chariot.

A most enjoyable way to spend a misty autumn day.