Day tripping

Boxing Day in Sydney is always hot and sticky with a brisk southerly hitting late in the night to cool things down and true to form this year was no exception. Today we woke up to a cool, grey, drizzly sky and thought it was a good day to drive to the Southern Highlands. Equipped with coats and brollies off we set and as you can see from the photo below those coats and brollies were definitely needed.



Time to head off for lunch and this sign caught my attention as we entered a quaint pub.



Now I have to tell you that this pub is situated right opposite one of my favourite patchwork shops and judging by how busy it normally is - however it was closed today - I think that this sign is meant for all those poor husbands who are abandoned in Berrima.

If there are any keen gardeners out there in blogland could you let me know what the name of this gorgeous and unusual tree is please. It is right outside the patchwork shop and being closed I could not ask the name of it. Many ladies who were peaking through the locked door were also admiring the tree but could not name it.

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Happy Christmas and bon appetite

This is what my kitchen started out like at 7 am on Christmas Day morning.



And by 1 pm this is how those veggies ended up.



After the family made their way through the first course - with all coming back for seconds and one or two for thirds - it was time for the christmas pudding and for those who do not eat pudding a cheesecake or two and some yummy chocolate fudge.



Somehow the afternoon just got away and it had rolled around to after 4 when it was time for tea or coffee along with some Christmas cake and mince pies for those you had room.



Needless to say the kitchen was closed in our house for dinner last night. Around about 8 oclock hubby and I enjoyed a nice cold glass of sauvignon blanc on the patio and watched the sun set. Tonight's dinner will be leftovers from yesterday and so will tomorrow's dinner.

Christmas day is a time to spend with family and friends enjoying their company along with fun, laughter and sharing a meal which is what our family did yesterday. Lots of lovely presents were received and given.

Happy christmas to all and best wishes for a happy and safe 2011.

All things bright and !!!!

Last night was FNSI and I took the opportunity to finish off a Christmas gift for hubby.

Several weeks ago I decided that his summer weight dressing gown had seen better days and it needed replacing. Now hubby is a person who likes big, bright bold prints so when I was fabric shopping I kept this in mind and I recently found the perfect fabric to fit the "bill".

Warning - time to put on those sunnies

Ta dah what do you think - big, bright and bold.



Should he venture outside in it to collect the paper I am sure he will be bright splash in the neighbourhood.

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".