The Last Post ......For November (Day 30 Post)

Well today is the last day of blogging each day for the month of November.    When about half way through the challenge I did wonder if I would find enough to post about each day but here it is at the end and I still seem to have plenty to say.

I would like to thank those who have visited my blog for the past month and left their lovely comments.    It was encouraging to know that someone was reading my posts.

I have this very pretty and cute fabric in my stash and thought it would look good as a storage pod in Miss M's bedroom.   It will be added into her Santa sack.   You can find the free pattern here.  I did use a very stiff batting in order for it to stand upright on its own even though it does have a hanging loop on the back.

The lining is leftover from the 3D tutu cushion cover that I had made for her earlier on in the year.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

No more flimsy shower caps for me (Day 29 Post)

I am sick of having to replace my shower cap every few months due to the elastic stretching or coming away from the plastic cap.     This problem was finally solved yesterday with some pretty fabric.

And on the inside rip stop nylon was used to make it waterproof.   I used pre-made bias binding to form the casing and slotted some 1/4" elastic through.   This will be so much more sturdy than the very thin hat elastic used in the ones I have been buying.

It is a nice snug fit and I will "christen" it under the shower  today.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Last step in the production Line (Day 28 Post)

At various times during the week the dresses have now moved through to the sewing machine and this is the last one of this batch to go under the needle.

10 little dresses completed

They have joined the other 12 that are hanging in the spare cupboard. 

This now makes a total of 22 dresses made in the last few weeks.  

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Whimsical fabric (Day 27 Post)

I have had this very cute and whimsical fabric in my stash for a while now and it has been sitting there patiently waiting its turn to go from yardage to item.

I teamed it up with some plain royal blue and red fabric and this is what it looks like now.  I forgot to take a photo of the inside lining which is a light colour.    I always use light  coloured fabric for the lining of bags as it makes it so much easier to find all those items which seem to fall to the bottom of the bag.  

I gifted the bag to my mother over the weekend.

I must have had a premonition when I posted about getting dinner ready early yesterday as more storms were forecast.    Gale force winds and lashing rain hit the Sydney metropolitan area at around 1 pm.   Large trees in close by suburbs were ripped from the ground  along with power poles snapped in half  and as a consequence power was lost  to over 50,000 homes with us being one of them.    Our power was restored 5 hours later.

Fortunately we had no damage but many others are still without power and have much damage to their homes and cars.  

Summer has not started yet and we have had such terrible natural disasters.

Back soon and in the meantime

Linking with Peacock Party

                     Finished or not Finished Friday.

Happy sewing all

Fresh from the oven (Day 26 Post)

Come and join us for some morning tea.   A batch of scones and plain buttercake are on offer.    There is nothing like the smell of fresh scones straight from the oven.   If you are thinking that these do not look like a traditional scone then you are quite right.    I do not roll out the scone dough and  use a cutter - I just make a square shaped dough and bake it like that then cut into 12 pieces when cooked through.    Just as delicious without the extra steps.

Yesterday was a day of firsts - I picked the first hibiscus flower of the season

Heard cicadas for the first time as well.

And we had our first decent rainfall in months.    Yeah. 

It did come in the form of 3 storms rolling over in succession and took our power out but it was much needed rain so we cannot grumble.    Power  back on and back to functioning as normal again.   It is forecast for more storms this afternoon.    Better organise dinner in advance.   

Back soon and in the meantime 

Happy sewing all

On the big yellow bus (Day 25 Post)

Yesterday morning I decided  to spend the day in at the Rocks - an historic part of Sydney - so onto the big yellow bus it was for just under an hour's journey.    We have only 5 mins left of the trip into the City.

The bus has arrived.   Most of the  Sydney buses at the moment are "wearing" a moustache to support "Movember".

So time to walk down to The Rocks where I passed by the overseas passenger terminal at Circular Quay.    The area was quite busy as one of the large cruise ships had not long docked and many passengers were disembarking and others waiting to board.  What a great spot for visitors to Sydney to arrive at.    You have the Harbour Bridge on one side and the Opera House on the other.

Every weekend in the Rocks they have an "upmarket market" where all sorts of interesting, unique and varied items can be found.   It is always a fascinating place to wander around and being close to Christmas it was  decked out in decorations.

There were even some snow flakes

Some of the stalls

Time to have a coffee break.   Here you can sit, knit and sip all at the sametime.

I just sat and sipped.

I thoroughly enjoyed my day wandering around the Rocks and the markets.   I was even able to cross off a name or three on my Christmas list.    Very happy about that.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

The NBN is coming (Day 24 Post)

Our footpath and surrounding area was all marked out in blue, white, orange and black  paint during the week in preparation for the NBN.

When looking out the window yesterday the digger has moved in to do what a digger does in order for the cable to be rolled out underground.

The digger in action.   We now have a pile of earth on the footpath.

And a big hole in the front yard. 

I am not sure if this NBN is a good or bad thing.     I suppose time will tell.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

From the cutting table to the overlocker (Day 23 Post)

Yesterday 10 little dresses were zoomed through the overlocker.    It only took just over an hour to do them all.   I just keep feeding all the pieces through and then snip them apart at the end.    Much quicker than separating them as I go.

The next step in the production line is to finish them off with the sewing machine.  It takes approx. 20 mins  for each dress to be finished off by machine.   Much slower than working with the overlocker.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Cut and Ready to Go (Day 22 Post)

I spent sometime during  the course of this last week - in between doing domestics, shopping, gardening and other duties - cutting out the next batch of little dresses.

These are now sitting by the overlocker waiting for the next step in the process line.   The plan is to hopefully have them zoomed through within the next day or two.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Bandana Bibs (Day 21 post)

The next hospital stall is in a couple of weeks and for a change from the traditional type of bib I have made 6 bandana bibs.    I have to say that they are very quick and easy to make and as cute as a button.

If these prove to be very good sellers like the other style of bib then a few more will be made for the next stall.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Smoke gets in your eyes (Day 20 Post)

Yesterday was yet again another day of poor air quality caused by all the smoke from the bushfires that are raging out of control around the State.   These photos were taken from my front yard.  As you can see the blue sky has been replaced by a dirty grey/brown haze.

We have been warned to stay indoors as much as possible for the next couple of days due to Sydney's air quality being the worst in the world at almost 30 times safe levels in some areas.

A good day to hide in my sewing room.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Time to put on my thinking cap (Day 19 post)

Christmas is fast approaching as all the catalogues that keep arriving daily in the letterbox remind me.  Most of the shopping centres are decked out with Christmas decorations and Santa's chair is in place waiting for his arrival within the next few days.  I think that  all these hints around me about Christmas are referred to as " the art of persuasion" to act and do my bit for the economy.

So time to compile my Christmas shopping list and head off to the shops to see what I could find.  First stop the local garden centre to look for some inspiration.    It is a pretty place to wander around

But sadly no gift was suitable for those on my list.   This Christmas shopping and thinking is very exhausting so a lunch stop was in order on our way home.

The list will remain in my wallet until  shopping again next week where hopefully I will have a bit more success and be able to cross at least one name off the list.  I think that all those daily catalogues have done their job "as a persuader" as I have been persuaded to jump into action.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

All wrapped up like a Christmas present (Day 18 post)

Over the course of the last week I had a cut and sew session with some Christmas fabrics and this is the result.

 A few more of these will be made  for my giftie box but I am going to cut the calico strips on either side a 1/2" wider just to give it a more square look.

This is a free pattern and can be found here if you are interested in making some.

Linking with Peacock Party
                      From Bolt to Beauty
                      Finished or not Friday

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Reading material and other matters (Day 17 post)

It is always a treat to start the day with breakfast out which is what hubs and I did yesterday.    I went with the vegetarian option

And hubs went with the more traditional bacon, eggs and all the extras.

After breakfast it was time to tackle the supermarket and then onto the local library to return some books and borrow a few more.   I usually read my way through a book in just over a week depending on the thickness of the book  and how engrossing it is.  

I have read most of Di Morrissey's books as well as a few of Sheila O'Flanagan's and enjoy their style of writing.   A start was made  on  The Missing Wife last night and read quite a bit of it.    

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Four Generations (Day 16 Post)

Is what I have named my sisters table topper that was finished off last night during FNSI.   I chose 4 blocks for this topper for a very significant reason.

And that reason is that there are 4 generations of women in my family.    The top block represents my mother and she is dressed in a small floral print to honour the many hours that she spends in her  garden.   The block underneath her on the left of the screen represents me - I  have a love of aqua and sea colours.   The block next to me on the right of the screen represents my daughter-in-law as blue is her colour.  And of course you have guessed that the bottom one is Miss M all in pink.

I did try laying out the blocks in a row for a tablerunner but there was too much "filling in fabric" to be sewn between the blocks and the impact of the sisters block was lost.

It was a fun project to work on and the blocks would look good in whatever fabric was chosen.    The possibilities are endless on how to dress the sisters.

Here is a close up of the quilting.   As you can see I quilted down the front of the dresses and then did quite a bit of stitching in the ditch around the rest of the bodies, arms and heads.

You can pop on over here to see what else was achieved during FNSI.    Thanks goes to Wendy for hosting another fun and productive Friday night.

This was my nominated OMG project for November.

Linking with Peacock Party.
                      Finished or not Friday
                      From Bolt to Beauty
                      OMG

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all   

Half way point (Day 15 post)

Fifteen days I ago I signed up to NaBloPoMo (doing a daily blog post each day for the month of November) and today is the halfway point.

Firstly I would like to thank those who have visited my blog and left a comment each day.   There are still 15 days left to go of the challenge which hopefully I can meet and those who have been kind enough to visit and  comment will continue to do so.

Don't forget that it is the 3rd Friday of the month which means that tonight is FNSI and you can sign up here to join in the fun.

My goal for tonight is to finish off my tabletopper and be able to share it for my Day 16 post.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

On my walk early this morning (Day 14 Post)

Through the  Warriewood Wetlands  I noticed this rather large eel taking a leisurely swim through one of the overflow areas.

I have seen on previous occasions its partner but could not locate it today.

It is amazing what you have to share the footpath with at times.  Now that I think about it do horses have the right to use the footpath or should they use the road in suburban areas?  

My tabletopper is now sandwiched, pinned and marked out for quilting.

Back soon and in the meantime  

Happy sewing all

A State of Emergency (Day 13 Post)

Was declared in NSW yesterday as over 85 fires raged around the State with 36 of these not contained.   Many  of these fires have been burning now for several weeks.   Due to the unprecedented conditions a Catastrophic fire danger was in place.    This is the first time that this rating has been placed on the Greater Sydney region.    Hundreds of schools throughout the State were closed for the day and some still remain closed.

Hubs and I live in the northern beaches area and this is considered  a bushfire prone area with warnings being issued throughout the day to be bushfire prepared and ready to go if necessary.   Fortunately for us the closest fire was approx. 25 kms away.    Unfortunately for many in other regions around the State they were not so lucky with the loss of lives and hundreds have lost their homes.

Our thoughts go out to them and of course there is a huge loss of wildlife.   Very sad.

A cooler wind change overnight has now seen the fire danger downgraded to "Extreme fire danger" but many fires are still out of control so caution is still needed.   Sadly some of these fires are  considered to be deliberately lit.    What possesses people to do such a thing?????

While listening to the updates throughout the day I took the time to put my sisters tabletopper together.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

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.      

Back soon and in the meantime

 

Happy sewing all