Goodbye Dad

It is with a heavy heart that I write this post.   My 97 year old father passed away in the early hours of 8th September 2025  following a fall in his backgarden on Friday which resulted in a massive bleeding on the brain from which Dad did not recover.   

Over the past week I have been looking back over many hundreds of photos of Dad taken with various family members and remembering all the wonderful family picnics and holidays that we had together over many years.  

Goodbye and thank you for being my Dad.

FNwF

Was on again last night and during that time 2 bindings were cut, sewn and ironed ready to go.

During the week progress was made on the doily challenge.  So far the bases for the doilies to be attached to have been made, the doilies have been glued on and the stitching down process has started.  Those  who have been following my blog will know that hand sewing is not my thing and I keep finding excuses as to why other things need to be done first. 

This month's RSC colour is light and bright blues and greens but have decided that I do not want a repeat of those colours for my potato chip blocks so it is time to dig into the black and white scraps and make a block from those colours.  

You can check out more happening from last night over at Cheryll's blog.  

I had to do a u-turn with my shopping trolley when in the supermarket yesterday.....was that Christmas puddings and mince pies that were on display......yes it was.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

The Strawberry, Bee and Mushroom fabrics.......

That were cut out a couple of weeks ago for pot holders now look like this.

They are all packed up ready to take to the hospital stall next Saturday.  

This audio book was playing alongside me.   I have just started listening to it and looking at the reviews it does not rate highly.    I will be interested to see what my thoughts are on it as there is only one other book that I have read of hers that was a disappointment to me.  

A challenge has been issued by my quilt group which entails using a doily in a sewn article.  I do not have any doilies as such - either embroidered or crocheted - but do have two coasters that were made by a friend of my who does tatting.   She has done a lovely pattern and I would like to use them for the purpose they are intended but feel that they need to have a backing on them to be functional.   So my thoughts are to sew them onto a backgound fabric and take it from there.  This is what I have chosen to work with.    Watch this space.

The washing machine has just finished doing what a washing machine does so best away to peg out the load.  

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Happy sewing all

While the rain tumbles down outside

 

The only thing to do is to stay inside and sew which is what I did today.   There have been a lot of WIP's sitting on my sewing table in various stages of completion that have been annoying me over the past couple of weeks so making an early start at 8 am I disappeared into the sewing room only to emerge for a quick coffee break around 10 am and then again at lunchtime.   During that time the snaps were put onto 5 bibs.  The first item to be ticked off the list.

Next onto sewing up the squares which had been cut out for sometime for 2 small quilt tops.  Second item ticked off the list.  The next step is to cut out the borders for them.   

Time for a lunch break.     While munching on my toasted sandwich and in between mouthfuls of pear I managed to make a pasta sauce for tonight's dinner which comprised of chopped onion and zucchini simmered in a can of tinned tomatoes.    I diced up some cooked chicken while the vegetables were simmering away.  Once the vegetables were cooked through the diced chicken and some cashews were added.   All that is left to do tonight is to cook the pasta, heat and stir the sauce through.  

After lunch it was back into the sewing room and onto threading the elastic through the casings on the skirts.  All 15 are now finished.....just a quick iron needs to be done and they are ready to deliver.  Third thing ticked off the list.

And lastly the pieces that had been cut out  for the RSC aqua potato chip block were sewn together.

This audio book was playing along side me while all this was happening

My sewing table is now looking so much more tidier and the only WIPs left sitting on it are the cut out pot holders.  It is now 3 pm and my concentration has disappeared which tells me that is time for another coffee.    It is amazing how much can be achieved if left uninterrupted in the sewing room for a day.  

Linking with So Scrappy

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all 

FNSI

When unpacking the goods for the last hospital auxiliary stall at the beginning of the month I noticed that there was a shortage of - I should say - no pot holders  for sale.    So when joining in last night with FNSI it was all about cutting out pot holders so there will be some for the September stall in a couple of weeks time.  4 pot holders were cut from each of the three fabrics.  

Next step is to cut out the wadding which will happen over the next couple of days once the skirts are finished off  - which really should have been happening instead of cutting out.  Oh well variety is the spice of life they say.  

Back soon and in the meantime

 Happy sewing all

The Production Line is.........

Back in business.   This time making skirts for 10 year old girls.    When handing over the 101 library bags last week I offered to sew up some skirts and was handed this bag which contained 15 skirts already cut out and ready to go which makes it a much quicker job. 

During the week the overlocker has been busy.

The next step in the production line is to sew the hems and casings for the waists.  I hope to get them all finished and delivered by the end of next week as time is getting closer for the marathon packing effort that is involved in getting the items shipped to Sri Lanka in order for them to arrive before Christmas. 

Time to head off for some morning tea and then back to the sewing room to make a start.

Back soon and in the meantime 

Happy sewing all

A Rainbow of Library Bags and FNwF

During the week the casings were sewn around the last of the library bags that were the subject of my last post and when joining in with FNwF last night they were turned right side out and now ready to deliver.

Below is a photo of the 101 library bags that were made throughout the year using the RSC challenge.  They are stacked up in order of the colour that was nominated each month starting with pink on the bottom with it being the January colour and working up to July's colour purple.   The 13 bags on top are the odds and sods colours that do not fit into any of the colour categories nominated.  

I also managed last night to sew up another beanie and do a few rows of knitting on the next beanie.

This week I have to go "scrap bin diving" in order to pull out this month's RSC colour of AQUA

Thanks Cheryll for organising us again last night. 

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all