Wednesday, December 28, 2022

The Best of 2022 Linky Party

2022 saw a change in direction in my sewing room.    It all began in December 2021 when I took part in a craft day stall.  This was the first time that I had taken a stall table to sell my sewing and I was more than pleased with the result.     

During the month of February I was asked if I would like to take another stall table at an open market day and following on from the success of my first venture into this area I jumped at the chance to take part.  


I was over the moon with the sales on the day and the many compliments that I received from those who bought from me.    

This encouraged me to take part in a Spring Fair in September where I was able to increase the variety of items sold as well as double those items which sold well and also increase my table size from one to two.   A big thank you goes to all those that I Zoom with over at the Chook Shed stitchers who gave me plenty of suggestions for good selling items and lots of encouragement along the way.  


Following on from both these stalls this year I have received quite a few orders for bowl cosies, cross body bags, hanging hand towels, placemats, wine bottle gift bags, baby's bibs, glasses cases and around the neck  mobile phone holders.   

I joined in quite a few blog hops during the course of the year which are always fun and make you think outside the square.     The last one being my favourite.    You can read about my interpretation of the challenge here - Music blog hop.   


Foodie  was my brightest blog hop.   


Tickled Pink would have to bring a smile to your face.    There is nothing more ticklish than a feather especially a pink one.


It was fun looking back over the 74 posts made during the past year and a hard decision as to which were my favourites in respect to sewing.   

Thank you to Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs for organising a fun linky party.   You can see more eye candy over here.   

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Tuesday, December 27, 2022

Last OMG and Table scraps for 2022

My December OMG was to complete 2 secret sewing projects for Christmas presents.   Mission accomplished.   First item was a tote bag.                                                         

And the second item was an armchair caddy.  Shown over the back of one of our breakfast bar chairs as the arms on our chairs are too wide. 


Both recipients were very happy with their gifts and I was happy that they were happy.   

Thank you Patty for organising OMG since 2017.   It is a great way to get items to the finish line as well as be inspired and encouraged by others.   You can see more OMG projects for December here.

During the year I have been playing along with Joy at the Joyful Quilter and joining in with Tablescraps which is run in conjunction with the rainbow scrap challenge each month.    I elected to make 3 baby's bibs each month from the nominated colour and these are then donated to Network heaven for a creche in Sri Lanka.

The ones shown below were the colours for January to June which were collected earlier in the year for packaging and shipping in September.


And these are the colours for July to October.   They will be included in next year's shipment.  


Unfortunately the green slabs have not progressed any further since October.  They have been put on the "to do list" for early 2023.  

I look forward to joining in the RSC and Tablescraps again next year.   

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Thursday, December 22, 2022

Happy Christmas

 


Wishing you all a very happy and safe Christmas.   Enjoy whichever way you celebrate.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Saturday, December 17, 2022

FNSI and Which is Worse........

No power or no water.    It was just on 12 months ago that a destructive storm ripped through our area and left us without power for 30 hours.   No power means no hot showers, cooking, sewing, watching  tv or access to the internet, using of washing machine or dishwasher, no mobile phones or landlines.  If you are lucky and can find some batteries the right size you can listen to the radio for current updates as you are completely cut off from the outside world.  

On Tuesday a water main burst not far from where we live and as a consequence there was no water.  No water means no showers of any kind - hot or cold - no use of washing machine or dishwasher,  cooking is limited to something that does not involve water, no toilet flushing, having a sink full of dirty dishes.  Using hand sanitiser instead of good old soap and water for many washes results in "sticky" hands.   Trying to clean one's teeth using mineral water  was a "frothy" disaster  and one that would not want to be repeated again.  

The water went off around 1 pm and had still not been restored at 11 pm when I went to bed although we could hear much drilling and could see bright lights around the area that was being worked on throughout the night.  Getting up at 5.30 am on Wednesday morning found that we had a little bit of running water.   The pressure was very low but enough to get a quick shower and organise breakfast.    It was lovely to finally wash all that sanitiser off our hands and clean our teeth properly.    

On driving out of the driveway I was confronted by this.   There were two water tankers hooked into our water supply hence the low pressure but having said that we were very grateful for the flowing water again.     

It would be interesting to know how many tankers would have been needed to cater for the needs of our retirement village as the property is spread out over 11 acres.   

Looking further up the road this was the scene with many more vehicles coming and going during the time that it took to do the necessary repair work.

It took over 28 hours to restore water to the whole of the affected suburbs.  

The plan was to head to the supermarket early on Wednesday morning if we still had no water and buy quite a few litres to at least give us drinking water and fill up a basin for handwashing.   Once the water began to trickle again I did pull some jugs out of the cupboard and fill them up  "just in case" it went off again.  

So after these two experiences of no power and water for an extended period of time on each occasion I still do not know which is worse.    I am glad that I was not a pioneer woman as neither of these life necessities would have been available to me at the flick of a switch or turn of a tap.  

FNSI

Fortunately having no water did not stop me from using my sewing machine.

Two items remained on the  sewing "to do list" before Christmas and they have now been ticked off.  First up is the set of 3 placemats which were finished off last night when joining in the FNSI.    


Miss M and her parents are big cat lovers so these placemats  have found their way into their Christmas stockings.  

During the week a peasant top was completed for Miss M.


As well as a twirly skirt for her.


That is it for me as far as my Christmas sewing is concerned.   All that is left to do is the last minute food shopping as I have been asked to bring a fruit and cheese platter on Christmas Day.   An easy one to organise.  

The big red ball of yarn is still going.  Another two beanies have been completed.    That makes 15 beanies so far from that ball of red yarn.    My knitting group is of the opinion that the ball is definitely shrinking.   


I keep buying those berries each week when shopping and often add in some passionfruits as well.  They go down very well on our breakfast cereal of a morning. 
 

I caught up with some friends for a pre-Christmas lunch and was gifted this gorgeous bundle of 20 Tula Pink fq's.    Now to find a design to showcase these mouthwatering fabrics.    


That was the last FNSI for 2022.   Thanks to Wendy for organising and I look forward to joining in again in the New Year.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all  

Tuesday, December 13, 2022

Unexpected Orders

Last week I was asked if I could make a small cross bag.  Done and delivered.  


Then an order for 4 Christmas print wine bottle gift bags came in.   Done and delivered.  


The latest audio book that was keeping me company while the above sewing was happening.  


And my night time reading is one written by a relative new Australian author.    This book is her first novel only being published this year.  


I did find time to catch up with two friends for a coffee and we had the pleasure of an extra one join us.


He was very well behaved but believe that he has been up to some trouble over the past two weeks.  

All that remains on the "to do list" before Christmas in the sewing room is to finish off the set of 3 placemats and make a skirt and top for Miss M.   They won't be happening today as hubs and I are off out to a Christmas lunch.    The washing machine has just finished doing what washing machines do so I will head off and do my bit of hanging the washing out.


Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Wednesday, December 7, 2022

Its a Wrap

 Secret sewing is completed and ready to go

The Christmas tree is twinkling away and presents wrapped and sitting underneath


Just need to finish off the placemats and perhaps an outfit for Miss M if time permits then I can safely say all ready for the big day in just over 2 weeks time.  

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Friday, December 2, 2022

Berry-delicious, OMG for December & FNwF

Who can resist platefuls of berries - strawberries, blueberries and blackberries.   Not me.

Hubs and I have been enjoying them on our breakfast cereal for the past few days.  

Today hubs and I met up with friends for an early Christmas get together lunch.    I cannot go past the  salad bowl when eating out at this venue.


Seeing that the kitchen was closed tonight due to eating lunch out an early start was made in the sewing room for FNwF.    Some secret sewing was happening using these fabrics.     This is my nominated OMG for December.  


I also have plans to sew up a set of 3 placemats using this cute cat fabric.


I am enjoying my latest book.   It is set in Sydney in the late 1800's and talks about many of the streets that I was wandering around earlier in the week as well as describing many of the streets of Manly and the trip across the harbour on the Manly ferry.   


Must away as I need to go and pack the car for tomorrow morning as I am on the set up shift at the hospital stall - this is the last one for year and the next one will not be until February.   

Back soon and in the meantime

  Happy sewing all