A Finish and More

This last weekend was a quiet one - apart from the huge storm we had go through late Sunday afternoon and into the evening - thunder rumbled around for nearly 3 hours... with heavy rain at times!.... so unexpected for this time of the year.... but back to what was accomplished...
On Saturday morning it was rather bleak but surprisingly not too cold so with a hot lemon tea I ventured outside to my favourite corner of the the garden to finish this book...... 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book... set in a small English village at the start of WW1 - as the author says in her acknowledgements "the novel has a lot of historical significance" and then mentions all the research she did in preparation for writing this novel. I found it especially moving to read during this past week as we celebrated ANZAC day... it was interesting to read the impact such a war would have had on a small English village!

Later during the weekend this little dilly bag was finished.....

Pattern by Broderie (on Etsy)

It could be made with any size hexagons - I used 1 1/2 '' ... all hand sewn no machine sewing required including the casing for the drawstring to go through! I must admit it did get a bit fiddly - a "labour of love" for a friend's birthday. 

Then...... with this embroidery finished it was time to select and cut out the fabric ready for some machine sewing .... I do love doing the embroidery but as it is a gift I can't just put it aside - project has to be finished!  I must have measured the embroidered piece half a dozen times or more before cutting! 

Over the weekend I was inspired to buy the latest copy of the lovely embroidery magazine "Inspirations" and what did I find.... an advertisement for a new embroidery shop not more than 5-10 mins drive from my parents place in Sydney! How could I have not known??!! Address has been noted & definitely on the agenda for my next trip! 

And that's about it for now.... off to do a bit of machine sewing..... 

Happy stitching

Asta 

Sydney Weekend

This last weekend a trip was made to Sydney to catch up with mum & dad..... always lovely to spend some time with them.....and check in to make sure they are doing ok!... Still in their own home at 88 and 95!! 

On the way up I stopped off at Berry and checked out the Berry Patchwork shop - they are in the middle of extending their beautiful shop - well worth a visit if in the area! I resisted buying anything.... at least for this visit! 

Miss Dora stayed home "house-sitting" and once my bag was unpacked she jumped in - maybe a hint that I was not to go away again??.......or perhaps take her next time?? 

 Not a lot of stitching has been accomplished lately.... but a bit of colour has now been added to this.... soon to be a gift so I had better get a move on..... 

And that about sums up what I have been up to lately!.... Back soon with an update on how the stitching is going....

Happy Stitching

Asta

Easter.....

Miss Florence and a few other Easter decorations set the scene for what was a quiet Easter weekend.....

.....Saturday was the only day I ventured out  - to Huskisson about a 90 minute drive north to meet up with Vivien and brother-in-law who had driven down from the Southern Highlands....

.......an enjoyable day was spent together at the Huskisson Markets and watching a good old fashioned Easter Parade - complete with marching bands, vintage cars, pets and everything else you would expect to see!!

 As with any markets there were plenty of food stalls when it came to lunch.... followed by "dessert" of chocolate/mint ice-cream in the form of "moon rocks"!... was interesting...

 And .... these nougats were just divine - after many samplings only these 2 came home!

 The rest of my days were rather quiet with time spent gardening, reading.... this has been read over the last few days....quite an enjoyable read....

And some progress has been made on a couple of stitching projects.....

Quite a few hours were spent on my WIP (the re-organising of my sewing area) - just amazes me how my fabric stash could have grown so much....where did all that fabric come from!! I wonder?.... Then there were all the magazines - was I really going to make everything I had tagged?? .....

Till next time

Happy Stitching

Asta