15.2 Sky Colour Challenge

The challenge was issued - take inspiration from the colours of the sky but exclude or use less than 10% of the usual blue.  

Sydney in summer can be very stormy.   

You can see more "skies" here.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

From one Extreme to another

Australia Day started out as a warm day and the temperature climbed as the day progressed.  We do not usually have temperatures this high were we live along the coast.  

The only way to start the day was with a swim 

Then it was time to join in with the Chookshed stitchers for a Zoom session

During our talk Janet who lives in the US took us all for a "walk" in the snow.   It was actually snowing while this was taken.  

Hubs and I had planned an Australia Day picinic on our patio but seeing that it was so hot we decided to have it inside in the cool of the airconditioning.   

While Zooming along with the others I finished off a beanie and started another.    This a different pattern to the one that I usually make.   Being smaller it knits up very quickly and does not have a pom pom.  

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

FNSI

An early start was made yesterday after a long lunch to celebrate hubs and mine 51st wedding anniversary.   Hubs favourite meal is fish and chips and I cannot go past the salmon fillet and dessert is a real treat for us as we do not eat it at home. I enjoyed the lemon tart and hubs the mini pavlova with fresh fruit and of course a glass of bubbles each.      

After Miss M left us during the week to return home the domestics that had been ignored during her stay were attended to it was time to head to the sewing room and pick up where I left off with the cross body bags.   All that was left yesterday to finish them off was to sew up the side seams, turn them right way out and give them a quick press.    Here is the result

That now completes my #6 nomination for the Chookshed stitchers monthly challenge.  Looking forward to seeing which number comes up next month.

The saying "do not judge a book by its cover" is so true when it came to reading the last book club choice.

When given this book my first thought was "this looks suitable for an 8 year old and rather silly".  I had put the book aside for several weeks as we had 2 months to read it due to the Christmas/New Year period.   When making a start I was repulsed at an early stage in the first chapter when the octopus grabbed the cleaner by the arm - my horror that some creepy crawly will get on me - and left what looked it suction cap marks all up her arm which she tried to hide for several days until they faded.   At that point I said to myself give it until the end of Chapter 2 and then decide if to continue reading or just skim enough to discuss with the group.

By the end of Chapter 2 I was hooked and found that I was picking up the book at every available moment and could not wait to see how it finished.    While the octopus was the main theme of the book there were several other characters who were vital to the story line each with their own story to tell.

It was interesting to hear that the other members of the group also had my initial thoughts about the book and we all ended up being pleasantly surprised and would highly recommend it to anyone.   This book was a "wild card" pick by the library for us.    It was noted that this was the first book written by the author and we hope that she has further books ahead of her which we look forward to reading when available.  

Our next book is one that I listened to as an audiobook last year so it will be a skim read just to refresh myself as to the storyline and characters.   

In the meantime my reading pile includes these four books

And this audio book is keeping me company in the sewing room.

Don't forget to go over here to see what other crafters did last night during FNSI.

Linking with January chookshed  challenge

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

#6 Mid monthly check in

My nominated #6 goal for the Chookshed Stitchers monthy challenge was to make some cross body bags. Progress to date

As you can see two are not far off being finished and two are  at the cut out stage.  I have come to a standstill and no more progress will be made until next week as Miss M is staying with us at present. 

Time has been spent at the Waterworks - Miss M sliding the tubes not me.

Catching the ferry into the city and back home again

 

And tomorrow we are off to the beach.

You can check out the other challengers here.  

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

15.1 Bird House Challenge

Trish the challenge mistress has taken over Kim Lapacek from Persimon Dreams blog and  has put up the first challenge which is "bird house" and this can be interpreted in many ways.    Some chicken fabric has been in the stash just waiting to be used but firstly I needed to check if chickens did fall within the bird family and this is what my research found chickens are birds because they have feathers, wings and beaks.   

When making a hen house one requires chicken wire.

Putting in the darts

Quilting and darts completed in both the top and bottom

And here are the chickens and roosters safely penned in their house surrounded with chicken wire.

Thank you for organising a fun challenge.  I look forward to seeing what the next one will be.

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

FNwF

I have been working on and off during the week on a couple of summer nighties for myself and finished them off when joining in with FNwF last night.   I have had this pattern for more years than I  care to remember and have used it many times to make myself nighties over that time.    

I took the top from style 3 subtracted the frill, added the skirt from style 2 and came up with what I wanted.   

This time when making the nighties it was decided to put an inverted pleat in the front and back which eliminated the need to do any gathering.    Smart thinking I thought as it gave me the fullness in the nightie - nothing worse than sleeping in tight attire - without all the adjusting and fiddling that goes with doing gathers.   Getting smart in my old age!!!!!  The photo below shows my version with the pleat.

At the recent Christmas market I was approached by someone asking if I would make her some adult bibs and as promised I went to see her during the week to discuss.   A pattern was drafted  before seeing her so that the neck, width and length measurements were to her satisfaction.   And here is the results of that.  She was delighted with both bibs when they were delivered yesterday.  

  

Thanks Cheryll for having us all around again last night.  

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

A New Year.....

Began today and it is time to reflect on the past year and see what happened and what has changed.  Looking back on my post at the same time last year not much has changed in the way of many things.

COVID is still circulating in the community and keeps breaking out worldwide with a new mutation from time to time.    Life has had to go on regardless and we have had to learn to live with it.  Fortunately hubs and I have managed to escape it so far ( I hope this will not jinx us) but we are lucky enough to be in a position where we are not travelling on public transport in crowded peak hours or attend large and crowded events.  

The war involving Russia and Ukraine still rages on with no end in sight and during the latter part of the year there was conflict between Israel  and  Palestine - again with no end in sight.    Many innocent civilians have lost their lives on both sides of these conflicts.   

Floods and cyclones again have battered Far North Queensland as well as severe storms causing power outages to many thousands of homes,  widespread damage from golf ball size hail stones and strong winds all along the east coast of Australia.     Fortunately hubs and I have had no damage to our property.

I have had a very successful year in respect to having an outlet for my sewing with the opportunity to take a stall on 3 occasions during the year with the biggest event being the Spring Fair held in September.    It took a lot of work both on the sewing front in order to have a good variety of items to sell and also as a member of the organising committee for all the behind scenes work that needs to happen in order for the day to run smoothly.    The recent Christmas market was also very successful for me and there is to be an open day here in March so a list will need to be compiled soon of items to be sewn. 

I have joined in a monthly challenge along with many other Chookshed stitchers and look forward to making a start on that.   No 6 has just been announced and for me that is making cross body bags.  Time will be spent this afternoon pulling fabrics and zips from the stash.     I did have a last minute finish for 2023 while "Zooming" along with some of the other challengers on Saturday and that was to sew up three beanies, make 3 pom poms and stitch them on.

And my first make for 2024 was an order that I had for a snap top bag but it had to be a certain size to fit a mini Ipad and a charger.  It was finished off this morning and will be delivered this afternoon.    This was left over fabric from a nightie that was cut out during the week.   It is such a lovely piece of cotton fabric and pretty design I thought that I could get away with using it for the bag as the person who ordered the bag will never see  my nightie.   

My wish for all is a happy and healthy 2024 with lots and lots of 

Happy sewing all