Friday, January 29, 2021

Table Scraps Challenge

When it was announced over at the Joyful Quilter's blog that she was organising a table scraps challenge  that is being run in conjunction with the nominated rainbow scrap challenge colour each month which happens to be pink  this month I immediately thought of a pink flower.    A pink hibicus to be precise.    For sometime a tabletopper has been on the to do list featuring such a flower.     I have this fabric scrap that has been sitting around forever that gave me the outline to trace for my flower.


Here is the tabletopper with my version of a pink hibicus flower.    I just quilted around the shape of the flower.  

Looking forward to seeing what February's  RSC colour will be for my next table scrap item.

Linking with Put Your Foot Down

                      TGIFF

                      Tablescraps

                      Finished or not Friday

                      So Scrappy

                      Patchwork & Quilts   

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Friday, January 22, 2021

Hearts on Fire Blog Hop

Another fun blog hop has been organised by Carol - this time Hearts on Fire.      The rules are

Make something with a heart in any color, BUT NOT RED...get creative!
It can be big or small, in a quilt, a bag, or whatever.


What to make was the next question.  After doing some research via Pinterest and going back through some projects that had been bookmarked over the years I found what would be appropriate - heartshaped and could be any colour.    A pair of matching heart shaped pot holders.    I used the backing fabric as the trim on the front and for the hanging loop as you can see below.  


It did occur to me that if ever these hearts were on fire it could end up being a disaster in the kitchen.  

To see more Hearts on Fire head on over to the following:

January 18

Creatin' in the Sticks

Life in the Scrapatch

Freckled Fox Quiltery

All Thingz Sewn

Den Syende Himmel

That Fabric Feeling

 January 19

MooseStashQuilting

Websterquilt

Words & Stitches

Vroomans Quilts

Quilt Schmilt

Cynthia's Creating Ark

Songbird Designs

 January 20

Selina Quilts

Stitchin At Home

Samelia's Mum

Just Sew Quilter

Scrapdash

Karrin’s Crazy World

The Darling Dogwood

 January 21

Quilt Fabrication

Ms P Designs USA

Beaquilter

Becky’s Adventures in Quilting and Travel

Ridge Top Quilt

For The Love Of Geese

Sew Many Yarns

Quilting Gail

January 22

Just Let Me Quilt

Karen's Korner

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Quilt In A Not-Shell

Storied Quilts

Kathy's Kwilts and More

Homespun Hannah's Blog

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

In and out of the Sewing Room

First up hubs and I celebrated our 48th wedding anniversary today.    We were given a bottle of Moet at Christmas time and thought it was fitting to enjoy it for our wedding anniversary.

I was given this jigsaw puzzle for Christmas and was itching to make a start.   

And I can report that it is now a finish.

While out in the garden I spotted this empty bird nest that had fallen out of a tree.    How intricately it was woven and had the softest lining inside.    How clever is mother nature.  

One of my goals for this year was to learn two techniques - one being scrappy applique.     Progress so far

Linking with Put Your Foot Down

                      Finished or Not Friday  

                      Patchwork & Quilting

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Friday, January 15, 2021

Landscape Quilt & FNSI

A few weeks ago I mentioned that some secret sewing was happening well I can reveal what it was all about now.    My very good friend June from June's Jottings and her hubby are celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary and I wanted to make a gift for them both that reflected their lives together.    They love to travel around Australia in their caravan and in particular they stay for up to 6 weeks at a time at the Bjelke Petersen Dam every year.   June did send me a photo of the dam quite sometime ago and this is what I worked off.

While at the dam June and Peter like to spend time fishing  so when making this landscape quilt for them I added a caravan and a fishing boat.    I thought they should have a good day on the dam and  a fish was included.   Anyway here is my version of the original photo.  


The fabric chosen for the border reminds me of the greens and greys of the Australian native bush so I thought it was a fitting choice.  

Wishing them both a very happy  25th wedding anniversary and many more to come.

Not a great deal happened in the sewing room this past week due to organising our belated family Christmas lunch  last Sunday and Miss M stayed on with us for a couple of exra days after that but I have been working on some pot holders for the next hospital auxiliary stall which is due to be held next month - COVID permitting.    I put the binding on a of couple of them when joining Wendy and the other crafters  for the first FNSI of 2021.   Now that I have 5 fabric  baskets all loaded up with the appropriate colour scraps it is easy to put my hand into them and pull out a handful of each colour.    No more rummaging through jumbled up small plastic containers.   

                                       
 
Time was found to finish reading "The Tea Gardens" which I thoroughly enjoyed right from the beginning.  

Linking with Put Your Foot Down
                      TGIFF
                      Finished or not Friday
                      Quilting, Patchwork & Applique
                     Meadow Mist Designs

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Friday, January 8, 2021

Pink things and FNwF

I spent FNwF  finishing off my pink scrap fabric basket.     

I now have a blue, green, yellow, purple and pink fabric basket in my collection.    Thought was also given to what my pink table scrap item will be.    No action happened but a plan has been formulated.  More on that front later when something is started.

I also finished off a snap top bag that was started last year and put to one side.

Don't forget to head on over here to see more FNwF happenings.   

The pink basket was my nominated OMG for January.   

Linking with Put Your Foot Down

                      Friday Finished or Not

                      RSC

                      Quilting, Patchwork Applique  

                      Elm Street Quilts           

It was announced early today that those of us living in the northern zone of the Northern Beaches area of Sydney will have our restrictions lifted from midnight tomorrow night which means that we can join the rest of our family and have our belated Christmas Day celebrations.     I am off to defrost the turkey and do a bit of cooking so that we can enjoy our lunch on Sunday.  

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Tuesday, January 5, 2021

Some Secret Sewing

 Has been happening in the sewing  room of late.     This is all that I can share at this point.

                                            

I will be working on this during  FnwF which is organised by Cheryl on the first Friday night of each month but seeing that last week was New Year's Eve she moved it to this coming Friday night.   Some lucky people were allowed out to celebrate the occasion.  Even though hubs and I are locked down that did not deter us from having our annual VIP party - him and me.     We shared a bottle of bubbles and some nibbles.


As you can see our Christmas tree is  twinkling away with the presents still waiting to be opened.  We are hopeful that can happen this weekend.  

I will be back later on in the month to share the end result of my secret sewing with you.  

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Friday, January 1, 2021

Goodbye 2020 and First Sewing challenges for 2021

Well what can I say other than 2020 has been a different and difficult year for all of us.   Life changed dramatically in many ways and in some cases still has.    While masks in some parts of our country were never mandatory it was recommended when out and about that they were worn which in turn saw many of us sewists making masks for family and friends.     I ended up making a total of 20 masks. 


Many started working from home, parents became teachers overnight,  you consulted the doctor via the  phone.    More and more people turned to on-line shopping, having meals delivered and when the local libraries were able to re-open you could get home delivered library books.      Zoom, Facetime and Skyping became the new norm where to meet up and have a chat, coffee or  sewing sessions together via the screen.  

Shopping did prove a bit of a challenge  as there were shortages of several items for a period of time and customer numbers were limited in shops that were open.   You were greeted at shop entrances with hand sanitiser and hand washing stations as well as having to follow the arrows on the floor around the various isles.

During the height of the pandemic when we were restricted to a "partial lockdown" my garden received much attention that it was desperately needing.   Many books were added to the "read list".    Jigsaw puzzles were dug out from the bottom of the cupboard in the garage where they have been stored for many years and long walks were all part of the day.   


Sewing was a big part of my life during the year and while large sized quilts were not made my projects included many smaller items such as cot size quilts,  coasters, tablemats, tablerunners, wallhangings, fabric baskets, babies' bibs, aprons for adults and children etc.    At the beginning of the year I set a couple of goals to reach  namely a landscape quilt and a collage quilt both of which were achieved.  





Hubs and I along with the members of our immediate and extended families were all spared the horrors and effects of suffering with COVID and apart from not being able to visit each other in person for quite sometime we count ourselves amongst the lucky ones. 

As the year  progressed restrictions on social activities were relaxed somewhat which meant that we were able to meet up with groups of family and friends both inside and outside our homes again so life for us had just about returned to normal for which we are thankful.    Travelling overseas as we have known in the past will not be available  for sometime to come but we can now move around our own country freely which was not the case for many months.    Many families living in different States were unable to see each other and even within different local Council areas were unable to travel.  

When I  originally started typing this post little did I know that there was going to be an out break  in our local area just 10 days prior to Christmas which ended up seeing hubs and I as well as thousands of others being locked down and not able to join our families for Christmas Day.   We are on lockdown now until 9th January with a review to be made then and hopefully restrictions will be eased.      

That was 2020 and hopefully as we move forward into the New Year progress will be made medically so none of us will need to experience such a nightmare again in our lifetime.    I did say to Miss M -  even though she was only 6  at the time when COVID was at its worst -  she is living through what will become a major part of history and when  older  will be able to tell her grandchildren about the times when she could not go to school or the  park, visit her family or play with friends, the year that our family Christmas Day was put on hold as well as wearing a mask when outside your home was part of lives for many months.

I am linking up with Elm Street quilts again this year for OMG.    My goal for January is to turn these pink scraps into my next fabric basket. 
I had made a bit of a start a few weeks ago but put it away to have a break from 2 1/2” squares. I still need to cut quite a few in order to get it finished.

Over at the Joyful Quilter a new challenge - Table Scraps - is being held on the last Saturday of each month.   It involves making anything that covers a table from a mug rug to a runner and the colour is to correspond to that chosen for  the RSC each month.    Seeing that pink is the colour for January I will keep going with the pink scraps.

Wishing you all a safe, happy and healthy 2021.   Cheers everyone.   

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all