Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Lucky Me

I was one of the lucky winners drawn in PQ 14.1 - The First one -  and scored this gorgeous  3 yard bundle of pink fabrics.

A big thank you goes to Persimon for organising the challenges and to  Electric Needle for donating my lovely prize.   

I was surprised when I opened my front door late yesterday afternoon and there was this package sitting outside. 

It only took 10 days to arrive from the States.    Amazing.   I have known it to take longer for postage to be delivered within Australia.  

I will have fun looking and thinking about what to make with the fabrics.   

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Thursday, January 26, 2023

TGIFF - Wine bottle gift bags

The first hospital auxiliary stall for 2023 will be held on the first Saturday of February and I needed to sew up some items.    Wine bottle gift bags were a big seller on my stalls so with that in mind I thought I would make a few for the hospital stall and see how they sell.     While the cutting and sewing was happening I just kept going and made a few more for my giftie/stall box.


Last Sunday was a wet cool and miserable day so what better way to spend such a day than in the sewing room.    The afternoon was devoted to cutting out some bibs and tooth fairy pillows which will also be for the hospital stall.  The tooth fairy pillows were also a big hit on my stalls so it will be interesting to see how they sell on the hosptial stall.   Better get a wriggle on and set to sewing them up in order to have them ready.  


While all this cutting and sewing was happening this audio book was playing alongside me.   This is the second Jane Harper book that I have read/listened to and have enjoyed both.    


My current bedtime reading is Showtime by Judy Nunn but not finding it as engaging as some of her books that I have read in the past however I will see it through to the end.


Linking up with TGIFF.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Friday, January 20, 2023

50th wedding anniversary & FNSI

Hubs and I reached a milestone today -  our 50th wedding anniversary.  

We treated ourselves to  lunch at our favourite restaurant.

 And bought  a new car to celebrate.   After much research hubs decided on the model and I picked the colour so it was a team effort.   The order was placed many months ago and it was exciting to take delivery of it.   There is nothing like that  showroom shine and new car smell.  


Hubs is standing alongside our new "chariot" in the showroom watching on while the plates are being attached.  

A lot has happened in those 50 years.  Children,  travel both within Australia and overseas,  retirement, a grand child, 3 moves in our married lives.    Our first home was a 2 bedroom unit, then we moved to the family home where we lived for 45 years which was sold nearly 2 years ago and we could not be happier in our new home.  


We received this lovely arrangement of flowers today from my parents


And this elegant set of gold rimmed champagne glasses and cross stitch from our very dear and long standing friend June of 46 years and her husband Peter as well as phone calls and emails from various friends and family members.


I did get sometime early this morning to head into the sewing room for a little while before going out to lunch and managed to make a start on sewing up some wine bottle gift bags.    


Thanks Wendy for taking on the job of hosting us all again on the 3rd Friday night of each month for another fun night of sewing and crafting with likeminded others.

I just heard the champagne cork pop out in the kitchen so I am going to finish up here and enjoy another glass of bubbles along with some nibbles.  

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Monday, January 16, 2023

PQ 14.2 challenge

Any shade of pink or anything pink goes for this challenge.    I have had this small project in mind  for a couple of weeks now and what perfect timing to move it forward in the "to do queue".    Fabric cut .

Applique done on the front and the pocket stitched to the back.   Both sides ready to be sewn together.

What little girl does not love pink sparkly things especially to put your tooth in for the toothfairy to collect with the hope of some cash being left in the pocket.

Message for toothfairy printed.


Toothfairy pillow from the front and back and all ready to go.  


Don't forget to go over here to see more pretty in pink projects.  

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all 

Thursday, January 12, 2023

The Big Red Ball ........

Of  yarn is no more I am pleased to announce.  This is what the ball looked like back in August of last year when the challenge was set.

The last beanie to be cast on earlier in the week.    The tail was used to sew up the beanie so no red yarn was left unused.  


A total of 18 red and contrasting coloured beanies all with red pom poms are now complete and will be donated to the Far West Childrens Home at Manly.  


Needless to say that I will not be knitting with red, navy,  beige, black and grey coloured yarn for sometime to come.  

Time to get stuck into the sewing room and make a plan for this year seeing that there is no commitment at this point  but I do want to make a list and have a direction in which to go so that items are not started and then end up in the WIP corner - my pet hate as it annoys me to see fabric and time wasted.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Saturday, January 7, 2023

A decision was made and FNwF

I have been waxing and waning for a couple of months now between taking a stall in February but decided on New Year's day that I will give this one a miss with the reason being that in order to make it successful there has to be a good amount and variety of items to sell and with the success of the last stall a lot of sewing needed to be done even though there is still about 5 weeks to go I could not see myself spending the required amount of time in the sewing room in order to achieve this as well as attending to everyday activities that need to happen.

Now that that decision has been made I will continue to make items and put them aside in my giftie box and take part in another stall later on in the year if the opportunity arises otherwise my gift giving will be covered for sometime to come.  Some of the items will also be donated to the hospital auxiliary stall.   Either way I get the pleasure of sewing the items and using up my stash.  

I went to Spotty today to buy two reels of threads and this fabric somehow fell into my basket.   They really do need to make the shelving safer so that fabric cannot fall off as you are passing.   I do see aprons, bowl cosies, placemats, pot holders and bibs swimming before my eyes.   The calico is needed for the lining of bottle bags and the grey is a backing fabric for ???????  quilt.     It does pay to be prepared for any sewing emergency which may crop up.


Some holiday reading has been happening over the past couple of weeks.



The second book is an interesting topic and one which is not explored too much from the donor's point of view.  

Not much happened in the sewing room last night when joining in with FNwF other than 3 red pom poms being made as Miss M is staying with us for a few days.  


Don't forget to head on over here to see what other crafting was happening last night  during FNwF.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Wednesday, January 4, 2023

The First One

I have joined in with Challenge 1 of Project Quilting over at Persimon Dreams.   Each week a new challenge theme is announced which entails a finished project seen from beginning to end.   It does not need to be a quilt just have at least one of the following requirements - patchwork, applique, have 3 layers stitched together by hand or machine.   Sounds interesting.  To kick off the New Year the theme is "the First one".   It can be the first anything so with that in mind my first finish for the year is a set of placemats using that coffee themed fabric that followed me home a couple of weeks ago.    

The fabric used for the side borders reminds me of coffee beans so that had to be pulled from the stash.  

Gathering the fabrics


Quilting the three layers together by machine


And the final step - the finish.


Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Sunday, January 1, 2023

Happy New Year and Looking back

2022  was an eventful year with respect to some family members health.   Fortunately most of the issues have been resolved and life is pretty much back to normal for those involved.    

The world seems to be getting on with life even though COVID19 is prevalent within our community, country and worldwide.   We have noticed a change in attitude and habits in many of our family members and friends in regard to travel, work commitments, shopping and many other everyday activities which are now approached with caution.   Fortunately we were able to have Christmas this year - quite different from 2 years ago when Christmas for our area was cancelled.   Our family was able to celebrate the Day with 4 generations around the table again.    

At the beginning of the year I took on the role of Publicity Officer for our local hospital auxiliary which involves posting photos and information on Facebook about our stalls each month as well as meeting dates.    At the beginning of the year stalls and meetings were "on then off"  because of COVID but we held many successful stalls towards the end of the year raising nearly $10,000.  All of the items are handmade by volunteers and we have many repeat customers each month.     The money raised from these stalls goes towards purchasing equipment that is on a "wish list" given to the Auxiliary by the hospital.  

I was quite busy in the sewing room sewing up items for a couple of stalls and subsequent orders.   I have been informed that there is going to be another Open Day here in February and asked if I would like to take another stall.   I am still thinking about it but need to make up my mind soon if there is to be a reasonable amount and variety of items.  

I have been thinking about specific goals this year in relation to sewing and  see one quilt in my future using the Tula Pink fabrics that I was gifted at Christmas.     There has been lots of fabric patting and much research on a design as the fabrics are mostly large bold prints that need to be cut in a way to do justice to them.    I am leaning towards square in a square 12" block but that is not set in cement.  If anyone can give me suggestions they would be gratefully received. 

Using up my stash is a definite priority and trying not to buy more fabric when out.   That is always hard to stick by as there is always a piece or three to tempt me as you just never know when you may need it for something somewhere.  Like this fabric that was calling to me the other day.  

Just perfect for aprons and placemats don't you agree.   

Kris from Tag Along Teddies has been running OPAM for many years and has decided not to continue. A big thank you goes to her for keeping us motivated and moving items to the finish line.   I have decided to still keep a record of my finishes on the sidebar for my own interest.    

Queen Elizabeth 11 died  on 8th September at the age of 96.   She had been on the throne for 70 years and she is the longest serving British monarch.  She was succeeded by her eldest son Charles - now known as King Charles 111.  

Large areas of the east coast of Australia had the worst flooding in decades during the year and some areas are still being affected as the water heads south.   Many houses were swept away and many more damaged beyond being habitable.   As I type many people are still displaced and living in temporary accommodation.   Sadly quite a few lost their lives.  

During February Russia invaded Ukraine in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War which began in 2014.    The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides and caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War 11.   Many millions have been displaced and many more have fleed the country.   There does not appear to be an end to this disaster. 

Hopefully the coming year will prove to be a better one for all of us.   

Wishing you all a safe and happy New Year 


Back soon and in the meantime

 Happy sewing all