FNSI

I had good intentions of joining in again this month however after a week of feeling "blah" with a stomach bug that is doing the rounds I did not feel up to sewing on Friday night however it was a lovely day yesterday (Saturday) so I spent the afternoon being very productive - cutting out a very bright summer gown for hubby - more on that when it is together, cutting out borders for a quilt that I am currently working on and finishing off two more bags for my giftie box.

The first photo shows the bag for my sister-in-law and the black, white and red one is for my mother.




As well as the above I also managed to do some magazine research for one or two future projects. So all in all whilst I was not able to accomplish anything on Friday night I was pleased with my effort yesterday and I will be ready for next month's FNSI. I look forward to checking out everyone's blogs to see what they achieved.

All done

Well I am pleased to report that I have finally finished my scrap quilt and I am pleased with the result. After spending last weekend trying to overcome my fear of FMQ which I did on the blue outside border the binding was finished off last night. It is a true scrap quilt in every sense of the word and I even scrapped the back with left over backings from other quilts. All the fabric used on the backing and the binding can also be found in the quilt top.



And here is a close up of my FMQ although I did use a colour to blend in so all mistakes will be hard to see.



It is another gorgeous day here so me and my sewing machine are going to go outside and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine while I make another bag for my giftie box.

Friday night sew-in

Now that the weather is warmer and the nights brighter I thought it was time that I resumed my Friday night sew-ins and last night being the 3rd Friday in the month I was ready to go.

I have been working on a scrappy quilt and up to the point where the borders needing to be quilted and as I have been practice, practice and practicing my free motion quilting (FMQ) I was feeling confident enough to give it a go on the real deal. It was my half day of work and as hubby and I had treated ourselves to a lovely lunch neither of us wanted any dinner so I sat down about 5 to make a start. I did my warm up practice piece and all was going well - feeling relaxed, mind in a gentle meandering mood, cotton and tension all checked.

Off I go and after about 6" of meandering the top stitches look great I do a quick check of the back - WHAT POODLES - and not miniatures. Quick stop the machine and unpick. During the half hour that it took to unpick the mess I was thinking what could have gone wrong. Then I think that the practice piece was a different thickness to the quilt so I do the necessary tension adjustments and get ready for take two.

By this time I am feeling rather tense in the neck, shoulders, arms and my hands are beginning to sweat and itch in my little quilt gloves. Take a deep breath and make a start and after about 6" I do a quick check on the back and all is good. I then go along about another 6" and do another back check and it is looking rather good so then I start to relax. As I edge my way along I begin to notice a "drag" on the quilt. Quick check the back - no problem. Stop the machine and pull another chair over to rest the quilt on to stop the drag and off I go only to being to feel the "drag" again.

Now by this time I have somehow positioned my knees up around my armpits to try and lift the quilt and eliminate the weight from pulling it down and me fighting against it. A check of the back now reveals another problem - not poodles but big stitches that are about to unravel before my eyes.

By this time it is now 7 oclock and I am feeling very discouraged. I have now decided that in the morning the feed dogs will be returned to their upright position with the walking foot firmly clamped on so I can do a zig zag pattern on the border which will fit in nicely with the scrappy quilt.

I spend the next two hours sitting in front of the TV unpicking the take two mess.

In the photo below you can see what I did in four hours for my Friday night sew-in



I went to bed feeling very unhappy and disappointed with my effort. I woke about 4 and began to think about my problem, Others can do FMQ why can't I. Then I remembered reading on the internet about someone else having the same drag problem and she turned her machine side on which solved her dilema. Up I get a day break and turn the machine on it side position books and magazines on either side of the quilt table to give me a large even surface, put my little quilt gloves on and off I go.



What a difference it made by turning the machine - I found that I was not fighting against the weight of the quilt and I could guide it much easier. Now my stitiching is not going to win any prizes and practice, practice is still needed but all in all I am happy with my first effort.



There were a couple of lessons learnt last night. Firstly the "sandwich practice pieces" do not prepare you for the weight of the quilt. I had been doing these for a couple of weeks and whizzing around them with no problem never giving a thought to the quilt pulling against me and causing stitch problems on the back. Secondly quilting should perhaps be done early in day so when you encounter a problem you can think it through and do some research while you are fresh and thirdly where there is a will there is a way. FMQ is something that I have been aiming to try for sometime and I am glad that I left the feed dogs down and gave it another bash.

Mum's oldest friend

I would like to introduce you all to mum's oldest friend. They have known each other since mid 1951 and have spent many hours together "singing" along and enjoying each other's company.





This was the sewing machine that I learnt to sew on when I was about 8 years old and used up to when I got married in 1973. Mum made all my clothes - including my wedding dress, some of my brothers clothes and still makes all her own clothes today using her "faithful" friend. She would not trade her for all the tea in China.

The only maintenance needed is the occasional drop of oil and dad replaces the belt from time to time and she is ready to go again. I would love to know just how far these two have treadled over the last 59 years. I always think that sewing machines should be able to register just how far is sewn on them like a car is driven. I am sure there would be some interesting figures out there in sewing land.

They certainly do not make machines as sturdy as this one as I am onto my third machine which this one still "hums" away and even though it has no fancy stitches it does a nice even stitch and never "skips".

Happy sewing "girls".

How does your garden grow?

During the last week whilst on holiday I found time to do quite a bit of sewing. I am enjoying all stages of making hexie flowers from cutting the fabric, to making the petals and then forming the flowers. I have not done much hand sewing in the past always preferring the machine for speed and neatness however I am really hooked on these hexies and am happy with the look and speed with which they are going together.

I am happy to present to you my "hexie garden" which you can see in its various stages from papers, squares of cut fabric, individual petals and full flowers



With all this gorgeous spring weather and lovely flowers surrounding me I thought I would celebrate the season and create a bag to match the lovely soft colours. I have made this pattern many times and this time around I have used a variation on a theme and I am pleased with the end result. I will add this bag to my giftie box and hope to add a couple more before Christmas for gifts.


And lastly I have made good progress with my "planned" scrap quilt. All the blocks are now sewn together and the next step is the borders. Back into the stash I delve in order to find suitable fabric. I am going with a narrow white border then a wider blue border to keep in with the theme. Now that I look at it from a distance I could have balanced some of the yellow a bit more evenly but I have to remember that it is a scrappy quilt and I will have to learn to live with it.

The week that was....

My holiday - I have taken the last week off work to have some "me time" and enjoy the lovely Spring weather that Sydney is experiencing at the moment.

Just a couple hours drive north of us is the historic township of Morpeth. A step back in time and a lovely way to spend a Sunday meandering around the quaint shops. Of course the first thing on arrival is to check out the coffee shops and order a devonshire tea complete with freshly baked scones, jam and cream.



A wander down the street uncovers all sorts of wonders starting with this lovely old clydesdale.



And of course Morpeth is famous for its unique collection of teapots of all shapes and sizes. Tea anyone!!



The next day saw us on the bus into the City. This was the business end of the holiday - an appointment with our accountant. We thought why not make a day of it and make our way down to the area of Sydney known as "The Rocks". One of my favourite parts of the city. I love the juxtaposition of the old buildings in the front of the photo and the modern looming up behind them.



And of course an outing to Sydney would not be complete without a photo of the Opera House.



I have lived in Sydney all my life and until a couple of weeks ago I had not heard of Fagan Park at Galston. What a hidden treasure and only 1 hours drive from our doorstep. This park was donated by the Fagan family to the community for all the enjoy and enjoy we did. Lovely wide open spaces and beautifully maintained as you can see by the photos below.





Of course all this fresh air and driving around certainly works up an appetite. We stumbled across this lovely restaurant in a quaint garden setting which seemed to fit the bill admirably.



Today is the last offical day of my week off - where has that gone - and being the lovely day that it was we headed off to Balmoral Beach about 30 mins drive from us. This photo was taken as we drove down one of the very steep streets around the Mosman area



On arriving at the bottom of the hill - and paying the inevitable parking fee - we took ourselves off for a walk along the beachfront enjoying the view across the harbour



Of course it was getting close to lunchtime and what did we spot but the local fish and chip shop aptly called "Bottom of the Harbour"



So the decision was made - fish and chips it would be for lunch - and they were delicious.



All goods things must come to an end and after my week of holidaying and eating it is back to work on Monday with my packed lunch. I know when I open my lunch on Monday I will be thinking of my fish and chips by the beach.

I have been bitten by the bug.....

Well it was inevitable I suppose that this was going to happen. I have been bitten by the "hexie" bug. For sometime now on the Craft Forum the ladies have been doing a framed hexie swap and a flower hexie swap and I have been drooling over these gorgeous creations for weeks. I was awake in the early hours of the morning...which I believe is the time when we are at our weakest point... and it hit me hard. When I woke the next morning it was still with me and I knew that I could not ignore this and had to act straight away.

I had signs all around me pointing me in this direction. Yesterday Google featured a picture of the buckyball - hexagon shapes - and one of the patchwork books given to me as a birthday present had hexies on the front.

Off I went to my sewing room knowing that I had to follow a few rules (my rules)

1. I was going only to use what I have in my stash
2. All the centres are to be white
3. Only using small/medium floral prints
4. Backgrounds with not too much white as I wanted the centres to stand out and be a contrast.
5. Equal number of light, medium and dark hexies flowers

Bearing all of the above in mind after couple of hours I had cut out quite a few flowers and centres and sorted out the dark prints which need to be washed before cutting here is my progress to date.




At this point I have to give an honourable mention to my dear hubby - a very patient man - who I have seconded into cutting up hexie shapes for me. As you can see he has made a good start with only a few thousand left - but I won't tell him that at this point! I will just keep adding a couple of sheets to his pile each day. I don't think he will notice - do you?