Out on a limb.....

Hubs and I have lived with a very large gum tree at the front of our property ever since we moved into our house over 40 years ago.    It has seen many storms - even been struck by lightning - gale force winds and other weather conditions.

However this long and lasting drought that we have experienced for quite sometime has taken its toll on the old tree and this is what it has looked like for the past couple of weeks.

A dead and dangerous tree.

Every time the wind blew we held our breath and hoped that it would hold on until the tree lopper arrived at first light  today to do what a tree lopper does.

Up he goes

The man has nerves of steel

I hold my breath as it goes up and over the garage roof

Halfway there

The last cut

All done

What a difference a day makes.  

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

My new walking companion

I know we needed the rain but we have had enough now and as I look out the window today might be the day  to try out my new bag as the sun is shining brightly and the birds are out singing.  I put the bag together by incorporating a few ideas seen on the "net".     

Another bonus of having a few wet days in a row is that good progress has been made on the checker board quilt.   Yesterday it was trimmed, ironed, the binding cut and sewn to the front and now turned to the back waiting to be stitched down.   I see a finish on the horizon soon.

Linking with Finished or not Friday and Oh Scrap.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

FNwF

Was able to start early this morning for me.    The much needed and long awaited rain finally arrived overnight so what better way to start the day than in my sewing room tucked up warm and dry.    My plan last week of working on small sections at a time worked well and today I am working on the last section.    So far all the quilting has been completed with the threads pulled through to the back and now the job of tying off and burying them is all that remains before trimming and binding can happen.

Just to give myself a break from all that close work my next project was planned and cut out today.   I find that most of my clothes do not have a pocket which generally is not  a problem until I go for my daily walk and need to put my phone somewhere.      It is not convenient to carry my normal bag and whilst I do have a cross body bag it is too big for just my phone,  some money and tissues therefore a smaller cross body bag is needed.   Hopefully when this is finished it will serve the purpose ideally.

I do have some "hardware"  which I can re-purpose for the strap.

Thanks Cheryll for organising another fun FNwF and I look forward to do some blog hopping over the weekend to catch up with everyone else and what they did.

I did finish the book that I wrote about in my last post and it was an ending that I would never have guessed.   I think it is a good thing that we do not have "a crystal ball" to look into and see the future.  That is life - all about making decisions and choices at the time and how that can affect our lives and the lives of others.    

Linking with Finished or Not Friday.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Cannot put it down......

That is the book that I am reading at present.

Without giving too much away this book is about a woman who accidently discovers that her husband of many years committed a terrible crime when he was 17 and has lived with the guilt since then.    She now sees him not as the loving husband, good father, son and  upstanding member of the community that she thought he was.   

Of course her dilemma is now what does she do – tell the police and all the implications that will have on her family or does she stay quiet and let the crime stay buried as it has been for all those years and the victim’s family never know the truth.   

What a predicament to be placed in and one where you  can feel the woman’s pain and anguish as the pages are  turned.   

Anyway I did find time to put the book down and have a lovely lunch with hubs at a great spot near the beach.     It was one of the those days that you just had to be out enjoying the gorgeous day that it was.

After lunch we headed off to see the movie LADIES IN BLACK – one which we both enjoyed.    It was set in Sydney in the late 1950’s and while it will not win any academy  awards it was a “feel good” movie from start to finish.   

Time was also found to pull through, tie off and bury more threads on the checker board quilt.

Don't forget it is time to sign up for FNwF. 

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

The plan is.......

To finish off the quilting on my checker board quilt and bind it so that it can be called it a complete finish for the month of October.  

Seeing that it is a lap size quilt and not too big to squish through a domestic sewing machine it was decided not to go with the QAYG method.     Not sure if this decision was a mistake - too late now!

As you know I am welded to my sewing machine and everything is machined on my quilts - even  the bindings - and I decided to stitch in the ditch in each block .     This is going to be tackled by quilting 6 blocks at a time then pulling though the threads, tying them off and burying them before making a start on the next 6 blocks.   There is a total of 30 blocks so that means I will have 5 sessions of sewing 6 blocks completely.    The thought of leaving all those threads to the end does not appeal to me.

This is what I have done so far

A  long way to go but doable by the end of the month I feel.

While I am pulling through, tying off and burying  the ends my mind is wandering onto what my next project will be.    

As Miss M will be starting big school next year there is will a decrease in the demand to make as many clothes for her as I have done in the past but I will check with her mummy to see if I can sneak in a few more items before February next year.     

Linking with OMG for October.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Pink, pink and more pink

Time in my sewing room has been limited over the last few weeks due to life's pressures but I made sure that time was found today after doing some gardening.   I am just going to share some photos of my spring garden with you first

Now onto what I worked on during FNSI.    First item to be finished was the pink twirly birthday dress for Miss M and then after much debating over the last couple of days it was decided to go with a button and loop closure for the front of the summer nighties.

Getting these three items finished was my nominated goal for September.

   

Next waiting patiently in line to be worked on is my checker board quilt.    It has been pinned and just sitting there looking at me as up until today I have been debating on how to quilt it.  Several times I thought that I had the answer until I thought about it a bit more.      It is now under the needle and a start has been made.

Thanks Wendy for hosting FNSI and to have a look at what else has been happening in other crafty homes tonight pop on over here.

Linking with Elm Street Quilts and  Finished or Not Friday.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Stunning is the word.......

That I would use to describe this year's annual spring flower show in David Jones Elizabeth Street store.    This event has been running for 33 years and something that I try to see most years.   It is the biggest flower show in the southern hemisphere and this year there are over 300,000 blooms on display.

A little sewing did happen today and I will be back soon to share what was achieved but in the meantime

Happy sewing all