Hello!

Well.... here I am back again..... not that I've been anywhere.... but the time just seems to slip by and before you know it another week has disappeared!
Firstly I must thank the lovely ladies from the Fat 1/4 Birthday Swap.... some lovely fabrics with little extras were finally opened last Wednesday (my birthday).....

.... my "special" gift was made by Michelle..... she certainly "stalked" my blog to add in all the things I enjoy into the beautiful stitchery!

There were many reasons to enjoy my day - a long lunch with a good friend and dinner with another dear friend, Dzintra.... many birthday greetings sent by various means of technology..... and some beautiful flowers from Hayley and her partner.....

But, I must back-track a little...... before my birthday it was time for OPAM and although the update here is a little late I did finish another felted bowl for the end of July.......

That though was the only "creation" I've managed to finish of late..... but did buy this little kit from Anni's lovely shop.... after seeing it on her emailed newsletter - hopefully will be made in time for Xmas!

And.... of course I'm still reading - though this book was not part of the "reading challenge" I'm taking part in.....

This was one of my favourite Agatha Christie "who done it" stories from all those years ago....but as I was reading it I did remember who the "culprit" was so though I did read it to the end it did spoil it a bit.... 

So that's about it for now...... will be back soon again.... till then.

Happy Stitching

Asta

Catching Up!

A fortnight since my last post..... the weeks seem to fly by.......
Last weekend saw a day of mixed emotions as I attended a "farewell" for a lovely fellow who was part of our local theatre .... I had had the privilege of stage managing a couple of shows which he was in and over the years had got to know his family as well..... 
The evening of the same day..... and I was heading off to a birthday celebration for a work colleague -  it was fancy dress! So.... here I am in disguise as a re-invented "hippie" .... wig and all!

Sewing has been happening as well.... with a start made on the binding of the Nature's Journey quilt...

... I enjoy doing the binding by hand but really with temps gradually climbing to 40 deg there wasn't a lot done as the week progressed!

A UFO has also been brought out of "hiding".... so far back I can't even remember when - possibly 15 years ago? - this quilt was put together.....

and is now finally being  quilted - simple quilting I'm doing by machine....though progress is very slow as Miss Dora seems to think it makes for a very cosy sleeping spot......settling in very quickly before I move the quilt around! 

Catching up with friends during the past week was on the agenda.... dinner at a Thai restaurant mid week with a few friends..... and yesterday catching a movie ("Carol" starring Cate Blanchett) with another friend followed by dinner at one of our local clubs with this as our view....

And.....during a busy week managed to finish another book.....

 ......so I can now tick off yet another reading challenge...... "a book with a blue cover"

Hopefully a cooler week lies ahead........ as I'm typing away here I hear rain has started falling..... time to head to bed with another book!

Happy Stitching!
Asta

Well, the long weekend is now at an end.... time to catch up with what I have been up to....

During the past week I actually had a project finished for OPAM (One Project a Month)! I've been so busy with the Nature's Journey quilt that I don't seem to have the time to actually finish any other project - Nature's Journey can't be included till it's finished :( ..... but here is my finish for September.....a start for Xmas

Pattern: Gail Pan

Then it was the first Friday of the month and time for FNWF ...... no stitching but time for cutting out another 200 x 2" squares for the Nature's Journey Quilt so.... with Miss Dora keeping an eye on things.....

...this teetering pile of fabrics......

became stacks of little squares a couple of hours later......

 Saturday dawned  - we were already into the second month of Spring and it was time to spring clean the house! ...An accumulation of magazines, a trail of fabrics from Nature's Journey quilt that seemed to have taken over the house (!) , various other on-going projects were all sorted and put away, furniture moved, the duster was out, even as the day was warming up I kept "hoovering" away! The house was well and truly "breathing" again!! 

Sunday - and a very hot day forecast! So.... together with a good friend we headed off to the Regional Orchid Show being held at one of the local clubs.... and air-conditioned! 
Who would have thought that there are so many varieties of orchids! ......from your traditional....

...to the exotics

....some with "attitude"....

...others you wouldn't even think were orchids.....

...... ones that looked more like a daffodil!

...other delicate ones.....

....and ones that were provided with a magnifying glass!! 

And this little orchid came home with me!....

Will it be the first of many? Ummm we'll see..... 

Then it was Monday - the last day of our long weekend :( .... gardening had been on the agenda for the weekend but it was too hot (don't enjoy being in the heat) so the day was spent pottering around in my sewing room - it is in quite a state and there will only be photos when there is an "after" as well as a "before"! ...... I finished reading my latest book....

 ....and enjoyed late afternoon with a glass of wine, nibbles and a few "old" magazines to browse through.

No stitching was done over this weekend but it's the start of a new week now so must get back into my Nature's Journey quilt - only machine sewing left now.

Hope all my readers had an enjoyable weekend too.
Happy Stitching
Asta

My Weekend.

Weekend spent catching up with friends - Saturday a movie "Last Cab to Darwin" - I really enjoyed this Australian movie - followed by dinner (no photos though).....
Sunday lunch to one of my favourite restaurants at Cupitts Winery  with a couple of other friends - the view from our table....

 .....and our desserts!

........and some outdoor entertainment.......

Some stitching also did get done, though not as much as I'd hoped - the outcome of which is that my August block for Nature's Journey quilt is not yet finished.... but -  there has been progress and  I hope to have it finished by the end of the week.....(just a note that the diamonds on the side are not sewn down yet - just been put into place so still a bit to do!)

.... And one small project finished for OPAM this month..... a fabric basket...

 Another working week underway, though, I will be on holidays the following week :) !!

Happy Stitching
Asta 

OPAM & Stitch-a-long Progress

The end of another month already! This month I have actually finished something (for my One Project A Month) - last month was a bit dismal with nothing really completed apart from blocks for the Nature's Journey quilt - but they don't count ..... so here it is....

Progress on my April blocks - not quite finished - 2 more blocks to go - a committee meeting at our local theatre and 2 dinners out with friends after work this week dashed any plans I had of finishing them all by the end of April......

.... I will be optimistic and say that the missing 2 blocks will be finished over the next few days!

Happy Stitching till next time....

Asta

Busy Stitching!

I can't believe it has been nearly 3 weeks since I was last here!! What have I been doing you ask? Stitching, stitching and more stitching!!
During a very busy month at work I have been busy with my Stitch-a-long project - making sure my "homework" was done by the end of the month..... and I did finish my blocks on time.....

..... now to start on Part 2 for March!

I'm also a member of OPAM (One Project A Month) so thought I'd better get a project or 2 finished for February - alas the blocks above don't count as it has to be a whole finished quilt to "qualify" as a project for the month :( ..... but I did have a couple of things finished at the beginning of the month.....

......and last Sunday this.....

eventually became this......

Pattern - Anni Downs

... a kit bought in 2009! 

So that's what I have been up to over the past weeks.... this weekend March blocks will be started and I'll see what other project I've got hidden away still to be finished!

Happy Stitching

Asta

OPAM and My Week

Oops...nearly forgot the end of the month - it seems to creep up so quickly! 
Sadly, once again only 1 project finished for the month (though I have been working on some others)......

 ...another fabric basket but this time in Xmas fabrics as it was for our embroidery group's Xmas gift swap.... a couple of smaller suprises were tucked inside.

A few highlights from my week ......

A couple of new projects have been started... both are gifts so am not giving out too much information here...

 

 All the hexagons are finished for "Gossip in the Garden"... now to start putting them together....

And our local patchwork shop, 

Steph's Fabrics, celebrated 15 years with champagne and a sale  - both of which were enticing and led to these fabrics being purchased - the cream ones for "Gossip in the Garden" and the other three "just because"........

Finishing off the weekend with breakfast at one of our local restaurants On the Pier with my 2 daughters, one with her partner....... all home, if somewhat temporarily, till the travel bug hits again so making the most of every minute!.....

Hope you have all had a productive week

Happy Stitching

Asta

OPAM

Well, here it is the end of another month!... And I have 2 finishes for the month....

...have been working on a couple of other projects but unfortunately they are still UFOs :( 

This last weekend was spent spring cleaning the house and entertaining unexpected friends dropping in both days... but did manage to find time to start gathering fabrics together for this project.....

...it will definitely be a work in progress for some time - think I'll approach this project by getting the hexagons together then I can discard any fabric choice I don't think will fit in before I start using it on another block with more fiddly work - such as the applique ones.

Am off on holidays in a couple of weeks and will be busy at work getting everything up to date and at home.... well, trying to keep a spring cleaned house that way till I return.... so in other words not creating a mess - sitting quietly making hexagons sounds like the way to go!

Will be back soon to show you what progress, if any, I have made on my projects!

Happy Stitching

Asta

Gardening...

We finally had a sunny day here today (on the far South Coast) and it was time to do some.....

.......gardening! I weeded my backyard and sorted out pots on the back deck - all ready for a trip to the nursery next weekend - if it's not raining! Hopefully attending to the front yard will be on the agenda for next weekend as well. 

With a few projects on the go at the moment I did find time to do some (secret) hand sewing over the weekend - but have only 1 completely finished project for OPAM this month.... the canvas work scissor fob I made at the retreat early August. 

Next month there should be a few finished projects as a couple of them have to be finished before the end of the month!

Till next time...

Happy Stitching

Asta