June finishes

Seeing that I am only working on little items at the moment I had nominated two projects as my OMG for June and both have been finished and there is still three days left to go before the end of the month.   Firstly there were three plastic bag holders

I  have "gifted" these now and the recipients were thrilled with them and loved the fabric and the second item was to make a Sunbonnet Sam wall hanging which has just been taken out from under the sewing machine and photographed.

Even though the baby is not due until August I wanted this one ready in plenty of time as we all know babies come when they are ready.   All that there is left to do is pack it up and wait for the phone call.

Come on over to Elm Street Quilts to see what others have been up to during the month.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Bits and bobs

As always the quilt and craft fair is very inspiring and motivating and since visiting on Thursday I have "made" 27 quilts in my mind when in actual fact I have had very little time to sew this past week and only achieved getting Sunbonnet Sam stitched to the background fabric and sandwiched ready to quilt.  The baby is not due until August so I do have a little while to go yet before the wall hanger becomes an emergency.

I was very restrained with my buying at the craft fair even though there was sign saying "Your husband phoned ahead and said  buy whatever you want".

Rotary cutter blades are always a must as are bobbins - I never have enough bobbins - especially when doing applique and trying to match the top and bottom threads, bobbin holders.      I think these will be a good investment as I am sick of chasing bobbins across the sewing table and having them unravel as they roll away from me.    Some "O" rings to use when making bag handles, some pretty pink and white daisy lace and a fat quarter of Tinkerbell fabric - Miss M loves Tinkerbell and some charms and other bits and bobs as you can see.

Miss M has been staying with us for the weekend and we visited the Zoo yesterday.     Today we are going to make a chocolate cake, play snakes and ladders and shop keepers as well as riding her bike and feeding the ducks.  

Linking with Oh Scrap

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Happy sewing all

Bible Garden

Is somewhere that I have known about for years and had put it on the "must do one day list" and that day was today.       It is the first lovely clear, sunny but cool day that we have had for just on two weeks so hubs and I jumped into the car and headed  to Palm Beach - about 20 mins drive north us of - to see what the garden was all about.      It is not widely advertised and a bit of a "hidden gem" not being signposted and upon approaching the street  where it is located we realised that we have driven passed  on many occasions without knowing it.   This  plaque relays the origins of the garden

There are spectacular views over Palm Beach to be seen from this rather small but very peaceful and tranquil garden.   For those who are "Home and Away" fans you will know the area as Summer Bay.

More information about the garden can be seen here.

During the week we caught up with some friends for lunch and it was served with a very naughty Bomb Alaska  sharing plate dessert.    It consisted  of salted caramel ice cream, peanut butter, Dutch chocolate, caramel brittle and sponge all wrapped in meringue and blow torched.      When the plates arrived at the table we all thought that 1 between the 4 of us would have been plenty.

I hate to admit it but there was not a crumb left on either plate at the end of the meal.

I am heading off to the Craft and Quilt Fair at the new convention centre at Darling Harbour tomorrow wearing comfy walking shoes and a list of some "essential" items that one thinks is needed....that is my story anyway.      There is also a list of  demonstrations to see as well as other bits and pieces.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Who has been eating.........

My beautiful little pumpkin and eaten it all up???????  I sounded just like baby bear from Goldilocks and the three bears when I was doing some gardening and saw this

There were great plans for this pumpkin and they did not include being some creatures dinner.   Looking at the rest of the holes around the garden I am going to say it was  bandicoots that enjoyed the pumpkin.     In order to console myself it was into the sewing room to make an early start on FNSI and use my pretty olive fabric to make three plastic bag holders to put into my "giftie box".

 I used the overlocker to sew these up and they were done in no time at all.

Thanks again Wendy for organising another fun FNSI.

Hubs finished reading the book and was "hooked" just as I was and did not see the ending coming either.     We both felt sympathy for the main character, then disappointment and finally shock and anger at her actions.

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Happy sewing all

Two firsts

It has been a rather damp and chilly week so what better way to spend the days than sewing and cooking.    Firstly with my excess of lemons and limes it was decided to use these  to make lemon and lime butter - a first for me as I still have vivid memories of making jam when at school.  Lets just say some things are best forgotten and my jam making was one of them.   Having looked at the "net" for recipes making lemon butter seemed rather easy compared to making jam with only 4 ingredients and just having to stir rather than using loads of sugar and thermometers.  And here is the result

Hubs and I enjoyed some spread on our toast this morning for breakfast and as there are still quite a few limes and lemons left I can see a second batch coming up over the weekend.

My second first was to make a zippered pouch.   Zips are something to be avoided in my opinion  but I guess  when making a zippered pouch a zipper is essential.   This is my pro-type and I am very pleased how it turned out.    It was quick, easy and uses up small leftovers - a great way to get rid of decent scraps.  I have 5 more zips left and found 5 fabrics to go with them.

Hubs is making good progress with the book and has fallen into the same trap as I did when reading it.    I have asked him where he is up to and I can see from the conversation that we have had about the book so far that he has no idea how the book is going to end.  

I have told him not to read my blog until I tell him.....that will be when he finishes the book so that there is "no spoiler" for him.  

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

 

Peg Bag

I knew that the leftover waterproof fabric that was used to make the change pad for Miss M before she was born would come in for a use one day and today was the day.      There was a very old and tired looking peg basket hanging on the clothesline which was well past its use by date.    Not having done any sewing this week it was off to the sewing room after lunch to whip something up quickly.   I had thought about  making some little zippered pouches which are popping up everywhere on blogs but when I spotted the waterproof fabric  it had to be the peg bag first.      This was a very quick and easy project and I just really followed my nose when making it.   Fortunately the binding was cut and just needed a press so the whole process took just under 30 mins.    The hanger is a child's size one which was lurking in the back of the cupboard so this is really a scrap project from start to finish.

If anyone enjoys reading a good book which hooks you, then reels you in and gives a surprise ending that you do not see coming then I can thoroughly recommend Whispers and Lies by Joy Fielding.

I borrowed this book from our local library and could not put it down until the end.    Hubs is now reading it and he is totally hooked and reeled in  but I have not let on about the ending.  I am sure that he will be just as surprised as me.  

Tomorrow is a public holiday here which means that Miss M will be enjoying the day with her mummy and daddy instead of coming to grandma and grandpa's house and as I have an abundance of limes and lemons given to me by a friend I am going to give making lemon and lime butter a go as well as making a start on some zippered pouches.

Linking with Oh Scrap

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

 

The Magic Pudding

Hubs and I have just returned from a few days at the Mountains and on our way up we stopped off  at the Norman Lindsay Gallery at Faulconbridge.

This was the home of the author of the Magic Pudding.  I have to confess that I have never read the book but  will endeavour to do so in the near future.   The pudding always seems to have a very angry expression on his face and I think that this is the turn-off for me.

Our next stop was for some bush walking - as one does in the Mountains.   Not much further to go to get to the top.

Most of the leaves have now dropped off the trees

However a few colourful ones still remain

Time to check into our accommodation for the next few nights

Our very comfy bed

And spacious lounge area

The temperature can drop very quickly in the Mountains and our maximum yesterday was 5.5 as can be seen on the temperature gauge in the car.

And the fog can settle very quickly also.   This was the view from our room mid-afternoon.

Somewhere out there  beyond the trees is a valley.   Not to be seen during our stay however we were nice and warm inside and rugged up when venturing out.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

 

A queue jumper

I had a mental "in order list" of little things that I wanted to sew but as always plans do get changed and in this case some  good friends have sold their Sydney home very quickly and are heading just over 2 hours north to enjoy a more relaxed and quieter  lifestyle at Tea Gardens.   This move was to happen around September so a small "good luck in your home" gift had to be brought to the top of that list.    Fortunately for me it was FNwF last night  and Chookyblue is hosting a Chookshed party all weekend which gave me permission to sew until I finished what I started......well that is my excuse for not doing anything else last night and again today.

I decided to go with a tabletopper and the recipient  like shades of brown - not my favourite colour but it is not for me - in order  to give it a  lift green was  used.

We are meeting them for lunch next week and after that they will be spending the rest of the time packing as the move takes place early July so you can see why the tabletopper was brought forward.    After giving it a press then having lunch it was back into the sewing room to make a start on the next item on my list which is a wallhanging for a cousin's daughter who is having a baby in August.

As I was going between my sewing room and the house there was an onlooker who was also on the lookout for his lunch.

Linking with Oh Scrap.

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Happy sewing all

Small things

After finishing off two quilts back to back it is time to now concentrate on smaller items that are just as enjoyable to sew  with a quick result.    For June's OMG I have decided on two smaller items using the following fabrics

The olive fabric was one of those that jumped right into my hand when walking past in the shop even though I had no idea what was to become of it at the time and the next two piles fabrics are for a wall hanging.   Both should be doable within the next few weeks.

This week winter arrived very fast and fortunately having had my sewing room tidy the overlocker has been working overtime to produce some warm pants for Miss M which were handed over to her mummy just in time for the cold days that we are now having.

Don't forget that it is Friday Night with Friends tomorrow night over at Gone Stitchin'.

Linking with OMG over at Elm Street Quilts.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all