On the eve of Christmas Eve

It's getting late here - the night before Christmas Eve - I'm quite worn out as it's been such a busy day. Pretty much all the days in the lead up to the 25th are hectic and there are few minutes spare. I decided I really must grab the laptop and do a little writing or it'll be another week before I think of it again.

I'll try and go in order of things that are in my phone ... first up, now that they've been gifted, I can share some of the things I made for the gift bags for my lovely quilting friends:

Keyrings made from one of the mmmCrafts 12 days ornaments patterns. I embroidered both sides of these hearts, and they could still be used as ornaments really.

And some bag straps, or phone wrist straps. These were a really fun make. I don't have one left for myself, but I'll fix that in the holidays!

For my birthday my sweet girl Amy found another piece of Masons Vista for my collection. She always knows the very best things to get for me. This ginger jar is just perfect, I love it!

These are this years 12 Days ornaments for the girls and for some friends that live in the USA. In photo order, 3 - French Hen (for our friends), 5 - Gold Ring (for Mary), 2 - Turtle Dove (for Hazel). I love working on these ornaments and simply cannot wait until I get to work on some of the people!

I was thrilled to reach my goal of 300 days of hand quilting during the year. I crossed that line last week, and I don't think I've sat at the hoop since. I'll rectify that after Christmas day.

Because I'm on holidays now, I fired up my sourdough starter again. When I put it on hiatus some time back, I dried and froze some of the starter so it would be easy to get going should I want to. It was ready to bake with again quite quickly, and I made some dinner rolls.

If I make these again I'll try and do better with the shaping, but I'm learning all the time. I didn't have much bread flour which is why I tried these rolls first, and when I got more bread flour I made sourdough and baked it in a loaf tin. No picture I'm afraid, it was eaten so fast. Next time fingers crossed I'll get a picture.

And last of all for today, this afternoon I finished this year's gingerbread house. I'm pretty happy with it!

I used a pattern from Ellen Designs. Her templates are wonderful, and her gingerbread creations are just spectacular. I hope I'll be able to create at her level some day!

So I can hit the send button while it's still Wednesday evening, I'm going to finish up this post ... but first, please allow me to wish you Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays. I hope you have a wonderful festive season, and here's to wonderful things in this coming year! xox

September 1

I really wanted to put this post up yesterday while it was still August ... but I just ran out of day. So September the 1st it is! Hello Spring, I'm happy to see you!

This is the time of year when I'm spending a lot of time working on secret squirrell projects, but I do have some bits and pieces I can share with you - today I finished working on the applique block I will use in my Sarah Morrell quilt. I'm pretty happy with it:

I did some embroidery around the edge of the broderie perse flowers at the top as I wasn't satisfied with the edges, and I quite like how it looks - so I may do some additional embroidery at some point. Next up I'll make up a wreath style block, and beyond that I'm not sure. The little bits of broderie perse weren't too daunting, maybe I'll get more comfortable with it as I go along and ultimately make up some whole blocks. 

Recently I rescued a stitchery project from the archives. I had purchased some perle cotton with the gift voucher prize and this was what I thought I could use it for:

The flower and the lettering was all I'd done so far, so the ovel shape and the green box were what I did recently. It was just a fun little thing to work on for a bit, but I need to put it aside again so I can finish with my 'must do' projects. Mum and I are travelling to Europe next year, and this is what I'll take with me to work on on the plane and on train journeys. We're having fun with our planning, and I simply cannot wait until we head off.

I've also been putting more stitches in my wholecloth quilt - as I mentioned on Instagram, it won't be finished this year, and probably not next year either. But if I keep working at it, my wholecloth will be ultimately be complete.

This weeks fun news was that my Lily Rosenberry quilt has won another ribbon at the Royal Adelaide Show:

I never tire of seeing Lily hanging with her ribbons. Unfortunately my schedule means I'm not going to be able to get in to the show to see Lily in person, but I very much appreciate my friends sending me pictures to enjoy.

The last picture for today is Rowley-centric. We love taking him on long walks, and here is one from last weekend:

He's such a happy boy, and will happily head out for walkies two and three times a day. It's hard to wear him out.

Well, that's it from me for today. Hope you're all doing well - I'm off now to check for any comments I haven't responded to - I really have dropped the ball in that regard. Chatter soon lovely friends!

June 30th

Hello friends, I was hoping to get a post in again in June, and here I am on the last day. Whew! It has been a busy month, and I can share many of the things I've been working on in the sewing room:

Recently I shared the little applique piece I found when I was cleaning up the sewing room. I formulated a plan (which included using some of the little Ohio Star blocks I made) and created this little top:

I was super happy with how it came together - I had salvaged a forgotten project, and used a bunch of scraps up in the process. I'm still going to make more 4.5in Ohio Star blocks - I just love them!

I quilted and bound it with a favourite purple fabric - followed by a trip through the wash, I just love the crinkle it gives. Tomorrow it's going for a trip in the mail. It's destined for a new home.

Recently Camo had his birthday, and rather than have a cake, he requested that I make an apple pie. I made something like a pie - it's a tart - my first ever apple tart, and delicious!

I've continued hand quilting on the wholecloth - and moved the hoop since this picture was taken too:

And last of all today, I've made another block for the Sarah Morrell quilt - I'm thrilled with this one:

The little floral square was just a bit small for the space I needed it to fill, so I added a little frame, and I'm so happy with how it looks. I've now made 25 blocks for the quilt - there are still so many to go.

I've also been working on some secret squirrell projects, and I'll share those when I can, but for now they'll have to stay under wraps.

That's it for me today - I hope to check back in with you again really soon. Let's see how I go with that!

May 25th

Hello friends, I'm watching the Monaco GP with hubby, and tapping away on the computer, so decided to pop in a quick blog post while I can. Since I finished Lily Rosenberry, I've been dabbling with a few different projects at leisure and will share a couple of bits and pieces with you now.

First up, I finished another block toward the Morrell quilt:

Lots of applique and reverse applique in this one. The little arrow shapes are a treasured fabric from deep stash and I only have the tiniest piece left. How I wish I could turn back time and find more of it!

And because the quilting stand looked so lonely in the sewing room, I've put the white wholecloth back in it, and even put a few stitches in here and there.

I used to think that this wholecloth would be gifted to Amy on the occasion of her wedding, but given that she recently had her sixth wedding anniversary, it's no secret how that went. To be honest I don't think it's something she'd use, so I don't need to rush to finish it.

And here's a little project I finished on Friday evening - a decoration put on hold while I made every effort to finish Lily Rosenberry:

I really do love the felt ornaments from mmmCrafts, I am getting ready to make some more very soon.

And the last project for today - a little lost applique piece I found while working on a big clean up in the sewing room:

I'll make a few blocks and turn this little piece into something nice. I don't remember what I had in mind for the applique strip, but it's too pretty to put it aside again.

Last of all for today - I saw some darling fabric on someone's socials, and was determined to make some mine. It's a pretty Jane Austen print:

I have a decent chunk of it now, and will find a lovely project for it sometime ... 

That's it from me - thank you for sticking with me, and chatter soon! xox

Feb 21st

Hello friends, here we are almost at the end of February, and I'm looking back over the last few weeks wondering what I've actually achieved!

I'm still plugging away at hand quilting Lily Rosenberry, I'm very pleased with how it's progressing after being at a bit of a standstill for so long. It's hard to share pictures that look different to previous ones, but here is a new view all the same:

I was so thrilled to complete my dolls quilt for the Instagram #dollquiltswap2025 - it's winging it's way to the new owner on the other side of the world, and I hope they love it!

My parcel in the swap arrived on Thursday last week, and I was so thrilled to learn that Angela Homicz was my exchange partner. She is such a lovely person, and the quilt she made me is just darling:

Her parcel also included some beautiful wrapping paper, a very sweet little lavender sachet, some lovely Lenox china which is local to her, and a sweet piece of fabric which my grandies will love. I feel so very blessed and cannot thank Angela enough for her generosity. Linda from Quilts in the Barn has done such a wonderful job coordinating this exchange and I was so lucky to be able to participate.

I'm heading back into the sewing room to work on my hand quilting some more before I head to bed - here's hoping I can be organised and chatter with you again soon! xox

Jan 26th

Here I am watching the men's tennis final at the Australian Open on TV, and remembering I really should pop something on my blog so you don't think I've forgotten about you.

This year I made myself a commitment that I'd get 300 days of hand quilting under my belt - I've gotten to 26 of 300 so far which I'm super proud of, but I won't be able to keep up that pace all year. We have another cruise scheduled, and other things that will get in the way, but here are a couple of pictures I've shared on Insta so far:

I've also completed the top of the doll quilt I made for the swap on Insta. It's now basted and ready for hand quilting, I'm thrilled with how it came together. I really hope my swap partner likes it - I plan to have it in the mail some time next month.

The flying geese units are one inch high, and two across, and the little applique panel in the middle is two inches wide and runs the whole length of the top. I think the applique vine is about an eighth of an inch wide. This project has been fun to make and shouldn't take very long to hand quilt.

I found a cute little dish at a local discount store, and thought it'd look nice on display in the hallway.

I put it on top of the Dresden Valentine table topper - it's one of my favourite little projects. A quick project if you'd like to make one for yourself for Valentines Day coming up soon.

And last of all for today, we planted some tomatoes again this year, hoping against hope we'd have more success than in recent years. This time we tried the Roma variety, and ohhhh my goodness, we have been overwhelmed!

This is what I picked yesterday - we've given away this much and more, and I've made passata and bottled it. I'm waiting on some more rings for our Fowlers unit before I can make more passata - hopefully they'll arrive this week.

Though it doesn't seem to be a lot for this month, I have been super busy, and based on what I'm seeing so far, this is going to be a super busy year in total!

Hope you're all doing well, and I hope to check in with you again soon! xox

Hand Quilting

Not much going on in Sewing Machine World this past week, but I have been visiting Hand Quilting world late at night, so Lily Rosenberry has some brand new quilting stitches. I believe I may have moved the hoop twice!

I'm out to the border in several areas, so I'm getting there, but there are many stitches still in my future. And because it's such a relaxing pastime, I'm just fine with that.

Chatter soon xox