Nature's Journey Finish

Yay!  As of last night the last seam was sewn and pressed. Had to wait for outside to dry out after last nights storm ... a nice drop of 16mm.

I thought I would have a new dishcloth to share ...

but I wasn't happy with my casting on and then when I made a 2nd mistake in the pattern ... I pulled it out and started again ... still with red. A new cast on method (happy this time) but lack of concentration and another mistake so ...

Pulled it out again, put the red ball away and made a fresh start ... different colour ... different pattern.

Looking forward to a visit with this little munchkin again soon xx

>^..^<

Hello Spring

Wow!  A whole month has past since I was here last. With the recent lovely sunny days I took a moment to stop and smell the roses....amazing what a little bit of tender loving care will do.

before  ..... during .... after renovation

Stitch by stitch my Natures Journey has progressed with the centre block completed right on deadline.

Only 4 more sleeps till DD's wedding day ... final touches are being made to decorations. Hoping this cold snap warms up a little and the wind stays away.

Happy sewing     >^..^<

Fabric Play Surprise

Last Monday was such a cold and blustery day and I found myself with spare time ... what! ... after getting over the shock I pulled out my 4 'orange' pieces and also my scraps from the appliques. Lots of cutting later I have 51 little squares (spares in case 1 or 2 just won't do) for the diamonds ...

and laying out while I cut the next border, I left this as is sitting on the spare bed to sew together later in the week.

A message from DD on Wednesday meant extra visitors arriving Thursday and the spare bed was required. Some late night sewing after work and the 4 borders are sewn and pinned to the centre ... phew! 

Major wedding business happening since and now it's back to work as the next week rolls around.

Happy Sewing     >^..^<

FNSnowI

That's right ... sunny Queensland and snow don't usually belong in the same sentence but ... this wind is definitely coming straight off the snow that has fell in spots of southern Queensland. What else is one to do but stay indoors by the fire and snow sew ... especially as it was time for

While dinner was in the oven I cut, pressed and pinned the small peeper border for NJ.  Once the border was complete it was onto preparing for another project

Looking forward to some embroidery after all that needleturn. 'My Stitching Things' by Michelle Ridgway was in the last Country Threads Mag I borrowed from the town library ... now to choose some colours and sit by the fire.

Here's a sweet pic of GS keeping warm while out for a stroll last weekend.

Stitch and be happy     >^..^<

FNWF How Does Your Garden Grow?

Thanks Cheryll for having us all over last Friday night ... was a bit chilly so my fingers needed warming around a nice warm cuppa before I could get started.

My NJ garden is waiting for an early spring for some colour. The left and right smaller branches/leaves are stitched and the centre branches/leaves are in place ready for needle and thread.

Then I couldn't help myself and started playing with all the pieces cut ready and waiting to "Spring" into action. There's a lot of work for July but I'm excited with how it's starting to look. A few more fabric pieces to choose yet.

While it's school holiday time, hubby and I have been spending time in the outdoor garden. Time for my tired rose bed to have a spruce up with some new roses to go in and fill the gaps. New edge ... new dirt ... and a good prune.

The drought had taken it's toll on the gardens and this next one had several trees that didn't make it. Then the grass and weeds took over so a big clean-up was called for.

More pruning over the next week on another garden bed but mainly just tidy up stuff. My NJ centre block will also start to bloom over the next few weeks.

Happy Gardening     >^..^<

FNSI and My June

With an early start on my Fri-day-Night Sew-In and a close call with my beef stew (just caught it before it reached the point of 'too caramelized') ... I finished off the night with a browse through a couple of magazines ... sewing ones of course.

I began by finishing the last big block and giving my ladybugs some detail for NJ's June blocks. Then pressed and trimmed.

This centre piece is for block 2 of AMCG ... now finished, pressed and trimmed.

Lastly I cut and placed the fabric to piece together for the centre block background of NJ. The sewing happened this morning so now I'm ready to select scrap fabrics for the appliques.

Waaaayyy back at the beginning of June hubby and I traveled about 4 1/2 hours south where I planned to meet up with this lovely lady for our annual stroll around Farmfest and all it's agriculture displays... but really it's about catching up, enjoying a coffee and yummy treat ... thanks Fiona, time went far too quickly.

An extra special treat this year with Lee Kernighan performing.

Homeward bound and then off again to help this gorgeous little man celebrate his first birthday. Every man needs a work vehicle.

As well as the usual driving to and from work, housework etc, we carried out a full muster and weaned any older calves.  Millie might travel to and from the cattle yards in style, but when she's up there, she likes to hang out with the working dogs and watch the proceedings.

Just one more week and then school holidays ... can't wait!

>^..^<

I'm In Shock!

Are you?  I've never gone sooo long without something to share and am shocked that it's been a whole month! But stitching away a little each night I managed to finish the May blocks for "Natures Journey".

(On looking back I noticed I hadn't even shared my completed April blocks)

Then out came the knitting needles and a ball of wool ... a few rows each night and ... a dishcloth.

First one to put away in the 'gift box' ready for Christmas.  Now with a few more days before June, I'm going to make a start on the June blocks for NJ ... looking ahead there is going to be a lot of work to keep up!

Still Here

Forget long long time ago ... I'm beginning to think it was in a galaxy far far away ... one where time was mine to distribute as I chose. For now I'm content with an important finish and a little bit of bragging.

'Little Jakes Farm' is finally a completed quilt and ready to hand over.

Just in the nick of time to enter into our local show and proudly showing off a Champion ribbon.

So far I have managed to keep up with my 'Natures Journey' blocks for Feb and March ... April is winding up quickly and this is my progress to date.

Blanket stitching is completed and I have all the little pieces cut out ready for needle turning ... one finish each night should get me there but now I've just realized I need to make stems yet.

There is no accounting for Jayne's choice of sleeping spot the other day ... if I water it, will it grow? (No plants were harmed)

Fleur has her permanent warm sunny spot ready for the colder weather.

Oh for a cat's life     >^..^<

A Long Long Time Ago

I seemed to have much more time for everything ... but that was a long long time ago.  Either time is speeding up or I'm getting older and slower or busier or all 3?

Just made it with my March blocks for Natures Journey ... happier with my needle turn but there's room for improvement.

My progress for block 2 of Merry Christmas Garden ... more needle turn.

The wool is still in the bag but I did get "Little Maccas Farm" quilt back from the quilters (decided to have this one professionally quilted because its extra special and to save time) so I'm machine sewing the binding on the front this afternoon ... just the hand stitching of binding and adding a label to go!

Special month for mum and me ... we both celebrated "0" birthdays and enjoyed a lovely lunch with family.

Time to dash and get this binding on ... hope you have a great week.

>^..^<

Whether the Weather

Whether the weather be fine,

Or whether the weather be not,

Whether the weather be cold,

Or whether the weather be hot,

We'll weather the weather,

Whatever the weather,

Whether we like it or not.

At the end of last year we were out feeding cattle to keep them alive through the drought. Good rains December and January grew the grass and I found myself stuck at flooded creeks driving home from work. Now this is knocking on the door!

Tropical Cyclone Marcia

On the sewing news, I managed another finish earlier this month but just haven't had the time to share. The block was from our groups Christmas swap and our challenge is to make the block into an item by July ... big tick for me ... I'm done!

Also needle turning my way through the February blocks for 'Natures Journey'.

Last Sunday night our area experienced a 5.2 earthquake ... I somehow managed to sleep right through it even with hubby trying to wake me ... thankfully no major damage reported. So now I'm taking my tired body to bed and listen to the wind howling outside ... see what tomorrow brings.

Night Night     >^..^<

Sewing In A Storm

This has been much of today. 27 mm of rain with lots of bad lightning, thunder and small hail.

After the heatwave of the past few days I can't believe I said I might have to put a coat on. So with 'back to work' tomorrow it's time for some last minute (first for the year) sewing.

This year I've joined Chooky's SAL and my pattern for 'Natures Journey' arrived last Friday. Our target for January was a little Christmas stitchery which I finished stitching Thursday ...

This sweet angel now has borders ... been sandwiched ... and binding machined on ready to hand stitch down.  Also another Christmas block I received at our local patchwork group's breakup last year. We've challenged each other to finish the 12 1/2" blocks into a project by July so I'm well ahead for once.

We are so thankful to have received good rain through December. Now that the grass has grown some, the cattle are finally back in their paddocks happily grazing ... follow up rain is still needed but for now the pressure is off.  It's so lovely to see some blooms back in the garden too.

Time to get 2015 rolling.

>^..^<