My happy news :-)

Recently the Royal Adelaide Show was held in town - it's a fun week for us here in the city with so many things going on. The carnival rides and sideshow alley for the young and young at heart, the agricultural side of the show with farm animals/equestrian events etc, crazy amounts of showbags for all ages, and also the competition part of the show with all sorts of categories from pets to plants, cookery and craft.

I love to enter a quilt or two when I have something ready, and this year I decided to enter two projects. You've seen them both before, but it can't hurt to revisit them right?

My Montmellick quilt fitted right into the hand quilted category, and this year there was a special category for nine patch quilts, so I decided that Omigosh! would be perfect for that one. After I knew the judging was completed I waited a few days before I checked the show website, and received the happy news that both quilts had placed first in their categories!!

Here is my Omigosh with her first place ribbon. I'm so happy it did so well! :-)

And I also had the happy news that my Montmellick quilt won best quilt in show! I was just so thrilled! You can see her two ribbons in the picture. Yay!!

Amy and I visited the show one evening after work, and we had a really great time. My sweet girl is a real thrill seeker and wanted to hit the rides in sideshow alley. I love roller coasters, but some of those rides at shows leave me a little sweaty ... I don't know how she did it, but Amy convinced me to go on the biggest scariest ride there. It's called Speed 2 - I found a video on YouTube from a few years ago:

It was actually really fun, but I definitely didn't need to go on any more rides after that!! We got busy eating the obligatory carnival food, and after purchasing a bunch of show bags and watching the fireworks, we were super tired and ready to head home. What a great night out with my girl :-)

In other news, I wanted to share a quick snap of Norma's finished peacock block:

It's really cute isn't it? She's made it up into a cushion as a gift for her daughter. I am absolutely certain she  must love it! :-)

And finally for today, I just wanted to share a couple of fabric purchases I made at work today. There's a 50% off sale in the back room, so I was determined to give a few pieces of fabric a good home :-)

How could I leave behind a couple of Di Ford-Hall fabrics? And the Jo Morton in the middle there too? They'll live nicely in my stash until I have a project ready for them.

And this fabric will be super cute for a Christmas project I'm sure. I don't have any ideas right now, but I won't be able to think of anything until I've finished the top of the Caswell project. Surely it can't be long now?

So, today I added 5.5 metres of fabric to the stash. At the beginning of the year I stated that I wanted to end the year with less fabric in my sewing room than I started with - it's fair to say that I've done very poorly with that goal. Maybe next year I'll work on much faster projects and I'll get through more of the stash? Who knows??

Thank you all for the lovely comments you send my way. I'm behind with mail at the moment and promise to respond as soon as I can. And a big Hi to Janet who always sends the kindest notes - your email address doesn't pop up with your comments so I'm not able to reply.

It's getting late now, so I'll have to dash and catch some zzzz's. Chatter soon! xoxox

Catching up ...

On Sunday last week I was finally able to visit with my quilt at the Guild Show. Because the DH is away, I had to take Camo with me after he was done with tennis training. To sweeten the deal for him, I promised to take him to Krispy Creme afterward. I probably shouldn't have given him that information before we went to the show ... the whole time we were there I was hearing "Can we go now ... Can we go now ..." *sigh*

I managed to get a few happy snaps, so here's a close up for you:

During the week I had a call from our wonderful FOQ organiser Bron, she had the happy news that my quilt is one of those selected to represent South Australia at AQC in Melbourne in April. Isn't that just the best thing? Really the cherry on my sundae :-)

I've been busy during the week working on a bunch of spider-web place-mats, and I'll share a picture with you in my next post. I probably could have done so today, but this girl of little brains just forgot to take a snap or two.

But I did manage to take a few (a very few) pictures on an outing yesterday! Shay, Amy and I ventured to Costco!! It only opened here in Adelaide on Wednesday for the first time ever, and as soon as the schedule allowed, we were there with bells on! Definitely check in with Shay at some point, as I know she'll write a much more descriptive and humorous post than I'm capable of :-)

You all know my love of Nutcrackers, well, we weren't in the door five minutes and this guy was tossed into the trolley:

He's so much nicer than this guy that we saw later on:

According to the box, he's 1.9m (or 76") tall, and at over $400.00 he was definitely too rich for my budget right now. And if I'm completely honest, I don't think he's as cute as the little 32" guy we purchased :-)

Throughout the whole shopping trip, I was having doubts about whether I should bring the Nutcracker home, I don't know why, but it just seemed so extravagant! Now that he's in place though, I'm just so glad I bought him:

I'll have to take another pic so you can see how they all look together. Now that I've had a grizzle to some of my friends about Nutcrackers being harder to find this year, I'm seeing them in a few more places, but I'll have to restrain myself ... I really need to save some money for my vacation next year.

I skyped with Linda during the week, and I'll be booking my airfares shortly - DH will be booking some annual leave so he can holiday with the little guy while I'm away, it's all looking good!

Next week is my birthday, and for the first time ever my DH is going to be away. I have a couple of celebrations planned with friends and I'll be going out with my family too, so I won't be feeling lonely which is nice :-) I was chatting with the Hubster the other day telling him that I don't want a bunch of presents also because of the upcoming vacation, but he assured me that when he gets back, regardless of my desire for a minimalist birthday he'll choose me some new beads for my Pandora bracelets. He knows how much I love them and how the beads have special meaning for me depending on where they came from and who gifted them to me, isn't he a honey? :-)

And for the very last thing, here's a random picture that's in my phone from the other day, thought I'd share it:

I was trying to work out if I wanted to do any more Christmas decorating in the front rooms, and I've decided I'm going to leave them be for now. I need to tidy away those messy cords, and neaten up the quilt rack. It's amazing how you don't notice those things in real life, but in a picture they stand out like crazy.

Well, that's it from me for today, I'm going to get back on to the spider-web place-mat production line, so I'll check in really soon!

More Excitement!

A big thank you to my sweet friend Bridget - on two counts!

First up, she's at the Craft Fair today, and visited with my quilt. She snapped some pictures for me, as I'm just not sure when I'm going to get a chance to go there ...

My goodness it's a big quilt, and I have to say that I'm feeling quite proud that it's hanging nice and flat. It's a tough gig attaching a border to such a heavily pieced quilt, and Lizzy's amazing quilting was the icing on the cake :-)

And a gratuitous close up so you can see more of Lizzy's fantastic quilting. A ribbon for her, and one for me too :-) Sue Garman's pattern is just wonderful - and it was a delight for me to put the quilt top together - albeit a good deal faster than I anticipated I would.

I'm just so thrilled that my quilt did so well, I really hope I get an opportunity to visit with it before the show ends on Sunday. 

And the second big thank you for Bridget: She knows my love of Nutcrackers, and my boundless enthusiasm to fill my home with them during the Christmas season ... well, she found one and gifted it to me:

He's front and centre there with the gold crown and green glittery legs - isn't he so very cute? I only have seven large Nutrackers (and about eleventy small ones on the tree) so it's not much of a collection really, but I really like them and see more in my future. There's one in Myer that's about a metre tall ... and at $100 is a little rich for me ... but trust me, I'll be there with bells on if he's still around in the post-Xmas sales!

Last of all - I'm waiting on a special parcel today - I may or may not (can't prove anything 'till they arrive) have ordered some shoes at around midnight on Wednesday. It's all for a good cause ... Guild's 20's night:

Source

These will be perfect with the outfit I have planned - a red sheath dress with a black lace overlay, and a feather headband with a red rhinestone. Should be super fun. She shoes are Diana Ferrari's Lamour, and I purchased them from Birdsnest. I'm sad to say that they were the last pair. I think it was serendipity that the last pair they had were my size - they were meant to be :-)

**Just as I was typing this, the doorbell rang, and they have arrived ... OMG, they are beautiful!! Happy days!!**

Well, that's it from me, I have work to do in the sewing room today, and a bunch of chores to do, so I will chatter soon! xox

Excitement!

I have the most exciting news: I learned at the Guild presentation night last night that my quilt placed first in its category - Open Traditional Two Person. A big thank you to my sweet friend Lizzy, firstly for quilting my top so well, and secondly because I pinched this photo from her Facebook page :-)

Hopefully I'll be able to visit with all the quilts at the show next weekend and share a picture of the ribbon with you. And huge congratulations to all my prize winning friends! xox

And now life can return to (something like) normal ...

Finally the big beastie "Omigosh! I still have scraps!" quilt is finished. I took it in to work on Thursday so the girls could have a looky - I had just finished the binding on Wednesday night:

You can see a little of the quilting on the bit that's overhanging the table ... but only if you look really carefully. This is one busy quilt!

And here you can just see the fabric I chose for the binding - it's a cute dark blue repro with a small beige pattern with red berries. I don't think it really would have mattered what fabric I used in the border and the binding - the piecing seems to really divert the eye.

Now that I'm done, I've been able to get busy with some more of the appliqué on the Di Ford Montmellick mystery. I'm getting really close to being done with the broderie perse now, and I'm thrilled!

Just a few little doodads to add in the top left hand corner, and a few motifs on the right that you can see there. And though you can't see, I need to add a few leaves to the bottom right corner piece. If I'm a good girl, I may be able to finish it tomorrow. And the next step will be to add the background for the next round. A whole bunch of appliqué melons. I'm looking forward to them.

But first I have to fix an oops in the pieced triangle border at the top ... I'm glad I noticed it before I got too much further ... can you see it??

The two hourglass units in the centre need to be taken out and rotated one quarter turn each. I have two lights next to each other, and two darks next to each other - oops! I would have kicked myself if I didn't find that until I was working on the quilting!

Well, that's all the exciting quilting news that's happening here. Apart from the belief that I've chosen my next project ... the Burnt Quilt, which is in Di Ford's Primarily Quilts book. We'll see if I actually make a start on that project ... my record for false quilt starts has not been the best lately ...

Chatter soon xox

Holiday Happenings

Hi all! School holidays mean I've had little time to myself, Camo and I have had a mini-break with my Mum, Nanna and Amy - we went down to Goolwa for a few days. Such a nice time, and I managed to find a sweet little quilt store too!

In the evenings there, I managed to finish up the binding on the Christmas Tree Skirt I made for my friend Kath, I'm just thrilled, as I can send it home with her hubby - all the guys are having a weekend away. So here's the finished skirt:

Don't forget that if you love it, the pattern is a quick and very inexpensive download at my Etsy store.

And yesterday I visited with my sweet friend Lizzy to see how Omigosh! is coming along. I'm thrilled with how Lizzy's quilting it, and I hung around a little while to help bury threads.

Here's my sweet friend at work:

And here are a couple of pictures up close of the fabrics, and the quilting too:

Because the quilt is so busy, it's hard to see the quilting very well, but I bet it'll look fabulous from the back. See that mid blue fabric above - that's the fabric from my first ever quilt I told you about a little while back.

The top narrow borders have been quilted too, but once again - busy fabrics make the quilting hard to see.

So, they're all the photos I have to share in my phone - I can't believe I didn't even manage to take any while we were on our little break. Over the next few days I'm going to be up to my eyeballs in binding, a label and a hanging sleeve for this quilt, so things could get a little quiet again. I promise I'll check in really soon!

Omigosh! I still have scraps!

And I'm done! Just a little bit exhausted, but very much relieved to have this quilt top done before my self imposed deadline :-)

Today I attached all the borders after taking Camo to his tennis training. I had made up some of them last night - so I finished sewing the border strips together first. It's a little more wasteful with fabric, but I enjoy being able to mitre the corners all at once. And to make that easier, on the top and bottom borders, I press as innies, and then the side borders, I press them as outies - makes the seam intersections so neat.

And finally after wrestling with this HEAVY quilt top, and all its borders, it was completely done ... and it is HUGE! I can't lay it flat anywhere without moving furniture around.

When I laid it out, I noticed that I have indeed got two blocks with the same fabrics close to each other, but you can be sure I'm not going to change it now - it will have to be part of this quilt's charm. Love that I've taken a blurry picture once again - photography is not my particular skill it would seem :-)

Thank you for all the lovely messages and comments from the last couple of days - you're all so kind. Well, I need to clean up the sewing room and get myself cleaned up too - I am covered in threads! Chatter soon xox

Flying (sewing machine) Needle :-)

I was determined to have the centre of this quilt top put together by bed time last night. And this girl with a deadline is nothing if not determined :-)

Originally I was going to just sew the rows together as I picked them up - but thinking on it decided it would be way too easy to have the shoo fly blocks with the same fabrics too close together. So I laid them out on the lounge floor to arrange them as best I could. I'm not too stressy about similar colours together, but definitely not happy with the exact same fabrics. Loving it so far!

The most time consuming part of this process was pressing each row carefully, and then pinning super carefully - but both utterly worth it. I really wanted my seam intersections as good as they could possibly be:

I'm really happy with the results of those labours. There aren't too many seams I'd be bothered to undo and stitch again. Don't forget friends, those small squares are 1/2" finished. The largest squares are 1.5" finished. Crazy!

Because I had school drop off/pick up and my own tennis training on the schedule yesterday, sewing time was not uninterrupted, but happily I finished sewing all the rows together just before midnight, what a relief! Here is the finished top (minus borders) draped over the ironing board.

And on top there, those are the fabrics I'm considering using as the borders. I'm not certain yet, but they're front-runners. The next step though is to press the top really well so I can measure for the borders. Pressing will be a tough job, as this quilt is HEAVY!

Yesterday I weighed the top without its borders, and the weight of all the pieces was 1992 grams. So that's almost 2 kgs of fabric. I've just weighed a metre of fabric from my stash, and it weighed 170 grams, so by my calculations I have sewed 11.7 metres (approx 13 yards) of scraps into this project so far. Amazing! Of course some of that will be the weight of thread used for piecing - and I know I've used at least four of the large Gutermann spools so far, but if we were to round down to 11.5 metres, I think that would safely account for thread.

Anyway, today I am going to take care of some chores that have been ignored for a little while, and then get busy again in the sewing room. Wish  me luck friends :-) xox

Speed piecin' ...

Well, I have surprised myself - I AM a piecing machine!! On Tuesday night at around 11.30pm, I finished the last 20 blocks for my Omigosh! quilt!!

I was just thrilled, and so on Wednesday, I did something I've never done before ... I took one of my sewing machines to quilt group!!

My sweet baby featherweight left the house for the first time in a little while :-) Silly me though, I forgot to pack my quarter inch foot as it was firmly attached to my white featherweight. Oops! Richard and Sue to the rescue though, they had some masking tape I could press into service as a seam guide and I managed to do a pretty decent job with my piecing.

These were the first seams I sewed. I was thrilled when my points were neat, and I've been stitching up a storm ever since.

When I got home of course, I swapped over to Big Bernie, and to be honest, I'm finding it much easier going. I paired all the blocks up, then I sewed them into groups of six blocks, and now I'm putting the entire rows together.

Here's where I'm at right now:

Isn't it coming along? I can't wait until the top is together, then I'll get busy with those border fabrics. Believe it or not, I haven't even looked at my yardage to make any decisions, I'll make myself wait.

Well, I better get back to the sewing machine, there's still lots to do! xox

Blocky ...

Whoa ... I have blocks all over the place here ... seriously! See my cutting table, there are 341 of them just laying around ...

Twenty to go and I can start putting this baby together. I don't mind confessing that though I love piecing them (and I'm whispering this) I'm kinda sick of the sight of them ...

But I'm not out of love with it yet, and I predict that by the end of this week, most of this top will be put together and I'll be deciding on border treatments. I genuinely haven't even thought about the borders a little - I hope I have something suitable living in my stash!

One decision I have made is the backing fabric ... I kind of like it too:

DH took one look and said "Beige, really? You're a creature of habit hon!". Well, I hate to contradict him ... but I thought this one was utterly different for me ... after all, it may be beige, but it's NOT a reproduction print ... what ever is he thinking?? Of course you know I'm kidding around, but it genuinely isn't a repro print, so that is progress right? :-)

Because my days have been so busy, it is taking me a while to wind down in the evenings. I often read on the iPad and sometimes cruise blogs etc. I found a funny link somewhere about a "Kitchen Reno" and thought I'd share it with you, it's really cute - do read it. And one of the lines in the intro really resonated with me:

"If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we'd be happy with more?" -- Unknown

Something this shoe, clothes and fabric lovin' girl needs to think about next time I'm giving the 'ole credit card a work out!

Chatter soon! xox

Getting sooooo close ...

I sewed like a mad thing today, I really wanted to make up the last of the Shoo Fly blocks for my Omigosh! quilt ...

There you see the little four patch units before I got the last triangles in place. So much chain piecing!

Today I've been using a lot of scraps from my Turning Four-T quilt - I've been rummaging thru all sorts of scraps to find bits and pieces to use. See the fabric in the triangles above? It's a conversational print I picked up some time (I think on one of my USA trips). Usually they're things like chickens, kittens ... other cute critters. But this print, I have no idea what it's supposed to be. Looks like body piercing jewellery to me ... what do you think?? And if that's what it is, why is it on an 1800's reproduction fabric?? Questions ... queries ... posers ...

And here's where I'm at with the blocks now - all the Shoo Fly blocks done - and only 80 nine patch blocks left to make. I can't even tell you how much I'm looking forward to seeing how it looks with some blocks to put together.

See if you can guess what I'll be doing this weekend?? :-)

Chained to the (sewing) machine ...

I really wish I had some amazing eye candy, or some exciting news to report for you. But the fact is this ... every spare moment I have is spent at the sewing machine right now. Here's what I've put together since Friday:

There are 50 blocks there, and I hope to get another 20 put together by the end of today. And that will mean that all of the shoo-fly blocks are made, I'll just need to concentrate on the nine patch blocks.

In total I've made 261 blocks now, so I have exactly 100 left to make. And then the top to put together, but that's another story. I'm excited at how the quilt is coming together, and it just baffles me that I don't seem to have made much of a dent in my scraps. That tells me that I have way too much fabric ... seriously!

In still quilting related, but not actual quilting news - something that is being cooked up at the moment is my USA trip next year, Linda and I have begun planning in earnest. I'm so looking forward to it, and though I don't have too many details just yet, we are definitely going to be visiting Graceland! Way too exciting!!

Last of all, I had a sweet email from Aunt Bea. I'm sorry I couldn't respond to you directly Bea - your email address isn't enabled - but to answer your question regarding where I purchased the Omigosh! quilt pattern, here is a link:  http://www.comequilt.com/shop/Individual-Patterns/p/Omigosh-x1911239.htm Sue Garman is just delightful, and her patterns are just wonderful. Hope this helps.

Alrighty, I'm heading back to the sewing machine, I'll check in with you all soon I hope! xox

Still Piecing ...

Wow, I have no idea where the last two weeks have gone? I know I've spent time in the sewing room, because my Omigosh! block count is now 140 ...

They're really such fun, and I'm finding so many scraps from quilts past that I'd entirely forgotten about. I still have 221 to make - and once they're done, then will be the fun of putting the top together.

Yesterday I received a fun parcel in the mail from my sweet friend Linda in the USA. I shared with you recently that she's been working on the Omigosh! quilt also, and she managed to finish her top - what an achievement! And what a darling friend, she sent me all the leftovers that she'd cut out. Such a treat! Linda has an amazing stash, and we share a great love of repro fabrics.

I pieced ten blocks today, and I've already started using the fabrics Linda shared with me. I can't wait to put some more together.

And last of all, just a fun quick pic ... I had tossed some quilts on the lounge to refold and was distracted for some reason ... and when I finally came back to them, something small had taken up residence ...

It has been cold here, so I can understand her wanting to find somewhere warm ... but not my favourite quilts kitty ... it's time to move on!

Chatter soon :-)

Oldies and goodies!

Piecing on scrap projects can be such fun. Today I spent a lot of time delving through my scrappage and cutting to add more variety to pieces I'm using in this quilt. At the bottom of one of the tubs, I found such treasures that I'm now piecing with.

The medium brown fabric you see in the HST's and the centre of this block must have been in my stash for 15 years now. It was gifted to me by my sweet friend Linda while we were working on our Dear Jane quilts way back when. I really love it, it's super cute. I know one of my DJ triangles is made from that fabric, and I'm pretty sure I used it to piece a block too. My DJ quilt is at the Sewing, Stitching and Handcraft show this weekend, so I'll check it out while I'm there tomorrow.

And the pink you see in the tiny squares there is from my Farmers Wife quilt, as well as the red in the small square near the top. The red in the small square at left is from the binding of my Mrs Billings project. The green in the little square on the right is from the binding and the zig-zag border from my Nearly Insane quilt.

It's all these fabric memories that help me to love working on scrap quilts. I can't wait to see what future blocks bring :-)

The fabric that won't quit!

Behold my blurry block photo! This is one of the blocks I've pieced today for the Omigosh! quilt I'm working on. I've had lots of cutting to do, so I've only managed to put together six blocks so far, maybe I'll get more done after dinner, who knows :-)

That mid blue fabric there - the one in the HST's and the centre ... that particular fabric was used in my first ever quilt ... 22 YEARS AGO! I have been trying and trying to rid the 'first quilt' fabrics from my stash, but seriously, they just won't quit! I keep finding it everywhere. There were only three fabrics, and when we were first married I didn't have the funds to buy tons of yardage, so WHERE is it coming from??

And the picture above is the actual quilt. My first ever. I have no clue where it is right now. But I can tell you with certainty, it is badly pieced, badly quilted (on my first sewing machine with no thought of a walking foot) and I just know it will have that horrible puffy polyester batting. It would be super tempting to track it down, and pull it to bits to quilt nicely.

There are just way too many lovely projects to work on however, so I can't imagine such a tricky task will be in my future ... Would you do it??

An amazing find!

Today Mum, Camo and I went up to Mannum to visit with Nanna. It's so nice to be able to do these things in the holidays ... it's so much harder during the school term with kid sport on the weekends and work/school during the week.

We took Nanna shopping and out to lunch, and while we're in Mannum, we always check out the local second hand and antique stores. Over the years my eye has become trained to look for a certain little box, and just as we were getting ready to leave one store, I spotted THE BOX. It was a Singer Featherweight box!

Of course I dashed over and checked it out, and was baffled to see that even though the box was a little battered, it contained most of a Singer Featherweight 222K ... and it was priced at $30.00!!

When I saw it, I called Marty and asked him if I should buy it, as he is the one that will have to do all the hard work fixing it. He said YES, and why are you still on the phone, go grab that thing!! So I did :-) Happy day!

And this is her! The base that clips on is missing, along with the thread holder, bobbin winder and pretty much all of her accessories. The foot and power cord is there, but has seen better days. Marty and I have been doing a little research and it seems like all but the base will be super easy to deal with, and I'll just have to keep my ear to the ground for that. How fun! Ohh, and if you think you have any spare parts kicking around that you don't need, be sure to let me know!! *crossed fingers*

Not nearly so interesting, but Mum and I poked around at the local grocery store while Nanna did a little shopping, and I found something I've never seen before:

Kaffe Fassett sock yarn! I love the colour, don't you? Now, I haven't done much knitting lately, but you never know when you'll have the spare time, so I just had to bring it home with me also.

And just so you don't think my piecing has been languishing in the background, here is a little snapshot of where I'm at with the Omigosh! blocks:

There are 33 blocks there - at the top are two bundles of ten, bottom left another bundle of ten, and three of the nine patch blocks bottom right. I worked out that I need 361 blocks to make the quilt the size I want, so I'm almost one tenth done!

I was able to piece some more blocks tonight, but I'll be super busy for the next couple of days, so I doubt I'll have any stitching time until Sunday, then I'll be at them again.

Well, it's getting late here now and I need an early(ish) night, so I'll sign off ... chatter soon!

Coincidence? I think not!

So, I've been piecing away on the Omigosh! project in stolen moments. There haven't been as many of those moments as I'd like this past week, but Camo is now on school holidays, so maybe I'll have a few more? Here's where I'm at right now:

Check out my shadow there ... I have mad photography skillz!! I should have made up one extra of the nine patch blocks before I decided to post, just to fill in the empty corner. I'll work on that before I head to bed tonight.

But I have to share, I received the most fun email during the week, from my wonderful friend Linda F. Linda and I always seem to love the same projects and fabrics. One day a year or two ago, I called her about a kit I was thinking of ordering to learn that she had ordered the very same one. Now, I had no idea that this was going on, but Linda sent me a picture to share that she is working on her very own Omigosh! project, and she shared a picture:

I hope you don't mind me using your picture Linda, but I think this is too much of a hilarious coincidence not to share. Looks like Linda is way further along than I am, and of course I absolutely adore all the fabrics she has chosen. Seriously, I was gobsmacked when I received Linda's message, but honestly, I shouldn't be surprised, we're like quilting sisters!

And so you don't think my appliqué project is languishing on the sidelines, here is a quick piccy of where I'm at with that:

I'm not certain of those little buds going into the corners just yet, I want to see what it looks like when I select a flower for there - and I'll put a few little leaves and doodads next to that little lonely flower there, or maybe some embroidered stems ... I know the border will tell me what it needs as I go along.

Last of all, I just had to share a fabric purchase I made this week:

Now, I haven't been purchasing nearly as much fabric lately as I usually would - I'm very conscious of the fact that I'm not using my fabric very fast, and I have a stash that blocks out the sun. However when I worked at Hetties Patch on Wednesday, this fabric was in plain view of the counter and calling to me very loudly. There was only 85cm left on the bolt, and I decided that it simply had to be mine. Isn't it gorgeous? I have no clue what I'll do with it, but I think it will live nicely alongside my French General stash. Happy happy :-)

Tomorrow will be a fun day, it's the 'Not the Farmers Wife' sewing group visit at Shay's house. It's sure to be a fun day ... and unlikely that much stitching will be done, a lot of chattering, laughing and eating if the past is anything to go by. Super fun!

Alrighty, I'm off to do chores and then whip up that last block, chatter soon! xox