And so it starts all over again.....(Day 12 post)

Yesterday I met up with the co-ordinator of Network Heaven and some of the other sewists   who are responsible for sewing dresses, library bags and other items for Sri Lanka for a thank you lunch.   That is me 3rd on the left of the photo in the beige spotty top.

The lady sitting next  to me in the green dress is my sewing partner and we are responsible for sewing the 6 year old girls' dresses.    We managed to sew 60 dresses between us in this size during the  year and although the co-ordinator does not know numbers for next year I have made a start on making a few already.  I like to "production line" the dresses by cutting out a dozen at a time.   They then progress to the overlocker and then finished off with the sewing machine.  Here are some cut out and ready to move to the next stage.

The first dozen all finished

Most of the fabrics used in these dresses was gifted to me by a member of my quilting group during the year.  

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Next two sisters blocks (Day 11 post)

Over the weekend time was spent on cutting and sewing up the next two sisters blocks.

I have had a play around with the now four completed blocks and will have a think on how to progress from here.      

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Happy sewing all

My quilt group ( Day 10 post)

We are only a small but enthusiastic group of quilters who meet on the second Saturday of each month.  The group was established in 1997 but I did not join until 2009.   Some of the activities that we have taken part in have been a paint chip challenge where we each had a small paint chip chart and we could only use 3 of the colours plus black and white if desired.    Here are some of the items made with the paint chips that we drew pinned to our items.

As another challenge each of us was given a piece of the same fabric and could make anything we liked but had to use the fabric in it somewhere.    We were given the green piece in the photo below and this is a couple of the items made.

We have made charity quilts over the years for various local charities to raffle off.   This one is being sandwiched and pinned by some of the group members.

There is a variety of quilting styles between us from the very traditional hand quilters.

To those who prefer the more modern approach.

I sit somewhere in the middle with everything that I do completed by machine including sewing down the quilt bindings.    Not what the quilt police want to hear.

We have also had guest tutors attend our group where we learnt how to make kaleidoscope blocks 

And learn the quilt as you go method for joining blocks together.

Of course afternoon tea is a big feature of our monthly get togethers and this is what we enjoyed yesterday afternoon while we talked and stitched.

Thank you for joining in with my quilt group.  I hope you enjoyed what you saw.

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Happy sewing all

A sea of Soft purple flowers (Day 9 post)

At the moment Sydney is surrounded by flowering jacaranda trees.  They are a native of Central and South America so the current drought conditions that we are experiencing have seen them flourish.   These are just a few that I have seen on my walks around our area.

I was able to get quite close to some of the lower branches and delicate flowers 

Back into my sewing room and gathering up some Christmas fabrics to have a play with.

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Happy sewing all

I often wonder why......(Day 8 post)

Quilters take perfectly good pieces of fabric and cut them up only to sew them back together again.   This is what I have been doing over the last couple of days.  Firstly all the fabric was cut into strips then sewn together.   This was done twice.

Next I took my ruler and used the 60 degree angle to cut it firstly one way then the other.  This was done on both pieces.   That gave me 4 pieces which were mixed around to match the angle.

These were then sewn back together. I took another piece of fabric and cut it on the bias to make the binding.

And this is what I ended up with.

I chose autumnal colour toning for my leaf potholders but they would look good in any colourway.

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Happy sewing all

Manly Art Gallery (Day 7 post)

Is where my walking companions  and I went yesterday to view an exhibition of images from the Sydney Morning Herald photo archive of our area.   There were around 130 photos from the 1950s to the 1990s and it was interesting to see the changes in the fashions, cars and how the area had changed generally.    A lot of the suburbs around where we live were covered in glasshouses in the 1960s - what a change there is now.

After viewing the exhibition we walked along the harbour front

And noticed this painted sign on the footpath.

I have known that there is a colony of fairy penguins in Manly but have never been lucky enough to see them.   A lunch stop was a must.   We decided that a sharing plate plus a bucket of prawns along with a glass of white would be more than sufficient.

After lunch it was time to stroll back to the bus stop and head home after a thoroughly enjoyable day. 

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Happy sewing all

Second Sisters block (Day 6 Post)

Time was spent yesterday in the sewing room getting the second sisters block cut out and sewn up.

These blocks go together beautifully.    There is no having to ease or stretch fabric to make any of the pieces fit  which is more than can be said for some blocks that I have made in the past.   

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all