A new bag for me

Now that I am retired from the workforce and hubs and I are doing some day tripping around I found that a handbag was no longer practical to stuff all those items in that one needs "just in case" plus all the necessary items so on our way home from Leura last week I had hubs make a detour to call into a fabric store at the base of the mountains and I found and fell in love with this fabric and knew that I would be perfect for a new bag that I was formulating in my mind.    

The first piccie shows the front of the bag with the flap

And this piccie shows the back with a pocket especially made to slip  my Ipad in if I need to take it with me.

I also put in two pockets on the inside and made a base to give it firmness.  The base is removable  for washing and  I have enough fabric left over to make a sunglasses case plus a tissue  holder to put into one of the pockets.   I have given it a trial run around the house and very pleased that everything has a place  and the weight is evenly distributed across my body instead of one side.  

I am still working on the grab ball that I started a couple of weeks ago and hope to get that finished sometime this week.

Be back soon and in the meantime happy sewing. 

A short break away to.....

celebrate our 41st wedding anniversary is what hubs and I have been up to for the last 3 days.    We decided to mark the occasion by heading up to our favourite mountain town Leura and checked into the Fairmont for a few days of luxury and pampering.   On our day of arrival we had summer and enjoyed strolling around the village

Checked into our hotel and enjoyed a swim in the pool

Walked around the lovely grounds enjoying the gardens

Had a pre-dinner nibble and drink in our courtyard

Day two we woke early and headed off to the Three Sisters before the crowds arrived to be greeted by a rather heavy fog

After walking around the area we headed back to our "digs" for a swim, then breakfast and by that time the fog had lifted.    The same Three Sisters - minus the fog - taken from Scenic Railway.

By now the sun had come out and we enjoyed wandering around country lanes

Met up with one of the local lads whilst he was enjoying the view from his room

By this time the weather had turned from summer to what could be described as"mild winter" with drizzle so we headed back to the hotel and enjoyed a glass of champers inside the room instead of in the courtyard.

The drizzle kept up all night and we woke to this

After many visits to the mountains over the years we always go prepared with clothes for all seasons and brollies.  

While away I also took the opportunity to call into some quilt shops and I bought a lovely piece of fabric to make myself a messenger style bag.    Hopefully I will get that done by the end of the week and be back with some piccies real soon.  

In the meantime happy sewing.

Little boxes and other items

Whilst blog hopping a few weeks ago I fell across these cute fabric boxes and just knew that I would have to make a few.

As you can see I made 5 using three  different sizes.   I also used a stiffer interfacing in four of them from the first one that I made.    These would make cute tissue box holders, bits and pieces holders, thread catchers, gift bags  or whatever you decided to do with them - they would certainly brighten up a room.   If you would like to make one or three or ???? you can find detailed instructions at the website below.

http://seaside-stitches.blogspot.com...-tutorial.html

I enjoy making small useful gifts to put in Christmas stockings or to add in as an extra into a gift and the kitchen towels below were gratefully received by relatives and friends

My next door neighbour had a baby boy just prior to Christmas so out came the burp cloth pattern for some boy themed burp clothes.      My DIL has a cousin who is due to have a baby later on this month and she asked if I would make her some burp clothes as well.   I just repeated the same fabric as they do not know what  the sex of the baby is.    Well  they are not revealing if they know.    

At present I am in the process of making a grab ball for my granddaughter.     I hope to be back soon with a photo of  it completed.  

In the meantime happy sewing.  

2013 was a .......

Momentous year for me personally.    January saw hubs and  I celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary, February I was elected as President of my quilting group.  During the year we purchased a new car, hubs and I became first time grandparents to a lovely little girl who is a delight to both us as grandparents and her parents.

I developed a mystery illness and remain to this day a complete puzzle to my dr and cardiologist.   Fortunately I have no ill effects  and life is now back to what is was before it all began.

I also retired from the workforce after 40 years.    If I had not  retired I would have been due to go back to work on Tuesday and at this stage I am far from ready mentally to go back.   I have settled into this retirement mode very quickly.     I have surprised myself at just how much I have achieved in the garden as well as finding time to read, cooking, getting back into going for my daily walk, doing jigsaw puzzles and being able to enjoy shopping at a leisurely pace instead of racing in and grabbing what I need and run out again.  

On the sewing front I made a lot of items for the baby including this tummy time quilt which I wanted to be all different textures for  her to feel.   I used chenille, wool, satin, fleecy , suede and ribbing to achieve those textures.

Now that I have retired I will have more time to spend  making clothes for the baby as well as for myself and of course quilting.    I have a few WIP's  that need to be finished.

Best wishes to everyone for  2014.    May you find time to do all the things that you need and want to do and all your UFO's and WIP's turn into completed items.

Happy sewing