A bit late....computer problems

My computer decided that it was not going to play nicely last Thursday so off to the computer doctor on Friday for a 4 night stay in the repair shop.  For some reason I am unable to post on my blog with the Ipad so as a consequence I am running with the my FNSI  and end of month  churn dash report.

After not being at the machine for just on 3 weeks FNSI was a good motivator to get me back there and finish off the bindings on the churn dash placemats and tabletopper that have been sitting around looking at me everytime I passed the room.  

An early start was made on Friday morning so that there was nothing to distract or sidetrack me from my mission.   All done and ready to use.  Don't forget to go here to check out the progress of the others taking part in the  SAL.  

Time even allowed for a batch of scones to be made and enjoyed with a cup of coffee.

Feeling recharged after a break I headed back into the sewing room to cut some 2" strips of red and green fabrics to make some apple pot holders for my depleted giftie box.   This time there will be Granny Smiths - green - and Johnathons - red.  

Thanks Wendy for having us "all around" again.     

Miss M has been staying with us for the last few days.    Yesterday we took a ferry ride into the City and visited the Aquarium.

 

We both agreed that the highlight of the day was the emporer penguin exhibit.  

After a shopping expedition this morning to spend some pocket money from grandpa we headed to the beach.   I was very happy to stand on the water's  edge and hold the towel while she did some wave jumping.    It was home to have a hot shower and some lunch before heading off to collect the computer.     

I am off to do some all important blog hopping to see what has been happening in my "absence".   

Back soon and in the meantime

            Happy sewing all 

Underneath the Arches

On Monday I was a tourist in my own city of Sydney for a few hours while I was waiting for my mother to have a day procedure performed at Sydney Hospital.      I have walked past the hospital many times over the years but never been past the gate.   The hospital which was built on this site in 1811 has been extensively restored over many years but still retains a lot of the older buildings.

 

Once mum was taken into surgery I then proceeded along Macquarie Street to Hyde Park to walk under the grand arch way of trees.

Pity I did not see this sign until I emerged from underneath the canopy.

Fortunately for me there was neither heavy rain or wind that day.

St Mary's cathedral is always an imposing and impressive building on the edge of the park.

Sydney Tower can be seen from all over the City.

And a lovely quiet spot to sit for a few minutes is around the sunken garden area.

Where I got my book out that is currently being read.

Not long after that the patient was ready to be collected and we headed off home.   

Next week Miss M is due to come and stay with us for a few days during the school holidays and I have planned another trip back into the city via the ferry.     This time we will head to the  Darling Harbour area for the day.  

My sewing machine and I have still not met up - it is 3 weeks since anything was sewn - but a start is going to be made later on today or tomorrow as I want to finish the bindings on the churn dash placemats and tabletopper.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Spring Fair Day

Mother Nature was very kind yesterday and delivered a lovely Spring like day for all to enjoy the many hours of preparation and planning that was put into the first Spring Fair to be held at our complex.  Gauging from the comments and response it will be an annual affair from now on.   

The support from the other residents and members of the general public was outstanding.    The most popular stall at any Fair is the cake stall and as you can see from the photo below the tables were laden however they had sold out by just before 12 pm.     What a great effort on everyone's part who did the baking and organising.   

I was over the moon with the success of my stall. 

All of the bowl cosies went, the scrunchies were very popular with the young girls, one young boy bought 2 of the reading cushions for his cousins, the table runners were a big success as were the little girls dresses.   Many grandmas were drolling over the dresses.    The kitchen hand towels, make up bags, cat coin purses, tooth fairy pillows, purse sized tissue covers  and wine bottle bags all sold very quickly as did the mobile phone holders.     On lady bought one, immediately put it around her neck and she was subsequently asked by others walking around the Fair where did she get it from.   She kindly directed them to my stall but by then they had all sold.   The heat packs, mini Christmas stockings, pot holders and placemats were also extremely popular.  

My idea of using unsold items from the day as Christmas presents needs to be re-thought as  I only have one child's and one adult apron as well as three scrunchies, 2 pot holders, 1 set of placemats, a ballet bag, 1 reading cushion and a heat pack left.    

My machine and I have taken a break from each other over the past week.   Tomorrow I intend giving it and the overlocker a good clean and oil where necessary before we meet up again for more sewing sessions.  

There are one or two items that are currently being worked on at present that need to be finished off but after that there will be a clean slate.      No doubt the daily emails from Pinterest will inspire me to start making another list.  

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

3 Sleeps to Go

Until Spring Fair Day.    At last I have stopped adding to my "to do list" and now successfully crossed off all items that were on it.

Those fabrics that were pulled and shown in a post a couple of weeks ago have been turned into 4 sets of 4 coasters each.

Now comes the job of pricing everything.

The only thing left to do is to organise my cash float.     As we all know most transactions are done by card these days but as we are all individual stall holders we cannot accept cards - flyers have been letterbox dropped in the area, put on Facebook etc  informing everyone that it is cash only but do people absorb what they read.     There are no ATM's on the premises either - it will be interesting to see what happens on the day.    

All we need now is for Mother Nature to be kind and provide beautiful Spring weather for all to enjoy the many months of preparation and work that has been put into the day.    As well as doing the sewing for my stall I have been on the organising committee for the Fair and am fully aware of all the "behind the scenes" work that has been going on.     Stay tuned for the post mortem.  

Back soon and in the meantime 

Happy sewing all

One of those "0" Birthdays and FNwF

Tomorrow I officially celebrate one of those birthdays that comes around every 10 years however my birthday  kicked off on Wednesday when I opened up a package that arrived in the mail from June.  I was over the moon with what was inside and they have been added to my mini quilt rack which has pride of place on my sewing table so that June and I are always sewing alongside each other even though there is a distance of nearly 800 kms  between us.

On Thursday I was taken out to lunch by a group of friends that I have known for 36 years to a lovely restaurant at Palm Beach called the Dunes. 

 As well as taking me to lunch they gave me a gorgeous silk scarf.  

Yesterday hubs took me out for lunch to our favourite restaurant on Narrabeen Lakes called Limani Seafood Restaurant.   Birthdays are all about cake and bubbles......right.  

I know that hubs has something planned for tomorrow but in the dark about it so far.    

Tomorrow morning I will celebrated Fathers Day with my parents and next week we are having lunch with Miss M and her parents at a restaurant on Sydney Harbour.     I have also received cards and gift vouchers from family and friends.     All this helps soften the blow of getting older.    

During all this celebrating the only thing managed to get done on FNwF was to make two pom poms and sew up two beanies.

This book has been my bedtime reading during the week

Don't forget to head on over to Cheryll's blog to check out what others achieved for FNwF.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all   

Get on Board with Sewing Blog hop

Is the theme for the blog hop being organised by Melva and Brenda.  Your “something” could have a tropical or surf feel.  It can be clothing, a quilt, a bag, a toy, or whatever you choose! it might include some tropical themed fabric or novelty print… or not. 

A few years ago I made a beach bag

And of course had some of the fabric left over.   As we all know quilters do not part with any fabric no matter how small the piece.   

With this smallish piece of left over surf feel fabric and with the addition of some biege fabric which represents sand, blue fabric to represent water and some red to match in with the lighthouses here is my surf feel tabletopper.

Thank you girls for organising such a fun blog hop during National Sewing Month.   Now it is time to head on over to the following blogs for some more  "Get on Board with Sewing". 

Grace and Peace Quilting                                                                                        

Ms P Designs USA                                                                                           

Creations – Quilts, Art, Whatever

Back soon and in the meantime                                                                                                                   

Happy sewing all

Churn Dash SAL progress

I am pleased to report that the tabletopper and matching set of two placemats have now been quilted using a radiating diamond pattern.    How to quilt  the items was an issue until some research on you-tube solved the problem.    

I only have a DSM and do not feel confident enough to do FMQ on something that I have spent ages on getting straight and lined up to the nth degree.  Having uneven stitches at times when going around curves or loops with FMQ drives me crazy so I just stick with my walking foot so I can be assured of even stitches throughout the quilting process.  As you all know I do not do anything by hand.  

Don't forget to check out the progress of others in the SAL which can be done by heading over here and clicking on the various bloggers taking part. 

Next step is the binding.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all